Spooky Foodie Fun - TR from Adventurous Stranger!! About This Page:

[jennie622]

Monday, October 10 Day 5

Monday, start of a new week and the downward side of our vacation. Or should I say upside? See, the first four days were jam packed with activities; MNSSHP, F&WC, P4TS, Le Cellier. We had packed so much into the first half it was nice to really relax for the few days.

We woke up to the alarm at 7am so we could catch EMH at AK. Rise and shine with Starbucks!! Boy, I am really going to feel slighted next week when I'm staying at a Value hee hee hee! We arrived slightly before 8am to bright sunny skies - totally different from Saturday's monsoon! After a brief wait at the turnstiles, we parted ways with the masses headed for the safari and make a bee line for Expedition Everest! Em had yet to ride EE so we chose to wait for the front car (um, we only waiting one extra train!) What a difference the front car makes when you roar up to the broken track - you can see all over the park and into the distance. After passing Disco Yeti and stumbling around the gift shop a moment (backwards messes me up slightly despite my motion sickness bands), we strolled over to Dinosaur! One of my faves!!


Em and her pet dinosaur



We stopped in Pizzafari for some breakfast sandwiches and oj. I had never eaten here and the food was good and the themeing was adorable but the hardwood floors and vast open spaces made it really loud. We staked out a empty room and wouldn't you know it, just as we took our first bite the circus walked in complete with out of control screaming kids and mothers screaming at the screaming kids to stop screaming. So much for a relaxing meal!

As we made our way over to grab some FPs for the safari we stopped for a serious photo op.


FPs securely in hand, we tried to catch FoTLK and again missed the show by minutes. Oh Well! Next time. At least we got a pic with Meeko:



We also found some time for a little hula with Lilo & Stitch:



We made it to the safari with 10 minutes to spare so we grabbed a bench and did some people watching. There was a huge family next to us that included a boy around 8 or 9. A little girl passing by ran up to him and said, "Hi Nick!!" Well, apparently this boy was not Nick and the look on his face was priceless. His mother told her that he was not Nick. Undeterred, the little girl paused for a moment then gave him a big ol' hug and waved goodbye. Adorable!!

This trip on the safari didn't yield as many close ups as Saturday's rainy ride and we still didn't see the baby elephant. Drat! We then walked the Maharajah Trek but almost all the animals (especially the tigers) were hiding probably due to the fact the day was getting quite hot. We decided one more spin around the park ( well, I did because I wanted to check and see if she was out and about) And, she was!!!



It doesn't matter how many times I spot her, she is just fascinating!! Have you ever googled her and the company she works for? The name, I think is Living Garden. The Living Garden

There, check it out, it's really cool!

With the heat starting to rise, we figured it was a great time to head over to the F&WF for some light lunch, ABs and then a nap!

[ilovedisney247]

Sounds like a good morning at AK! I love Meeko!

[jennie622]

We took the bus over to Epcot for my first real spin around the F&WF. First, we stopped at the Festival Center for our Passports to be stamped at each country.




First stop was:

I had the Shrimp on the Barbie w/ Pepper Berry Sauce and a Lindemans Moscato. The shrimp were lukewarm but I liked the sauce.

Next:

I really enjoyed the Mahi Mahi with steamed rice, hearts of palm and coconut lime sauce along with a Frozen Caipirinha. I must have lucked out with a large piece of mahi because a CM commented on it. The AB was delish and helped cool me down.

We skipped a few booths so we could enjoy the Caipirinhas and then stopped at:

This booth is so pretty, hard to beleive it's only temporary. I went crazy for the Ribeye Taco even after I dripped the sauce all down my arm!

Then we visited:

I went koo koo for coconuts over the Boolgogi BBQ Beef with steamed rice and Kimchi (which had a really nice kick to it, the way it should be) I also had the Bek Se Ju (herbal rice wine) and while the first sips were in shocking contrast to the Caipirinha, eventually I adjusted and definitely liked it! Not as harsh a sake but still earthy.

Our last stop of the afternoon:

I had to try the Bunny Chow and it was great!! Not very pleasing to the eye but yummy in the tummy. I also had a La Capra Pinotage to enjoy on the walk back to the Dolphin.

We accomplished Tipsy by Two today so the only thing left to do was change into our bathing suits, grab the box of wine and plastic wine glasses and head down to the pool. We recieved a few "Great Idea!" comments on the box of wine and even offered a glass or two to some ladies sitting nearby. It was really hot that afternoon and we alternated wine by the lap pool with laps in the lap pool. The laps were on a couple of inflatable rafts we purchased and continued to use for the rest of the trip.

After lounging for a few hours, we gathered up wine and rafts and back in the room crashed big time for an hour nap!

[jennie622]

Thank goodness we took that nap because we planned on making EMH at DHS that night!!

