Go Home Teetah, You're Drunk. F&W Fantasies Fulfilled! Oct 14 TR - FINALLY COMPLETE 8/31!

[Teetah]

HELLO EVERYONE!!!!!

So the memory remembering begins. I have to say this trip was incredible. It was both relaxing and exciting. We didn’t push ourselves too hard, but we definitely did SO MUCH. Introductions!



ME:
I am Tara, aka Teetah (pronunciation: teetaw). My nephew gave me that nickname when he first started trying to say "Aunt Tara". Later we found out from a Philippine friend of mind that "Teetah" is very close to the word "Aunt" in her families native language, (insert joke about my nephew's real father), which we all found rather bizarre. So, it stuck and now most of my friends and my husband's family call me that.

My passions include: Disney, guitar, piano, fashion, photography, and motorsports!

The HUBS (Tim)

He isn't QUITE the Disney freak I am, but he is huge into detail and engineering, so Disney (especially Epcot) suits him just fine.

He is big into playing drums, motorsports, classic cars and making stuff out of metal.


First, my apologies for the delay in a TR. When I returned home, I started a new job. My previous job had ended on October 8th. The new job I took required lots of energy and time up front…and I was not happy there. So, I continued my job search. Honestly, when I took the job, my gut was telling me not to. Go with your gut if you can, people. I found another position and have since made a switch! I am MUCH happier with this employer!

Onward to the trip! If you read my PTR, you know that we spent the first few days of our vacation in Greenville, SC, visiting my sisters. My parents didn’t make it to the party. However, we had so much fun! It was great to see my close family that I don’t see much. We then flew to Orlando and stayed at Loews Pacific Royal Resort on Universal Property. Because we had a flight delay in SC, we ended up moving our WWoHP day to the following morning. I knew we wouldn’t be there more than half the day, as I only wanted to see WWoHP. I did not have the expectation of seeing every detail, so I knew we could do it.

I will report on the days with my sisters and WWoHP, but I will do that last. This way you don’t have to scroll thru them if those parts don’t interest you. Aren’t I thoughtful?

I will warn you if you read my PTR– we made numerous changes to my original plans throughout the trip. If you recall, I stated that I am not a HUGE planner. I like to have an idea of what we are going to do, but not kill myself to actually have to do it all. If something doesn’t work out or we change our minds or are just plain tired, I have no problem making adjustments. I refuse to get caught up in “doing it all”. I also wasn’t a great note taker, so I will do my best. I drank quite a bit too…so, if there are missing pieces, my apologies...although you probably gathered that from my TR name...

Now for the fun!

Continued in...FINALLY!

 

[Teetah]

FINALLY....

As we made our way from Universal over to Disney, we knew we were home when we saw this lovely, lovely view!



Our goal was to motor thru check in, throw our stuff in our room, change and be on our way to F&W! When we got to check in, we could tell something was wrong. Before I could say anything, the CM at the desk was launching into an apology that the MB system was down and we could not be checked in. I am sure my face fell, but I just said, ok thank you. She asked for my name and when I told her and she looked me up, she said, “Oh wait – you checked in online?”. Um, what? I have a tendency to be kind of..sarcastic...mostly just out of humor. I DID pass up this opportunity to say, no, this 30 year old female in front of you NEVER checks in online ahead of time.



Often I must pass these opportunities up with strangers because you just never know if someone will understand you are joking…and she was already very flustered. Poor girl. So I just smiled and said, “Yes ma’am”! Then she proceeds to tell me that if I have checked in online then I should be fine. She was able to look up my room and by George, it was even ready! Happy day! She handed me my packet and a map and explained how to get there.

One thing we did differently on this trip was rent a car. I was hoping for a room far from as much noise as possible, which means it is usually a trek to the buses. I also like to have the opportunity to run to a store or something like that if I need to. Or if we change plans and want to go somewhere…it just gives flexibility. Then we, of course, had to get to Universal from the airport then to Disney. It only made sense. If we needed/wanted to use the buses, we could.

We drove through the resort…which was just as beautiful as I was hoping for (pictures on our last day)…and found our building and room with no problem! Here are a few fun room photos for you:









We had been able to get a Garden View upgrade with an even less expensive rate than a Standard room thru one of the discounts. We were on the top floor but still near the elevator. Being relatively young and spry, having the view is more important, so we prefer this! I also didn’t bother sending in my fax with a room request. Due to the busy-ness right before we left, it just wasn’t a priority. I was fine with what we ended up with.

