*COMPLETE* "You know he won't remember!" - 9 wk old baby's 1st visit to the World!

[DisneyParkLover]

Happy early birthday to Luke ... he's so cute in that picture where he is being held up

That is one thing I didn't like about doing the meal plan - at times you feel like you are picking the food options that provide the best bang for your buck (i.e., the most expensive items on the menu) vs. what you really want

Thank you!

I completely agree about the dining plan. Don't get me wrong, I love free dining! It feels like a total luxury to not worry about food costs! But if I had to pay for the plan I would not get it. It doesn't really work for the way I usually eat. Normally I just drink water, rarely get dessert, and frequently have an appetizer instead of an entree. But I love ordering a meal that is $70 without even blinking!

 

[DisneyParkLover]

When we left off, my parents were taking the boat from Hollywood Studios to Epcot. DH, Luke, and I drove the car over to Epcot and met them. While they were waiting for us, my dad stopped at Yorkshire County Fish Shop for the meal he had been craving.








And apparently, also took some "selfies"!




Those fish and chips are so good! I wish I had had a chance to eat them this trip. Now that's a real problem - too many delicious places to eat at WDW and not enough time to eat at all of them!

After he finished this, we had made the long walk from the parking lot and we met them at the International Gateway. Our first Food & Wine stop was at France. DH and I had the Escargots Persillade en Brioche (Garlic and Parsley Snails in Brioche) and my parents had both the Escargots and the Boeuf Bourguignon (Braised Short Ribs in Cabernet with Mashed Potatoes).




These were both excellent! I just wish there were more of the Escargots - they didn't go very far splitting them between the two of us. The next stop was Belgium. My parents didn't have anything here, but DH and I split the Belgian Waffle with Warm Chocolate Ganache and Whipped Cream. No picture since I was trying to eat and wear Luke (I must admit he got quite a bit of food on the top of his little head this trip)!

Up next was New Zealand. My parents went all out and tried all the snacks here: Green Lip Mussels with Garlic and Herbs, Lamb Meatball with Spicy Tomato Chutney, and Venison Sausage with Pickled Mushrooms, Baby Arugula and Black Currant Reduction. DH and I had the Mussels and the Meatball. Both of those two were wonderful. My parents said the Sausage was good too, but definitely the least exciting of the three.




My parents skipped Morocco, but since my goal was to eat at every booth we knew we would be getting something here! DH and I split the Kefta Pocket and Baklava. No pictures (see previous excuse ). The Baklava was delicious. I expected more from the Kefta Pocket. I thought it would be more flavorful. Also, there was a disproportionate amount of bread to meat.

My parents also skipped Japan, where DH and I shared the Spicy Hand Roll. This was fine. Not nearly as spicy as I would have expected given it has spicy in the name. I've had better sushi in Alabama.

Next up: more F&W! (continued in the next post)

 

[DisneyParkLover]

Next up was Florida. DH and I split the Florida Grass Fed Beef Slider with Monterey Jack and Sweet & Hot Pickles. My parents ate.....
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nothing! They had the right idea. Just sample a few choice items instead of stuffing yourself silly trying to try every booth! That's definitely what we will do next time! I think we will be able to appreciate the items more if we are not so full.

Next we stopped at Hops and Barley, where each couple got a Lobster Roll with Lemon Herb Mayonnaise to share. This was delicious (again!). Definitely one of my favorite items from the Food & Wine Festival!

DH and I were done with Food & Wine for the day, but my mom stopped at the Cheese booth and had the Almond Crusted Blue Cheese Soufflé with Fig Jam and Once Upon a Vine’s The Big Bad Red Blend. She loved the Soufflé and said the wine was also very good. The Soufflé was probably my number one pick from the festival! I hope they have it again this year!




After this, we got in line to ride the boat back to Future World. Since we had just missed a boat, DH and I knew we would have time to run to Karamell Kuche! I had the caramel bar and DH had the caramel brownie. Then we made a quick stop for a photopass picture.




After our photo, the boat was pulling up so we hopped on and leisurely worked our way back to the car. Once back at Port Orleans, we took a nap and a relaxing swim.




We had to rest up since we were headed offsite for dinner! We went to Boston Lobster Feast. This is a must do for us every trip. We went on our first adults trip (see photo in first post) and we have gone at least once a trip ever since. The lobster is actually very good for a buffet - it doesn't sit out long at all since they are always bringing out fresh batches. We always eat way too many! They also have delicious made-to-order steaks and lobster bisque!




