"I'm Speaking Italian." A Food&Wine trip around the World October 2012 *NEW 11/25

[khertz]

I have to say, love your dress in those pics!

That stinks about the super slow service, but at least the food was good. Bad service AND bad food is such a terrible combination!

I have read about Jellyrolls in a few other TRs and it sounds like so much fun, but we haven't made it over there yet. Maybe one day!

 

[klacey1]

What a fun day! Haha, traveling woes. I really can't imagine flying Southwest-- the boarding process seems too crazy! I would not deal well with smelly people who line up early lol.
I also found the F&W Festival overwhelming-- so many choices! I didn't get to half the booths I wanted to!
Ending the night at Jellyrolls is always perfect-- I also love all of your drunk-watching haha. People watching in WDW is definitely a favorite activity.

 

[Joyciemc]

Joining in!!! Can't wait to hear more about your trip!!

Sounds like you had a great arrival day!!

We really did! It was so fun seeing WDW in a new way- with such good friends

I have to say, love your dress in those pics!

That stinks about the super slow service, but at least the food was good. Bad service AND bad food is such a terrible combination!

I have read about Jellyrolls in a few other TRs and it sounds like so much fun, but we haven't made it over there yet. Maybe one day!

Thank you very much! The one bad thing about the dress is that it actually has bells hanging from the strings. They get annoying

What a fun day! Haha, traveling woes. I really can't imagine flying Southwest-- the boarding process seems too crazy! I would not deal well with smelly people who line up early lol.
I also found the F&W Festival overwhelming-- so many choices! I didn't get to half the booths I wanted to!
Ending the night at Jellyrolls is always perfect-- I also love all of your drunk-watching haha. People watching in WDW is definitely a favorite activity.

I don't mind Southwest as long as I get Early Bird check in- before we started doing that it was so stressful to board! I do love their no baggage fees, though!

 

[Joyciemc]

Day 2 was upon us, and we managed to get up when the alarm went off. All four of us were pretty tired, but we were in Disney World! So we began getting ready to head out. Breakfast consisted of the bagels and English muffins we had brought with us. Most people probably wouldn't be surprised to learn that it took kind of a while for four adults to get ready to leave in the morning. We tried our best and got out of the room as quick as we could.

We didn't have to wait too long for a bus, and Eric and I were super excited!

But not quite as excited as Jen, who found this sweet tiger mask:

It was on this trip that we realized bus service from the Epcot area resorts is kinda suck-o. There are just way too many stops at resorts that aren't even all that close together when you're driving between them. It takes forever to actually get to the park. Eventually, we made it to the Animal Kingdom.

Our first stop was to pick up some Fastpasses for the Safari, and the timing would work great with our lunch ADR at Tusker House. Once we had the FP, we headed to Everest and went for a spin with no wait at all. Actually, I think we may have ridden twice. So fun!!

We had time for a ride on Dinosaur (even though we had to wait about 20 minutes- I don't think I've ever waited for this ride... crowds were definitely higher on this trip than I'm used to) before heading back to Kilimanjaro Safari. There weren't too many animals out, but we managed to have a good time anyhow.

And we did see a baby white rhino! I love white rhinos

We took a quick walk through the Pagani Forest Trail before heading to our lunch ADR.

Tusker House is a favorite of Jen & Eric's and a first for Ben and me. When lunch became a character meal, I wasn't sure we'd want to eat here (since the prices went up a bit) but we figured it might be fun to meet some characters while eating a delicious buffet.

And it was delicious! Lots of really yummy, interesting things (though one highlight was the not-so-exotic mac & cheese) and we proceeded to pig out. We somehow started out on opposite schedules with visiting the buffet, so when Daisy stopped by it was just Ben and me and the table.

But after that visit, there was a lull in character visits so we got to eat lots before it was time to have some pictures taken (and Daisy even came around again, so we all got to see everyone!) I am so happy we decided to do this meal- it's the only character interaction we ended up doing on the whole trip and it was a lot of fun. And I am not ashamed to admit that I got choked up during the parade the characters do with the kids. In my defense, I think Jen did too.

And I cannot forgot to mention that Ben found his Holy Grail at Tusker House. There was a berry cobbler dessert we had eaten at Whispering Canyon Cafe during the Backstage Magic tour a couple of years ago. We even went back there on his birthday just so he could have this dessert. Only to find out it is not on the menu. This was a crushing thing for Ben... he never got over it. Until he found the cobbler in the dessert section of Tusker House!!!

Once we were done eating more food than should have been humanly possible, it was time to head back out into the wilderness.


Let me interupt myself for a moment...

 

[Stringbean&Wingnut]

Haha the bus service from the Epcot area really does take awhile!! Same goes for the Contemporary-Polynesian-Grand Floridian, the busses take that whole lap too!

Yay for the berry cobbler turning up at Tusker House! I've always wanted to go there, it looks like a fun restaurant!

 

[klacey1]

Hmm, that does sound annoying about the Epcot buses. At least getting to Epcot and DHS is easy enough.
Sounds like you had a fun lunch! Aww, I am normally not easily choked up, but seeing happy kids at Disney (...or almost everything at Disney!) gets me going, too!

