Tuesday, October 23rd - A Segway or Perhaps a Segueway to Good Eats...
We started the morning early with a Segway Tour around the World Showcase. This was something that Jay and I had been wanting to try for some time ... Epcot offers the 2-hour experience daily in four time slots - we opted for the 8:30 AM tour because once it was over we'd only have a 30-minute wait for the World Showcase to open and soothe the grumblies in our tumblies.
The price has increased since we took the tour (of course ...
) but there are DVC,
AAA, AP, and Disney Visa discounts available. The first hour of the tour is actually spent at Innoventions learning how to operate the Segway without killing yourself or any innocent by-standers. I have to tell you ... there were a few moments there when I was ready to "opt-out" and ask for a refund because me and that Segway were not on the same wavelength at all. I am not a graceful person, as you may have gathered by the tag indicating that I trip on painted lines in parking lots. It's no joke ... I actually tripped on a painted yellow line in a bank parking lot some years ago on my way in to work. Segways are very sensitive to the slightest movement and require balance ... something else that I don't have a plentiful supply of in either a physical or philosophical sense. But I didn't want Jay to be disappointed in me and I didn't want to be a quitter so I toughed it out and with a little extra help from the CM leading the tour (a super nice guy who's been using Segways for years) I managed to get the hang of using one of those infernal contraptions.
The second half of the tour is the really fun part when you get to Segway out of Future World into the World Showcase. The Segway parade is a hoot because all the guests stop and gawk and point. It sure made us feel special all for the bargain price of $70 per person! We were able to tour each country in the World Showcase and in some areas, like China and Italy and Japan, we zipped in and out of pathways and arches and zoomed down ramps. Keep in mind, that zip and zoom are rather subjective terms because they set a speed cap on the machines so that we couldn't go too fast. But for a scaredy cat like me it felt zooooomtacular and zip-zap-grabulous!!!
Along the way we got some interesting commentary about the different World Showcase venues, none of which I remember at this point, and then we stopped in Italy for pictures and random playtime.
Notice how the helmet only brings out the dorkiness in some people?
Another thing that I really like about Disney's backstage tours is that at the conclusion each participant usually receives a cool pin as a momento. And so it was with the Segway Tour:
It's got a moving dude on a Segway!!
Once we were finished and I had re-acquainted myself with my land legs, it was time to eat!! So join us now for some snacking around the World Showcase ...
again.
First lunch:
The Domincan Republic
At the end of your perilous journey ... food and beer await you!
Food offerings: Mofongo; Pastelon de Platanos Amarillos; Coconut Flan.
Beverage offerings: Presidente Beer; Presidente Light Beer.
We were still deferring to Jay's tummy at this point in the trip, but today he seemed to be feeling pretty good. So our first choice was Mofongo and some Presidente Beer.
Ball o' mush, shrimp, and beer ...
I don't know much about weird, scary, and spicy foods from other places, so I had to ask Jay what the heck mofongo was ...
It's mashed up plantains with some garlic and spices added in. It wasn't bad, all things considered, but I let Jay eat most of it. The shrimp were tasty - cooked just right with a hint of garlic and pepper. As for the beer, it really wasn't anything special; it kind of reminded me of a heavier version of Bud Light.
Second Lunch:
Peru
The tastiness of your food makes up for this awkward location...
Food offerings: Cause de Cangrejo; Arroz con Pato, Lucuma Cream with an Alfajores Cookie.
Beverage offerings: Tabernero Gran Rose; Tacama Gran Tinto; Tabernero Cabernet Sauvignon; Tabernero Borgona.
Let the feast begin!
OK ... here's what I remember ... the crab ball on the cornbread ala' postage stamp sponge was really good, although I could have done without the liquid runoff. The meaty rice jumble was not to my taste - it had a really strong flavor that I didn't care for at all. And the lucuma cream was a joy! The CM at the cash register warned us about it - she said that the stuff was so good that she could no longer be trusted to work inside the food booth because she would eat all of it!
