“Stop talking and just smile!” – a Food and Wine TR 11/4 – 11/8 ( COMPLETE! Link to new TR 3/9/18)

[khertz]

That dark chocolate torte sounds REALLY good. I'm a sucker for dark chocolate! Raspberry not as much, but with some good dark chocolate I'm sure I could be persuaded. lol

The seminar sounds fun! And WOW those chocolate sculptures look amazing!!! I can't even imagine how much work goes into those.

Nice night at MK! Sometimes a lack of pics is a good thing as it means you were just enjoying the moment and having fun!!

 

[khertz]

That dark chocolate torte sounds REALLY good. I'm a sucker for dark chocolate! Raspberry not as much, but with some good dark chocolate I'm sure I could be persuaded. lol

The seminar sounds fun! And WOW those chocolate sculptures look amazing!!! I can't even imagine how much work goes into those.

Nice night at MK! Sometimes a lack of pics is a good thing as it means you were just enjoying the moment and having fun!!

 

[skier_pete]

All your food pictures are making me hungry, but I can't eat real food because it hurts my mouth too much! So I'm just sitting in bed with my stomach growling.

Kendall Jackson is a good solid Chardonnay. A little pricey for my house wine, but a good choice at restaurants.

Looks like a fun evening at MK, that was a great shot on 7DMT. I completely missed where the camera was on that one .

They are making ME real hungry too!

The first 7DMT shot isn't obvious except at night when they flash the camera at you - you have to look upward as the car goes around the first fast turn - the first time we rode it, I totally looked in the wrong place.

MK_MINETRAIN_20171106_406270858564

That dark chocolate torte sounds REALLY good. I'm a sucker for dark chocolate! Raspberry not as much, but with some good dark chocolate I'm sure I could be persuaded. lol

The seminar sounds fun! And WOW those chocolate sculptures look amazing!!! I can't even imagine how much work goes into those.

Nice night at MK! Sometimes a lack of pics is a good thing as it means you were just enjoying the moment and having fun!!

Yeah, I purposefully didn't take any pictures during Happily Ever After - I really just wanted to enjoy the show, figuring next time (next week?) I'll get some pictures of the show. I do try and get at least one picture on each ride normally, because it makes rebuilding the trip 3 months later easier.

 

[skier_pete]

Day 5 - our last day...

Our original plan was to get up early this morning and head over for EMH at AK to ride Flights of Passage, since I was unable to get a fastpass during our trip. However, our fast pace of the first few days had caught up with us, and we decided that we would wait to ride it first with our daughter in February, so instead we slept in a little bit, got some breakfast at Mara, and packed up our bags to do airport check-in. We had until 6:30 PM to catch the ME, so we were really not in any particular hurry.

In fact, we had a FP for Mission Space that we skipped out on, and instead we headed right to Soarin’ for our 10:50 AM Fastpass. We decided we were tired of seeing the new movie skewed from the side, so we requested to be in the center section (no specific row – though we ended up on top). The CM we spoke with at first said “No we can’t do that.” But after a few seconds she said, “I’m just kidding, of course we can.” We ended up waiting aside while the ride loaded, and then were standing with her for maybe 5 minutes before they started loading the next group. An interesting conversation, she was very nice, but did not seem particularly enamored with Disney. She said she never comes to the parks because they are way too crowded.



We also had a FP for Living with the Land, but now I don’t even remember if we bothered with it or not. Instead, we headed for more Food and Wine booths. (You get the theme of our trip, right?)

First up was Patagonia – here we had the Grilled Beef Skewer with Chimichurri Sauce and Boniato Purée (GF) – $5.75. We’ve had this one before, and it remains quite tasty!

