Celebrating 20 years at WDW - Bonus features, A few posts from May, Updated 9/11

[franandaj]

Awesome... I get to post the EXACT same 2 photos when I get there on mine. HAHAHA. Great minds and all that.

Hey, if you didn't want to hear the answer....... don't try to pull things out of my head! (insert evil laughter)

Besides, I didn't explain them..........or does that make it worse?

I'm not sure getting inside anyone's head is a good idea! Them can be some sceeery places!

Okay, fine. You win!

I'll be the first to admit that I almost never mention my commits.

Darned auto correct! Too much posting from the phone!

I'm familiar with it... and had a sneaking suspicion that's what would happen.
Besides... I don't want to speed read. I like "hearing" the narration and characters.

We listen to our books (well me, Fran reads on her tablet), I find I have a much higher retention rate and the folks reading the books make the characters come so much more to life than if I just read it.

She's under the table everyone! Cross your legs!!!

Oh soooooo many ways you can go with this one!

Staaaaaaaawp, you two!!!

REALLY!

Fun morning sorry Fran wasn't up to going out though.

You are making me hungry with all this yummy food!!!

Yeah, the first part was a planned absence, the second was not. I could use some yummy food about now!

Well, that sucks. Sorry you have to deal with that. But good thing you checked!

Yeah, better to know now when it's easier to fix.

Disney not wanting to make money? Perish the thought. Maybe some of those people came through that buy 30 of everything so they can sell it on eBay.

True, I shoulda checked eBay!

Sorry, this has nothing to do with anything, but whenever I hear about gazpacho, I think of the Simpsons. In one episode, Homer threw a BBQ party. Lisa is becoming a vegetarian so she tries to hijack the BBQ by offering everyone gazpacho instead. Someone shouts, "Go back to Russia!" which never fails to crack me up.

Hope you guys had a great one!

Well it was uneventful. A Facebook memory from 7 years ago popped up the other day, and reminded me that spending Thanksgiving alone just the two of us is not all that bad.

Cool, that looks like fun!

It was a nice thing to do in WS that didn't involve over stuffing ourselves and we still were engaged in our surroundings and not (too) buried in our phones.

Hey, those are quality items!

Perhaps, but I'm not wiping my lips with Beaver Butts!

What an awesome group of people!

We had a blast!

Amazing how they didn't come up with that.

I would have needed several shots to even consider watching it!

Can you believe I watched all three of them?

Yes! Stop ruining desserts with dead grapes!

Now I'm kicking myself for not stopping in there. Those would have been great Rob Your Neighbor gift this Christmas.

You mean "White Elephant" or "Dirty Santa"?

And they were so nummy! Like frozen lemonades. I couldn't even taste the alcohol at all and they were perfect on that hot day.

They totally were, I think I got another one later in the game.

They definitely changed the recipe or something. I couldn't believe how tough the crust was on yours too

I had forgotten about the crust being so tough. Yeah, I couldn't even cut through it with my fork!

How was this? It looks delicious and was on my list but I never got it.

I'm glad Fran was feeling better by the end of the day but it was a bummer we missed her. We had a great time that day!!

It was great! I only got the one shot version and it totally packed a punch!

So. Much. Chocolate. How did I not know there's a chocolate studio????

Of course there is!

But could you even yell loud enough to hear yourself over the "debate?" Maybe you should have just hung out in La Cava for a few more hours.

That probably would have been a better use of our time.

Looks delicious. I clearly didn't eat enough for breakfast this morning.

I know how you feel.

Italy? Yeah, that's where I'd go to find a margarita.

I know! I didn't even realize that Italy had a margarita!

Nooo!!! Don't ruin a perfectly good apple based dessert with raisins!

See! Another vote against dead grapes.

I'm glad she was feeling a little bit better. After your pool/hot tub time and her day of rest you should be all ready to enjoy the evening.

 

[franandaj]

After we did some online surfing on our computers, we left around 5PM for Epcot. This time instead of going over the bridge towards France we headed towards the UK where we would find kiosks from the British Isles. Our first stop was at Ireland.





On my first visit to F&W this was my most favorite booth as I loved the Fisherman’s Pie. It’s still good, but not my favorite savory treat anymore. It doesn’t taste quite the same as I remembered.



We also got the cheese plate, it was good enough, but it was a cheese plate. To make it special you really need to add some honeycomb or other spectacular ingredients.



After we ate our savories, I sent Fran back for the molten center chocolate cake. I had her get two as in the past they were about the size of a half dollar or smaller. It was double the size of the cakes in the past! Still delicious!



