Live from the Swan (March 15th, day two)

[happymommy]

Hi everyone! I never post trip reports really, but wanted to say hi from the Swan. I am down here with the kids (DH is home for this trip). My mom is coming in a couple of days to join us.

We got in yesterday morning at about 10am, after a very pleasant flight on Southwest. We had a town car service pick us up (I'm not allowed to mention their name here, but like this one, although I'm sure they are all mostly nice).

His car was waiting, and we only had carry on bags, so we were off in minutes. I liked this much better than the Magical Express we tried in December. I know ME is free (but it isn't an option for the Swan anyway), but this was so much nicer for the kids.

Stopped at Publix for water (on sale for $2.99 a case) and juice, some snacks,

laundry soap, shampoo, and the sort, and got checked in and into the room by 11.

We are in a resort view with balcony room. It was nice and clean, and we have a

view of the boat launch. I like that they got rid of the mini bars in the Swan. You have a "menu" of things that they will stock the fridge with if you want.

We had a quick lunch in the room while I got us unpacked, then headed off to DHS. I had bought a loaf of bread and some cheese, so DD had a cheese sandwich. DS had some sushi from Publix, which was really good. That was some nice down time.

At DHS we went on Toy Story Mania, after getting my son's GAC. That was it for the studios. They were pretty busy with the cheerleaders there, but it wasn't too bad for crowds. Those parents of the cheerleaders must be so busy!

Headed to Epcot for some snacks in Japan, then went on Test Track, wandered Innoventions for forever, saw Figment, then headed back in the early evening.

Our room is very quiet. I do like the Swan, as it was really quiet last time we stayed here also. The beds are okay. We have something sticky on the carpet (I think it's candy or something), so I called down and they are going to clean the carpet while we're out today. Hope that helps. Otherwise, I have no complaints. We're gold members, and staying on points, so really I don't mind the resort fee. My son and I like having internet here. The starbucks coffee in the room is very good! It's nice to have a real cup of coffee in the morning! It's not the regular type coffee maker; it's the kind that makes one cup at a time. That's much more sanitary than those glass carafes.

I may try to post a picture, but I'm not sure how to (this is my son's laptop). But the room pretty much looks the same as all the others. The tv is the new flat kind.

Epcot seemed like normal crowds yesterday. Everyone was headed to WS when we were leaving, as it was 7 (FW was closing). It wasn't bad at all.

If anyone has any questions about either the hotel or the parks, I'll check back tonight!

 

[shellbelle]

Thanks for posting! I love live reports.

Can't wait to read more. b

 

[happymommy]

been busy!

My mom came over from Naples and stayed with me and the children for two nights. It was comfy for that amount of time.

The Swan has been really nice. The customer service is the same - very good!

Some changes I noticed:

At Starlight Ray's Cosmic Cafe in the Magic Kingdom, the veggie burger isn't a Boca Burger anymore. We all liked this place in December, but it was just edible today.

We had a late lunch (early dinner) yesterday at the studios at the Sci Fi. My DD was celebrating her birthday and the kids wanted to eat here.

The menu is a bit different than is posted on allears.net. They don't mention the burger at lunch (but that is a given - they've had one for a while I think). The onion ring appetizer is 9.99 I think now. Well, everything we had was great. My mom and son had the burger and fries, daughter had the kids meal (even though she turned 10, they didn't care) and I had the rueben with onion rings instead of fries. I feel as if I've gained 5 pounds! It was all great. We rolled out of there...

The American Idol show is so fun! I definitely recommend it! My mom loved it.

I am so much more busy than I thought I'd be, so don't know how much else I can post.

Oh, but we should have known to AVOID Epcot on St. Patrick's Day (they also had EMH in the morning). I thought we could just spend a little while there in the late morning yesterday. It was very crowded. I should have known,. It's really a beer drinking holiday, and so Epcot was crowded. The fastpass return line for Test Track was so long we just skipped it.

The Swan room is still nice, and I wish we didn't have to leave in two days. My mom is now convinced this is the nicest area of Disney (it's my favorite).

 

[DWFan4Life]

Wow, this would be a great report. Looking forward in hearing more from you.

Have a nice day.

 

[happymommy]

Thanks!

I have to say the nicest thing here is the service. We got our room turned down last night, and they left chocolates. My DD liked that!

We went on Mission Space (green line) last night, and that was fun.

The Starbucks in the room is really good! Nice to have real coffee in the morning.

We are getting a late start this morning after a late night. Very late! We got back after 10 and I made us ramen for a snack. I am glad to have the hot pot in the room, but am very careful about it.

We ate at Kimono's last night, as my DS loves sushi (he's not a cheap date). It was good, not great, but definitely good. I had thought you get a discount (10 percent?) for having AAA, but they said that it's only AAA Diamond members. Then the waitress was really nice - she came back with some discount coupon book for me, and gave me 20% off. That was so nice - I just added the 20% back on for her tip. I'm going to email Mary from Mousesavers to let her know - maybe it's a new change.

Off to Animal Kingdom today - we'll probably get there about lunchtime knowing us.

 

[mickeystoontown]

Subscribing! I love reading trip reports.

 

[happymommy]

Sorry, I'm back. We had a good time - had a lot of down time. The kids slept 12 hours some nights! The check out day we had a pick up at 1:15, so we slept in, hung out and packed up leisurely, then got a bite at Pikabu's for lunch (20% AAA discount - why didn't we eat here more?)

But if you have any specific questions about the Swan, please ask away!

It was such a last minute trip, but we really enjoyed the Swan and Disney.

The last full day, we spent from noon until 7pm close at DAK. It was really not crowded at all. We rode Dinosaur (twice), Primeval Whirl (yikes), Expedition Everest, the safari, saw It's tough to be a bug, played the carnival games (a lot) and won about a dozen stuffed animals (like we needed them), and had a nice time. We ate at the Yak and Yeti counter service again - it isn't bad - I liked the egg rolls and the noodles. My DD liked the fried rice. We also ate at Restaurantasaurus. There were lots of free tables - at noon!

I do think now it's good to avoid the parks with EMH's. It works for us.

I really liked the Swan!