After a long 2 1/2 year absence from one of my favorite vacation destinations, I finally returned to Disney World for 10 nights and this time I brought 6 family and extended family members along with me. The trip was filled with the three “F’s”…Family, Fun, and of course with 7 people there was an abundance of FOOD!!!
During this latest Disney adventure I stayed at three resorts, one of which was new to me. Two of these were short 1 or 2 night stays at Disney-owned resorts (one Deluxe, one Moderate) and the third was for 7 nights at the Swan Resort. Though the Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin Resorts are located on Disney World property (between Disney’s Yacht & Beach Club and the Boardwalk) they are managed by Marriott. However their guests have some of the same privileges as those staying at Disney-owned hotels, but I’ll get into that in more detail later in my trip report. Also of note, though I’ve stayed at both the Swan & Dolphin previously, this time because of the size of our group I decided to splurge and reserve a 2 Bedroom Grand Suite (sometimes referred to as a Grand Parlor Suite). So I will be including many photos, details and my thoughts regarding this “suite” experience.
As for the food, our dining experiences included 19 restaurants (11 table service meals and 8 quick service) plus some Epcot Flower & Garden Festival booths, four Bars/Lounges, the Hoop-dee-Doo Revue Dinner Show, and the Magic Kingdom Fireworks Dessert Party. Oh and for the last night that the 7 of us were together I booked the Epcot Fireworks Boat Cruise to cap off our wonderful trip.
So I have much to tell you about!
OUR LINEUP OF REVIEWS
Resort/Room Reviews
- Contemporary Resort Tower Theme Park View Room# 4548 – COMPLETE
- Swan 2 Bedroom Grand (Parlor) Suite – Rooms# 708, 709, 711 – COMPLETE
- Port Orleans French Quarter Garden View Room# 5132 – COMPLETE
Table Service Restaurants
- Kona Cafe Breakfast (Polynesian Resort) – COMPLETE
- Chef Art Smith’s Homecomin’ Brunch (Disney Springs) – COMPLETE
- Rosa Mexicano Dinner (Dolphin Resort) – COMPLETE
- Garden Grill Breakfast – Garden Rocks Concert Package (Epcot) – COMPLETE
- Via Napoli Dinner (Epcot) – COMPLETE
- 50’s Prime Time Cafe – Fantasmic Dining Package (Hollywood Studios) – COMPLETE
- ‘Ohana Dinner (Polynesian Resort) – COMPLETE
- Boma Breakfast Buffet (Animal Kingdom Lodge Resort) – COMPLETE
- Teppan Edo Dinner (Epcot) – COMPLETE
- Yak & Yeti Lunch (Animal Kingdom) – COMPLETE
- Summer House on the Lake Brunch (Disney Springs) – COMPLETE
- Bonus Review of our Summer House Santa Monica Brunch (Chicago) – COMPLETE
Quick Service Restaurants
- Contempo Cafe Breakfast (Contemporary Resort) – COMPLETE
- Contempo Cafe Desserts (Contemporary Resort) – COMPLETE
- Woody’s Lunch Box Breakfast (Hollywood Studios) – COMPLETE
- ABC Commissary Dinner (Hollywood Studios) – COMPLETE
- Pecos Bill Cafe Lunch (Magic Kingdom) – COMPLETE
- Les Halles Boulangerie Pattisserie Breakfast (Epcot) – COMPLETE
- Kusafiri Coffee Shop & Bakery Breakfast (Animal Kingdom) – COMPLETE
- Java Breakfast (Swan Resort) – COMPLETE
- Sassagoula Floatworks & Food Factory Breakfast (Port Orleans – French Quarter) – COMPLETE
Bars & Lounges
- Steakhouse 71 Lounge Dinner (Contemporary Resort) – COMPLETE
- Oga’s Cantina Drinks (Hollywood Studios) – COMPLETE
- La Cava del Tequila Margaritas (Epcot) – COMPLETE
- Scat Cat Club Lounge Dinner (Port Orleans – French Quarter) – COMPLETE
Miscellaneous Food
- Hoop-Dee-Doo Musical Revue Dinner Show (Fort Wilderness Resort) – COMPLETE
- Epcot Flower & Garden Festival Booths Part 1 & 2– COMPLETE
- Pineapple Lanai Snacks (Polynesian Resort) – COMPLETE (See April 3)
- Magic Kingdom Post-Fireworks Dessert Party – COMPLETE
- Splitsville for Bowling & Beverages (Disney Springs) – COMPLETE (See April 4)
- Sommerfest Snack (Epcot) – COMPLETE (See April 5)
- A Sundae on a Friday at Beaches & Cream (Beach Club) – COMPLETE (See April 5)
- Fuel Snacks (Dolphin) – COMPLETE
- Epcot Fireworks Boat Cruise – COMPLETE
- One Last Treat from the Scat Cat’s Club Cafe (Port Orleans – French Quarter) – COMPLETE
NOTE: Six of our group (Jake, Andrew, Bryan, Emily, Don and myself) participated in these reviews. Ratings of between 1 – 5 were given as follows:
1 – Really Bad , 2 – Not Good, 3 – Okay, 4 – Good, 5 – Excellent
Ok, Let’s Get Started!
