Kimpup and MLinDisney went back to enjoy the FOOD AND WINE FESTIVAL!~COMPLETED 10/28

[MLinDisney]

Here we are back again to sample some food and wine! This time we stayed at the Hilton at Downtown Disney for one night and the Beach Club for 5 nights. We were at the AKL in January when we ran the 5K. While there, we booked the Beach Club with a 35% off bounceback offer! I used AA airmiles to book the Hilton.
Introductions:
Me, MLinDisney at Cape May Café with Minnie (More photos of this meal to follow):


I'm wearing my This Princess is Retired Shirt that I wore on our last two trips. DD (Kimpup) also with Minnie:


This trip we tried some new restaurants, went back to some tried and true, attended some culinary demonstrations and went to the Disney Food Blog Snack Attack Illuminations Party! Here are the links to all of those goodies:
September 28

SNACKS:
COOKES OF DUBLIN
BONGOS
DINNER: RAGLAN ROAD

September 29
BREAKFAST: CAPE MAY CAFÉ
SNACK: CHESHIRE CAFÉ
LUNCH: BEACHES AND CREAM
SNACK: SOMMERFEST, GERMANY
(Cancelled ADR Rose and Crown)

September 30
COFFEE Yacht Club lobby
BREAKFAST: KUSAFIRI
SNACK: HARAMBE SAFARI POPCORN KIOSK
LUNCH: FOOD AND WINE BOOTHS!
DINNER: FOOD AND WINE BOOTHS AND WINE WALK!

October 1
BREAKFAST: CRYSTAL PALACE
SNACK: EPCOT FOOD AND WINE FESTIVAL
CULINARY DEMO: KEVIN DUNDON, RAGLAN ROAD
DINNER: YACHTSMAN STEAKHOUSE
DESSERT: BEACHES AND CREAM

October 2
BREAKFAST: BOARDWALK BAKERY
SNACK: STARRING ROLLS CAFÉ
LUNCH: BOARDWALK BAKERY AND PIZZA WINDOW
SNACK: FOOD AND WINE BOOTHS - JAPAN
DISNEY FOOD BLOG SNACK ATTACK ILLUMINATIONS PARTY

October 3
BREAKFAST: BEACH CLUB MARKETPLACE
LUNCH: FOOD AND WINE BOOTHS
SNACK: BEACH CLUB MARKETPLACE
DINNER: FOOD AND WINE BOOTHS AND DESSERT AT L'ARTISAN DES GLACES

October 4
BREAKFAST: KOUZZINA BY CAT CORA
SNACK: MK
LUNCH: FOOD AND WINE BOOTHS
CULINARY DEMO: NOAH FRENCH
DINNER: SHULA'S

SNACKS (TO TAKE HOME):
GASTONS
BOARDWALK BAKERY
LES HALLES BOULANGERIE & PATISSERIE

FIRST REVIEW: SNACKS AT DOWNTOWN DISNEY!

 

[Terrie..]

Looking forward to reading all about this trip!!

 

[tluvstink]

I'm in!

Terri

 

[MUFFYCAT]

I'm ready!

 

[vettegirl]

Sounds fantastic!!

 

[MLinDisney]

Looking forward to reading all about this trip!!

I'm looking forward to writing about it ~ brings back all the memories!

I'm in!

Terri

Thanks for joining in!!

I'm ready!

I am too! I'm posting a few reviews right now!!

Sounds fantastic!!

Thanks! We enjoyed this eating spree!

 

[MLinDisney]

We rented a car at MCO and arrived at the Downtown Disney Hilton around 2:30, checked in and walked to Downtown Disney. It’s a 5 minute walk. We shopped a little and realized we didn’t eat too much of our lunch on the plane. We stopped for a snack at Cookes of Dublin.



The inside was small but quaint. We had never been here before and wanted to try the Doh Bar!


"Doh Bar" Donut Battered Snickers. We shared this. It was served in that little box. We held it with a stick, but it was so hot and gooey that it slipped off. I enjoyed this and so did DD. She rated it 9/10 and I rated it 8/10. That is DD holding it, while I snapped the photo. The pink Vera bag is the one she had just purchased at World of Disney. The Doh bar was $4.26 with tax.
We were not on the Disney Dining Plan. We paid for this and most of our food at Disney with our Disney Rewards card. We also used some gift certificates that we received for Christmas, Birthdays, and for taking a few surveys, and DD paid for a few meals with her work credit card.
Pictures of the inside of Cookes:





We started heading for DisneyQuest. The booklet that Disney sent us with our package had free DisneyQuest tickets. I wasn’t sure that I could use them yet because we wouldn’t be checking into Beach Club until the next day, but we were able to use them. On the way, we saw Bongos.


Gloria Estefan’s restaurant. They had an outdoor window. We were still a little hungry and went up to the window to check it out. They had Empanadas de Carne & Pollo. We ordered the chicken. We then noticed that they had a special of cheese empanadas, so we ordered one of those too. (Notice we ate dessert before the empanadas! )






I really enjoyed the cheese empanada. We both gave it an 8/10 rating. DD gave the chicken empanada a 4/10 and said it was dry and tasteless. I thought so too. My rating for chicken 5/10. The empanadas were $5.86 with tax and the 2 bottled waters were $5.33.

