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During the past few years of the pandemic, a return trip to Walt Disney World in 2022 seemed unlikely. That made the opportunity for a last-minute vacation this March a cool surprise. We planned the family vacation in early February and arrived there a little over six weeks later. This trip only included four park days, one at each park. Even so, we still enjoyed quite a lot on a crowded Spring Break week. Our five-night stay at the Walt Disney World Swan was also our first in the EPCOT resort area.
This episode of The Tomorrow Society Podcast includes the first part of my epic trip report. I recorded short audio clips in Florida during each day of our vacation to get my immediate thoughts. We experienced Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance, Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure, and Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway for the first time. I also used Disney Genie Plus and purchased Individual Lightning Lanes, and that was an interesting experience. During this episode, I describe the pros and cons of Disney’s new paid line-skipping service. I have a lot to say and suggestions for ways to fix it.
On this podcast, I talk about our planning decisions and how we approached this trip. The Swan’s location made it easier to navigate, especially for the two nearby parks. We also spent time at the Boardwalk instead of Disney Springs. I dive into our first three park days and provide extensive details on visits to EPCOT, Disney’s Animal Kingdom, and the Magic Kingdom. I hope my experiences can help provide a few tips for your next Walt Disney World vacation. We appreciated the chance to return to the parks after such a long absence, and we can’t wait to get back again. I hope that you enjoy this trip report, and I’d love to hear what you think about this different type of episode.
Show Notes: The Return Trip Report
Listen to my past trip report from September 2019 on Episode 82: Galaxy’s Edge and 30 Hours at Walt Disney World.
Check out my detailed thoughts and photos in my review of the Walt Disney World Swan resort.
Support The Tomorrow Society Podcast and buy me a Dole Whip!
Dan, if you listen to the Harmonious post show music (which is great) I have a sneaking suspicion this was the main show music and Chapek said “let’s do a Disney concert” which forced a change. The post show music fits perfectly after the intro and it is a similar time length. Either that or the creators cleverly knew people would complain about “same old same old” and had a score they could easily swap in down the line.
It’s possible, though I guess you never know. I feel like with the way they’re going all-in with IP at EPCOT, it probably didn’t get too far since the goal appears to have been to get Disney films in there. But it’s all speculation of course. Your logic makes sense.
Great report! We stayed at The Swan for the first time in July of 2021 and I think we may never stay anywhere else again (or the Dolphin). It was a great experience other than the bus service to MK (we didn’t go to AK though on our trip but I bet that would be the same). We finally realized it was better to get on the Boardwalk bus for MK and that was better. What a difference being so close to so many things, but still pretty affordable. We only had a 3 day trip and I wish it was longer.
Thanks Jeff! I’ve already heard similar comments from others that they also would find it hard to go back and not stay there (or at least in that area). I really underestimated how nice it would be to walk to EPCOT and DHS. It changed the whole tenor of the arrival and departures, and even the drives to the other parks were easy too. There’s a decent chance we would stay in that area again for sure.