We loved our dinner here and it is already planned for our upcoming trip! We talked about going to Magic Kingdom to watch Wishes, but everyone was too stuffed at this point. But we got lucky enough to catch them from the car on the drive back to the resort!

 

[Dugette]

Now that's a real problem - too many delicious places to eat at WDW and not enough time to eat at all of them!

Isn't that the truth?! On my next trip, I basically plan to have a few hours in Epcot and I'm wondering how I will eat all of the foods/drinks I want. Disney problems... And it won't even be Food & Wine!

You guys did a good job of sampling lots of things. That cheese soufflé thing sounds really good. Yum!

And adorable cake smash picture! Funny story about 1st birthday cake - we were just visiting my grandma and she had a picture out of Izzy with her first birthday cake all her face/arms. Izzy kept getting really upset all weekend when she saw the picture and we didn't know why. Well, today I finally got her to say enough words that I THINK she was upset because "the baby fell into the cake" Traumatic memories, I guess.

 

[schmass]

Thank you! If you think the pics I have posted on here are cute, take a look at this one:



Totally adorable (even if I am biased)!!!

SO CUTE! It's amazing how much they change in one year, isn't it?!

And I'm glad to hear that I'm not the only one who may have dropped a little food on my baby's head while wearing him...

 

[TheMaxRebo]

That is one, well, not really a negative, but one issue with going during F&WF is there is so much you want to try and don't want to skip something for fear it winds up being the best thing.

Also, it causes you to not have anything else at EPCOT. Was trying to figure out how it could be that we have never eaten at Sunshine Seasons and I realized it is because we basically always go during F&WF so that is where we get our food

We did the same thing as you and tried everything at New Zealand and had similar reaction to you. I was surprised how much I liked the meatball and the sausage was not very exciting - though the salad that came with it I thought was very good.

 

[daisygirl902]

Just finally catching up on the last few posts...I was busy having a baby!! Sawyer Zane was born on July 27 and is very happy mommy is researching so much so we can have the best trip ever! I'm lucky because so far he's a good sleeper, eater, and all around happy and healthy baby. 57 days till he meets Mickey Mouse!! And because he came a week early he'll be exactly the same age as Luke was on this trip

 

[DisneyParkLover]

Isn't that the truth?! On my next trip, I basically plan to have a few hours in Epcot and I'm wondering how I will eat all of the foods/drinks I want. Disney problems... And it won't even be Food & Wine!

You guys did a good job of sampling lots of things. That cheese soufflé thing sounds really good. Yum!

And adorable cake smash picture! Funny story about 1st birthday cake - we were just visiting my grandma and she had a picture out of Izzy with her first birthday cake all her face/arms. Izzy kept getting really upset all weekend when she saw the picture and we didn't know why. Well, today I finally got her to say enough words that I THINK she was upset because "the baby fell into the cake" Traumatic memories, I guess.

So funny about Izzy! I'm excited for the days when Luke can talk enough to tell me what he is thinking! And I agree about too many yummy foods and too little time. Good problem to have, though!

 

[DisneyParkLover]

Hoping to finish in the next couple weeks! Want to beat my self-imposed 9/27 deadline!

 

[DisneyParkLover]

SO CUTE! It's amazing how much they change in one year, isn't it?!

And I'm glad to hear that I'm not the only one who may have dropped a little food on my baby's head while wearing him...

I know! It goes so fast!

 

[DisneyParkLover]

That is one, well, not really a negative, but one issue with going during F&WF is there is so much you want to try and don't want to skip something for fear it winds up being the best thing.

Also, it causes you to not have anything else at EPCOT. Was trying to figure out how it could be that we have never eaten at Sunshine Seasons and I realized it is because we basically always go during F&WF so that is where we get our food

We did the same thing as you and tried everything at New Zealand and had similar reaction to you. I was surprised how much I liked the meatball and the sausage was not very exciting - though the salad that came with it I thought was very good.

I agree! And we have not been to Sunshine Seasons for that reason! We also haven't tried a lot of the recommended snacks as we do most of our snacking at F&W.

