Epcot 30: Lurkyloo-king Back on Tomorrow: Celebrating Epcot's REAL Birthday New 11/12

[lurkyloo]

This is the story of my six jammy-packed days at Walt Disney World on the occasion of Epcot's 30th birthday, including D23's day-long celebration capped by desserts in Spaceship Earth's Siemens Lounge, extensive touring of the Food & Wine Festival, a stay in the brand-new Little Mermaid rooms at Art of Animation, a tour of the Creative Costuming Department at Hollywood Studios, and dinner inside The Great Movie Ride (thanks to D23's Sip & Scream event).

I also took my dessert party obsession to new heights when I managed to attend two Epcot dessert parties SIMULTANEOUSLY after D23 scheduled its party to coincide with the Disney Food Blog's Snack Attack!

And You Are...?

Lurkyloo! A Disney bride-turned-Disney-wedding-obsessive whos wringing every last penny from her Disney Parks Premier Pass for trips around Disneys world.


The Trip

* Who is in your party? Just me!

* When did you go? September 29October 4, 2012

* Where did you stay? Beach Club + Art of Animation Little Mermaid wing

* Where did you eat?

• Food & Wine Festival
• Yachtsman Steakhouse
• Beaches & Cream (twice!)
• Inside The Great Movie Ride!

* Any special plans, events, etc.? And how!

• D23's Epcot 30th Anniversary Event
  
• Dessert Party at the Siemens Lounge in Spaceship Earth
  
• D23's Sip & Scream tour of Hollywood Studios Creative Costuming Department
• D23's Sip & Scream dinner inside The Great Movie Ride
  
• Disney Food Blog's Snack Attack dessert party
• D23's Sip & Scream American Adventure/Italy dessert party
• Oh yeah, and Epcots International Food & Wine Festival!

If you get bored and can't wait until the next installment, here are links to my past trip reports and various other online time-wasters...

Some Light Reading: Past Reports

All my past reports are available on the DIS via the links in my signature, but its much easier to find and read them on my blog, here: http://disneytravelbabble.com/trip-reports/


Assorted Other Ways To OD on The Lurkyloos

• Twitter
  
• Disney Travel Babble
  
• The Disney Wedding Podcast
  
• PassPorter's Disney Weddings & Honeymoons
  
• Swazzle (Patrick's puppet company)

 

[lurkyloo]

Let me first apologize: Day 1, the travel day, is always the least eventful. And I’m going to spend three paragraphs talking about the airport before I even get to the Disney part.

I flew from LA to Orlando. Originally I’d been planning to activate the CLEAR pass I bought with a Groupon (CLEAR is one of those services that let you skip the TSA lines by submitting to a background check once), since they require you to do it in person and their only locations are the airports in Orlando, San Francisco, Dallas, and Denver. Fortunately I called ahead and learned that once you activate the pass, you have to wait 10 days to get it in the mail before you can actually use it. ARGH! Since I had no idea when I’d be returning to Orlando or going to any of those other places, I gave up. I don’t know if I’m ever gonna get around to using the dang thing!

Instead, I decided I was going to try to make it to Epcot to register for my two D23 events before the check-in desk closed at 5pm. My flight was scheduled to arrive at 3:45pm. And I’d checked a bag. And I needed to pick up my rental car. Yipe!

We landed 15 minutes early. Hooray! Somehow I had time to fill out the paperwork for the car before my bag hit the carousel; grab the bag; stumble around looking for cut-rate outfit Advantage Rent-a-Car’s tiny, virtually unmarked corner of the rental car lot; and bomb down I-4 to Epcot, blazing past the gate attendant with my Tables In Wonderland card out the window as a parking pass and careening around the parking CM to the front of the lot to nab a recently vacated spot.

As I breathlessly skidded to a halt at the check-in table at 4:45pm, a D23 staffer peered over his clipboard and drawled, “What’s the rush...?” I regaled him with my tale as he rounded up the badges, lanyards, merchandise order forms, etc. associated with D23’s Epcot 30 event and Sip & Scream event the following Tuesday. He also handed me a retro replica “We Can Do It!” bumper sticker modeled on the ones that Epcot’s opening team got.

It got wrinkled... sorry eBay buyers!!!

Hooray! By that time, I was a sweaty mess, so I went to check in at the Beach Club, shower and get tarted up for my solo dinner at Yachtsman Steakhouse. One time—ONE TIME—we got an awesome room at the Beach Club. And now, every time, I hope that this will happen again. It never does.

