COMPLETED 9/5 - I'm just here for the food...and the lightsaber! - May 2021 Trip Report

[Araminta18]

Joining in..great so far. I can relate to all of it..lol. We are going next month..last minute...and we are staying at the Swan, so I’m curious about your thoughts...we stayed there 2 years ago on a split stay with the BC, but we’re only there for 2 days..and on your book. .. I was a little confused at first, were the new book from James Patterson/ Bill Clinton is called the presidents daughter..

That's so exciting that you're going next month!! I hope you have a great time. And we loved the Swan -- I'm sure you will too. As for the book, I didn't know that was the title of the new James Patterson/Bill Clinton book -- the series I was reading is several years old, by Ellen Emerson White, but I really like it still.

Joining in! I'm excited to hear about your room.

thanks for reading! sorry to make you wait another post for the room info

Come back...I NEED to know!

2 questions answered...1 more still to come!

Following!

thanks for reading!

oh mannnn i need to know about the room!

sorry to make you wait another post for the room info!

Sounds fun - following along!

thanks for reading!

 

[kclark9830]

Well, I was going to guess Homecomin', cause why not, lol? But I would have been wrong anyway!

 

[Araminta18]

Well, I was going to guess Homecomin', cause why not, lol? But I would have been wrong anyway!

We have never been to Homecoming! Hmmm, we should try it!

 

[CruellaNY]

We get an Amorette's cake every time but usually we get one of the special cakes, so this was actually the first time we've had the normal cake!

That is the exact cake we got the first time we went to Amorette's! I have tried a few things from there and some were a it and some a miss; my new favorite is a key lime tart!

Ugh I want to get in to Gideons but I'm too impatient to wait on line! And yum WBG, looking forward to your review!

 

[Araminta18]

That is the exact cake we got the first time we went to Amorette's! I have tried a few things from there and some were a it and some a miss; my new favorite is a key lime tart!

Ugh I want to get in to Gideons but I'm too impatient to wait on line! And yum WBG, looking forward to your review!

Oooh, key lime sounds delicious! I like Amorette's cause even if the taste isn't my favorite it always looks so cute and pretty.

Go to Gideons late! You may be able to do like we did and get in without having to wait! It is super cool -- I hope you can go one day.

I'm hoping to get the next post (with the Wine Bar George review and our room pics) up tomorrow...we'll see!

 

[Araminta18]

Wine Bar George and Swan Room Tour!
Sunday, May 23 2021 (part 3)​

I left off with us leaving Gideon's and heading to Wine Bar George for our dinner reservation. Wine Bar George is quite literally just steps away from Gideon's, hence my lack of concern over the possibility of being late for our dinner reservation.

We walked in the front and the waitress checked us in -- we apologized for being late but explained we had gotten into Gideon's, and the waitress was like "oh yea, totally worth it, totally fine. Did you bring us cookies?" She asked if we wanted to sit inside or outside; we requested outside and we were seated about 2 or 3 minutes later. We were hot, so we were kind of debating on if we'd rather be inside in the a/c, but I'm so glad we went with outside. This was our view:

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Or if you prefer the zoomed out version:

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And there was just enough of a breeze and it had cooled off...it was super super comfortable outside. Can't say enough nice things. We had to commemorate with a selfie.

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I did sneak a pic of Trevor as he sat down and took in the view, without him realizing. His expression is a good illustration of how we were feeling about the view.

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Our waiter came over pretty quickly, and I feel really bad because I didn't write down his name but he was fantastic. He was super friendly and attentive. He asked us what we'd like to drink, and when we said we don't drink (which we know is weird, at a Wine Bar), he didn't make us feel bad or weird or anything, which I really appreciated. He offered mocktails, which we were all for. Trevor especially really loves mocktails, and since we don't really have any preferences, we just asked for anything the bartender wanted to make.

5 or 10 minutes later, we got our mocktails. I don't remember what all was in my drink besides blackberry -- I think maybe some lime or something citrus too? I liked it, whatever it was.

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Trevor got a grapefruit and pineapple drink. His was sweeter than mine, especially with the grenadine at the bottom. I liked his better than mine but that's more a reflection of his being really good rather than mine being bad.

