Why don't we do a little day drinking? - F&W 2015 - Update 12/11 Bonus EPCOT Night!

[Dis_Yoda]

Mexican Awesomeness

After our Mixology seminar - we headed to Innovations to get our stamps for being a passholder in our Food & Wine Festival Passports. The process was super quick & we soon were on our way back to the World Showcase. We went into the Port of Entry store to look around as we had a bit for our ADR time at La Hacienda and I ended up picking up the Remy Hide & Squeak Map for myself.

The sales guy stamped it for completion for me and handed me my pin despite not completing it.

My husband & I took note so we would be honest people and actual complete it sometime in the following week during our future visits to the booths around the World Showcase.

We headed to La Hacienda de San Angel to check in for our ADR. We were glad we had one as they were quoting walk ins over an hour wait! We were seated at our table in less than 5 minutes.

At the table, the 4 of us ordered our drinks while we overlooked the menu.

Rosita Margarita for Me! Diet Coke for Mr. Dis_Yoda (who also threw in his drinking towel for the day)

The server returned with chips & salsa when he returned to take our order.

I love that green salsa! My husband and my friend's fiancé devoured the smokey red one.

To split as a group, we ordered an appetizer. I know this item sometimes get varied reviews here on the disboards, but we loved it as we knew it would be solid melty cheese and not a queso dip. My photo is horrible for it though. The cheese was so good spread on that flour tortilla!

Quesa Fundido - Melted Cheese w/ Chorizo, Poblano Peppers, Serrano & Avocado-Tomatillo Sauce & Flour Tortillas

My husband & my friend's fiancé split one of the Mixed Grill Platters that serves two people. They both were very happy with this platter. The two of them couldn't finish everything on it either (despite my friend & myself helping a bit with some of the sides) The corn had a great spicy kick to it. The steak was tender and the chicken had great flavor! Both of the men raved about it!

Parrillada La Hacienda (serves 2) - Mixed Grill offering New York Strip, Half A Chicken Al Pastor, Chorizos, Vegetables, Beans, Rice & Fresh Salsa

I went with the shrimp tacos. I love these things! Yes, I know they are the exact same as the ones you can get outside at the Mexico Food & Wine Booth but when you know you love it, why change?

Tacos de Camarones - Fried Shrimp, Chipotle-Lime Aioli, Cabbage, Lime & Salsa Verde, all served over flour tortillas

Done with food for today!

We skipped dessert. Our meal was a complete hit among the 4 of us! It was my husband's first time here & he said that he can't wait to go back sometime next year on one of our trips. We were greeted by some major rain as we walked out of the restaurant. My husband was having none of it & went immediately to the Port of Entry to buy us ponchos (& now he'll have his own set of ponchos for his car since my car has a set already) My friend & fiancé got their own as well.

My friend was on the second to last day of a prescription that required her not to eat before or after it for about an hour. When we had originally gone to the Cheese Studio & The Chew booths, she missed out on the awesomeness we enjoyed. We stopped at the Cheese Studio for her to try the fondue (which she loved) and then at The Chew, her & I both got the frozen truffles. Just as good this time! The rain wasn't letting up so we called it a night & parted ways once we got to the buses as they were staying at Port Orleans. We agreed to meet at park opening for Animal Kingdom the next day. Our bus was at the stop so we ran to it and were back at the hotel by 9:45PM. After cleaning up, we headed straight to bed. This was the first time in a long time that my husband & I had spent such a long day in the parks without leaving!​

 

[Li Li]

Completely jealous of all of this!!

 

[Dis_Yoda]

Completely jealous of all of this!!

Thanks! Your trip is coming up soon at least! You will have so much fun!

 

[Dis_Yoda]

Animal Hide & Seek (Detox Part 1)

For some crazy reason, I woke up wide awake up at 6:00AM. My husband was still dead asleep. I spent the next hour on the balcony of our room (#5016 - a dedicated value studio - perfect location for us!) dealing with work emails (goodness I’m lame) and playing on the internet. The morning was so peaceful out there looking at the roof and trees around the pool. I had another breakfast as I did the day before of a corn muffin + Mountain Dew.

