*7/31 Update: Our Intentions Were Good, But The Treats Were Better: One Month in Disney (4/21-5/21)

[mickey916]

Just wanted to share what I’ve noticed on this trip. We go every July, and this year the crowds have been so much more manageable. We’re guessing bc of Epic Universe.
We rope dropped MK this morning and did 7 rides in 3 hours including stopping for a cinnamon roll at Gaston’s. Last year when we rope dropped it was a hot mess. We don’t usually buy LLMP but DH wanted to try it again for one day. In MK we just did standby, but used LLMP for HS tonight. We rode RnRC, TSM, and MMRR with LLMP and did Rise standby (waited 30 min)! We also saw the new Villians show and ate at Brown Derby lounge.
It was a great day!!
DH just went down to the bar for a drink without me bc I am so exhausted. It’s too early for him.
Just wanted to share. I know you get it! Haha

Sounds like a terrific day! You got so much done. Glad you stopped for a cinnamon roll (living vicariously through you right now, haha). We haven't tried the Brown Derby Lounge yet but it is on the list for at least one of our upcoming trips. We go to NH every 4th of July week and the crowds there too were noticably lower. Maybe everyone is at Epic Universe, lol. Sending lots of pixie dust for your trip to continue to be awesome.

 

[mickey916]

Oh my, that looks good. My DH and I love to sit and relax in there in the morning with our coffee and a treat. They have some good ones!

Sunshine Seasons is one of our favorites at Epcot, too!

Perfect! Your DH doesn't like this one?

He gets really bad motion sickness. He used to ride Remy and just close his eyes in certain spots but the last time he rode, our "rat" really spun as we were starting the ride and did him in for a bit. I've noticed since then sometimes the cars spin more than others and he doesn't want to take the chance. I feel bad for him because he loves seeing all the details on the rides but he just can't do it. He's tried the patches and wristbands but nothing really helps. He just knows now which rides he has to avoid.

 

[mickey916]

5/4 Finishing up at Epcot Before Heading to Port Orleans​

One of the snacks we loved last year was the Strawberry Funnel Cake offered at the Flower & Garden Festival. We were disappointed that this year’s offering was instead a Peach Funnel Cake, as we’re not huge fans of peaches. In hopes of finding a suitable replacement for the funnel cake, we tried the Liege Waffle from Connections Eatery.

This was just okay. Unlike the funnel cake, the waffle wasn’t made fresh to order so it was cold. It was also very small compared to the funnel cake. If we weren’t comparing it to the funnel cake, it may have fared better but we gave it a B. It was fine but nothing memorable.

After our snack, we rode Spaceship Earth, waiting only 6 minutes. We love Spaceship Earth and always look for hidden Mickeys. There’s one in the Renaissance scene made out of paint drips. Look for it next time you ride.

We left Epcot and drove to Port Orleans Riverside. We found hidden Mickeys in the lobby.

We had some time before our ADR so we walked from Riverside over to the French Quarter and back. We love walking along the Sassagoula River.

We checked in for our meal at Boatwrights and were seated promptly in the boat room. Here’s the view from our table:

Our server brought the complimentary cornbread and butter.

This used to come with a square pad of butter with honey on top. This was just whipped butter. We miss the honey butter but the cornbread was delicious as always, very moist and flavorful.

We both wanted to start with the French Onion soup. It is our favorite one on property, so we each got a bowl.

Check out that cheese pull:

The soup was excellent. The beef broth was hot and flavorful with lots of delicious, melty gruyere cheese.

Since we wanted to save room for dessert, we opted to share the jambalaya “Slow-cooked Spicy Rice with Shrimp, Andouille Sausage, and Chicken.” I forgot to take a picture before splitting it, so here’s my half:

And here’s DH’s half:

This was very good. The shrimp was perfectly seasoned and grilled and the andouille sausage was excellent. The rice was tomato-ey and a bit spicy by Disney standards, surprisingly so. This was a very good jambalaya but quite pricey at $27 and not a huge portion. While we both enjoyed it, we felt we would’ve been just as happy with the jambalaya from Sassagoula Floatworks for $12.49. There’s no shrimp in that dish and the sausage is in chunks but it’s pretty comparable and less than half the price. We could’ve each gotten our own for less money, and it comes with a piece of cornbread, too.

We gave our meal an A-. It was very good but I don’t think we’ll rush back. The quick service is so good at Port Orleans we’d just prefer to eat there.

