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

[Dis_Yoda]

Southern Twists​

I headed into the festival center & checked in for my final F&W event for this particular trip.

They were assigning seats as we checked in & I was given a seat at New Zealand.

I distracted myself until it was time to be seated with people watching in the festival center, seeing some people I had seen at events earlier in the week,

Art came out a little early to visit some people that really wanted to see him.

After he left that small meet & greet, we were let in. I noticed this event wasn't sold out. There only seemed to be about 40 people in attendance at this event - much smaller than a lot of events I've had in the past at the Festival Center.

Menu

The menu packet also had a collection of recipes from the meal served today.

Pam Smith greeted us all & spoke about Art's history with the festival and with Oprah.

The winery host came out as well, but no one was at this event to really speak to him & it was finally time for Art to come out and speak to us all. He gave a story about his devil eggs along with preparing some on stage.

We were served the dish along side with toast w/ a sweet onion jam.

I may have grown up in the South but this southern girl has never liked deviled eggs despite these being a higher end deviled egg with the blue cheese. The crispy ham was great though and I did pick it out of the eggs.

The onion jam was divine. A nice amount of spice to it.

He brought out his assistant chef to help in the preparation of the next dish. This was actually his assistant's creation but they have had a long history together.

The quail was on top of a bed of grits. These grits weren't as good as the ones I had earlier in the week at Le Cellier. The quail was cooked to a perfect temperature & the portion was huge!

For the final course, he made a simple but tasty dessert.

The salted pumpkin seed dark chocolate bark was a great way to end this meal. It was rich enough to balance out the wines along with the courses served before. The pumpkin cupcake was a nice touch to go along with the bark. Art left the stage after this was served handing out the larger samples of that was prepared on stage visiting each table until he got to his family table.

It was great event with being able to hear many of Art's stories. I remember watching both of the Top Chefs he was on & found him to be very amusing. He was even more amusing and personable in person. I'm sad I missed going to PotS the next evening as he was going to be serving his fried chicken.

Before leaving the festival center, I revisited the Ghiradelli exhibit to pick up the chocolates we were going to buy earlier in the week but didn't since we would be walking around EPCOT.

The first time I filled my tin, I was sent back to fill it some more as I didn't fill it enough for them. I could have fit more if I wanted but I didn't feel like having that much chocolate.

It was time for me to leave EPCOT for the final time this trip. I headed out to the car and drove back to Bay Lake Towers.

 

[Dis_Yoda]

Crowded Afternoon​

When I arrived back at the room, my husband & I made some reservations for fastpass+ for a final afternoon in the Magic Kingdom as I wanted one last ride on Pirates. We were able to get reservations for Thunder Mountain as well.

As it was a nice day out, we decided to walk to the Magic Kingdom.

It was already pass our time for our Pirates reservation. It turns out it was need. The park was crowded this afternoon but as it was the Friday of Columbus Day weekend, I guess it was to be expected. The wait was about 30 to 40 minutes.

I enjoyed my last ride on Pirates for this trip. My husband was hungry as he hadn't eaten lunch & just had some of the junk food left in the room. We didn't want to eat something huge as it was almost 2:00pm & we had dinner reservations in about 3.5 hours. We headed to Pecos Bills for a snack. So freaking crowded! It took us about 15 minutes from getting in line to getting our food. It also took us a bit to find a table to sit at.

I only had a side of fries so I could enjoy some plastic cheese as I was still mainly full from my F&W event earlier in the day. My husband got the chili cheese fries so he could have something a bit more hearty than myself.

The food was decent.

We still had about 30 minutes until we could go to Thunder Mountain so I dragged my husband to a ride he had never gone on before & something I rarely go on as it was hot outside & I knew it would eat up just enough time.

Yes, the Hall of Presidents! It wasn't crowded. My husband was shocked he actually enjoyed it as it was different than he expected it to be. Enjoyed it better than American Adventure. It was almost time for the parade to start when it ended so we rushed towards Frontierland so we wouldn't be stuck by the parade.

This time we had 0 issues using our last minute fastpass+ this time which was nice.

When we left the ride, the park had gotten even more crowded. We called it an afternoon & headed back to the room to get ready for dinner.

 

[mickeymotto]

I love following this TR. All the pics are great to follow you through your travels.

