Trip Report: Food & Wine and First Anniversary (Oct. 2011) - Page 2 - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
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Did you love the Haunted Mansion line details? That's my favorite MK ride...I think. That and BTMRR and Splash Mountain and PoTC (I know you don't love that one, but I do!) And what--no Country Bear Jamboree???
I did totally LOVE the new Haunted Mansion queue. Very fun! No Country Bears this trip … LOL … maybe in another few years, but I am not ready to tackle the Bears again quite yet.
Quote:
Originally Posted by elbodans
Where are the photos from your restroom wait? If I taught you anything it is how to entertain yourself whilst someone powders their nose!
Here are some photos from my restroom wait …
Quote:
Originally Posted by elbodans
How strange that there was a wait for Dumbo right at opening but nothing for the mountains--or Peter Pan. I've only been on Peter Pan once without a fastpass. There's ALWAYS a crazy line for that.
I was totally expecting to have to get a fast pass for Peter Pan, but it was a remarkably short and manageable wait.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cam22
Your studio at BWV sounds wonderful! Great pictures at AK and MK!
Thanks, Cam! The studio was totally awesome. We loved it. We're hoping to get to stay in a similar section of the resort next time!
Quote:
Originally Posted by chezp
That says it all - the wait for Dumbo was longer than either of the mountains - it's so funny the way the lines sometimes work at Disney!
It was very odd! I wasn't sure what to make of it. While we were waiting for Dumbo, I was thinking, "oh, no, this whole morning is going to be waiting in line!" But it really was only Dumbo.
Quote:
Originally Posted by ilovedisney247
Great morning at MK! I love the opening show! The song gets stuck in my head for days!
The show was so awesome!! And we've been singing the song since we got back! It's such a GREAT way to begin the day.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Colexis Mom
Great update and pictures! More please!
More on the way!
Quote:
Originally Posted by disneymom9092
Great start! I love how you are both are chipping in! Beautiful pics! Can't wait for more!
LOL ... my husband has such a great sense of humor, and he always helps me remember the details while I'm writing these TRs, so I was SO GLAD he agreed to add his comments.
Quote:
Originally Posted by jennie622
Beautiful view at BW!!
I totally agree that P4TS is worth it! Absolutely amazing.
We TOTALLY lucked out with the view! It was beautiful! I started reading your TR last night, so I am SO GLAD you're reading along here!
Quote:
Originally Posted by mickeyforlife
looking forward to reading this trip report
Thanks!! I am looking forward to hearing about yours!! Husband's first trip?!?! Sounds amazing!
Quote:
Originally Posted by lazanya
Great start! more please..
Thanks, Jodi! I'm about to post the next TWO installments!
All aboard the ferry, which dropped us off at Fort Wilderness for a delicious lunch at Trail’s End. I had the chicken and waffles. It was DIVINE! The chicken was a little overdone in places, but mostly nice and juicy. The waffles were standard malted waffles, but they were drenched in salted butter, which was absolutely the perfect accompaniment! A little syrup, and my meal was nearly perfect.
Rob enjoyed the chili cheese burger with sweet potato fries. I’ll let him tell you about that … It was a very substantial meal. The burger was cooked well but the chili, which could be ordered on its own, was nothing special. I enjoyed the cinnamon sugar flavors on the sweet potato fries, but Melissa and I both thought that cinnamon, paprika and chili would be a better profile. It really hit the spot.
After lunch, we shared a sticky bun sundae. I think the bun was frozen before it went into the glass, which added a great texture. The jar was a perfect vessel for a sundae—way better than a bowl, in fact! It added to the character of the meal, but it also made it taste better! I loved how the nuts and whipped cream sunk in the jar, which meant every bite was delicious! It was awesome. I have nothing more to add.