There were a few interesting options for dessert on the menu but we knew before we even sat down where we would be getting dessert: Scat Cat Cafe at Port Orleans French Quarter.

We walked back over to the French Quarter and ordered three beignets with chocolate sauce.

These were hot and tasty as always. One of our must do items! We give them an A+ every time!

After our dessert we walked again back to Port Orleans Riverside to drive back to our hotel.

Total steps: 18121

Up next…exploring Fort Wilderness and finding some delicious food.

 

[ddluvsdisney]

We’re not funnel cake fans. Looked like from the picture you found a good replacement. I also tried a leige waffle last year at either F & G or F& W ( can’t remember) and was also disappointed. It was in a plastic wrapper!!
We ate at Boatwright’s on our family trip in April. My sister and DH got French onion soup( he gets it wherever it’s on the menu). My DH’s favorite on property is at the Yachtsman. He said BW’s is good too. The jambalaya at Sassagoula is probably the same without the shrimp. Haha
I agree it was good but not out of this world good. I do love the beignets, but DH doesn’t love them them that much to make a trip over there again. I did have a beignet the other night for dessert at Les Halles. It was filled with chocolate and hazelnut. It looked like just an ordinary donut but it was very good!! You’ll have to try it to compare them.

 

[mickey916]

We’re not funnel cake fans. Looked like from the picture you found a good replacement. I also tried a leige waffle last year at either F & G or F& W ( can’t remember) and was also disappointed. It was in a plastic wrapper!!

Neither of us had ever had a funnel cake before we tried the one at F&G last year. Perhaps it was just that that one was really good. We tried the one at Festival of the Holidays last year and didn't care for it. The jury is still out on whether we're funnel cake fans or not. We saw the carrot cake liege waffle in the plastic wrapper and opted not to get it.

We ate at Boatwright’s on our family trip in April. My sister and DH got French onion soup( he gets it wherever it’s on the menu). My DH’s favorite on property is at the Yachtsman. He said BW’s is good too.

We've never eaten at the Yachtsman. We may have to check that out!

The jambalaya at Sassagoula is probably the same without the shrimp. Haha

I bet it is!

I agree it was good but not out of this world good. I do love the beignets, but DH doesn’t love them them that much to make a trip over there again. I did have a beignet the other night for dessert at Les Halles. It was filled with chocolate and hazelnut. It looked like just an ordinary donut but it was very good!! You’ll have to try it to compare them.

I will have to try that! I will put it on the list.

 

[mickey916]

5/5 Exploring Fort Wilderness​

At this point in our trip, we were seven days away from our Disney Swan hotel stay with our sons so this morning was Lightning Lane day. I logged into MDE right at 7:00 and made our selections for our four park days. I initially wasn’t going to buy LLMP for our Animal Kingdom day as it didn’t seem necessary. However that morning we were going to be driving from Loew’s Portofino Bay and I didn’t want to have to rush to make rope drop. Since AK is the cheapest of the LLMPs, it was worth the $80.96 to give us a more relaxed pace in the morning.

Since this was our first time being eligible for the 7 day advanced purchase I did find it a little restrictive. I wasn’t sure if we would want to spend a second day at Universal, using our Express Passes from our stay at Portofino Bay, instead of going to Animal Kingdom on that Monday but I had to make that decision a week in advance. It turned out we got everything done we wanted to do at Universal so it worked out okay. I just wish the LLMP system was a little more flexible and we could’ve moved our AK LLMPs to a different day if we had wanted.
With that logistical task complete, we headed out and drove over to Fort Wilderness. Our plan was to spend the morning exploring Fort Wilderness and then head over to Magic Kingdom for the afternoon. When we arrived at the security gate at Fort Wilderness at 9:00 am, the security guard informed us that we could not park there. He suggested we either park at Disney Springs and take a bus (and then an internal bus) or park at the TTC and take the boat over from Magic Kingdom. Since we were eventually going to Magic Kingdom anyhow we headed there. I definitely made use of our free parking with an AP!

We parked at the TTC and were on the ferry to MK at 9:13, we arrived at MK at 9:50 and we were on the Fort Wilderness boat at 10:04. The assistant boat captain, Sterling, was so friendly and gave us a guided tour on the ride over to Fort Wilderness. I asked him about Discovery Island which I remembered visiting as a child. He pointed out the docks and a pirate ship on the former Discovery Island and showed us the water bridge near the Contemporary. He was excellent so we gave him a Cast Member compliment.

