I think I gained 5 pounds at the Food & Wine Festival - An Oct 2012 TR **NEW 3/18**

hey jenny just seeing how you guys are doing from the storm.
hope you are well.

Hi! We're ok. Going to post an update about the storm soon. Thanks for asking :)

Aaaahh....nothing like relaxing by the pool with a couple of drinks! We didn't get to do this too much this time because Sandy was making it too cool and windy. Glad you guys were able to relax!

It was the most relaxing Disney trip I've ever had! Ugh. I hate Sandy.

What a relaxing start to your day! Your pictures of AKL are beautiful (and you look great in all the pics as well)!

Thank you! :)
 
Hi everyone! I'm still here. Hurricane Sandy interrupted our lives for a bit but I'm back. We were very lucky; we only lost power. It went out around 9 on Monday night when the storm hit and came back very early Thursday morning. Work was closed all week because they didn't have power. We kept ourselves busy by visiting our parents. We stayed at Kris's parents on Tuesday night - they never lost power. They live up near the NY/NJ border in the mountains. We went to see my Mom on Thursday. She lives near the Raritan Bay area which got hit hard. She didn't get her power back until yesterday but luckily that was the only thing she went without. The areas closer to the water are destroyed. The church around the corner from her house was turned into a command center and the military police took it over. They were giving out water, ice, and army meal everyday so she was able to eat and had things she needed.

The downtown area of our town never lost power so we kept ourselves busy by going to the movies (saw Argo and Wreck It Ralph - I recommend both!) and out to eat. What's weird is that our street has power but the streets surrounding ours are still out. My co-worker said his electric company called him and told him not to expect power until Friday. I hope he gets it before then - he has no heat and it's gotten very cold here.

I'll have a trip update for you guys hopefully by tomorrow. Trying to get back into the swing of things at work today. Hope anyone else effected by Sandy is ok!
 
So glad you got power back! My boss lives in New Jersey too and STILL doesn't have power. They said Friday by the earliest-- I feel terrible because it is SO cold. Also, they're predicting something of a storm tomorrow. Just awful! We only lost power for a few hours on Monday night and I was in FL for it, thank god! Zach did go crazy without his TV/Internet though!
We also saw Argo-- LOVED it. It was so suspenseful!
I'm so glad you and your family are okay! :hug:
 

Glad to hear you got through the storm ok!

I never had a problem with Disney buses until this trip- I suddenly just couldn't stand the waiting and the multiple stops (both of our resorts were one of 4-5 stops!). We are renting a car the next time!
 
Joining in! :cheer2:

Welcome!

So glad you got power back! My boss lives in New Jersey too and STILL doesn't have power. They said Friday by the earliest-- I feel terrible because it is SO cold. Also, they're predicting something of a storm tomorrow. Just awful! We only lost power for a few hours on Monday night and I was in FL for it, thank god! Zach did go crazy without his TV/Internet though!
We also saw Argo-- LOVED it. It was so suspenseful!
I'm so glad you and your family are okay! :hug:

There's a lot of people who are still without power in NJ. My co-worker didn't get power back until today and as of this morning the people on the next block over still didn't have it. It's really cold today (and snowing ugh) so I hope these people get it back or have somewhere warm to go.

Argo was great! Even though I knew how it was going to turn out I was still so nervous for them. Loved it.

Joining in!! Can't wait to read more!!

Hi! :)

Glad to hear y'all made it through the storm okay!

Thanks!

Glad to hear you got through the storm ok!

I never had a problem with Disney buses until this trip- I suddenly just couldn't stand the waiting and the multiple stops (both of our resorts were one of 4-5 stops!). We are renting a car the next time!

I don't think we will ever go back to Disney without a car. I don't mind the buses but Kris doesn't want anything to do with them!
 
Continuing from my last post we left AKL to head over to Epcot (by car, no bus!) and arrived there around 2.

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As soon as we walked through the gates a woman approached us with FPs for Soarin. She and her husband were leaving the park and didnt need them. Normally this wouldve been a score but we were planning to spend the day in the World Showcase. We took them anyway just in case but Im telling you now we never made it!

We headed over to WS by way of the Canadian side and I made a bee line for cheddar cheese soup. So good! I think thats my favorite thing about the Food & Wine Festival. And I didnt have to wait all week for it this time! I also got an apple ice wine which I was kind of disappointed with. It was expensive for such a small amount. After our pit stop in Canada we found the F&W passports. We had bought a passport set for $10 thinking that was it but it wasnt! We found out they were free at the stores. Oh well. At least we got a pin and souvenir out of it!

