Hunzi
Lipstick Chick
- Joined
- Oct 14, 1999
Cast of Characters: Me: major Disney fan, grew up going to WDW, has visited a dozen times; DH: been to WDW twice, once for Grad night when we were in high school, other trip when we took a major vacation in January to celebrate his retirement from the Air Force and spent 17 days at WDW/Space Coast/Disney Wonder. DS: 11, had a great time on his first trip in January, and DD, 6, loves everything Disney.
Post trip notes and a few tips:
I had planned an extra day off school for the kids because I knew 6am would come too soon when we didn't get home until midnight. Poor DH had to go to work though.
Wednesday, I got up, got an appointment at the doctor's for DD, and spent the day there waiting for test results. We ruled out a urinary tract infection, my biggest worry, but had no answer as to why she had the fever, which was still 103' between doses of medicine. Tuesday, she began showing cold symptoms, but I think it's a coincidence. Wednesday night we went out for dinner because we still had nothing in the house and I hadn't had time to shop with the run to the doctor's. DD ate a little, and then broke out in hives. Who knows why, she wasn't eating anything unusual. We ran to the grocery for more Motrin, and then to Walgreen's for an antihistamine. I planned another trip to the doctor the next day unless she got worse, then I'd run her in that night. Happily, by morning the fever was down, the hives were gone by Friday and the fever too. It was the weirdest thing. I hope it never happens again.
Tips:
We brought a collapsible cooler, juice boxes, bottled water, fruit cups, and applesauce from home. We just set up the cooler and filled it with ice at the hotel. We also brought rice crispy bars, and dried fruit snacks.
I hope no one thinks I'm bashing the Swan. I really wanted to like it, especially since SwanDolphin had been so helpful to me, and overall, I'd give them a B+ or A-. The hotel was lovely, and decorated very playfully. The room was nice, and not uncomfortable for 4 people if you didn't need a rollaway. I wasn't too happy with the rollaway not appearing as promised, even after inquiring with several people. A simple explanation that the room wouldn't accommodate it would have made me feel better. The housekeeping staff was inconsistent. Overall the room was kept clean, but then we had the problem with the sheets, and just plain lack of attention to detail with the bathroom tiles. Yet, they did promptly arrive when DD was sick, so I can't ding them too badly. A few little people friendly touches, like a note or card acknowledging our requests or thanking us for the tips would have gone far for good will. I also noticed that the staff wasn't as outgoing as at the Poly. The Poly cast members always greeted us with an Aloha, or hello, even if we just walked by on the sidewalk, the people I met at the Swan often scooted by without even making eye contact. Not everyone was that way, but enough to notice. Final grade for Swan: B+
I would consider staying at the Swan again for the right price, maybe getting a suite or two rooms since the kids may be too old to happily share a bed next time. I think at this time, the Magic Kingdom resorts are a better fit for us. We loved the parts of the Grand Floridian we saw, we adored the Polynesian, but the Contemporary doesn't really do much for us. We'd also decided we'd be willing to give the YC/BC a try for the right price.
We did a lot of sit-down restaurants. This was nice, but it did affect the pace of play at the parks. We had done 80% of the rides when we visited in January, and this time, just wanted to hit a few favorites, see a few things we had missed, and move at a relaxed pace. We knew we couldn't duplicate our 10-day January trip in a 5-day trip. We skipped Animal Kingdom entirely, even though we'd enjoyed some of the rides there quite a bit.
Thanksgiving weekend was really crowded, and you really should skip Magic Kingdom if possible. I knew that, and tried it anyway, but we didn't do nearly as much as we did in January or on Tuesday before we left. Epcot wasn't too bad, and MGM was crowded but not as badly as MK.
Dole whips are great! So are spiced nuts at Epcot. The guy who does silhouettes at Liberty Square is amazing. Fastpass is a lifesaver, especially when the parks are busy. We'll probably try to skip busier times in the future, but go with the flow during peak holiday times if we need to again.
The Candlelight Procession package is worth every penny. I saved the cost of the kids' meals with the discount, and had great seats for the CP.
Tiffany Town Car and Tony were wonderful.
Last tip, I always bring a permanent marker to mark things easily lost, but hadn't marked Pluto because he didn't have a discrete place to mark him. If your kids have a favorite thing they take to the parks, mark it! No matter how it will look. DD is still haunting the mailbox in the hopes that Pluto will come home. We told her last night there was a chance some other child found him and took him home. She's just very upset over her lost dog. I'll call both WDW and the Swan again today to follow up on him. I hope he comes home.
