"We Have Lots of Good Wine at Home, But We Don't Have Giraffes." **COMPLETED**

[Missyrose]

Wow! What a jam-packed day at DHS. I'm too chicken to ride ToT, but I finally gave R-N-R a shot on this last trip and I liked it! Don't get me wrong, I HATED the launch, but it helped to count to three and knew it would be over, then I settled in and enjoyed the rest of the ride!

I walked through the ToT queue with DBF one time and you're right, it is an impressively detailed queue. The CM who escorted me to the chicken exit said as I got on the elevator "Are you sure this is the chicken elevator?" And laughed this evil laugh. I knew he was kidding but geez did it scare me for a second.

 

[NMW]

Subscribing

 

[adoerr72]

I'm looking forward to this trip report (and I'll be going back to catch up in a minute). My husband is from Philly so he is even reading over my shoulder occasionally like you are going to do some regional secret handshake

 

[ShesAPirate]

NMW and adoerr! Thanks for joining! More coming soon

 

[ShesAPirate]

(day 3 continued)

We didn't have much time once we got back to our room. Just enough to change and freshen up before it was time to go to Jiko.

We walked down the stairs from the lobby and checked in. The hostess who escorted us to our table explained how the colors would change on the far wall during our meal.

Our table was right next to the glass wall, looking out on the little waterfall/stream thing. It was lovely. And that color-changing wall was lovely, too. Great atmosphere

Our server's name was Omar. He was fantastic. Very helpful with wine suggestions, food suggestions, explanations of menu items... everything!

We started with the Cheese Plate. Here is what it included:

And here's what it looked like:

These cheeses and the accompaniments (they were berry jam -- which I could've sucked up with a straw, it was so good, a piece of dark chocolate, another fruit thing, dates, and date toast) were delicious. And that's our bottle of 2008 Stark-Conde Syrah ($53) and yummy bread in the background. I don't care for curry, and could taste it in the butter, so I didn't eat that. But DJ loved it.

Now, there was really no question about which entrees we were going to get. Even DJ, who doesn't read obsessively (or anything for that matter) about Disney, instantly wanted that Filet with the sweet corn risotto.

I had read a million good things about the mac & cheese that used to come with the filet, so I asked our server if I could get that. He offered a side-order of it, so I could still taste the risotto. That was exactly what I wanted to hear

We both ordered our filets medium rare. Mine came out just a little too raw for my taste (DJ has no problem with rare meat, and I really think both of ours came out just a touch over rare). Omar took my filet back with no problem and when it came back, it was perfect The meat was so well-seasoned, so melt-in-your-mouth... just exactly how I like it. Like I said, perfect!

The mac & cheese side:

Very tasty, for sure. But the sweet corn risotto that came with the filet was also delicious. I'd say they were in a dead heat.

It was time for dessert, and we were pretty much stuffed... but we weren't going to pass it up, since we'd already paid for it.

We ordered lemon cheesecake -- which we asked for to-go before it even got to the table:
Here's the cheesecake, in the box:

We brought that back to our room.

...and the One Last Cup to eat at the table.

Oh my! One Last Cup is Tanzanian Chocolate and Kenya Coffee Mousse with cinnamon mascarpone, nutty chocolates and chocolate syrup. Wow... this was outstanding! Every part of it! Mmmmmmm!

Had to take a picture of this menu, since we were blown away by the cost of the Remy Martin Louis XIII

This was a wonderful meal. We were able to eat slowly and enjoy every course one at a time. Our wine glasses were refilled every time they needed to be. When we needed Omar, he was right there. When we didn't, he was invisible. He was perfect.

We were on DDP, so the cheese plate and obviously the wine were not included. Our total OOP (with tip) was $106.45. DDP took care of the rest ($115.56)

Worth. Every. Penny!

In my next installment, we experience the Food & Wine Festival, a change of dinner plans, and a change in temperature!

Thank you all so much for reading. I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving with your family, friends, and loved ones, and an excellent holiday weekend!

 

[ShesAPirate]

Sorry for the long stretch between installments. The holidays are so busy, starting right from the night before Thanksgiving.

Anyway... on to DAY 4

We decided we would take it easy this morning. I woke before DJ, and went down to The Mara to get us some breakfast.

I got us the Bounty Platter to share. Eggs, potatoes, a biscuit, mini-Mickey waffle, sausage, and bacon. It was tasty.

We also nibbled on whatever dessert leftovers we had in the 'fridge.

I decided this would be a good time to do some laundry. It was free, so I couldn't pass it up! Plus I wanted to have as much of our clothes clean as possible before we packed up to move to Kidani Village. I believe the detergent was $1.25 - somewhere around that price.

In between laundry, we sat on our balcony and drank coffee, watching the animals. So very pleasant!

