Girls Only Fabulous Food & Wine Fiesta Trip Report - COMPLETED...

[DisneyJo]

Another great update, the glowtini looks so pretty

 

[KayleeUK]

Great update - keep them coming

 

[florida sun]

Im all caught up now, Brilliant reports

 

[eva]

Karen, how wonderful to find 3 more days added since my last visit! Oh how I love that Banfi Rosa Regale Brachetto d'Acqui too. We had it for the first time at the Food and Wine Pairing at Tutto Italia. I have been looking all over for it since we returned, to no avail. Man! The more I learn about you, the more we seem alike. I think I spent at least two hours at the Disney's Days of Christmas. Steve might say more than that. I sure walked out of there a couple hundred dollars lighter. And the World of Disney didn't know what happened when I hit the door. I too have a new watch. But the main event in this store was all the great things for the grandkids. The Lego Store was a big hit for the DGS too.

Great Report!

 

[CustardTart]

I so no what you mean about the Christmas Shop, I love it in there, but whilst I am queuing or waiting while they pack the ornaments, the margarita bar opposite starts a calling me and I normally get the sweats on, it is a nightmare

Oh Jules, I have such a fantastic mental image of you getting the Margarita Sweats!!!

for glowtini . excellent report. your zest for food and beverages of the alcohol variety is inspirational Very good piccies.

Why, thank you! Glad you appreciate my work...

 

[CustardTart]

Karen, how wonderful to find 3 more days added since my last visit! Oh how I love that Banfi Rosa Regale Brachetto d'Acqui too. We had it for the first time at the Food and Wine Pairing at Tutto Italia. I have been looking all over for it since we returned, to no avail. Man! The more I learn about you, the more we seem alike. I think I spent at least two hours at the Disney's Days of Christmas. Steve might say more than that. I sure walked out of there a couple hundred dollars lighter. And the World of Disney didn't know what happened when I hit the door. I too have a new watch. But the main event in this store was all the great things for the grandkids. The Lego Store was a big hit for the DGS too.

Great Report!

Thanks Eva! I was so unsure about the Rosa Regale when it was served - it looked like a sparkling Shiraz which we had last Christmas and I didn't like at all! BUT it was pure nectar... I'm absolutely positive they sell a magnum sized bottle of it in one of the Italy stores - I just hope that wasn't some kind of wishful thinking hallucination...

Ah, the Christmas Shop - it's no place for my man! The last time I went there with Richard there was lots of sighing and much inappropriate leaning against fragile displays of ornaments! It's so much less stressful with DD...

I'm very jealous of you having grandchildren! I'm feeling broody at the moment as I just wanna share Disney with a little one... Where's a stamping foot smilie when you need one???

 

[arieljasmine]

Just caught up, Karen, and really enjoying your reports. The shopping day sounds like a lot of fun especially the Christmas shop which I love too. And to finish off with MNSSHP, perfect.

Laur's

 

[Fiona R]

Oh crumbs, I just ate all that food and drank all those drinks in one sitting catching up from Gatwick. Just off for an Alka Seltzer.

I am very envious of your very Magical Moment at check in......very very envious!!!

 

[CustardTart]

I awoke at around 8am feeling slightly nervous. Today was the day we were off to collect the hire car and I lay there wondering what I'd let myself in for. This was not the time for wallowing in what-ifs so we were soon up and out, strolling around the Crescent Lake towards the Dolphin resort where I'd arranged to pick up the car. We found the Alamo desk with ease and the extremely friendly lady behind the desk dealt with us promptly. I didn't have too much time to collect my thoughts as our Chevrolet Cobalt was brought around to the front of the hotel with alarming efficiency! Nowhere to go now but the drivers seat so I took a deep breath, made myself comfortable and slowly pulled away from the forecourt...

Our car didn't actually look anything like this but it was the same basic model and colour so let's just pretend...