FRIDAY, MARCH 29 – ARRIVAL DAY (Contemporary Resort)
My husband, Don, and I actually began our road trip from Illinois on Thursday morning, March 28. Deciding we didn’t want to tackle the Atlanta traffic on Good Friday (of the Easter Holiday Weekend), we took a different route to Orlando than usual. Spending the night at a hotel in Birmingham, Alabama, we got a fairly early start on Friday morning and arrived at Disney World at 5:25 p.m. (Eastern Time).
I had been notified at about 2:30 that our room was ready so once we got through the Contemporary’s security gate, unloaded our luggage, and found a parking spot (in a very full lot), we took an elevator from the lobby up to the 9th floor to our Room #4548.
Our Review of the Contemporary Resort’s Main Tower Theme Park View Room #4548
At around 7:00 we went downstairs to the lobby to see if we could get a seat at the bar at the Steakhouse 71 Lounge…
Review of Our Dinner at the Steakhouse 71 Lounge
Shortly after returning to our room, the Enchantment fireworks show began at Magic Kingdom at 8:45. We of course watched the show from our balcony while we listened to the music on our tv…
A perfect ending to our first day at Disney World!
SATURDAY, MARCH 30 – Here, There & Everywhere!
We had a 8:50 reservation for breakfast at Kona Cafe so we left our room at about 8:20. The first thing I saw walking out our door was this stunning view…
Then I looked down below to check out the sights on the 4th floor…
And the Mary Blair mural is always impressive…
And then a monorail passed through on its way to Magic Kingdom…
But we were headed in the opposite direction so we took the elevator down to the 4th floor, went through the security checkpoint there, and then took the escalator up to the Resort Monorail platform on the 5th floor. The monorail arrived almost immediately and we boarded for the short ride to the Polynesian, the second stop after the Ticket & Transportation Center.
It was great to see the Polynesian Resort again (it had been 2 1/2 years!). I love the lighting there…
We reached our destination (Kona Cafe) at 8:35, just 15 minutes after leaving our room at the Contemporary. Nice! We checked in 15 minutes early for our reservation and were seated just a couple of minutes later for our breakfast at…
Our next destination was the Grand Floridian to check out their Easter egg display. Unfortunately the walkway between the Polynesian and Grand Floridian was still closed (due to the construction work on the new Polynesian DVC building) so we hopped on the resort monorail for a quick ride to the Grand Floridian. It’s always an impressive sight when you get off the monorail and enter the Grand Floridian on the 2nd floor…
And with it being Easter season, that meant the Grand Cottage and the annual Easter egg display could also be found in the beautiful lobby of the Grand Floridian.
Here is what was available for purchase this year at the Grand Cottage…
But we were there to see the Easter egg display. Each of the intricately designed (and edible) eggs were handcrafted by the resort’s pastry chefs. Here are photos of some of my favorites, starting with Yzma from Emperor’s New Groove…
Inspired by Disney Munchlings…
Al’s Toy Barn from Toy Story 2…
A replica of the palace from Aladdin…
Daisy’s House…
Alice in Wonderland themed…
Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway…
The Angry Coconuts from Moana…
And my #1 favorite, from Beauty & the Beast…
On a side note, I noticed that the Garden View Tea Room (located in the lobby of the Grand Floridian) had yet to reopen and it made me sad…
We then left the Grand Floridian and made our way on foot to Magic Kingdom, via the walkway which follows the monorail around the lake…
YES, after years of guest requests, they finally made this walkway! It opened in late 2020, and I used it soon after (in April 2021 when we stayed at the Grand Floridian for the first part of my birthday trip). As a guest of the Grand Floridian it was nice to have another option besides the monorail or boat in which to get to Magic Kingdom. This was especially nice at park closing when the line for the monorail was incredibly long. Once the walkway between the Polynesian at the Grand Floridian reopens, you will also be able to walk from the Polynesian to Magic Kingdom. This means that walking to the park will be an option for guests at all three of the Magic Kingdom monorail resorts.
And speaking of walkways, once we reached Magic Kingdom we used the walkway which goes from there to the Contemporary to return to our room. Since we didn’t have a park ticket for the first few days of our trip, we decided to spend some time relaxing in our room before continuing our resort hopping.
After a few hours we headed back to Magic Kingdom (again using the walkway) to catch a boat to another Magic Kingdom resort, the Wilderness Lodge…
Though I saw no special decorations for Easter, the Wilderness Lobby was beautiful as ever.
I had originally planned to stick around and have a shared lunch or appetizer and cocktails at the Geyser Point Bar & Grill, located outside by the lake. However, we were still pretty full from breakfast and had an early dinner planned so decided against it. We walked around for a bit, as I hadn’t been to this resort since 2019, and then enjoyed the boat trip back to Magic Kingdom.