I have heard lots of issues with MagicBands. And I imagine with the whole system down thing, many had issues. However, I will report that we had zero issues the entire time we were there.

Next Up:
F&W Introduction - Day 1 - Australia thru Mexico

 

[Teetah]

F&W Introduction - Day 1 - Australia thru Mexico

This was the first time we have experienced the Food & Wine Festival. I had obviously read quite a bit online, but man, it blew me away!

Once we were settled in our room, we changed and headed to Epcot. This being the first time I had been back to the World for a couple of years, I was just overjoyed to be back in the Parks. You all know that feeling…crazy mix of super excited and somewhat emotional.



It had been a bit cloudy all day, but I DID NOT CARE. I WAS FINALLY HERE!







At this point, we headed straight for The Festival Welcome Center to grab our Passports and get to eating! The Passports are now pretty shoddy – I will show them to you when we get to the end of this trip.



Then it was time to try our first booth! We walked thru the craft beer area, but we were not very impressed with the selection. We had drank almost all those beers before and could get them at home. This was probably my one complaint about the Festival…craft beer area wasn’t REALLY craft beer, IMNSHO. So, that comment is out of the way! Because it looked like it was going to rain at any moment, we just headed for the first booth we saw, which was Australia! Here are our selections and reviews:



Tim chose the Garlic Shrimp with Roasted Tomatoes, Lemon Myrtle and Rapini. He said the shrimp was great, but was not a fan of the sides. I had the Lamp Chop with Mint Pesto and Potato Crunchies. The lamb was tasty, but it was a bit on the fatty side for me. I was hesitant about the mint pesto at first, but I didn’t get much mint flavor, which is what I would have preferred. The Crunchies were just fine. As a drink, we tasted the Coopers Brewery, Original Pale Ale. This beer was a nice addition to our dishes and was cool and refreshing.

I will say this was a pretty decent first foray into the F&W Festivities!

Next up was New Zealand! We only had our eye on one choice here, but we did want to attempt (at this point, anyway) to get something from every booth since we were going to be there so long. I will go ahead and let you down now…it didn’t happen. Womp womp.



Oh well! At the NZ booth, we had one order of the Lamb Meatball with Spicy Tomato Chutney. Tim is a HUGE meatball fan, so he was looking forward to that. We both thought it was fine. Good spicy-ness. But, nothing to write home about. Only the Dis.



Next up was Patagonia! Here are our selections and thoughts:



Roasted Verlasso Salmon with Quinoa Salad and Arugula Chimchurri – this was DELICIOUS! The salmon was cooked perfectly and I love quinoa and am always looking for new ways to use it. The chimchurri was an excellent side to the dish!



Grilled Beef Skewer with Chimchurri Sauce and Boniato Puree. Tim said the beef was dry, but had good flavor and he liked the puree!



Pascual Toso Sparkling Brut - this was super tasty but also had a super strong flavor!

We stopped by the Terra booth next, but we were not interested in any of the food selections. We tried the Red Bridge Ale, though and it was AMAZING! We loved it! We loved it so much we forgot to get a photo! Oops!

The rain gods decided it was time and the flood gates opened!



I never really knew what flood gates were until I had to Google Image. Huh. The things you learn while writing Trip Reports.

We ducked into a store to wait and I bought this delicious morsel and proceeded to stuff it in my mouth. Actually, I ate it while I was waiting to pay for it. No shame.



The rain wasn’t letting up, and this was a good chance to take a break anyway, so made a break towards Mexico! We went in and rode the Three Cabarellos, which I LOVE! Mexico is probably one of my favorite stops in Epcot. We puttered around Plaza de los Amigos for a few, but I was saving my pennies for more F&W!






We peeked back outside and it was still sprinkling. We noticed the Cantina de San Ángel had several open tables, so we ordered margaritas to beat the humidity and had a seat for a bit. Tim always gets frozen and I always get on the rocks. I am hard core like that.



Next up: Does the rain stop???????!!!!!!!! Of course it does. Then it starts again. This IS Florida.

