A Haunting, A Run, & Some Food & Wine: 3 Fall 2013 Trips - Complete

[Dis_Yoda]

Of Ice And Men​

It was still slightly raining when I went left Mission Space. I decided to head towards the Festival Center to pick up my event tickets. There was only 1 person ahead of me in line to pick up tickets. I also looked at the book signings going on that day when I noticed someone giving out wristbands for Robert Irvine at 1pm. I decided to get a wristband just in case I decided to buy the cookbook to have him sign.

Tickets

I shopped & bought that cookbook and played on my phone for a while until it was time for my first event – Ice Wine Seminar

They let us in right after noon & I was sat towards the front of the seminar even though I was one of the last ones in as I was by myself.

This was presented by Inniskillin. I’ve enjoyed Inniskillin in the past at Le Cellier so I figured this would be a good event for me.

Ice Wines Presented

Presenter

Wines

The presenter explained how they make icewine and how cold it has to be. If the temperature gets too high during harvest – the Canadian government will call it a missed harvest & not allow the wines to be sold. To me that seems really risky but it does usually stay at the right temperatures so its usually ok.

My favorite of the wines was the Cabernet Frac as it wasn’t as sweet but great richness to it.

Once this presentation was over, I headed over to the line for the signing.

Even though it was prior to 1PM – he was already taking pictures and signing. I hopped in the line for people with wristbands.

It took about 20 minutes to get through line when I got to him. He’s super nice and friendly. He was asking everyone in line what they did for work & it made me laugh to his response to my job with “well I’m just a cook – I don’t do important things like you”

I’m glad I bought the cookbook & got in line as even though he was at Party of the Senses that night – even with having Reserved Seating – I was not able to get in line to see him there as the line was entirely too long for me to find it worth it to wait in to try his Red Snapper.

I still hadn’t eaten at all that day & my next event was going to involve shots of whiskey, so I grabbed a pretzel and headed to Electric Umbrella to enjoy it while staying out of the misting outside.

It was good enough for keeping myself not hungry but not too full.

I headed back to get in line for Great Whiskey Debate

This was hosted by Jim Beam. In retrospect, I probably should have skipped this event as I had many of these liquors the day before at Spirits Confidential. This was a fun event though as the host had someone from each country of whiskey trying to get people to pick them as their favorite.

Host

Don’t 3 of these people look familiar from last night?

I think that might be the same kilt

They did keep getting louder as the event went on. My favorite of the 4 was the Scottish one.

I went straight from this demo to the next culinary one. 2 ladies I know from the Dis were already in line so I hopped in line with them. This was the culinary demo by Piero Premoli who is the chef at Pricci in Atlanta.

This is the same dish he was serving at Party of the Senses so I was glad I saved myself from having to wait in line for that too.

 

[Dis_Yoda]

Avoiding the Crowds​

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After I finished the demo, I noted how crowded EPCOT was. It was a Saturday so it didn’t shock me.

I had wanted to try one dish I missed during October’s trip as my husband wanted to skip the Singapore booth.

Chicken Curry

It was ok. I only ate the protein out of it as the rest seemed like a waste of calories.

While enjoying this, I noted two eagles on the island in the lake.

It was really too crowded to do anything so I snuck up to the Chase Lounge at American Adventure for a while to escape them.

It was a nice way to fill an hour of time with free soda, charging my phone and people watching.

I wanted something sweet at this point which I probably shouldn’t have done since I did have Party of the Senses starting around 7:15PM.

I headed over to France.

I went with one of my new favorite treats.

Chocolate Macaron Sandwich

Its only $3.99 which is an absolute steal considering its Disney. The ice cream blends so well with the fluffy cookies.

As I still had time to kill, I walked through the new French Bakery as I still haven’t done that yet.

I didn’t buy anything as I knew I had a lot of good food coming my way shortly.

They were allowing people to check in for PotS so I got my wristband for reserved seating and took another walk around.

