We’ll Use Any Excuse To Go During the Holiday Season. Another food-focused trip report. 11/28-12/6 (Complete)

[suse66]

It was a pretty chilly day so we toured the “dry route” on Journey of Water. It is a very nice area and there were lots of kids having fun with the water elements.

We loved the new Moana area and had so much fun playing with everything.

It was time for another snack so we picked up the spiced chocolate cookie from Nochebuena Cocina.

That was delicious!

We rode Gran Fiesta tour and the Seas with Nemo and Friends, also with no wait. I then used my ILL for Guardians. I really wish DH could experience that ride. I just love it so much but his severe motion sickness makes it impossible for him to ride. This is by far my favorite ride in WDW.

Two of my favourite rides! My DH is the same as yours and could not do Guardians.

So…on to my “flashing” story. As we were standing in line lots of people were walking by in holiday outfits, many wearing flashing Christmas light necklaces. I was wearing a Mickey Mouse Santa sweatshirt that had tiny lights that run off a battery. My DH suggested I turn on my lights while we stood in line. So I did. A CM came over to me and said abruptly “You’re going to need to turn those off.” I smiled and said “Oh definitely. I won’t keep them on during the show. I know that would be distracting.” She looked at me and sternly said “No. You will turn them off now. You need to be respectful of the performance.” These lights were not overly bright and we were not even moving in the line yet. It was a bit of an overreaction on her part, especially since all around us were people with flashing lights around their necks and on their “antlers”. But, I did as she requested and turned off my lights. No more “flashing” for me at Epcot!

That was such a weird interaction!

We ended up getting a great aisle seat for the show. We definitely didn’t need the Garden Grill breakfast package. Ashley Eckstein did a phenomenal job. It was a beautiful (yet chilly) night.

We found the same thing. We did the Akerhaus dinner package but really didn't need it.

After the show, we headed to Living with the Land to use a LL I had booked earlier. This is my DH’s favorite attraction and we both love the Holiday overlay so much!

Mine too!

After going to Magic Kingdom last year on a MVMCP day and finding really low crowds, we decided to go on a party day again this year hoping for the same luck. Since we weren’t eligible for early entry we arrived at the TTC right around regular opening time. As we boarded the ferry, we went to the upper deck to discover only two other families onboard.

Party days are the best days!

At this point it was time for our LL for Peter Pan so we headed to Fantasyland and rode PP. With all this excitement it was time for a mid-morning snack. We headed over to Gaston’s Tavern to pick up one of our favorite treats.

Mmmmm!

After our delicious snack break, we rode Little Mermaid, It’s a Small World, and the People Mover, all with no waits. I got in line for Space Mountain which was showing a 10 minute wait but then all of a sudden people started coming back through the line saying it was temporarily closed. I decided to wait a little to see if things started moving and probably waited 10 minutes before things started to move. A CM asked if there were any single riders and so I was able to jump ahead of a bunch of people. The wait would have probably been another 10 minutes at least. I think I’m getting too old for Space Mountain or maybe Guardians has spoiled me but I find the ride way too jerky. I love coasters and have ridden every single one at Hershey Park, Dorney Park, Busch Gardens Williamsburg, Cedarpoint, and Universal but Space Mountain just does me in…lol.

I did Space for the last time in 2021. My back can't take it anymore.

We also ordered Cream Cheese Warm Stuffed Pretzel.

I really need to try this!

We then decided to see the Country Bears one more time before it gets updated.

Same! Love this show.

This is the first time we’ve visited MK since the train re-opened so of course we had to ride it. Way back in 2010 we did the Behind the Steam tour and it was the best tour we’ve done at the parks. If it ever comes back, we’d probably take the tour again.

I would love to do that tour! I really hope they bring it back.

This was very good! The peppermint ice cream had just enough peppermint flavor without being overpowering. The brownie had a cake-like texture. This was a very tasty treat, even for my DH who isn’t always a fan of peppermint. We enjoyed this at a table outside the Plaza Restaurant overlooking the castle.

