Aliens, F&W waddle & food porn-Oct2014 BCV & 1st time DCL (Updated 19Apr2015)

[saintstickets]

(Continued from previous post 2)

We head over to battle Zurg.






DW can’t stand it when I wear my hat that way so naturally…..

We walk back by 7DMT and the line was unbelievably long. So we headed to Main Street to get some ice cream at Plaza Ice Cream Parlor.

Along the way, we stopped for a pic




We started thinking about making the FP+ at 7DMT at 2:55pm. By the time we wait for the FP+ time, go through the line and ride 7DMT, it will be pushing it to make it back to EPCOT for our Hibachi Experience and that assumes the ride is working! Sooooo, as much as I didn’t want to do it, we decided to leave MK.

I love the decorations during this time of the year






This was probably my most least productive time at MK. We didn’t ride It’s A Small World. We didn’t ride 7DMT. No pics on Splash Mountain. DS1 lost his hat. Rude park goers. Broken rides. Higher than expected crowd levels. I mean, a bad day at Disney World is better than a lot of good days elsewhere but I was disappointed in the day so far. Nevertheless, we head back to the room to freshen up before our F&W Hibachi Experience reservations at EPCOT.

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[saintstickets]

(Continued from previous post 3)

We made our way to Teppan Edo in EPCOT-Japan. This is one of the featured F&W dining experiences. After checking in, we met outside the private hibachi rooms and were provided with a special sake. I don’t know the name but it was really good and a great ice breaker for those attending tonight. After about 15 minutes, we were shown inside the private hibachi room. Inside were two hibachi grilles. After everyone was seated, we were given the menu






Cooking for us tonight at our grille will be Chef Mizuki




And assisting the chefs are these 3 lovely CMs - Chisato, Momoko & Ena.




To begin our meal, we are served a rice beer




It was okay…nothing special

Time to start cooking so c’mon baby light my fire (apologies to The Doors)






Our first course was clam, salmon & shrimp






First course finished product




This course was paired with a Junmai sake. FYI, there are five basic types of sake. Each requires different brewing methods and a different percentage of rice milling. This first sake is pure rice wine with no addition of distilled alcohol. It was not as good as the pre-dinner sake but okay. Also FYI, any sake that is labeled Junmai is a premium sake. There are several different degrees of Junmai depending on the percent of polished rice, length of fermentation and any added flavorings.

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[saintstickets]

(Continued from previous post 4)

For our second course, the ingredients are prepared




Such concentration




Stirring the pot




The adult beverage for this course was Ume Shu (a pear wine)




Can you guess the shape of the sliced carrots?




Time to turn up the heat again




CM Chisato is waiting to serve.




At this point the meal became painful. Someone, I don’t know who, might or might not have said something to DW about taking notes and observe how the beautiful Chisato was waiting to cater to our every whim and all of a sudden my shin felt a sharp pain. I don’t know what happened. Maybe someone was drinking too much sake?

The finished product for course #2 – duck soup sukiyaki teppan style. I’m assuming everyone was able to figure out the shape of the sliced carrots?



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[saintstickets]

(Continued from previous post 5)

BTW, for this dining experience, we had an emcee – CM Burton




CM Burton would give us all the details about each course and the beverage pairing.

Chef Mizuki asked to borrow someone’s watch in order to time his cooking and decided to keep it for a while




At this point, we needed to cleanse the palate so we were served a Mango Sorbet




It’s time for Chef Mizuki to prepare course #3




Don’t Play with Fire (apologies to The Rolling Stones) but it is necessary for the meal




Some of the veggies are ready




Prepping the lobster




CM Burton explained that this lobster was from Canada. It was chosen over the more popular Maine lobster because it is sweeter and better for this meal. And now for the course #3 finished product - grilled lobster tail topped with a sautéed vegetable miso sauce and steamed vegetable in Japanese paper. The adult beverage for this course was another sake, junmai dai ginjo. This one tasted very similar to multi-grain moonshine (not that I’ve ever made anything like that before)



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[saintstickets]

(Continued from previous post 6)

Anyone care to guess what this is?




Now this looks more like the hibachi back home




My lovely DW and DS1




Preparing the meat for this course




And here are the finished products for course #4 – Miyazaki Wagyu Sirloin Steak with chopped wasabi served with Kinpira vegetable fried rice and grilled mash sweet potato.