 

[jecskc]

Joining in !! Looking forward to reading more !!

 

[blairzo]

You guys look so much fun! Can I come to Disney with you guys next time!?!

 

[Joyciemc]

Haha the bus service from the Epcot area really does take awhile!! Same goes for the Contemporary-Polynesian-Grand Floridian, the busses take that whole lap too!

Yay for the berry cobbler turning up at Tusker House! I've always wanted to go there, it looks like a fun restaurant!

Yep- we learned about that other awful bus route later in the week!

Hmm, that does sound annoying about the Epcot buses. At least getting to Epcot and DHS is easy enough.
Sounds like you had a fun lunch! Aww, I am normally not easily choked up, but seeing happy kids at Disney (...or almost everything at Disney!) gets me going, too!

We tried to focus on DHS and Epcot for the first part of the trip, and saved MK for when we moved to Bay Lake Tower. But getting to AK was never going to be easy!

Joining in !! Looking forward to reading more !!

Thanks for reading!!

You guys look so much fun! Can I come to Disney with you guys next time!?!

We couldn't help but have fun on this trip- it was great!
Totally join us next time- the more the merrier!

 

[Imagineer5]

YAY So happy to see your TR! You have me cracking up - love it!!

Your group shot on the Boardwalk is hilarious

How'd you get that pic at Tusker House outside? Do they give them to you? We have an ADR there in December, and I wasn't sure - did you give them your camera?

I loooooove being able to walk to EPCOT and DHS. So awesome. We are booked for 3 nights next June at BCV and I CAN'T wait!! Glad you enjoyed it too. Love your first day, it's how we USED to travel!

 

[Joyciemc]

YAY So happy to see your TR! You have me cracking up - love it!!

Your group shot on the Boardwalk is hilarious

How'd you get that pic at Tusker House outside? Do they give them to you? We have an ADR there in December, and I wasn't sure - did you give them your camera?

I loooooove being able to walk to EPCOT and DHS. So awesome. We are booked for 3 nights next June at BCV and I CAN'T wait!! Glad you enjoyed it too. Love your first day, it's how we USED to travel!

The photo out side Tusker- we gave our camera to the Photopass chic and she was all (I'm paraphasing here) "Ewww, I can't touch that! But she can.." and pointed to a CM standing nearby. So voila- we got our picture!

Walking to Epcot and DHS was amazing. I LOVE the Epcot area resorts.

 

[Joyciemc]

Before I get to my next update, I wanted to share some exciting news!

A few weeks ago, Ben had an awesome idea to put together a client visit for work that would take him to Tampa and Ft. Lauderdale, FL. Sounds exciting, right? Well, not really... until you factor in his idea to leave on a Friday and have me tag along. Why? So we can finally get to see Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party! We're arriving in Orlando on Friday, December 7th and will have two days in the parks (including the party)!

On Monday, we'll drive to Tampa for his meetings, then off to Ft. Lauderdale (a four hour road trip) for another meeting before flying home. This is how having an AP causes you to think, I swear!

As far as plans for the weekend, they are pretty simple: We're staying at the Holiday Inn Lake Buena Vista Downtown, which is one of the DtD resorts. This is because 1) we don't have/want to borrow DVC points to use and 2)this is partly a buisness trip, so some of the hotel stay would be on his company- Ben didn't think it would look right to have a Disney hotel on an expense report (the first 2 nights are on us, since that isn't part of the work trip, but we don't want to change hotels.)
This will be our first time having a rental car on property and I am pretty excited about that!

Park plans are also simple: Saturday we'll drive to the Boardwalk for breakfast at Kouzinna. Then we will head to Epcot for the day. Dinner is at Tokyo Dining (I was having a major sushi craving when I made these ADRs!) I'd like to catch some of the Holiday Storytellers in the World Showcase, and just enjoy being in our favorite place.

Sunday we plan to make rope drop at MK and spend pretty much the whole day there. This is the official opening weekend of FLE, so I am not sure what to expect for crowds. But we are mostly there to enjoy the Christmasy atmosphere and will be ready for crazy amounts of people if that is the case. No ADRs for this day- I haven't given up hope of eating at Be Our Guest for lunch but I also know it may be too crowded for us. If that is the case, we'll grab something at another CS around the park.
As of now, we are planning on staying at the MK all the way through the party. Since it's a short trip, we decided to just focus on these two parks and not spend too much time bouncing around park hopping.

So there you have it- our weekend trip for MVMCP! And it's only 3 weeks away!

Day 2 continues here!

 

[MEK]

Subbing. Need a few new good TRs to sub to and yours fits the bill. Be back later to read when I can see pics ( restricted computer boo!)

Yuck to the smelly ladies in the seat behind you.

 

[Joyciemc]

Subbing. Need a few new good TRs to sub to and yours fits the bill. Be back later to read when I can see pics ( restricted computer boo!)

Yuck to the smelly ladies in the seat behind you.

