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

[Linda67]

The presentation of the lemon panna cotta at the wine dinner is just beautiful

 

[Dis_Yoda]

The presentation of the lemon panna cotta at the wine dinner is just beautiful

It was! I love how pretty Citricos makes their desserts in general. Their pastry team is amazing!

 

[Dis_Yoda]

Rock This Way​

From the Movie Ride, we wandered back to the front of the park towards RnRC & ToT.

We passed on Tower of Terror this time around. (I'll probably enjoy it in November) We pretty much walked onto Rock'n Roller Coaster with using our fastpass+.

I was getting hungry at this point so I went with one of my favorite Disney snacks that I hadn't had yet this trip.

Disney Popcorn

Freshly popped as well!

My husband grabbed a pretzel at a nearby booth & we sort of watched these guys perform through the crowds.

After our snacks, we went to one of our favorite shows - The Muppets. There was actually a wait but I think it was because we got there right as they were filling the theatre for a show and had to cut off the pre-show area as they got filled.

The theatre was destroyed & I was off to be a creeper to some characters and go shopping in the Muppet store to see if there was any new merchandise I wanted. There wasn't.

Hidden Mickey Pants

It was now time for our last fastpass+ for the day at Star Tours. The wait was already 45 minutes in standby so we were glad we had those.

We got to see some of the scenes we rarely get to see with Darth Vader, Wookies & Jar Jar.

We walked through the shops as I wanted to see if any store might possibly have the Haunted Mansion Dooney purse. (They didn't) I almost bought some Mickey Ears but didn't as well.

We realized we did almost everything we wanted to do here outside of shows we weren't willing to wait on so we left to head to our next location - Downtown Disney.

 

[Dis_Yoda]

Bowling & Booze​

To get from DTD from a park isn't always an easy experience as they don't have direct buses. We took the boat over to the Yacht Club and caught a bus there. We didn't have to wait unreasonably long for the bus to arrive and we were soon on our way to Downtown Disney. We totally forgot about the bus stop at Pleasure Island and got off at the Marketplace. At least we got a good walk out of it! I was starving as it was now past 1pm & all I've eaten at that point was some popcorn.

Our plan was to bowl but we decided to eat a full lunch first at Splitsville as we had time to kill anyway. There was no wait to be seated & were placed in a booth along the wall.

I had remembered to bring back my squeeze bottle from our visit in July so I could get drinks for the normal cost but end up with more drink in it.

Rum Runner!

Their drinks aren't cheap on the liquor pours either!

We started with a wonderful bar food appetizer -

Loaded Fries

Crispy Fries, Cheese, Bacon, Scallions, Ranch Drizzle. Where can you go wrong when you want bad for you food?

My husband wanted a sandwich for his meal.

Turkey Club

It was a nice sandwich along with being a huge portion.

I went with:

BBQ Pork Sandwich

The only thing I miss from Georgia is the BBQ. Naples has a severe lack of any decent BBQ in the area. While this BBQ wasn't as good as what we had in Georgia, it was better than anything I've gotten in Naples restaurants. The fries were a waste on both of our entrees because of the appetizer.

I would totally eat lunch here again before bowling. They take TIW as well so that savings was unexpected.

We then got in line for bowling & paid for our lane. If you are a party of 2 to 3 - you get a lane for 1 hour. This proved to be enough for us to fully finish 4 games.

Our server for the lanes kept our drink filled with Miami Vice (Rum Runner, Pina Colada mix)

Super Sexy Shoes

Compared to my husband, I'm really bad at bowling. Just look at our 4 games:

It was a great way to spend an afternoon! We also were able to use TIW for our liquor we drank. Wish I would have known that in July as it would have helped the bill out.

Once our time was up, we turned in our shoes & decided to shop until it was time for our Dinner & A Movie.

 

[wiigirl]

Great update!

 

[Linda67]

I really want to try and find the time to get over to Splitsville in December
Your drink cup is so cute - I want one!

 

[Dis_Yoda]

Great update!

Glad you are enjoying along

I really want to try and find the time to get over to Splitsville in December
Your drink cup is so cute - I want one!

