DixieDreamer
Instant Human
- Joined
- Jan 20, 2001
- Messages
- 2,942
<bgsound src="http://www.lyonfamilywdw.com/EnyaMidis/onlyifb.mid"loop="2">
Let me introduce ourselves. There is my DH Greg (age 44), my DD Lindsay (aka as Bullseye_Girl age 10), and myself (I really am 39!). This is our third year of doing a Disney vacation. This spring, my family and I spent two days at WDW prior to our 7 day cruise on the Disney Magic. We stayed at the Swan for our two days prior to the cruise. It was our first time at this resort and we really enjoyed it. The convenience of being next to Epcot and MGM was a real plus. In our two days prior to the cruise we managed to get to Epcot for one full day, AK for most of the second day, and we wrapped up our last day with an evening at MGM. I am going to post some pictures and highlights of the first two days (WDW) on this board, and then will post pics and highlights of the cruise on the cruise board. I will add links to these posts as I get them done! So are you ready to share in our first day?! Then read on!
We traveled on the red eye from Washington state to Florida. The idea was to sleep on the plane and arrive early on Thursday morning (March 28th) and have a full day in Epcot. We arrived at the Swan at about 9 am on Thursday morning. We got registered and had the bell captain hold our luggage as we then headed off to Epcot. As we hurried through the lobby, I had to capture a picture of the beautiful swan fountains.
<center><IMG width="640" height="480" SRC="http://www.lyonfamilywdw.com/DCL_WDW/DCL_Swanfountain.JPG"></center>
Since Futureworld at Epcot was scheduled to open at 10 am, we decided to walk to the Boardwalk area and have some breakfast.
<center><IMG width="640" height="480" SRC="http://www.lyonfamilywdw.com/DCL_WDW/DCL_boardwalk.JPG"></center>
We enjoyed breakfast at the bakery on the boardwalk. It was a gorgeous day and it is always fun to just slow down - savoring the Disney atmosphere. After breakfast, we caught a Friendship at the Boardwalk pier and headed to Epcot.
<center><IMG width="640" height="480" SRC="http://www.lyonfamilywdw.com/DCL_WDW/DCL_Friendship.JPG"></center>
The Friendship boats take you from the Epcot resorts (Swan/Dolphin, Yacht and Beach Clubs, and Boardwalk) to both Epcot and MGM. They are a fun alternative to the Disney buses, but you can also walk to Epcot very easily. The boats take you to the International Gateway at Epcot.
<center><IMG width="640" height="480" SRC="http://www.lyonfamilywdw.com/DCL_WDW/DCL_intgateway.JPG"></center>
There is nothing like stepping into Epcot and looking up at Spaceship Earth! It is a tradition in our family to go to Epcot our first day and to ALWAYS ride Spaceship Earth first! It is a great start to the vacation.
<center><IMG width="640" height="480" SRC="http://www.lyonfamilywdw.com/DCL_WDW/DCL_Epcotball.JPG"></center>
<center><IMG width="640" height="480" SRC="http://www.lyonfamilywdw.com/DCL_WDW/DCL_Epcotballhand.JPG"></center>
We spent the morning and early afternoon in Futureworld. Most of our time was spent at Imagination! Ice Station Cool, Spaceship Earth, and Innoventions.
<center><IMG width="640" height="480" SRC="http://www.lyonfamilywdw.com/DCL_WDW/DCL_Epcotimagination.JPG"></center>
On a hot day (which it definitely was!), the fountains are a refreshing place to rest and relax. The fountain show (set to music) is really wonderful to watch from a shady bench!
<center><IMG width="640" height="480" SRC="http://www.lyonfamilywdw.com/DCL_WDW/DCL_Epcotfountain.JPG"></center>
While walking along the way, the Character bus came rolling by. I was able to capture a pic as they passed by us.
<center><IMG width="640" height="480" SRC="http://www.lyonfamilywdw.com/DCL_WDW/DCL_Epcotcharbus1.JPG"></center>
We enjoyed a late lunch at the Rose and Crown in World Showcase - sitting out on the patio area. The lunches are just as large as dinner, and the crowds are a lot less! I highly recommend having two large meals a day - making a late lunch one of them.