This was the first time I’d ever been put on the Yacht Club side of the Beach Club. They tried to make me feel better by pointing out that I’d be facing Stormalong Bay. Looking at the map you think, “How bad could it be? At least I’m close to the lobby.” No, you are NOT close to the lobby. In fact, even though your room is so close to the Yacht Club side you might was well be staying at the Yacht Club, there is NO access to the outside or to anything at the Yacht Club, so you have to retrace your steps to the elevators on the opposite side of the Beach Club lobby, go to the ground floor, and then walk all the way back toward the Yacht Club, passing directly under the room you left 2.5 hours before at the start of your trek.

RFID-swipeable keycard in hand and blissfully unaware of the slog ahead, I set off from the check-in desk with a spring in my step. Up the elevators and around the corner I went...

This is a trick with mirrors, right?

Still not there...

Wait, didn’t I pass this when I first got off the elevator?

Still not there...

Home at last!

The RFID key cards are a marginal improvement over the old shove-’em-in-the-lock cards. It’s nice to swipe, but it would be even nicer if the signal went through your wallet so you could just mash your purse against the door when your hands are full. Although I guess then someday when swipe-purchasing is enabled you’d be unconsciously purchasing Duffys every time you walked past a gift shop.

Ever hopeful that the trek would all be worth it for my Stormalong Bay view, I threw back the curtains to reveal...

The roof!

Here, let me use my zoom lens to see if I can find Stormalong Bay...

Huh... well, you’re never in your room at Disney, right? (Right, because you spend 90% of your time WALKING TO AND FROM IT!)

I tried calling to ask to change rooms, but they always always ALWAYS say they’re full or they can only move you on the last night of your stay or they just laugh out loud, put you on hold for 20 minutes and then “accidentally” hang up on you.

Home, sweet home!

I’d been looking forward to the first night of my trip because it was just about the only one where I wasn’t scheduled up to my eyeballs. The only things on the docket were a nice meal at Yachtsman and meeting up with AJ from the Disney Food Blog after IllumiNations.

I got there about 90 minutes before my reservation and got in right away at a fabulous table by the windows overlooking Stormalong Bay.

You’ll have to forgive the bad shots here. Our beloved Sony HX-1 gave up the ghost, and we replaced it with a Panasonic Lumix FZ150 that I *still* haven’t really gotten the hang of. I didn’t realize til I got home how blurry so many of my shots are. Gulp! This one’s supposed to show the fat moon peeping over the roof of the Beach Club...

I mostly took a pic of the menu to remind myself what I ate, but you can look at it if you want!

I think my favorite thing at Yachtsman Steakhouse are the pull-apart onion rolls with spreadable roasted garlic.

My go-to meal at Yachtsman Steakhouse is the Porterhouse for Two, but I kinda couldn’t justify the expense for just one, so instead I tried the 16-ounce Boneless Ribeye with Sweet Onion Jam, Bone Marrow, Brioche and Red Wine Butter.

There’s just no way to make a steak not look gross in photos... sorry!

The sweet onion jam was on top of the bone marrow, which tasted like... oily! And salty! The ribeye was decent—way better than the tough, fatty piece we got at Le Cellier in January—but closer to $29 decent than $43 decent in real-world prices. Impulsively, I ordered the Truffle Mac & Cheese as a side dish when my server told me it could be done without truffle oil. (If truffle oil actually tasted like truffles, I’d like it...).

It still tasted faintly of truffle oil, which made me wonder if the server knew how un-truffley it really is and just sent out a regular order. I did like the fried onion strings on top, the use of orecchiette, and the fact that the cheese sauce was actually creamy, rather than plasticky or crumbly.

My best idea, which I'd been planning for weeks, was to take the little sourdough rolls that came with the onion rolls and put slices of my leftover rib eye in them to make mini sammiches (sliders, if you will) for breakfast the next day. Genius, sez I!

It took forEVER to get my bill at the end of the meal, but I forgot all about that when the server brought some little madeleines with it. Little lemony madeleines that required all my fortitude not to spit out when I discovered their fatal fruity flaw...

On my way back out to Epcot, I noticed a second-floor balcony ringing my beloved Beach Club lobby—how’d I miss that before? I mean, I even took photos on the stairway to the balcony on my wedding day! I went up to investigate and discovered lovely views I’d never seen before.

Lovely, slightly blurry views...

 

[lurkyloo]

Then it was off Epcot to shoot IllumiNations before my meetup with AJ. I thought I was all incognito because it was dark and I didn't have my signature black hat on, yet who should spot me powering past Italy but AJ! And I finally got to meet the elusive Mr. AJ, who is usually sequestered in the room working whenever she and I get together at a Disney park.