After walking back to our room at the Contemporary we had just enough time to freshen up and change our clothes. We then walked out to the Contemporary’s boat dock to catch the first Blue Flag boat of the day (at 3:00) to Fort Wilderness for the 4:00 dinner show…
Our Hoop-Dee-Doo Dinner Show Review
Shortly before 6:00 the show ended and my husband and I made a quick exit out the door and down to the Ft. Wilderness boat dock where there was a Blue Flag boat boarding that would take us back to the Contemporary. We were in a hurry because our team was playing in the NCAA tournament that night and the game was about to start. We made it back to our room pretty quickly and were happy that we hadn’t missed much of the game…
Our happiness lasted only until half time, after which UConn went on its infamous 30 – 0 run and buried the hopes and dreams of us Illini fans. I got so frustrated that I had to quit watching and go for a walk.
I went downstairs to the lobby of the Contemporary to check out the Easter egg display there…
While there weren’t as many as they had at the Grand Floridian and they weren’t quite as elaborate, there were some pretty cute eggs here.
The last time we stayed at the Contemporary on Easter Sunday, there were church services held in their Convention Center. I was curious if they were still doing this and this sign in the lobby answered that question…
Sadly, Easter church services are no longer being held at the Contemporary or anywhere else on Disney property. But this sign listed the schedule of activities that were going to be held at the resort on Easter Sunday, which included an Easter Bunny Bash and an Easter scavenger hunt…
My next stop was at the Contempo Cafe on the 4th floor to check out their display case of Signature Deluxe cookies that I’d heard about…
Across the top tier (from left to right) were Churro Sugar Cookies, 5 Legged Goat Cookies (which were gluten-free sugar cookies with an edible image of the 5 Legged Goat), Blueberry-Lemon Sugar Cookies, and Minnie Cinnamon Rolls. On the lower tier were Kitchen Sink Cookies, more 5 Legged Goat Cookies, and then two trays of Peanut Butter-Chocolate Chunk Cookies. I purchased one of each of the cookies (all but the 5 Legged Goat) for us to taste test the next day when the rest of our group would arrive. So I’ll be posting a review of our findings later in my report.
I did also get a treat for my husband and I to share while we again watched the fireworks from the balcony of our room. This is what I chose…
This was good. Much better than the Chocolate Banana Cream Pie dessert that we got the previous night from Steakhouse 71 for almost twice the price. And (SPOILER ALERT), it was also better than any of cookies that I got from the Contempo Cafe for just a little over a $1.00 more. So we gave this dessert a rating of 4.
This dessert and watching the Happily Ever After fireworks show from our balcony helped to soften the blow (just a little) from our team losing so badly that night and ending their season on such a sour note. At least for me it did. For my husband, probably not so much.
I finish this day with a few fireworks photos…
EASTER SUNDAY, MARCH 31 – Here, There & Everywhere, Again!
Today was a big day. for us. My husband and I would be visiting Disney Springs for brunch before picking up the rest of our group from the airport and switching from the Contemporary to the Swan Resort. And then there were our evening activities.
But first I mobile ordered breakfast for us from the Contemporary’s quick service restaurant…
Our Contempo Cafe Breakfast Review
After having breakfast in our room, we packed up and got ready for our busy day. Check out was at 11:00 and we made it out of the room by 11:20, so more or less on time. We loaded the car and ran a few errands (CVS pharmacy and car wash…because my husband is obsessed with having a clean car, lol) before driving to Disney Springs. We parked in the Orange garage (love that there is free parking at Disney Springs) and made our way through the Security line pretty quickly. Then it was on to our Brunch destination…
Our Brunch at Chef Art Smith’s Homecomin’
After brunch we headed to the Swan to attempt to check in a little early and leave our luggage before heading to the airport to pick up the rest of our group. The parlor room and one of the two bedrooms were ready for us.
Our 2-Bedroom Grand Parlor Suite at the Walt Disney World Swan Resort
Once we had returned from the airport our group of 7 went for a walk around Crescent Lake, with a stop at the lobby of the Yacht Club Resort to check out their Easter display. They seemed to be running on auxiliary power at that time so the lighting in the lobby was very dim.
Their Easter egg display was Moana themed…
Then it was on to the Beach Club lobby to see their Easter egg display…
It was then time to make our way to the Dolphin for our 8:30 dinner reservation at…
Our Dinner for 7 at Rosa Mexicano
After our dinner we congregated at the dining table of our suite at the Swan to have dessert…
Our Contempo Cafe Desserts Review
MONDAY, APRIL 1 – Epcot
As guests of the Swan we were able to take part in the 1/2 hour early entry into the theme parks, just like the guests of all the Disney-owned hotels. So, we walked to the International Gateway Entrance to Epcot from the Swan and were able to enter the park a little before 8:30 (with the official opening time for the park at 9:00). The line for the Remy ride in France was already out to the bridge but when they opened the ride a little after 8:30 the line moved fast. We were finished with the ride with just enough time to walk across the park to the Land pavilion for our 9:30 breakfast reservation.