After a full morning and afternoon of playing.... the redeye flight and lack of sleep caught up with us... so we walked back to the Swan and finished checking in to our room, swam in the pool, and took a short nap. The ease of access to the resort was wonderful. The large pool of the Swan/Dolphin is very nice and despite the large late afternoon crowd... there was room for everyone. Taking your shoes off, getting wet, and laying horizontal for a while, does a world of good to perk up a flagging crew! After we were rested and cooled off, we headed back to Epcot via the Friendship to snack our way around the world (in lieu of dinner since we ate such a large and late lunch) and to watch Tapestry of Dreams and Illuminations. I tried my first Beaver Tail at Canada. It was every bit as good as everyone said they were! We then found our spot to watch the parade and the Illuminations show. I tried using a nighttime setting on my camera for these pictures - so the images are kind of a timelapsed thing... which are interesting... but not what I was expecting!
<center><IMG width="640" height="480" SRC="http://www.lyonfamilywdw.com/DCL_WDW/DCL_EpcotTOD1.JPG"></center>
<center><IMG width="640" height="480" SRC="http://www.lyonfamilywdw.com/DCL_WDW/DCL_EpcotTOD2.JPG"></center>
<center><IMG width="640" height="480" SRC="http://www.lyonfamilywdw.com/DCL_WDW/DCL_EpcotTOD3.JPG"></center>
<center><IMG width="640" height="480" SRC="http://www.lyonfamilywdw.com/DCL_WDW/DCL_EpcotTOD4.JPG"></center>
I was too busy enjoying Illuminations to take any pictures (sorry!). We ended our first day by taking the Friendship boat back to the Swan and getting a full night of sleep (much needed after the all night flight). I hope you enjoyed the highlights and pics from our first day. I will post our second day soon... and add a link to this page as well.
Here's the link to day two:
A Day at Animal Kingdom
(Editing to add a link to the first Cruise report)
All Aboard the Disney MAGIC!
Let me introduce ourselves. There is my DH Greg (age 44), my DD Lindsay (aka as Bullseye_Girl age 10), and myself (I really am 39!). This is our third year of doing a Disney vacation. This spring, my family and I spent two days at WDW prior to our 7 day cruise on the Disney Magic. We stayed at the Swan for our two days prior to the cruise. It was our first time at this resort and we really enjoyed it. The convenience of being next to Epcot and MGM was a real plus. In our two days prior to the cruise we managed to get to Epcot for one full day, AK for most of the second day, and we wrapped up our last day with an evening at MGM. I am going to post some pictures and highlights of the first two days (WDW) on this board, and then will post pics and highlights of the cruise on the cruise board. I will add links to these posts as I get them done! So are you ready to share in our first day?! Then read on!
We traveled on the red eye from Washington state to Florida. The idea was to sleep on the plane and arrive early on Thursday morning (March 28th) and have a full day in Epcot. We arrived at the Swan at about 9 am on Thursday morning. We got registered and had the bell captain hold our luggage as we then headed off to Epcot. As we hurried through the lobby, I had to capture a picture of the beautiful swan fountains.
<center><IMG width="640" height="480" SRC="http://www.lyonfamilywdw.com/DCL_WDW/DCL_Swanfountain.JPG"></center>
Since Futureworld at Epcot was scheduled to open at 10 am, we decided to walk to the Boardwalk area and have some breakfast.
<center><IMG width="640" height="480" SRC="http://www.lyonfamilywdw.com/DCL_WDW/DCL_boardwalk.JPG"></center>
We enjoyed breakfast at the bakery on the boardwalk. It was a gorgeous day and it is always fun to just slow down - savoring the Disney atmosphere. After breakfast, we caught a Friendship at the Boardwalk pier and headed to Epcot.
