Live From The Swan!

[rispoli]

Hello everyone, my family and I are at the Swan this week. We arrived yesterday morning. I am planning on doing my first trip report when we get back but I just wanted to let everyone know that it is great here! The crowds are not bad if you know what you are doing. It looks like rain this morning so we are adjusting our plans.

We started yesterday at Epcot, fastpassed Soarin and then did Spaceship Earth. Visited some countries and then took a nap.

After the nap we went back to Epcot for dinner at France, we saw Remi which was great.. he really looks real and the kids loved it. The food was great, and this was our first time there.

After dinner we jumped on a boat to Hollywood Studios and close the park after doing Tower and the movie ride. Toy Story was the only ride with a long stand by... it was great being there at night with no crowds.

Actually, I should give some background. We have been to Disney many times and love the boardwalk area.. this is a first for Swan. We decided last minute to go on a spring break trip since we have never done it. We were thinking about going to an island but after researching decided to just do Disney since we know what to expect.

We are here until Friday.. and are not in any hurry to get anything done since we are coming back in June for 10 days at WL for 3 and BWV for 7.

We were planning on going to AK today but since it is going to rain we may wait until this afternoon since the storm is suppose to pass by then. We are also planning on closing MK tonight. We have never closed any parks in all the years we have gone so are planning on doing it every night this week.

If you have any questions please let me know, i'll try and post again later today.

 

[zbraunj]

I want to know how much you can fit in the mini fridge at the Swan. Also, did you get a room upgrade?
Is it true you get 20% off food at the restaurants with a AAA card?

I'm staying at the Swan in 2+ weeks. Can't wait.

Thanks for your report!

 

[rispoli]

Hey zbraunj,
The mini fridge is not very big, you can fit some basics in it, water, milk, eggs, etc. I did not get an upgrade, then again I did not ask even though we are starwood members.
The hotel seems fairly busy so there may not of been one available. I do not know about the AAA card, but if i remember I will ask the next time we eat at the hotel, which may be breakfast Thursday morning.

 

[rispoli]

It rained most of today. We ate breakfast at the Garden Grove Cafe in the Swan. It is a buffet with good food but a little pricey... the main reason for ating there was because while eating there yesterday we met a very nice waitress, Shirley. She is very Grandmotherly and we enjoy her quite a bit.

While eating breakfast around 10am it stormed with some thunder, so afterwards we explored the Dolphin and visited the Arcade. It did stop about 11am so we got on a bus to AK. After about 5 stops we finally got to AK and it was pouring! We got off the bus, hung out for a few minutes and then got right back on another bus back to the Swan. Not a good experience.

We then hung out in the room (I fell asleep since I was up at 5:30 this morning) Once my wife finally woke me up, we jumped on to a bus to Epcot in the rain. We purchased ponchos and umbrellas which helped. After having lunch at Japen in the quick service place, we go on Spaceship Earth and Living with the Land, which I think lost alot of it's 'attraction' without a live person. Soarin was a 90 minute standby with no fast passes. We finally jumped on a boat to HS did Star Tours visited my favorite coffee shop, played in the Toy Story Arcade and then had dinner at Mama Melrose. I was not to impressed with my chicken parm but my daughters liked their pasta and calamari. After hitting TOT and the movie ride we headed back to the hotel about 9:30.

The rain did let up about 5 or 6pm but the wind was really blowing.

The crowds at Epcot were not bad due to the weather as well as at HS because of visiting later in the day.

It's suppose to be nice tomorrow and we have an 8:05am ADR at Crystal Palace and a 2:30 lunch at Tony's. I'll try and post tomorrow...

 

[toledo13]

I LOVE LOVE the Swan. I'm so obsessed, that I bought shower gel from the body shop that smells like the lobby. Horrible, I know! Hope you have a great trip! I suggest eating at Il Mulino- it's one of our favorites!

 

[rispoli]

Magic Kingdom!

Yesterday we spent 16 hours at MK and weather was great! We started at 7:30am with an ADR at Crystal Palace for 8am. It was a nice breakfast. The characters came quickly to our table. The food was ok, just average. We then hit Buzz Lightyear, Space Mountain, Haunted Mansion, SnowWhite, Small World, Splash Mountain and more. The crowds were not bad in the morning but by noon it started getting very busy.

We ate lunch at Tony's for the first time and we loved it. The food was good and we enjoyed it much more the Mama Melrose.

After lunch we took a quick nap back at the Swan and then headed back to MK about dinner time. One downside to the Swan is the busses. We are not use to waiting for them and they seemed to take an awful long time. Also, it amazes me how many strollers there are and if you are not careful you will get run over.

It was alot more crowded after dinner then earlier, but the wait times were not bad considering the crowds. After the 9pm parade it thinned out some and then after wishes it really thinned out. We stayed for the 11pm specto parade and really liked it. After walking thru some shops we headed back to the Swan.

It was a great day, and looking forward to AK today. Although I am still waiting for the 'girls' to get ready...