Kris and I checked the times guide and decided we wanted to see British Revolution at 3. Before we headed over we stopped at the UK beer stand. I got a Magners Pear Cider and I believe Kris got Harp.

British Revolution is great! I used to like the old band but I think I like these guys better. They play a mix of UK bands; everything from the Beatles to Led Zeppelin to Duran Duran. I always crack up in that area because its always a bunch of older people who have been drinking all day rocking out to the music.

Waiting for the show to start showing off his passport. You can tell I make him pose for these pictures LOL.

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British Revolution

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There was an adorable little boy with a toy guitar who was imitating the band. People were taking pictures of him left and right and hed get really shy, drop the guitar, and hide his head. I was lucky enough to get a great shot of him! He stole the show!

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After the show, since we were already in the UK, we decided to check the line for Tigger & Pooh. There wasnt one so we got our picture taken right away!

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I dont know why Kris is holding my tummy LOL.

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When we say goodbye to Tigger & Pooh it had become cloudy again and looked like rain. The wind started to pick up and we felt drops begin to fall as we crossed the bridge into France.

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We decided to duck into the patisserie. I never really explore the countries much so this was a new experience for me! The place was packed because of the rain so the line was a bit long & moved slowly but we eventually got a chocolate croissant & a piece of quiche. There are no seats in the patisserie so we ducked under the awning of a nearby store and ate our treats. By the time we finished it had stopped raining and was clearing up.

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Sugar Ray was playing the Eat to the Beat concert that night and we wanted to see the early show at 5:30. We had some time to kill before we had to be there so we took a stroll through more of the countries. We stopped in Japan and I made Kris try sushi. To be fair it wasnt REAL sushi, it was a karaage roll which is tempura chicken. He liked it but I couldnt get him to try the Cali or tuna roll! We also walked through Japans pavilion before heading back to America. We headed toward the Sam Adams cart and Kris and I got a beer flight to split & I also got an Angry Orchard cider. I have a thing for cider beers if you couldnt tell.

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The flight was regular Sam Adams lager, cherry wheat ale, chocolate bach, and Oktoberfest. I dont like Cherry Wheat ale. It tastes like cough syrup. While I was finishing my Angry Orchard we noticed security had approached a girl who was clearly drunk. From what I could gather (I wasnt eavesdropping I swear!) she was underage and sending her friend up to the carts to buy drinks for her & they caught on. She started a screaming match with them & started cursing (lovely) and they made her throw out her drink and she stumbled away angry. Funny story - We saw this girl a couple hours later going through the SAME THING with different security people. If you were caught once why be dumb enough to try it again? She was engaged in another arguing match but at that point we just kept walking.

Anyway by then it was time to head over to the show! We got front row in the back section of the theatre. Mark McGrath came out into the audience a couple times and actually ran right by us so we got some great shots. Since it was such a short set they played all their hits so we knew all the songs. There was an older couple across the aisle from us and clearly they had no idea who Sugar Ray was. They were amused that I knew every word LOL. I used to love them in high school!

Mark in the audience

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Running right by us

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The set was about 30 minutes long and we had about an hour to kill before our ADR at Biergarten. I know, I know, youre asking how do you keep eating all this food?? We werent hungry but we were determined to go to Biergarten and shove in as much as we could. Since we had time to kill we took another walk around World Showcase and made it as far as China before we turned back.

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The check-in line for Biergarten was a long one so Kris went looking through the shops while I waited. As soon as we got our pager it started to rain again so we just hung around inside waiting to be called. It didnt take long, only about 10-15 minutes. We were paired up with a family of 6  2 parents, 2 grandparents, and 2 little girls. They were friendly and we chatted with them a bit before the show started. We were seated next to the stage off to the right side of the restaurant so we had a great view! I ordered a wine for myself and Kris got some kind of German beer I cant pronounce or spell in a stein. He had a race with the guy at our table to see who can finish first. Spoiler  Kris lost. We were just so full!

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Yum pretzel bread.

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We love Biergarten. This was our second time here and its such a fun place! The show is great, the atmosphere is wonderful, and the food is delicious. If youve never been GO! What are you waiting for?

We left the restaurant around 8:30 and made our wait to the pathway that connects WS with Future World for Illuminations. This way we eliminated the crowded walk through WS after the show. It was Epcots 30th anniversary so there was a little extra kick to Illuminations tonight. The show went on as normal until the end when the announcer said please join us in celebrating Epcots 30th. Then the sky lit up like it was daylight! Ive never seen so many fireworks and wow was it loud but it was spectacular! I love that we were there for that little bit of extra magic that many people dont get to see. Happy birthday/anniversary Epcot! As we were walking toward the exit we noticed the ball had Happy Anniversary written on it in laser light. Unfortunately I didnt get a picture!