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Then we got our food. It was pretty close to last call for food when we ordered, but again, our waiter was fantastic. We had decided to order a bunch of the appetizers, instead of entrees, and our plan was to order a couple, then a couple more, etc. But with last call, that wouldn't work. But our waiter said he would bring out the first round asap, and then we could order one more/last round of appetizers and he'd be sure to squeeze them in before last call. Super nice! And it worked out really really well.

So, our first round:

The Iberico pork pluma

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So, full disclosure: the main reason we booked this ADR is 'cause we watch Tim Tracker, and they have been here several times, and they rave about this dish (the Iberico pork pluma). So we booked it to try it and they were RIGHT! This pork is SO GOOD -- it's so tender it literally melts in your mouth. And with the sauce...just yum. This was far and away my favorite dish and maybe even my favorite thing we ate this trip. SO GOOD. If you have a trip coming up, book an ADR just for this pork. I don't even like pork. And this is amazing.

We also got the crispy Mac and Cheese bites:

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These were fine -- not my favorite, but not bad. I think I'm just not a huge fan of macaroni and cheese and that carried over (for reals - I don't like Kraft mac and cheese or anything). I did think this preparation (deep frying the pasta) was cool - and the fry job was nicely done. If it hadn't been pasta on the inside I probably would have liked these better. Trevor liked them though.

And then the last thing from this first round - Saganaki on Fire -- the flaming cheese! Video of the server lighting it on fire

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They bring this to you, douse it in alcohol, and then set it aflame and the alcohol all burns off. This was SUPER neat, and how can you not like a hunk of cheese? It was delicious. My only complaint is that it cools off and gets a bit hard to eat with just the crostini after a bit. But it was fun, and yummy.

Once the waiter brought those out and gave us a few minutes to try them, he came back and we were able to order a few more right before last call. We got:

The house-made meatballs with 3 cheese polenta:

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This was good. Not my favorite, 'cause I'm not a huge fan of tomato sauce, but the meatballs (when I didn't get a bunch of sauce) were delicious. And the polenta was yummy.

Trevor then got the Shishito peppers (at a recommendation from our waiter) -- I'm not a huge spice fan, but then Trevor isn't a huge cheese fan (I know, what's wrong with him) and I still got the flaming cheese so only fair he get something he likes.

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Trevor really liked these -- only one of every 10 peppers or so is super spicy, and the rest are just moderately spicy. I tried it and thought even the normal ones were too spicy for me, but Trevor liked these a lot. He didn't finish it, but only cause there were so many.

And finally, the Iberico Pork Pluma again. Cause its AMAZING.

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Seriously, so good. I cannot rave enough about this. Why are you still reading? Go book an ADR at Wine Bar George for your next trip right now (or book your next trip and then also an ADR at Wine Bar George).

We definitely enjoyed our dinner at Wine Bar George, obviously. All the food was delicious, though the Pork Pluma was the best. I can't wait for us to go back and try some other dishes (as well as the Pork Pluma again).

When we left dinner, it was after most of the stores at Disney Springs had closed (we left at like 10:05 or so, and Disney Springs closes at 10pm), and so the pathways were a lot emptier. We of course had to take some selfies to commemorate our yummy food adventures.

Gideon's!​

Wine Bar George!​

At that point, it was 10:15 or so, and we were ready to head back to the hotel and crash. And to see what our room looked like! So we headed over to the bus stop to get picked up by the Swan and Dolphin bus. Fun fact for those of you staying at the Swan and Dolphin -- as of right now, the Swan/Dolphin buses do NOT get picked up with the Disney buses. They get picked up with the charter buses. At Disney Springs, that's on the West Side bus loop, closest to the Cirque de Soleil auditorium. That was a bit of a walk from Wine Bar George, let me tell you! And when we got there, bus stops were numbered but there wasn't any signage to show which resorts get picked up at which stop. But it's ok -- the Swan/Dolphin buses have a wrap on them indicating that they are Swan/Dolphin buses, so it wasn't something I needed to worry about. We got to the stop at 10:25, and then my next picture is us at the hotel elevators at 10:43, so the bus came pretty quickly and got us over to the Swan pretty quick. It was really nice that the bus came so quickly -- I hate waiting for buses late at night (me and everyone, really ) so that was a nice way to finish off our night.