We walked around Ft. Wilderness, stopping at the Tri-Circle-D Ranch to pet the ponies:
From there, we walked to the Meadow Recreation Area (which we’re also reviewing for Disney Food Blog). A lot of folks had decorated their campsites for Halloween:
Very cool/spooky! I feel like these are my Disney people! If only they didn't sleep on the ground ...
I wouldn’t mind doing a camper trip here or even tenting it. But since I have a DVC points that are most valuable spent on a villa … it’s still nice to visit.
It was a nice, relaxing two hours at Fort Wilderness, but we were happy to get back to the Boardwalk. Where we rested up before …
Then we headed to Epcot for dinner ... We hit Ireland, Greece, Desserts & Champagne, Australia and Hawai’i. We just sort of wandered along, stopping to eat and look at details along the promenade. We didn’t venture into any of the pavilions. It was really crowded (it being Sunday night), so we just took it slow and enjoyed the atmosphere.
In Ireland, we ate the Fisherman’s Pie (good, but not great) and the Lava Cake, which was disappointing because the chocolate totally overwhelmed the Irish Cream flavor. Overall, we weren’t totally impressed.
I was particularly upset with the pie. It smelled great but the texture was off and the cheesy/buttery taste on the potato was really overpowering.
In Greece, we tried souvlaki (yum!) and griddled cheese (yum, but get a knife!).
In Australia, we split the lamb chop with goat cheese potato salad. The salad was a little too vinegary and the lamb was medium (we prefer it pink in the middle), but the fat was caramelized and extremely delicious.
We fought over it. Only my superior bone-picking skills allowed me to salvage a victory!
In Hawai’i, we split a pork slider, but we both thought it was a bit dry and disappointing. The mayo was good, though.
Finally, for dessert, we shared the trio. The Lemon Chiffon was strongly flavored with a chemical lemon taste, and the White Chocolate Mousse was good but not outstanding, but the Tres Leches Terrine was easily a winner! I would have gotten seconds of this if I wasn’t so stuffed!
We also stopped into Club Cool and did some shopping at MouseGears before heading out of the park through the International Gateway. We had big plans … Fantasmic!
We took a Friendship Boat over and arrived at Hollywood Studios a bit before 7:30p, but we decided to wait for the 9p show. Because I just love wandering around the Studios at night.
While we waited, we rode Star Tours (once) and Tower of Terror (thrice!) before queuing up for the show. This was Rob’s first Tower of Terror experience, and he clutched my hand like a little girl. It was super cute. And I’ll never let him live it down (sigh).
I had my eyes closed too.
Atmosphere shots:
This was also Rob’s first time seeing Fantasmic! And he loved it! I think it might be my favorite nighttime show, partially because of the seating. But it’s also just a great show. I’ll let him tell you what he thought.
I liked picking out the Fantasia scenes in the waterfall. It was cute and just well… fun. We also got an overstuffed bag of cotton candy (3-4 servings) for the price of one. Score!
I forgot about that cotton candy! WAY too much for two people to eat in one sitting. I totally ate too much sugar this night!
Anyway, after the show, we dragged ourselves to bed. We were supposed to have breakfast at 7:15a at Kouzzina Monday morning, but we logged onto the Internet before bed to move it to 8a. Glad we did! Those extra 45 minutes were a godsend the next morning ...
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Monday … we woke up to the worst site in the world:
Nooooooooooooooooooooooooo!
We hit Kouzzina a little after 8 and had a great meal. Again, I’m writing a review for Disney Food Blog, so you can read about it later. (I’ll link to the reviews here when they’re up.)
After a delightful breakfast, we headed straight to Epcot through the WS entrance. Our first stop was Innoventions East. We headed straight to Storm Struck. We wanted to try it because neither of us has tried it before. Wanted is the operative word here.
When we approached the kiosk, a CM launched into something of a tirade. "Have you ever been to Epcot before? Do you know where the rides are?" He told us that we should ride the E-ticket attractions first because the wait there would only get longer, while the wait at Storm Struck would be nil all day. Which is nice, in theory, but we wanted to focus on Innoventions, even if that meant skipping most of the “bigger” rides.