Having a sick child at WDW was a bummer, but we still all managed to enjoy the trip. I'd give the whole trip a grade of A-.
Always ;-)
Hunzi
Post trip notes and a few tips:
I had planned an extra day off school for the kids because I knew 6am would come too soon when we didn't get home until midnight. Poor DH had to go to work though.
Wednesday, I got up, got an appointment at the doctor's for DD, and spent the day there waiting for test results. We ruled out a urinary tract infection, my biggest worry, but had no answer as to why she had the fever, which was still 103' between doses of medicine. Tuesday, she began showing cold symptoms, but I think it's a coincidence. Wednesday night we went out for dinner because we still had nothing in the house and I hadn't had time to shop with the run to the doctor's. DD ate a little, and then broke out in hives. Who knows why, she wasn't eating anything unusual. We ran to the grocery for more Motrin, and then to Walgreen's for an antihistamine. I planned another trip to the doctor the next day unless she got worse, then I'd run her in that night. Happily, by morning the fever was down, the hives were gone by Friday and the fever too. It was the weirdest thing. I hope it never happens again.
Tips:
We brought a collapsible cooler, juice boxes, bottled water, fruit cups, and applesauce from home. We just set up the cooler and filled it with ice at the hotel. We also brought rice crispy bars, and dried fruit snacks.
I hope no one thinks I'm bashing the Swan. I really wanted to like it, especially since SwanDolphin had been so helpful to me, and overall, I'd give them a B+ or A-. The hotel was lovely, and decorated very playfully. The room was nice, and not uncomfortable for 4 people if you didn't need a rollaway. I wasn't too happy with the rollaway not appearing as promised, even after inquiring with several people. A simple explanation that the room wouldn't accommodate it would have made me feel better. The housekeeping staff was inconsistent. Overall the room was kept clean, but then we had the problem with the sheets, and just plain lack of attention to detail with the bathroom tiles. Yet, they did promptly arrive when DD was sick, so I can't ding them too badly. A few little people friendly touches, like a note or card acknowledging our requests or thanking us for the tips would have gone far for good will. I also noticed that the staff wasn't as outgoing as at the Poly. The Poly cast members always greeted us with an Aloha, or hello, even if we just walked by on the sidewalk, the people I met at the Swan often scooted by without even making eye contact. Not everyone was that way, but enough to notice. Final grade for Swan: B+
I would consider staying at the Swan again for the right price, maybe getting a suite or two rooms since the kids may be too old to happily share a bed next time. I think at this time, the Magic Kingdom resorts are a better fit for us. We loved the parts of the Grand Floridian we saw, we adored the Polynesian, but the Contemporary doesn't really do much for us. We'd also decided we'd be willing to give the YC/BC a try for the right price.
We did a lot of sit-down restaurants. This was nice, but it did affect the pace of play at the parks. We had done 80% of the rides when we visited in January, and this time, just wanted to hit a few favorites, see a few things we had missed, and move at a relaxed pace. We knew we couldn't duplicate our 10-day January trip in a 5-day trip. We skipped Animal Kingdom entirely, even though we'd enjoyed some of the rides there quite a bit.
Thanksgiving weekend was really crowded, and you really should skip Magic Kingdom if possible. I knew that, and tried it anyway, but we didn't do nearly as much as we did in January or on Tuesday before we left. Epcot wasn't too bad, and MGM was crowded but not as badly as MK.
Dole whips are great! So are spiced nuts at Epcot. The guy who does silhouettes at Liberty Square is amazing. Fastpass is a lifesaver, especially when the parks are busy. We'll probably try to skip busier times in the future, but go with the flow during peak holiday times if we need to again.
The Candlelight Procession package is worth every penny. I saved the cost of the kids' meals with the discount, and had great seats for the CP.
Tiffany Town Car and Tony were wonderful.
Last tip, I always bring a permanent marker to mark things easily lost, but hadn't marked Pluto because he didn't have a discrete place to mark him. If your kids have a favorite thing they take to the parks, mark it! No matter how it will look. DD is still haunting the mailbox in the hopes that Pluto will come home. We told her last night there was a chance some other child found him and took him home. She's just very upset over her lost dog. I'll call both WDW and the Swan again today to follow up on him. I hope he comes home.
Having a sick child at WDW was a bummer, but we still all managed to enjoy the trip. I'd give the whole trip a grade of A-.
Always ;-)
Hunzi
I'll keep my fingers crossed that the original turns up.