Our Garden Grill Breakfast with the Garden Rocks Concert Dining Package
After breakfast we were able to ride several rides using their Lightening Lanes. This was possible because one of our group (due to a developmental disability) qualified for the DAS (Disability Access Service) Pass for herself and up to 5 others. This is a wonderful service offered by Disney and was truly a blessing for us. The parks were quite busy during our week after Easter trip and the lines were long. Skipping these long lines made this trip possible for our disabled person and we greatly appreciated being able to have her with us.
NOTE: In May 2024 (about a month after this trip), Disney made some changes to their DAS policies. This included a decrease in the size of the group which could be included on the DAS Pass. Now it is only the qualifying person plus 3 others. For our next trip we will again have 7 people so we will probably be purchasing a lot more Lightning Lane Multi Passes in order to try to stay together and ride things as a group. I’m hoping we will be able to coordinate the ride times. It will be much more challenging but hopefully still doable.
By about 2:00 we were starting to get hungry again so headed to World Showcase, where a majority of the Flower & Garden Festival booths were located.
Epcot Flower & Garden Festival Booths – Part 1
After filling up on Festival food and beverages, the “youngsters” of our group went back to our hotel for a quick nap or shower or change of clothes. Since we were staying at the Swan, our hotel was just a short walk away. I talked my husband into staying at the park with me. The only reason this was possible is because he loves to listen to the Voices of Liberty perform at the American pavilion. We were able to catch their last performance of the day at 3:45.
After their 15 minute set, we stayed for The American Adventure movie. I can’t say for 100% certainty, because we both took a little nap during part of the movie, but I don’t think there were any changes to the movie since the last time we saw it a few years ago. I know I stayed awake long enough though to see the Civil War part and hear the “Two Brothers Song” about brothers fighting on opposite sides of the war. That song always gets to me.
After the 30 minute movie we had just enough time to hit up the nice restrooms located just to the right of the main building of the American pavilion. Then it was time to meet up with the kids to go to the 5:30 Garden Rocks Concert at the American Gardens Theatre. During our (Dining Package) breakfast at Garden Grill that morning they gave us 7 tickets/passes which allowed us to enter the theatre on the left side and be seated in the reserve section, which was in the front left side of the theatre.
We had a great view of the show without having to stand in a long line, which for us was worth the extra money we paid for the Dining package vs. the regular Garden Grill breakfast price.
The Pointer Sisters gave a great performance. Ruth Pointer (in the middle) is the only original member of the group. At 78, she looked and sounded great! The one on the left is Ruth’s daughter, Issa. Her father is Dennis Edwards, former member of the Temptations, so she has a great musical pedigree. Then on the right is Ruth’s granddaughter and Issa’s niece, Sadako.
After the concert we divided up again to do some shopping at various countries around World Showcase before meeting up again in Italy for our 7:30 dinner reservation at…
Dinner for Group of 7 at Via Napoli
Our original plan was to watch Epcot’s nighttime show, Luminous, and then stay for the Extended Evening Hours, which we qualified for as guests of the Swan. However, with the long delay in getting our food at Via Napoli, we did not finish our dinner there until the show was nearly over. Having already accomplished our ride goals during the day and knowing that we would be back to Epcot on Friday, we decided to head to the exit in order to beat the crowds leaving the park after the show. So that completed our first park day of trip. And as usual for us, Epcot had lived up to its “pseudo” acronym of “Every Person Comes Out Tired”.
TUESDAY, APRIL 2 – Hollywood Studios
Official park opening time was 8:30, or 8:00 for Disney hotel guests (including the Swan & Dolphin Resort guests). I had heard though that during busy times they usually opened Hollywood Studios earlier than the posted time. With this in mind I got everyone going early and walking to Hollywood Studios, arriving at the park entrance around 7:20. They opened the gates shortly after 7:30 and we quickly made our way to Galaxy’s Edge and the standby line for Rise of the Resistance. The line moved very quickly so by 7:51 we were already in the pre-show room…
Just 5 minutes later we had been captured by the Empire…
And 12 minutes later we were noticed by Kylo Ren as we were attempting to escape…
By 8:11 (20 minutes from the time we entered the pre-show) we had safely returned to Batuu.
We then rode Millennium Falcon using the stand-by line because it was still a walk-on at this early time of the morning. Since the Falcon only holds 6 passengers, my husband sat this one out. The first (and probably the last) time he rode this ride it made him motion sick so he was happy to bow out.
After flying a fairly successful mission, we decided it was time for some breakfast. For this, we headed to Toy Story Land and…
Our Breakfast at Woody’s Lunch Box
For the rest of the day we used the DAS pass to ride Toy Story Mania, Slinky Dog, Tower of Terror, Star Tours and Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway via their Lightening Lanes. For those traveling with someone who has a developmental disability, this is truly a godsend. Since the DAS group could only include 6 (out of 7) of our group, we purchased a Lightening Lane pass for my husband and then tried to coordinate ride times so that he could ride with us on most of the rides.