I’m awesome

We got ready and headed to Animal Kingdom as we planned on meeting our friends right at opening inside the gates at the park. We arrived before them (not shocked as our bus ride was all of 5 minutes versus their longer one from Port Orleans French Quarter. We had originally planned on doing Animal Kingdom this morning as we knew the day before would be long and have lots of alcohol.

Black Swan

They arrived right after 9AM and we headed into Africa!

Performers

My friend wanted to get breakfast as her fiance loves the elephant ears you can get back in Africa. My husband hadn’t eaten much yet so we got some apple slices w/ caramel sauce to split.

Our first fastpass+ selection was for the Safari so we walked right on and had a great ride! The guide was the best I’ve ever had on the ride and he had some great hidden gems “Oh, that road can only be used at night in like 6 months, a year, something” along with lots of random animal facts that we hadn’t heard a million times before. You could tell he truly loved his job there! He was also great at distracting the kids away from the solo male elephant that was um, showing a bit too much of himself (although the inner teenager in me giggled too much)

Once back in Africa, we checked out the new Zuri’s Sweet Shop (sad they got rid of the poop desserts!) but we found some other things we passed on buying that amused us!

We had some time to kill until our next FP+ so we headed over to It’s Tough to Be A Bug!

We sat in the very front row which provided a new perspective on the ride as I wasn’t able to play my normal game of guess how many children leave during the ‘attack’ scene and I was able to really watch the show. I love it!

We headed to Dinosaur! and brought back a dino after nearly being killed by the meteor!

Then it was off to Everest where we found a yeti and lived to talk about it!

At this point, my husband & I were hungry. My friends were as well so we discussed our options. They wanted to see our hotel so we agreed to grab lunch at The Mara and look around the hotel afterwards.​

 

[huggybuff]

What didn't make me happy was that I was going to just enjoy the rest of my cheese with a spoon after I ran out of bread and my husband threw it away on me as he stated we had more booths to go after.

Noooo! Husband points deducted.

we checked out the new Zuri’s Sweet Shop (sad they got rid of the poop desserts!)

I know. I thought they looked very tasty.

Wow. You are having too much fun! Those booth selections looked beyond awesome. And good sized too. I'm sooo impressed with your constitution on F&W day, lol. I'd have been passed out big time, like your hubby at AA.

at your hijinks at the Vodka seminar. I hope you guys turned in those comment cards.

Can't wait to read more!

 

[Dis_Yoda]

Noooo! Husband points deducted.

I so showed him that comment during yesterday's Parisian Afternoon. He was about 6 mimosas in at that point so he just laughed & said he'd do it again. I got the fondue again during the trip so I just drank it once in front of him to 'show' him.

I know. I thought they looked very tasty.

Wow. You are having too much fun! Those booth selections looked beyond awesome. And good sized too. I'm sooo impressed with your constitution on F&W day, lol. I'd have been passed out big time, like your hubby at AA.

at your hijinks at the Vodka seminar. I hope you guys turned in those comment cards.

Can't wait to read more!

Silly parents complaining making the fun creative treats going away!

We had so much fun this trip! I totally spent too much - we're now on the post vacation detox with both spending & food. Surprisingly, I only gained 3 pounds despite the massive amount of alcohol and food consumed. My husband gained 10 pounds. He'll probably lose his weight gain quicker than I lose mine though. We have to get serious with the running now and get the junk out of our systems.

We didn't turn in the comment cards - I actually took them with us. My husband's was also amusing. For the shot of Zu, his comment was "This isn't a mixed drink. It's a shot of vodka. Do better" The Daiquiri had "Yummerz!" and the last drink just had "Yuck"

I hope to have this trip all finished with the write up by the time we leave for the Wine & Dine Trip. Now just to hope this trip report gets moved to the right forum soon. I've poked the Moderator twice now (last year I had to 'report' my thread to get it moved but I want to try to avoid that this time around.

 

[Dis_Yoda]

Detox Part 2

It wasn't long until we were on the bus over to Animal Kingdom Lodge. All 4 of us were hungry so we headed straight to The Mara and picked up our lunch. Each couple ended up ordering the exact same thing for our main meals. I also got a dessert for us all to share. We were eating for substance rather than enjoyment as we knew we would have a wonderful dinner later that evening.

My friend & I both enjoyed our flatbread. Its better than standard Disney pizza.

