*Planning our Must Do's = BoOzE & Food* Nov '12 F&W Fest PTR*10/31 I leave TODAY!

[Fratthouse]

Interesting options. I'll chime in with my opinion, but take it with a grain of salt because you know how much I love AK

At first I thought it would be kind of tight to squeeze in all of those attractions, but then remembered our first trip. We were there 5 hours, and did all of those attractions (except we did Nemo instead of FOTLK) plus ate lunch (CS) and rode Kali River Rapids. So it's doable. And we were by no means "commando" - we just picked something we wanted to do and went and did it. No master strategy, no speed walking. Heck, I don't even think we used fast pass! Although one consideration - we were there from park opening and rode during morning hours. Seems like things get a little more crowded in the afternoon, thus longer lines? But if you're not married to all of these attractions and would be ok if you missed out on one, then I would say go for it! Have fun and enjoy AK!

 

[rachel09985]

I'm w/ you in that I'd rather have more Epcot time, if Emily goes for that. Just b/c it takes us 1/2 a day for Future World & 1 full day for World Showcase.[we prefer @ least 1 & 1/2 days in WS] We only need a 1/2 day for AK w/ our itinerary,but still get a lot done. 4 hours is tight,but I think we do 5 hrs. honestly.[not doing every single thing though] My DH is a HUGE animal lover but enjoys Epcot best. Good luck w/ the choice!

I know, I looove the World Showcase. I could spend days there. I think we are leaning towards that option but now I am getting anxious thinking what if emilys flight is late! Then that cuts down on time and Corey and I would still be going there in the AM then we would be stuck and wouldn't be able to get into a park at night because we don't have park hoppers!

Joining in!!

I'm really enjoying reading all your plans!!

thanks for reading from australia!!

Interesting options. I'll chime in with my opinion, but take it with a grain of salt because you know how much I love AK

At first I thought it would be kind of tight to squeeze in all of those attractions, but then remembered our first trip. We were there 5 hours, and did all of those attractions (except we did Nemo instead of FOTLK) plus ate lunch (CS) and rode Kali River Rapids. So it's doable. And we were by no means "commando" - we just picked something we wanted to do and went and did it. No master strategy, no speed walking. Heck, I don't even think we used fast pass! Although one consideration - we were there from park opening and rode during morning hours. Seems like things get a little more crowded in the afternoon, thus longer lines? But if you're not married to all of these attractions and would be ok if you missed out on one, then I would say go for it! Have fun and enjoy AK!

I know, I am worried about this because we normally spend a full day here. Corey and I will be there in the morning and will get fast passes for EE for later because he doesn't ride EE. I am just thinking what if her plane gets delayed and then that screws up everything! I am a worry wart.

 

[rachel09985]

Hi Everyone !I Hope you are all gearing up for your long weekend, I am! I have been really busy and stressed at work so I need this long break.

NEWS FLASH!!!

62 Days Left Till Vacation! or...

2 months, 23 hours, 24 minutes, and 38 Seconds...or

62 Days again, but in a different design!

I have got a plethora of vacation count down tools! Haha It needs to go faster!!

I also have some other news, I booked something special for the Food and Wine Festival.

I have booked a Mixology Seminar on November 4th at 6pm. The booze of the hour is Cointreau and Mt. Gay Rum. Cointreau is an orange liquor that us used for margs sometime, so I hope they make us a marg! I don't like rum, but hopefully they can make it taste good.

This is just for Em and I. Corey doesn't drink so he can sit outside on the bench looking at fantasy football stuff while Emily and I are lushes! I am really excited for this. I kind of want to book a wine seminar or a culinary demonstration seminar but I don't exactly know if I want to carve another 45 minutes out of our schedule.

I am getting pretty anxious for our trip now, especially thinking about all of the things I need to buy before our trip! Here is what I want/need before my trip.

1.) A new Do!Something like this..