Hello and welcome!! Glad you stumbled upon my TR ... I hope you still like it once you've had a chance to read it

 

[Joyciemc]

We had a few more items on our AK agenda, so we headed out from lunch to start ticking things off our list. We grabbed FastPasses for Kali River Rapids and then headed for It's Tough to Be a Bug. Jen and Eric hadn't done this before, and didn't know what to expect. It was fun to see their reactions to all the effects- both of them thought the show was a lot of fun. But they also noticed the numbers of children leaving the theater traumatized. It really is an intense show and I would definitely think twice before bringing a young child to see it (well, I would actually wouldn't think of it at all since we don't have kids, and it would be beyond inappropriate to grab someone else's child on the way in)

Our FastPasses for Kali were ready, so that is naturally where we headed next. For the first time ever, I didn't get soaked- I got wet, but not soaked. Jen did, but don't feel bad- she was wearing a bathing suit (smart girl). It was a fun ride, but it's awfully short.

Naturally, as we exited the ride, the Maharajah Jungle Trek was beckoning to us. We had barely stepped through the entrance when we spotted a new friend.

This giant grasshopper was sitting on the walkway and I was expressing concern that someone was gonna step on him. Ben took a picture near my shoe for reference to show just how big this dude was. The CM at the trek entrance came over and told us this is a young native Florida grasshopper. Apparently, he's not full grown! She encouraged Ben to use a stick to lift him up for a picture.

Then we gently set him down in the bushes off the path. So hopefully no one stepped on him!

The rest of our exploration through Asia wasn't as exciting. The tigers were snoozing away, and we didn't see too much.
Once we emerged on the other side, we knew there was one thing left that we had to do... drinks at the Dawa Bar! I've never stopped here, but always heard that it was a relaxing spot in the AK. They also had quite a few different African beers that needed to be tried. So while we sat enjoying our beers (we each got a different African one so we could try them all. This is how we always approach ordering new beers in new places), the Burudika Band started playing in Harambe. It was some pretty fantastic chill time.
A favorite past-time for the four of us is taking random (usually unflattering) photos. Extra points for making weird faces when the picture is being taken. This is a pretty accurate rendition of what hanging out with us at a bar is pretty much like:

As we finished a second round, we realized we'd better high tail it out of there if we didn't want to get trapped by the parade! Because drinking in a theme park is awesome, we took our beers and headed out, stopping along the way to admire the beautiful park.

We then proceeded to wait for a bus back to the Boardwalk for a super-duper long time. I guess it must've arrived eventually, because I'm writing this from my living room in Massachusetts, not from the bus stop at the Animal Kingdom. But it kind of felt like we were waiting forever.


The end of Day 2!

 

[smile4stamps]

Wo-Hoo for the holidays trip to Disney!!

We have only had breakfast at Tusker House and I love it!! Did they have a variety of foods for lunch?

We had a drink at lunch but no other drinks during our day. I had thought we would stop at the Dawa bar but never made it there.

 

[Stringbean&Wingnut]

Yay for your MVMCP (I feel like I'm missing a letter there? ) trip!!!! That's so exciting!

It's so funny when you look at your watch and have to be like "we need to leave this park right now or we'll be trapped here for another 40 minutes!"

 

[MEK]

Wow - that is one giant grasshopper. Yikes!

I was at the Boardwalk from 10/20 - 10/23. Isnt the location great? Funny story - you know that creepy little chair right next to the fireplace? Well, one afternoon it wasn't there. Completely gone. But that night at 11pm it was there. Just starring at me. So creepy.

This was my first F&W, too. It was awesome. I loved it.

You guys look like you are having a blast. Enjoying getting caught up!

 

[Joyciemc]

Wo-Hoo for the holidays trip to Disney!!

We have only had breakfast at Tusker House and I love it!! Did they have a variety of foods for lunch?

We had a drink at lunch but no other drinks during our day. I had thought we would stop at the Dawa bar but never made it there.

The lunch buffet was really good... It reminded me of Boma, but not quite as exotic.

Yay for your MVMCP (I feel like I'm missing a letter there? ) trip!!!! That's so exciting!

It's so funny when you look at your watch and have to be like "we need to leave this park right now or we'll be trapped here for another 40 minutes!"

I do try to be on alert and aware of where and when parades are gonna pop up!

Wow - that is one giant grasshopper. Yikes!

I was at the Boardwalk from 10/20 - 10/23. Isnt the location great? Funny story - you know that creepy little chair right next to the fireplace? Well, one afternoon it wasn't there. Completely gone. But that night at 11pm it was there. Just starring at me. So creepy.

This was my first F&W, too. It was awesome. I loved it.

You guys look like you are having a blast. Enjoying getting caught up!

I love the Boardwalk!
I knew that chair was more than it seemed! Glad you got away unharmed!

 

[Duzzygirl]

I don't mind grasshoppers, but I'd really rather not have any around that large, let alone larger!

...
Because drinking in a theme park is awesome, we took are beers and headed out, stopping along the way to admire the beautiful park.
...

lol ... My husband said his goal this trip is to see how many family members he can get drunk in the park(s).