Wagyu beef comes from Wagyu cattle (duh). Most of you have heard of Kobe beef. Kobe beef is a strain of Wagyu cattle and produced in the Hyogo Prefecture (province). Miyazaki Wagyu is a special beef raised in the Miyazaki Prefecture. The animals receive no hormonal additives in their feed and are fed a special diet over a longer period of time to promote slow and natural growth and a beef rich in marbling with minimal fat. Miyazaki beef takes it a step higher in that the beef is from black haired cows only, not brown, polled or shorthorn cows. I have no idea what difference the hair color makes but I do know this was probably the most tender beef I’ve ever had. The co-op of about 400 farmers in the Miyazaki Prefecture are much different than the farms we are used to here in the US. The average amount of cattle that one of these farmers will harvest at a time is 4. That’s right, 4! They take their time and spend about 8 times longer feeding the cattle before harvest than is typically spent here in the US. It is a myth that Japanese beef is fed beer and hand massaged but great care is given to these cattle and the Miyazaki Wagyu beef is considered the best and classified as a rare edible. I go into this long dissertation only to show that when you attend one of these F&W experiences, the prices may seem high, but this is why. They only serve the best of the best.

Our beverage for this course was another sake – Junmai Ginjo. This one also tasted like moonshine but more of a pure corn moonshine. At this point, I motioned for our emcee, CM Burton, to come over. Our conversation went like this –

Me: I’m from Mississippi and I don’t want to further stereotype the general perception of people about citizens of my State but this sake tastes like moonshine.

Burton pointed to his name tag and said: I’m from Kentucky. I know exactly what you’re talking about and it DOES taste like moonshine!

‘Nuf said.

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[saintstickets]

(Continued from previous post 7)

To finish our meal, we were served a trio of ice cream – vanilla, green tea & strawberry with fresh fruit and seasonal fruit sauce




Afterwards, CM Burton and Chef Mizuki answered any questions.




I can't tell if DW is about to sneeze or napping! There weren’t too many questions from the masses other than some asking for more sake! This was a fantastic F&W dining experience! It was informative, entertaining and excellent food/drink was served. What more could you ask for? My rating?

A+

Yes…these F&W events aren’t cheap (what at WDW is?) but if you want to participate in a unique culinary experience, I would definitely recommend this one!

Afterwards we went downstairs to look around in the shops. DS1 bought something to take back to his wife and DW purchased some type of incense holder, serenity stone, thingy. Don’t ask me what it is but I don’t think I’ve seen it since!

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[saintstickets]

(Continued from previous post 8)

We walked around a bit and then headed back to our room. Did I mention how much I like how close BCV is to EPCOT?!?

Back in the room, DS1 calls DDiL and chats for a while. DW and I decide to do another first for us…we went to our room, shut the door, stripped down (no, not that, but that would be a first too...well not a first but probably in single digits! Wait...what are you thinking I'm thinking? ), we changed into our swimming attire and headed to Stormalong Bay!




For the Noodle Queen (She knows who she is!)












The day didn’t start out too well at MK but ended up very good with a great meal and a relaxing dip in the pool to close it out.

Tomorrow - More F&W kiosks, a F&W beverage seminar, a F&W culinary demo and something most people do not do at WDW.

 

[saintstickets]

Bueller? Bueller?

 

[MEK]

I'm coming back to read Teppan Edo, but I have to comment on the holy ground levels. WTH? That is CRAZY. Trust me - it was SO much better a week later. Were you there doing Jersey week? I've heard that is INSANE!

Speaking on insane - who brags about a fake child? You should have seen the move I saw at MNSSHP. I saw this guy push a stroller through the candy line at the end of the night. I swear there was no kid in there and after they filled his bag he got right back in the line. When I looked at the bottom of the stroller there were TWO GIANT GROCERY BAGS FILLED WITH CANDY!!!!!! Are you kidding me? I can not say what I wanted to call that guy.

Anyway - sorry you just had to get out of there. I can def see why. But your pictures are great and you got the ghosts. Does you ISO go to 3200? I think that's why I can't that picture. Mine only goes to 1600.

OK - I've got to go cut up some peppers for dinner. I'll be back to see your pics from dinner. Just speed reading through it looks totally fun!

 

[TinksThree]

Awwwww....we need to communicate better so next time you're in the Hub City or when we're near the Capital so that we can finally meet in person!

We really do!!

Great looking room at Beach Club! Funny little thing since I was way behind...I read the first day and immediately afterwards Day 2 in DHS but forgot I was on a new day! I thought...Fresh, then F&W, then Via Napoli, ABC Commissory and NOW Cali Grille! Man they are downing some food in one day! Haha! Then I remembered the "Beautiful Day" pictures outside the Beach Club..WHEW!!! We ate for the first time at Cali Grille and loved it. I got zero food pics due to us being in this little room with only 6-8 tables, lighting was much dimmer and felt too intimate to be whipping out a camera to take food porn but it was so good!! I got the little donut things and Keith got cheesecake for dessert and they were yummy! Glad we skipped the creme brulee! I have been disappointed too many times by creme brulee and usually choose something else unless I've heard it is a must!!

We stood in a ridiculously long line for Maelstrom simply because it was in the final days. It was always hit or miss, no big deal, but I wanted one last fling since it would never be there again! Same with that final hat picture! Okay...caught up...now to fall desperately behind again!