 

[missangelalexis]

Mmm sounds like you guys tried a lot of yummy things at F&W! Also, the Flying Fish dinner looks like it was wonderful!

 

[Linda67]

Some wonderful updates
The dinner at Flying Fish looked amazing - all those different champagnes combined with great food .... Mmmm heaven

 

[franandaj]

I'm terribly far behind, but I read this yesterday and got a good chuckle and a laugh. I can't believe you two ate so much before the Grand Marnier tasting! We ate hardly anything and still couldn't finish all the pastries they served us, but we could certainly finish the Grand Marnier!

I didn't understand what you meant when you said that you were taking "creeper" photos of people, but with this one I think I get it! So funny you caught Fran sleeping, that's not hard to do!

Enjoying the report and especially the food porn. Too bad about having to change your reservations, but at least you weren't put out by those running the night 10 miler. I'll be back to catch up now that I am home from travels and won't be going anywhere for some time now.

Creeper Photo of franandaj & her SO

 

[Dis_Yoda]

I love following this TR. All the pics are great to follow you through your travels.

I'm glad you are enjoying following this trip! I love being able to share my photos as otherwise they just stay on a hard drive for me to look at one day when I'm bored.

Mmm sounds like you guys tried a lot of yummy things at F&W! Also, the Flying Fish dinner looks like it was wonderful!

We did get to try lots of things. Probably had entirely too much to eat during this trip but we've been visiting the gym this week to make up for it all. I loved going to that dinner! For a dinner that originally was not my first choice of event (I wanted to do Brown Derby), it was easily my favorite event of the trip. I'm not sure I'm going to be able to top that during my solo trip.

Some wonderful updates
The dinner at Flying Fish looked amazing - all those different champagnes combined with great food .... Mmmm heaven

It was amazing. I loved the champagnes and loved how they worked so well with the foods given. I have a feeling we may open up one of our smaller bottles tonight

I'm terribly far behind, but I read this yesterday and got a good chuckle and a laugh. I can't believe you two ate so much before the Grand Marnier tasting! We ate hardly anything and still couldn't finish all the pastries they served us, but we could certainly finish the Grand Marnier!

I didn't understand what you meant when you said that you were taking "creeper" photos of people, but with this one I think I get it! So funny you caught Fran sleeping, that's not hard to do!

Enjoying the report and especially the food porn. Too bad about having to change your reservations, but at least you weren't put out by those running the night 10 miler. I'll be back to catch up now that I am home from travels and won't be going anywhere for some time now.

I don't blame you for being behind, you've had a very busy past couple of weeks for sure. I'm also behind on my trip report readings with work this week. I come home exhausted, not wanting to do much. My normal back up for work was also on vacation at the same time so we've been dealing with catch up together in addition to one of our other coworkers being on vacation & we're the only two that can really support some of his more time consuming tasks.

We ate too much food this trip but I wasn't going to deny myself. Somehow I only gained 3 lbs & my husband gained nothing. 2 of the pounds are already gone at least. I finished all my grand marnier but my husband didn't & I only got to steal so much of it. (Totally saw you sneaking the booze from the table next to you too ) I tend to say creeper when I'm taking pictures of someone that doesn't realize I am. I like pictures of the characters from time to time but there is no way I'm waiting in a huge line for that stuff so creeper photos are what work for me.

Yeah, at least it was easy to change the reservations we did. I'm happy we didn't have to deal with that traffic as I'm sure with the 9500 people running the race, I would have just gotten really annoyed. I always try to be flexible on trips within reason. In fact, I've changed my solo trip already & I'm only 13 days out. Hopefully I'll finish up this trip & get to post those updates this weekend.

 

[Dis_Yoda]

Our Final Night​

We headed to Animal Kingdom Lodge for our final meal of the trip, Jiko. Having Tables in Wonderland allowed us to valet park our car for free. I hope with all the changes they are making to TiW next year, this perk does not go away as at certain locations, not having to deal with self parking makes the meal that much more enjoyable.

We arrived shortly after they had officially opened for the evening & were quickly seated by the windows.

I begun with a Victoria Falls cocktail as we reviewed the menu to make our selections for the evening.

To start:

South African Vetkoek - Three house-made Naan Pastries filled with herb-braised rabbit, coconut-egg curry, & durban vegetable curry

Each of the pastries housed a different filling. It also came with a selection of three dipping sauces - a tomato based one, a mango-banana one & pesto. I think I ended up eating the mango-banana one with the fork to finish it as it as tasty enough on its own!