 

[TheLittleKatie]

Hey Tara! I'm following along with your trip report I'm going to my first F&W festival this year, so I'm excited to hear about your experience and see your photos!
I also looove POR, I hope you enjoyed it there

I was not happy there. So, I continued my job search. Honestly, when I took the job, my gut was telling me not to. Go with your gut if you can, people. I found another position and have since made a switch! I am MUCH happier with this employer!

Yay! Congratulations on your happy job!!

…and found our building and room with no problem! Here are a few fun room photos for you:

Love the room photos, we stayed in a royal room back in 2012. What building were you in? We were in Oak Manor and LOVED it

I have heard lots of issues with MagicBands. And I imagine with the whole system down thing, many had issues. However, I will report that we had zero issues the entire time we were there.

I'm happy for you guys that you didn't encounter any magic band meltdowns! I was bracing myself for you having a bad time there when you tried to check in. I actually really like the new system!

This was the first time we have experienced the Food & Wine Festival. I had obviously read quite a bit online, but man, it blew me away!

YAY!

Next up was Patagonia! Here are our selections and thoughts:



Roasted Verlasso Salmon with Quinoa Salad and Arugula Chimchurri – this was DELICIOUS! The salmon was cooked perfectly and I love quinoa and am always looking for new ways to use it. The chimchurri was an excellent side to the dish!

Thanks for the food reports so far! But this salmon dish.. OH WOW. I LOVE salmon, and this looks so good. I've made a note to look out for it at Patagonia this year!

Looking forward to hearing more!

 

[CQuinn]

Joining in!

 

[bearybubba]

Joining in too. We are attending our first F&W this fall. Looking forward to more pics of the food you tried...

 

[bbak30]

Joining in! We stayed in the Royal Rooms last time and they were lovely!
Can't wait to hear more about Food and Wine--looking forward to experiencing it ourselves for the first time in October this year!

 

[MrsSkellington]

The rain wasn’t letting up, and this was a good chance to take a break anyway, so made a break towards Mexico! We went in and rode the Three Cabarellos, which I LOVE! Mexico is probably one of my favorite stops in Epcot. We puttered around Plaza de los Amigos for a few, but I was saving my pennies for more F&W!

Yess! Finally someone that shares my love of the Caballeros! I love those little guys. No one else appreciates them. We're also going during F&W this October, but we are getting an ADR in Mexico. You just have to! I'm looking forward to reading more!

 

[romitaz]

Following along. We were there for our first F&W late last October and are going back this year! I love reading about everyone else's experiences. We are going Value resorts this time and are going to use the extra money to try out some of the dining experiences this time. I heard some were fantastic.

 

[kemomurp]

Love it already, so hoping to do F&W in the near future

 

[skier_pete]

Geez - about time you get started on this...mine's been done for months! How are you going to remember what you guys did? I have to write them quick or else my whole TR is "and then we did...something...i can't remember..."

I'm just teasin' you because we're friends now. Yup - can't wait to appear at some point in the TR - DWs and my appearances are a highlight of ANY trip report. At your current pace, figure we'll see that post sometime in August. (See - still teasin')

Seriously though - we tried a lot of the same food. Since we DID try every booth we even dug in and attempted something at the Terra booth. Nothing quite like fake chicken! Blech! I was trying to remember what we did on a rainy day, but we actually weren't in Florida just yet.

Look forward to more!

 

[patches07]

Hey Tara! I'm following along with your trip report, I'm excited to hear about your experience and see your photos!

 

[Teetah]

Love the room photos, we stayed in a royal room back in 2012. What building were you in? We were in Oak Manor and LOVED it

Oak Manor here, too!! It was fantastic! Thanks for following along - I am watching yours, too...and I have fun news coming up!

Joining in!

Joining in too. We are attending our first F&W this fall. Looking forward to more pics of the food you tried...

Joining in! We stayed in the Royal Rooms last time and they were lovely!
Can't wait to hear more about Food and Wine--looking forward to experiencing it ourselves for the first time in October this year!

Following along. We were there for our first F&W late last October and are going back this year! I love reading about everyone else's experiences. We are going Value resorts this time and are going to use the extra money to try out some of the dining experiences this time. I heard some were fantastic.

Love it already, so hoping to do F&W in the near future

Hey Tara! I'm following along with your trip report, I'm excited to hear about your experience and see your photos!

Welcome and thank you all for joining me! Update coming VERY SOON...plus maybe a new PTR!!!!!