How many nights are you going to be down there for?

Splitsville is totally worth it if you are on a longer trip. The drink cup was originally $14.50 the first time (includes it filled with one of their frozen drinks ) or $19.50 the first time with one of their 'bowl' type drinks. Refills after that initial cost are whatever the 'normal' price is for the cocktail you get. Then for your refills you get a larger portion for the price. Knowing we would go back to Splitsville, we bought one in July & it was placed in the vacation pile as soon as I started putting it together a couple weeks ago.

 

[Dis_Yoda]

Mostly Window Shopping​

Once we finished with bowling, we still had about 90 minutes until we knew we could get into our movie. Good thing we were at Downtown Disney & there were lots of shops for us to look around at.

We first headed to the Silver Store were I was stalked by a fox again & got to hear my husband sing that song once more.

I didn't buy them though.

We then headed to D-Street where I was shocked to find Duffy now has his own Vinylmation.

I did buy something at that store for my car.

I have zero shame with putting a real Disney Yoda on my little Prius.

When we walked through Pleasure Island, I was extremely sadden to see that the Adventurers Hut where you used to be able to get some yummy adult beverages has been taken over by boring food choices.

In Legoland, I built a tree.

We explored Basin where I was really tempted by some nice body scrubs and bath salts but I figured I could get those cheaper at Ulta at home.

In the crystal shop, I saw an awesome liquor/shot set.

This might be coming home with me in November as an early Christmas present.

In Once Upon A Toy, I was greeted by a scary looking Duffy.

We had time to kill so we people watched some by one of the entrances.

At the Pantry, I was happy to see they have added a spice and speciality salt selection. Too bad I already have most of my speciality salts at home but it was something different than what I've seen there before.

And explored the Christmas Store.

This was the first time in a long while that we were able to actually look at the store without it being mobbed. My husband didn't want to buy anything as he put it - working retail makes you hate Christmas.

At the Art of Disney store we had fun window shopping as well but spending $500 on artwork right now when we have things we need to upgrade around the house didn't seem like a good decision.

At the Fun Finds store, I was caught up with having to buy a grab bag.

For $11.99, you don't know what you get. For that cheap amount of money, it was totally worth my curiosity.

Here is what I ended up getting:

A stuffed Monsters Inc toy, vinylmation keychains, a its a small world vinylmation jr, and some scrapbook stuff. It was about $40 worth of stuff. Did I need this? No, but I felt it was worth it for what I got. Plus I enjoyed the thrill of seeing what I picked!

We lastly explored World of Disney until it got closer to our time for the movie.

 

[Dis_Yoda]

Dinner & Movie​

Monday evening I had purchased us tickets for the 5:30PM Fork & Dine Showing of Don Jon. I didn't want to have to risk the movie selling out which has happened before at that AMC but I also wanted to have an idea on when the movie started before we figured out the rest of the plans for Wednesday when we decided to make it a lazy day.

We got to the theatre a little after 5:10 & were allowed to head to our theatre right away.

The nice thing about doing a Fork & Dine showing is you have a server that will bring you your food & drinks and you have a whole menu of items to pick from. We weren't horribly hungry but it was nice to be able to pick something different than usual popcorn/candy/nacho food choices for a movie.

When ready to order, you can either press that call button. As we were initially the only ones in the place, she walked over without the call button to take our order after she saw us stop reviewing the menus.

For their drink selection, they do have a Coke Freestyle. I was able to get my Cherry Vanilla Coke Zero like I always get with those machines just like my husband got his Fruit Punch Fanta Zero he tends to pick.

My husband has a huge sweet tooth & went with the brownie sundae.

I didn't even get a bite!

I went with the appetizer sampler.

The fried cheese was good. The chips were good as was the celery being fresh. The onion rings were soggy & gross but I didn't really need to eat them anyway. The wings were only ok as they were also on the soggy side for wings. I left most of those on the plate as well.