Possibly a little darker than this but my roots are bad now and I need to get it done! Im hoping to get it around the second week of October and hopefully the roots won't get too bad before my trip!
2.) A tripod for my trip! This is not a must but I really want to take beautiful fireworks shots and I know they won't come out if I don't have a tripod. This is the tripod I want. It is really light (2.7 pounds!) so it won't be too much of a hassle to have.

3.) A new lens! I want a zoom lens for my trip really bad for the shows and parades! I don't want a high end lens just the Canon 55-250mm, which isn't very fast so I am worried about that. Once again, I don't need this.

4.) A Vera Bradley Backpack to hold all of my new camera gear!

I like this style better but I don't love this pattern. This is the other one I would want.

I would need to figure out which style would hold the tripod.
5.) Last but not least, actually this one is the most important!!! I need to get a great pair of tennis shoes. I need ones with lots of support and lots of cushion. My feet have been horrible the past couple of years in disney, I actually think I have plantars fascitis, so I need really good shoes. I don't know what I want yet, but I hope they look something like this.

Or this..

I like pink things, what can I say?

Well, I think that is it for my list! Haha, that is a lot. I really don't need the camera gear at all but I might be upset if I don't have it. I think the tripod would come before the other lens. And my birthday is next Sunday so my dad will be giving me money and I can use that towards the tripod. I also got a $20 off Vera Bradley coupon for my bday so that will save some money!

Well, that is it for now. We are going to the Minnesota State Fair, so that should be fun! I will post food pics.

Oh yes, if anyone has Instagram or Twitter you can follow me!
My instagram is rachel9985 and my Twitter is RachelHoye

I post a lot of disney pics on instagram but not the much on Twitter. I hope to do some live updates on Twitter and Instagram once I am there.

 

[rachel09985]

So, we went to the Minnesota State Fair today from 12 to about 4:30.

I realized I need to get in shape before Disney. Walking that much makes me tired, along with the heat. Also, I know I need new shoes that have a lot of support. My feet hurt after like 10 minutes of walking.

Anyways, onto the food

Corey and I started off with a large freshly cut french fries. These are so good, probably the best fries ever. They are similar to Five Guys but better!

Then I had a pronto pup. That is just a corndog but fried in flour dough, not corn dough. It was good but wasn't anything special.

Then we had a Super Stick, it had layers of pepperoni, cheese, and fried with a garlic batter all on a stick. Yummy, this was really good. The greasy pepperoni coupled with the garlic on the dough was soo good. I want this again.

Then I had an adult beverage. I had Leinenkugel's Lemon Berry Shandy beer. This was an odd one...This beer was sooooo sweet the first couple of drinks i had that I thought I was going to have to throw it away. Then i drank some more and liked it a little better, maybe I got used to the sweetness? Then the more I drank the more sweet it became. I had to throw it away halfway because of how sweet it was. Now, I know I can't handle that sweet of beer. If you aren't a beer person I would recommend this!

Then we had corn on the cob! Yummmy! This is just the absolute best corn on the cob ever. It is perfectly cooked so it so easy to eat this. They dip the cob in melted butter then just hand it to you and you can put on salt. corn on the cob is heavenly, especially from the MN State Fair!

Then I had one of my most favorite things ever- a deep fried Snickers. Now, I know I just shortened my life by 1-2 months, but that is okay! I will sacrifice that for this! It is just a Snickers bar dipped in the dough and fried. I am not a huge Snickers bar fan but when it is meltey and gooey inside this fried-ness is when it is good! The inside is just a big gooey mess which is what makes it good!

Then Corey got the infamous Sweet Martha's Cookies. He got a pail for $15 bucks, there probably was about 55 cookies in there! They are good and even sell this dough at our local grocery store!

