Spring Fling - 4/11 - 4/22

[ElizaDoesDisney]

Some of my crazy family members did a ten mile run. I slept in. All niece wanted to do is go to pool so that’s our plan for the day. She’s loving the slide. Adults went to Cabana Bar at Dolphin pool for lunch. Surprisingly good food for a pool bar.

I had a hibiscus cooler.


And chicken fingers with waffle fries. A “kids” meal sort of, but this is my must have every trip meal. Love them.

 

[2xcited2sleep]

I'm with you. I enjoy fine dining, but sometimes it's chicken fingers and waffle fries that hits the spot!

 

[ElizaDoesDisney]

Literally the only way we got niece out of the pool was the fact that a thunder storm was rolling in and they closed all the pools. She had so much fun. As far as I’m concerned that makes the trip a success.

After the storm passed we grabbed a dinner reservation at Trattoria Al Forno.

I had the basil lemon drop.


We shared calamari and arancini as starters - both top notch.


Bread service - I loved the garlic infused oil.


I had the chicken parm which was very good. Crispy chicken, fresh pasta, what’s not to love.



I failed to get pictures of everyone else’s dinners - lasagna, shrimp pappardelle, and truffle gnocchi. The tiny human ordered a pepperoni pizza and when given the option for two sides chose buttered noodles and marinara noodles. Apparently she’s carbo loading. Which is probably needed since she went up and down the water slide a billionty times today.

For dessert mom had tiramisu


Sister had pistachio gelato. Which was a huge serving. At~$6 it might be the best ice cream deal on Disney property.


We got an issue with moms ticket sorted with the help of the Disney planning folks at the Swan. And then decided to visit Swan reserve for an after dinner drink at Stirs. Mom had a wine and I went with “Modern Grape” which the bartender described as a fancy vodka soda. That’s so my jam. This was a very well balanced cocktail.


Caught most of EPCOT fireworks from Swolphin beach. Not quire MK fireworks from Poly beach level but still a great way to end the night.

 

[2xcited2sleep]

That grape drink over at Swan Reserve is sooooo good. Definitely worth making a trip over just for that! Though once I'm there, tough to resist the potato leek flatbread. The basil lemon drop sounds intriguing and everything at Trattoria looks delicious! Love a good chicken parm!

 

[starousse]

Loving your report.

 

[ElizaDoesDisney]

Boring work day. Latte from fuel this AM and leftovers from Trattoria Al Forno for lunch. Most of family went to MK for the morning, braving the thunderstorms. And some hung out at the resort hitting the arcade and relaxing.

After work day ended I went to EPCOT with my mom, aunt, and uncle. Started in France with La Vie en Rose slushies.


Wandered around World showcase to Mexico where we had the Chip Trio and a round of margaritas. Cucumber for me.


Rode Soarin. Then stopped at Honey Bee-stro where we tried almost everything.

Chicken and waffles - excellent


Flat bread - good, but not as good as the other items.


Cheesecake - excellent. Met up with cousin and her family at this point and the boys (3 and 5) graciously helped us eat this one.


Adult cobbler freeze - good and surprisingly strong.


Lemonade mead - sweet but refreshing. Somehow. Kind of reminded me of drinking rose wine.


Watched the fireworks. Tried to ride Remy but it was down and everyone too tired to hike back across park for Guardians, so headed back to resort.

Also wanted to mention that I didn’t try any of the food so can’t personally comment, but some of the family had lunch at Rosa Mexicano and really enjoyed it. Looking forward to trying it myself at some point.

 

[ElizaDoesDisney]

This working from the room while everyone is at the parks thing is the pits. I'm ready to retire. My bank account tells me to keep working though. A (mostly) boring food day: latte at Fuel in the AM, grab and go sandwich from Fuel at lunch, and random food from cabanas at the pool for dinner. Last one was the best - mostly because swimming with the nibblings was so much fun.

As the tiny humans were being put to bed, my mom and I snuck off to the bar at Flying Fish.

Pomegranate martini for me.


