Boo to You...and Food & Wine Too! - October 26 to November 2, 2012 Updated Post #282

[tksbaskets]

Hi Bret,
Your pictures are great on Finding Nemo! Sounds like you had a good plan for EPCOT and got an early start. Looking forward to hearing more.

TK

 

[ACDSNY]

Nice pics of the Nemo ride...I really like this one

 

[mvf-m11c]

Hi Bret,
Your pictures are great on Finding Nemo! Sounds like you had a good plan for EPCOT and got an early start. Looking forward to hearing more.

TK

Thank you TK. We did had a good plan at EPCOT that morning of going on some of the popular rides and getting the GAC card and wheelchair for the elders since we knew that they couldn't stand and walk around EPCOT.

Nice pics of the Nemo ride...I really like this one

Thank you Angela.


The next post will be up shortly.

 

[mvf-m11c]

Day 2 – October 27, 2012 – Part 2​

We left off getting off the ride of The Seas with Nemo and Friends. We arrived at the park just when EPCOT opened at 9am. We did quite a lot of different things that morning where we got FPs for Soarin, my uncles rode Mission Space, got to go to the Festival Center for the Food and Wine Festival and just got off TSwN&F. Now we are in the Seas about to leave, but my group wants to see the sea creatures in the Seas so we stayed for awhile.

When we got off the ride, we went around the Seas to look at the sea creatures including the Sea Manatee. We got to see a lot of different fish around the Seas.

After we went through the Seas, we head on over to Soarin since it was past 10:40am and to use the FPs. This was the ride that I was trying to get everyone excited since it is a hang gliding ride over California and it is the same as Disney California Adventure. I mostly try to avoid this ride since it is the same as DCA and the wait time is very long as well. The ride can be as long as over 2 hours which is al ot where I could ride the DL for about less than an hour on a super busy day.

When we got to The Land and went inside, there was quite a line when we were on the 2nd floor where there were a lot of people heading on over to Soarin. But we didn’t have to worry since we have FP’s and it will take some time to get on the ride.

When we got to Soarin, the wait time was already at 50 minutes which was quite long around 10:40am that morning. But we had FP’s and skipped the stand-by queue.

After riding Soarin, everyone except for my DB who has ridden it before we all very impressed with the ride. Most of them really like the ride while my aunt didn’t enjoy it too much since she had closed her eyes on the ride. I was at first surprised that she didn’t watch Soarin but she did enjoyed the sound of the ride.

Then we head on out and over to Living with the Land since we are still in the area. We had to wait about 5 minutes to get on the ride since it was quite busy in The Land building.

After we finished riding Living with the Land, we head on out of The Land and on to our next ride. While we are around The Land, we head on over to Imagination! To ride Journey Into Imagination. I knew that this ride was going to be a walk-on and it was close until we head on over to World Showcase for the Food and Wine Festival.

Over at Imagination!, we got on the ride in an instant and it was a nice ride. My aunt and uncles remember this ride in the 80s and they said that it was a little different from back then. Of course it is different from the 80s and now.

Then we head on over to World Showcase to try the different food stands of these different countries. I was looking forward to the Canada stand the most since I want to try the Canadian Cheddar Cheese Soup the most out of all the stands.

When we got to World Showcase, it was so busy. I had a hunch that it was going to be a busy day. But I didn’t thought that it was going to be long lines just as long as a ride for the food stands during the Food and Wine Festival.

The Canada stand was so long that it almost looks like a 10+ minute wait time. I wanted to get the Cheese soup and I just waited in the queue along with my aunt and DB.

Canada Menu

Over at Greece stand was like the same thing where the queue was long as well.

We had bought 4 Canadian Cheddar Cheese Soup as well as 2 Chicken Chipotle Sausage with Sweet Corn Polenta and “Minus 8” Onion Jam. When I first tried the Cheese Soup, it was really nice where it was creamy and had a lot of cheese flavor. The Chicken Chipotle was very nice as well with a nice with the sweet corn polenta.