After our treat, we went to the Carousel of Progress. Then, we took another ride on the train, stopping in fantasyland to ride It’s a Small World again with no wait.

Yum! A delicious trear and CoP sound perfect to me.

Having experienced every attraction that we desired (some a couple times), we decided to stroll Main Street and admire the decorations. We loved seeing the Christmas Carol windows (missing the Jacob Marley photo…too many reflections in the window for a clear photo).

I have never noticed those windows. Must add it to the list.

Such a perfect setting for our meal! We decided to share Tony’s Garlic Bread for the Table.

We had that too on our Christmas trip and it was SO good!

This was not just a good meal. It was a fantastic meal! We are so glad we made the last minute switch. It was one of our best meals all week.

Love that! We really enjoyed Tony's too.

As we exited the park, we decided to take the boat to Fort Wilderness to see the resort’s and guests’ decorations. Here’s our beautiful view of the Contemporary during our boat ride.

So, we settled on just the kitchen sink cookie: Chocolate Chunk Cookie with Toffee, Peanut Butter Chips, Salted Caramel, and Flaky Salt. This is listed online at $4.29 but we paid $4.79, $5.10 with taxes.​

It looks so good! Too bad it was disappointing.

We woke up this day with only one thing on our mind - beignets! Usually we get them on our arrival day but arrived way too late and the next two days were park days. We were excited to see that the new hot cocoa beignets were making their debut on December 1st and made our way to POFQ to be some of the first to try them.

I have never tried beignes. Another thing to add to the list!

We just love the POFQ/POR resorts. We walked off breakfast by walking along the Sassagoula and then drove to Disney Springs to begin the Christmas Tree Stroll and, of course, visit Gideon’s. We stopped by Gideon’s to see if there was a virtual queue and found a very long line. The CM said there was no VQ and that she estimated it to be a 1.5 hour wait. We decided to start the Christmas Tree Stroll and hope for a shorter line or VQ later.

It's such a lovely area.

Lion King Tree. We love the Simba topper to this tree.

Oooh! I didn't see this one!

Gideon's for some reason was hesitant to have the VQ. There were several times during the week that the line was at 1.5 hours and they were not having a VQ...I don't get it. We walked away a few times. I'm not waiting 1.5 hours for a cookie or even for a slice of cake, especially when they have the ability to have a VQ. You would think the other vendors at Disney Springs would be annoyed that Gideon's is monopolizing potential customers by keeping them in line for over an hour when they could be shopping at their stores and still buying Gideon's cookies with a VQ....I have more to come on our Gideon's experiences...

Weird!!

After completing our Christmas Tree Stroll, it was time for lunch. We placed a mobile order at D-Luxe Burger for the Bacon & Blue Cheese burger and large fries to share.​

That looks delicious and perfect to share.

Since we couldn’t get dessert at Gideon’s we decided to try the smore at the Ganachery, another first for us. However we discovered that as of Dec. 1st they were only offering the Peppermint Smore. As I mentioned before, DH isn’t a huge fan of peppermint. So, instead, we purchased the gingerbread pecan toffee.

We tried Ganachery but didn't love it.

This never disappoints! The chocolate cake is moist and the peanut butter cup frosting is absolute perfection. We can’t come to Orlando without getting a slice of this deliciousness! The cakes are far superior to the cookies in our opinion.

Those cakes look fantastic!

There was much discussion as we waited in line regarding getting two slices of cake, but just look at this beauty! We just had to give it a try. This too was phenomenal! The cream cheese icing was soooo good and the carrot cake was nicely spiced. These two cakes lasted us almost the whole week.

Yum!

Here is the Christmas tree at the Poly. It’s very pretty but kinda understated compared to the other Deluxe hotels. Also, there’s no gingerbread display at the Poly. I think that’s odd when most of the other deluxe hotels have some sort of display.

The Poly doesn't wow me at Christmas. They could do a lot more.