 

[DisneyParkLover]

Just finally catching up on the last few posts...I was busy having a baby!! Sawyer Zane was born on July 27 and is very happy mommy is researching so much so we can have the best trip ever! I'm lucky because so far he's a good sleeper, eater, and all around happy and healthy baby. 57 days till he meets Mickey Mouse!! And because he came a week early he'll be exactly the same age as Luke was on this trip

Congratulations!!! How exciting! Pictures?

 

[daisygirl902]

Here he is at 1 day old:

And yesterday at 5.5 weeks old:

 

[DisneyParkLover]

Today was an Animal Kingdom day. We got up and headed out pretty early. Not rope drop, but pretty close. We are aiming to hit RD most days on our upcoming trip, but we only made it on two days of this trip (and one of those was only because we had an early dining reservation). But at least we did pretty well on this day! First stop was the safari. We always seem to go there first! Does anyone else seem to have a pattern like this? In AK, we always seem to head towards the safari first. In MK it's usually Tomorrowland. In DHS it's Sunset Blvd. And in Epcot it's usually The Land. Not to say we never stray from these habits, but more often than not we gravitate towards the same things first.

Here are some safari photos for your enjoyment:
















And here's one of Luke looking around at everything from his cozy vantage point in the carrier (and a protective mom cradling his head for any bumpy parts!).



Next up: more AK!

 

[DisneyParkLover]

Here he is at 1 day old:

And yesterday at 5.5 weeks old:

So cute!!!

 

[Dugette]

Safari is often our first AK stop too. Always nice to catch the lines short and the animals out enjoying the morning. Looks like Luke had a nice, cozy ride.

 

[DisneyParkLover]

Safari is often our first AK stop too. Always nice to catch the lines short and the animals out enjoying the morning. Looks like Luke had a nice, cozy ride.

He definitely did! Can't wait for our next trip - he loves animals so much now. He is going to have a great time! It was really funny, we went to a fair in town last weekend and there was a giant dancing chicken. Luke was SO excited. He ran right over to him and wanted the chicken to pick him up. All I could think was, if he is this excited about a giant crazy chicken, a big mouse is going to be no problem!

 

[DisneyParkLover]

So I failed at my first goal of being done with this trip report by the one year anniversary of the trip, but that just makes me even more motivated to hit my second goal of finishing before our next trip. 33 days!!

Our next stop after the safari was Dinosaur! We had a great time.






In fact, we had so much fun that while my parents rode, DH and I decided to recreate the ride for Luke so he didn't miss out!




We decided to head over to It's Tough to be a Bug next. I love this show! I am hoping that Luke is not afraid of it on our upcoming trip. On the way over to the Tree of Life, we saw a photopass photographer so we had to stop!








As you can see, Luke was very excited about the whole thing! After that it was on to our original destination. We had a short wait for the show. It was pretty crowded and thus quite hot in the waiting area. Or maybe it was just hot because I was wearing a warm, sleepy baby!




We enjoyed the show and worked up quite an appetite. So we headed over to try Flame Tree BBQ for the first time.




We all ordered the same thing: Ribs and Chicken Combo - served with baked beans and coleslaw. We were divided on desserts - a couple of us had Key Lime Mousse and a couple had Chocolate Mousse.




So what did we think? We loved it! All except for the chocolate mousse. We all agreed it was gross! But we have already agreed that this will be a must hit every trip! We also enjoyed the beautiful view.






The wildlife apparently enjoy this restaurant too. I was a little surprised by these beautiful birds...






...and very surprised when I saw this gator!




He was just hanging out, right beneath the restaurant! I asked the nearest CM about him, and the CM said that it happens all the time. The alligators find their way into the water and when they get big enough to be a threat Disney catches them and releases them at an alligator refuge. Pretty cool!


Up next: heading out of AK and an afternoon at DTD!

 

[Dugette]

Good luck finishing before your next trip! (I've already had two trips happen since the TR I'm still working on...oops).

I love the Dinosaur re-enactment for Luke!

Wow, that's crazy about the gators!

 

[DisneyParkLover]

Good luck finishing before your next trip! (I've already had two trips happen since the TR I'm still working on...oops).

I love the Dinosaur re-enactment for Luke!

Wow, that's crazy about the gators!

Thanks! If we go more than once next year I definitely won't finish each one before the next one! I just don't have that much free time with a full time job and a toddler.