Trip Report "BROOM BROOM!" A trip from a DIFFERENT perspective

Introduction

WARNING: The first three posts will be very text-heavy. I promise there will be many photos after that!

We just got back from another wonderful trip! We attended the Flower and Garden Festival, enjoyed much food and beverage, celebrated a birthday, visited family, and had a fabulous time! This trip was different from all previous trips for one significant reason, which will be revealed later.

WHO: Bee (me) and M (my DW)...and surprise guests
WHERE: The WDW Swan, with a quick trip to visit M's parents in Jacksonville
WHEN: May 22-27, 2018
WHY: To celebrate M's birthday, to enjoy one last trip before our APs expire, and...because we wanted to go!

The original version of this trip was to occur in July to take advantage of M having PTO for July 4. It was all booked and ready to go, and we were able to use points for half of the flights and a third of the hotel nights. However, I got offered an ensemble role in The Hunchback of Notre Dame in New Jersey in July shortly after we booked the original trip, so we had to adjust our plans.

And here is the PTR link: One La-ast Ti-ime (Another Swolphin Sandwich!) (This time with POINTS!)

To be continued

 

[bee]

Yes it appears I even commented it on it then..........


Apparently I need to get my you-know-what to Flying Fish!

Apparently! I think you'd enjoy it, and I know you'd enjoy the TiW discount!

I’m late, but caught up. So glad you’re ok and got to enjoy your Disney vacation. Fires are scary. Super Bee forever!
Loving all the vegetarian food options. We’re going in December with my vegetarian sister. She is also allergic to cow milk, eggs and gluten. Here’s hoping Disney can feed her! We keep joking that we can just fill ziploc bags with quinoa so she has something to eat.

Disney will absolutely be able to feed her! I have not personally eaten at Disney with an allergy, but the restaurants are well-equipped to handle them. QS places should have a book you can ask for that has detailed lists of ingredients, and at TS restaurants you can speak with the chef to make sure you're getting what you want. Of course some places are better about it than others. Have you made your TS reservations? If/when you do you can note allergies as part of the reservation process.

 

[bee]

Day 2, cont.

On our walk/ride back to Epcot we enjoyed a glimpse of the sunset over Crescent Lake.

Magnolias!

Yes I totally took a photo of my cane hung on the purse hook

Security was quick and soon we were inside the park. We had been planning to get M a birthday dessert of some kind in WS but since she'd gotten the one at FF she decided she didn't need it anymore. Instead we shared a cider flight:

Cider Flight – $10.00
Consisting of: McKenzie’s Black Cherry Hard Cider, West Seneca, NY, Florida Beer Company Caribé Pineapple Tropical Hard Cider, Cape Canaveral, FL, and Ciderboys Grand Mimosa Apple Orange Hard Cider, Stevens Point, WI

I liked the pineapple best, M liked the black cherry best, and neither of us cared for the mimosa cider.

We found a great spot for IllumiNations just a few minutes before the show, and this was our view:

When the country pavilions started lighting up we had a great view of the UK lights:

No pictures of the fireworks since we were just enjoying our time together on this special night.

We took our time exiting as we didn't have early morning plan and weren't in a rush.

Okay...I may have been stalling during our exit...

That's us!

Up next: A "double feature" and "I thought I heard a duck!"

 

[Tuvalu]

I liked the pineapple best, M liked the black cherry best, and neither of us cared for the mimosa cider.

Not sure we can be friends anymore.....

However I am willing to hang out with M....we can devour the grilled avocado and tomato while downing McKenzie’s Black Cherry Cider!

 

[bee]

Not sure we can be friends anymore.....

However I am willing to hang out with M....we can devour the grilled avocado and tomato while downing McKenzie’s Black Cherry Cider!

I didn't say I didn't like the black cherry...I just liked the pineapple a little more!

 

[bee]

Day 2, cont.

We decided to head right and take the path by the YBC.

M said this sign was placed just for me.

More "not special" flowers

Uhhh...

Pretty flower!

At one point on our way we saw another woman in an ECV. She and I said hello to each other and she said, "I thought a duck was coming!"

We reached the Swolphin bridge when we heard a "boom!"

We stayed and watched for a bit...

After the show we continued inside...

We did notice the elevators were kind of slow and this explained it. Was this going on when you were there, @MinnieM123?

Cool lamp in the elevator

New wallpaper in one of the elevators

A blurry view from the room:

Sadly we had to pack, as the next two days of our trip would not be spent at WDW.

But look what we found on TV to watch while packing:

Mulan is one of my favorite movies EVER. Mulan the character is my FAVORITE Disney Princess (yeah yeah she's not royal blah blah but she is in the official Princess line so ). We watched the last hour or so in the room, and afterward determined that we MUST rewatch the whole thing soon! (Spoiler alert: M's cousin and her husband visited us last weekend. Her husband was never into Disney but he agreed it was a good movie.)