Canadian Cheddar Cheese Soup

Chicken Chipotle Sausage with Sweet Corn Polenta and “Minus 8” Onion Jam

After we finished our food at the Canada stand, we head on over down towards World Showcase to look at the other stands and pavilions. That day was really quite busy around Canada where the food stand had two queue and they were quite long as well.

Looking back is so busy as well

We are heading now on over to United Kingdom and it was just getting busy that day.

The Ireland stand was just as long as well, so we skipped that stand.

It was quite busy around United Kingdom and we went to the stores while we were in the area.

I was kind of surprised that we were in United Kingdom pavilion for quite some time and I was wondering why my uncle’s wanted to stay in this pavilion for quite some time. It was not for the shops but I can understand the beer. But the Craft Beer stand was close to the entrance of World Showcase. I was puzzled, but I had a hunch why we were in United Kingdom for quite some time.

That’s it for this post and the next one will up later this week of why we were in United Kingdom pavilion for quite some time.

 

[tksbaskets]

It does look crowded. Was the soup worth the wait?

TK

 

[Sherry E]

The pictures from the Nemo ride came out really well!

The queue for Soarin' looks very odd to me (I'm so used to the one in DCA, I suppose).

I just love the look of the buildings in the United Kingdom area - they look so authentic.

Let me guess - if there was an Italian stand at the F&W Festival, it was probably jam-packed with people. That's where I would have been - over near the Italian food! I'm Irish and I wouldn't have even been at the Ireland stand!

 

[mvf-m11c]

It does look crowded. Was the soup worth the wait?

TK

It was really crowded at EPCOT that day. I knew when I looked at touring plans crowd level and it was going to be a busy day. But since we had the Party for the Senses event that day, we had to go to that park. I was hoping that my group would get park hopper tickets but they only got tickets for just one park. The Canadian Cheddar Cheese Soup in my opinion was worth it. It was almost similar to the soup at the Le Cellier restaurant at the Canada pavilion where I had it last year. For my other members it didn't seem like it was worth it to them.

The pictures from the Nemo ride came out really well!

The queue for Soarin' looks very odd to me (I'm so used to the one in DCA, I suppose).

I just love the look of the buildings in the United Kingdom area - they look so authentic.

Let me guess - if there was an Italian stand at the F&W Festival, it was probably jam-packed with people. That's where I would have been - over near the Italian food! I'm Irish and I wouldn't have even been at the Ireland stand!

Thank you Sherry. Glad that you like the The Seas with Nemo and Friend pictures. I was hoping that the dark ride photos would be good when I have tired them at DL and were not that good. I was glad that they turned out really well.

The queue at WDW is way different from the one in DCA where we are used too. I still would prefer the DCA version over WDW where it is better themed. That's why I don't ride Soarin at EPCOT since the wait time is way too long compared to DCA. Even going in the afternoon on Soarin at DCA won't be as long as EPCOT in the morning.

There was an Italy food stand during the Food and Wine Festival. I haven't got to that part yet, but I will tell you that it was really busy at that stand as well. I would say the longest line I have seen so far from that day was the France stand where there was only one line and it was almost towards the shops at the France pavilion.


The next post will be up shortly.

 

[mvf-m11c]

Day 2 – October 27, 2012 – Part 3​

We left off at United Kingdom Pavilion at EPCOT going through World Showcase to look and try all the different food stands during the Food and Wine Festival. Unfortunately that day was quite busy with the walkways going around World Showcase are busy and the lines are just as busy as the walkways. I knew that it was going to be a busy day at EPCOT, but I didn’t expect it to be this crowded where it was going to be hard to get some food at the stands. I was hoping that the queue for the Canada stand would not be that long when we got there later that day of going on the rides at Future World, but the queue for the Canada stand had two lines and they were almost 10-15 minute wait just to get some food. When we walked down towards United Kingdom, some of the other stands were long as well. Now we will find out what we were doing here in United Kingdom pavilion for quite some time.