REMINDER: The group size for the DAS pass was decreased to 4 as of May 20, 2024.
Our Fantasmic Dining Package Lunch at 50’s Prime Time Cafe
After lunch it was time to use our scheduled DAS pass to see Olaf…
Olaf is one our granddaughter’s favorite Disney characters so we had to meet him and send her photo.
We had a little time before our next DAS pass for Tower of Terror so I suggested that we check out the Star Wars Character Experience for Disney VISA cardmembers. We located the private viewing area inside the Star Wars Launch Bay in the Animation Courtyard. I had to show my Disney VISA card and also ID (I think) in order to enter. I think technically they have a limit of 6 people which can enter per a cardmember account but they allowed our 7th person to join us.
NOTE: This is currently available daily from 11:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.
You then receive free downloads of the photos taken by the Photopass photographer during your Meet & Greet session…
We had a very fun interaction with Darth Vader…
And of course, my husband got into a bit of trouble, lol…
After going back to our hotel (Swan) for a break, we returned to Hollywood Studios for a few more rides and to have dinner before seeing the Fantasmic show.
During our Fantasmic Dining Package Lunch at 50’s Prime Time Cafe, we had been given vouchers for the 1st showing of Fantasmic at 8:30 (there were two shows scheduled on this evening). So at about 7:45 we made our way to the special entrance for the Dining Package voucher holders located on Sunset Boulevard next to the Beauty & the Beast Theater. Though this entrance opens 90 minutes prior to the show, I think arriving 30 -45 minutes before show time should usually be adequate.
Fantasmic is held in the Hollywood Hills Amphitheater, which has stadium seating for nearly 8,000 people. Though with the dining package you are guaranteed seats in the reserved section of the theater, your exact seats within this section are not pre-assigned. So in other words, the seats are “first come. first served”.
Here is a map which shows the location of the Dining Package reserved section…
As you can see, the section is ideally positioned with a center stage view. Note that as you enter the seating area, you should do so as a group (if your group wants to sit together). The Dining Package people are shepherded by cast members into the next available row of seats, moving you down to the end of the row until the row is filled. If your group stays together during this seating process you will be seated together, but for anyone who lags behind there is no guarantee you will be able to join your group. Once you are seated though, members of your group can come and go (with the remaining group members saving your seats) if needed in order to go to the bathroom, get snacks, etc.
Unfortunately they were having some technical difficulties which caused about a 10 minute delay to the start of the show, but thankfully it wasn’t canceled.
The show lasted about 25 minutes, ending at about 9:05.
We exited the theater as quickly as possible and walked as fast as we could through the park to Galaxy’s Edge. Our goal was to get in the line for Rise of the Resistance before park closing at 9:30, when they cut off the line. We were successful not only in getting in line, but it moved so quickly that by 9:30 we were already on the ride…
By 10:00 we were out of Rise of Resistance. The park had officially closed at 9:30 so everything in Galaxy’s Edge was closed. Except for Oga’s Cantina, that is.
And we just happened to have a 10:15 reservation there.
Our Late Night Visit to Oga’s Cantina
Leaving Oga’s at 10:45 we had the cool experience of walking through an empty Galaxy’s Edge.
It was a fun way to end our one and only day at Hollywood Studios.
Wednesday, April 3 – Magic Kingdom, Polynesian Resort
We made it in time for Early Entry at Magic Kingdom and rode several rides, including Tron, by 10:30. We had skipped breakfast, other than coffee, because we knew that with a 3:30 dinner reservation at ‘Ohana (the only time we could get for our party size) we needed to have a very early lunch.
So when Pecos Bill Cafe opened its doors at 10:30 our hungry group of 7 we were there waiting for our Mobile Order…
After lunch we headed to Tomorrowland to use our DAS passes for Buzz Lightyear. I thought I had done fairly well with this score…
But I soon found out I didn’t come anywhere close to the winning score of our group…
And yet we were still only Planetary Pilots. Maybe someday one of us will reach the elusive Galactic Hero status by scoring 999,999 points?
When we exited the Buzz Lightyear building it had started raining. So we quickly made our way over to the Carousel of Progress to see the next show while we waited out the rain. It was still raining when we the show let out so we waited underneath the building’s awning until there was a break in the rain. When that break came and seeing another big wave coming soon (per radar), we decided to make an early exit from the park and head over to the Polynesian via the Resort Monorail.
Thankfully we made it to the Polynesian before the next downpour.
Hanging out in the lobby of the Polynesian for the next hour or so turned out to be quite relaxing. In addition to staying dry, the lobby provided us with comfortable chairs and couches and two other huge benefits. A quick walk upstairs and my husband was able to get a couple of cups of delicious Kona coffee from the Kona Island coffee bar next to Kona Cafe. After having it at our breakfast at Kona Cafe earlier in our trip, he became a big fan. We even ended up buying a package at the Joffrey’s store at Disney Springs to take home with us. Besides the Kona coffee, the other advantage of being stuck in the Polynesian lobby during a rainstorm is…
Just outside the lobby door and underneath an awning lies this somewhat hidden gem. It’s a gem because it is here that you can get these…
On the left is a Pineapple Float (Pineapple Juice with Pineapple and Vanilla Dole Whip Swirl) and on the right is the same swirl of Pineapple and Vanilla Dole Whip Soft-serve in a cup. I paid $5.49 (plus tax) for the Dole Whip cup and $6.29 for the Float. As of January 2025 the Dole Whip cup price has not changed but the Float now cost $6.49.