Geez - about time you get started on this...mine's been done for months! How are you going to remember what you guys did? I have to write them quick or else my whole TR is "and then we did...something...i can't remember..."

I'm just teasin' you because we're friends now. Yup - can't wait to appear at some point in the TR - DWs and my appearances are a highlight of ANY trip report. At your current pace, figure we'll see that post sometime in August. (See - still teasin')

Seriously though - we tried a lot of the same food. Since we DID try every booth we even dug in and attempted something at the Terra booth. Nothing quite like fake chicken! Blech! I was trying to remember what we did on a rainy day, but we actually weren't in Florida just yet.

Look forward to more!

PETE! Hello! Say hello to the Mrs. for me!!!! Yes, yes, go ahead and poke fun. I have been terrible! Update coming soon! I am sure you are anxiously waiting for your cameo. I am definitely hoping to finish by August...but it IS almost June...

Yess! Finally someone that shares my love of the Caballeros! I love those little guys. No one else appreciates them. We're also going during F&W this October, but we are getting an ADR in Mexico. You just have to! I'm looking forward to reading more!

I AM SO GLAD TO FIND ANOTHER THREE CABALLEROS FAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WELCOME!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Teetah]

We enjoyed our margaritas thoroughly….REALLY thoroughly. Life had been stressful as of late and we were finally starting to feel like we were on vacation (don’t forget, we had already been to South Carolina to see my sisters plus spent a day at Harry Potter World before we made it to WDW).

Once the rain cleared, we head back and took in Hawai’i. Now, before I rave about this stop, let me say that I RARELY like sweet with meat. I don’t like pineapple pizza or pineapple burgers or honey ham or anything of that sort. If I was in Hawai’i, yes, I would eat it because when in Rome. I don’t HATE it, but it seems like such a waste to put sugar with good meat. I REALLY like meat.

(Go ahead, snicker. Chuckle a little. Get it out of your system.)

All better? Good.

The Kalua Pork Slider with Sweet and Sour Dole Pineapple Chutney and Spicy Mayo WAS MY FAVORITE FOOD AT F&W!!!!!!!! It was wonderful. Fantastic. Amazeballs. Lord, this many months later, I still want one. NOM NOM. In the best and worst way.



To go with it, we had the Maui Splash Sweet Pineapple Wine. It was also great! But man, nothing compared to that slider. Looking back on it, maybe my food inhibitions were lowered due to the amount of alcohol I had already consumed plus the heat? Not sure, but I will fondly remember that stop for years.

Next up was Scotland. Honestly, things start to get fuzzy here for a bit. We really had it in our heads that we didn’t have THAT much time to get everything sampled, so we were really trying to get lots in. Also, alcohol. We had the Seared Sea Scallop with Spinach-Cheddar Gratin and Crispy Bacon. It was good – we both enjoyed it!

And…our beverage at Scotland…um, see, well I think maybe I am Scottish. We tried each offering of Glenfiddich. I didn’t get a photo. I SHOULD have. Really. Because who tries 12, 15, and 18 year whisky and doesn’t get a photo? THIS GIRL. I recall it being fantabulous. We are both whisky drinkers, so we had fun here.

I remember that line being rowdy. We were with likeminded folks, I think. It was also starting to get along in the evening…

We rambled over to Ireland…I also remember it being delish. We had the Lobster and Seafood Fisherman’s Pie and the Warm Chocolate Pudding with Kerrygold Irish Cream Liqueur Custard. For drinks, we had the Chilled Irish Coffee featuring Bunratty Potcheen (does anyone know what that actually is?) and the Kerrygold Irish Cream Liqueur. I do recall enjoying all of it. Barely. But, I recall it.



Then we stopped. Because good grief. CALM DOWN, T&T (what our friends call us). If we hadn't stopped, this would have been a night for the trip report name:

Go home, Teetah. You're drunk.

Totally kidding, we had a blast! But we did stop here. Because guess what was on our agenda for the evening….lets just say we headed this direction:



A dreamy boat ride…

 

[skier_pete]

Those pork sliders were delicious! I don't think it was your inebriation level.

 

[Teetah]

Many apologies for the short update previously. This one is a bit long and has video.

We wandered out of Epcot and towards Yacht Club. We had booked an Illuminations Cruise. I WAS SO EXCITED! Ever since I found out about these, I have wanted to go on one. They are expensive, and I know many people split it up with others, but we decided to splurge and keep it just to ourselves.

