Trip Report Five Years Flies When You're Having Fun!

WE'RE BACK!
(Did you even know we had left?)​

That's right, M and I just got back from another Disney trip that occurred before I even finished my previous trip report. It's been a busy two months! I didn't even have time to make a PTR!

Who: Me and M (with a quick cameo by my brother, Jay)
What: An extended weekend Disney vacation
Where: WDW Swan
When: October 26-30, 2019
Why: Our five year wedding anniversary

Stay tuned for food, drinks, and lots of FUN!

 

[Swissmiss]

Thank you for not posting pictures of the creepy clowns in the last room (or maybe these are only at DLP?)

 

[Rista1313]

I think I took this because I saw a bee. But now I can't find it in the photo!

I think I see one in the lower right corner on a leaf

 

[bee]

Count me in and Happy Anniversary!

Thank you!

Thank you for not posting pictures of the creepy clowns in the last room (or maybe these are only at DLP?)

I don't remember for sure if there are creepy clowns at MK? But there are plenty of little differences between Disneyland, Tokyo, and MK so there must be differences at the other parks.

I think I see one in the lower right corner on a leaf

 

[bee]

Day 2, cont.

We had a lunch ADR in the front of the park so naturally we walked through the castle and admired the mosaics.

I love how the clothing in the mosaic more closely resembles the time period the movie was inspired by!

I don't think I mentioned how light the crowds were this day. It was a weekday and a Halloween party day but even so we were amazed at how pleasant it was. The slightly milder weather also contributed to making this a very enjoyable MK day for us!

Finally we arrived at The Plaza about fifteen minutes before our reservation time. There was a guest arguing with the host about her reservation time, and another guest who didn't understand why they couldn't just walk in to a table immediately. Poor CMs.

The host verified that we were celebrating our anniversary and we were seated quickly. We looked over the menu while we waited for our server, Abdul.

We thought about getting adult beverages but honestly nothing sounded good. I can hear your collective *GASP* at us turning down alcohol on vacation.

We must have still been in a tea mood because we each went with a glass of iced tea (but not Lady Grey, sadly!).

YES! Abdul gets us!!

Plaza Burger (vegan) with seasonal veggies. I would have normally gotten fries, but I saw the broccolini on another guest's plate and it looked reeeeeally good! Plus we had already had a lot of fries!

Fried green tomato sandwich (vegetarian without bacon)

Inside the burger

We cut both sandwiches in half and shared everything. It was all very good and it was definitely a good choice to have veggies instead of TWO giant mounds of French fries! Abdul was really great about keeping our tea glasses full and making sure we had everything we needed. And at the end he brought us an anniversary treat!

YUM! We were so stuffed from lunch but we valiantly took a few bites each before giving up.

This was our first time at The Plaza and we are glad we tried it! Everything was very good and the service was great. We won't necessarily rush back but if the menu changes and there are a few new things to try we'll probably try it again.

Up next: Time to get the Chill discount!

 

[bee]

Day 2, cont.

After lunch we walked through the Emporium (hellooooo, AC!) before exiting the park.

Halloween CMs!

With all the construction around the MK entrance, plus all the people waiting to get into the park for MNSSHP, the whole entrance area was a MESS. We had to kind of shove our way through to get to the bus stops. I hope that after the construction is finished the area will be much easier to navigate because it was so annoying. Like, I'm just trying to leave! Let me leave!

We FINALLY made it to the bus stop area to see that a Swolphin bus was just arriving!

We got some of the last seats on the bus and were soon back at the Swan. We went upstairs to the room to grab our glasses so we could return here:

Margarita for me and vodka lemonade for M. Both good, especially the lemonade!

Up next: Returning to a favorite restaurant

 

[bee]

Day 2, cont.

We had no dinner plans for this evening and after our MK adventures we didn't feel like venturing very far away for dinner, so I grabbed a reservation for the closest possible restaurant:

I was able to note on the reservation both our anniversary and that we are both vegetarians, in hopes that we would not be served the complimentary meat appetizer in the beginning and it wouldn't go to waste.