These were very good. There was a variety of chips it seemed. It was very dark as we were seated outside so it was hard to see but we think there were wonton chips and kettle style chips. Either way, it was extremely good.

Love those nachos!

These were absolutely scrumptious! I don’t really know how meatballs and rice can taste so good but we very much enjoyed this. It was one of the favorite things we ate the whole week! So much flavor! My DH wants me to try to make them at home.

I had those meatballs last summer and was blown away by how good they were.

To drink I ordered the new Coconut Cold Brew.

Must try!

The tumble monkeys and the bird dancers were our favorite parts.

Same!

Since we still had time before our tour check-in, we decided to share a sweet treat from Tamu Tamu Refreshments, the Pineapple Crisp Sundae: Pineapple Crisp Cake, Vanilla Ice Cream, Pineapple Caramel, Crispy Streusel Topping.

Oh my goodness, I need this!

Unfortunately for us the tour was a little disappointing. We have previously taken the Up Close with Rhinos tour and that one was much better. The keepers on that tour seemed more knowledgeable and we even got to touch a rhino. We were so far away from the elephants and I didn’t have the sense that the tour guide was truly that knowledgeable. It really felt like we were just seeing elephants in the distance at a zoo. In fact, we had gone to the Roger Williams Zoo in Rhode Island last February on an usually warm day and gotten much closer to the elephants and far more information from the elephant’s caregiver at that zoo (and that wasn’t a special tour, just us walking by).

I am so sorry your tour did not live up to expectations.

After our tour we used a LL for Expedition Everest and the Finding Nemo show. My DH really enjoyed the updated version of the show. We also made it just in time to catch a performance of the Feathered Friends in Flight. How is this for an action photo?

Perfect!

I have to say though that this was a really fun ride. The CM was great and interacted so well with the group. There were some really funny people joking around with her and it was a blast. She even said it was the most fun she had had with a group on the Safari. Big difference from our morning safari.

The fellow guests and CM make or break this attraction.

For dinner I had booked a 6:15 ADR at Yak n Yeti. We decided to share the Ahi Tuna Nachos with chicken instead of tuna, since my DH doesn’t eat Ahi tuna.

Great tip about swapping in chicken!

As we were stopped to take the picture, a CM yelled “excuse me” over to us. I thought for sure we were going to be in trouble for not heading right out of the park. But, no, when we responded, “Yes?”, she said, “would you guys like some free popcorn?” and handed us a box! It’s funny, we’ve NEVER bought Disney popcorn and were just saying earlier in the day that we should try it sometime.

Nice pixie dust!

This plate was one of those oval platters and we included the fork to give some sense of the massiveness of this treat. We found it in a warming cabinet and it was nicely heated. This was very tasty but also really heavy. We finished it but decided next time we need at least one or two more people to share it with. It weighed heavily in our bellies for many hours.

That thing could feed a family of five!

This one is actually our least favorite of all the gingerbread displays. Just not our style I guess.

My least favourite as well.

But the real beauty at the Contemporary is their outdoor tree.

My goodness this was sooooo good! It was creamy and cheesy and delightful. I figured it was probably over-hyped, but it wasn’t! I think my number one is still the loaded mac n cheese at Steakhouse 71 Lounge but this one is very good! I wish we had room in our bellies for a full order.

I have had this in my radar for a while so am glad to hear it was amazing.

We drove to the Poly, checked in and were seated at the same table as our trip in December of 2022. It is a perfect table overlooking the pool with Cinderella Castle in the distance. It was an MVMCP night so we were way too early to see any fireworks but it’s still a great view.

Nice to get a great table!

This is the reason we come here so much. DH’s favorites are the potstickers and noodles. Mine are the wings and noodles. I don’t know why the noodles are so good but every time I eat them I fall in love all over again.

The noodles rock!

I really enjoy the chicken thighs. They are perfectly cooked and the chimichurri sauce adds a nice garlicky flavor. My DH isn’t a big “on the bone” fan so he likes them but he prefers the steak (when it’s good).