After letting him rant at us for about 90 seconds, we walked away and headed over to Sum of All Thrills. Yay! What a fabulous ride.
We never did try Storm Struck this trip. But there’s always next trip
After that, we grabbed Fast Passes for Test Track (which had a 20 minute wait) and rode Mission Space: Green (which had a 5 minute wait). We visited the Festival Center and took a turn around the Wonders of Life Pavilion and bought a bottle of the wine we’d loved at Party of the Senses.
I just love this:
A Pineapple Grows in Epcot! (In front of the Wonders of Life Pavilion / Festival Center.)
After taking a whirl in our test car, it was off to Innoventions West for Smarter Planet. LOVE THIS! I could seriously do this every single trip, and I don’t think I’d ever, ever tire of it. There’s something so cool about seeing yourself in a video game!
Our victory dance is t3I-I 4\/\/3$0/\/\3.
Wow. He is a nerd. (For those of you who can't translate that, it says "teh awesome.")
By now, it was about 11:30 and time for lunch! On our way to the WS, we grabbed fast passes for Soarin (with a 4:30p return time). We dined in Argentina, the Caribbean Islands, South Korea, South Africa, Germany and the famed country of Cheese.
Look, the Prime Muenster! What is the Cheesian’s favorite section of the orchestra? Strings! After eating there Melissa had to wheel me away. 30% of their GDP is revenues from cottage industries! How do you know… hey! Put that do…………..ssssdfdbgs rt
In Argentina, the Grilled Beef skewer was a huge hit with us. The chimichurri sauce was made with garlic scapes, we think … very, very yummy.
From the islands, we enjoyed a Rock Coconut Mojito, which had a lot of mint flavor but was still good, and the Ropa Vieja, which Rob ate, so I’ll let him tell you about it.
It wasn’t great. But it wasn’t bad. The rice was a little chewy. And it just really tasted like stewed beef. I was expecting something more flavorful.
In South Korea, we tried the Boolgogi BBQ Beef, which I enjoyed more than Robert … but I wouldn’t order it again.
In South Africa, we tried and loved both offerings. The beef had great flavor without being too spicy, and the Bunny Chow wasn’t overpoweringly curry-ish. While we ate, we stopped at a standing table, where we had a conversation with a lovely woman who was snacking around the world with All Ear’s F&W survey results to lead her. I’d never seen that survey before, so I was glad to run into her.
In the great land of Cheese, we enjoyed the cheese plate. The Wyngaard Chèvre Affiné was served with honey, but it went quite well with the sesame crackers included with the dish. It was our least favorite of the three. In the middle was a Thomasville Tomme, a raw aged cow's milk cheese. It was served with cranberries and was quite delicious. Finally, the Délice de Bourgogne was a little slice of heaven. It came with sesame crackers, but I think it tasted even better with the honey. Overall, this was a huge winner.
Germany, our last stop of the day, underwhelmed us with their sausage and pretzel, which looks a lot smaller in person than it did in photos online. I also had the apple strudel, which I quite enjoyed.
Portion size aside, the sausage just wasn’t very good.
While we were sitting on a bench enjoying our choices, the birds started getting seriously aggressive. One actually tried to take a piece of pretzel bread right out of Rob’s hand. But Rob isn’t one to let his food go without a fight, and he actually pulled a piece of bread back from the bird! I would never!
I’m not going to let a little thing like bird flu stop me!
i realize that i'm a little biased (because i actually love you in real life--and am kind of a fan of your husband, too) but this is becoming a seriously hysterical trip report! love it! i wish i could take my own husband to WDW (frown) and wish even more that he'd write a trip report with me. but i'll settle for him being ok with me randomly GOING to WDW by myself...
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Pixie Dust
Glad you all enjoyed Fantasmic! 
PassPorter Guide Author
Sounds like some great eats at the F&WF! 
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