The pastries were great. My favorite was the rabbit followed by a close vegetable curry.

For our entrees:

My husband's:

Oak-grilled Filet Mignon

This was actually disappointing for my husband. He had ordered it medium but it came out closer to rare. As our server was slow coming to the table after entree delivery, he ended up just eating it, leaving the rarest bits behind as the steak wasn't a high enough quality for him to eat it rare.

Mine:

Seared Barbie Duck Breast

I normally love duck. All the duck I had earlier in the week was great at the special event. This duck was not that. The fat in this duck breast hadn't been rendered enough to make the breast tender. It was really tough to cut and to chew. Totally a disappointment for my final entree of the trip.

We shared a side order of:

Mac & Cheese

This was the saving grace of our main meals. We love their mac and cheese. I've made it at home before when we're missing Disney as I love the combination of the four cheeses they use.

We hoped to redeem our meal with the desserts.

I went with a

Zebratini
I love Adult Chocolate Milk which is pretty much what this is.

Chocolate & Tea Safari - Vanilla Rooibos-Tanzanian Chocolate Cake, Free Form Kit Kat & Green Tea Ice Cream

This was nice selection for myself. It wasn't a heavy dessert which was good as we did have 2 courses previously.

Cheesecake

My husband's selection. He liked this selection as it was a traditional cheesecake with a white chocolate topping.

Our server also brought out the cookies that you sometimes get here.

I love these cookies.

After dinner, we wandered the shop & eventually picked up our car from the valet.

Back in the room, I did a final load of laundry so I could avoid having to do it upon return home & just needing to put it all away. We finished packing. Watched Masterchef Junior & then our final showing of the Water Pageant.

 

[Dis_Yoda]

Going Home​

We woke up early, like 6AM early.

Grabbed the bags & headed down to the car. We skipped getting breakfast opting for the last of our energy drinks we had brought along on the trip.

It was my turn to drive home since my husband drove on the way up.

The drive was uneventful, stopping once to get gas. We were able to pick up the dogs when we arrived in Bonita Springs shortly after 9AM. We're totally going back to that kennel the next time we have to board the dogs as they seemed to be well taken care of.

I was happy that I only have 3 weeks until my next trip.

This trip was a great break from the real world. We probably will save the points and not go with Bay Lake Towers for our trips in October again. While it was nice, we enjoyed SSR better & it would use less points. We still have to try BCV and BWVs which I hope we can get lucky enough for October 2014 for one of the weekends we are planning. If not AKV or VGF it will be.

 

[Dis_Yoda]

Fall Trip #3: Changes​

I’ve updated my plans for my solo trip that is happening in only 12 days. I’m now coming in on October 31st since I have Friday off from work.

October 31st
4:00PM - Leave Work
7:00PM - Check In @ All Star Music
...I went with All Star as it was cheap with Annual Pass Discounts and its only a place to rest my head for a single night for less than 8 hours.
8:00PM - California Grill Omakase Experience
...Super excited I was able to get this so last minute. This is something my husband wouldn’t enjoy as he isn’t that big of a fan of sushi & I know that is a huge part of this meal.

After dinner, I’ll head back to the room for bed.

November 1st
6:45AM - Check Out of All Star Music
...I’m a very early riser normally
7:15AM - Check In @ Villas at Disney’s Wilderness Lodge
...I know my room won’t be ready but I just want to get my car there & not worry about it for the rest of the day
7:30AM - Breakfast @ Whispering Canyon Cafe
...Haven’t eaten here in a long time
8:15AM - Head to Hollywood Studios
...I have Fastpass+ selections for Toy Story Mania, Tower of Terror & Beauty & the Beast
12:35PM - Lunch @ 50’s Prime Time Cafe
...I’m planning on just getting an appetizer & dessert
2:00PM - Head back to VWL
...Hopefully my room is ready by then
4:30PM - Small Dinner @ Territory Lounge
...That fondue is calling my name even if they got rid of the donuts I was eyeing
5:30PM - Head over to EPCOT
…Living with the Land, Living Seas
7:45PM - Spirits Confidential Reserved Seating
...Not sure how much food will be available here but at least there will tons of alcohol