NOW IS THE BEST PART!!! I GOT A DOLE WHIP FLOAT!!!! I read that they have dole whip and I knew that I had to get this!!! I used to have a love/hate relationship with dole whip. I tried it once with just pineapple soft serve about 3 years ago at MK and didn't like it! Actually I threw about half of it away. Then I got it swirled and it was a little better. Then I got it swirled into a dole whip float with pineapple juice and I loved it! The sweet vanilla with the tart pineapple with the icey pineapple juice just makes it really good. This little cup was $6!!!! How can they get away with that?? See- Disney prices are not that bad!!! This was still amazing though and a great little reminder of what I have to look forward to in 2 months

Then, I needed more cold sugar, so I had Hawaiian Shaved Ice. We absolutely love shaved ice and get it like every day in Panama City Beach so this was no surprise that we had to have this. I ordered Cherry, Dreamsicle, and Coconut. It was very good.

Well, that is it for my food pics from the fair. I hope you enjoyed. Here is a funny thing I found. This is so me....

 

[emmysmommy]

Wow!!! That fair food looks/sounds amazing (except the beer.) I want one of those deep fried Snickers and about 3 dozen of the cookies thank you!!

You are so right about having the right shoes for all of that walking at WDW - it will really make a difference. I wear a lot of flip flops but they really aren't practical for all of that walking. The days that I wore my runners were best. Love the Vera bags and wish list.

When we had our connecting flight into MN the other day, they welcomed us and said to visit their State Fair! Well, ok, where do we go?

I love the different version of your countdowns and tickers - it is always good to have more than one reminder of the joy to come!!

I hope you have a great weekend!

 

[happy2012]

Wow I WISH we had a fair like that around here!!! Yum.Every single thing looks delish!! I LOVE corn on the cob as well & haven't had any yet this Aug!! I have to get on that. THE COOKIES!!!
Love both VB bags.
I recently got the bright blue Nike running shoes similar to the ones you have. I love them. I was waiting for WDW to break 'em out but could not resit,so I might need another pair myself.

Had to copy & snag that ecard for my FB sooo cute!!

 

[rachel09985]

Wow!!! That fair food looks/sounds amazing (except the beer.) I want one of those deep fried Snickers and about 3 dozen of the cookies thank you!!

You are so right about having the right shoes for all of that walking at WDW - it will really make a difference. I wear a lot of flip flops but they really aren't practical for all of that walking. The days that I wore my runners were best. Love the Vera bags and wish list.

When we had our connecting flight into MN the other day, they welcomed us and said to visit their State Fair! Well, ok, where do we go?

I love the different version of your countdowns and tickers - it is always good to have more than one reminder of the joy to come!!

I hope you have a great weekend!

Brenda, you are back!! I hope your trip was spectacular! I am excited to hear about it.

I can't wear flip flops, i have tried once. I have Fit Flops which might work because they have support.

I should have stopped by at the Minneapolis airport to say hi! haha

So far today sucks because I have spent 1.5 hours cleaning brown bird crap off of my car and i had to scrub so hard and it would not come off! Stupid birds. But I did go to the cupcake store and get specialty cupcakes so maybe that will make me feel better

Wow I WISH we had a fair like that around here!!! Yum.Every single thing looks delish!! I LOVE corn on the cob as well & haven't had any yet this Aug!! I have to get on that. THE COOKIES!!!
Love both VB bags.
I recently got the bright blue Nike running shoes similar to the ones you have. I love them. I was waiting for WDW to break 'em out but could not resit,so I might need another pair myself.

Had to copy & snag that ecard for my FB sooo cute!!

The MN state fair is great! It is one of the best in the USA. It is fun but not Disney fun. Also expensive!

I love that card, it so describes us Disney nerds haha!

 

[rachel09985]

I thought I would post this link on here! I made this video on my MacBook iMovie and I am super proud. This is from my family trip in June 2011.

You have to watch it on your computer because of copyright laws it won't let you watch it on Mobile Phones, I don't get it!

Family Disney Trip

 

[Tracerr00]

Rachel!! I'm so glad you pointed me in the direction of your PTR! I normally don't work on weekends but I wanted to save a vacation day so here I am...my first day back at work after WDW...and reading your entire TR.