The plan was now to go directly to Universal Studios so, without further ado, my wonderful co-driver/daughter directed us to the I-4! I couldn't believe I was doing it! I was finally driving in Orlando! Sophie found WMMO on the radio and we loudly sang along to assorted banging tunes! The whole driving thing was unbelievably straightforward and before long we were pulling into the Universal Studios parking area. We chose to park for free as we have annual passes and were quickly heading in the direction of CityWalk! Talk about elated! I felt 10 feet tall and, as it was approaching midday, decided to celebrate with an early lunch at Bubba Gump's! The food here was very good - better than I expected, actually. I loved, loved, loved my Salmon and Veggie Skillet - I'm salivating just remembering the delicious garlic herb butter and caper sauce... Mmmm, anyway, Sophie chose a collection of shrimp cooked different ways as well as an awesome Halloween cocktail with commemorative flashing glass - kids eh? As I was the designated driver, I slurped sedately on my diet Pepsi whilst watching the Forrest Gump movie - what else?

I glanced at my watch and decided we really couldn't delay any longer - it had to be time to hit Islands of Adventure. We wandered anti-clockwise around the park and tried out our Front of the Line passes on The High in the Sky Seuss Trolley Train Ride as this hadn't been open on any of our previous visits. OK, maybe I expected too much but I actually thought this was pants and definitely not worth the wait! Talk about short, inaudible and confusing - and that was just the ride attendant! Seriously, this was a disappointment and we left the ride feeling a bit miffed. Actually, that summed up our feelings towards Islands of Adventure that day. OK so we'd decided not to brave any of the BIG rides - we felt we needed the presence of our manly menfolk to attempt such fearsome feats - but even so we just weren't feeling the love. The place wasn't particularly busy but many of our fellow park-goers were ignorant bordering on the downright rude. Definitely no smiley feel-good factor here - just a host of fractious, fed-up and fretful faces! So, after Spiderman, Jurassic Park and a disappointing raid on the retail outlets, we raced over to Universal Studies - and The Mummy ride!

In contrast, our expectations here were low as, the last few times we've visited the original park, we've been disappointed. It has seemed tired and run-down in comparison to it's slicker, younger brother across the way. Not so today. We had a fab time, repeatedly riding The Mummy which has got to be one of my fave rides - ever! We loved it and were on such a high that we virtually skipped around the rest of the park, going on everything. We even went on Earthquake and, as it's now due for closure, I'm really glad we did...

We posed for photos outside the proposed Simpsons ride...

We hooted with laughter at Steven Spielberg's youthful visage in the pre-ride film as we queued briefly for ET and cheered when we heard our names clearly at the end of the ride! I posed with Curious George - his book features in Forrest Gump so it felt right...

I wasn't entirely sure who the guy in yellow was but he seemed friendly enough even if he wouldn't let me try on his hat...

And then I met the man of my dreams - Doc Brown! What more can a gal want in a guy - great hair, loud shirts and a time-travelling DeLorean!!??? The Back to the Future ride might be history but it seems the old guy's still hanging around...

Eventually we made our way back to the car park and smoothly retrieved our vehicle. It didn't seem too late, so we decided to see if we could locate the Premium Outlets mall. Our first shopping expedition was underway! Again the journey was uncomplicated and, before long, we were pulling into the huge car park. I've only been here once before and didn't particularly enjoy the experience but this visit was fabtastic fun. Sophie stocked up on smart shoes and boots for work whilst I went wild in a Yankee Candle outlet! The Fossil store was excellent and I bought a couple of t-shirts for my sons. As the time wore on, our arms became laden with more and more shopping bags so we decided enough was enough and staggered back to the car.

I drove back to the Yacht Club and was briefly confused by having to insert my room key in order to raise the security barrier but managed to negotiate that and find a parking place without resorting to what my youngest DS calls 'scares n' swears'! The handles of our many shopping bags were digging into our hands and, I cannot lie, it was tough to get back to the room. The thought of a restorative glass of concierge red just about kept me going as we headed for the fifth floor...