I miss the old skewers here.

This was the smallest portion we’ve received. It’s strange how inconsistent it is. It was fine however since we were both very full. It was just enough to let us experience its deliciousness without feeling sick.

That is strange. I know you always ask for more if you wanted.

 

[mickey916]

That was such a weird interaction!

It was so odd!

Party days are the best days!

They are! I fear we're now spoiled for this April when there are no party days!

I did Space for the last time in 2021. My back can't take it anymore.

I may have just ridden my last time too!

I would love to do that tour! I really hope they bring it back.

It was excellent! Our engineer was a former NY police officer who retired after 9/11 and decided he'd like to work for Disney instead. He was excellent. This was way back in 2010.

I have never tried beignes. Another thing to add to the list!

Definitely needs to go on the list!

Those cakes look fantastic!

They are! I've tried to duplicate them at home and I can come close but not quite as good!

The Poly doesn't wow me at Christmas. They could do a lot more.

Very true. We noticed the same thing last year.

I had those meatballs last summer and was blown away by how good they were.

They are amazing and I'm not even a meatball fan in general.

The fellow guests and CM make or break this attraction.

Definitely makes a huge difference!

Great tip about swapping in chicken!

I was so glad someone suggested it!

That thing could feed a family of five!

Absolutely! We were shocked at how big it was and it was really heavy too!

I have had this in my radar for a while so am glad to hear it was amazing.

It looks pretty standard but it was so much more!

The noodles rock!

I miss the old skewers here.

The noodles are great but we miss the skewers too!

That is strange. I know you always ask for more if you wanted.

We talked about it when it arrived and looked so small but then after we ate it we realized we were too full for more.

Thanks for following along! I'm enjoying your trip report with @disneyAndi14! Sounds like you two had a great trip!

 

[mickey916]

12/3 Resort Hopping Part 4​

Spoiler alert: By the end of our trip, we did end up checking out the decorations at every resort including the Swan/Dolphin/Reserve. The one resort that wins our prize for best holiday decorations is the Gran Destino Tower at Coronado Springs, with Wilderness Lodge and Animal Kingdom as runners up.

After our ‘Ohana dinner we stopped by the Gran Destino on our way back to our hotel. Here’s some photos of all the beautiful holiday touches.

I also loved this bus decor and was lucky enough to grab a photo with the tower in the background.

Edited to add:

19251 steps
Food Cost: $169.69

Up next…a morning at Disney Springs and visiting more resorts.

 

[disneyAndi14]

I agree Destino was decorated so nice. I loved it! For a moderate resort it really looks like a deluxe!
I’m impressed with how many resorts you visited. That is a fun adventure without even stepping in the parks!

 

[suse66]

Thanks for following along! I'm enjoying your trip report with @disneyAndi14! Sounds like you two had a great trip!

We sure did! Caroline is awesome and we had so much fun together. I am really enjoying your trip as well.

Spoiler alert: By the end of our trip, we did end up checking out the decorations at every resort including the Swan/Dolphin/Reserve. The one resort that wins our prize for best holiday decorations is the Gran Destino Tower at Coronado Springs, with Wilderness Lodge and Animal Kingdom as runners up.

Gran Destino over Wilderness?? Wow, that is high praise! I may be biased as I own at Boulder Ridge Villas but the Lodge just screams Christmas to me.

 

[nursejackie]

We visited for 8 christmases and loved touring all the resorts to check out the decorations, shopping and dining. My favourites are GF, WL and AKL, with beautiful trees and decorations in their huge lobbies. My current job does not allow enough leave to visit (from the UK) at that time of year but I have all my memories of years gone by.

 

[mickey916]

Gran Destino over Wilderness?? Wow, that is high praise! I may be biased as I own at Boulder Ridge Villas but the Lodge just screams Christmas to me.

We love Wilderness. It is a bucket-list stay sometime. Normally I would say it is the most stunning but something about the holidays at Gran Destino gives it a slight edge at that time of year. I thinks it's all the cool lighting. Someday we hope to stay in the Tower too (and Poly).