We got dressed and went downstairs to check in.

We waited for about five minutes before being seated. The hostess who seated us verified we are vegetarians and let us know they don't have a separate menu, which is fine.

Our server was Rudy and he was great all around! He brought us our appetizer:

Score! Just eggplant!

And BREAD!

We decided to share a bottle of wine:

We really enjoyed this! I rated it 4/5 in Vivino.

M's Rigatoni con funghi

My Risotto con funghi

Yes, it was a funghi kind of night! We have had both of these entrees before, and while normally we don't like to repeat too many meals, these were excellent the first time and excellent the second time! M's pasta had a bit of spice to it (shocking!) and my risotto was perfectly creamy and savory and delicious.

I have M's permission to post this since most of her face is covered. We really enjoyed that wine!

We declined dessert menus as we were sooooo full from the pasta and risotto, but Rudy brought us a treat anyway to celebrate our anniversary!

You may have noticed the candle. Rudy lit it and M and I decided we needed to wish for something and blow it out together. We also determined we had to wish for the same thing and therefore we had to tell each other what we were wishing for and agree upon the answer. That's how anniversary candles work, right? Anyway, we were both thinking of the same thing and we counted to three and blew the candle out together. #notababy

We tried our best but once again we could only eat a bite or two each. The cake was sooo good though, and the whipped cream and berries complemented it nicely.

And of course we had the complimentary Limoncello, which I guess I did not get a photo of. But you KNOW we drank it.

After settling the bill (which we charged to our room! Yay for staying at the Swolphin!) we waddled back to the elevators.

M: Why are you taking a picture of this?
Me: Because the light is out!
M: ...So???


We showered and got ready for bed and then ATTEMPTED to watch a movie we own though Amazon Prime Video on the "smart" TV.

But within a few minutes we started getting error messages...in multiple languages.

So we gave up and watched on my iPad instead.

After a long and busy and fun day it was time for bed!

Up next: Day 3! A very Chill day!

 

[dizfan917]

I did *GASP* when you ordered iced tea. Who ARE you?! That's all we drank the whole time we were there.

I tuned in to your first podcast the other day... I really enjoy listening to you and J chat!! I have lots more to catch up on!

I LOVE #notababy!! I'm right there with ya.

 

[Nunu]

Both your entrees at Il Mulino look great! I love funghi too!

 

[bee]

I did *GASP* when you ordered iced tea. Who ARE you?! That's all we drank the whole time we were there.

I tuned in to your first podcast the other day... I really enjoy listening to you and J chat!! I have lots more to catch up on!

I LOVE #notababy!! I'm right there with ya.

Thank you for listening! Half my motivation for doing the podcast is just to get to spend time talking to my brother about Disney so the fact that someone is actually listening is icing on the cake!

Both your entrees at Il Mulino look great! I love funghi too!

They were good! We've never had a bad meal from Il Mulino.

 

[bee]

Day 3: Monday, October 28

The day started with coffee (duh!) accompanied by real liquid creamer! We saw/used little bags of creamer like this in Japan and the UK but we've never seen them in the US...until now!

I should mention that at the beginning of the trip we opted to "Make a Green Choice" aka decline housekeeping in exchange for either Marriott points or resort credit. We picked points as we are saving up as many points as possible for a future trip. However, you can still request items such as coffee, toiletries, towels, etc. in the Marriott app or by calling the front desk (which ACTUALLY connects to the front desk, unlike at *true* Disney resorts!). As we were leaving the room I requested coffee, creamers, bar soap, and lotion. Remember this for later. And at every step of the way, every time I talked to any CM, they always thanked me for being Silver Elite.

In the elevator:

Hey there friend! Thanks for eating the "bad" bugs!

This is new...

Sooo...what do I do with my left foot??

Both the Swan and Dolphin have undergone changes in the last few years to update and refresh both the rooms and common areas. Apparently the Swan is still a work in progress as we saw construction crews both this day and the next day changing some of the tile in the lobby area. As a result we were routed through Java (the QS) to get between the elevators and various other parts of the resort.