Finally, we sat in the lounge, nursing a Pinot Noir and discussing our options for dinner. We were tired so decided to stick close to home and asked the concierge to investigate availability at the Yacht Club Galley. A table was readily available and, after being shown the desserts, we were seated and handed menus. This is when it turned into a slightly surreal experience. Sophie decided to make similar choices to those she had enjoyed so much the previous evening at the Grand Floridian Cafe so opted for crabcakes followed by New York strip. Being tired and unable to think for myself, I decided to have the same. I then perused the wine-list and requested a bottle of red. For some reason, this clearly confused the waitress. She awkwardly went away, returned with water for our table and asked again if I really wanted wine!!! What the...??? "Yes," I gently confirmed and repeated my specific request. She disappeared again and a few minutes later another server appeared, this time an older , more assured gentleman. He bowed politely and asked me (for the third time now) if I wanted wine!!! I felt sweat prickle on my brow and began to wonder if we'd wandered into some prohibition-led parallel universe. Gentle reader, I cannot lie, it took considerable self-control to hold onto my temper and reply courteously. Still, I did my best and, in careful English, asked for the bottle of wine even I was now beginning to doubt I actually wanted...

Cue lecture from the server. He asked us our food choices and listened wisely, head on one side, before telling me (in so many words) that I had chosen a rubbish wine. OK. Deep breath time. He suggested an alternative that sounded lovely but was twice the price. Another deep breath and I gently but firmly insisted that we stick with our original choice - I'd had it before so I knew it was fine. Still this guy kept talking - briefly I considered grabbing Sophie by the hand and breaking for freedom but I was just so starving...

I'm going to cut this long and aggravating story short and reassure you, yes, we did get our wine - eventually. And it tasted good. Downright excellent. In fact, if I could remember the grotesque grape's name, I'd recommend it heartily!!!

We had dessert and contemplated a liqueur coffee but just couldn't face the ordering ordeal so we skipped off to concierge-land and made our own... Goodnight!

 

[KayleeUK]

LOL - they didn't want you to have that wine

 

[saratogagirl]

gosh Karen, did you order vinegar? what a fuss, glad you got your wine eventually and enjoyed it

 

[arieljasmine]

I think your self-control is excellent, Karen, I'm afraid I would have lost my temper and walked out (and probably ended up in McDs!) Glad you got your wine eventually. Apart from that, a great day. I love Universal. We saw Doc Brown a few years ago and I couldn't get over how much he looked like the original actor - I see that he still does!

Laur's

 

[CustardTart]

We awoke around 9am and, after consuming our usual vat of coffee, decided to head over to MGM for a little movie-going magic. We caught the boat from the end of the Yacht Club pier and thoroughly enjoyed the ride. Once inside the Studios we headed to Rock n' Rollercoaster for a couple of Fast Passes before popping into the Beauty & the Beast show which was about to start! The warm-up guys were excellent...

...although we were distracted by a couple of love bugs doing their own pre-show performance...

EEK!!! We moved away from the loving couple so we could just enjoy the show. I thought the performance was excellent - Beauty & the Beast is my favourite Disney film and this is a beautifully staged version...

Time for a quick bite to eat, so we used a couple of counter service credits at the ABC Commissary, before joining The Great Movie Ride where we finally got to experience the gangster version of this attraction! We wandered around enjoying the sun, the shops and and the overall atmosphere until it was time for our date with Aerosmith! Now, I have something of a 'love/hate' relationship with this ride - the crazy accelerated start is rather too challenging but, once underway, I really enjoy it - honest... We were soon up close and personal with the band and the screams from the super stretch limos made me feel a little nervous - but I kept a fixed grin on my face until the last possible moment!

We came out of the ride and spent a while browsing in the attached store - one of our faves on WDW property! By now the crowds were building so we decided to leave and catch a bus to the Old Key West resort. Now one of the things Sophie and I particularly enjoy is checking out other resorts and, as we're new DVC members, this pastime has a new relevance. Old Key West is the original DVC development and, with lower point requirements than the other resorts, on paper it looks a great place to try and stay. Having visited this delightful Home Away From Home, I can confirm that it's definitely on our must-do-in-the-future list! The lush landscaping and the relaxed ambience of the Floridian Keys make a winning vacation combination and, over a speciality House cocktail in the friendly bar, my daughter and I were unanimous - we loved it!