We moved on to Scotland next.





Here we got one each of the food items, but no drinks. Here is the Scottish Lamb Stew with Neeps and Tatties. The stew was good and I was fine with the tatties, but not so much on the Neeps, which are Turnips in American speak.



I was dubious about the potato pancake, but I ate around the salmon and it was excellent! I wanted to come back and get one without the salmon, but I was never hungry enough when passing the booth.



The laird cake was mostly good but I thought that the layer of oats were a little out of place. Fran says the Scots put oats in everything to keep them regular.



So far we had not ordered any adult beverages so I had us stop at the Refreshment Port for a Dragonberry Refresher with Bacardi Rum. It was very tasty and packed a nice punch.



Fran could not resist the siren song of the Cronut.



She wanted to go to Canada next, but the line was tremendously long. I told her that it would be much better to visit Canada earlier in the day as the line was full through the entire queue that they had taped off on the ground. Instead we moved on to the Wine and Dine studio.





We got a scallop, pork loin and wine & cheese which came with wines to match each kind of cheese. The wines and cheeses paired very nicely together, we actually ate them last, sort of as our “dessert” course.



Here is the pork loin, I thought it was really good.



The scallop was cooked perfectly, and very tasty. I kind of had to chuckle a bit. I overheard a girl in line saying, “Well, I’m not going to pay $5 for just one scallop!” I guess she and I eat in different restaurants because I’m used to an appetizer serving as one scallop and often times they are $9, sometimes even $13-16!





I thought this area was nice they way that they had it decorated.



People were just lounging around on the fake grass and enjoying their foods and beverages.



I got another glass of red wine to go and we headed over to mouse gears. I didn't find anything I wanted.

On our way back to the room, we stopped by W&D again and I got a Goldie with our vouchers. For those of you who don’t know, Goldie is the Chardonnay that is made at Kurt Russell’s winery. You pretty much can not buy his wines at a store. You either need to attend a dinner where his wines are featured or find them at F&W. I was lucky enough to meet him two years ago at a Wine Dinner.



After that we headed for the room. I did a little bit on the computer and went to bed.

 

[krrrristen]

Getting caught up on trip reports. Hello there!

Being a whiskey girl, I really wanted to try the Tipsy Laird. Unfortunately it's not gluten free

I don't normally get scallops as an appetizer, but sometimes I'll get them for a meal and it will be $30-40 for ~7. Seems about on par with Disney.

I walked through a few times at night and caught lots of people lounging on the grass. Always wanted to make it back there with some desserts to just lounge, but didn't quite have this time during my visits this year.

 

[IowaTater]

You mean "White Elephant" or "Dirty Santa"?

Kind of the same premise. Our version is played with dice and after the gifts are doled out, then it's time for robbing.

The rest of your F&W day looks wonderful. I had the cheese trio from Ireland as well and pretty much had the same reaction.

 

[afwdwfan]

Looks like a delicious f&w evening. I'm sorry you had to bypass Canada but it sounds like everyone must have been craving some of that cheese soup.

 

[orangecats2]

I had the cheese soup at the kiosk back in 09 and I was not a fan. Too many vegetables I didn't like and too thin. My cheese soup is really thick and I can put in vegetables that I like.

 

[irene_dsc]

Some of those treats look like fun. The Scottish ones make me think of Outlander. Lots of whiskey and porridge (oatmeal) were featured in the books!

I'm definitely not used to scallops being that pricey. But, they are probably frozen anywhere near me, anyhow, so that is probably why. I do love good scallops. Yum. (I also rarely go to seafood places. Because, well, Midwest. Far from ocean.)

My sister used to host a New Year's Eve party with a big white elephant gift swap right after midnight. It got pretty crazy sometimes! Beaver balm would've fit right in! Iirc, she used to call them Useless Gifts.

 

[GoofyFan1515]

Tequila does have that affect on folks!

Some more than others...........

That is true. I have not had a bad meet up with anyone on here yet!

I'll take that as a complement

Very true. Plus evidently we had some discussions that can't be posted here.

More fun that way for all of us that were there.

I asked Fran about this and she doesn't remember either!

Was it a little naughty.......yes. Was it inappropriate......certainly not to me, or for that particular crowd for sure! It also had a lot to do with Fran's impeccable timing. There was that little delay and then........BAM!

Yeah, but if you don't remember you can't talk about it.

Blame it on the tequila! Oh wait, you already did.

I'm not sure getting inside anyone's head is a good idea! Them can be some sceeery places!

That's the truth..........since I'm guessing you MUST be talking about Liesa.

Oh soooooo many ways you can go with this one!