November 2nd
8:00AM - Head towards EPCOT
9:00AM - EPCOT Opens
...Fastpass+ Selections @ Soarin & Mission:SPACE
11:00AM - Enjoy a booth or two or three
12:00PM - Beverage Seminar - Ice Wine
2:00PM - Beverage Seminar - The Great Whiskey Debate
3:00PM - Culinary Demo -
4:00PM - Head to Chase Lounge to relax for a bit
6:00PM - Test Track Fastpass+
7:15PM - Party of the Senses Reserved Seating

November 3rd

7:30AM - Cape May Cafe Breakfast
9:00AM - EPCOT Opens
...Fastpass+ Selections for Soarin, Mission:Space, Maelstrom
12:00PM - White Truffle Lunch
3:00PM - Leave Disney until February

 

[Dis_Yoda]

We Can't Stop​

Just a collection of trip related rambles:

• I finished packing on Sunday while I did all the regular laundry. This also made me put away everything else from our last trip.
• I'm sad my waitlist for BCV or BWV never came through but I'll be ok with VWL
• I finally made an instagram mainly for food related photos to keep it off my facebook. If people are interested, let me know.
• I also have 2 sets of MBs for this trip due to my 1 night stay at ASMu & my 2 nights at VWL.
• My husband was 2 blocks from Disneyland last week & yet didn't visit. Not even Downtown Disney. Something about his work thing keeping him super busy.
• I cancelled my 50s Prime Time ADR due to the Brown Derby Lounge that is opening tomorrow. Duck Confit Tacos sound like a good lunch to me.
• I'm debating on canceling my breakfast reservations as its probably too much food.
• I've lost more than the 3 lbs I gained during my last trip so now I don't feel bad about pigging out this trip. I'm going to keep up going the next 2 days hard core to make sure I lose some more.
• The Seasoners are back in Naples No more going out to eat without reservation at the nice places unless we go out at like 4:30 or 9PM. At least this will save us money.
• I need to think of a halloween costume I can easily make non-costumey when I head straight to California Grill after work on Thursday.

 

[jerseytinkerbell]

I am an Instagram-aholic! Let me know your user name, I would love to follow along with your food adventures.
Excited to read about your solo trip! Sounds really fun!

 

[TigerKat]

I changed some plans due to the opening of the Brown Derby Lounge too! Johnny wanted fried chicken from 50's ( we were going to sit at the bar, no ADR) but he agreed we need to check out the new lounge and the tacos and sliders. Woo Hoo!

 

[Dis_Yoda]

I am an Instagram-aholic! Let me know your user name, I would love to follow along with your food adventures.
Excited to read about your solo trip! Sounds really fun!

PM Sent!

Hope your trip went well as I know you just got back. Can't wait to read your trip report.

I changed some plans due to the opening of the Brown Derby Lounge too! Johnny wanted fried chicken from 50's ( we were going to sit at the bar, no ADR) but he agreed we need to check out the new lounge and the tacos and sliders. Woo Hoo!

Yeah, that opening was a pleasant surprise. I didn't want to have to worry about a CC reservation at the park I always seem to not spend a ton of time at anymore. I seem just to do the rides I want then head somewhere else. The lounge will be perfect for me!

Have a great trip since you leave the same day as me. Maybe we'll wander into each other at EPCOT.

 

[Tink rules]

I changed some plans due to the opening of the Brown Derby Lounge too! Johnny wanted fried chicken from 50's ( we were going to sit at the bar, no ADR) but he agreed we need to check out the new lounge and the tacos and sliders. Woo Hoo!

Johnny is Marshmallow when it comes to you!!! Try the margarita flight... you know how I am about my tequila!

 

[Dis_Yoda]

Counting Down the Hours​

Thursday was Halloween. My job encourages people to dress up on the holiday; however, I also needed something that was comfortable enough to drive 3 hours in but as well as being appropriate for a tasting menu meal at California Grill.

How do you deal with all those requirements?

Become a generic princess.

Princess Sans Tiara & Hair Pulled Up

I ended up having to stop by the house before heading up to Disney but the package my husband thought was going to be delivered early hadn't been so we just had to hope no trick or treaters took it before he arrived home from work that evening. (They didn't)

At 3:30PM, I got into my car to finally start my drive.