We finally arrived at Fort Wilderness at 10:15, an hour and fifteen minutes after we spoke to the Security Guard. Fort Wilderness is great to visit but it’s fairly challenging to do!

With all this travel, it was time for a mid-morning snack, we intended on getting a cookie from Trail’s End to continue our cookie stroll but our eyes were drawn to this instead:

Buckaroo Bread! It is served warm and is kind of like a mix between a bread pudding and cinnamon roll. It was very filling but not as heavy as the bear claw at Wilderness Lodge. Four people could easily share this but there were only two of us so we had to take it on. So, now our healthy eating was clearly out the window but we had no regrets. This was a phenomenal treat! Todd from Traveling Around Disney talks about this treat and he is not wrong. We gave this an A+ and it is within the top ten of all the treats we had on our trip.

One of the many things we liked about our relaxed pace was the chance to notice the tiny details. We loved the spurs and sheriff’s badges on the steps of Trail’s End.

We took a long walk around the grounds of Fort Wilderness, enjoying the view and the wildlife.

We eventually made our way to the Tri-Circle-D Ranch and said hello to the horses. Such huge and beautiful creatures.

We checked out the progress of the new DVC hotel, the Lakeshore Lodge.

I’m sure it will be stunning when it is complete but boy does it change the atmosphere of Fort Wilderness.

Eventually it was time for lunch so we headed back to Trail’s End. We decided to share a salad and sandwich.

First, the Pioneer Berry Salad with Chicken: Grilled Chicken, Spring Greens, Fresh Berries, Blue Cheese, Candied Pecans, and Raspberry Vinaigrette on the side

This was in the grab and go section but it was fresh and flavorful. We really enjoyed this salad. The raspberry vinaigrette was delicious.

We also picked up the Roasted Vegetable Sandwich: Tomato Chutney and Red Pepper Hummus from the grab & go section.

This sandwich was very tasty. The bread was excellent and the vegetables, chutney and hummus were very good as well. We liked this better than the similar one on focaccia bread from Sunshine Seasons. It was a better ratio.

For dessert we continued our cookie stroll with the Trail Mix cookie: Oatmeal Cookie with Chocolate Chunks, Pretzels, Cranberries, Golden Raisins, and M&M’s Milk Chocolate Minis.

This was just okay. Again, it was a little on the stale side. We gave it a B. It is definitely not like the Riviera Cookie.

We spotted a hidden Mickey as we ate our lunch.

Overall we really enjoyed our meal at Trail’s End. The cast members were super friendly and very eager to help. We gave them a cast member compliment as well. We rated our meal an A-.

After our lunch we headed back to Magic Kingdom on the boat. The skies were threatening rain so we decided to take the monorail and tram back to our car to get raincoats and Tevas. We then took the tram and monorail back to Magic Kingdom, it was another 1.5 hours of Disney transportation. The TTC set up with Magic Kingdom is not the most convenient! The good news is the monorail did not smell like a barn this time!

Up next, spending the afternoon at Magic Kingdom and a (sort of) new to us restaurant for dinner.

 

[mickey916]

5/5 A Day of Fantastic Cast Members continued…​

As we rode the monorail into Magic Kingdom, I took this awesome picture of the train.

When we arrived at Magic Kingdom, the skies looked a little threatening so we headed to watch Philharmagic. It is always a cute show but we don’t take the time to see it very often. We then rode It’s A Small World which was a 20 minute wait. As another example of the Lines app being off, we next headed to Under the Sea which Lines listed as an 8 minute wait. MDE listed it as 30 minutes. Our actual wait was 19. It was so loud in that line as we snaked through the cavernous queue that we regretted our decision to wait in the line.

We headed next to the People Mover. From the ride, we could see the big crane that was reassembling the Astro Orbiter. It was cool to see new pieces each time we visited the Magic Kingdom. Not much progress yet in this photo.

We headed over to Frontierland to check in for our ADR at the Diamond Horseshoe.

We really enjoy the meal at the Liberty Tree Tavern and have dined there many times. We knew this was the same menu so we made a last minute decision to see what it was like in this restaurant. Years ago there was a show here but now there’s just a player piano on the stage that plays occasionally.

Our server greeted us and brought us our starters. First the herbed rolls.