We enjoyed our movie. I guess we didn't need to pre buy the tickets for this visit as there were only 3 other people in the place with us. Don Jon is 100% a movie children should not go. The humor and story are very adult. I loved it but seeing it with anyone other than my husband or one of my close girl friends, it would have been uncomfortable. (Don't take your parents )

After the movie, we walked to the Pleasure Island Bus Stop. We only had about a 10 minute wait for a bus to show up & we were back in the room in time for my husband to watch Arrow & us to watch the new show, The Tomorrow People (undecided on if we'll continue to watch that) I was sadden to figure out that Disney doesn't have FX so there was no American Horror Story for us to watch I also did some more laundry this evening as it was reaching the point in the trip where I needed to start repacking the clothes we weren't going to wear and put away the ones I cleaned as well. (At least doing laundry in Disney will save me from having to do more at home where I have to pay for the water/electricity!) We were to bed after watching the light parade from our balcony.

 

[Dis_Yoda]

Journey​

I woke up at 7AM again but my husband wasn't wanting to get up and ready quite yet. I hung out on the balcony yet again until he was less half asleep.

We decided to finally eat breakfast for the first time this trip. We grabbed our energy drink from the room and headed over to Contempo Cafe to order some real food.

Waffle w/ Banana Caramel Topping

This was my choice! The topping was really good but the waffle was entirely too large for this girl. The bacon was nasty.

Bounty Platter

My husband enjoyed his eggs and potatoes. He skipped eating his bacon as well.

During breakfast, we made some decisions for fastpass+ as we only had 1 ride we wanted to do that we missed on Saturday & Tuesday.

With the issues we had on Tuesday getting back from EPCOT, there was no way we were going to deal with that again. Luckily we have a car & were able to drive.

While we weren't intending to get to the park right at opening, we somehow still made it for 9:00AM.

We weren't in any rush, we were going to do go on on one of the silly rides - Journey into Your Imagination.

Except it wasn't running yet as Figment was having some issues or slept in or something.

We decided to use our fastpass+ for Mission Space instead.

We decided to explore Innovations where we were going to see Habit Heroes

It was going to require downloading an app on my phone so I didn't feel like doing that. We decided to design our own roller coaster on Sums of All Thrills instead.

The video for this attraction makes me laugh. As an engineer, very few engineers I know do all those 'amazing' things they talk about with designing the coolest video games, toys, space ships, etc. Only so many can design, others of us have to keep the world moving. I'll take my mundane life as a quality engineer though

 

[Dis_Yoda]

Imagination​

We were going to visit Test Track next but it was also down. I checked my email on my phone & in turn found this:

While that wasn't entirely helpful for us now, its good to know in the future on more ride intensive trips, how Disney handles a ride being down during your fastpass+ time.

We wandered back to the other side of the park to see if Imagination was up now.

It was.

We played a bit in the areas at the end of the ride.

It was then time for some more Coke samples!

It was nearing 10:45AM, so we went to see if some of the booths were opening early so we can start our eat around the world with the booths.

 

[mickeymotto]

Lovin' your report so far. We are starting to pack for our trip this weekend. Reading your TR is getting me excited for ours.

How were the crowds for F&W? We have dinner reservations one evening for Flying Fish and wondering where we should park that day. Epcot or Boardwalk?

Can't wait to read more...

 

[Mom2m&k]

Enjoying your trip report very much! Your F&W experiences look very yummy and you just seem to be having a very relaxed time. Can't wait to hear more!

 

[Dis_Yoda]

Lovin' your report so far. We are starting to pack for our trip this weekend. Reading your TR is getting me excited for ours.

How were the crowds for F&W? We have dinner reservations one evening for Flying Fish and wondering where we should park that day. Epcot or Boardwalk?

Can't wait to read more...

I'm glad to make you excited! I know I was doing the same thing before we left too!

The crowds were there on the weekend but if you in with a good attitude about it, it shouldn't be that bothersome. Get there when the booths open at 11AM (or a little before as the ones in the very front should open about 10 to 15 minutes early)

On weekends you will have local crowds that will be eating & drinking around the world as well. I find them amusing but others could find them annoying.