They continued on back to Mr. AJ’s natural habitat, while I decided to investigate the view of IllumiNations from Germany. I’m trying to collect shots from all the possible dessert party locations at Epcot, and though Germany is never really mentioned by Disney’s Fairy Tale Weddings, it is an option. I just wish I’d mastered the dang camera first!

Amazingly, there were NO dessert parties going on during the first Saturday of Food and Wine, but I did find a tiny, new-to-me area roped off on the Germany side of Italy Isola. I talked to the event guide standing guard, and he said the area was reserved for Undiscovered Future World tour attendees, VIPs, and “guest recovery,” a.k.a., the customers who complain the loudest.

Germany is interesting because it has a couple different spots jutting out into the lagoon where people can watch from.

It’s also quite attractive to hobos!

Germany turned out to be a nice place to watch IllumiNations from. It’s sorta like France or Morocco, but with no islands in the way. I kind of adore IllumiNations, so you’re going to see a LOT of photos...

 

[lurkyloo]

After the show I booked it back to the Beach Club, where AJ was holding a table for us at Beaches & Cream. I ordered my patented No Way Jose milkshake and she had a brownie sundae with peanut butter fudge instead of chocolate fudge.

When we get together we chatter like magpies, and we talked for so long that we endured THREE clamorous presentations of Kitchen Sink sundaes and finally shut the place down. From there we moved to the Beach Club lobby and talked til something like 1am, when we encountered a still-perky group of Disney Moms Panelists AJ knew, who were just staggering in after a long day in the parks. When they come home to roost, you know it’s finally time for bed, so off we went in our separate directions—AJ to Practically Epcotville and me to Yacht Club Adjacent.

Up Next: D23’s Epcot 30th Anniversary Event + Desserts Inside Spaceship Earth's Siemens Lounge!

 

[cocofifi]

Subscribing. What an entertaining trip report! And your live tweets were fantastic. Thanks for sharing.

 

[Peace Mickey Lovers]

Enjoying your trip report, then again I always enjoy them. Looking forward to reading more!!

 

[lurkyloo]

Subscribing. What an entertaining trip report! And your live tweets were fantastic. Thanks for sharing.

So glad you enjoyed them! You may see some familiar 140-character one-liners in this report...

Enjoying your trip report, then again I always enjoy them. Looking forward to reading more!!

Thanks for joining in!

 

[Stringbean&Wingnut]

I'm definitely joining in - you always have such awesome Disney adventures!!

 

[inkedupmomma]

HERE! SUBBED! But, putting the kiddies to bed! be back to read

 

[inkedupmomma]

Carrie, as usual your writing has me cracking up! Good call on the steak sammy! Now I want one. Like right now!

OK, SO I, honestly, I do NOT love beach club! Like NO want to stay there at all! Especially after the long hallway pics. Looks just like any other Florida hotel to me! Just not worth the extra loot IMO.. maybe you will sway me!

OK, I am also a BAD Diser! I STILL have NOT been to Beaches and Cream! I always forget about it or can't seem to fit it in, but all I want is some peanut buttery goodness in my life while at my favorite place on earth!

Great Illumination shots! It's not my favorite show, but Germany IS my favorite spot to view it!

Did I ever tell you how much I admire how you travel solo? I'm so co-dependent, and well, don't fly, so yeah... I appreciate Patrick being the cool dude he is, and letting his lovey leave so you can report back to those of us who don't fly lol!

Looking forward to the next installment!

 

[AnimalPrincess]

Yay a new Lurkyloo TR!!!!

 

[AnimalPrincess]

Yay a new Lurkyloo TR!!!!

 

[PracPerfPatricia]

Subbing on... Read your trip report to Tokyo/Tokyo Disney and I liked it so much I went back to read your other trippies... They were like very high quality reality tv...

(But they were way better than reality tv and I didn't have to feel so bad for watching people being exploited/exploiting themself...(ok except for Four Weddings...boy- those girls can sling some mud at each other's weddings and My Fair Wedding -the David Tutera Show... although this season he looks like he's getting meaner... he used to be so sweet...

Anyway, I'm staying at the Beach Club at the end of November/ beginning of December and I was looking forward to it but I have to say... some of those halls .... little bit creepy... like I'm waiting to see those two little girls from the Shining... I hope we're closer to an elevator...

You're right...it is hard to make a steak look not gross but as we have ressies at Yachtsman... I'm glad it was good...