 

[MEK]

Bueller? Bueller?

The noodle queen? Hmmmm - I know someone who may resemble that remark.

Your meal looks fantastic. Wow - those are some serious serving sizes and the food just looks beautiful. Even the dessert looks fantastic.

You certainly know your moonshine....er, I mean sake!

Great update!

 

[saintstickets]

I'm coming back to read Teppan Edo, but I have to comment on the holy ground levels. WTH? That is CRAZY. Trust me - it was SO much better a week later. Were you there doing Jersey week? I've heard that is INSANE!

Not Jersey week. I always look up historic and projected crowd levels before I make a reservation and they are usually spot on but not this time!

Speaking on insane - who brags about a fake child? You should have seen the move I saw at MNSSHP. I saw this guy push a stroller through the candy line at the end of the night. I swear there was no kid in there and after they filled his bag he got right back in the line. When I looked at the bottom of the stroller there were TWO GIANT GROCERY BAGS FILLED WITH CANDY!!!!!! Are you kidding me? I can not say what I wanted to call that guy.

Ditto from me...it's people like this that ruin it for others and cause businesses to stop offering good things when some abuse the system. I'd say, "Off with their heads!" but the NSA, CIA and several other black-op groups are probably following me so I'd better not. I'm not crazy, it's those other people talking in my head that are the crazy ones!

Anyway - sorry you just had to get out of there. I can def see why. But your pictures are great and you got the ghosts. Does you ISO go to 3200? I think that's why I can't that picture. Mine only goes to 1600.

I normally shoot in an auto-low light mode but I also take pics in both .raw and .jpg so I can edit the .raw pics if needed. It burns through your memory card quickly but then I also upload everything each night from my camera to my laptop and to a cloud server (Dropbox). That way I don't run out of memory card space and if something were to happen to my camera, I'd only look the pics taken that day.

The noodle queen? Hmmmm - I know someone who may resemble that remark.

Hmmmm...I wonder who I had in mind when I said that!

Your meal looks fantastic. Wow - those are some serious serving sizes and the food just looks beautiful. Even the dessert looks fantastic.

You certainly know your moonshine....er, I mean sake!

Great update!

It was a very enjoyable meal and worth the price of admission. As for moonshine, someone I know whose name will not be mentioned, did a science fair project in high school on the distillation of alcohol while at a Baptist private school and won 1st place in the local, district and State competition. That same person has used that small one gallon copper still in subsequent years to experiment with various ingredients and then sample the outcome....purely a scientific endeavor mind you.

 

[saintstickets]

Great looking room at Beach Club! Funny little thing since I was way behind...I read the first day and immediately afterwards Day 2 in DHS but forgot I was on a new day! I thought...Fresh, then F&W, then Via Napoli, ABC Commissory and NOW Cali Grille! Man they are downing some food in one day! Haha! Then I remembered the "Beautiful Day" pictures outside the Beach Club..WHEW!!! We ate for the first time at Cali Grille and loved it. I got zero food pics due to us being in this little room with only 6-8 tables, lighting was much dimmer and felt too intimate to be whipping out a camera to take food porn but it was so good!! I got the little donut things and Keith got cheesecake for dessert and they were yummy! Glad we skipped the creme brulee! I have been disappointed too many times by creme brulee and usually choose something else unless I've heard it is a must!!

As much as we ate this trip, I wouldn't argue we ate that much in one day! That's where the F&W waddle came from in the TR title!

We stood in a ridiculously long line for Maelstrom simply because it was in the final days. It was always hit or miss, no big deal, but I wanted one last fling since it would never be there again! Same with that final hat picture! Okay...caught up...now to fall desperately behind again!

That's the same with us. It's not a favorite ride but we had to do it one more time before it was gone for good. I understand walls are already up between Norway and Mexico for the Frozen exhibit/ride that is replacing Maelstrom!

 

[KatMark]

Be back tonight to catch up...tough two weeks with vacation in middle of it all

 

[KatMark]

I'm back. Sorry it took so long to read your update. Work was busy before Phoenix, and then I got back and one of my partners left our firm and I've been super busy trying to clean his office, ship off files, personal stuff, etc. I haven't even read my PTR for a week.

Some people are just jerks...from the people on the bus with the child swap to the foreigners at the People Mover. I just don't understand people anymore.

That is a lot of people for a "5".

Haunted Mansion -- great shots (I've never gotten anything close).

I can't believe the number of rides down.

Sorry that DS lost his hat and was crabby afterwards.

Great photopass pic!

What a nice experience at Teppan Edo. We've only done one F&W so have never done any of the special events, but I'll keep that one in mind (we did likek when we ate there two years ago and I'm eating there in May).

I knew immediately what you were talking about...that you were going swimming.