After showering, we headed back to the F&WF for dinner and more ABs. We only stopped at a couple on the run since we still wanted to make it to DHS for a bit.

Our first quick stop:

I chose the Linguica Sausage with Onions, Peppers and Olives. It was good but I wish it had more olives.

We spun by:

I had to have the Spicy Tuna Roll and it was pretty darn good!

Next up:

Here I had the Beef Rendang with I enjoyed. I CANNOT say the same for the Singapore Sling. YUCK! I mean, it was undrinkable. I'm not a fan of gin to begin with but this was disgusting. I ended up tossing it.

We stopped at Hops & Barley too but I guess I forgot to grab a pic of the building. We both got the Pumpkin Mousse and the taste was great but the mousse could have been a wee bit lighter.

Then one of my yearly faves:

Do I even have to tell you I got the Kielbasa & Potato Pierogie??? It was much better than last year - the edges were still soft. Yummo!

At that point, we noticed we had dilly dallied too long and it was quite crowded so we put it in high gear and booked towards the busses. I had on a pair of flat sandals which DID NOT give me blisters but the serious pounding from WS thru FW and to the busses gave me heel pain that lasted for days. My poor feet really took a beating this trip!

We waiting quite a while for the bus to DHS and made it there with a little over two hours til close. We went straight towards Star Tours to check out the update. Now, I was never a big fan of the original and I wasn't that impressed with the new version either. Eh, nothing special.

Second stop was TSMM. I had only been on this ride once back in '09 and while I absolutely love it, I can never justify the wait. DHS is not my favorite park so I've never made it over there in time for a FP either. Em had never been on it so we decided to wait. AND wait we did!! Over an hour easy!! It is such a great ride and I actually did well this time - 125,000 points. For someone who can barely get over 8K on Buzz Lightyear, that's a number I can be proud of!!

Once we handed in our 3D glasses, we walked over to One Man's Dream to see all the new items and watch the movie that nearly brought me to tears. It was such a great attraction!

With little time left til close, we just barely made it into the last Animation Class of the night. I mean, I had to sit way in the back with a portable desk and a nub of a pencil. I still managed to produce a decent Tigger.

Afterwards, we dragged ourselves to the boat back to the Dolphin along with EVERYONE else, we barely fit on! I thought we were going to sink and the boat was going super slow. We actually nodded off a bit on the way back!

Whew! What a day! EMH at AK, two visits to Epcot and EMH at DHS. No wonder we were beat on our feet!

Next update: More F&WF and DTD!!

[ilovedisney247]

Wow! You must have gotten a better batch of bunny chow than we did . . . our veggies were almost raw and therefore inedible and extremely messy! I'm glad it was a fluke! We also loved S Korea and Brazil and Mexico. We didn't think that Australia was great this year and that Poland has been better in years past.

Great night at the Studios--although I cannot imagine waiting that long in the TSMM line!

[chezp]

Wow, you did pack a lot in and some great eats, although sadly some of your photos of your eats aren't showing up for me.

[cubfancolleen]

Sounds like a great day, and great food! Lots of the pictures (all in the last update) don't show for me, either.

[Coop]

Yeah - I got no pics in the last post

[Colexis Mom]

Glad you had a great time at AK and eating at Epcot!

[Cam22]

I've had to do a bit of catching up! Great updates! Glad you enjoyed Le Cellier and the F&WF!

[jennie622]

Tuesday, October 11 Day Six

After another late night, we slept in (not sure what time). We hopped up refreshed and ready to take on Epcot in a big way. First on our list was Soarin'. Stand by was 35 minutes so we grabbed some fastpasses and went to Sunshine Seasons for grub. We each ate a Breakfast Platter and tried to stomach the coffee but man, it was putting hair on our chest and we had to ditch them. This was not the first bev we were to toss that day! After breakfast we took a hanglider over CA (I can only smell oranges on the last few rides anyone else encounter this too??)

Emily really wanted to go on Spaceship Earth so we headed that way but were side tracked by the Jammin' Chefs (Jamminators). If you have not caught them, make it a must do on your next trip because they are GREAT!


Just past the Chefs was the character spot. Now who are we to skip a meeting with the Fab Five?? So....

[jennie622]

And last but definitely not least...


Once we had our Fab 5 Fix, we tried for SE but the line, oh the line!!! I've never had to wait on line for SE before. We decided to try later. It was F&WF time....

First on todays list:

We shared some Swedish Meatballs (say it like the Swedish Chef for full effect) and I went for the Xante Sunshine Cocktail. Now, I've never heard of Xante, it's some sort of pear cognac and I love Navan vanilla cognac so I figured I'd like this too. WRONG, so WRONG!! I thought it was poison at first, some sort of floor cleaner. It made the Singapore Sling taste like nectar from the Gods. So, second beverage of the day down the tubes. ICK!