At the Swan, since we'd checked in right before we left for Disney Springs, we just stopped at Bell Services and told them we would like our bags delivered, and then headed up to the room. As we went to the elevators for the first time, Trevor saw something that he needed to have a picture in front of.

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Such a fun little poster thing up for pictures. A fun little touch, especially since the focus of our trip was Galaxy's Edge.

And then at the elevators, look what else we saw!

Pretty nifty! (Also note the full Gideon's bag in Trevor's hand)​

And at long last, our room! I feel awfully sheepish, because while I took a bunch of pictures, I apparently lost any/all documentation stating what our room number was. We booked through Costco so I didn't get any receipt or bill directly from the Swan showing our room number. Dang! Well, it was on the 10th floor, that much I can tell you for sure. I think it was 1038, Trevor thinks it was 1028 or 1029. DANG I wish I remembered. Well, regardless, time for room pictures!

Remember, I'd asked for a high floor and view of the theme parks. Well, when we got our room number earlier I knew it was on a high floor (yay!!) since it was room number 10-something. Well, we walked in the room and the curtains were open to this:

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Gorgeous! I couldn't be more pleased. The Tower of Terror was pretty far off to the right, so I couldn't get it and the Boardwalk in one picture, but still -- lovely lovely view. We were super happy with the view. You could even see the buses going by and the skyliner in the distance during the day. Super pretty.

After taking in the view, we started exploring the room. It was a good size, and like many I love that the sink is separate from the toilet and the bathtub.

View from the front door:

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Looking to the right from the front door:

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Bathtub, obviously. Rainfall showerhead, which was nice, but I really don't love the rainfall showerheads 'cause the water pressure always seems super low, which I don't love.

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Sink in with the toilet and bathtub.

The main room

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The room was really nice! A good size, and part of me wished that the other bed was replaced with a table, like in the value resorts where the extra bed folds up for a table instead. We ended up putting souvenirs and stuff we brought and everything all over the place and over all the tables and things, just 'cause I like to spread out, but the room was nice. The beds were super comfortable too. The toilet/bathtub room was set up a bit weird with the door, but overall, we were really happy with the room. And the VIEW! Gorgeous.

There was a mini-fridge (on the far right of the tv stand. We had to stick all our cakes and cookies and treats in there right away -- best fridge ever!

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We wanted to sample some of the Gideon's cake that night, so Trevor went off to go find utensils and napkins, and I waited in the room for our bags. Bell Services came super quickly, actually, which was nice. Our other experiences with bell services (at the actual Disney resorts) was not nearly as pleasant (we always had to go down and track our bags down, even though they said they'd bring them to our room), so this was a very pleasant surprise. Then I was unpacking and getting us all situated, so that in the morning we could just get up, get ready, and go to the parks.

Finally Trevor came back and we tried the Red Velvet cake. It looked amazing, but it was a bit dry. And I don't love cream cheese frosting anyways, so it was a bit of a bust for me. Trevor liked it though.

The timestamp on those pictures is 11:38 pm. Best (almost) midnight snack! ​

So yea, that was our arrival day! I definitely made it more dramatic than it needed to be, but we had lots of fun. Bought lots and lots of yummy treats, 'cause after all, we're just here for the food!

Fun with Metrics:
Steps walked: 8874 steps (3.7 miles)
Ride count: 0 (unless we count the faux monorail?)

Next up: Trevor's first time at Galaxy's Edge!

 

[chiefdragon]

I am having such a good time reading your report. Cannot wait to read more.

 

[jbrinkm]

I am having such a good time reading your report. Cannot wait to read more.

Me too!

 

[StarWarsMomofGirls!]

I am here!!! And all caught up!

. After all, Trevor still hadn't seen Galaxy's Edge and he needed to, right?!

DEF!!!!!

also anyone else TOTALLY OVER park reservations? and only hopping after 2 pm? lame sauce. I hope that bit goes back to normal, though sadly I feel like it probably won't)

I haven't had to deal with them yet, but I do think they will be here to stay. It probably helps them out greatly with staffing.