While we were in United Kingdom Pavilion, I was wondering why we were here a long time. At first, I thought that they wanted to look at the stores and the other option was having lunch somewhere here. The only restaurants that are here in United Kingdom pavilion is the Rose and Crown restaurant and the Yorkshire Country Fish Shop. Since my uncle’s and aunt are not quick counter type people like me or my DB, I had a hunch that it was the Rose & Crown restaurant. But they haven’t put it in the itinerary at the beginning, but it looks like they must have added it later on when we got here.

I talked to Uncle S about it and he said that we have a reservation at the Rose & Crown restaurant. This was very nice to have lunch at the Rose & Crown restaurant at the United Kingdom pavilion. I have never eaten at the United Kingdom pavilion and was great to try a different sit down restaurant at EPCOT. But I also realize that we are eating at a sit down restaurant and I want to try all these different food stands around World Showcase. But with crowds around World Showcase during the Food & Wine Festival, my uncles and aunts are not willing to wait in those long lines after the Canada stand took quite some time.

We head on over to the Rose & Crown restaurant to have lunch. The restaurant is known for their beer and fish & chips. But since we didn’t want to eat a lot at lunch, we shared with each other that day. Our view of World Showcase Lagoon was very nice where you can easily watch Illuminations at night from the restaurant. I have thought about making reservations at Rose & Crown restaurant during Illuminations, but my other party members that went with me don’t want to eat there.

When we got our snack at the Rose & Crown, we mostly got Fish and Chips while my DB had Corned Beef Sandwich. We didn’t want to eat a lot since we do plan on going to the stands around World Showcase during the Food & Wine Festival. We hope that the lines around World Showcase are not that long.

Fish and Chips

Corned Beef Sandwich

After we finished out lunch at the Rose & Crown restaurant, we stared to walk around World Showcase to look at each other different countries. It was really busy around United Kingdom pavilion when we left the restaurant and I knew that it was going to be as bad the whole day. I knew that it was going to be tough to go to the food stands around World Showcase. We just hoped that it won’t be as bad as it looks.

I got a few pictures of the flowers around United Kingdom pavilion.

We walked across the bridge heading on over to the France pavilion and see a lot of the Food and Wine Festival banners.

We were now in the France pavilion.

When we got to the France pavilion, we head on over to the food stand and saw that it was just as long as the other stands.

France Menu sign

While we were in France they wanted to look around while we were here. The whole day was just crazy while the park was busy and the lines for the food stands were bad as well.

After we met up with each other, we started too walked down World Showcase and look at each of the different stands. Just like everywhere else around World Showcase, all the food stands had long lines that were at least 5 to 15 minute wait time.

Belgium Stand

New Zealand Stand

Now we were in Morocco and the stand was busy as well

My uncle wanted to see at the back of Morocco while we were around the area waiting for them.

The day was going so well with all these heavy crowds at EPCOT which was difficult to go to the food stands around World Showcase. I wanted to go to these different stands, but we were not willing to wait that long just for food that day. Maybe it will die down later that day so we just kept walking around World Showcase.

Singapore Stand

Now we were in Japan. It wasn’t busy around the Japan pavilion, but there were quite a lot of people at the food stand.

The Japanese Taiko drumming was going on when we got to the Japan pavilion.

After watching the Taiko drumming at the Japan pavilion, we started to head on over to the American pavilion and passed by the newest food stand at the Food and Wine Festival which was the Florida Local stand.

That is it for this post from EPCOT World Showcase and I will have more from EPCOT and at the American Pavilion of what we have done that day.

 

[PrincessInOz]

Bret - You took some great pictures with your camera and lens. Looks like you've gotten the dark ride technique down pat. Just remember....you're the photographer that takes those pictures. The best camera and lens in the world does not take the picture.....YOU do.

I'm just catching up on your posts.