Pink Drink for mom


Cheese Plate - Very good. I love that they serve some interesting cheeses. The gouda was my favorite. But the blue plus some honeycomb was also divine.


Despite saying we were just here for cocktails and an appetizer, the super-nice bartenders brought bread and butter which were sublime.



Watched EPCOT fireworks from Swolphin beach and then joined some family for room drinks and card games.

 

[2xcited2sleep]

I was going to say yesterday that I was in awe of your ability to focus on work while knowing your fam was out enjoying the parks/pools. Good to know you're human. Flying Fish bar and bartenders are the greatest. Was it Bill, by any chance? No contest, my favorite spot to sit at the bar and have dinner. The best. But don't tell too many people!

 

[ElizaDoesDisney]

Had time for an actual lunch break today and got to try Rosa Mexicano. It was very good and great to have another option in Swolphin.

I had the tempura shrimp tacos - very good shrimp with just a small kick of spice.


Sister ordered chopped cheese alambre tacos. And I’m glad she did because we swapped a taco - these were excellent and I never would have picked them off the menu. “Certified ground angus beef, bacon, quest, poblano, tomato, onion, lettuce, ketchup, charred jalapeño Mayo, flour tortilla.” Honestly it sounds kind of disgusting but was amazingly good.


Dinner tonight at Hoop Dee Doo! Got there a bit early so grabbed a mule from Crockett’s Tavern walk up window and hung out on the beach.

 

[ElizaDoesDisney]

I was going to say yesterday that I was in awe of your ability to focus on work while knowing your fam was out enjoying the parks/pools. Good to know you're human. Flying Fish bar and bartenders are the greatest. Was it Bill, by any chance? No contest, my favorite spot to sit at the bar and have dinner. The best. But don't tell too many people!

I did good for a couple of days, but the FOMO is real. I couldn’t take this week off because of a project I’m on, but I’m ahead of schedule enough to take tomorrow off to venture to Magic Kingdom with my niece and the extended family.

And it was Bill and Austin on bar last night - they were fantastic.

 

[ElizaDoesDisney]

Hoop Dee Doo is so much fun. Kiddos are just a little too young for it - so for this trip we did the late show as an adults only outing. Pictures are pretty bad - but that’s what happens when you give me unlimited Yeungling. Food was standard HDD. First round of chicken/ribs was pretty meh. But we still shoveled it in and when the second round came it was so much better. Mashed potatoes and macaroni and cheese were the crowd pleasers. This is an every big family trip must for us.

 

[2xcited2sleep]

I haven't done Hoop since I was a kid (we're talking probably 35+ years ago) and I've been thinking it might be time for a re-do. Glad to hear that you enjoyed Rosa Mexicano. I'm looking forward to trying it and agree it's great to have another option in that resort area, especially for lunch.

 

[brewhome]

Love your report! I’ve often thought of just taking a week or so for myself to work remotely and hit the parks in the evenings, winging it for meals… I think it would be hard to concentrate on work, though, knowing all that’s outside of the hotel just waiting for me!

 

[Betsyp]

Wow, those tacos look amazing. I had the chicken tacos tonight at Rosa, and they where tiny, shriveled, boring things..,I had much better at Smiling Crocodile at AK in November. My nephew didn’t love his short ribs, and his GF hated her birria, so it was a bad experience for us. Glad you had a very different one !

 

[ElizaDoesDisney]

Wow, those tacos look amazing. I had the chicken tacos tonight at Rosa, and they where tiny, shriveled, boring things..,I had much better at Smiling Crocodile at AK in November. My nephew didn’t love his short ribs, and his GF hated her birria, so it was a bad experience for us. Glad you had a very different one !

That's so disappointing to hear. I ended up going twice and various configurations of my family went a few other times for lunch and/or margaritas at the bar and were happy with all of the experiences. Hope your experience was a fluke and not a sign that things are already heading downhill there.

 

[ElizaDoesDisney]

I lost track of this report somehow (possibly cocktail related) - I had two more days at Disney after I stopped posting. Need to go back to my pictures and see if I can recreate those days.