These were fresh and warm with a nice herbed butter on top.

She also brought us the Diamond Horseshoe Salad: Mixed Greens, Apples, Cranberries, and Cheese tossed with our House-made Dressing

This is the same salad currently served at Liberty Tree Tavern and it was upgraded probably a year or so ago to include the apples and cranberries. It is a delicious salad! The dressing is nice and light and there is plenty of cheese. The apples and cranberries add nice sweetness and texture.

Our server then brought the rest of our meal, the Saloon Feast.

Housemade Macaroni & Cheese:

This for me was the weakest part of the meal. I like my mac n cheese to be more creamy and have more cheese. DH really liked it though. He thought it was better than the last time we got it at Liberty Tree Tavern.

Roasted Turkey, Pot Roast, and Oven-roasted Pork:

The turkey and pot roast were both excellent. The pork was a little dry. I always like the pot roast best.

“Seasonal vegetables” (it’s been green beans every time we’ve eaten at Liberty Tree), Herbed Stuffing, and Mashed Potatoes:

We enjoyed all of these but especially the mashed potatoes and herbed stuffing. The green beans are a little al dente for DH’s taste. They also include a small container of cranberry “sauce”. It’s more of a chutney than a traditional cranberry sauce but DH really likes it. I’m not a cranberry sauce fan. We were also given a boat of gravy but we actually didn’t use it.

We wanted to save room for dessert so we didn’t order any refills. Our server brought out the Oooey Gooey Toffee Cake for dessert (the real reason we wanted to eat here).

We’ve found this dessert can be inconsistent but this was a really good one! The vanilla toffee cake was just the right consistency and the ice cream and chocolate sauce took it over the top.

Overall we really enjoyed our meal at Diamond Horseshoe. The food was as good as it has been at Liberty Tree Tavern, served warm and well seasoned. The restaurant is very small and there were only a few other tables that had patrons at them, so it was a much quieter dining experience. Our server was very friendly and provided excellent service. We may have been her only table at that point so she really had time to interact with us. For the third time in the same day, we gave a Cast Member Compliment in the MDE app.

We both agreed that if we ever experience a last minute craving for Thanksgiving dinner and Ooey Gooey Toffee cake that the Diamond Horseshoe is an excellent option. We gave Diamond Horseshoe an A-.

After our meal, since we were close by, we headed to the Country Bear Jamboree. I know I’ve said it before but I’m always so pleasantly surprised at how much we like the new version. We were looking forward to having our DS-26 experience it later in the trip.

We took the train next from Frontierland to Storybook Station and decided to watch the Carousel of Progress again from the front row this time. The Cast Member who said the initial spiel about leaving if you couldn’t stay for the full 20 minutes was full of energy and enthusiasm. She told us all to be sure to sing along. As we watched the show, everyone was singing and enjoying themselves, even the 20-something young men who were sitting behind us. It was very fun.

After the show we took the monorail back to the TTC to head back to the hotel after a long, productive day. It was a fantastic day during which we encountered so many wonderful cast members, from the Fort Wilderness boat captain, to Trail’s End staff, to the server at Diamond Horseshoe, and the announcer at Carousel of Progress. It was so wonderful to see so many Cast Members enjoying themselves and spreading joy.

Total steps: 18,263

 

[BellaBaby]

Maybe we'll try Diamond Horseshoe sometime. We enjoy the new version of Country Bears too. I feel like we go in more often now. I can appreciate people's feelings on the old version, but the new one is so upbeat and enjoyable!
That's great you had so many wonderful CMs!

 

[musika]

I have been to MK twice and I had no idea this place existed! Looks delish.

 

[ddluvsdisney]

I know what you mean about LLMP being restrictive. What I like about having APs is the flexibility and doing whatever/ whenever you want.
We got home around 1 am this morning… delayed due to thunderstorms again!!! We were also delayed at PVD for 2 hours for our flight down. I told DH I’m done with flying!!! Haha He reminded me that even if we were delayed longer than we were ( 1.5 hrs) we’d still get to Florida faster than driving. Yeah ok but I can’t stand the sitting around!!
I love the boat rides around bay lake. My favorite Disney transportation. It’s always nice to have friendly cast members.
That Buckaboo bread looks delicious! I had so many snacks on my list, but sadly we hardly got any. It just didn’t work out for where we were when. It’s just so much easier when you spend a month. I will definitely accomplish this when I retire!!
When we were at Geyser Point at WL, the Lakeshore Lodge was such an eye sore. I was trying to imagine how beautiful the view was before it. I can imagine how upset people who stay at the fort are.
I love the horses at the ranch. They are so beautiful. We took my youngest DS’s GF 2 years ago ( her 1st trip to Disney). She rides horses so I took her there while the boys golfed. They have since broken up.
I also agree 100% about getting to MK. I was just telling DH this the other day!! I hate the parking and having to take some mode of transport just to get to park. 1.5 hrs to get somewhere is just not ok either!!