I had never been in Yacht Club, so we wandered in to ask where exactly we were supposed to go. It had started to lightly rain a bit again. I also kept slipping because…well..there were these flip flops I had for years and refused to give up because I couldn’t find anything like them. They were REALLY worn. And the water on those wooden boards…well, I fell a couple times. Also, alcohol.

Yacht Club was so awesome! And to be so close to Epcot! I vowed to stay there one day...I feel a PTR coming on...

The CMs in Yacht Club helped us figure out where to go. We had a little time to kill, so we headed over to see the lighthouse.



At that point, I didn’t take nearly as many photos as I should have been taking. I was also tired of dealing with high ISO grain. For all you fellow photogs out there. We were starting to get a bit tired and ready to chill for a bit. Photos went out of my head. We found the boat dock and let them know we were there for the cruise, got checked in and paid up. We found a bench and sat for a bit while others started showing up. Our Captain, Scott, came over and introduced himself. We chitchatted for a minute and he asked us why we had booked the cruise. We told him this was our first F&W and it was for our anniversary (which is in May, but the FWF isn’t in May, so this was partially our celebration this year). He told us he was going to get our boat ready and would be back in a few minutes.

He did return shortly and took us to the boat. He had decked it out in balloons and a Happy Anniversary banner! This is typically something you have to pay extra for! It was so kind! He also offered us beverages and snacks, but we only took some water, as we were pretty stuffed. This is also something you are supposed to pay for! A little pixie dust to start off this boat ride…

We started playing with the Go Pro and trying to get it ready to catch some video. This trip is the first time we have played with hit much. You can see our first little video featuring me not realizing what was happening (so I have open, gaping mouth in part of it), as well as see our Captain!

http://youtu.be/kmuw0EHzCtE

We left the harbor and started our journey. There was still a bit of rain, but it was stopping. Let me just tell you right now. If we didn’t already think Captain Scott was amazing, we were going to be convinced then! He was such an entertainer. He had been doing this particular job for over 20 years. He has another day job, but refuses to give this one up. He told us some wonderful stories (which I am not going to share here, just in case you ever get to encounter him yourself) and took us on a special little jaunt that none of the other Captains take their cruises on. He pointed out some things we would never have noticed and gave us some awesome historical tidbits of the area.












We just can’t speak highly enough of Captain Scott. Should you get the opportunity to do this in the future, definitely ask for him.

We made it to our spot where we were going to watch the show and I was just amazed at the view. No people in front of us. No pushing or shoving. In fact, I could barely see any other people at all because most of them that we could see were behind us on the bridge. It was such an experience. As the show started, Captain Scott asked if we would like him to walk us thru each item that was happening during the show up until the fireworks. We happily said yes, of course! So as the show started, he guided us through the show and gave us more tidbits of extra information we had never heard before. We did Go Pro the whole show – note this is our first experience with this camera, so forgive us for it not being QUITE what we would have liked. Either way, it is an unobstructed view of Illumiations…enjoy!

http://youtu.be/ua9yl-NoIZA

On our way back after the show, we took a little more video – so you can get a little feel for it here:

http://youtu.be/d54smFYuDsw

I could go on and on about this all day. Regardless of the cost, we will try to do this cruise every time we are at F&W. We will take our family if we get a chance someday. We will ALWAYS insist on this experience. I just can’t explain to you the level of service and entertainment this was. And we will ALWAYS request Captain Scott.

Next Up: Day 2: KTTK & More Flip Flop Problems

 

[CowgirlMama]

That pork slider looks amazing!

 

[skier_pete]

Really liked the illuminations cruise when we did the share. Don't think I could ever bring myself to pay $300+ for it , though. It cost me about $160 for my family of 4 when we did it - that would be about my limit of "value".

 

[Teetah]

Really liked the illuminations cruise when we did the share. Don't think I could ever bring myself to pay $300+ for it , though. It cost me about $160 for my family of 4 when we did it - that would be about my limit of "value".

I feel ya. I think we all have those different points when it comes to value. I don't think we would do it again without splitting it. But, it was great for us nonetheless!

 

[skier_pete]

The Illuminations cruise we did was all DISers too, so even though we didn't know anyone, it was a lot of fun. One of the guys was a high-end photographer, so we got high quality photos without having to take them.