Up next: Day 3. A little Disney, some driving, and FRISKY

 

[MegRuss626]

Day 2, cont.

We decided to head right and take the path by the YBC.

M said this sign was placed just for me.

More "not special" flowers

Uhhh...

Pretty flower!

At one point on our way we saw another woman in an ECV. She and I said hello to each other and she said, "I thought a duck was coming!"

We reached the Swolphin bridge when we heard a "boom!"

We stayed and watched for a bit...

After the show we continued inside...

We did notice the elevators were kind of slow and this explained it. Was this going on when you were there, @MinnieM123?

Cool lamp in the elevator

New wallpaper in one of the elevators

A blurry view from the room:

Sadly we had to pack, as the next two days of our trip would not be spend at WDW.

But look what we found on TV to watch while packing:

Mulan is one of my favorite movies EVER. Mulan the character is my FAVORITE Disney Princess (yeah yeah she's not royal blah blah but she is in the official Princess line so ). We watched the last hour or so in the room, and afterward determined that we MUST rewatch the whole thing soon! (Spoiler alert: M's cousin and her husband visited us last weekend. Her husband was never into Disney but he agreed it was a good movie.)

Up next: Day 3. A little Disney, some driving, and FRISKY

LOVE LOVE LOVE Mulan! Mushu gets me every time!! My sister and I regularly quote him!
Fun story: I watched it when I was a few months pregnant and ridiculously emotional at random times. It got to the end when they were working to get into the palace and I burst into tears. My husband asked me what was wrong and my reply was “I just think it’s so nice that they forgave her and they’re trying to help her save China!”

 

[MinnieM123]

We did notice the elevators were kind of slow and this explained it. Was this going on when you were there, @MinnieM123?

No, not at all. I must have just missed that. However, I'd take slower elevators any day over the Friendship boats out of service for the entire time I was there! (Of course, I went to WDW the one week they were working on the bridge repairs, and they had to stop service that week for the boats.)

 

[bee]

Day 3: Thursday, May 24

We woke up around 9:00 and got dressed for a quick morning visit to Epcot. We stopped for coffee at the Java Bar in the Swan.

Cold brew

Lonely Magnolia

Ok, there was a silly incident at security today. The first time I entered the IG in the scooter the security CMs instructed me to follow the far right path around the bag check tables, so that's what I did every time after. Usually the CMs would realize that I had done this before so they wouldn't say much to me. If anything they might just look in my basket and/or have me lean forward in the seat to make sure I wasn't hiding anything.

Well this morning was different. Maybe it was the "early" morning security team? There was a CM who kept saying something to me about a tunnel. I thought she was calling the path to the right of the table under the security tent a tunnel, so I started on my way as usual. But she kept saying tunnel. Finally she came and turned down the speed on my scooter and I realized she had been telling me to turn it down to "turtle!"

For the record I wasn't going fast (even if your speed nob is at a certain setting you can still go slower but not pulling the handle all the way). But I felt bad that I didn't understand what was going on.

I'll give you three guesses where we were headed!

If you guessed this place...

Congrats!

Up next: The actual food and a bunch more photos of France

 

[bee]

Day 3, cont.

I figured the tables inside would be a little hard to navigate with my scooter, and the weather was nice enough outside, that I found an outdoor table to save while M ordered the food.

The table:

The view:

However, the clouds moved and there was too much direct sunlight on that spot, so I parked my scooter and went inside to find a table where we'd be less hot!

Soon M arrived with the good stuff:

And a bonus!

We never get dessert from Les Halles because we're pretty much only there at breakfast time, but clearly we need to make time for dessert because this macaron was amaaaaaaazing. The balance of sweet and tart and different textures was PERFECT. Best. Macaron. EVER.

After breakfast I took more empty-France photos.

Hmmm...maybe it's time to plan another meal at Chefs de France!

BoBaB (Butts of Belle and Beast)

Sadly I couldn't just stay in France forever, because we had to check out and pick up a rental car and LEAVE DISNEY

This would be the perfect place to just stand and admire the water and the countries across the lagoon (IF it weren't always so dern hot every time we visit!!!!!!)

Up next: I continue using "taking photos" as an excuse to delay our inevitable departure

 

[Zipadeelady]

Your food choice.....looks amazing!! I'm so going to order both of those in a couple of weeks!! And, I'm not just saying that because I'm hungry.

 

[Rista1313]

OMG. What a scary story. So glad to hear that you and the students got out safely. That is some scary stuff. You'll have a whole different appreciation for HELLFIRE than the rest of the cast... like staying FAR AWAY from it for the rest of your life.

Was that your room number?! That's my birthday (month and year)!! September 1968 baby.

I'm excited to hear all your Scooter Stories. My brother (and I) have a not so kind name for those things. One hit Dad once and the driver yelled at HIM for walking in the street in Hollywood Studios. sigh. Hope you had a good experience!!