I was trying to be a little less...intense, so our flight was at 2:55 in the afternoon, instead of zero dark thirty like the flights I normally book

I like your description of early.. zero dark thirty

We live in the DC area (specifically Northern Virginia but it's just easier to say DC

I don't think I realized you were in the DC area. We aren't too too far away.

Poor Trevor looks so tired! I promise he was excited

I can totally tell you are smilling in this pic, though!

I swear our bags were like the last ones off the plane.

We came in late one of the last times we went to Disney I swear our bag was literally the LAST bag. And by a couple minutes. Like I was getting worried it was lost. Oye.

I know it's not actually that long, but when you're so close to Disney, every minute delay feels like forever.

I TOTALLY get it. At that point you just want to be there!!!!

To get to the Swan, we'd booked Tiffany Towncar -- it was $150 for a round trip (plus tip), but I'd heard tales of crazy uber pricing surges, and the reviews here of Tiffany Towncar were all so positive that it sounded like a good option. I was so glad we booked i

Good to know! We aren't going till 2022 and Magical Express will be a thing of the past. You were probably better off, sounds like ME is a hot mess anymore.

Our plan for the night was Disney Springs (we had a dinner ADR I was SUPER SUPER excited for...any guesses? 10 points if anyone guesses right!)

Well, I was going to guess Homecomin' but I was clearly wrong.

so we figured that probably wouldn't work. Oh well! It was our first night -- we'd definitely be back to Disney Springs and could try again a few days later.

I want to try Gideon's but I don't know if I can deal with the stress!

We love the "make your own" rice krispies and were looking forward to making several, but they weren't doing them, 'cause of Covid. I was super disappointed, let me tell you!

We love make your own rice krispies! Bummer. I hope they come back.

cause again, the man was still in the Star Wars shop, which is part of the reason why I figured we needed to make this trip so he could see Galaxy's Edge!)

Man, did you see any of Hollywood Studios? Or did he just move into Galaxy's Edge?

we apologized for being late but explained we had gotten into Gideon's, and the waitress was like "oh yea, totally worth it, totally fine. Did you bring us cookies?"

ha! they are probably used to it.

So, full disclosure: the main reason we booked this ADR is 'cause we watch Tim Tracker, and they have been here several times, and they rave about this dish (the Iberico pork pluma). So we booked it to try it and they were RIGHT! This pork is SO GOOD -- it's

I want to go here for the same reason!!!

best fridge ever!

Def the best fridge!

Finally Trevor came back and we tried the Red Velvet cake. It looked amazing, but it was a bit dry. And I don't love cream cheese frosting anyways, so it was a bit of a bust for me. Trevor liked it though.

I feel like the cakes are just ok there. How was the other slice?

Next up: Trevor's first time at Galaxy's Edge!

Can't wait to see and hear how he liked it! I mean I HAVE to assume he loved it!!!

 

[CruellaNY]

That is a gorgeous room view!

The house-made meatballs with 3 cheese polenta:

All that food you got looks great; we ate there once and Steve had the meatballs and loved them. I had the burrata and it was AMAZING and we need to go back!

 

[kclark9830]

Beautiful views from your room AND your table at WBG!

 

[Wayland10]

Following!

 

[Araminta18]

I am having such a good time reading your report. Cannot wait to read more.

and thank you!! I'm glad you're enjoying it. I'm definitely having fun writing it.

Me too!

I'm so glad you're liking it!

I haven't had to deal with them yet, but I do think they will be here to stay. It probably helps them out greatly with staffing.

That makes sense -- I'm sure Disney has a bunch of other reasons for liking it too. I just don't like it if I can't also do fastpasses, and can't hop til 2 pm.

I don't think I realized you were in the DC area. We aren't too too far away.

Really? Small world!

Good to know! We aren't going till 2022 and Magical Express will be a thing of the past. You were probably better off, sounds like ME is a hot mess anymore.

Is it? I hadn't been following anything about it! But I think we're spoiled now -- the town car ride was so nice, except for the waiting for bags part

We love make your own rice krispies! Bummer. I hope they come back.

I may or may not be considering booking another trip when they come back (ok so not really, but also maybe kind of? )

Man, did you see any of Hollywood Studios? Or did he just move into Galaxy's Edge?

He totally would have, if he could!!

I want to go here for the same reason!!!