Time to move on, however. As we sauntered towards the coach stop, an EPCOT-bound bus arrived so we bounced onboard and settled back to enjoy the ride! Future World was busy, busy, busy so we paused just to check out The Seas with Nemo and Friends ride before moving on and picking up a glass of our preferred pink Moet fizz at the champagne stall. Does it get any better than this?! Nah, I don't think so... We strolled through Canada and the UK, sipping as we went, towards the rear EPCOT entrance/exit. It was now late afternoon and we had to return to the hotel in order to get ready for our dinner date as, tonight, we were blowing two table service credits apiece on the Jiko Signature Dining experience! We planned to arrive at the Animal Kingdom Lodge a little early to explore the hotel and get a feel for the resort as we'd both bought DVC points here earlier in the year.

Our journey to AKL proved a little trying, however, despite careful planning. Back in our room, it had seemed sensible to catch the boat to MGM, walk around to the bus stops and head for the resort from there. Unfortunately, the MGM boat took ages to arrive and we began to get a little stressed! I took photos of Sophie to relieve the boredom...

...but she began to get annoyed so I took a couple of shots of the Yacht Club instead...

Of course, we made it to Animal Kingdom Lodge with enough time to check out the amazing lobby, the animals - and the Victoria Falls lounge for a couple of pre-dinner cocktails! Very relaxing... Before too long, we were being escorted to our table and introduced to our server for the evening. And what an evening! We slowly perused the incredible menu and discussed our potential choices before turning our attention to the most amazing wine list! It didn't take us too long to unanimously decide on a bottle of the fantastic-sounding Chocolate Block from the Western Cape of South Africa!

Our server returned, so we asked his opinion of our food options and he gave us the benefit of his advice. Then we ordered the wine. Or tried to! To my extreme astonishment, after commending our choice, the server not only asked for Sophie's ID but mine too!!! I burst out laughing and said "Good one! You're joking, right?!!!" He smiled warmly back before explaining er... no - he really wanted to see my ID!!! Well, that was a little tough as I had none with me. As I was still laughing incredulously, Sophie confirmed that I was indeed her mother and, after a couple of questions, the server accepted this fact! Which was a relief as, for a moment there, I thought I was close to being denied wine for the second night in a row! Imagine the uproar!!!

But back to the Jiko experience. As far as Sophie and I were concerned, the food was superb, the restaurant outstanding and we both agreed that the men in our lives would ab-so-lute-ly lurve to come here... Sated, we had a browse around the hotel store before taking a cab back to the Yacht Club and bed...

 

[Lizzy Lemon]

Catching up on your report - as for the wine stories, think yourself lucky you were asked for ID, we took our driving licences and were never asked once!!!! Must look our age! And that group at the beginning of Beauty and the Beast, I was taken in thinking he was the sound man checking the mikes to begin with - how daft am I? Don't answer!

 

[arieljasmine]

Wow, Karen, you should be very proud at being asked for ID, though I can see that you wouldn't have been happy at being denied wine again! You definitely look too young to be Sophie's mum Great theme park day and OKW sounds lovely.

Laur's

 

[CustardTart]

Guess what we decided to do this morning? Yes, you'd be right! It was right back into the World Showcase to pick up where we left off in our Grog Guzzling Around the Globe excursion - not an official Disney event but so much fun, you might want to try it... Anyway, time to mooch around in Morocco which is probably my favourite land of all. The gorgeous mosaics, the carvings, the fountain and the fabulous food all create an authentic ambience! Every time we visit we mean to take the Treasures of Morocco tour - and every time we forget or prevaricate! Ah well, next time! Sophie and I checked out the bazaars and fell in love with the ornate coloured glass lanterns - absolutely beautiful but we were concerned about transportation so regretfully decided against making any purchases. This time...

