Short answer: This place is absolutely beautiful. And I really do think I like it more than Castaway Cay, but it's really unfair to compare the two. The fact of the matter is, the area really wasn't ready for guests yet.
Super long answer: Oh the fucking complaining about this place. I really hate people who can't go into any sort of experience with an open mind. The walk!!!! The pier isn't that long. And you're excited to get there, so you don't even notice the walk. When you step off the ship there are wagons to pull your kids and stuff. You could arrange for a ride if you needed one. They were offering rides on the way back. There is a water stop and cold towels halfway through. We clocked it at .42 miles or something like that it was .4 something. It took us less than 10 minutes because we were speed walking through the people, I wanted to be on that first tram. There is really loud Bahamian music and it really sets an exciting vibe. Any one who complains about the walk just likes to complain.
You get to the tram stop at the end of the bridge. Across the "street" from the tram stop is the section of Family Cabanas. I think this was the dumbest place in the world to put "family" cabanas. This should have been the Adult cabanas. It's a private section of beach and you are basically a mile away from everything else. You can order food/drinks but if you want to go to the shops or see the little shows/characters, you have to get on the tram. Disney wasn't thinking here, I think and I think we will eventually see those switch to the Adult cabanas because the Adult section is too close to the family section on the main beach.
The color of the water is something I can't even describe. Same goes for the sand. The sand isn't gravely like the sand on Castaway. It's powder like you'd find on Siesta Key. The natural beauty of this place....it really is incredible. I really enjoyed the natural areas and the nature walk. I spent a lot of time both days on the nature areas away from most of the people. It was not completely open and bikes were not available to rent because the paths hadn't settled enough yet. I really enjoyed that Disney tells you about certain creatures that you'd find on the island and does some educating about them. They need to do more of this, especially on the pier. Educate the people about WHY they couldn't dock directly on the island. WHY the pier is necessary to preserve the coral. WHY it's important to not destroy coral. They missed something there.
I think everything else was set up spectacularly. Lots of complaints were that there weren't enough chairs. That's inaccurate. There's weren't enough chairs AT THE WATER. And I think that's where people get an idea stuck in their head....Castaway has ALL chairs right on the water. LHP is very different that way. Less chairs on the water is really better because people just drop their shit off and never go back to their chairs. Very few people just sit in their chairs the entire day. They're in the water, out and about. We were fine with our chairs on the other side of the stairs. In that area, there is still plenty of sand if your kiddos want to play in the sand.
People who had arranged for shore excursions were mostly disappointed. They really weren't ready for guests. They need time to work the kinks out or at least practice. I didn't want to spend any time away from the area, so didn't even try to book anything.
Something I haven't seen many people talk to much about, the people of Eleuthera are so, so, so excited about this. Their enthusiasm was just incredible and everyone we met/spoke too really conveyed that. Most of the people working on LHP actually live there. There is even a Junkanoo show along with a crafting lesson. In watching the show, those folks were so incredibly proud and excited to have the opportunity to show their talent and culture to new people. Disney did a good job here. I'm happy they brought jobs to the area for these amazing folks.
The flies. Oh the flies were absolutely terrible. Walking around all morning, there were no bugs. Nothing. The food stations opened. Still nothing. The second you got a tray in your hand, they came from who knows where and the tray had dozens of flies instantly. The hack was to cover your tray with your napkin. It was annoying, but it worked. Everyone complained about the flies (rightfully so). Day 2 was the complete opposite of Day 1 and I feel like everyone is going to focus on their Day 1 experience. Instead of having open buffets of food, they covered everything and served you. They put in giant fans near the food stations and these little things on tables that spun around. I also heard--not sure if it's true---they bombed the shit out of the area after we left. We did not see a single fly on Day 2. Upon returning, apparently Princess, who also has a destination on Euleuthra, also has a problem with flies seasonally. Disney should have done their research there. But the problem seemed to be fixed.
The food and drinks were great though. We had the Eleuthera Euphoria I think it's called, in the pineapple and my husband and daughter preferred it to the Konk Kooler...that's not gonna happen for me. We also had the Spicy Watermelon something. That was pretty amazing. Lots of bars, lots of food locations. Disney did well here.
More complaints we heard was that it looked more like Arizona than the Bahamas. I don't think people understand that you can't just plant fully grown lush landscaping. It has to grow. It can take years. People just complain and complain to hear themselves complain. It was all very beautiful and well thought out. The area needs another 6 months before it's totally ready and years before it's lush like Castaway Cay. There was still a lot of construction on the road from the tram station to the resort area.
I think it's going to be a wonderful place to visit in 6 months to a year. I'd go back. I already was looking to go back in August to bring other daughter. I don't think they were fully ready for guests, but I think that's typical Disney at this point. The people of Eleuthera are wonderful, I'm happy that they get to show people about their culture.