This is Magical, this is Horrific, and this is Epic! TR 8/27-9/7/25, Trip synopsis 12/7*

Hi Everyone,

RL update about my Thanksgiving trip
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First of all I am going, yay 😃 I did not cancel. :thumbsup2

Today was FP$$ day. :dancer:

I arrive late Tuesday evening with a one night stay at AS Sports 🏈 I requested a room in the Hoops section on a higher floor so we shall see.
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Wednesday, I will head over to Universal Studios and Islands to look at the Christmas Decorations, find Earl the Squirrel in the tree, check out the Christmas tribute store, and most importantly pick up my Grinch magnet and pin! I plan to head back to Disney late afternoon and check into the Swan. My first stay here!

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Hopefully my room will be ready. Oh no, I just realized I will need to store my luggage at AS Sports or go to the Swan in the morning with my luggage ugh 😣 I didn’t even think about the fact that The Swan isn’t part of Disney so luggage transfer is not a thing. Oh well, I think I can add one stop with my Lyft driver so I will have him stop at The Swan to drop off my luggage before heading to Universal Studios.

Wednesday evening will be a visit to AK. There are extra evening hours at AK on Wednesday. I’m really excited to see AK at night and ride Dinosaur. I didn’t make any FP$$ for today. I have a goal to see all the parks in the evening except MK, not as important to me.

Thanksgiving Day, I plan to start at MK. I have FP$$ for PPF, HM, and PotC. I will have lunch with Stacy at Crystal Palace. I am wearing my Pooh and Friends sweater for the meal. I plan to head to DHS for the evening to see the park at night. I want to try and get a few FP$$ at DHS for the night.
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Friday, I plan on spending time in Epcot, it is the first day of the Festival of the Holidays! I imagine it will be a very busy park. I have FP$$ for Remy, LwtL, and Soarin. I hope to see Stacy again for a drink or a ride at Epcot.
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I will probably go over to MK later afternoon. There is a party this evening so I will leave at 6pm and check out the monorail resorts before heading back to the Swan.

Saturday, is AK, I have FP$$ for Dinosaur, Zootopia, FoP, and Safari. This evening I will spend time at the Epcot resorts checking out the Christmas decorations.

Sunday, is MK with FP$$ for Jingle Cruise, HM, PoTC. This is a party day so hopefully it won’t be too crowded.

My evening will be checking out Epcot at night. My plan is to get a FP$$ for LwtL at night. I tossed around going to DS at some point on the trip, and it is not ranking very high on my to do list. Just too crowded for me!

Monday is my last day. My flight leaves at 6:20pm so I plan on DHS in the morning with FP$$ for MMRR, TSMM, and ToT. I plan to end my day at Epcot with a few more Holiday treats before heading home!

I’m really excited for my solo time and taking in all the Christmas decorations. My focus will be on the little things and not rushing from one thing to another. I have absolutely no dining plans except for the one meal with Stacy. Much different than my trip in October with the BFP, haha 😂.

I think that is it! I leave one week from today!
Sounds like a fun trip! Safe travels and have a great time!
 
A little synopsis of my Thanksgiving trip.

Hi Everyone!

I’m back from my latest trip! I arrived back home early Tuesday morning due to a flight delay from Minneapolis to Duluth. In bed at 2:30 am about 2.5 hours later than scheduled. I didn’t work Tuesday, thank goodness. Joe had to work and only slept 3 hours before heading off to work.

I also had to change my departure, on the fly, at the beginning of the trip! I had to leave a day earlier because of our winter weather forecast. I am really glad I did because we had our first big snowfall and 45mph winds, on the day I was to leave, yuck 🤢

I spent 2 nights at AS Sports. Really nice stay here, clean room with yes liquid soap and lotion now in the bathroom!

Quiet location in the Hoops Hotel area on the 3rd floor facing trees, perfect for me!

I spent time at DS and Epcot on my “extra” day, loved this.

I also went over to US and IOA on Wednesday. I mainly spent time checking out the decorations, Christmas tribute store, and butter beer ice cream!

I did spend an evening in each park at WDW except for MK so that goal was met!

The weather was excellent, with one cold day, mostly chilly because of the winds. It was still 64 out.

I only had one Dis meet this trip despite several other Disers being at the parks. I said hello to Stacy on Thanksgiving Day. I didn’t eat with her at Crystal Palace but it was nice to say hi 👋

I loved my solo trip. I spent time doing what I wanted to do!

I moved to The Swan for 5 nights as a first timer here. I really liked it but not as much as Disney rooms. I thought the bed, pillows, and room heating and cooling not as comfortable as the Disney resorts! The buses are separate from Disney. I used the bus for AK and walked to YC for MK buses.
The staff at the Swan, awesome. I could see ToT from my room. I was on the 7th floor! I walked everywhere within the hotel, such as Epcot, DHS, and The Boardwalk area. This was awesome. I averaged 23-25,000 steps a day all by myself haha 😂

I went to most all deluxe resorts to see the Christmas gingerbread displays. I went to AKL, WL, GF, CR, BWI, BC, YC, and the Swan.

I went to all 4 parks multiple times, rode dinosaur 3x, watched the new Zootopia (meh to me) Bugs Life was way better in my opinion and I love Zootopia!

I saw the Magical Menagerie twice and did all the rides I wanted to several times! I made great use of FP$$ getting up to 6-8 more rides after my initial 3. I did EH for deluxe guests at AK from 6-8pm, this was lovely. I enjoyed Nomad Lounge before the EH started! I rode FoP, NRJ, Dinox2 during the extra hours!

I ate like a little kid, haha, I usually had one kids meal a day or snacks around the world. It was perfect. I snacked on popcorn and candy in the evening. I did not spend much $$$ on food at all this trip.

I did the cookie stroll and got my completer prize a cute spatula and some M&Ms.

I also did LwtL 2x at night and 1x during the day! Absolutely magical!

I didn’t do any add on parties this trip.

What I would like to say, to all of you debating a solo trip, just do it! I had the best time, it was magical and full of Christmas vibes every where!

This was a definitely a favorite trip of mine, up there in the top 5 of recent trips!

Here are a few pictures of my wonderful trip!!

Epcot and LwTL
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A meet with Elphaba and Glinda at Universal. I loved this!
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DHS at night
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AK at night in Dino Land and Magical Menagerie
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The Swan at night walking back from DHS, lovely
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MK PP
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I got so many more pictures and shared on Facebook and Instagram. Everything during this time of year is so picturesque!
I hope everyone has a wonderful Holiday season!:love:
 
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I looks like a fantastic trip. There is so much to see at Christmas! The Swan is a great location. We always do a lot of walking when we stay at an Epcot resort.

Will you ever stay at the Swan again? My sister stayed at the Dolphin once but doesn't plan to return.
 


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