Pepperoni Flatbread

My husband and my friend's fiancé seemed to be happy with their cheeseburgers as they quickly disappeared from their plates while we were slowly enjoying our flatbreads and chatting.

Cheeseburger w/ Fries

When eating at AKL, there is one star dessert that one must enjoy - a Zebra Dome! The 4 pack was just enough for us each to have one to enjoy without burning ourselves out on them or overdoing it! We all were happy with it.

Zebra Domes

We agreed to meet up at Downtown Disney sometime around 5PM so that they could have time to go back to EPCOT to get their 2nd stamp for the Port Wine Passport along with letting them also relax since we had such a long day the day before.

After we parted ways, my husband & I headed back to the room to let our food settle. We relaxed for a little over an hour and I figured I needed to do the 2nd part of my detox for the day to get everything out of my system. As we are doing the Rebel Challenge in January, the official training plan had me running a 5 mile run this day. I filled up a bottle of water and headed to the gym. My husband decided to have a bottle of G2 Gatorade (Sugar Free Gatorade) instead of getting another bottle full of water or using the cups. (This will come back to haunt us later)

Set Up

Somehow I got it done & I rocked it for me. My husband rocked his 5 miles in a much shorter time but was able to get some weight work in.

I'm An Allstar!

Once done, it was back to the room for me to shower & get a (short) nap in. We got prettied up (and totally forgot to get a picture of it) and boarded the bus to Disney Springs so we could begin our evening of shopping, eating and hopefully maybe more drinking?​

 

[Dis_Yoda]

Hello New Favorite

We headed straight Disney Springs on the bus as driving to Disney Springs is an utter nightmare with all the construction going on right now. I was texting my friend and they had arrived a few minutes before us and were looking around the Christmas Store. We met them in there while taking a nice look around. We headed to the Art of Disney where I restrained myself from buying $395 artwork.

We headed over to the newer shops as we headed to the Boathouse where we just window shopped. We checked into the Boathouse a few minutes early and were quickly seated next to the window in the back of the restaurant.

Old Fashioned

Angry Orchard

We got some appetizers to start that ended up being split among the 4 of us.

Caesar Salad

Firecracker Shrimp - Laughing Bird Shrimp, Sriracha Mayo, Shiahito Peppers

The 4 of us loved all of them. The shrimp have a great kick to them without being too overpowering. The salad had a great flavor to it as well and although it was a ‘small’ all of us were able to split it well.

My husband and I actually went with the exact same entree as he remembered how much I loved my steak last time we were here. We both were extremely pleased with our filets! They were cooked exactly as we requested.

Filet, 8 Ounce

My friend’s fiance had ordered the New York Strip and my friend just wanted to get the lobster add on and have that as her entree. Apparently she hadn’t ordered a whole lobster before & had the best face ever about it. The server was great about it and actually cracked it open for her and got the claw meat out without her having to accomplish that.

The best thing about having 4 people here at this meal meant we were able to get the special dessert for 4 - S’mores Baked Alaska. The picture probably don’t do it justice on how huge it is! Hopefully the look on the people’s face gives some insight for it.

The server actually came out and sliced it up for us to ensure we did it evenly and didn’t make a huge mess (well much of one)

The four of us tried hard to actually devour all of it - we kinda did a good job.

The dinner was amazing from start to finish! All the food was excellent and our server knew what he was doing. All 4 of us can’t wait to go again! (Although for the two of us, it probably won’t be until February as in November - we are only doing a Wine Dinner & Crew’s Cup for dinners)

We started shopping post dinner over at the Disney West Side. My husband picked up Vinylmation from D-Street and my friend got a jacket from the Avenger Store next door. We headed back to the Marketplace where I debated on buying stuff from the Lego Store but decided to wait until it was less crowded out so I wouldn’t have to carry it around. We then went to World of Disney where I bought a big BB8 stuffed animal for myself and star wars notebook & pen for my husband. While we were shopping in there, my husband said he needed to use the restroom and left us. While my friend and I were still shopping, he sent me a text saying he didn’t feel well and then immediately called me. I knew that was serious so I said goodbye to my friends and we said we would see them tomorrow at Magic Kingdom. Once back in the room, my husband admitted he hadn’t felt well since shortly after his run and eating just made it worse. We figured out he couldn’t handle having the Low Calorie Gatorade while running and should have just stuck to water. It’s what he gets for breaking the #1 runner’s rule of don’t change from what you know works fuel wise!​

 

[nataliej_vk]

Everything looks so yummy!