I tried to avoid driving as much as we could but that didn't always work out. The 'correct' answer is to park at EPCOT & possibly drive over to Boardwalk when you have your reservation. They did check our magicbands every time we tried to park at the EPCOT resorts for our dinner plans before they would let us drive in. They are cracking down on letting people park all day there when they aren't a hotel guest. What time is your Flying Fish reservation? If its at 7 or earlier, you should be able to just stay parked at EPCOT and head back through the park after dinner. If not, there are always taxis.

Enjoying your trip report very much! Your F&W experiences look very yummy and you just seem to be having a very relaxed time. Can't wait to hear more!

I'm glad you are enjoying my report! We try to keep a relaxed feel to our trips. We know we'll be going back again so why rush ourselves. Using the fastpass+ system actually made us have a more relaxing experience as well. As we didn't feel we had to 'rush' to get that fastpass or get in line ASAP, we enjoyed ourselves. I know some feel its scheduling them too much but if you use them right, I find it will make visits much more enjoyable.

 

[Dis_Yoda]

Gluttony​

Our goal for lunch that day was to eat around the world until we were full. We may have gone passed the full mark towards the end.

The booths prior to China did open early so we got to start eating at 10:45. We remembered to be bring back our passport so we could get everything marked off that we enjoyed.

First stop was Argentina for my husband.

Grilled Beef Skewer w/ Chimichurri Sauce & Boniata Puree

It was ok. The meat was on the tough side.

While he was enjoying this, I went to Australia

Garlic Shrimp w/ Roasted Tomatoes, Lemon Myrtle & Rapani

The shrimp was cooked really well so I enjoyed it.

I noticed Mexico had forgotten to stamp our passport during our visit on Saturday so that meant I needed another

Shrimp Taco

This is one of my favorite items. I love the spices used and the crispy shrimp together.

It was a minute after 11AM but they hadn't opened the rope yet into the rest of World Showcase. We waited a few more minutes until the cast members released the ropes & we were able to see all the little girls run to Mulan as we headed to a booth.

South Korea

We were their first guests for the day & they were happy to be serving. I love friendly cast members & they seemed to be really be enjoying themselves at opening.

Kimchi Dog w/ Spicy Mustard Sauce

This was my husband's choice. He enjoyed it enough. The spice didn't really hit him until after he finished which is why we ended up getting wine at the next booth.

Lettuce Wrap w/ Roast Pork & Kimchi Slaw

I enjoyed this. The pork was moist and the slaw was fresh. A bit too much mayo but that was easily wiped off.

At The Cheese booth we just got wine.

Once Upon A Vine's Chaming Pinot & Fairest Chardonnay

These wines are being pushed all around the festival. They aren't supported by Disney but I can see why people may think it is. They are ok. I think there are wines I enjoy better at this lower price point instead.

We stopped in Poland for my husband.

Kielbasa and Potato Pierogie with Caramelized Onions and Sour Cream

Isn't the Mickey cute?

He was happy!

We also stopped in Italy to try two things.

Ravioli de formaggio all’emiliana

This portion is huge. I only had 2 of the raviolis and there was at least 3 more in there. The sauce was good and the cheese on top was bubbly & hot & crispy. I didn't want to eat all of it as we still had half the world to walk through.

Cannoli al Cioccolato

We split this cannoli. It fell flat with us. The pastry shell tasted stale. The filling was ok.

View while eating in Italy

We were thirsty & it was getting hotter at this point but we were next to American Adventure Coffee Cart

Shakin' Jamaican Coffee - Frozen

If you were wanting to fill your passport, you don't have much of a choice of what to get at this booth

It was cold & exactly what we needed for our next couple of booths.

My husband wanted to stop at Hops & Barley

New England Clam Chowder

He enjoyed the chowder. Lots of meat considering the sample size.

We wondered to Japan

Teriyaki Chicken Hand Roll

I loved this dish!

Next was Belgium

Potato and Leek Waffle with Braised Beef

Horrible picture I know. The beef was tender and the waffle was exactly how I would expect it to be with nice spices throughout.