[url=https://flic.kr/p/JG8LGe]DSC05639 by Peter , on Flickr

The last of the booths on the West side of WS we hadn’t hit was Hawaii. We skipped the pulled pork slider, which we had liked in the past, but got the Teriyaki-glazed SPAM® Hash with Potatoes, Peppers and Onions and Spicy Mayonnaise – $4.00, and the Passion Fruit Cheesecake with Toasted Macadamia Nuts – $4.00,

DSC05640 by Peter , on Flickr

I liked the Spam Hash pretty well, but DW thought it was too salty. The Cheescake was wonderful, one of the better tastes of the fest.
Now that I am going through my pictures, we must have also gotten the Kalua Pork Slider with Sweet and Sour DOLE® Pineapple Chutney and Spicy Mayonnaise – $4.75 and the Florida Orange Groves Sparkling Pineapple Wine – $6.00. However, I don’t remember this…

DSC05641 by Peter , on Flickr

Next we headed towards the east side of WS to catch the remaining booths we had missed. We stopped at the Mexico booth to try the Tequila Chipotle Shrimp: Served on a Black Bean Huarache garnished with Red and Green Cabbage, Queso Fresco and Crema Mexicana – (GF) – $6.50

DSC05650 by Peter , on Flickr

This wasn’t very good. The flavor was fine, but the shrimp weren’t great, the slaw was so-so, and the little black tortilla was like shoe leather.

By the time we got to the India booth we were hot, but we love Indian food, so we ran the whole gamut - Warm Indian Bread with Pickled Garlic, Mango Salsa and Coriander Pesto Dips – $4.75, Korma Chicken with Cucumber Tomato Salad, Almonds, Cashews and Warm Naan Bread – $5.25, Pistachio Cardamom Bundt Cake with Chocolate Coconut Mousse – $3.50, and Mango Lassi (Non-Alcoholic) – $4.75 to wash it all down.

DSC05651 by Peter , on Flickr

Honestly, these were all great. The Lassi got warm too fast, but the Naan with the 3 dips was wonderful, the Korma Chicken had just the right amount of spice, and even the Pistachio Cardamom wasn’t too overwhelming, though it wasn’t a favorite of ours.

Next up was Africa – and we tried two dishes - Berbere-style Beef Tenderloin Tips with Onions, Jalapeños, Tomato and Pap (GF) – $5.25. This was good, but very spicy. The other thing we tried was the Spinach and Paneer Cheese Pocket with Mint Raita – $4.00. I can’t say I remember specifics of this.

DSC05652 by Peter , on Flickr

Oh, and a beer from Germany.

DSC05653 by Peter , on Flickr

Final spot of today’s world tour was Italy. We had just returned 6 weeks before from a trip to Italy, so DW wanted to test out her Italian. She ordered a Spezzatino con Polenta: Beef Stew with Parmesan Creamy Polenta – $7.50, DDP, Cannoli al Cioccolato: Chocolate-covered Cannoli filled with Sweet Ricotta, Chocolate and Candied Fruit – $4.25, We also got a glass of Pinot Grigio for her – $7.00, and a Frozen Margarita with Limoncello and Tequila – $10.00 for me.

DSC05654 by Peter , on Flickr

We decided to mess with the folks from our trip who we share a Facebook page with. We took some pictures around Italy and told them we had decided to go back to Venice right away. A few fell for it...though most thought we were just reposting pictures from our trip...no one realized it was Disney!

IMG_20171108_134648721_HDR by Peter , on Flickr

IMG_20171108_134725772_HDR by Peter , on Flickr

IMG_20171108_134740130_HDR by Peter , on Flickr

IMG_20171108_134822043 by Peter , on Flickr

So we had another reservation at 2:30 PM to see another culinary demonstration. This time it was lobster. I also remembered to take a picture of what was being made and the chef.

DSC05655 by Peter , on Flickr

I guess I got confused on the last one where I said it was a chick-pea slider, because that’s what this one was – so now I don’t know exactly what the other one was. Oh well.