Sheraton Vistana looks fantastic. It must have been a very comfortable place for you all to stay.
I'll have to look out for that picture of you and your DB at the entrance of Epcot next time I'm there.
WOW! Epcot looks busy! I hope you managed to get everything that you wanted to get done without being hampered by the crowds.

 

[ACDSNY]

Nice update Brett. Wow EPCOT looks really busy, I'm guessing that's due to all the locals attending on the weekends.

 

[mvf-m11c]

Bret - You took some great pictures with your camera and lens. Looks like you've gotten the dark ride technique down pat. Just remember....you're the photographer that takes those pictures. The best camera and lens in the world does not take the picture.....YOU do.

I'm just catching up on your posts.

Sheraton Vistana looks fantastic. It must have been a very comfortable place for you all to stay.
I'll have to look out for that picture of you and your DB at the entrance of Epcot next time I'm there.
WOW! Epcot looks busy! I hope you managed to get everything that you wanted to get done without being hampered by the crowds.

Thank you PiO. I remember your words that you have told me on other posts and during our DISmeet in SF that it is the photographer that takes those pictures. I still have a lot to learn. I am really looking forward to getting some great pictures of IASWH and HMH this coming week at the DLR. I just can't wait to leave in 5 days for my DL trip during the Holiday season.

The Sheraton Vistana Resort is a very nice place to stay if you are not staying on-site. I have stayed these last three years at the SVR and haven't been disappointed by the place.

Our Leave A Legacy picture at EPCOT is easy to spot since it is underneath the monorail track on the right hand side when you enter the park.

Oh boy was it busy that day with a lot of people. But I am not surprised since it was a Saturday while the locals are at the park enjoying the Food and Wine Festival. We could have chose another day, but with my uncles and aunt having a non park hopper ticket, we had no choice but to brave the crowds that day at EPCOT.

Nice update Brett. Wow EPCOT looks really busy, I'm guessing that's due to all the locals attending on the weekends.

Thank you Angela. It was very busy at EPCOT that day.

 

[mvf-m11c]

Day 2 – October 27, 2012 – Part 4​

We left off at EPCOT World Showcase going around looking and hoping to try the food stands during the Food and Wine Festival. But since it was Saturday, there were quite a lot of people in the queues for the food stands. My uncles told me that they are not willing to wait in those long lines for the food since we have ate at Rose & Crown restaurant. I was hoping that one of the stands that I wanted to try during the day would not be crowded. But with everything I have seen so far that day, it was not going to happen unless I am willing to wait in those lines. So we just kept walking around World Showcase.

We approached the American Pavilion and saw that Hops & Barley Market was just as busy or even busier than the other stands that we have seen so far. My uncles were thinking of going in the queue for the Hops & Barley, but they aren’t willing to wait in that long line.

The American Adventure building

After looking around the American Pavilion, we head on over to the next pavilion which was Italy. It was just as crowded around the Italy Pavilion that day. I knew that this was going to be bad of trying these different stands at EPCOT.

We walked down towards the Italy Pavilion to see the buildings.

One of the light posts at Italy Pavilion

Looking at the Italy and Poland stand which are close together and the lines were long.

Looking back at Italy Pavilion as we have entered Germany Pavilion

The Cheese stand

We passed the Cheese Stand and now right next to the South Africa stand

We are approaching China Pavilion and passing by the South Korea Stand

Now entering the China Pavilion. It was quite busy as well so we decided that all the stands were going to be like this that day and just passed by them unless one of them that we wanted to try would be less crowded.

We looked at the China Pavilion. My uncles and aunts have been to China and were amazed how it is almost looks similar to the real thing.

We head on out of China and passed by the China stand

Now we are passing by Norway and it was quite as busy as well.

Passing by the Scandinavia stand

That’s it from this post as we are almost went around World Showcase

 

[PrincessInOz]

Bret - You're a better person than me. I'm not sure I could have walked round the WS during F&W and NOT stopped at anyone or all of those pavilions. I sure hope you had another opportunity with less crowds to try the food.