Still scraping my tongue trying to get rid of the horrible taste, we stopped in China and I got some Ginger Ice Cream which melted super fast in the heat. Speaking of heat, the ginger really did a number on me and I was totally flabbergasted that ice cream could be spicy and cool at the same time. Very neat. We also ran into an old friend...



After saying goodby to Mulan, we swung by the Brewer's Collection and I just had to try the Braufactum Roog Smoked Wheat Beer. Totally delish!!!

[jennie622]

While enjoying my Smoked wheat beer, we got in a small line for Snow White. The line was small because she wasnt' there yet and we figured she'd be out soon. After 10 minutes she appeared and we did some dancing with her.


Since we were in Germany, we stopped by the booth and had some Goulash Soup, rather good I must say just a little watery.


I wasn't looking forward to the Italy booth since I work in two Italian restaurants and there wasn't anything that stood out for me but I needed to get something in order to have my passport stamped. Now of course, I could have just had it stamped but that's not how I roll. So I chose the Capellini con Gamberi Piccanti aka Spicy Shrimp. And boy it was spicy and good!!!


Forgive me because I don't have pics of the next three booths, probably because they were so awesome I forgot to take them!!

At the Fife & Drum I just had to try the Red Stag Frozen Lemonade. There have been tons of negatives regarding this treat but I LOVED it! Funny because I really don't like Dole Whips but I loved that lemonade.

We also made a stop in Belguim for some waffles with berry compote (yes they really are delicious) along with a very expensive Godiva Chocolate Liquer Iced Coffee which was so so.

And then we made it to France. It took alot of begging and pleading but I finally got Em to try the Escargot and despite being completely grossed out by the fact she had eaten a snail agreed it was darn good. I also got a Chardonnay Brouchard Aine & Fils for the trek back to the resort.

True to form we were Tipsy by Two and changed into our suits and dragged our rafts down to the lap pool along with our drinks of the afternoon - Mimosas! A bit of info on the pool area at the Dolphin, it's huge! There are lap pools at both the Dolphin and across the water at the Swan which have pool bars. Then there is a sandy beach with big swan boats (think paddle boats) in between and the breathtaking grotto pools. There are several pools in that area and a large waterfall, bridges, volleyball nets and hot tub. Unfortunately, this area was super noisy so we avoided it until really late in the night.

Once we had our fill of sun and beleive me, we were slightly toasty at that point, we went back to the room and took a nap. When we woke up, we showered and started to pack some items up knowing that the next day would be jam packed start to finish and our parting day was super early.

For dinner, it was back to F&WF where I started with the Kerrygold Cheese Selection


Of course I couldn't pass up the Cheddar Cheese Soup from Canada. Holy cow is that good!!

[jennie622]

Then we stopped by Greece, highly anticipated and it did not disappoint. The booth itself was beautiful and the Griddled
Greek Cheese with Pistachios and Honey was to. die. for. My favorite treat of the festival. I also got a Boutari Moschofilero white wine which was perfect with the cheese.


Our last booth of the day was Hawaii and I fell in love with the Kona Longboard Island Lager.


This booth was right next to a hut set up just for Aulani DVC. Very island feel to this area.

As we made our way to the busses we noticed SE was a walk on so away into the golf ball we went. We just had to make some funny faces for our pictures...


Once we made it to the bus area and took a look at the mass of people waiting for the DTD bus, we opted to take a taxi instead. He dropped us off in front of Planet Hollywood and we made our way to PI. I haven't been there at night since September 2008 just before the original PI clubs closed for good and I was expecting the abandoned feel of the daytime but no, there was actually some nightlife offered outside. There were musicians outside and couches, tables and chairs around the old NYE gathering area. It was decorated for Halloween as well, I really hope they continue with Hyperion Wharf.

We stopped in Paradiso 37 because they had a DJ and I was craving a Dos Equis but alas, they had removed the tap since February and I tried their house beer which was just ok. We sat at the bar and watched fireworks thru the open windows that looked over the water. I'm not sure if it was Wishes or Fantasmic since I have a horrible sense of direction but it wasn't 9pm so I know it wasn't Illuminations.

Then onto Raglan Road for some Smithwicks and Irish music. There was more dancing that night then I had seen before, not just the one dancer on the platform in the center of the room but three dancers. Two ladies and a gent who actually got onstage while the band took a break and put on quite a show.

From there we skated thru World of Disney and tried on some hats (see sig pic). It was the first time I have left there empty handed!! Most of the stores were closing but we did have time to run into Ghiaridelli for some free chocolate squares!

We boarded a crowded bus back to the Dolphin and called it a night. There was one more full day left of our vacation and we were going to make the most of it!!!

[cubfancolleen]

Seems to me you have been making the most of EVERY day! Sorry the trip is winding down, but guess you need to finish up before leaving for the next party!