Time to move on and explore a country close to both our hearts - France! Sophie studied in Paris for a year and we lived there en famille for two years when the children were smaller - we definitely share an affection for and continue to have close ties with this capital. We decided to view the Impressions de France attraction and patiently waited for the cinema to open up. We shuffled inside, settled in our seats and the film started... Oh my! The scenery was, of course, stunning but the reportage felt so dated and out of time. IMO it desperately needs to be tweaked - add some footage of Disneyland Paris, Eurostar and the Millau Bridge for starters plus new Parisian scenes... Ah well, I guess that proves that even in EPCOT, everyone's a critic...

It seemed like at least 12 hours had elapsed since our last bevy, so time to queue up and prepare to quaff a glass of champagne! Hurrah! Suitably refreshed, we browsed the redesigned Guerlain boutique and I allowed a saleswoman to paint my face with cosmetics - I don't know why, maybe the fizz had infiltrated my frontal lobe??!! Sadly, the resulting clown face isn't recorded for posterity but imagine something like this...

Mmm, so time to go, methinks... The weather was proving very unpredictable so we left the park and returned to our room. After removing all traces of the make-up explosion on my face, I decided this was a perfect opportunity to retrieve the cases from the closet and begin to pack up some of our purchases. Sophie groaned but I needed to know how much remaining luggage space I had to play with over the next few days! We whiled away an hour or so unpacking and repacking, before getting ready for this evening's entertainment. The South African Wine Adventure back in the World Showplace in EPCOT. The downpour had cleared up and the park was fresh and bright as we returned to the area between the UK and Canada. We were a little early, so browsed some of the artwork that was on display at a nearby stall. Fortunately I now knew exactly how much room I had for purchases and despite being very tempted by a fabulous oil painting that I knew my husband would love, I sensibly (if somewhat regretfully) turned away.

It was now time for the wine-tasting event so we looked for a queue of people that we knew should be forming. Strangely, nothing was happening. The gates to the World Showplace remained resolutely closed and the couple of cast members we asked about the event looked blank and confused. Actually, we were looking pretty blank and confused ourselves, standing there as Off-Kilter belted out some bangin' tunes! After closely questioning different cast members, one of them got straight to the heart of the matter. We were a day early!!!! Sophie and I looked at each other with a mix disbelief and relief - disbrelief, perhaps? Anyway, with the prospect of the wine tasting yet to come, we decided to salvage our evening and head for the Boardwalk.

I have long wanted to eat at Spoodles, so took the initiative and suggested we give that a try. Unfortunately, Sophie agreed and we unwittingly wandered towards the worst dining experience of the vacation. The wait was brief and we were soon seated in the dining room. The extremely noisy, cavernous dining room. Maybe we just chose a bad day to visit but I'm not going to mince my words - the absence of atmosphere, the deafening din and the sporadic service made for a charmless experience. Sophie and I exchanged nervous glances but settled down, Brit-style with stiff upper lips and false cheer, to make the best of it. Sadly, this proved difficult as a neighbouring table had one of those families that find a way of intruding on all around them. However much we tried to tune them out, the high-pitched, hectoring tones of the uptight mother permeated our skulls. Not even a couple of glasses of Sangria could drown this woman out - tho' the prospect of pouring the contents over her head seemed very attractive. A lady at another table adjacent to this family, rolled her eyes at me and I smiled weakly in return - it felt good to know we weren't alone. In the time it took for our food to arrive, the manic mother suddenly decided her infant was anti-Christ material and thereby not worthy of dessert! This poor child was loudly berated and whisked out of the restaurant at warp speed, leaving the shame-faced father to explain to the server, settle the bill and shuffle after them. About 10 people breathed simultaneous sighs of relief and we settled back to savour our food. Unfortunately, as far as we were concerned, there wasn't much to savour as the food was bland and flavourless. We were definitely disappointed and didn't even bother with dessert but left quite promptly and walked around the Boardwalk back to our resort.

The concierge lounge was still open, so we drifted in for a few gorgeous mini-dessert chocolates and coffee before returning to our room and watching TV till bedtime...