<center><IMG width="640" height="480" SRC="http://www.lyonfamilywdw.com/DCL_WDW/DCL_Friendship.JPG"></center>
The Friendship boats take you from the Epcot resorts (Swan/Dolphin, Yacht and Beach Clubs, and Boardwalk) to both Epcot and MGM. They are a fun alternative to the Disney buses, but you can also walk to Epcot very easily. The boats take you to the International Gateway at Epcot.
<center><IMG width="640" height="480" SRC="http://www.lyonfamilywdw.com/DCL_WDW/DCL_intgateway.JPG"></center>
There is nothing like stepping into Epcot and looking up at Spaceship Earth! It is a tradition in our family to go to Epcot our first day and to ALWAYS ride Spaceship Earth first! It is a great start to the vacation.
<center><IMG width="640" height="480" SRC="http://www.lyonfamilywdw.com/DCL_WDW/DCL_Epcotball.JPG"></center>
<center><IMG width="640" height="480" SRC="http://www.lyonfamilywdw.com/DCL_WDW/DCL_Epcotballhand.JPG"></center>
We spent the morning and early afternoon in Futureworld. Most of our time was spent at Imagination! Ice Station Cool, Spaceship Earth, and Innoventions.
<center><IMG width="640" height="480" SRC="http://www.lyonfamilywdw.com/DCL_WDW/DCL_Epcotimagination.JPG"></center>
On a hot day (which it definitely was!), the fountains are a refreshing place to rest and relax. The fountain show (set to music) is really wonderful to watch from a shady bench!
<center><IMG width="640" height="480" SRC="http://www.lyonfamilywdw.com/DCL_WDW/DCL_Epcotfountain.JPG"></center>
While walking along the way, the Character bus came rolling by. I was able to capture a pic as they passed by us.
<center><IMG width="640" height="480" SRC="http://www.lyonfamilywdw.com/DCL_WDW/DCL_Epcotcharbus1.JPG"></center>
We enjoyed a late lunch at the Rose and Crown in World Showcase - sitting out on the patio area. The lunches are just as large as dinner, and the crowds are a lot less! I highly recommend having two large meals a day - making a late lunch one of them.
After a full morning and afternoon of playing.... the redeye flight and lack of sleep caught up with us... so we walked back to the Swan and finished checking in to our room, swam in the pool, and took a short nap. The ease of access to the resort was wonderful. The large pool of the Swan/Dolphin is very nice and despite the large late afternoon crowd... there was room for everyone. Taking your shoes off, getting wet, and laying horizontal for a while, does a world of good to perk up a flagging crew! After we were rested and cooled off, we headed back to Epcot via the Friendship to snack our way around the world (in lieu of dinner since we ate such a large and late lunch) and to watch Tapestry of Dreams and Illuminations. I tried my first Beaver Tail at Canada. It was every bit as good as everyone said they were! We then found our spot to watch the parade and the Illuminations show. I tried using a nighttime setting on my camera for these pictures - so the images are kind of a timelapsed thing... which are interesting... but not what I was expecting!
<center><IMG width="640" height="480" SRC="http://www.lyonfamilywdw.com/DCL_WDW/DCL_EpcotTOD1.JPG"></center>
<center><IMG width="640" height="480" SRC="http://www.lyonfamilywdw.com/DCL_WDW/DCL_EpcotTOD2.JPG"></center>
<center><IMG width="640" height="480" SRC="http://www.lyonfamilywdw.com/DCL_WDW/DCL_EpcotTOD3.JPG"></center>
<center><IMG width="640" height="480" SRC="http://www.lyonfamilywdw.com/DCL_WDW/DCL_EpcotTOD4.JPG"></center>
I was too busy enjoying Illuminations to take any pictures (sorry!). We ended our first day by taking the Friendship boat back to the Swan and getting a full night of sleep (much needed after the all night flight). I hope you enjoyed the highlights and pics from our first day. I will post our second day soon... and add a link to this page as well.
Here's the link to day two:
A Day at Animal Kingdom
(Editing to add a link to the first Cruise report)
All Aboard the Disney MAGIC!