 

[mickey916]

Maybe we'll try Diamond Horseshoe sometime. We enjoy the new version of Country Bears too. I feel like we go in more often now. I can appreciate people's feelings on the old version, but the new one is so upbeat and enjoyable!
That's great you had so many wonderful CMs!

If you like Liberty Tree Tavern, definitely try Diamond Horseshoe! We really liked the old version and were prepared not to like the new one and we actually think it's an improvement. It's funny that we had so many excellent CMs in the same day. We never really had any "bad" CMs but we did encounter many that were simply doing their job and even a few that didn't seem all that thrilled to be there. I know it's a tough job but CMs can make a big difference in a guest's day.

I have been to MK twice and I had no idea this place existed! Looks delish.

It's definitely an "under the radar" spot. I wasn't even sure where it was exactly when it was time to check in.

I know what you mean about LLMP being restrictive. What I like about having APs is the flexibility and doing whatever/ whenever you want.

Me too! Now if they'd only get rid of park reservations!

We got home around 1 am this morning… delayed due to thunderstorms again!!! We were also delayed at PVD for 2 hours for our flight down. I told DH I’m done with flying!!! Haha He reminded me that even if we were delayed longer than we were ( 1.5 hrs) we’d still get to Florida faster than driving. Yeah ok but I can’t stand the sitting around!!

Welcome back! Hope it was a great trip. DH is done with flying too! We discussed flying down for our Oct/Nov trip to have a bit more time in the parks. But, he hates the delays and sitting around so much that we plan to drive again.

I love the boat rides around bay lake. My favorite Disney transportation. It’s always nice to have friendly cast members.
That Buckaboo bread looks delicious! I had so many snacks on my list, but sadly we hardly got any. It just didn’t work out for where we were when. It’s just so much easier when you spend a month. I will definitely accomplish this when I retire!!

You won't regret getting more Disney-time!

When we were at Geyser Point at WL, the Lakeshore Lodge was such an eye sore. I was trying to imagine how beautiful the view was before it. I can imagine how upset people who stay at the fort are.

I fear it's going to really change the whole remote, wilderness feel to the Fort!

I love the horses at the ranch. They are so beautiful. We took my youngest DS’s GF 2 years ago ( her 1st trip to Disney). She rides horses so I took her there while the boys golfed. They have since broken up.

Our older DS just started dating a woman who's never been to Disney. She asked him if I could help her plan a trip. I haven't met her yet but I love her already, haha!

I also agree 100% about getting to MK. I was just telling DH this the other day!! I hate the parking and having to take some mode of transport just to get to park. 1.5 hrs to get somewhere is just not ok either!!

It was so much better at the end of our trip when we stayed at the Swan. On our MK day we walked over to the Boardwalk and took that bus and then at the end of the day we walked over to the TTC after eating at the Poly and took the Swan bus back. It was so much better than driving, even though DH hates busses.

 

[ddluvsdisney]

Me too! Now if they'd only get rid of park reservations!

Yes!!!

Welcome back! Hope it was a great trip. DH is done with flying too! We discussed flying down for our Oct/Nov trip to have a bit more time in the parks. But, he hates the delays and sitting around so much that we plan to drive again.

I wish we lived a little closer. We also got companion pass for Southwest so I fly free. So no good enough excuse not to fly.

You won't regret getting more Disney-time!

I can’t wait!!

Our older DS just started dating a woman who's never been to Disney. She asked him if I could help her plan a trip. I haven't met her yet but I love her already, haha!

Sounds like she’s a keeper!!

 

[ddluvsdisney]

We last ate at Liberty Tree in 2007! We’ve never been to Diamond horseshoe, but Thanksgiving dinner looks good anytime of year. The dessert looks even better!
My youngest DS liked the CoP when he was little. I guess some would think he was a little strange. Haha I love how the CM encouraged singing! So fun!
What a great day of CMs spreading the magic!!