It turned out the chef that was listed couldn’t make it, so one of the other chefs that works for Disney subbed in. I felt bad for her, because this was not her recipe she was being asked to make, and she was clearly a bit nervous being in front of the crowd. That said, she did a great job with what she had.

DSC05657 by Peter , on Flickr

I was expecting a teeny bite of lobster, but they actually served everyone half a lobster tail, which was pretty darn impressive. The chick pea slider itself DW didn’t like as it was rather spicy, but I quite enjoyed it.

DSC05661 by Peter , on Flickr

And with that, we pretty much wrapped up the trip. DW wasn’t feeling very well, so though we thought about riding Test Track, she didn’t feel like it, so I did it on my own. (Ride photo didn’t upload though.) We decided to head back to the hotel and just relax in the lobby until our bus came.

Overall, it was a wonderful trip as usual. We got to try just about all the things we wanted to at the various food booths. Spent a little time with friends, and overall had a great time. I almost hate to complain that it was too hot, but I will say it was disappointingly warm for a trip we planned for November. When we go back in October next year I would expect similar temperatures, but mentally will be more prepared for it.

We of course ended up going at too fast a pace the first two days. We basically decided that NEXT year (2018) when we came for a long weekend, we REALLY would do it as a Food and Wine trip…so basically we’ve said almost no other parks – we’ll go Saturday evening to MK since we don’t want to be in Epcot on a Saturday night, and we’ll probably go one morning to DHS, but otherwise we will spend the rest of the 5 days at Epcot and at our hotel – which is our newest home resort – Boardwalk Villas! Very excited to be based in an Epcot resort for a food and wine trip.

Thanks everyone for reading along. There will be another TR starting in just a few weeks! I will post a link here when it is ready to go. [/url]https://flic.kr/p/22gwHEXhttps://flic.kr/p/22gwHEXhttps://flic.kr/p/22gwHEX

 

[rteetz]

Great trip report as usual Pete!

 

[franandaj]

I totally understand spreading yourself to thin and trying to do too many things. That's what we did on our last trip.

I hope your next trip is more relaxing!

 

[khertz]

Sounds like a great trip!! Love those adults-only trips to WDW. It's so nice to do a trip without the whining and having to make the kids happy. lol

Thanks for sharing! Looking forward to the next chapter in your Disney travels!!!

 

[skier_pete]

I totally understand spreading yourself to thin and trying to do too many things. That's what we did on our last trip.

I hope your next trip is more relaxing!

I'm sure it won't be more relaxing. Trying to squeeze Universal and Disney into the same trip just seems too much.

Sounds like a great trip!! Love those adults-only trips to WDW. It's so nice to do a trip without the whining and having to make the kids happy. lol

Thanks for sharing! Looking forward to the next chapter in your Disney travels!!!

Thanks - they'll be less food involved though, but possibly more whining.

 

[skier_pete]

This report is done - but the next one is getting started -

LOOK AT ALL THE SUNNY BALLS!

Join in if you like!

 

[Dis_Yoda]

To have two teenage girls together for 10 days and there only be 1 fight seems like a miracle!

Nice last day around EPCOT. Your hotel was in such a nice location for all the love you gave EPCOT this trip. Chef de France looks yum! I get to eat there in 3 days so I'm exciting to read other people enjoying it.

 

[skier_pete]

To have two teenage girls together for 10 days and there only be 1 fight seems like a miracle!

Nice last day around EPCOT. Your hotel was in such a nice location for all the love you gave EPCOT this trip. Chef de France looks yum! I get to eat there in 3 days so I'm exciting to read other people enjoying it.

We are there twice in 2018 and it was wonderful both times. The biggest problem is the way they cram the tables together in there. Other than that it's pretty great.

But somehow you put this reply in the wrong TR.

 

[Dis_Yoda]

We are there twice in 2018 and it was wonderful both times. The biggest problem is the way they cram the tables together in there. Other than that it's pretty great.

But somehow you put this reply in the wrong TR.

Apparently I need coffee in the morning