We hopped on the tram back to our car (lot C for Create!) and made it back to AKL around 10. Our feet were already killing us and it was only day 2! So we decided to make a quick hot tub run before bed.

I think this was the first time I ever went to a Disney park and didnt go on ANY rides. I was a little surprised by that but even without the rides it was a fantastic day and I was ready for what day 3 would bring. Movies, Muppets, and milkshakes&.

Stay tuned ;)
 
Wow, you are right that is a LOT of food! But I subscribe to the theory that vacation calories don't count. :rotfl: We enjoyed Biergarten when we ate there a few years ago. It's one of the places I would love to try again but we just haven't gotten around to it.

The Sugar Ray show looked fun, especially with Mark coming out in the audience! I liked them a lot in the 90's so I probably would have enjoyed seeing them at Eat to the Beat. I think a lot of the older people just go to the shows because they are there, even though they don't know the band. There were a LOT of older people like that at the Hanson shows. I'm sure I cracked them up as they were sitting there watching with no expression and I was jumping up and down, singing, clapping & dancing. :rotfl:

The IllumiNations 30th Anniversary tag sounds awesome! I'm sure there must be video of it somewhere on the DIS YouTube channel, I'll have to go look for it.

And it didn't really occur to me until you pointed it out at the end that you didn't ride any attractions. Still seems like you had a really fun Epcot day though!
 
Hi everyone! I'm still here. Hurricane Sandy interrupted our lives for a bit but I'm back. We were very lucky; we only lost power. It went out around 9 on Monday night when the storm hit and came back very early Thursday morning. Work was closed all week because they didn't have power. We kept ourselves busy by visiting our parents. We stayed at Kris's parents on Tuesday night - they never lost power. They live up near the NY/NJ border in the mountains. We went to see my Mom on Thursday. She lives near the Raritan Bay area which got hit hard. She didn't get her power back until yesterday but luckily that was the only thing she went without. The areas closer to the water are destroyed. The church around the corner from her house was turned into a command center and the military police took it over. They were giving out water, ice, and army meal everyday so she was able to eat and had things she needed.

The downtown area of our town never lost power so we kept ourselves busy by going to the movies (saw Argo and Wreck It Ralph - I recommend both!) and out to eat. What's weird is that our street has power but the streets surrounding ours are still out. My co-worker said his electric company called him and told him not to expect power until Friday. I hope he gets it before then - he has no heat and it's gotten very cold here.

I'll have a trip update for you guys hopefully by tomorrow. Trying to get back into the swing of things at work today. Hope anyone else effected by Sandy is ok!

glad you didn't suffer any damage or went without power for too long because of sandy. we actually got stuck in florida for an extra 3 nights because our departure day coincided with sandy's landfall. when we got back to our apt. in nj, we didn't have power either. we finally got it back sunday night. our poor neighbors had been without power and heat for 6 days. we only had to be cold and hungry for 2.5 days since we arrived home last friday.

anyway, enjoying your trip report so far! i'll be posting one too (as soon as i can get organized from the trip).
 
Sounds like a fun day!! We also enjoyed Biergarten!! and followed it up with an Eat to the Beat Concert! :cool1:

Very awesome you were there for Epcot's 30th!!
 
Even without going on any rides, it definitely sounds like a great day! I love the F&W festival. I was sooo tempted by the Sam Adams booth but decided to go with some options I can't get up here-- considering Oktoberfest is pretty much all I drink late September-November. :rotfl:
Haha, I love the picture of Kris with the passport and beer. He looks thrilled lol. That little boy is too cute-- I love the way kids get wrapped up in their own little words.
Gotta love Sugar Ray! That's great they played their hits-- I think that if they played any obscure songs, half the audience would have left haha.
 
Wow, you are right that is a LOT of food! But I subscribe to the theory that vacation calories don't count. :rotfl: We enjoyed Biergarten when we ate there a few years ago. It's one of the places I would love to try again but we just haven't gotten around to it.

The Sugar Ray show looked fun, especially with Mark coming out in the audience! I liked them a lot in the 90's so I probably would have enjoyed seeing them at Eat to the Beat. I think a lot of the older people just go to the shows because they are there, even though they don't know the band. There were a LOT of older people like that at the Hanson shows. I'm sure I cracked them up as they were sitting there watching with no expression and I was jumping up and down, singing, clapping & dancing. :rotfl:

The IllumiNations 30th Anniversary tag sounds awesome! I'm sure there must be video of it somewhere on the DIS YouTube channel, I'll have to go look for it.