And in this case........ESPECIALLY when talking about Liesa!

On our way back to the room, we stopped by W&D again and I got a Goldie with our vouchers. For those of you who don’t know, Goldie is the Chardonnay that is made at Kurt Russell’s winery. You pretty much can not buy his wines at a store. You either need to attend a dinner where his wines are featured or find them at F&W. I was lucky enough to meet him two years ago at a Wine Dinner.

Great pic of a superstar! But who is that guy in the picture with you???

 

[Pinkocto]

Oh the siren song of the cronut, that is such a perfect phrase

I've discovered some really good gluten free donuts but nothing that compares to cronuts


My eyes jumped down to the Kurt Russell picture before reading and my immediate thought was that you got to meet him again. That was just so cool!

 

[dolphingirl47]

The band weekend sounds like a lot of fun, but hard work, too.

Our last part of cleaning any apartment is the kitchen. On a whim I decided to run the dishwasher and make sure that it worked. You never know about appliances in your tenant's apartments, especially when they have lived there for a long time. The first bad sign was when water started to come out the dishwasher overflow valve and spill into the sink. The second bad sign was when we started to smell some sort of “electrical burning”. We turned off the dishwasher and unplugged everything under the sink. It turns out that it’s a mess under there, leaks from on top of the counter, leaks from the dishwasher. We had already decided to replace the stove in there, but now we’re looking for a dishwasher too.

It is a good job that you decided to run it. This could have been really dangerous.

I love this Magic Shot.

Peanut butter and white chocolate mousse. It was OK. PB was too viscous when placed next to the mousse.

This sounds delicious. What a shame that the combination did not really work.

Liquid Nitro Almond tart, it was good but not to die for IMHO

What a shame. I don't usually have a sweet tooth, but this blew my mind last year.

The nitro truffle was not done half as well as last year.

What a shame.

Cruises ate especially fun because someone can be on the exact same cruise and have a completely different experience.

I know what you mean. I have read some posts on our cruise meet thread today and also some reviews for our cruise and I have the strong feeling that we were on a different cruise.

I got the schinkennuddeln which was yummy!

I love this dish. It is so simple and yet so delicious. I may have to make some the next evening that I am not on late shift.

They had it last year, not sure beyond that.

Last year was the first year for Remy's Hide and Squeak.

Corinna

 

[mvf-m11c]

Nice to see that you and Fran had a lot of food during the F&W Festival that day. There were times where I got a lot of different dishes during the F&W Festival but it is nice to see other types of dishes that I didn't try in October. The cronut was one of the dishes that I wanted to get but I was so stuffed that I missed it. But I was able to get the dole whip during my visit.

 

[franandaj]

Getting caught up on trip reports. Hello there!

Being a whiskey girl, I really wanted to try the Tipsy Laird. Unfortunately it's not gluten free

Well that's a bummer! I try to eat gluten free only for a dietary thing, but not as a requirement. I sort of let that go to the wind when it comes to vacation. I ended up gaining 5 lbs on this trip eating gluten an desserts!

I don't normally get scallops as an appetizer, but sometimes I'll get them for a meal and it will be $30-40 for ~7. Seems about on par with Disney.

Yeah, they are pricey anywhere. If you are getting them cheap you are not getting quality scallops and they are not prepared well.

I walked through a few times at night and caught lots of people lounging on the grass. Always wanted to make it back there with some desserts to just lounge, but didn't quite have this time during my visits this year.

I never find the time to lounge even at DCA, we are still rushed regardless. There is just not enough time in the day!

I had the cheese soup at the kiosk back in 09 and I was not a fan. Too many vegetables I didn't like and too thin. My cheese soup is really thick and I can put in vegetables that I like.

See I love the celery and onions in the soup. I need to remember to put that soup in the rotation while it's cold here. We only have a few more weeks before it starts to warm up again. Thank you for that reminder. I love to make this soup!

Some of those treats look like fun. The Scottish ones make me think of Outlander. Lots of whiskey and porridge (oatmeal) were featured in the books!

Funny I would not have thought of Outlander as they ate so much more simple food than what was served at the Scotland booth! We are fans of the books, but we listen to them, the last one we heard was the (now I can't remember the name) but it's the one where Brianna and Roger go back and Claire & Jaime's house go up in flames, but the new gets it wrong because they don't have the right plates. We have the next two and I"m not sure why we don't listen. Perhaps we are afraid of cliffhangers but we have two more books!

I'm definitely not used to scallops being that pricey. But, they are probably frozen anywhere near me, anyhow, so that is probably why. I do love good scallops. Yum. (I also rarely go to seafood places. Because, well, Midwest. Far from ocean.)