 

[Dis_Yoda]

Everything looks so yummy!

It was! We had such a great food trip this time around!

 

[Dis_Yoda]

Visit From Mr. Cranky Pants

For some reason, I woke up at 6:00AM. My husband was still sleeping so I snuck out to the balcony with my computer and phone to relax until he was waking up.

He finally got up around 7:30AM and we got ready to get down to the bus stop a little after 8:00AM so we could attempt to get to Magic Kingdom by Rope Drop. Well, the buses weren't behaving this day and took a little while to show up (and boy were some of the guests waiting super mean to the poor Disney Intern from Transportation) When the bus finally arrived, it was really full and we didn't make it to Magic Kingdom by opening. Our friends were already at the park and got into line at Space Mountain. We agreed to meet at Buzz Lightyear once we arrived by the bus.

When we got to Buzz Lightyear, my friends weren't there yet. Shaun got into a mood and demanded we go on a ride. We had a small fight about waiting for my friends and being polite. I was super annoyed that as soon as we got on the People Mover and were going through the first turn, my friends asked where we were as they are also at Buzz. We had a bit more of a fight then.

We got through the rest of the ride and met with our friends. Shaun won this time around.

We then headed over to Fantasyland to use our FP+ for Peter Pan which was good as the ride already had a 50 minute wait at 9:30AM!

We headed to Adventureland for a trip around the Jungle Cruise & Pirates! Apparently during this time, my friend and I were having eye conversations as she apparently was having the same type of morning I was with her significant other.

We were hungry after this and decided to get some Dole Whips before heading over to Fantasyland/Tomorrowland for more rides. My husband got a pineapple float and I got just a cup of the dole whip! We enjoyed these.

My friend wanted coffee so we headed over to Sleepy Hollow to get her one. I got a hot chocolate as it was starting to get a little rainy around the Magic Kingdom so we hid around there as it let up.

The rain wasn't letting up much so we headed over to Philharmagic as Haunted Mansion had a 60 minute wait and Philharmagic as its always a good option for a decent wait time and safe from the rain.

Before lunch, we got through some more rides like Stitch's Great Escape & Under The Sea

We all were getting hungry for real food. My friend had gotten us reservations at Tony's. We were all a bit nervous about it as we knew the reviews typically aren't good there. Would we have the same?​

 

[accountingbabe08]

Great reviews

 

[luvpooh]

I'm all caught up! Really enjoying your TR, and I'm living vicariously through you. We will be there next week, but it will be a very different trip than the ones we used to take, which were like yours. But, I think seeing it all through DS's eyes for the first time will be great too, and a totally different experience!

 

[Li Li]

Cranky pants husbands...it happens to us all! Can't wait to hear your review of Tony's.

 

[huggybuff]

I so showed him that comment during yesterday's Parisian Afternoon. He was about 6 mimosas in at that point so he just laughed & said he'd do it again. I got the fondue again during the trip so I just drank it once in front of him to 'show' him.

Silly parents complaining making the fun creative treats going away!

I know, what spoilsports. I think they were basically just no-bake cookies IIRC.

We didn't turn in the comment cards - I actually took them with us. My husband's was also amusing. For the shot of Zu, his comment was "This isn't a mixed drink. It's a shot of vodka. Do better" The Daiquiri had "Yummerz!" and the last drink just had "Yuck"

'Do better'

The best thing about having 4 people here at this meal meant we were able to get the special dessert for 4 - S’mores Baked Alaska. The picture probably don’t do it justice on how huge it is! Hopefully the look on the people’s face gives some insight for it.

That thing is insane and looks delicious! I looove the looks on the diners' faces.

 

[Dis_Yoda]

Great reviews

Thank you for enjoying them!

I'm all caught up! Really enjoying your TR, and I'm living vicariously through you. We will be there next week, but it will be a very different trip than the ones we used to take, which were like yours. But, I think seeing it all through DS's eyes for the first time will be great too, and a totally different experience!