Belgian Waffle with Warm Chocolate Ganache and Whipped Cream

While I was enjoying the beef, my husband wanted dessert. He scarfed it so that must mean he liked it

Our next booth was the first booth we actually encountered a line more than 1 person at. There were about 10 people in front of me here. The line did move quickly at least!

France

Eiffel Sour Cosmo Slush

Not as good as my Grey Goose Slush I usually enjoy in France but it was a nice switch up. Very refreshing!

We both were stuffed at this point but there was still 1 more food item I wanted to try before we called it a day.

Scotland

Scottish Banoffee Tart with Bananas, Scottish Whisky Toffee, Walkers Shortbread Crumbles and Sweet Cream

It was everything I hoped it would be. A hint of whisky within the toffee and bananas. The shortbread crust to contain it all as well!

We reviewed our passport & realized there wasn't a single food item we really wanted to try at one of the booths & figured we needed something a little more healthy to balance out the rest of the items.

Terra

Fresh Watermelon Juice

It was fresh from the juice maker and tasted exactly like a watermelon. (I know you are as shocked as me )

As we were walking back towards the front of the park, my husband had an idea for the 2nd half of the drink. He knows how much I love the watermelon soda from Club Cool. We walked in, got a little sample cup of that soda & in turn, poured it into the rest of our juice.

I know this totally cancels out the healthy idea of drinking the juice. It totally worked together well though.

 

[jerseytinkerbell]

I had the same issue yesterday with one of the rides on my Fastpass+ list being down and I didn't realize what my options were until I saw the email later in the day. Like you said, didn't help me then but at least I know now.

Looks like you had a ton of good food at F&W today! I think I might steal your idea with adding the watermelon soda to the watermelon juice.

 

[Dis_Yoda]

I had the same issue yesterday with one of the rides on my Fastpass+ list being down and I didn't realize what my options were until I saw the email later in the day. Like you said, didn't help me then but at least I know now.

Looks like you had a ton of good food at F&W today! I think I might steal your idea with adding the watermelon soda to the watermelon juice.

At least we both know our options if it happens in the future, which probably will happen.

We had so much fun trying the foods on Thursday! We only ended up at 20 of the 30 booths during our time there. I only have 3 days in November to try the last 10 - that with all the events, I'm not sure I'm going to make it.

 

[Dis_Yoda]

Beginning the End​

After we enjoyed all our samples from the festival, we walked around the shops & spent some time in Art of Disney

The artist on duty today was super friendly!

We then walked out to our car.

My husband stole my camera while I was driving. He took like 160 photos of the drive back to the resort. Here are 5 of them:

While back at the resort, my husband headed to the gym. I headed to the pool.

Once back in the room, we got cleaned up for our next Food & Wine Event. Afterwards, we begun the saddest part of vacation. Packing up the room. We only had 1 more full day left so it was time to start packing up the clothes we weren't going to wear or had worn & cleaned and putting the things we bought into the bag that originally held the snacks. One of these days I will learn to just pack complete outfits and probably would bring less with us.

 

[Dis_Yoda]

Flying Fish Signature Adventures in Dining​

Around 5pm, we headed to the Boardwalk. We arrived about 40 minutes early to the start of the dinner & enjoyed a nice stroll on the Boardwalk while looking in some of the shops.

We checked in and waited outside until we noticed the masses in the foyer were being led to the back.

We were sat in the inlet towards the back of the restaurant. It provided some privacy but with the top as it was, it did cause some of the sounds to stay within the area. It was not completely closed off from the restaurant though so the nearby tables probably wished they were at this dinner or far away. Who knows? The table we were sat at was an eight-top with 3 other couples. Over the course of the evening, we were all able to have nice conversations about DVC, Engineering, Work, Food & Wine trips, etc.

Menu

We were greeted by the manager & the host speaker who talked about her champagnes. The White Star they used to have is now the Imperial so it is inline with what is available in the rest of the world.