Great pictures at Stormalong Bay.

 

[saintstickets]

Some people are just jerks...from the people on the bus with the child swap to the foreigners at the People Mover. I just don't understand people anymore.

There is a true lack of civility and manners in society today. I could give my thoughts on it and some of the reasons but not in this venue. Meet me at La Cava del Tequila and after a few adult beverages, I'll opine on how we can save the world!

That is a lot of people for a "5".

Usually TouringPlans is right on but not this day.

Haunted Mansion -- great shots (I've never gotten anything close).

Thanks...even a blind squirrel finds a nut once in a while!

I can't believe the number of rides down.

This was a first for us. I've read on many TRs where people complain about so many rides down so I guess the law of averages finally caught up with us.

Sorry that DS lost his hat and was crabby afterwards.

He got over it eventually...he's good kid...er young man...he gets it from his mother!

Great photopass pic!

Aw shucks ma'am...thanks

What a nice experience at Teppan Edo. We've only done one F&W so have never done any of the special events, but I'll keep that one in mind (we did like it when we ate there two years ago and I'm eating there in May).

for eating there in May! We love the cuisine and they really did it up first class!

Great pictures at Stormalong Bay.

Thanks again.

I knew immediately what you were talking about...that you were going swimming.

What else could I have been talking about?

 

[eandesmom]

I can't believe how behind I was. Ridiculous.

As were those crowds at MK. UGH! I can completely see where that would have been a fairly disappointing day all around. Holy rides down batman and a huge bummer about the hat. Hopefully it was a painful lesson in taking it off on rides but I'm sad it was a special one.

That hibachi event looked amazing and worth every penny! And I know they aren't cheap....

Filing that one away for future reference big time.

 

[saintstickets]

I can't believe how behind I was. Ridiculous.

As were those crowds at MK. UGH! I can completely see where that would have been a fairly disappointing day all around. Holy rides down batman and a huge bummer about the hat. Hopefully it was a painful lesson in taking it off on rides but I'm sad it was a special one.

I didn't remind him when we were getting on the ride that I told him to take his hat off...I wanted to say it but I didn't!

That hibachi event looked amazing and worth every penny! And I know they aren't cheap....

Filing that one away for future reference big time.

If you get a chance to try it during F&W, do so. I'd put it up there in our top dining experiences at WDW/DCL with V&A, Remy's (DCL), Bistro de Paris (now closed), Jiko's & the F&W Italian Regional Luncheon.

 

[saintstickets]

It's time to post another day on this TR. Interest seems to be waning a bit with everyone making Easter plans and putting the final touches on their own upcoming trips so let's do as Emeril says and "kick it up a notch"!


Wednesday – 08Oct2014

Today is a laid back kind of day. Originally we were going to Animal Kingdom and have three FP+ reservations. Those plans were thrown out the window. Now our plans are to sleep in, hit the F&W kiosks for a couple of hours, maybe play some miniature golf and then we have an ADR at another first – ‘Ohana!

First off we tried a FEW of the fares offered at the kiosks…

Brazil – Crispy pork belly with black beans, tomato & cilantro and Tilapia with coconut lime sauce & steamed rice




Belgium – Belgian waffle with berry compote & whipped cream and Potato & leek waffle with beer braised beef (sorry, we started eating before I remembered to take a pic)




Morocco – Shrimp roll with cilantro & mint sauce and Kefta pocket that has seasoned ground beef




Japan – Spicy hand roll with tuna, salmon & Kazan volcano sauce (We had this last year and had to get it again)




Poland – Kielbasa & potato pierogi with caramelized onions & sour cream




Germany – Berliner yeast doughnut filled with apricot jam




Also from Germany – A beer flight that included a pilsner, colonia (blond ale), palor (English style pale ale) and a grapefruit beer - It's 5 o'clock somewhere, right?!




DW NEVER drinks beer but I got her to try the grapefruit beer and she actually liked it.

(Continued in next post)

 

[saintstickets]

(Continued from previous post)

More F&W Kiosks -

Africa – Beef tenderloin tips Berbere-style with okra, jalapenos, tomato & pap and South African bobotie with turkey & mushrooms




As we made our way through Mexico, these guys were playing




And while in Mexico – Shrimp taco with fried shrimp, pickled habanero pepper & onions on a flour tortilla




Australia – Pavlova, crispy meringue shell with fresh berries & vanilla custard




Scotland – Seared sea scallop with spinach-cheddar gratin & crispy bacon




Puerto Rico – Caribbean conch salad with onion, tomato & cilantro. Don’t ask me where the pic is on this one!

This has to be one of the prettiest sights in all of EPCOT – the Victoria Gardens in Canada.



We hope to visit the Victoria Butchart Gardens in Vancouver in August.

We didn’t get anything at the Craft Beer pavilion but here is the options





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