It's worth it! The Trackers were not exaggerating on that pork. So delicious.

I feel like the cakes are just ok there. How was the other slice?

The salted caramel was a lot better, actually. I really wish we could have gotten a different slice, cause I don't really care for either red velvet or salted caramel, but the salted caramel was good. I'd eat it again.

Can't wait to see and hear how he liked it! I mean I HAVE to assume he loved it!!!

Or did he?! Bwahahahahahaha Nah, he totally did.

All that food you got looks great; we ate there once and Steve had the meatballs and loved them. I had the burrata and it was AMAZING and we need to go back!

Oooh adding the burrata to my list for next time!

Beautiful views from your room AND your table at WBG!

Right? I love all the nice views at Disney.

Following!

thank you!

 

[khmorgan]

Hopping on... what a wonderful view!

 

[Araminta18]

Hopping on... what a wonderful view!

right? we got so spoiled!

 

[Belles bakery]

I’m following your trip!! Super fun!!

 

[Trinity524]

I'm here! So excited to read about the rest of your trip.

 

[amberdc1987]

I'm here! Can't wait to hear all about y'all's trip! And more importantly food pics!

 

[Araminta18]

I’m following your trip!! Super fun!!

thanks!

I'm here! So excited to read about the rest of your trip.

thanks! I'm hoping i'll have the next post up tomorrow or Sunday, though considering it'll be about Trevor's first day in Galaxy's Edge I have no idea how many parts I'll end up breaking that day into!

I'm here! Can't wait to hear all about y'all's trip! And more importantly food pics!

Don't worry, there will be lots of food pics! Trevor was actually really good about reminding me to take pictures of the food before eating!

 

[Araminta18]

Rope Dropping Hollywood Studios
Monday, May 24, 2021 (part 1)​

I left off with us eating cake and going to bed; my sleep app says we went to bed at 12:06 am. Heyyo, Disney hours. We like to shower and everything at night, so in the mornings we can just get up and go, so we set the alarm for 6:30 am. I'd been reading reports here about when to arrive to rope drop Hollywood Studios, and figured if we were up at 6:30, we could leave around 7:30 and walk over and get there before 8 am. My goal was to beat the Skyliner people.

Anyways, so up at 6:30, to this gorgeous view--

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We got dressed and brushed teeth, and then got all set up to try and get a Rise of the Resistance boarding group. We actually had recruited several friends to help us get a boarding group -- everyone was logged in to our account, working off of the time from time.gov. We figured with a bunch of us trying, hopefully we'd get a fairly good/early boarding group. And......

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WOOOOOOOOT. I don't even know how it happened -- one of our friends was the one who got it. Fast internet and fast fingers for the win, I guess. We were SUPER excited, as I'm sure you can imagine. The adrenaline is real, y'all. But it was good motivation to get out the door quickly, setting the stage for hopefully a fantastic day in Star Wars land.

We also celebrated by eating cake for breakfast.

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This is the salted caramel cake. This was a lot more moist than the red velvet cake, and the caramel was pretty muted (like caramel drippings on the frosting), which works for me 'cause I'm not a huge fan of salted caramel. We liked this piece of cake a lot -- much better than the red velvet. But it is super sweet -- I think we ate this as a bit of a snack for breakfast every morning. It just lasted that long.

And 'cause I'm a nerd, we definitely did matching outfits and such each day. Today, as should not be surprising, our outfits were Star Wars-themed. We were both wearing our Galaxy's Edge Opening commemoration shirts (I bought one for Trevor when I did the AP preview) and then I was wearing my Star Wars ears.

Our mirror selfie skills are not strong.​

So we left at 7:30 am exactly, planning to walk over. We did get a little bit lost, trying to find the walking path from the front of the Swan, but not too bad. The start of the path is a little bit hidden in the top right part of the parking lot, but after 2 or 3 minutes of "uhhhhhh where do we go" and me being like "no, I swear there is a path here, see google maps says there's a walking path here", we found it. It's just parallel to the walking path from the Boardwalk and goes right along the water. Then when you hit the part where the Boardwalk path goes under the bridge, you have to go up and over the bridge and then you meet up with the Boardwalk path.