I love your report and let me tell you that I just went to CRT with my DD13 and we loved it. Once I paid for it I didn't give it another thought about whether or not it would be worth it (but it was!). We had a blast and ate a lot and we were like giddy little girls when the princesses came around. And none of them acted like it was weird for a grown woman to be excited about getting a photo with them. I'd gotten the Kingdom Keepers books on my Kindle before we went on our trip and it was really pretty cool to be in the castle. Yes, I know it's a series for 12 year olds but I enjoyed the books.

Also, earlier in your PTR you were talking about drinks and I wanted to ask if you'd seen the Leinie's berry shandy. And here it is! I toured the Leinies brewery one time and they give you tickets for free drinks and they recommend mixing them and this is what I had. It was sweet but I do like sweet drinks! Unfortunately I get all stuffed up when I drink most beers (but I think Leinie's is worth it).

Excellent choices at the fair! That corn dipped in butter is amazing. And some people are nuts over pronto pups but I think they are sort of meh. They definitely don't deserve an ermergerd.

 

[rachel09985]

Rachel!! I'm so glad you pointed me in the direction of your PTR! I normally don't work on weekends but I wanted to save a vacation day so here I am...my first day back at work after WDW...and reading your entire TR.

Thanks for stopping by! I am lonely over here!

I love your report and let me tell you that I just went to CRT with my DD13 and we loved it. Once I paid for it I didn't give it another thought about whether or not it would be worth it (but it was!). We had a blast and ate a lot and we were like giddy little girls when the princesses came around. And none of them acted like it was weird for a grown woman to be excited about getting a photo with them. I'd gotten the Kingdom Keepers books on my Kindle before we went on our trip and it was really pretty cool to be in the castle. Yes, I know it's a series for 12 year olds but I enjoyed the books.

I am so excited to read your CRT review!! I am really excited to go there, it will be my first time and I am soo excited to take my friend there!!

Also, earlier in your PTR you were talking about drinks and I wanted to ask if you'd seen the Leinie's berry shandy. And here it is! I toured the Leinies brewery one time and they give you tickets for free drinks and they recommend mixing them and this is what I had. It was sweet but I do like sweet drinks! Unfortunately I get all stuffed up when I drink most beers (but I think Leinie's is worth it).

MM, it would be good to mix that with something else. It was way tooo sweet for me but woud be great to mix it with something! Now, i am curious. That would be great to tour their brewery.

Excellent choices at the fair! That corn dipped in butter is amazing. And some people are nuts over pronto pups but I think they are sort of meh. They definitely don't deserve an ermergerd.
I am with you, the pronto pups were only average.

 

[francis6306]

Hi!!! Found your TR while looking through my BFF's recent activity! I noticed she was talkin' 'bout me and I had to come check it out! (I a

Oh, and I took my BFF with her family in December 2010 and she was totally bitten by the Disney-bug! She joined the DIS and she's just as huge of a fan as I am now. It's awesome! I'll keep following along as you update!

(I also see Emmysmommy here!)

She has taught me WELL! I'm going back later in Nov over Thanksgiving!

Gotta say! I didn't know they changed the menu at CRT! We ate there in 2010 and it was great, but that new menu looks DIVINE!!!! We had breakfast with the Princesses and it was wonderful. Just know, that the sunlight coming in from the window will mess up your pictures if you have your backs to the windows. But I think those tables are all larger, so you should be fine!

 

[rachel09985]

Hi!!! Found your TR while looking through my BFF's recent activity! I noticed she was talkin' 'bout me and I had to come check it out! (I a


(I also see Emmysmommy here!)

She has taught me WELL! I'm going back later in Nov over Thanksgiving!

Gotta say! I didn't know they changed the menu at CRT! We ate there in 2010 and it was great, but that new menu looks DIVINE!!!! We had breakfast with the Princesses and it was wonderful. Just know, that the sunlight coming in from the window will mess up your pictures if you have your backs to the windows. But I think those tables are all larger, so you should be fine!

Lol thats funny that you are the friend! Thanks for stopping over here!!