 

[mickey916]

We last ate at Liberty Tree in 2007! We’ve never been to Diamond horseshoe, but Thanksgiving dinner looks good anytime of year. The dessert looks even better!

We enjoy Thanksgiving dinner any time of the year (except on our November trips immediately after Thanksgiving). The dessert is soooo good!

My youngest DS liked the CoP when he was little. I guess some would think he was a little strange. Haha I love how the CM encouraged singing! So fun!

It was very fun!

What a great day of CMs spreading the magic!!

It really was such a magic day.

 

[mickey916]

5/6 Finding More to Do at Epcot​

My original plan for this morning was to spend the day at Hollywood Studios, which would have been our second visit there this trip. But, since DH only rides MMRR, there isn’t a lot we can do together in Hollywood Studios that we hadn’t already done recently. We opted to go to Epcot again instead and save a visit to Hollywood Studios for when our sons arrived. We began our day in the usual way by heading to the Land. I rode Soarin’ while DH rode Living with the Land. We recently learned that there are hidden Moana figures in the rocks of the Journey of Water attraction so we went on a hunt to find them. We found a lot of them but Hei Hei eluded us.

Here’s a few we found:

Pua

Sea Turtle

Moana:

Tamatoa:

It was really cool to take a slow walk through the attraction and focus on the rockwork instead of just the water. We had to take a ride on Journey into Imagination again and then it was time for a snack. We wanted to try the chocolate baumkuchen cake from Connections Cafe so we ordered that as well as two Frappuccinos. I ordered a Mocha Cookie Crumble Frappuccino and DH got a Double Chocolate Cream Frappuccino.

Neither of us have ever had a Frappuccino before so I’m not sure what we expected but these were just okay. I think we prefer the old “Cooladas” we used to get at Dunkin’. We gave them a C.

Here is our chocolate baumkuchen:

The chocolate coating really reminded us of an Entenmann’s donut, which is tasty, but we were expecting a fresher tasting pastry. This is also something we wouldn’t get again. We gave it a C+.

After our snack we took the Friendship Launch to Morocco. I love the views from the boat.

We walked around World Showcase until it was time for lunch.

Up next a combo meal from Les Halles and Sunshine Seasons, including another new cookie.

 

[ddluvsdisney]

I’ll have to look for the characters in the rocks. That is so cool. The details are so amazing.
I’ve wanted to try that baumkuchen for a while now, but DH had no interest in sharing with me. Not sure I should still try it.
My youngest DS loved to get the mocha chip Frappuccino. I’m guessing they just changed the name.

 

[mickey916]

I’ll have to look for the characters in the rocks. That is so cool. The details are so amazing.

They are and we really tried to slow down and notice them this trip.

I’ve wanted to try that baumkuchen for a while now, but DH had no interest in sharing with me. Not sure I should still try it.

People love it but it was just okay for us. You should try it though!

My youngest DS loved to get the mocha chip Frappuccino. I’m guessing they just changed the name.

Probably so. "Cookie Crumble" sounds fancier than "chip", haha!

 

[mickey916]

5/6 Lunch, Dinner, and More Cookies​

For lunch we wanted to try a sandwich from Les Halles but we could see that there was no available seating. Also, DH wanted a refillable soda so we decided to buy a sandwich from Les Halles then head to Sunshine Seasons for salad, drinks, dessert, and seating.

From Les Halles we got the Jambon de Beurre: Ham and Cheese, Dijon Mustard Butter on a Demi Baguette and we asked them to toast it.

This was a good sandwich. The bread was excellent. We just wanted a little more ham. It looks okay in this picture but it seemed a little sparse when we ate it. It may have also been better had we eaten it immediately and not walked all the way to Sunshine Seasons before eating it. We gave it a B-. It was a decent ham and cheese sandwich on great bread. We both felt we’d have been just as happy with a baguette and butter.

From Sunshine Seasons we picked up our go to item from the Grab & Go case, the Power Greens Salad with Chicken: Mixed Greens, Quinoa, Blueberries, Blackberries, Almonds, Feta, and Balsamic Vinegar

This was excellent as always! Sunshine Seasons maintained its A- rating.

