Well this was my first time I had been to Disney World 3 times in 10 months. Each of the trips were a new experience. The December trip was my first time there with the Christmas stuff up, first time going to Mousefest and the first time I froze while in Florida. My trip in May was my first time being part of the guys golf trip to Disney World called Mancation.
Before either of these trips was something Lisa Wagner (from Magical Vacations) and I started to plan called Tikifest. For a while we had talked about having a gathering of people that I had helped with my site and she had booked because so many of these people start to become friends but we never get to see them in person. I finally gave in and said it would be fun to not only all meet up (like most Disney meets) but have a party to say thank you to these people. Well that is how Tikifest started and it took from November 2006 to just before the Tikifest party to put it all together. More on that later.
So we left California on July 20th to make a stop in Michigan to visit Tara’s family before getting to Florida. After a fun visit and some great golf we got to Florida on July 25th.
We rented our car from Dollar (that just barely fit all our stuff and my golf clubs). We have tried a few different rental companies but Dollar usually gives us the best deal and a nice vehicle. Disney Transportation is great but we never go without a rental car to get us around Disney Property.
That afternoon we checked into the Swan. This was our second time staying at the Swan and used our Starwood Points from owning our Westin Maui Villa. We usually try a different resort before going to the Polynesian. This was the first time we tried something else twice. We had done the Dolphin, Animal Kingdom Lodge (I have been there twice) and Yacht Club. I have also stayed at Pop Century and the Boardwalk as you can see from my Mancation trip report. I would like to try the Contemporary next time.
I am not a huge fan of the Swan and Dolphin or the location. If I am going to be over in the Epcot resorts I would rather the Yacht Club or Beach Club. The Swan is nicer to me than the Dolphin but every trip I start to hate that boat more and more and the bus is just as bad.
Check in at the Swan went great and the staff was very friendly. Because of being Starwood Preferred Guests they said we were upgraded in our room (room 398). I was hoping this time we would get a room with a balcony but again our room was one with just a window that does not even open. At least at the Polynesian the rooms with no balcony still have the same sliding glass door that opens to enjoy the outside. Also our upgraded view was looking at the roof of the lobby with a slight view of Epcot in the distance. Wonder what the non-upgraded views look like.
I really try and love these resorts and there are many great things about them but the Swan and Dolphin are really at the bottom of my list. This does not mean that people that like these resorts are crazy because they are great resorts. I just can’t get past a few things that really bug me about them.
After getting to the room we headed off to our reservations at Spoodles. It was our first time trying it. The service was good and the atmosphere was nice (I am big on atmosphere when eating). The food was all good but nothing I would get a craving to return to. Some places in WDW I just need to go back to but this was not one.
We headed off to MGM (soon to be called Disney’s Hollywood Studios). We got on the boat (that I hate) to MGM and it took 26 minutes to go from there to MGM. We could have walked faster.
It was extra magic hour that night so we stayed late and got on a few things. We were going to watch Fantasmic but we did not want to fight the crowds leaving on the boat so we headed over to the dock to head back.
As we got to the dock the boat just left. We were second in line for the next one though. Well standing in line we heard Fantasmic start. We could see some of the fireworks from the line. Well the next boat took a while….well lets just say that we heard the start of Fantasmic and the next boat touched the dock when Fantasmic finished. That was how long we waited for a boat. Did I mention I hate that boat? Don’t worry I am going to therapy so I should be over it soon.