I didn't know No Way Jose came in a milkshake... is there a secret handshake to get that...

 

[elphie101]

I see Food and Wine, dessert parties, Beach Club (even if it is practically Yacht Club and involves a lot of the roof), Beaches and Cream, Little Mermaid rooms, and D23 events - plus a Lurkyloo report! (I'm a long time lurker of your TRs) I'm so in

 

[PryncessChrysty]

Nothing makes me happier than a Lurkyloo trip report! Well, OK, maybe some things....but not much. So excited that you're doing a TR for the EPCOT 30th events. I was SO bummed we weren't able to make it out there, but this is really the next best thing.

 

[lurkyloo]

I'm definitely joining in - you always have such awesome Disney adventures!!

Yay! Thanks for coming along!

OK, SO I, honestly, I do NOT love beach club! Like NO want to stay there at all! Especially after the long hallway pics. Looks just like any other Florida hotel to me! Just not worth the extra loot IMO.. maybe you will sway me!

See, this is something I knew on a cerebral level before now but didn't ever really consider. You're paying all this money for the "privilege" of interior hallways at Deluxe resorts, but there are so dang MANY hallways. At Pop Century or Art of Animation I can park, like, 100 steps from my room!

The thing I do love about Beach Club is that you're 5 minutes from Epcot. If you get a room at the end of the Epcot-side wing, that is...

OK, I am also a BAD Diser! I STILL have NOT been to Beaches and Cream! I always forget about it or can't seem to fit it in, but all I want is some peanut buttery goodness in my life while at my favorite place on earth!

Well, I don't want to blow it too far out of proportion for you. It's just Dreyer's ice cream, after all, but something about the soda fountain atmosphere just makes it so much fun. Patrick and I are constantly lamenting the demise of the sit-down ice cream parlor out in the real world...

Did I ever tell you how much I admire how you travel solo? I'm so co-dependent, and well, don't fly, so yeah... I appreciate Patrick being the cool dude he is, and letting his lovey leave so you can report back to those of us who don't fly lol!

I have to admit, Patrick was kinda ticked that I didn't invite him on this trip, but I knew he'd be too busy to go... and he was! I'd still much rather go with him, but I do also love the freedom of a solo trip and not having to worry about whether my plans are gonna delight/entertain/impress someone else!

Yay a new Lurkyloo TR!!!!

Welcome aboard!

Subbing on... Read your trip report to Tokyo/Tokyo Disney and I liked it so much I went back to read your other trippies... They were like very high quality reality tv...

LOL!

I didn't know No Way Jose came in a milkshake... is there a secret handshake to get that...

Well, I like to think I invented the No Way Jose Milkshake, but all you have to do is ask for one made with chocolate ice cream, chocolate syrup and peanut butter sauce (I usually further stipulate that the sauces must be mixed into the shake, not just decoratively swirled around the glass like some wannabe ice cream artistes like to do...).

I see Food and Wine, dessert parties, Beach Club (even if it is practically Yacht Club and involves a lot of the roof), Beaches and Cream, Little Mermaid rooms, and D23 events - plus a Lurkyloo report! (I'm a long time lurker of your TRs) I'm so in

Hooray! Thanks for coming out of lurkdom!

Nothing makes me happier than a Lurkyloo trip report! Well, OK, maybe some things....but not much. So excited that you're doing a TR for the EPCOT 30th events. I was SO bummed we weren't able to make it out there, but this is really the next best thing.

Good to see you! I hope I can accurately chronicle the Epcot 30 events... already I'm looking at my shots from that day and scratching my head trying to remember why I took some of them!

 

[GreatBiscuit]

Most excellent start. Meat, Epcot, Ice Cream. Now that is a FINE night right there my friend.

Followed your link to Swazzle...love the promo video!

Was the car commercial what led to your Japan TR?

 

[CandleontheWater]

I was down there at the same time as you, and also attended the D23 event on the 30th! I didn't get to any of the others, so I'm looking forward to your recaps to see what I missed out on!

It looks like you had a great evening, Yachtsman, fireworks and beaches and cream, awesome!

 

[PrincessShea]

Yea! A new TR! I followed your pictures on twitter so I am anxiously awaiting all the details!

I arrived in Orlando on the day you left. I miss it so much. I swear looking at your photos I could smell the Beach Club lobby, hahahaha.

Can't wait to read more! I always love reading about these fun events that are always scheduled when I can never go grrrrrrr

 

[caralyn817]

I just found your trip report. Can't wait to read more. I'll be leaving next week for our trip. I also love Beach Club, but can't always get in with DVC.