And it didn't really occur to me until you pointed it out at the end that you didn't ride any attractions. Still seems like you had a really fun Epcot day though!

Trust me that's only the beginning of all the food we ate. I didn't want to eat for a week when I came home!

I think you're right - people just go there because there's a show. It doesn't matter who it is. It just gives them a reason to sit down for a little while!

I'm sure there is video of it floating around somewhere. I couldn't believe how bright it got. It was a massive display!

Nope no rides and still an awesome time!

glad you didn't suffer any damage or went without power for too long because of sandy. we actually got stuck in florida for an extra 3 nights because our departure day coincided with sandy's landfall. when we got back to our apt. in nj, we didn't have power either. we finally got it back sunday night. our poor neighbors had been without power and heat for 6 days. we only had to be cold and hungry for 2.5 days since we arrived home last friday.

anyway, enjoying your trip report so far! i'll be posting one too (as soon as i can get organized from the trip).

At least you got stuck in a warm, sunny state! I feel so bad for the people who have gone without power for so long. The people around the corner from me still don't have power. It could be worse though. At least they still have a roof over their head. And now it's snowing! :sad2: Enough already!

I"ll keep an eye out for your TR :)

Sounds like a fun day!! We also enjoyed Biergarten!! and followed it up with an Eat to the Beat Concert! :cool1:

Very awesome you were there for Epcot's 30th!!

Biergarten is so yummy. Out of all the things to eat I went for seconds on the mac and cheese. How not German of me. :rotfl:

Even without going on any rides, it definitely sounds like a great day! I love the F&W festival. I was sooo tempted by the Sam Adams booth but decided to go with some options I can't get up here-- considering Oktoberfest is pretty much all I drink late September-November. :rotfl:
Haha, I love the picture of Kris with the passport and beer. He looks thrilled lol. That little boy is too cute-- I love the way kids get wrapped up in their own little words.
Gotta love Sugar Ray! That's great they played their hits-- I think that if they played any obscure songs, half the audience would have left haha.

It was a great day! One of the most fun we had I think. I've never seen the Sam Adams chocolate bach anywhere. You should have tried it!

IKR? I was always like 'hold up whatever and take a picture!' It wouldn't have killed him to attempt a smile! :laughing:

All I wanted to hear was Fly and I did so I was a happy girl.
 
candi fell in love with angry cider there as well, first time she had it.

we also saw his show the next tnight it was a good time.

did he tell you that he just got married and was there with his family?

we didnt really start seeing drunk people till we made it toward germany, and they were all around...too many people not being able to handle there booze.:sad2:
 
So glad to hear that you guys rode out the storm alright...but your poor mom having to get her food and water like that...I really feel for everyone affected by this...:hug:

Looks like you guys really enjoyed your day at Epcot! Great food, great drinks, great music! That's what it's all about!:thumbsup2
 
So glad to hear that you guys rode out the storm alright...but your poor mom having to get her food and water like that...I really feel for everyone affected by this...:hug:

Looks like you guys really enjoyed your day at Epcot! Great food, great drinks, great music! That's what it's all about!:thumbsup2

Luckily the power has been restored. I'm just glad my mom still has a roof over her head. It could have been a lot worse. It snowed yesterday and this weekend it's supposed to be in the 60s. I really don't understand this weather.

Epcot was a blast! Love the Food & Wine festival!

candi fell in love with angry cider there as well, first time she had it.

we also saw his show the next tnight it was a good time.

did he tell you that he just got married and was there with his family?

we didnt really start seeing drunk people till we made it toward germany, and they were all around...too many people not being able to handle there booze.:sad2:

We went to a local bar the other night and I noticed they had angry orchard. That's my new go to beer.

Yes, his wife and son were in the crowd. Mark made them stand and wave to everyone.

That girl was the only really drunk person we saw. Everyone else was just a little buzzed and having a good time!
 
We heard a bit of British Revolution, so many older-middle aged people singing along. :laughing:

I wish we had a hot tub at Pop. With all the walking and the cooler evenings, it would have been nice to relax. :)

Can't wait to read about day 3!
 
We heard a bit of British Revolution, so many older-middle aged people singing along. :laughing:

I wish we had a hot tub at Pop. With all the walking and the cooler evenings, it would have been nice to relax. :)

Can't wait to read about day 3!

YES! They crack me up. No shame. They just start dancing and singing like nobody's watching. :rotfl: I love it.

The values definitely need some hot tubs! It became an everyday routine for us.

popcorn:: joining in popcorn::

Welcome!
 















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