 

[tksbaskets]

Hi Bret,
I can't believe how crowded every stand is in the WS. I don't think I've seen it that crowded Christmas week. It's too bad you couldn't try any of the items at the food stands but I wouldn't have waited in those long lines either.

 

[franandaj]

I'm sorry you hit such long lines at the F&W, but unfortunately from everything I've read, Saturday and Sunday are like that. Friday evening all the locals come in and there are long long lines. Sunday evening they start to thin out, but the best time for the kiosks are mid week. Hopefully you get another opportunity later in the week when it is less busy.

Great pictures on the dark rides! Mine always seem to come out blurry.

 

[mvf-m11c]

UOTE=PrincessInOz;46686678]Bret - You're a better person than me. I'm not sure I could have walked round the WS during F&W and NOT stopped at anyone or all of those pavilions. I sure hope you had another opportunity with less crowds to try the food. [/QUOTE]

I really wanted to go in the lines for the food during the F&WF, but we are not willing to wait in those long lines. So we decided when we go back to EPCOT on Wednesday we will try them.

Hi Bret,
I can't believe how crowded every stand is in the WS. I don't think I've seen it that crowded Christmas week. It's too bad you couldn't try any of the items at the food stands but I wouldn't have waited in those long lines either.

Hi TK,

All the stands during the F&WF were just crowded and there was no way after the Canada stand that my group wants to wait that long for food. It was also a Saturday where it was busy and touring plans did mention to avoid that park that day. It was bad that we didn't get to try those other stands, but we did end of going to the stands on Wednesday and try them. But that will be another update.

I'm sorry you hit such long lines at the F&W, but unfortunately from everything I've read, Saturday and Sunday are like that. Friday evening all the locals come in and there are long long lines. Sunday evening they start to thin out, but the best time for the kiosks are mid week. Hopefully you get another opportunity later in the week when it is less busy.

Great pictures on the dark rides! Mine always seem to come out blurry.

It was okay, I knew that it was going to be busy but I didn't know that it will be this busy around WS just to get food at the food stands. We did get another chance to go to the stands and they were mostly walk-on'. But I will get to the Wednesday update later on.

Thank you. Some of the pictures turned out well while some of them didn't.


The next update will be up shortly.

 

[mvf-m11c]

Day 2 – October 27, 2012 – Part 5​

We left off at World Showcase walking around to see if the food stand during the Food & Wine Festival would be less crowded. But no luck all the lines for almost all the stands were long that day. So we just kept walking around World Showcase to see if there was a stand that was a short time and the one that we wanted to go and get some food. We also were going to look at the different pavilions while we are walking down.

It was almost around 3pm and we stayed at the park longer than we have expected. We thought that we would be at the park around 1pm and go back to the Sheraton Vistana Resort to rest up until it was time to head on back to EPCOT during the Party for the Senses event that night. But we stayed at park a little longer than we have thought since we have done quite a lot of different stuff at EPCOT. So we decided to head on out of the park and rest up during the afternoon.

The park was busy all day where we had to wait in long lines just to get in the food stand. But we weren’t willing to wait in those long lines and have decided to come back on our 2nd day at EPCOT which is on Halloween day. So we will wait about 4 days to return to EPCOT for the food. I would assume that Wednesday would not be as crowded as Saturday.

On the way out, most of the stands around the entrance of World Showcase were as long as the other stands. So we just kept walking on out of EPCOT.

The Mexico stand

Just like all the other stands, some of them were long that day.

The Australia stand

Argentina Stand

While I was looking at the Caribbean stand and about to take a picture, the CM at the stand wants me to get a picture of them in the stand. That was really nice of him to get a picture of the stand with the CM’s all happy.

We passed through the Terra Marketplace stand which is one of the newest stands during the Food and Wine Festival. It is an all-vegan stand which offers an oasis for those with a vegan diet. The dishes features Gardein products which has vegetable protein foods that provide an alternative to traditional meats.

Just about to leave World Showcase, there were a lot of F&WF signs around the World Showcase.