Yeah, I'm used to about $10 for one scallop as a appetizer.

My sister used to host a New Year's Eve party with a big white elephant gift swap right after midnight. It got pretty crazy sometimes! Beaver balm would've fit right in! Iirc, she used to call them Useless Gifts.

I've only done them at parties for square dancing and then we adopted it for our band parties. Even though we don't attend the parties any longer the tradition stands. I'm sure no one has any idea who started it.

 

[pkondz]

Fran would never try it and my second trip that I rode, I was a little hesitant, but the Green Team was so mild that I decided I wouldn't second guess myself on riding Orange Team again.

Alberto was thrown off for a whole day after riding it.

I had a similar experience. "Hey gang! Green was fun! Let's try Orange!"

Yeah, well she thinks diet Mtn Dew is a hydrating beverage and rarely drinks just water.

I'm the same. I rarely if ever drink just water.

I think you're in the minority around here when it comes to dead grapes.

I know.

I guess I just lucked out!

All right! Alison got lucky!
You go girl!

I can see how that would happen as your trip was so short.

Whadda ya mean that's not me?????

When I posted that, I thought of something really clever.


Too clever. I have no idea now.

Same place you get a Cronut!

Really??? Is that new?

I still have to do the next update...I've been working on a novel for the past few days....

:
(And I haven't read the last chapter yet!!)

 

[pkondz]

We listen to our books (well me, Fran reads on her tablet), I find I have a much higher retention rate and the folks reading the books make the characters come so much more to life than if I just read it.

Interesting! I never listen to books..... unless I'm doing a solo road trip. Then I really like them.

Oh soooooo many ways you can go with this one!

 

[pkondz]

Love the grass roof. Nice touch.

On my first visit to F&W this was my most favorite booth as I loved the Fisherman’s Pie.

That looks interesting. I didn't even have it on my radar, somehow.

We also got the cheese plate, it was good enough, but it was a cheese plate. To make it special you really need to add some honeycomb or other spectacular ingredients.

Or add the right company. Might I suggest a middle aged Winnipeg lad?

After we ate our savories, I sent Fran back for the molten center chocolate cake. I had her get two as in the past they were about the size of a half dollar or smaller. It was double the size of the cakes in the past! Still delicious!

That was all at Ireland? Huh! Not bad.

Okay buddy. What exactly are you doing behind that sign???

Here is the Scottish Lamb Stew with Neeps and Tatties.

Looks good. Love a good stew.

The stew was good and I was fine with the tatties, but not so much on the Neeps, which are Turnips in American speak.

Answers my question.

Fran says the Scots put oats in everything to keep them regular.

She's probably right.

Fran could not resist the siren song of the Cronut.

Would you believe I didn't have one this trip?
What the H is wrong with me?!?!?

She wanted to go to Canada next, but the line was tremendously long.

We're popular, ya know.

We got a scallop, pork loin and wine & cheese which came with wines to match each kind of cheese. The wines and cheeses paired very nicely together, we actually ate them last, sort of as our “dessert” course.

Wow! That looks amazing! No wonder there was a big line.

Here is the pork loin, I thought it was really good.

Looks good.

I’m used to an appetizer serving as one scallop and often times they are $9, sometimes even $13-16!

Whoa. I tend to cook my own, so I'm not paying that kind of coin.

I thought this area was nice they way that they had it decorated.

Nice. And nice shot.

I got another glass of red wine to go and we headed over to mouse gears. I didn't find anything I wanted.

Who are you???

For those of you who don’t know, Goldie is the Chardonnay that is made at Kurt Russell’s winery.

Didn't know. But makes sense he'd call it that.

I was lucky enough to meet him two years ago at a Wine Dinner.

Cool!

 

[Captain_Oblivious]

After we ate our savories, I sent Fran back for the molten center chocolate cake. I had her get two as in the past they were about the size of a half dollar or smaller. It was double the size of the cakes in the past! Still delicious!

Double the chocolate is double the fun!

Fran says the Scots put oats in everything to keep them regular.

I like you, Alison. You're a regular gal.

Fran could not resist the siren song of the Cronut.

Well, who can??

The scallop was cooked perfectly, and very tasty. I kind of had to chuckle a bit. I overheard a girl in line saying, “Well, I’m not going to pay $5 for just one scallop!” I guess she and I eat in different restaurants because I’m used to an appetizer serving as one scallop and often times they are $9, sometimes even $13-16!

I'm with her--I can use the $5 on another cronut!