 

[mickey916]

12/4 Disney Springs, More Resorts & A Surprise Field Trip, Part 1​

We were still pretty full from our previous day of eating, so we had a little leftover Gideon’s cookies for breakfast and then headed over to Disney Springs pretty early. We took more photos of the decorations as we walked around, enjoying the early morning lack of crowds.

Here are some of my favorites:

I like how the Orange Garage has oranges in its garland, which makes me ask, does the Lime Garage have limes? Wait and see (answer in another post).

We decided to take a ride on the Sassagoula and head to Old Key West Resort for one of our favorite drinks. The pineapple coconut slushy from Good's Food to Go.

This is basically a virgin Pina Colada but it is very refreshing and delicious. We walked around OKW for a little bit but then decided to head back to Disney Springs for an early lunch.

We had been eager to try the Jock Lindsey’s Holiday Bar since we didn’t have room to fit in a visit last year.

We found a nice table outside and placed our order. We decided to share two items: First, the Here We Come A-Croquetting: Turkey croquettes, sweet potato puree, bacon-cranberry jam, turkey gravy, and sugared rosemary sprig (which was missing from our plate)

These were not very good. They were barely lukewarm and they had an extremely strong sage flavor. The bacon cranberry jam helped a little. I also really didn’t care for the texture of the croquettes. They were just too mushy for me, probably would’ve been better if they were warm.

The second item we shared was the O’ Ham N’ Cheese Trees: Puff pastry, Pitt ham, cheddar cheese, garlic herb butter, and sugar plum jam.

These were better than the croquettes but still nothing great. The pastry was crispy and buttery but, since it comes out smoked, it was all very smoky.

Overall, we didn’t come away with a great opinion of Jock Lindsey’s. The theming is cool but our food was mediocre and the service wasn’t very good. The server seemed to want us just to eat and turn the table over quickly, it seemed. This ended up being our second to least favorite meal of the trip (least favorite coming up in a bit).

The decorations were really cute though.

After we ate lunch, we decided to check the Gideon’s line and again it was at 1.5 hours, just like on December 1, and there was no virtual queue.

Up next…walking over to check out Saratoga Springs while waiting for the Gideon’s VQ to open up again…

 

[mickey916]

12/4 Disney Springs, More Resorts & A Surprise Field Trip, Part 2​

We walked over to Saratoga Springs and checked out the lobby decorations.

I love the roses in the wreath and tree!

Lots of small trees around Saratoga. No big main tree that we could find.

We walked back to Disney Springs and stopped to see if the Lime Garage was decorated with limes.

Yup! There are limes in the garland.

We wandered past Gideon’s again and the line was just as long. We overheard the CMs saying it was still a 1.5 hour wait. No virtual queue. As I mentioned before, we are huge fans of the cakes and the December cake schedule indicated that one of our favorites was on the list for this day. We simply had to find a way to get the Pipistrello cake but we weren’t willing to wait in line that long. So, we decided it was time for a field trip and headed back to our rental car to go to the original Gideon’s in the East End Market. We figured it would take less than 1.5 hours and we’d get to see a new place.

The original Gideon’s is very small and there’s limited parking but there was no line. We ordered our slice of Pipistrello cake, a three-layer Chocolate Cake smothered in a fluffy Cinnamon Buttercream and covered in crunchy Butter Crumbs!

This cake is just incredible! I tried to duplicate it myself at home for my birthday and I came pretty close but not exactly. The first time we had it we weren't sure cinnamon and chocolate worked together, but it truly is a wonderful combination.

In addition to our cake slice, we decided to get our favorite cookie, the banana bread chocolate chip cookie.

I love the combination of the walnuts and chocolate chips with just enough banana flavor without tasting artificial. Definitely tastes like banana bread in cookie form.

After our adventure, we headed back to our hotel for a bit to get ready for dinner at another “new to us” place.

Up next...dinner with a view.

