Trip Report *COMPLETED* A Swolphin Sandwich (Thanksgiving Week 2017)

My DW M and I have returned from a wonderful week of Disney, family, and more Disney! I can make no guarantees for fast or frequent updates, but I'll do my best!

Introduction

Here's the PTR: ProcrastiNations: Deflections of Work. There you can read all about the cast and plans. We decided to take it easy on this trip as we've just gotten through an extremely stressful few months relating to our living situation. I've posted bits and pieces about it in various TRs/PTRs recently, but to make a long story short our building was purchased and our lease wasn't renewed, but we couldn't move into our new place until eleven days after we moved out and didn't find out until the day before we were supposed to move in. We had to put all our stuff in storage and stay in temporary housing during that time. Luckily the new landlord has done their best to make up for the financial strain of paying for last-minute temporary housing (they delayed our official lease date to December 1 so we didn't have to pay anything for the 2/3 of November we lived here). That said, this was a pretty horrible chapter of our lives and we lost a lot of sleep and got behind in work and...cried a lot!*

The biggest change to the trip was the decision not to do any early mornings at parks in an effort to catch up on sleep. This meant changing and canceling some ADRs, and only visiting two of the parks. We spent more time in the room than we typically do and chose rest time over busy park time when presented with the decision.

So, if you're ready for a million photos (mostly of food...and beverages...;) ) keep reading!

*Lest you worry about us, we are VERY happy in our new place now that the garbage of November is behind us. It is the biggest and nicest place we have ever lived in. We have a beautiful kitchen with a dishwasher AND we have our own washer and dryer in-unit, which is almost unheard of in this area! We are still waiting on two chairs to arrive but once they do and we have everything set up I'll post photos here.

Up next: The flight to Orlando!
 

bee

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Day 1, cont.

After a few minutes of recharging (ourselves and our phones) we started toward Epcot!

On our way we noticed that the hallway thermostat is out where just anyone can adjust it! :eek: :eek: :eek:

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On the way...

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We went through bag check and entered via the AP entrance at the IG. Then it was time for FOOD!

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Cheese Fondue in a bread bowl with Fresh Steamed Baby Vegetables and Marble Potatoes featuring Melissa’s Produce – $8.25
Cider Flight – $9.00
Included: Possmann Pure Hard Apple Cider, Frankfurt, Germany, Possmann Pure Hard Black Currant Apple Cider, Frankfurt, Germany, and Schöfferhofer Pink Grapefruit Hefeweizen (not a cider but I guess that's the closest thing they had to fill the third cup)

The cheese fondue was one of the food highlights of our trip even though we ate at plenty of table service restaurants, both old favorites and new places. None of the drinks really stood out to me but they were all good. I usually don't care for the grapefruit beer but I didn't hate it today, and M always likes it.

We got to experience an incredible sunset in the park, starting while we were in Germany!

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Then, more drinky time!

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Shipyard Eggnog White Porter, Clearwater, FL – $8.00

I remember I liked this but didn't necessary need to have it again.

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From the Mexico booth:
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Frozen Kahlúa® Coffee Margarita – $10.75
Horchata Margarita on the Rocks – $11.50

We shared these and it was hard choosing a favorite. I think in the end the Horchata won just slightly because I prefer rocks over frozen.

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Moon!

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Up next: "Is this a roller coaster?"
 

bee

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
When we get back(which may be a few more years due to my ds doing summer music programs:(:mad:, it mean good for him getting in:angelic:) I want to stay at the Swalphin but my dh won't spring for the extra money:(:mad:
Split stay??? Congrats to your DS!

Stopping at the pretrip report would be like putting down a book in the middle, so I'm in ;)
Welcome! I hope to not leave you hanging tooooo often as I write this!
 

MinnieM123

Premium Member
Cider Flight – $9.00
Included: Possmann Pure Hard Apple Cider, Frankfurt, Germany, Possmann Pure Hard Black Currant Apple Cider, Frankfurt, Germany, and Schöfferhofer Pink Grapefruit Hefeweizen (not a cider but I guess that's the closest thing they had to fill the third cup)

I initially read your description too quickly, and when ii came to Possmann, I thought you wrote Possum! (I wondered, since when did they start serving possum at EPCOT?! :p )

Oh, by the way, your new apt. is coming along nicely!
 

Songbird76

Well-Known Member
Day 1, cont.

The flight was completely full but pleasant. We had some snacks...

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...and some drinks...

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(That's a red wine and a seltzer, not a red wine and a vodka soda ;) )

At one point we overhead a kid tell their parents, "We literally have our head in the clouds!"

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And we landed a few minutes early!

After we landed one of the FAs made an announcement that three special kids on the plane had made excellent grades and, though they thought they were just going to their aunt's house for the whole week of Thanksgiving, they were actually going to Universal for four days and three nights! The family happened to be sitting by us (dad was in our row and mom and kids were across the aisle) so we got to see their reactions up close! The youngest was outwardly excited but the older two were pulling an Elsa...conceal, don't feel, don't let them know! But I could tell they were excited even if it wasn't "cool" to show it!

Fonorail time!

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We headed down to the baggage claim level to catch our Lyft!

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The new international terminal is looking good!

Could it be...

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...we're finally home??

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(SN: This photo is way easier to take from a car than from a DME bus!)

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I see you, Swolphin!