Our group devoured these quickly and everyone gave them a rating of 5. We could have easily had more of these but we had to restrain ourselves, knowing that we were soon to have a feast at ‘Ohana.
We left ‘Ohana at about 5:00 and it was again raining outside. Being in a food coma and wanting to stay dry, we decided to take a couple of Ubers back to our hotel from the Polynesian rather then returning to Magic Kingdom. After our naps back at the Swan the rain had stopped so we made our way back to Magic Kingdom (via the Boardwalk’s Disney bus) for the “Happily Ever After” Fireworks Show followed by a Dessert Party.
Our Review of the Magic Kingdom Fireworks Dessert Party: Post-Party
While we were sitting at our table and enjoying our desserts at the party (which was located in the mostly enclosed section of Tomorrowland Terrace) another rainstorm blew through. The cast members who were coming around to clean up our tables told us we could stay as long as we wanted in order to stay out of the rain. I think we were one of the last groups of people to leave. The park was open until 11:00 that night and then an additional 2 hours after that for Deluxe Resort guests. Once it stopped raining we ventured out to do some more rides, including a second round on Tron.
Though we could have stayed until 1:00 (since we were staying at the Swan), we were pretty beat so by 12:30 we made our exit from the park…
Thursday, April 4 – Animal Kingdom Lodge, Disney Springs
I let the group sleep in on this day, since I knew we would be out late the night before with the Extended Hours at Magic Kingdom. So this was a non-park day for us, with the first thing on our schedule being breakfast at Animal Kingdom Lodge’s…
After breakfast we took some time to enjoy the beauty of Animal Kingdom Lodge’s lobby…
And I even got to spend a little time browsing the Zawadi Marketplace, the Lodge’s merchandise store…
I always like to look at the wood-carved animals…
As well as all of the other African themed art, clothing, and merchandise here. They also sell merchandise that you would likely also find at Animal Kingdom Theme Park…
Then it was time for our group of 9 (including Bryan’s parents) to head to Disney Springs where we were meeting up with Bryan’s two sisters and brother-in-law at Splitsville for bowling. Because one of his sisters is a Cast Member she was able to get a 20% discount (I think) for our group of 12, which was nice.
Here are the current Bowling prices (January 2025) per their website for walk-ins at Splitsville at Disney Springs…
I think the regular price when we were there on a Thursday afternoon was $20 per person plus tax, which includes shoe rental. We paid about $16 each plus tax with the Cast Member discount.
During our time at Splitsville, we didn’t have any food but we did order a round of drinks…
Andrew, Jake and Becca had these frozen cocktails…
That was a whole lot of tropical, fruity drinks plus one beer, lol.
Here’s the Cocktail menu for Splitsville’s Bamboo Bar to help give you an idea of what they have to offer here…
I didn’t have any of these drinks so I can’t really comment on them. You see I was holding off in hopes that we might hit up a Happy Hour (or two) at one of the many places at Disney Springs that offers Happy Hour specials. Places like the House of Blues, Jaleo, Paradiso 37, Raglan Road, STK Steakhouse and Terralina Crafted.
But I was outvoted and instead we returned to our hotel until it was time to go to dinner at Bryan’s parent’s house. So I didn’t get to go to any bars that afternoon. Well, unless you count the Java Coffee Bar in the lobby of the Swan.
It was here that I got this 16 oz. Caramel Frappe before heading up to our room…
No, it wasn’t the Happy Hour alcoholic beverage I’d been hoping for but it was pretty good. It kind of reminded me of a Caramel Frappe from McDonald’s, but more expensive. It was $6.75 plus tax, whereas the same size Caramel Frappe at McD’s is only $4.69.
Friday, April 5 – EPCOT, BEACH CLUB
While planning this trip our group decided that we wanted to spend a second day at Epcot. We had a pretty full schedule of rides, dinner for 12 at Teppan Edo, plus we wanted to try some more of the Festival booths for our lunch.
We slept in a bit and five of us made it to Epcot around 10:00, while the other two slept in a bit longer. The five of us started our day at Epcot in France…
Our Breakfast at Les Halles Boulangerie Patisserie
After breakfast we did all of our scheduled rides, stopping along the way to take photos of just a few of the many beautiful topiaries.
Starting in France, besides the Belle & the Beast (shown previously) there was also Lumiere and Cogsworth…
Winnie the Pooh characters in the United Kingdom…
Located near the Refreshment Port were Bambi & Friends…
We found Goofy along the walkway between the Imagination pavilion and the World Showcase Lagoon…
And between the Disney Traders shop and and the Port of Entry we found Mirabel (and her sisters) from the movie Encanto…
Eventually we were again hungry and our plan for lunch was to snack around the Flower & Garden Festival booths.