Where I quickly gave up as it was too crowded. I got in line for the reserved seating group and luckily was towards the beginning of my group. It was nice passing the time talking to those around me.

 

[Dis_Yoda]

An Enchanted Evening​

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Since I’m not getting many replies, might as well just get this finished up.

Shortly after 7PM, the reserved seating people were led inside to their tables. This is when I learned the difference between Wine View Room and Reserved Seating is that the Wine View is contained within the fences where I was the night before. Reserved Seating are just the tables they had on the outside reserved for you. This takes up about 50% of the tables they have out around the room.

They had set my reserved table for two even though I was alone. (This is ok because it meant I got 2 glasses to take home!)

Menu Pictures:

Food Pictures That I Remember To Take

Entertainment Pictures

Overall Thoughts

I think I’m over going to Party of the Senses. This was my 5th time going to the event and I think it’s been enough. I enjoyed the food I had. My favorites were the burnt pork ends and the wagyu beef for the proteins and the Macadamian Nut Caramel Tart for the desserts. I just don’t like the crowds and the feeling that you can’t relax because you need to keep moving in order to get your money’s worth for the food and wine. The people walking around after the pulling of the curtains changed the atmosphere around the serving stations as people were upset that they had nowhere to sit. Having done more of the actual signature dinners and other sit down events at the Food & Wine Festival, I find those types of events more enjoyable and relaxing.

I left a little after 9PM – as I wanted to avoid the crowds leaving the park after illuminations.

I didn’t have to wait long to get on the bus and arrive back at Wilderness Lodge.

Outside my window – Electric Water Parade was going on so it was nice being able to see parts of it while watching on my balcony. Not many rooms at the Villas are able to see the lake so I was one of the lucky ones!

 

[Dis_Yoda]

A Beachside Breakfast​

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I woke up early around 6:30 & finished putting my stuff together.

Views from the Room:

Around 7, I left the room and headed down to my car, saying goodbye to Wilderness Lodge for this trip.

I had to stop by the gas station on the way out so I wouldn’t have to stop along I-75 on the way home.

So much cheaper than home!

I headed to the Beach Club for my breakfast.

I checked in & was sat as soon as the restaurant opened at 7:30AM.

Characters

Food Plates

Overall Thoughts

This breakfast was ok. I think I’ll stick to non-character breakfasts in the future as the cost doesn’t justify the food choices. I find the selection to be better at Boma for less money.

After breakfast, I still had about an hour until EPCOT opened. I decided to take a walk around the lake.

While walking past the pool, someone called out my name from the balcony above. It was one of my friends from the Dis hanging out on her balcony. We had a short chat & I was back on my way to aimless walking.

 

[Mom2m&k]

It looks like you had a great time and lots of very yummy food! I would love to go during f&w sometime. I had no idea they had so many "extra" things that you can reserve to do! Can't wait to read more!!

 

[Dis_Yoda]

EPCOT Morning​

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Once let in, I utilized my fastpass+ for Soarin.

Where I was lucky enough to get B Row 1!

Then it was off to single rider for Test Track.

Where there was 0 wait.

Then it was off to Mission Space for my 2nd Fastpass+.

Where I was once again the Navigator for the ride.

I headed towards the World Showcase at this point where I wanted to revisit 2 of my favorite booths from the festival for one last taste.

First was Brazil

A glass of sparkling wine and Crispy Pork Belly! Where can you go wrong with crispy fatty pork?

The next booth was Mexico

Shrimp Taco! I love these.

Next was a relaxing ride through Mexico with Donald.

And finally I used my last fastpass+ for a ride that I’m not quite sure why its on the higher tier of the newer system they are testing for EPCOT.

Does this boy scare anyone else? No one should be that happy to gut a fish

 

[Dis_Yoda]

It looks like you had a great time and lots of very yummy food! I would love to go during f&w sometime. I had no idea they had so many "extra" things that you can reserve to do! Can't wait to read more!!