This is the view from the bridge as we were walking over. Look at that water -- no ripples at all! We were too early for the boats. We really liked this walking path.​

There weren't very many people on the path (yay!), so we were just enjoying the coolness of the morning and the views, and then we saw a bunch of ducklings following the mama duck into the water! Hard to see with the reflection off the water, but it was fun to see.

Nature! ​

We arrived at the line of people waiting to get in to Hollywood Studios at 7:47, per the timestamp of my photo. They were holding us at the security tents. We timed it just right -- getting there about 3 minutes before the skyliner people started arriving. Phew!

Love the shadow of my ears here.​

The line of people ahead of us to get in to the park -- not too bad!​

We waited there for about 15 minutes -- 8:02 they let us through security to wait at the tapstiles. Can I just say I love this new security? Just walking through the things and no bag check? Perfect. Love it.

Everyone was heading over to the tapstiles closest to them so we headed over to the tapstiles on the far right and got to be first in line!

I was definitely practicing my selfie skills. ​

Anyways, we waited there at the tapstiles for 20 minutes, passing the time talking to the family at the next tapstile and the CM. At 8:21, they let us go! The running of the tourists commenced. We were definitely speedwalking, but not running. Where were we headed?

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Not Galaxy's Edge!?!? I know, faked you out. We decided to rope-drop Mickey and Minnie's Runaway Railway, since neither of us had ridden it yet, and my informal survey of ride wait times in the past week indicated that the wait times for the Falcon would stay pretty low for a bit. So, Runaway Railway it was! We were going to be first in line but then we weren't quite sure where to go so we broke right instead of heading to the left. Cost us that first rider of the day spot! Dang.

I laughed way too hard at this Mickey short poster (Croissant de Triomphe )​

Bummer we didn't get the pre-show (thanks Covid), but I hear that's back now? Yay!

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We requested to be in the first row of our car, so we weren't behind plexiglass. That early in the morning, they were ok to grant that request, thankfully.

So, what did we think? We loved it! Trevor is a big fan of the Great Movie Ride, so he was a bit skeptical, but we really liked it! It's super cute, and just so bright and fun. I caught a couple of the easter eggs (like the hidden mickey in the signpost at the end), but there was just so much to see. It was a great first ride of our trip -- that classic Disney magic.

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We were off the ride at 8:31, and at that point, decided that Trevor had waited long enough, so off to Galaxy's Edge we went! He was so excited he was doing his Trevor super-speed walk. I grabbed him for a pic as we were walking through the tunnel -- you can kind of see in the first photo his focus/awe on theming that I yanked him out of for a picture.

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We headed right over to the Falcon -- Trevor was BLOWN away by the theming. He was just loving it. And the benefits of getting to Galaxy's Edge early -- shots of the Falcon with no one else!

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We got in line for the Falcon at 8:38 am. I don't remember what the posted wait was (they may not have posted anything since technically the park hadn't opened yet, but this picture is stamped 8:53 am, and it's right outside the room with Hondo, so 15 minutes or so? Not bad, especially since Trevor and I were both just looking at everything and taking pictures and just being awed by it all.

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Trevor is pretending he didn't love have me taking pictures of him everywhere but really he loved it.

He's not good at the smiling with his eyes through the mask thing, but you can definitely tell he's psyched to be sitting at the holochess table in the Falcon.

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I made sure to get a selfie with both of us here -- this is the spot where Han kissed Leia, and they turned it some of the lights into Xs and Os, for hugs and kisses.

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We were super excited when we found out that not only were we going to be pilots for Trevor's first ride, but that we'd have the Falcon all to ourselves!!!!! We're such nerds. I of course made Trevor be the right pilot, so he could pull the lever to go to lightspeed.

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So, we are definitely not the best pilots, but we had a great time. Trevor loved being able to fly the Falcon. We even got a pretty good score! Though sadly for whatever reason the Play app was acting up and never realized we piloted the Falcon and so never gave us our credits in the app.

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We got off the Falcon at 9:18, and it was finally time for us to go ride Rise of the Resistance!

I'm about hitting my picture limit for this post, so that'll be in my next post. I know, I'm like the most long-winded/boring detail oriented trip report writer, but oh well.

Next up: Rise of the Resistance and more food reviews!