More from the Epcot Flower & Garden Festival booths – Part 2 Added
While we were noshing around World Showcase, we made a stop at the Mexico pavilion’s…
While we were in Germany eating and drinking our purchases from its Flower & Garden Festival booth, I remembered there was something that I had been wanting to try from its quick service restaurant…
In addition to German beers and wines, Sommerfest sells only 3 food items.
Bratwurst, Jumbo Pretzels, and…
Pretzel Bread Pudding – $4.79
This is made from pretzel bread which is topped with delicious vanilla and caramel sauces. With all the food that is available at the booths during the various Epcot festivals, it’s easy to miss this amazing snack. But my advice is, DON’T SKIP IT! It’s sweet, it’s salty, it’s delicious and it costs less than $5. What more can you ask for? Our group gave the Pretzel Bread Pudding a nearly perfect rating of 4 1/2.
At 6:30 our group (including 5 members of Bryan’s family) met in Japan to have dinner together at…
Our Dinner for 12 at Teppan Edo
After leaving Teppan Edo it was not too long before Epcot’s nighttime show, Luminous, was to begin. So most of us (minus Andrew, Jake and Becca, who were tired so headed back to our hotel) stayed in the Japan pavilion area and chatted while we waited for the show to begin at 9:00.
And the finale…
I liked how the photos that I took at this location had the Japanese pagoda (technically called the Torii of Itsukushima Shrine) and the Spaceship Earth ball in the distance are included in the frame.
The park was closed after the show concluded so we said our goodbyes to Bryan’s family (until tomorrow when we would be meeting up again at Animal Kingdom) and Emily, Bryan, Don and I walked to the Beach Club for our dining reservation at…
Back when we were first making our dining plans our group had decided that we wanted to include Beaches & Cream for ice cream sometime during our week long trip. This was the night that we agreed worked the best. However after our dinner at Teppan Edo, Andrew said he wasn’t feeling well and wanted to head back to our hotel. Jake and Becca were also tired and wanted to bail out of our Beaches & Cream plan. Unfortunately it was too late at that point to cancel our reservation for 7 people without incurring the $10 per person cancellation fee. Not wanting to forfeit the $70, I talked my husband, Emily and Bryan into honoring our reservation, even though we were all still full from our dinner at Teppan Edo.
But I was pretty confident that despite the fact that my stomach was full, I would still have room for this…
Well, maybe not just me alone, but I was confident that with the help of my husband I could totally handle this sundae, lol. So anyway, we shared this smaller 2 scoop version of their No Way Jose sundae. And you are probably saying to yourself, “That’s not small!!”. But when you compare it to the actual full-size No Way Jose…
I must confess that I’ve never been hungry enough to order this full-size sundae but I’ve seen a copycat recipe for it online that calls for 4 scoops of ice cream (two vanilla, two chocolate) topped by 1/2 cup each of warm peanut butter sauce and hot fudge sauce. All of that is then thoroughly covered with a mound of whipped cream, followed by 2 tablespoons each of mini peanut butter and chocolate chips. Oh, and don’t forget the maraschino cherry on top!
The smaller version that I always get has all of these same delicious ingredients except in smaller amounts. I was charged $9.25 (the price of a Old-Fashioned Two Scoop Sundae) for my sundae, whereas the charge for the full-size No Way Jose is $13.50. But either way, in my opinion this sundae is worth every penny. And in case there was any doubt, I gave my Two Scoop Version of the No Way Jose Sundae a perfect rating of 5!
Saturday, April 6 – ANIMAL KINGDOM, etc.
This was our final day at the parks, but our first and only day at Animal Kingdom. Four of us (Andrew, Jake, Becca and me) chose to get up early in order to make it to the park in time for rope drop at 7:30 while the other three chose to get some more sleep and meet up with us later.
As planned our group of 4 made it to Animal Kingdom in time for rope drop and headed first to my favorite Disney World ride, Avatar Flight of Passage. By 7:55 we had made it through the line and were in the Decontamination room…
And then we were matched to our Avatar…
After our Avatar ride we went immediately to the Na’vi River Journey and by 8:23 we were cruising by the incredible Na’vi Shaman of Songs, the best part of this ride…
We then had some time before our scheduled DAS pass for Kilamanjaro Safaris, so we decided to get some breakfast from the nearby quick service restaurant (actually just a window)…
Breakfast for 4 at Kusafiri Coffee Shop & Bakery
After breakfast we met up with the rest of our group of 7 and together we used our first DAS of the day to ride Kilimanjaro Safari …
Everyone has their favorite safari ride animal. Mine is the giraffe.