I know, doesn't the new menu look great? There are a couple of reviews on it in the dining board that have me excited for it. Thanks for the warning about the pictures! Hopefully we can avoid that or maybe I can use my flash??

 

[rachel09985]

Well, it is my birthday tomorrow! I turn 27 years old, that sounds old, but I still feel like I am 21 years old! This is a food porn sort of post about our dinner tonight.

Corey took me to dinner tonight at the Rodizio Grill in Maple Grove, Minnesota because tomorrow we are going to Buffalo Wild Wings to watch the Green Bay Packers. Yippee for me! Haha!!

For those that don't know Rodizio Grill is a brazilian steakhouse, similar to Ohana that they come to your table with skewers of meat. I signed up for the club about 1 month ago and got a coupon for a free full Rodizio which includes the salad bar and meat for my birthday. I was so happy that I got that because that meal is $32.99.

We were worried that we would compare this to Ohana and be disappointed when we went back to 'Ohana, because that is our favorite restaurant in all of Disney World.

When we go the restaurant our server started us off with three different appetizers. One was fried cinnamon bananas, Brazilian Cheese bread made with yucca flour and cheese, and polenta- a brazilian corn meal.

The bananas were gross, they were way tooo mushy and tasted like alcohol. I have come to the conclusion that I do not like cooked bananas. I had bananas foster sauce at 1900 Park Fare and did not like them either, they tasted like alcohol which probably was the Fosters sauce, but still way too mushy. The cheese bread sounded so good but it was gross. It was like chewy and almost springy in the little biscuit. It wasn't bread at all. The polenta sticks were really good! I can't really explain them but they were like corn cakes in stick form. I think they were fried. Those polenta sticks were the only things I liked.

Next Plate 1 of the Salad Bar which includes bread, tomato/mozzerella salad, edamame salad, shrimp salad, and pea salad

I ate a little bit of the bread but then decided to not waste any more room on that, the pea salad was really tasty and I realized I need to eat more peas because they are good, the shrimp salad was okay but not very flavorful and a lot of mayo. Obviously, I liked the mozzerella and tomato salad the most because I am OBSESSED with fresh mozz and tomato!!

Plate 2 of the Salad Bar- the salad bar also includes hot food

This includes more tomato/mozz salad, honeydew and pineapple, mashed potatoes, grilled veggies, and caesar salad.

The caesar salad was horrible- it was drowned in dressing. The fruit was pretty good although the pieces could have been cut smaller. The mashed potatoes were very very good! The grilled veggies were okay but a little overcooked and the parmesan cheese on it was weird.

Next up is the MEAT!

 

[francis6306]

Lol thats funny that you are the friend! Thanks for stopping over here!!

I know, doesn't the new menu look great? There are a couple of reviews on it in the dining board that have me excited for it. Thanks for the warning about the pictures! Hopefully we can avoid that or maybe I can use my flash??

You have a better camera than I do… so you might be okay! We had a wonderful time while at CRT, and I'm planning on going to Akershus and BOG this trip… but that menu has me itching to change my plans!!

 

[rachel09985]

Plate 1 Includes Pork Loin, Chicken with a sweet and sour sauce, catfish, and sausage.

The chicken had a very good flavor almost like a sweet buffalo sauce, but I really didn't eat much because the chicken here had a very weird consistency, and it wasn't the best cuts, it was pretty fatty and chewy and dark. The pork loin was nothing special, the catfish was pretty good but small pieces.

One of the reasons I did not care for this meal is because of the KNIVES!!! I really think I have a phobia of knives. I don't like cutting things because I am afraid I will cut myself, I don't like being around people with knives cutting food. This probably should only be told to a psychologist but I really think I am afraid of getting stabbed! Haha, I am psycho!

Anyways, they cut the pieces off of these slabs of meat with this huge sharp knives and you have to grab the food with your tongs and I couldn't see where my finger ended and the knive began and I just kept seeing my finger getting sliced off Anyways, that part of the meal I did not like. At Ohana they just give you chunks but here they actually slice off pieces which I did not like.