During the drive, I distracted myself with my podcasts of Kidd Kraddick in the Morning. I no longer live in an area where that show plays so when I get a chance I listen to the kpod as after listening to 1 show for 4 years while in Macon, GA - I don't want to have to find a new morning show I enjoy.

By the time I finished two days worth of shows, I finally saw this sign:

Then this:

Then this:

That one isn't as exciting

I checked in at the front desk. Apparently I had done Online Check In when I know I hadn't for this one night stay so I confused the poor check in guy. He also was slightly confused by the amount of Magic Bands/Cards on my account. Oh well!

I was placed in the farthest building from the front, facing the very back of the resort aka the woods. I drove back to the Country Faire and headed towards my room.

This is when I ran into a problem. I was able to push open the door without using my key.

I was really annoyed. Knowing I needed to head back to the front desk, I rearranged my luggage/purse/giggled at the amount of Magic Bands I own.

I took my piece of luggage back out of the room and into the trunk of my car & headed back to the front desk. I nicely asked for this to be fixed as I'm not going to be in my room for the next few hours & I don't want to return from dinner at 11PM at night and have to deal with this again. He paged maintenance to head that way & ensured me it would be taken care of before I returned.

I went back to my car to drive towards the Contemporary & was on my way to check in for my meal.

 

[Dis_Yoda]

Omakase - Act I​

I arrived at the Contemporary with 45 minutes to spare before my 8:00PM reservation. I was honestly too tired from being at work at 6AM to wander too much so I headed to the bar for a drink.

Sake Martini

I felt this was a great choice for the meal I was about to enjoy.

At 8:00PM, my pager still hadn't gone off to be seated so I headed to the front desk. They weren't quite ready for us yet - and we weren't seated until about 8:10. They seat you right at the sushi counter. As there were only three of us enjoying the meal that evening, we were right next pick up counter & everyone had a great view of the chef as he prepared our courses.

Yes, it says Wednesday when its really Thursday

Place Setting

We were all poured a glass of sake to begin our meal.

Sparkling Sake

This was a sweeter sake that was very light.

Our chef for the evening began with introductions & started on the first course:

Spiced Pork Pot Sticker in fragrant fish broth, rice noodles, & wakame

The pork belly flavor was a little lost to the flavors on the outside of the pot sticker and the flavorful broth. The seaweed salad along with the rice noodles held up well.

The second course was by far one of my favorites of the night:

Amaebi Tempura (Sweet Shrimp) w/ Warm Rice Cake, Micro Wasibi & Ponzu Sauce
The rice cake included about 4 other ingredients that aren't listed. It hit every single note on your tongue while enjoying it. The shrimp was cooked perfectly

Third Course:

Tuna Toro Nigiri & Signature Soy Glaze

This cut of the tuna was from the area our chef described as "the pork belly of tuna" The tuna was hearty and truly didn't need the aid of the soy glaze.

Fourth Course:

Salmon Crudo w/ Subarashii Pears, Soy Pearls, Citrus & Cucumber Blooms

This plate was awesome to see being placed together. The soy pearls hit your palette similar to the way fish eggs are used in sushi. It was an extremely light dish that helped clear your palette for the upcoming courses.

Fifth Course:

Edamame Bowl w/ Togarashi, Bonito Flakes & Citrus Zest

The spices used to coat the outside of the pods along with the saltiness of the bonito flakes provided a better way to get me to eat edamame. Usually its so boring but I enjoyed these pods.

Sixth Course:

"Legs & Eggs" Maine Lobster w/ Tobiko & Wasabi Cream
The meat on this sushi was pulled from the tiny legs of the lobster. This is when we were also told we would be enjoying about half a lobster a piece if we were to eat everything over the night. I'm not sure my stomach was going to be able to handle all of that with everything else we were going to be given.

The sushi was nicely done. The meat was very tender and sweet.

Our chef let us know it was intermission time & we were encouraged to enjoy the fireworks on the observation deck as our next course wasn't going to be served until after they were completed.

 

[Nakkira]

Enjoying your report!

 

[franandaj]

I finally got all caught up and now you're onto your next trip!

Your dinner last night looked quite wonderful! I would have enjoyed trying all those different choices!

 

[Mom2m&k]

OMG that dinner looks amazing! Was it special for F&W or something they do all the time? I cannot wait to see more!