 

[Paulaparm]

OMG…that cake! It looks awesome!

 

[mickey916]

OMG…that cake! It looks awesome!

It truly is!

 

[mickey916]

12/4 Disney Springs, More Resorts & A Surprise Field Trip part 3​

We decided on this trip to try to include some “new to us” places instead of always booking our favorites. After watching a great review on Addicted to the Mouse, we decided to give Olivia’s Cafe at Old Key West Resort a try.

We booked an early-ish ADR and when we checked in we requested an outside table. We had a great view of the beautiful sky from our table.

Our meal started with the complementary pineapple coconut bread and butter.

This bread is delicious, basically the same as ‘Ohana but without the honey in the butter. Very good bread service.

My DH ordered the Southernmost Buttermilk Chicken, based on the recommendation from Addicted to the Mouse. He asked to have the gravy on the side.

My DH absolutely loved this meal. It is a boneless piece of chicken, which is part of the reason he loved it so much. He thought the chicken was very crispy and well seasoned. He also enjoyed the potatoes and biscuit. He prefers his green beans a little more done as opposed to crisp tender but he enjoyed those too.

I ordered the Cayo Hueso Shrimp pasta.

I enjoyed this dish very much. It was loaded with very fresh tasting shrimp. Sadly it is no longer on the menu as I just checked to be able to give the official description of the dish. Basically it was pasta with cream sauce, tomatoes, spinach, zucchini and yellow squash. While I enjoyed it a lot, I think next time I want to try the Southernmost Buttermilk chicken.

Our server was excellent. There were very few parties seated outside so he only had a couple tables. He chatted with us quite a bit about moving to/living in Florida and traveling.

Overall this was an excellent meal. It is one of the few that my DH requested we add into our upcoming April trip. We’re going to try brunch next time.

We didn’t find a tree at OKW resort but there were many pretty wreaths and garlands around.

After our meal, it was a little early to head back to the hotel, so we decided to stop by Gran Destino again to take a walk around the lake. It is just beautiful there at night especially.

I wanted to head up to the Dahlia Lounge but we were too full from dinner…next time, maybe…

It was another wonderful day!

20,282 steps
$138.12 food cost

Up next..Spending the day exploring the Epcot Area resorts

 

[footballmouse]

That cake looks delicious!!! I've heard the banana bread chocolate chip cookie is really good. The chicken in the picture looks juicy, I can imagine how good it must have been.

 

[mickey916]

12/5 Epcot Area Resorts, Part 1​

My plan for this morning was to head to Primo Piatto but my DH suggested we try someplace new, as much as we love Primo Piatto. So, we parked at Hollywood Studios and walked over to the Boardwalk.

Here is the Boardwalk’s outside tree:

We checked out the offerings at the Boardwalk Deli and settled on the Hot Cocoa Croissant.

As I was attempting to cut it in half to share, the outside was very crispy so I didn’t have a lot of hope for this treat.

Here’s the inside view:

This was actually very good. The croissant part was crispy on the outside and flaky on the inside. The hot cocoa pudding-like filling paired beautifully with the marshmallow. We were very happy with this treat.

After our breakfast treat, we checked out the Boardwalk’s lobby tree:

Here is the Boardwalk’s gingerbread display. I love how it is modeled after the Boardwalk Deli.

If you look closely you can see that Mickey is making the treats that are sold at the Deli. There's the Hot Cocoa Croissant on the closest tray. Such cool details.

This was by far our favorite of all the gingerbread displays. So creative!

Next, we walked over to the Yacht Club to check out their new gingerbread display.

This one is very well done too!

I love the Yacht Club Tree with all the sailboats.

This wreath is also pretty impressive too!

Up next…heading over to the Beach Club.

 

[mickey916]

12/5 Epcot Area Resorts, Part 2​

The Gingerbread Carousel at the Beach Club is always so impressive. This year’s theme was DuckTales World Showcase Adventure.

I think I liked last year’s Princess carousel better. I’m just not that familiar with DuckTales. It was after my childhood and before my children’s childhood so we never watched it. It’s still very impressive though.