Then before leaving the Africa area we went to the first showing of the day for Festival of the Lion King at 10:00…
Then we used our remaining pre-scheduled DAS passes to ride Dinosaur and Expedition Everest. Sadly in May 2024 they took away the benefit of scheduling a few rides in advance at the time you registered (by video chat with a Castmember) for the DAS pass before your trip. We will really miss this benefit during our upcoming trip.
After riding Everest we had some time to kill before our lunch reservation so we decided to hang out in the stadium seats of the amphitheater across from the entrance to the ride. The theater surrounds the Discovery River lagoon and is where the Rivers of Light show used to be held. While we were hanging out there we saw several boats go by, each carrying two characters, and we had fun waving to and interacting with the characters on board. First were Timon and Rafiki…
Next was Pocahontas and Meeko…
Then Launchpad McQuack and Scrooge McDuck…
Then the last boat we saw before having to leave for lunch held Goofy and Pluto…
Sadly I read that in May of 2024 they discontinued these character flotillas that had started boating around the Discovery River during the pandemic to allow them to be seen but remain socially distant. But I think at least some of them, like Pocahontas, are now doing Meet and Greets on land.
Soon it was time to meet up with Bryan’s family of 5 (making us a party of 12) for our 1:00 lunch reservation at…
Our Lunch for 12 at Yak & Yeti
Due to the size of our group, our lunch took about 1 1/2 hours from the time we were seated at about 1:15 to the time we were walking out and taking photos of just a few of the many unusual Asian artifacts that adorn this restaurant…
After leaving Yak & Yeti, Andrew, Jake & Becca decided to head back to our hotel since we had been there since Early Entry Rope Drop that morning at 7:30. I though got a second wind after our long lunch break and decided to stay with the group (of now 9). Bryan’s mom wanted to do the safari so we headed to Africa. The ride’s stand-by line took only about 1/2 hour at this time of day (3:00 in the afternoon) and the time passed quickly with our large group chatting and getting to know each other better.
My second ride, which was at about 3:30, ended up being even better than my first one early that morning because the animals were more active. Especially my favorite, the giraffes…
After our safari ride we decided to call it a day, taking a photo together by the entrance to the park…
Then Don and I caught a Disney bus back to the Yacht Club. During our walk to our hotel, the Swan, I had the idea of stopping at the Dolphin to get a snack.
Where is the only place you can get self-serve Dole Whip at Disney World?
That evening our group of 7 plus Bryan’s two sisters and brother-in-law all met up at the Yacht Club’s Bayside Marina for…
Sunday, April 7 – Swan, Disney Springs, Port Orleans – French Quarter
With the exception of my husband and me, the rest of our group was flying home today. However, 3 of them had a morning flight back to Chicago, while the other 2 were flying back to Austin in the late afternoon. This meant two trips to the Orlando airport for my husband and me. Before leaving our hotel, the Swan, for the first trip to the airport we got a quick breakfast from Java…
After taking the first group of 3 to the airport, my husband and I returned to the Swan to pack up and check out of our suite. Then we, along with Emily and Bryan, drove to Disney Springs for our brunch at…
Our Sunday Brunch at Summer House on the Lake
And now for a Bonus Review from our Sunday Brunch at Chicago’s Summer House (oddly called Summer House Santa Monica even though it is located in Chicago’s Lincoln Park area)…
Our Chicago Summer House Brunch Review
After our brunch at Summer House on the Lake, we did some shopping around Disney Springs before making our second trip to the Orlando airport to drop off Emily and Bryan. That left just my husband and me, who were staying at Disney for one more night before driving home. For our 10th and final night of our Disney trip we stayed at Port Orleans French Quarter…
Port Orleans French Quarter Review
Our last night was spent at POFQ’s…
Dinner, Cocktails and Live Entertainment at the Scat Cat’s Club Lounge
Monday, April 8 – Port Orleans – French Quarter
For the final Disney meal of our trip we got breakfast to go from our resort’s quick service restaurant…
Breakfast from Sassagoula Factory & Floatworks
While I was waiting for them to prepare our mobile order at Sassagoula, I walked over to the nearby Scat Cat’s Club Cafe for one last treat to share for our breakfast…
Our Scat Cat’s Club Cafe Review
After having breakfast in our room we packed up, checked out, and started our two day drive home. Our trip had been a success, as we were returning home with many great memories. The food was for the most part good. We were pleased that the Disney restaurants were very accommodating to Emily’s gluten sensitivity. For some of us, the favorite meal was our dinner at O’hana. Emily chose Yak & Yeti for her favorite. As for my husband and me, we really enjoyed our Hoop-Dee-Doo Musical Revue experience for the combination of good food and fun entertainment.
So that’s a wrap on this trip, but I am so excited to say that we will soon embark on another family trip to Disney World. There will again be 7 of us, but this time instead of Emily and Bryan it will be our other daughter, Allison, and our granddaughter, Lucy, joining us on this adventure. It will be Lucy’s first Disney trip so we are all super excited to see her reactions. I hope you will check back here next month for our trip report and join the Jabead family as we experience Disney World through the eyes of a child.
Taste of Disney 
We are loving the new trip report!
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