We finally got going in the early afternoon. Our goal today was FOOD & WINE!

Now I'm not 100% clear on all of the details of this part of the day, so here's a bunch of pictures of Food & Wine booth goodies

Lamb Chop from Australia. Holy cow, this was delicious!!!

Swedish Meatballs with Lingonberries from Sweden:

Pierogi and Kielbasa from Poland:

Ropa Vieja from the Caribbean:

Calamari Salad, and Linguica Sausage with Onions, Peppers, and Olives from Portugal:

I don't eat seafood, but DJ said the calamari was good. The sausage was HOT! Super-spicy! We happened to be standing by a group who was eating the same thing, and I couldn't help but laugh when the woman said, "I know -- it's them jalapenos!" when describing what made the sausage hot. Oh, and she did pronounce it "jah-la-pee-nose"

The Cheddar soup from Canada:

We had the Chimichurri steak from Argentina, as well, but I forgot to get a picture of that.

Our original plan was to have a very late lunch at Le Cellier, but with all the noshing at F&W, we cancelled it. It would've been to much food. Instead, I looked into what might be open for dinner.

It was Friday, so of course none of the more popular places had availability. I wanted DJ to see the Poly, so I hopped on an opening at Kona. Done!

Still at Epcot, we walked onto Journey Into Imagination and Nemo. Test Track single-rider line was a less than 10 minute wait, so I told DJ to go on himself. It wasn't that big a deal to me. He wasn't greatly impressed or anything, but glad he got to do it.

Oh, in addition to all the food, we definitely had a few beers as we walked around World Showcase Good stuff!

We took the monorail over to the Poly. The lobby was very busy, and there were about a zillion people waiting to eat at Ohana. Kona was pretty busy, too. We checked in and were given a buzzer, then walked around the lobby. I love the Poly, it's just so beautiful!

It felt like forever before we were seated. Maybe I was just hungry Anyway, as soon as we sat down, we ordered drinks.

DJ got a Lapu Lapu:

Mine was a Blue Glowtini or something. It was VERY strong! I had to ask for a glass of pineapple juice to weaken it.

I was so happy to get my glowing ice cube

Delicious Hawaiian bread and macadamia nut butter. That butter was SO GOOD!

We skipped apps and went right to entrees.

DJ got shrimp and scallops with sticky rice:

He said it was good, but he thought my entree was better.

Here's mine - Kona coffee-rubbed pork chop with mashed potatoes and broccolini. I believe it was supposed to come with mashed sweet potatoes, but I asked for regular.

This was AMAZING! The pork chop was tender and moist, the potatoes were perfectly seasoned. Mmmm, I wish I was eating this right now!

As stuffed as we were, we forced ourselves to get dessert We got the chocolate fondue, and the Kona Cone. Both were good, but that Kona Cone was pretty spectacular. Really good ice cream.

This was a great meal, and totally unplanned until a few hours before it happened. If I were to judge by this meal alone, I'd say Kona Cafe is highly underrated.

Our entrees and desserts, covered by DDP, came to $60.16. Our drinks and tip totalled 38.50. Well worth it!

After dinner, we walked outside so I could show DJ more of the Poly. As we got closer to the beach, I saw this off in the distance:

Seeing my reaction (and hearing me literally squeak in delight), DJ said, "And that's when Gigi exploded."

Even from that far away, and despite the fact that it was reallllllly cold, this was one of the best moments of our trip, in my opinion. Standing on the beach at the Poly with my , seeing Cinderella's Castle all lit up for Christmas for the very first time ever -- it was a dream come true!

Coming up next - we move from Jambo to Kidani, and head back to Epcot for more Food & Wine & shenanigans

 

[Missyrose]

A Disney day that revolves around eating, my kind of day! Great report from F&W. Your Kona dinner looked yummy too! Coffee-rubbed pork, sounds delicious.

Can't wait to see your pics from Kidani.

 

[ShesAPirate]

Oh my goodness, it's been forever since I updated my TR! I promise, another entry is coming, either tonight or tomorrow. I want to finish my TR before I forget too many details!

 

[cocofifi]

Lovin' your trip report! What a cute couple. Subscribing.

 

[ShesAPirate]

Lovin' your trip report! What a cute couple. Subscribing.

Aw, thank you so much!

 

[ShesAPirate]

Okay, here we go with DAY 5.

We woke up very early because we were checking out of Jambo and into Kidani this morning.

I ran down to the Mara to get us some breakfast -- a Mickey Waffle, and the African Breakfast Platter. I didn't get pics of these. DJ thought the African breakfast was so-so. The waffle was good as usual.

Our move was very simple. Bell services moved our bags for us, and we walked from Jambo to Kidani (not bad at all -- only took a few minutes).

We went to our room, and OMG the location could NOT be beat! So close to the lobby, a corner room with incredible views!