Next plate was bacon wrapped turkey and garlic steak!

These were both good! The garlic flavor was very strong but I like garlic a lot. The bacon wrapped turkey was very good. The bacon was thick sliced and just really great paired with the turkey.

Next plate is parmesan crusted steak, parmesan tomato, and some sort of chicken.

The chicken was the same gross piece of chicken but the parmesan crusted steak was so good!! It was a great steak piece and the parmesan just enhanced it. The parmesan tomato was good but I didn't eat much of it.

Another complaint I have is their steak was very rare and there wasn't a lot of well done pieces. The first steak I got was steak where they sliced it off and I didn't realize how rare it was but it was literally purple!!!! And I order my steaks medium rare- medium so it was really rare for me to have to push it aside, I had to cover it up because I couldn't look at it. It looked like raw muscle.

Next plate is sliced cooked pineapple and more sausage.

The cooked pineapple was amazing and once again I loved the sausage. I guess it is called Linguica.

We also had a grilled ham(good) and leg of lamb(great).

The waitress served me a complimentary piece of flan. It was pretty good and i am not a huge flan lover. It was cold and creamy and a nice treat!

Now onto my thoughts about this meal! We would not come here again I didn't mind it but 'Ohana is soo much better. Corey did not eat much at all and he really didn't like it. I liked it but I didn't love it. Actually if I were to go back there again I would probably only do the salad bar as that was very filling and had really great cold and hot options. I also would only come back for lunch because that is only about $20 for the full Rodizio and dinner is $33. The chicken was really bad and the steak was very raw and I have a knife phobia so the whole time I was there I kept imagining people getting stabbed with that crazy butcher knife!!

We went to get frozen yogurt afterwards from a place called Tutti Frutti. I am obsessed with tart yogurt with fruit on top, I could get that every day.

Corey and I aren't doing birthday presents this year because of Disney so dinner was my present

My mom got me a $25 Disney Gift Cad so now I have $60 in gift cards for Disney and about a $45 Visa Rewards that Corey and I can split! My brother and sister got me an iTunes gift card which I always love!

Anyways, that is it for my birthday night! Hopefully I will be able to post some Disney related things next week as we are down to 53 days!

 

[francis6306]

That looks yummy!!! I have always wanted to go to a Brazillian Steakhouse, but we haven't yet…

Happy Birthday!!

 

[rachel09985]

You have a better camera than I do… so you might be okay! We had a wonderful time while at CRT, and I'm planning on going to Akershus and BOG this trip… but that menu has me itching to change my plans!!

Yeah but I don't know how to use my camera yet! haha!

I thought about doing Akershus this trip but we changed our mind! Those cheesy potatoes look good. And I really want to try BOG! I am hoping for a Soft Open on Nov 3rd or Nov 6th as those are days I will be in MK! I want to try it for lunch.

 

[rachel09985]

That looks yummy!!! I have always wanted to go to a Brazillian Steakhouse, but we haven't yet…

Happy Birthday!!

Thank you!! After tonight I might not recommend it, I would just stick with 'Ohana if you haven't been there yet.

 

[francis6306]

Yeah but I don't know how to use my camera yet! haha!

I thought about doing Akershus this trip but we changed our mind! Those cheesy potatoes look good. And I really want to try BOG! I am hoping for a Soft Open on Nov 3rd or Nov 6th as those are days I will be in MK! I want to try it for lunch.

Hopefully you will luck out! I can't imagine that they would hold out completely until Thanksgiving week. That just seems silly to me!

Thank you!! After tonight I might not recommend it, I would just stick with 'Ohana if you haven't been there yet.

That is on our list to do in the future! I don't think we'll do it this trip though.

 

[emmysmommy]

Rachel: Happy Birthday!!!! (well, in a few hours. It is 9/9 right?)

And thanks for confiding in us about your knief phobia... they say admitting you have a problem is the first step!!

Yay for Disney gift cards!

Enjoy your special day!!