wdwjeffc37
DisneyWorldFan
- Joined
- Jan 18, 2013
Hello everyone!
Sorry for the late report but we all got sick (Some with COVID, some with sinus problems) when we returned home from a week (5/6 - 5/13) in the World. Me (60), DW (56), DS (30), DD (19) traveled from Louisiana using a Costco booked package. Airfare, 6 nights at the WDW Swan and 6 day Park Hopper Passes.
We used MEARS Connect for airport transfer. It was as easy as Magical Express. After arriving at MCO at 10:32 PM getting our bag and making our way to the bus stop there were only 9 people on the bus. Waited about 10 minutes for the bus to leave the airport. One stop at POP to drop off 5 and then to the Swan for us and the other two. The whole trip took about 45 minutes. Cost $128 round trip for 4 people.
We were asked at check-in if we wanted to upgrade to a balcony room for $50 per night. Politely declined. Asked about a theme park view, there were none available. This was our first stay at the WDW Swan and will say that the location is great. The 6th floor resort-view room was nice and we were give options for housekeeping. We chose no housekeeping and called for more towels twice. There were conventions going on every day but that didn't interfere with any of our plans.
Our last trip was on the opening weekend of Pandora in 2017. Our focus this trip (Number 14 for me) was Galaxy's Edge and Rise of the Resistance. Park reservation were made about 2 months prior to travel with 2 mornings at DHS, 2 mornings at MK, 1 at EPCOT, and 1 at AK. Got to DHS about 6:45AM on our first morning, got our tickets activated and got in line. At 7:00 I booked a ILL for RotR at 2-3:00 PM. We had several old Magic Bands (some of them were the original style) from previous trips and they were all still active and we had no trouble using them for entry to the parks, LL tap-ins and ride and Photo Pass pictures. Gates opened at 8:00 AM and we went directly to SDD and got in the queue. The ride started operating exactly when Early Entry time came (8:30). We were on and off in about 15 minutes. We got right back in line and waited about 20 minutes for the second ride. It was now time for the general public to be let in and we made our way to MMRRR and got in the queue just before the crush of people. Waited about 20 minutes for that. The ride is cute and some of the effects are wild. It was too soon for our RotR ILL and RnR was down so we went to TSMM and stand-by was 30 minutes. Made our way over to Batuu and grabbed a snack at Ronto Roasters. First time using Mobile Ordering. A great system. After our snack there was time to walk around and take in the sights of the Black Spire Outpost. It is very cool for Star Wars fans! Droids, fighter ships, Millennium Falcon, Storm troopers, and we even saw Kylo Ren. At 2:00 we tapped into the LL for RotR. Spectacular ride! Kids and I did Smuggler’s Run single rider. It was OK. Single riders never get to be Pilots and the people I rode with had no idea what was happening, so the experience wasn’t great. It would be better if you had a whole crew (pilots and gunners) in your party. Since we had Parkhoppers we decided to boat over to EPCOT to check out the Flower and Garden Festival displays. Let me tell you that EPCOT is a mess. The whole center section is walled off. Not very nice to look at and hard to navigate.
That is all for now. I will continue to type and post soon. Cheers!!!!!!!
Jeff From Louisiana
Sorry for the late report but we all got sick (Some with COVID, some with sinus problems) when we returned home from a week (5/6 - 5/13) in the World. Me (60), DW (56), DS (30), DD (19) traveled from Louisiana using a Costco booked package. Airfare, 6 nights at the WDW Swan and 6 day Park Hopper Passes.
We used MEARS Connect for airport transfer. It was as easy as Magical Express. After arriving at MCO at 10:32 PM getting our bag and making our way to the bus stop there were only 9 people on the bus. Waited about 10 minutes for the bus to leave the airport. One stop at POP to drop off 5 and then to the Swan for us and the other two. The whole trip took about 45 minutes. Cost $128 round trip for 4 people.
We were asked at check-in if we wanted to upgrade to a balcony room for $50 per night. Politely declined. Asked about a theme park view, there were none available. This was our first stay at the WDW Swan and will say that the location is great. The 6th floor resort-view room was nice and we were give options for housekeeping. We chose no housekeeping and called for more towels twice. There were conventions going on every day but that didn't interfere with any of our plans.
Our last trip was on the opening weekend of Pandora in 2017. Our focus this trip (Number 14 for me) was Galaxy's Edge and Rise of the Resistance. Park reservation were made about 2 months prior to travel with 2 mornings at DHS, 2 mornings at MK, 1 at EPCOT, and 1 at AK. Got to DHS about 6:45AM on our first morning, got our tickets activated and got in line. At 7:00 I booked a ILL for RotR at 2-3:00 PM. We had several old Magic Bands (some of them were the original style) from previous trips and they were all still active and we had no trouble using them for entry to the parks, LL tap-ins and ride and Photo Pass pictures. Gates opened at 8:00 AM and we went directly to SDD and got in the queue. The ride started operating exactly when Early Entry time came (8:30). We were on and off in about 15 minutes. We got right back in line and waited about 20 minutes for the second ride. It was now time for the general public to be let in and we made our way to MMRRR and got in the queue just before the crush of people. Waited about 20 minutes for that. The ride is cute and some of the effects are wild. It was too soon for our RotR ILL and RnR was down so we went to TSMM and stand-by was 30 minutes. Made our way over to Batuu and grabbed a snack at Ronto Roasters. First time using Mobile Ordering. A great system. After our snack there was time to walk around and take in the sights of the Black Spire Outpost. It is very cool for Star Wars fans! Droids, fighter ships, Millennium Falcon, Storm troopers, and we even saw Kylo Ren. At 2:00 we tapped into the LL for RotR. Spectacular ride! Kids and I did Smuggler’s Run single rider. It was OK. Single riders never get to be Pilots and the people I rode with had no idea what was happening, so the experience wasn’t great. It would be better if you had a whole crew (pilots and gunners) in your party. Since we had Parkhoppers we decided to boat over to EPCOT to check out the Flower and Garden Festival displays. Let me tell you that EPCOT is a mess. The whole center section is walled off. Not very nice to look at and hard to navigate.
That is all for now. I will continue to type and post soon. Cheers!!!!!!!
Jeff From Louisiana