Honestly, this is the best view I've ever had at any Disney hotel ever. The animals seemed like they were right in front of us. Just amazing. That's not a zoom lens on those pics, either.

We didn't have a whole lot of time to relax, though, as we had a lunch ADR at Via Napoli.

Let me preface this by saying we are both of Italian descent, and are Italian food snobs (c'mon, we live in northern NJ, and I'm from Brooklyn ) So we were very pleasantly surprised with the food at Via Napoli.

DJ started with the fried calamari:

I don't eat seafood, but DJ loved the calamari. He said it was perfect.

And I started with the arancini (rice balls):

Delicious!

For our entrees, we each got individual pizzas. According to the receipt, one is called Carciofi, and the other is called Piccante. I don't see with of them on the current menu, though. They were both great, nice and crispy crust.

We could barely finish them, but of course ordered dessert, anyway, since we were on DxDDP at this point.

Zeppole di Ricotta, and Lemon Sorbetto

It was all so fantastic. We will definitely be going back to Via Napoli. Loved it!
DJ had a beer -- Menabrea 1846, at $9.00. Between that and the tip, our OOP cost here was 26.00. The total paid for by DxDDP was $88.39.

Coming up next -- more Epcot, and more Food & Wine... and so much beer hahaha

 

[ShesAPirate]

Oops, totally forgot to put in the pics of our room!

Also forgot -- since we were on DxDDP for this portion of the trip, we got 2 refillable mugs (value was $30.87). I really miss when the mugs were resort-specific. These are just so generic. Glad I still have my CBR, All Star Music, Pop, and AKL mugs from previous trips. Oh, and my YOAMD mug, too.

Okay, just wanted to get those pics in -- more to come!

 

[Mom&RN]

Just found your trip report and am all caught up. Subbing.

 

[ShesAPirate]

Hey everyone! So sorry it's been long since I've posted! I actually (FINALLY!) got a job and it's been pretty hectic lately. I promise, an update is coming soon! Thank you all for sticking around

 

[ShesAPirate]

DAY 5 CONTINUES...

After our very-filling (and delicious!) lunch at Via Napoli, we were ready to do some walking around World Showcase.

It was PACKED. Even when we first arrived for our 12:20 ADR at Via Napoli, we noticed that it was very crowded - and that most everyone seemed pretty hammered already Lots of drunken revelers. And a TON of LSU fans, for some reason. Everywhere we went, we saw crowds of them. I kept looking for Corey and Julie from the podcast crew, but no such luck.

Anyway, we decided we wanted to get in on this drunken revelry, too... so the beer drinking began.

We tried lots of different kinds, starting at the Sam Adams booth and eventually getting to the UK pavilion. The British Revolution was about to play, so we got a couple of beers from the Rose & Crown and made our way to the courtyard.

There were people waiting already, and we struck up conversations with a few of them. I love that about watching the band back there -- people always seems very willing to be friendly and chat.

We ended up staying for THREE sets of the British Revolution, getting more beers from the pub in between sets. This was the first time ever that I had to stand in line *outside* of the pub (and then wait a little while once I got inside, too). It was just that crowded!

By this time, we were having a blast and feeling no pain We decided that we wanted to stick around Epcot a little longer than we'd originally planned, so I cancelled our dinner ADR at Crystal Palace. That was a rough one. I love that place, and I love my Eeyore... but we just weren't that hungry, and didn't want to rush to MK, so... Crystal Palace will have to wait till next time.

Things get a teensy bit fuzzy here. I'm pretty sure we hit a couple more of the festival booths before heading over to MK for Extra Magic Hours.

That just turned out to be a bad idea. We grabbed a very late dinner at Pecos Bill's (again), but that was really the only good thing. It was cold and raining, my legs were killing me, POTC was broken down... so we called it a night.

Here are some pics from the day. I'll add descriptions later when I can look at my receipts -- not sure exactly what everything is.

Here's us

This is from the New Zealand booth -- Lamb Slider with Tomato Chutney

Also New Zealand -- Seared Sea Scallop with Kumara-Red Curry Puree and Apple Radish Salad

Here we are with the guys from British Revolution. So much fun!

From the France booth -- Escargots Persillade en Brioche. DJ loved these. Me? I wouldn't touch them with a 10 foot pole

Also from France -- Coq au Vin sur gratin de macaroni (Red Wine braised Chicken, Mushrooms, Pearl Onions, and Macaroni Gratin)

Cindy's Castle, all decked out for Christmas!

Up next - Day 6, which includes breakast at Boma, pool time at Kidani Village, back to MK, Caliornia Grill, and Epcot again!