It really was a great time for a very packed weekend. Its the special extras that keep me coming back for the festival as while the booths are nice - not that many of the items change enough to keep me going back year after year.

 

[cdtommie]

Dis Yoda, thanks for the great trip report...it's always sad when F&W is over and we have to wait another year. Mrs Beerman just booked our BWV std studio for next October yesterday...at least we have our trip next month at WLV and that Omakase to look forward to.

 

[Dis_Yoda]

Dis Yoda, thanks for the great trip report...it's always sad when F&W is over and we have to wait another year. Mrs Beerman just booked our BWV std studio for next October yesterday...at least we have our trip next month at WLV and that Omakase to look forward to.

It is sad when F&W season is finally over but at least there are more trips to look forward to. We have our anniversary trip in Feb, a race weekend in May, Star Wars Weekend in late May, the cruise over Labor Day before we go back for a long weekend for F&W next year.

Enjoy your Omakase! Just don't eat too much before hand. I really wish I could have enjoyed more. WLV was a great surprise on how much I enjoyed it. I think I'll be choosing there over BLT in the future when I try to stay outside of my home resorts.

 

[Dis_Yoda]

Mmmm, Truffles​

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When I finished with Norway, I headed to Italy to enjoy one of the special food & wine events I was the most excited about. It also was the most expensive event per person I went to this year so I was hoping it was going to be well worth the $225 it was.

I checked in and waited in the lobby until they were ready to serve us in Tutto Gusto Wine Cellar.

When being seated, I was slightly annoyed. I was originally shown a table and got settled and then was told I had to be moved because of someone bringing their infant and needing to be placed in the corner. I then moved to a six top. I would have thought they had seating already figured out before the event and not having to do the rearrangement. France & Flying Fish handled the seating arrangements much better for their special events.

All the wines served were from the Batasiolo Winery.

Menu

Bread

The bread was served while we were waiting on everyone else to be seated. Whenever it was emptied during the meal, they did replace the plate.

After everyone was settled, we were greeted by the manager of Tutto Gusto & a host from the winery.

The wines served were entry level wines but they did pair with the meal very well.

The manager stated that by the end of the meal everyone would have enjoyed almost an entire ounce of the white truffle through each of the preparations.

Insalatina d’Autunno: Tartufo, Noci, Croccantini d’Anatra: Autumn Salad w/ Truffle, Walnuts, Duck Croquettes.

Served with: Gavi di Gavi

Risotto Carnatoli con Tartufi: Carnaroli Risotto w/ White Truffles

Served with: Chardonnay Morino

Sformato al Formaggio, Tartufo e Spugnole: Baked Cheese Gratin w/ Truffle & True Morel Mushrooms

Served with: Barbera d’Alba

Fassone, Gastrique al Barolo, Patate Farcite: Piedmont Beef, Barolo Reduction, Stuffed Potatoes

Served with: Barolo

Brutti Ma Buoni, Baci Di Dama, Tartufi alla Panna Cotta: House Made Cookie Trio

Stravaganza: Zabaglione al Moscato, Torta di Pere al Cioccolato, Gelato Bacio Bianco: Moscato Zabaglione, Chocolate & Pear Cake, White Kiss Gelato

Served with Dolcetto d’Alba.

I personally was happy that the wine pours were only half glasses. This allowed me to be able to enjoy them all without having to be too worried about the drive home.

I felt the meal was outstanding but I’m not sure I would do it again. It honestly is just too much truffle, even with it being done in 4 different preparations, they were just shaved on top so very similar taste profiles went over each dish.

The event ended shortly before 3:00PM. I’m not sure if anything else happened after the end of the dessert but I booked it out of there so I could get home as I needed to be able to relax some before work the next day.

Do I look tired here?

Mickey Ears! Also Known As Signal of Going Home

The drive was uneventful but I had to stop to get caffeine shortly after getting on I-75 as I was going to be falling asleep on the wheel otherwise. Too much food in my system!