Getting to see DS through your DS eyes will be awesome as well! Have so much fun while you are there! Cant wait to read about it

Cranky pants husbands...it happens to us all! Can't wait to hear your review of Tony's.

It does! He deals with my brattiness & crankiness too so it evens out. Tony's Review coming up!

I know, what spoilsports. I think they were basically just no-bake cookies IIRC.

'Do better'

That thing is insane and looks delicious! I looove the looks on the diners' faces.

It was insane in size! I was so happy with how great it tasted! Everyone was staring as we got it brought to the table and their faces were all priceless!

 

[Dis_Yoda]

Surprise!

We checked in right on time at Tony's for our 1:30PM ADR. I went to the Lady's Room and they were seated during this time. We were seated in the main dining room so it was easy to spot them when I went to join them.

Our server was super friendly when she came out for our orders as we reviewed the menu. We all were nervous about what to pick since the reviews vary so wildly here. My husband went the safe route where as I went with something completely out of the box from my normal choices.

He went with a Chicken Caesar Salad. He was happy with this. The dressing wasn't overpowering or overly mayo-like which can happen at the cheaper places. His chicken was perfectly cooked and still moist inside! It was a win!

Caesar Salad with Chicken - Romaine Lettuce with Grilled Chicken tossed with Caesar Dressing & Crostini

When I ordered the dish I did, my husband looked at me like a crazy person. I don't like marinara or sausage, why would I get this?

I'm not sure what took me to order this but whatever told me to do it, I'm thankful for! The pasta was so good and full of meat! I was able to enjoy the creme sauce with this pasta and avoid the super chunky parts of the red sauce on top. I was so surprised about how much I loved it that the only thing left on my plate was red sauce.

Cannelloni - filled with a mixture of Ground Beef and Sausage, Mozzarella, and Ricotta served with Marinara & Creme Sauce

Our friends were also super happy with their meals - she had the Chicken Parm & he had the Shrimp Scampi.

Overall, it was a great meal! No, it isn't top of the line Italian but for a nice table service meal within the park at a park really lacking at sit down options for lunch, I'll happily go back there! It will also us to mix stuff up when Liberty Tree Tavern opens back up.

After lunch, we walked around the shops on Main Street as our friends were going to head home once we were all done. They had to pick up some gifts for people back home. At the Bakery, I got myself a treat as well that was super tasty to eat on our way out.

Olaf Marshmallow Pop

Once we were back at the buses, we said our goodbyes and my husband & I headed back to Animal Kingdom Lodge. Back at the hotel, I did some super exciting laundry and relaxed. My husband headed to the gym. We also got a nap in before it would be time to head over to Downtown Disney for our dinner and to get some shopping done since we got stopped short the night before.​

 

[Dis_Yoda]

Meeting An Iron Chef

We headed downstairs around 6:00PM to take the bus to Downtown Disney. Once there, we headed straight to Morimoto Asia enjoy our first meal of what we would hope would be a new favorite for us at Disney. We loved watching him previously on Iron Chef & have had friends that have loved his other restaurants. (We are planning on enjoying his in Hawaii when we go there next summer)

We were seated near the open kitchen with a great view (well for my husband) of their chefs cooking. I had a great view of the restaurant!

We each started with an appetizer that we knew would be a hit for us. My husband loves Edamame so it was a good safe choice for him. They were brought out quickly and nice and freshly steamed.

Edamame - Sea Salt

Shortly after, my appetizer was brought out. The spare ribs were so crispy on the outside but extremely tender inside. I could have licked those bones clean they were so good!

Morimoto Spare Ribs Appetizer (3 Ribs) - Pork Ribs, Cilantro, Hoisin Sweet Chili Glaze

I also decided to go with a cocktail that was served after our appetizer was. My husband was getting a little annoyed as his Diet Coke was still not yet brought out but when a helper came to refill our water glasses, we asked for it. As he left, our server finally brought his drink out.

Manhattan East - Hiro Sake, Bourbon, Canton Liqueur, Orange Bitter

While we were enjoying our appetizer, the people to the table next to us left and were replaced by a business woman and her boss (I think) who would prove to be entertainment for the rest of our meal. She initially pitched a bit of a fit to the server as they didn't have the exact soup she wanted and they ended up going with the pho as it would be better than nothing.