 

[ShesAPirate]

Here are some of the cuter pre-loaded PhotoPass photos they included. I'll load the actual Photopass pics of us later. I would definitely get Photopass again, and take greater advantage of it. I was wishing we'd taken more pictures when we got the CD in the mail.

I'll post more of the pre-loaded ones later, too

 

[ShesAPirate]

As soon as we got back to the room on Day 5, I flopped into bed. I was fully exhausted and my legs were in screaming pain (I have bad knees, and on top of that just wasn't used to walking that much every day at the time). I took some ibuprofen and crashed out.

The next morning, we had an ADR at Boma for breakfast. We woke up late, but some managed to get showered and ready, and back over to Jambo, in about 25 minutes flat! Amazing!

Boma was delicious! So many foods to choose from, and everything was hot and fresh.

The only issue we had here was after we got our coffee and juice. We got up to make our first trip to the buffet... and when we got back to our table, it had been cleared! We let a passing server know, and we had coffee and juice again in just a couple of minutes.

Here's a couple of shots of some of the food we ate that morning...

Like I said, it was all super-yummy! Big thumbs up from both of us

Up next -- Day 6 continues with swimming at Kidani, back to MK, California Grill dinner, and more!

 

[ShesAPirate]

DAY 6 CONTINUES...

It was time to check out the pool area at Kidani. I brought my point and shoot along to take pictures this time

It was actually raining on and off while we were at the pool, but we didn't mind at all. I mean, we were already wet, right?

This is a beautiful and almost intimate pool area. Smaller than Jambo, and seems cozier somehow.

The slide at this pool was actually pretty intense! And the hot tub was lovely and relaxing (especially in the rain!).

After our poolside fun, it was time to get ready to head over to MK for the last time this trip (waaaah!), and our dinner at California Grill!

 

[ShesAPirate]

Okay, we continue on with Sunday, heading to MK after our very enjoyable time in the Kidani pool area.

Our goals here were for DJ to get on BTMRR, for both of us to get on POTC (since it was broken down the night before), and to get a Dole Whip. Mission accomplished on all 3 counts!

We walked on to POTC, then got our Dole Whip (we shared).
Delicious, as always!

It was still rainy/cloudy, and while waiting for DJ to finish with BTMRR, I spied this lovely site:

The photos don't do it justice, but it was so pretty to see a rainbow right over the castle!

I was still waiting for DJ, and feeling a little hungry, so I took off on a mission to find a Mickey pretzel. It felt like I walked all over the place, but I did finally find one (somewhere around Diamond Horseshoe, I think). And it did not disappoint! I saved some for DJ, too.

At this point, we were creeping up on our ADR time for California Grill, so we headed over to the Contemporary.

Our ADR was early, around 5:30 or something, but it was the only time I could get, and I really wanted to try it. I didn't think we'd be there long enough to see Wishes from there, but figured we could go back up later that night to watch.

We went upstairs and took a seat at the bar while they got our table ready. As soon as I looked toward the windows, I was blown away. Every Disney fan needs to experience this view at least once. It was beyond gorgeous.

We got ourselves a pre-dinner drink -- the French Martini. I still think about making this drink at home. It was delicious!

Here's the drink menu:

It wasn't long before we were seated at a table right next to the windows.

Again, the pictures don't do it justice...

Will continue with dinner in my next post. Stay tuned!

 

[ShesAPirate]

Our table was decorated with Mickey confetti. I'd mentioned on all our ADRs that we were celebrating DJ's first visit, but Cali Grill was the only place that actually recognized that.

I'm a little unsure about the details of our meal. I think DJ started with the Sashimi, and I started with a Triple Cheese flatbread. The menu might've changed since then.

And a bottle of wine, of course!

Our entrees were the Oak Grilled filet:

And the Grilled Pork tenderloin:

The polenta that came with this was out of this world!!! Both entrees were absolutely delicious and cooked exactly right.

Coffee service (so cute)

Our desserts were Bananas and Caramel (omg this was sooooo good!)

..and the Fall Trio (also good, but not as good as the Bananas!)

We took our time with our dinner, and before long, Wishes was starting.

I didn't take a single picture because I wanted to actually enjoy the moment rather than worrying about my camera. We were out on the observation deck, and it was raining and a little cold, but this was one of my favorite moments of the entire trip, by far. I couldn't help but get misty-eyed! It was just so beautiful. I highly recommend this experience to everyone.

At this point, we decided we'd try to get to Epcot to see Illuminations! We didn't have a lot of time, but we actually made it (with some running)! Another experience I just enjoyed, rather than snapping pictures. I'd never seen it before, believe it or not. Blew me away!

Wishes and Illuminations on the same night, amazing meal at Cali Grill, and we ended the night with a bottle of champagne on our balcony at Kidani... doesn't get much better than that!

Next up - the last day of our trip, where we go back to Epcot for more Food & Wine shenanigans!