You have a different perspective once you ride one... People jump in front of you all the time while walking and then are mad when they get hit... what they don't understand is the scooters don't have brakes, so it takes a bit for them to slow down and stop. Sorry I'll get off my high horse now... I plan on addressing this in my TR... I even mention it in my title.

 

[bee]

Your food choice.....looks amazing!! I'm so going to order both of those in a couple of
weeks!! And, I'm not just saying that because I'm hungry.

You have a different perspective once you ride one... People jump in front of you all the time while walking and then are mad when they get hit... what they don't understand is the scooters don't have brakes, so it takes a bit for them to slow down and stop. Sorry I'll get off my high horse now... I plan on addressing this in my TR... I even mention it in my title.

YES, to all of this! I was SUPER careful and always went at a slow pace in the parks so I could stop easily if needed and MANY times I came very close to hitting someone. It wasn't just kids, either! I'll go into this more at the end of my report but SO MANY PEOPLE were staring at their phones, walking one direction and looking in a different direction, looking at maps while walking, etc., and paying ZERO attention to where they were going. @Rista1313 I've been following along with your report and enjoying reading about similar experiences.

 

[Zipadeelady]

So funny! I actually had to look this up. I was so confused. I've got to confess the last Star Wars movie I saw was in the early 80's, I found myself hoping he wouldn't cut off his head. I was let down. Good meme Bee.

 

[Rista1313]

I'm so glad you are healing and that no one lost their life in that fire. I'm glad you got a scooter...it was a real life saver when we were there!

 

[bee]

Day 3, cont.

We exited the park ( ) and made the journey back to the Swan via the Boardwalk side.

No one was on the bridge. BROOM BROOM!

Okay now this is some serious stalling photography. Stalltography?? We ate here once and it was very "meh" and we will likely never return.

EMPTY BRIDGE! BROOM BROOM!

Near the entrance to the Swan a little friend landed on me! The photo is blurry, but at least I remembered my friend!

Up next: Saying goodbye (for now!)

 

[bee]

Day 3, cont.

And we finally made it inside the hotel despite all my stalling...

I had called to request late checkout before we left for Epcot that morning. Every time I have asked to stay late at either the Swan or Dolphin (including this time!) we've been allowed to stay until noon at no extra charge. It's the little things.

Since we weren't in a rush I took the opportunity to take a FEW MORE photos of our view...

I did mobile checkout on my phone and returned the scooter and key to bell services. Our original plan had been to rent a car from the Dolphin for the convenience of it, but M is a ZipCar member and found that it was much cheaper to rent that way. We had to take Lyft to the DoubleTree near Disney Springs to pick up the car.

JK, we did NOT spring for a Minnie Van!

Our driver was very nearby, though, and we waited outside for just a minute or two before getting into his car.

While we waited, this fun reminder appeared:

Our Lyft driver was Kenneth and he was great! I didn't ask where he's from but his thick Midwestern accent gave us at least a general answer. We walked about the difference between Lyft and Uber, and he said he drives for both but much prefers Lyft because the riders tend to be nicer people. I prefer Lyft as a ride because I usually find the Lyft drivers to be nicer as well! Plus I like the Lyft app slightly better.

On the way...

So much parking!!!

B!

After Kenneth dropped us off we found the area of the parking lot where the ZipCars are parked. You can typically unlock the car 14 minutes before the reservation begins so we got in at 12:16 for our 12:30 reservation.

TOO HOT!!!!!

First we needed gas, so we drove to the Speedway near the Boardwalk. Gas is included in ZipCar rentals and usually there is a ZipCar debit card to use at the pump, but the card was missing from this car, so M had to call and ask what to do. They told her to just pay with her personal card and she would be reimbursed, so that's what we did, and they actually processed it pretty quickly after our return home.

I looked up directions just in case. What's wrong with this picture?

Bye, Swolphin!

That thing is going up FAST!

A glimpse of several mountains...

Up next: Our return to Kidani!

 

[Rista1313]

e says they can go up to 6mph, which is pretty fast compared to normal human walking speed!

I had to make hubby use his on the lowest speed, otherwise I couldn't keep up. I have short little legs.... so just like you, every once in awhile he would zooom ahead.

 

[Rista1313]

OK... Question why is it called Swan/Dolphin, when there is a Swan and a Fish on the building? These are questions I pondered while looking at it one night while we were at the boardwalk.

 

[bee]

OK... Question why is it called Swan/Dolphin, when there is a Swan and a Fish on the building? These are questions I pondered while looking at it one night while we were at the boardwalk.

They are nautical dolphins (aka fish) rather than mammalian dolphins! Like this fountain in Italy: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fontana_del_Tritone,_Rome

 

[Rista1313]

They are nautical dolphins (aka fish) rather than mammalian dolphins! Like this fountain in Italy: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fontana_del_Tritone,_Rome

Well ok then... Learned something new!