 

[Steppesister]

Was it a little naughty.......yes. Was it inappropriate......certainly not to me, or for that particular crowd for sure! It also had a lot to do with Fran's impeccable timing. There was that little delay and then........BAM!

OH boy! It was quite a night. I'm still cracking up so hard, every time I remember it. Or don't.

That's the truth..........since I'm guessing you MUST be talking about Liesa.

And in this case........ESPECIALLY when talking about Liesa!

HEY!!! Am I being disparaged here?! It was a collective "Life of the Party".

 

[Steppesister]

It’s still good, but not my favorite savory treat anymore.

OH, but it sure was mine! Mmmmm!

The wines and cheeses paired very nicely together, we actually ate them last, sort of as our “dessert” course.

Then... done properly. Cheese IS dessert!

“Well, I’m not going to pay $5 for just one scallop!” I guess she and I eat in different restaurants because I’m used to an appetizer serving as one scallop and often times they are $9, sometimes even $13-16!

I"m on her side. I'd pay $13-$15 for a full meal of them, but no way that for 1.

I like you, Alison. You're a regular gal.

 

[Paula Sedley-Burke]

Looks like a great time at F & W. Jo and I amuse ourselves at the UK and Irish menus ( Southern Ireland is an independant country and not part of the UK they would shudder... ) . Who varifies the menu? Fishermans pie sure a classic. But chocolate pudding? The irish like a darn good cup of black tea with milk not herbal. My Mum and Dad ( Irish ) would shudder. They always have a 'brew' on the go.

I like tatties and we say potato cakes. Not pancakes. I love these. But never mind.. Lol. No vege haggis this year at least!

Oh my re blondie wine and you meeting Kurt Russell. That guy is great. How lucky. I wonder why his wine is so rare now it sounds nice.

Lol re that lady complaining about $5 scallop. A perfect scallop like you say can command a high price here. I will give you $5 for one anyday!

I imsgine she won't be first in line for the new Remy $650 per person private dining for 20 guest only option. You and Fran will be rushing to book this next time on The Dream or Fantasy I expect like Jo and I....

 

[franandaj]

Some more than others...........

I'll take that as a complement

More fun that way for all of us that were there.

Was it a little naughty.......yes. Was it inappropriate......certainly not to me, or for that particular crowd for sure! It also had a lot to do with Fran's impeccable timing. There was that little delay and then........BAM!

She gets those little zingers in, not all the time, but enough that I laugh and then shrug it off. I'm still trying to figure out what she said.

Blame it on the tequila! Oh wait, you already did.

That's the truth..........since I'm guessing you MUST be talking about Liesa.

Actually I was thinking about myself!

And in this case........ESPECIALLY when talking about Liesa!

Well I don't know her that well, to go where I was going, but as I said, family board.

Great pic of a superstar! But who is that guy in the picture with you???

Awwww....you're sweet.

Oh the siren song of the cronut, that is such a perfect phrase

See o can resist. On our way somewhere Fran had me stop in this donut store where they sell ham & cheese croissants. She asked for a maple bar, I got a cinnamon roll, and I was paying I saw the entire tray of cronuts. They looked pretty good, but I told myself that they're not as good as I remembered, and resisted.

I've discovered some really good gluten free donuts but nothing that compares to cronuts

Well I'm glad you've found things to satisfy that sweet tooth that don't cause you harm.

My eyes jumped down to the Kurt Russell picture before reading and my immediate thought was that you got to meet him again. That was just so

I couldn't resist posting it again!

The band weekend sounds like a lot of fun, but hard work, too.

It is. I think I need another day or two afterwards just to chill out. Maybe next year since we won't have a big trip near the time of that conference.

It is a good job that you decided to run it. This could have been really dangerous.

And I have a rather interesting development when I post the next update.

I love this Magic Shot.

Thanks!

This sounds delicious. What a shame that the combination did not really work.

Well it was just me. @Dis_Yoda really liked it.

What a shame. I don't usually have a sweet tooth, but this blew my mind last year.

I remember you went back several times, so I had hoped it was going to be good.

I know what you mean. I have read some posts on our cruise meet thread today and also some reviews for our cruise and I have the strong feeling that we were on a different cruise.

It is amazing how different servers and just a few activities can change each person's view of the cruise.

I love this dish. It is so simple and yet so delicious. I may have to make some the next evening that I am not on late shift.

I had never heard of it before but I figured it somehow incorporated spaetzle or something similar. I'll have to look into recipes.

Last year was the first year for Remy's Hide and Squeak.

I remembered several people hunting for him and wondering if I'd missed out on something before.