Moet & Chandon Imperial Brut

Crispy Lemongrass-scented Blue Point Oysters

I'll be honest here, before this night, I've never enjoyed oysters. My only experience with oysters had been the raw on a half shell at seafood restaurants by the ocean. I found those slimy & nasty. The ones served by Flying Fish blew all my normal opinions of oysters out of the ocean. My husband really enjoyed these as well. I may be tempted to actually try a fried oyster now at some of the nicer places here in Naples. The seaweed salad and vegetables also provided a refreshing balance to the oysters.

We were served fresh bread with the butter. This turned out to be needed to help make sure we didn't get too drunk

Pretty Butter!

Opps, Forgot a Picture
Moet & Chandon Imperial Brut Rose

Soupe de Homard alla Maximin

This was a fennel soup with lobster. It tasted homely which is exactly what Chef Tim stated he attended. To me, this was the weakest dish of the dinner. I also don't really enjoy hearty soups though so YMMV.

Moet & Chandon Nectar Imperial

Sarasota's Mote Marine Sturgeon Fillet

Chef Tim was super excited for this dish as this sturgeon was locally sourced along with the caviar from the same location. The fish was fork tender with the right amount of spice to really work with the sweetness in champagne.

Moet & Chandon Grand Vintage Brut, 2004

Lavender Honey-lacquered Sonoma Valley Duck Breast & Leg Confit

This was a drier champagne than the ones we had previously. This played well with the sauce used for the duck. Duck was cooked exactly to the temperature I enjoy it to be.

Moet & Chandon Grand Vintage Brut Rose, 2002

Tournedos of Western Pennsylvania Veal Tenderloin & Sweetbreads

For having all the courses prior to this, the portion seemed large but upon eating it, it really was the right amount to be able to enjoy the entire glass of champagne. Like the dishes before, the flavors truly worked together.

Before dessert, Chef Tim came out to thank everyone for coming out. Some of his former chefs that have moved onto their own restaurants had come back for the dinner to help him with it & he was proud of the legacy they had along with showing off some of his new guard.

We were also presented with a going away gift from Moet & Chandon:

Half Bottle of Imperial

Moet & Chandon Nectar Rose Imperial

Citris Panna Cotta & Strawberry-Rhubarb Delice Fantasie

Our final course was a panna cotta. I couldn't help but compare this one to the one we had 2 nights prior at Citricos. Citricos' was better but this was still a good panna cotta.

Overall the dinner was amazing. It was our favorite event of the trip. Even at the $185 per person price tag, we got more than our money's worth with the quality of the food and the wines given.

This dinner took over 4 hours from start to finish.

We head back to BLT arriving back slightly after 10:30. We're both happy at this point & make bad choices. I head to Contempo Cafe as we're both craving sweets. I tell the cashier I'm getting the soft serve 'togo' for my husband & he could probably tell I had a bit too much to drink & he hands me a small soda cup instead so I don't have to worry about spilling anything. Score!

Chocolate Brownie

Soft Serve Ice Cream

Honestly, it probably could have tasted horrible but at that moment, my brownie was exactly the fudge goodness I needed. My husband enjoyed his ice cream. After our desserts, it was time for bed. I set the alarm for a little bit later as I figured we might need it

 

[Dis_Yoda]

Lazy Morning​

Despite having an alarm set for later, I still naturally woke up at 7:00AM. I took my laptop & headed to the balcony until a more acceptable time before I woke up my husband.

I grabbed an energy drink for breakfast & woke up my husband. I wasn't originally sure what he was going to do this morning if he was going to head with me to EPCOT or hang out in the room. He had no desire on heading out this morning & got ready to go to the gym and play on his laptop, which is exactly what he did when I left him to head to EPCOT.

I drove to EPCOT and arrived prior to opening.

I wasn't originally quite sure where I wanted to go to when the park opened. When the park opened, I just leisurely headed to the Land & thought maybe I'll get a quick breakfast before I head to my last F&W Event for this trip but nothing stood out to me.

This lead to me just going on my favorite ride at EPCOT one more time.

Being a solo this lucked me into getting section B row 1 as there was 1 single space left in that row.

I decided afterwards to just check into my Kitchen Memories early & I walked over to the Festival Center.