We started to head on out of the park, but we stopped around a Cranberry bog which is hosted by Ocean Spray company.

After we passed the Cranberry Blog we head on out. But first we had to stop at the wheelchair area so we can drop off the wheelchair and ECV that my aunt and uncle are using. Good thing we got the wheelchair or ECV since they wouldn’t last too long by walking all day.

We dropped off the wheelchair and ECV at the rental area and head on out of the park and back to the car. But before we left, I had to get some pictures of the signs right at the front entrance of EPCOT.

While we were walking towards our car, Monorail Coral was passing by.

When we got to our cars, my uncle’s and aunt went back to the room to rest up. My aunt, DB and I went to Walmart to get some more supplies since we didn’t get everything the other night. Everyone in our group except my DB who had been to EPCOT a lot with me were all impressed with EPCOT. There were some things that we didn’t do that day at EPCOT, but we do plan on going back to EPCOT to do those other activities like the food stands at the F&WF.

It was around 5pm when we got back to the Sheraton Vistana Resort. We only had about 1 ½ hours of time to rest up until we head on back to EPCOT that night for the Party for the Senses event. We were all looking forward to eating at the PftS that night where we get to try a lot of great food and drinks. Everyone mostly rested up during our break while I was on the CPU or iPad uploading the pictures and talking to you on the boards. The day was kind of warm and not that cold and it was going to be a nice night at EPCOT.

Around 7pm, we left the Sheraton Vistana Resort and back to EPCOT. It was a little late of leaving back to EPCOT since the Party for the Senses event started at 7:15pm. I wanted to get a table since we didn’t get a reserved table, so we just hoped that there would be at least a table opened for us.

We got to the park around 7:20pm and we first head on over to the wheelchair rental area to get the ECV and wheelchair since we have bought them early that day. It was nice that we were allowed to get the wheelchair and ECV without charge. It was a nice night where it wasn’t too hot and it was not that full either.

After we got the ECV and wheelchair, we all head on over to World Showcase and to the Party for the Senses event. It was a little busy that night around Future World, but I did expect that it would be busy around World Showcase with the F&WF.

We head towards right to the Canada Pavilion since the entrance to the World Showplace Stage. The World Showplace Stage is between the Canada and United Kingdom where there was a gate between the two lands on the right hand side.

All of us headed on in towards World Showplace Stage

When we got in World Showplace Stage and checked-in at the front door, we were handed a Party for the Senses menu of what is being served tonight as well as a wine glass plus a plate. There were a lot of people in the building and we had to find a table so we can eat at. Most of the chair tables were occupied so we had to use a standing table until we are able to find a sit down table.

The Party for the Senses menu that night on October 27th, 2012

Since we have bags with us that night and don’t want to leave them unattended, I volunteer to wait and let the others to go around the different stations to get food and drinks. While I was waiting, there were a lot of people that were dressed all nice while I was wearing my Cars Land mechanic shirt at Ramone’s. I thought that I should have wear a collar shirt that night instead of that shirt, but there were other people that night that were not dressed all that well.

That’s it for this post and I will show you more pictures from the Party for the Senses event as well as the food. I didn’t post all the pictures from the PftS that night since I want to post them during my updates to my TR.

 

[rentayenta]

Bret, your pics are fantastic as usual. We found F&W crowded as well but not as crowded as your day. I hope you got another chance to sample some during a less busy day.

 

[franandaj]

Glad to see you made it to PFTS. This event is I guess a European type event but most Americans resist the tradition. The Disney suits are constantly in a battle because it is supposed to be a "Stroll and Savor" kind of thing, but all we (Americans) want to do is hunker down in a space and send out "runners" to bring back food. It's always an odd thing because the organizers want us all to behave one way, but every year they have to keep adding "seating" because no one wants to do it the way that they are "supposed to".

I can't wait to see the food pics and what they serve!

 

[PrincessInOz]

I hope they have that Terra stand next year. DH will love it!

Looking forward to food at PftS!