We were skeptical until we tried it ourselves ... it was thick and cool and creamy with a light caramel flavor. Jay and I played dueling spoons to determine which of us would get the joy of finishing off the last few bites.
Epcot had a "cultural" area set up near this booth where there were cooking demonstrations and some authentic Peruvian goods being sold. That was kind of cool, but then they went and ruined it with some silly, stereotypical cutouts... and of course we had to make use of them!
This is just wrong ...
A friendly warning, by the way, don't ever play the Llama song. Trust me.
Third Lunch:
Greece
It's Greece!
Food offerings: Greek salad; Spanakopita; Karydopita.
Beverage offerings: Boutari Moschofilero; Boutari Naoussa; Tsantalis Rapsani; Creta Olympias Xerolithia.
Welcome to the land of brain fart ... somehow we forgot to take a picture of the food. We ordered the salad, which was good except for those big nasty olives, and the spanakopita which was also good. We washed them down with some Boutari Moschofilero, which was a light, white wine with just a hint of sweetness.
Fourth Lunch:
New Zealand
Where is everyone?
Food offerings: Marinated Seafood Salad; Lamb Slider; Kiwi and Custard Roll.
Beverage offerings: Villa Maria Sauvignon Blanc; Villa Maria Cabernet-Sauvignon-Merlot blend; Villa Maria Chardonnay; Villa Maria Pinot Noir.
We chose the lamb slider and the seafood salad...
This looks interesting...
The lamb slider was very good ... tender meat with good flavor and while I didn't care for the gravy (I don't really like gravy) it did help moisten the bread which was a tad dry. I think the slider would be better with mustard.
The seafood salad was all Jay's ... too many weird, cold, squishy things. Wanna see it up close and really yucky?
I'll take the squid platter with extra tentacles, please.
Since we had dinner reservations at Narcoosee's later in the evening, which we actually kept this time, we decided to stop the snacking before we ended up too stuffed. There is one last set of pictures I want to share only because I didn't realize how they turned out until I was back in the room looking through them and laughing myself into hysterics.
During F&W a lot of birds congregate in the grassy areas near the Canadian and UK pavillions. It was no different on this day ... there were tons of ducks and Ibis (is the plural of Ibis ... Ibi...Ibii...Ibises???) but they had clearly marked out their respective territories.
Ibis to the left, please...
Ducks to the right...
Although you only see one duck here, there were several waddling behind him. It really started to look like both groups of birds were massing for some kind of battle.
And then we took this picture of an Ibis having a Braveheart moment:
"I'm not finished! Before you leave, your commanding Ibis must cross this field, stick his head between his legs, and kiss his own asteric!"
Mission Accomplished!
OMG, Dh would have a fit if I poured Vodka (even very good vodka)into his cherished German Eiswein! Even with the less expensive Canadian icewine, he would not be a happy hubby..
She then exclaimed "Yuck this is gross!". Then she proceeded to give everyone in line a detailed description of the not so delectable dessert! So we were spared the ultimate disappointment that our Dear Ms Brenda unfortunately experienced.
from us. But Iced Tea?? 
Puuleeeze, is Oklahoma a "DRY" State?
I do it for fun and I take a lot of pride in putting up reviews that are informative (hopefully) and fun to read. Unfortunately, when you're an anal retentive perfectionist like me, that requires time.
Brenda 
with The Ship of Thieves on the West Bound Panama Canal Repositioning Cruise that starts in 4 weeks and 2 days!!!! (Time to send his little green butt eastbound!!!) 
Just a quick question... I notice you host your pics on Photobucket, and I was wondering how you manage to not go over your monthly bandwidth thingummer. Is it like paid Photobucket, or do they just really love you? I wanna make sure all my pics from our upcoming trip show when I do my dining review...
). Thanks for all your insights and hoping RL is getting better.