Since the carousel is the major focus at the Beach Club, there isn’t a huge tree but this one is very pretty.

The specialty themed wreaths in each resort are also so beautiful.

Up next…checking out the chocolate display at the Swan.

 

[suse66]

Here are some of my favorites:

Those are awesome!

We decided to take a ride on the Sassagoula and head to Old Key West Resort for one of our favorite drinks. The pineapple coconut slushy from Good's Food to Go.

I love that drink.

We found a nice table outside and placed our order. We decided to share two items: First, the Here We Come A-Croquetting: Turkey croquettes, sweet potato puree, bacon-cranberry jam, turkey gravy, and sugared rosemary sprig (which was missing from our plate)

My DH and I really enjoyed those on our December trip in 2022.

Overall, we didn’t come away with a great opinion of Jock Lindsey’s. The theming is cool but our food was mediocre and the service wasn’t very good. The server seemed to want us just to eat and turn the table over quickly, it seemed. This ended up being our second to least favorite meal of the trip (least favorite coming up in a bit).

Oh that's too bad! I am sorry you didn't have the greatest experience.

We wandered past Gideon’s again and the line was just as long. We overheard the CMs saying it was still a 1.5 hour wait. No virtual queue. As I mentioned before, we are huge fans of the cakes and the December cake schedule indicated that one of our favorites was on the list for this day. We simply had to find a way to get the Pipistrello cake but we weren’t willing to wait in line that long. So, we decided it was time for a field trip and headed back to our rental car to go to the original Gideon’s in the East End Market. We figured it would take less than 1.5 hours and we’d get to see a new place.

Good plan!

We booked an early-ish ADR and when we checked in we requested an outside table. We had a great view of the beautiful sky from our table.

Love that view! I really enjoyed the house salad and crab cakes at Olivias. It really is a hidden gem.

We checked out the offerings at the Boardwalk Deli and settled on the Hot Cocoa Croissant.

Looks yummy!

I think I liked last year’s Princess carousel better. I’m just not that familiar with DuckTales. It was after my childhood and before my children’s childhood so we never watched it. It’s still very impressive though.

I liked it but my favourite carousel was the Peter Pan one from a few years ago.

 

[mickey916]

12/5 Epcot Area Resorts, part 3​

From the Beach Club, we walked over to the Swan to check out their holiday chocolate Santa display. It smells and looks wonderful! It reminded me of how Hershey Park used to smell when the factory was right next door.

I like how they give you the calorie count…it’s probably how many calories we consume on each Disney trip too.

Here’s the full display followed by photos of each individual piece.

I don’t know if you can tell from the photos but these sculptures are huge. This is no small display.

The swans were decked out in their fancy gold bows.

We could only find a small tree.

I like how they put a tree and presents in the revolving door.

The holiday decor at the Swan has a very elegant feel.

Up next, we visit the Swan Reserve and then have lunch at the Dolphin.

 

[mickey916]

My DH and I really enjoyed those on our December trip in 2022.

I think they had great potential. If they were warmer and a little crisper I think they would've been great. I'm assuming we just got a bad batch.

Love that view! I really enjoyed the house salad and crab cakes at Olivias. It really is a hidden gem.

It really is! We never would have thought to try it if we hadn't seen a YouTube video.

I liked it but my favourite carousel was the Peter Pan one from a few years ago.

We've only been lucky enough to go the past two years so we've only experienced the Princess one and this one. Here's to hoping we get to see more in the future!

 

[ThreeBoyMama]

Wow! The chocolate display at the Swan looked incredible! LOL on the calorie count and their teeny tree. It’s like they were too tired from making all the chocolate stuff to do much more

 

[mickey916]

Wow! The chocolate display at the Swan looked incredible! LOL on the calorie count and their teeny tree. It’s like they were too tired from making all the chocolate stuff to do much more

The chocolate display was so impressive. I wish the pictures showed how BIG they were!