Up next: Our room is ready...and upgraded???
Oh man I miss wheat thins!! Yum! And what a great reward for those kids!! Wow....I can't do surprises with my kids though. It freaks DS out too much not to know what's going to happen But if I could, that would totally be an amazing way to announce it!!
 

bee

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Nice that the Swan has clocks ~ Timex no less! I had to use my travel clock at POR this past weekend. How did I miss the cheese fondue?! Looks yummy.
It was yummy!! :p We regretted not going back for more (spoiler alert!)

Glad you made it to your much needed vacation :) looking forward to following along!
Thank you, and welcome!

Your new apartment looks very nice!
4
Thank you! We love it!

"I'm just here for the food"

Cheese fondue in a bread bowl? Yes please! :inlove:
It was soooo good!!

THNX my dh and his shaved head have a thing for SOG, James says thnx and love the new apartment.
Thank you!!

I love that you could see Tot from your balcony!!
Yes! We had a fantastic view of it!

I initially read your description too quickly, and when ii came to Possmann, I thought you wrote Possum! (I wondered, since when did they start serving possum at EPCOT?! :p )

Oh, by the way, your new apt. is coming along nicely!
Haha! Well, it is Florida! And thank you!

Enjoyed the pretrip report, so of course enjoying the trip report.
Glad you're enjoying it!

Oh man I miss wheat thins!! Yum! And what a great reward for those kids!! Wow....I can't do surprises with my kids though. It freaks DS out too much not to know what's going to happen But if I could, that would totally be an amazing way to announce it!!
You need an "aunt" in Orlando (or wherever you're going) whom you can say you're all visiting. ;)

Mmmmm...that fondue looks soooo yummy!!
It was soo good! I hope it makes an appearance next time we can go to FotH (whenever that will be!).
 

bee

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Day 1, cont.

Our first FP of the day was for a longtime favorite of ours. It's the ride that makes me feel like I'm finally, really on vacation.

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Yep, that's a forty minute standby wait.

As we approached the boat boarding area we overhead a 10-ish-year-old boy ask his parents, "Is this a roller coaster??" Sorry, kid.

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A little remnant of fall!

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Next we had a FP for Test Track.

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Have I mentioned before that I hate the queue after the design studios?? It's always a mess!

Somehow our, erm, creation, won several of the tests against those in our car. And we were the most efficient vehicle of the day!

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We had an important task near the front of the park. On the way we stopped to admire some merch:

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Our task involved this place:
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Back in August I purchased a new Tables in Wonderland card for the year. Sometime in October M noticed that our card said it expired in September of 2017 instead of 2018. A nice CM helped us sort it out and we left with a new, correct card.

We had a dinner reservation for later, but on vacation you can have dessert first!!
(TBH when I'm not on vacation I don't usually eat any dessert, much less dessert first. A nice glass of red wine [or two] is my dessert!)

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Warm Apple Fritter with Cinnamon Ice Cream and Warm Caramel Sauce – $4.75
Holiday Beer Flight – $9.00

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None of these particularly stood out to me. M liked the coffee blonde, but as much as I usually like coffee-flavored/infused things I didn't care for it.

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I always like the honeycomb tiles in the Odyssey!

This entire trip became a trip of inadvertently watching fireworks. As we made our way to our dinner destination we had a darn good view of the Hollywood Studios fireworks (don't hate me, I don't know which show it was!). But by the time I got to a good spot to take a photo, this was all I could get:

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:rolleyes:

Then, as we entered World Showcase proper they started again, so I got ready to take a photo, and...

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:rolleyes::rolleyes:

Up next: A repeat favorite for dinner
 

Dave B

Well-Known Member
Day 1: Monday, November 20

We typically book early morning flights because they tend to have fewer delays and we like to get to our destination as quickly as possible. But this time, the cheapest option was a flight around 1:00pm, so we booked that instead. That meant sleeping in until 9:00 (madness!) instead of getting up at 3:00 or 4:00 in the morning.

By the time we woke up I'd already received a notification that our room at the Swan was ready!

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Over breakfast we talked about how we would get from MCO to the Swan since we can't use DME and Uber/Lyft aren't allowed to do airport pickups. We had planned to take a Lynx bus to a nearby location and take a Lyft from there. M asked me to check the apps just in case the airport had started allowing rideshare pickups, and it turns out MCO has lifted the ban!

We packed our last-minute items and made sure everything was locked, and took a Lyft to EWR. We didn't check any bags and had boarding passes on our phones so we just needed to get through security. The wait was around twenty minutes as always (why can't Newark get it together?). We didn't need breakfast and it wasn't really lunch time, so we just had:

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Iced coffee!

We started boarding right on time and took off a little early.

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Up next: more of the flight, and the journey to the Swan!
Do you mind sharing how much a Lyft from the airport cost?
 

bee

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Do you mind sharing how much a Lyft from the airport cost?
Not at all! The ride from the airport to the Swan was a little under $37 including tip. The ride back at the end of the trip was $29 and change including tip. The price will vary based on traffic, demand, etc.

I love your "fireworks" photos. They look like the ones I would take.:D
Haha, thanks! Luckily I did get a FEW better fireworks shots later in the trip. :p
 

Dave B

Well-Known Member
Not at all! The ride from the airport to the Swan was a little under $37 including tip. The ride back at the end of the trip was $29 and change including tip. The price will vary based on traffic, demand, etc.


Haha, thanks! Luckily I did get a FEW better fireworks shots later in the trip. :p
Thank you
 

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