For dessert we picked up the cookie I intended to order previously when I got distracted by the Chocolate Hazelnut cookie, the Cherry Pie Cookie:

This had a thick sugar cookie base with a ring of buttercream and cherry pie filling. It was very good but not one we are dying to get again. We gave it a solid B.

After our lunch we caught part of the show in Germany. It is always a fun performance.

We walked to America and decided to watch the American Adventure. We enjoy the show but it is another one of those attractions we don’t do every time. It is a great place for a little cat nap though, haha.

I decided to ride Remy again as a single rider. While I was in line I was “fiddle faddling” with the MDE app to see if I could buy a LLSP for Guardians. Nothing had been shown to be available all day. Eventually though one popped up for 5:40 pm and I was able to purchase it. I was so distracted (and excited) that I totally forgot to grab the 3D glasses and I was already put in a line for the next ride vehicle. I realized just in time, ran back, grabbed glasses and was back in my spot as the “rat” pulled up for me to get in. Whew!

The skies were threatening rain again so we walked back to the car for rain gear. We hadn’t experienced any rainy days (just a passing shower here or there) on this trip but the forecasters were now predicting 10 days of significant rain which was going to be all the days going forward, including the whole time our boys were with us. We decided not to worry about it and hope for the best. When I report on their part of the trip, you’ll see how we did!

As we re-entered the park, we rode Spaceship Earth and Finding Nemo with five and ten minute waits. After that we walked through the park to the International Gateway and rode the Skyliner to the Riviera. We walked around the Riviera for a bit and then ordered dinner from Primo Piatto. We wanted to try a few of their other items on the menu even though we love the roasted veggie pita.

We shared two entrees. First, the Beef Bolognese: Slow-braised Beef Bolognese, Pasta, Herbs, Parmesan.

This was excellent. It tasted like homemade pappardelle pasta with a chunky homemade bolognese sauce. It was really, really good!

We also shared the Pepperoni Pizza: Fresh Artisan Hearth-baked Pizza topped with Tomato Sauce, Pepperoni, Provolone, and Grated Parmesan

This too was very good. The hearth baked crust was delicious. It had plenty of pepperoni and an excellent amount of melty cheese.

Primo Piatto is such a great quick service restaurant. It is definitely still on our must do list! We gave it A- for dinner but it earned an A when we ate lunch there.

We were tempted to get another Riviera cookie for dessert but felt we should add something new to our cookie stroll so we refrained (bad choice).

We rode the skyliner back to Epcot and went to Karamel Kuche for dessert. We ordered a Chocolate Chip Pretzel Cookie.

This was just okay. For some reason the taste of the items from Karamel Kuche never quite live up to our expectations. The cookie was a little dry and stale. We gave it a C+.

After dessert I made my way to Guardians of the Galaxy for my LLSP. As I was waiting in the first pre-show area, I heard a couple behind me giggling. I looked over and it was Gaten Matterazzo and his girlfriend, Lizzy Yu. I was familiar with him but not her. When I googled it, it was definitely her with him. They were just waiting for the ride like everyone else and no one seemed to notice or bother them. They were just two young adults enjoying Epcot. I didn’t speak to them since I didn’t want to draw attention to them.

After my ride through the Galaxy, we left and headed to the Dahlia Lounge for a new dessert offering I had just learned about.

We each ordered the Ponche de Frutas: Pomegranate Juice, Sweet-and-Sour, Pineapple, Blackberry, Lime, Soda Water

This is a very refreshing non-alcoholic drink. It is one of our favorites. We gave it an A.

We also ordered the Cookie Flight: Mantecados, Dulce de Leche Alfajores, and Peanut Cookies

These were not good. They were dry and flavorless. They were also really small. We were disappointed. We gave this a C. But the views and drinks were excellent!

Total steps: 26,604

Up next…searching for Bakso and facing my fears at Animal Kingdom.

 

[ddluvsdisney]

I wish we lived a little closer. We also got companion pass for Southwest so I fly free. So no good enough excuse not to fly.

We also have companion pass so that makes DH want to fly even more. So yeah if you have that you should be flying more than driving. Haha

 

[ddluvsdisney]

I read you’re last update but for got to go back and reply.
I think that ham & cheese sandwich is my DH’s go to at Les Halles. The bread just makes it! So good!! A
All the salads you get look so delicious but there are just too many unhealthy things at Disney that I’d rather eat on vacation since diets are off the table.
American adventure is one of my favorite shows! I’m such a history fanatic.