Once we arrived at Epcot (did I mention that's where we were going? Did I even need to?) the Food and Wine booths had just opened so we had a late breakfast.

Pão de Queijo: Brazilian Cheese Bread (GF) (V) (KA) – $4.50

Golden Malted® Belgian Waffle with Berry Compote and Whipped Cream (V) (KA) – $4.25
AND
Chilled Coffee featuring Godiva Chocolate Liqueur – $11.00

Both were very good!

We had only had one cup of coffee in the room and shared the coffee cocktail from Belgium (which barely counts) so we needed to get some more caffeine in us! We tried the Nitro cold brew from Joffrey's.

It was...weird. I've had nitro before that I liked, but this was weird. I don't know if it was an off day or if the way they make it is different or what, but I won't get this again.

We stopped by the train display to enjoy (er...get through) our beverages.

Up next: I get sad

 

[bee]

Day 3, cont.

We continued walking around World Showcase as we tried to finish the nitro. It was getting harder and harder to swallow (literally).

A smaller component of Mariachi Cobre was playing!

Mexico? Pyramid? Air conditioning? Yes!

We didn't ride the boat or anything. We just stood inside for a few minutes while attempting to chug our coffee.

We went back outside in hopes of checking out the Odyssey/Festival Center/New Epcot ad.

But first, flowers!

@Play pavilion, Epcot Forever, Guardians, Frozen, etc.:

We checked out the movie/fancy model ad in the center of the building.

This was...boring. Is anyone else a bit alarmed by the conspicuous absence of the Imagination pavilion in all discussion of the "new" Epcot?

Up next: Lunch!

 

[Rista1313]

Thank you for listening! Half my motivation for doing the podcast is just to get to spend time talking to my brother about Disney so the fact that someone is actually listening is icing on the cake!

Ok... I skimmed or missed this announcement! Podcast?

 

[Rista1313]

I just saw these in @ajrwdwgirl 's TR.... I want the Mary Poppins one!

 

[bee]

Ok... I skimmed or missed this announcement! Podcast?

I think I mentioned it briefly in an old trip report, but it must have gotten buried in there! Yes, my brother and I started a Disney podcast together called The Resort Hoppers! We don't post super frequently because we aren't really a news podcast (and we don't have that much time to actually record together, haha) but we just posted our tenth episode! Everything is here: https://theresorthoppers.com/

 

[Back!Elbow!Shoulders!]

I love iced coffee but I just don’t care for cold brew. It always seems to have a funky aftertaste to me.

 

[Darstarr]

I have M's permission to post this since most of her face is covered.

Superb “Wilsoning”!

 

[lindawdw]

Just signing on! Looks like a wonderful trip so far.

 

[bee]

I love iced coffee but I just don’t care for cold brew. It always seems to have a funky aftertaste to me.

I like some cold brews but I agree with you that some have too much aftertaste. I will usually pick iced coffee.

Superb “Wilsoning”!

Thank you

Just signing on! Looks like a wonderful trip so far.

Welcome!

 

[bee]

Day 3, cont.

Remember how Disney was subliminally telling us to eat at Le Cellier? It must have worked because we made a lunch reservation for this day.

When we checked in, multiple CMs noticed our buttons and congratulated us. We were seated quickly and greeted by our server, Melissa.

We started with drinks:

For M: Victoria Raspberry: Dillon's Small Batch Vodka with Fresh-squeezed Lime Juice and Raspberry Purée
For me: Unibroue La fin du monde

We decided to share a wedge salad (sans bacon) and each get the veg version of the poutine.

MISTAKE! We should have gotten TWO salads and ONE poutine, not the other way around! Everything was soooo good but we could barely get through half the poutine!

Luckily Melissa offered to-go containers so we could enjoy the rest later. She also offered to-go drink containers because we had barely started on our drinks (shocking, I know), but we opted to instead finish them at our table.

Le Cellier bathroom!

Lesson learned: share the poutine, get your own salad.

Up next: Goofy being Goofy

 

[fizzieee]

Happy Anniversary!!!❤ I hope you guys had a fantastic trip. It looks like you did so far!