We distracted ourselves from her complaints by watching Morimoto serve people up at the sushi bar.

Morimoto Up In Forbidden Lounge Making Sushi

It wasn't long until our entrees were brought out. My husband loved his dish. The sauce was sweet but tasted really fresh on his chicken. He was super happy with it!

Orange Chicken - Tempura Chicken, Chinese Broccoli, Wok Tossed with a Sweet Florida Orange Sauce + Side of White Rice

I went a little out of the box from what I expected I would have gotten when I first looked at the menu. I went with an Indonesian Style Duck Fried Rice. I was so happy to see it was served with Shrimp Chips, something that I love & was super sad when they got rid of them at Yak & Yeti. The rice had great flavor to it (I removed the sunny side up egg as I don't really like those but didn't want to have them remove it as they still were working out some of their service/timing kinks in this 4 day opened place)

Duck "Nasi Goreng" - Indonesian Style Duck Fried Rice, Shrimp Chips, Mango Papaya Slaw, Sunny Side Egg

When we looked over the dessert menu, we had decided to split the churro fondue and I wanted to get a glass of Thai Iced Tea to get some caffeine and try it as it was something new (they only had hot coffee & I wanted something cool) Well our dessert was served in a timely manner, but our server came up to us saying that they were having a problem with making the Thai Iced Tea. Apparently I was the first person to order it & they weren't sure how to make it at the downstairs bar so they were searching around. We told him we weren't in a hurry and thats ok. Around this time, Morimoto came downstairs to review the kitchen. My server brought me over to meet him.

The churro fondue was so good! The cream was really tasty to dip the churros in especially with a little bit of the nutella.

Churro Fondue - Housemade Churros, Nutella, Vanilla Cream

While I was in line to meet Morimoto (my husband declined), he texted me that the annoying lady next to us was complaining loudly again to her table mate about how this guy isn't really an Iron Chef - the Nobu guy was. The table on the other side actually spoke up at this time saying she was super wrong and should shut up. I wish I could have seen it!

Our server brought out our check and took off the Thai Iced Tea saying he was sorry that it was proving so difficult to get it. At this time, the head bartender brought it out saying she had only had a batch at a single bar upstairs as they weren't aware it was on the main menu downstairs. They had just started taking TiW and we were amazed that our entire meal was less than $100 including tip and our drinks! I loved the Thai Iced Tea as did my husband.

The lady next to us continued her special behavior as she ordered the peking duck but was very upset that she didn't get served the 'whole' duck and said to the manager that the whole duck was what she wanted and the server should have told her otherwise. For someone in a hurry (she said at the beginning she needed to be in and out in less than 45 minutes) she kept just added more time with her constant need of attention.

Thai Iced Tea

Overall, I loved Morimoto Asia as did my husband. You could tell they were a very new restaurant as there were issues with timing and training the servers to deal with the type of crowds/people that would be at a Disney Restaurant. I don't hold that against them though as you could tell the servers were doing the best they could. There was a ton of management around to make sure things were running as smoothly as they could. The food was excellent which made us happy and the prices are really reasonable for being Disney. We definitely will be back!

Afterwards, we went shopping at the Lego Store where I bought 2 sets of Legos plus some keychains for my husband & one of his coworkers.

I'm currently building the Millennium Falcon now & about half way through (building only a bag at a time)

We also went to the Co-Op where I got the cutest tiny Stitch painting for less than $25! It fits the rest of the art we have at home as our bedroom's artwork is all Stitch now and the Living Room is all Star Wars.

 

[lovingeire]

Silly parents complaining making the fun creative treats going away!

This just annoys me. Why can't parents have fun too! Our family would have thought these were hilarious and tried them. Oh well...killjoys!

Loving your report so far! Morimoto looks delish!

 

[franandaj]

I got all caught up on your report before I left but didn't have a chance to comment. We're in port waiting to start the second cruise and I'm trying to catch up on a few reports. Don't remember what I wanted to say before so I'll just jump back in here.

I didn't realize that Morimoto would actually be at his restaurant! How cool! I might add that to our December trip if I can get in. At first the menu sounded a little normal Chinese, but it sounds like you got some great dishes.

The cannelloni also looks delish! Thass one of my favorite dishes. Not many Italian places out here serve it.