 

[arieljasmine]

Sorry to hear about Spoodles, I hate those people who intrude on your conversation no matter how hard you try not to let them I hope you got to do the wine tasting the next day.

Laur's

 

[Merylj]

Great report
We have an ADR for Spoodles and have enjoyed there before, however I think we`ll give it a miss next week! I`ve read too many so so reports lately!

 

[CustardTart]

We woke up this morning with only one thing on our minds! S-H-O-P-P-I-N-G!!!! We showered and dressed in concentrated silence, loaded our Serious Shopping purses and cross-checked our chosen weapons, I mean credit cards - tho' goodness knows I can do a lotta damage with one of these flexi-friends! Anyway, I digress. Suffice to say, we were good to go! Our brilliant blue Chevrolet Cobalt sparkled in the sunlight and we buckled up securely before heading off to the I-4 - and the Florida Mall...

The drive was undemanding and, within twenty minutes or so, we were pulling into a parking space near to the Nordstrom entrance. Getting out of the car, we simultaneously hoisted our handbags, adjusted our shades and put our best foot store-wards...

Between us we had several agendas, having done much research regarding items that the current exchange rate made too good to refuse. Cosmetics, clothing, candles, electronics and over-the-counter drugs were all on our shopping lists so, without further ado, we let our credit cards do the talking!

We had an absolutely fantastic time - getting wonderful bargains that saved us oodles of cash. I had some 'orders' from my sons for electronic products which I quickly got out of the way. Next up, the Yankee Candle store where we both stocked up on a vast number of sweet smelling tarts... I bought a host of wonderful new products from the La Mer counter in Saks 5th Avenue - this is the only skincare range my ridiculously sensitive skin can tolerate on a regular basis and it's virtually half price in the US... Both Sophie and I like Bare Escentuals cosmetics so spent considerable time browsing in this popular store. We also whiled away an hour in Sephora - one of our fave stores which we still miss since it's UK demise... Finally, we hit Old Navy where I bought a gorgeous wool swing coat for silly money and Sophie bagged inumerable bargains...

Eventually, we decided we'd had enough for today and loaded up the car before taking the scenic route back to Walt Disney World and the Yacht Club. We spent a short while examining our purchases before experiencing a little deja-vu and freshening up for the South African wine event - again!

Back out in the World, we strolled through the UK and saw a reassuring queue forming outside the open double gates of the World ShowPlace! HURRAH!!! Our names were quickly checked off and wristbands duly put on before we entered the event. We quickly established that it followed the same format as the Party For The Senses. Around the large room, plentiful stalls offered different South African wines, whilst around the edges, cooking stations delivered delightful delicacies. There were some tables with seating but many more of the smaller higher tables at which you simply stood and enjoyed your choice of offerings before moving off for your next course...

This event was far cheaper than the Party For The Senses and, for my money, just as good! The only downside was the absence of a commemorative wine glass but what the hey! I'm sure I could sort one myself for less than the $150 price difference!!! We had a fabulous time and learnt more from the stall holders about their wines than we did at the previous event. The food was mainly from Boma and Jiko - delicious!!! All in all, I really recommend this Food and Wine Festival event. Just hope it's there next we go...

Stomachs satisfied and our palates pleasantly placated, we decided to head for home and use a couple of counter service credits on a takeaway ice cream confection from Beaches & Cream - at least that was the idea! After seeing the crazily long queue, I decided I didn't want dessert after all, so made my way back to the room, leaving Sophie to stand in line. She was gone a very long time and I started to get a little worried but eventually she turned up, clutching a slowly melting ice cream sundae. Apparently, her choice of ice cream wasn't available from the takeaway window so she decided to wait for a table and order it 'to go'. Which took a while... Mmm, I admire her dedication to dessert but she's made of sterner stuff than me. Anyway, as we had an early start next morning, we quickly got ready for bed and I turned out the light. Night, night...

 

[natalielongstaff]

just caught up with your great reports, ive only ever seen the gangster version of great movie ride.....never the cowboy