We headed down to DisneyQuest and the Characters in Flight balloon.
NEXT UP: DINNER – RAGLAN ROAD

 

[MLinDisney]

After going to DisneyQuest for the first time, we tried to see if the Characters in Flight Balloon was up and running. It was down because of the weather earlier, and down again. We have never been up in this balloon. We’ll have to try it next trip. We had an ADR at Raglan Road for Dinner at 6, so we had a little while to shop. We walked around and shopped then headed for Raglan Road.
We were seated at a small table right next to the little dance floor. We had a great view of the stage too! We started out by ordering drinks. DD ordered
One For The Road - A blend of Ciroc Vodka & Midori Melon with the juice of oranges & pineapples. She ordered this last time we dined at Raglan Road. I ordered Pinot Noir.





They also brought us the delicious Irish Soda Bread with Guinness reduction.


Love this bread!
We were up against the small dance floor in the middle of the room and we weren’t that far from the stage. We saw the band and the dancers really well.





The last time we visited Raglan Road, I ordered Sod the Stew and I couldn’t wait to order it again!


Sod the Stew - Its beef stew infused with a hint of Guinness. The auld sod personified. (Sniff) I love how it comes in its own little pot. This is delicious!! I recommend it Highly! We both rated this 8/10.

DD ordered something that we didn’t have last time.


Keen eye for the Shepherd’s Pie - We give the traditional shepherd’s pie a little makeover with our contemporary twist to this favorite dish. She said this was very good. And rated it 8/10. - I thought it was tasty too! I rated it 7/10.

We shared the dessert. We just had to order this one again!


Ger’s Bread & Butter Pudding Like no other pudding you have ever tried. Believe us. Notice that we put it all on the plate and dumped all the sauces out on top. This was just how I remembered it; even better! We both rated this 10/10!! Wish I were eating this right now! This meal was $66.90 without tip. DD paid for this with her company credit card. We left this meal really full and did some more shopping. Then we headed back to the DTD Hilton. I liked how close it was to DTD!
NEXT REVIEW: BREAKFAST CAPE MAY CAFÉ

 

[WDWaddictt]

Joining in....
The Doh bar sounds yummy

 

[Terrie..]

Raglan looks so good! Can't wait to go again in January. I may have to try the Sod the Stew - that looks great in that little crock! This report is making me hungry!

 

[chocolateMinnie]

love the pics of the doh bar and also Raglan road - more to add to next year's maybe list

 

[vettegirl]

Love RR. I want to try the stew next time I go

Sent from my iPhone using DISBoards

 

[MLinDisney]

Joining in....
The Doh bar sounds yummy

It really was!!

Raglan looks so good! Can't wait to go again in January. I may have to try the Sod the Stew - that looks great in that little crock! This report is making me hungry!

Sod was great. For some reason it tasted different than the last time.

love the pics of the doh bar and also Raglan road - more to add to next year's maybe list

Thank you! I love Raglan Road!

Love RR. I want to try the stew next time I go

Sent from my iPhone using DISBoards

Yes definitely try it - but leave room for the bread pudding!

 

[MLinDisney]

We Checked out of The Hilton very early on Sunday morning after getting a few cups of free Starbucks coffee in the lobby. We drove to the Beach club and checked in. Our room wasn’t ready yet so we checked our luggage and went into the Marketplace to look around. I bought some charms for our Magic Bands. Our ADR at Cape May Café was for 7:30.
As soon as we checked in, they gave us a beeper and we saw this.



My first dish:


French toast with banana sauce, scrambled eggs, cheese bacon and biscuit with gravy.
DD’s dish:


French toast, Mickey waffle, cinnamon roll, potatoes and scambled eggs
We saw Minnie, Donald and Goofy in Beach attire.! Mickey wasn’t there.


I went up to see if the bread pudding was there. I saw Goofy sitting at our table writing this:



So I ran back to get a photo with him.


After Goofy left, I went back to get my second plate.


Not sure if that was Cheese potatoes or eggs, but I had some quiche and a raspberry Danish. I was a little disappointed with the selection, especially since they didn’t have the bread pudding that morning. DD thought it was a basic buffet. We both rated it 6/10. The bill with tax but without tip was $53.23. DD put this on her work credit card.
Right before the meal started we received a text about our room, but we decided to make it to rope drop instead and headed for MK.
NEXT REVIEW: SNACK AT CHESHIRE CAFÉ

 

[MLinDisney]

We arrived at MK to see the rope drop show. The park was decorated for Halloween and for MNSSHP.


We then headed for Big Thunder and Splash Mountain. The Park was empty, and we were able to do so much. We headed to the new Fantasyland. After we were in MK for quite a while we saw the Cheshire Café. They were selling cake cups. There were two different kinds, the Mad Hatter Mocha Cake Cup and the Vanilla Cheshire Cupcake Cake Cup. We chose the vanilla one to share as a snack.



This photo shows the vanilla layers and the next photo is a better one of the Cheshire cat.


The Circle with the Cheshire cat on the top was edible. Vanilla cake with vanilla icing and funfetti. I enjoyed this. It was very light. The frosting was very sweet and much of the top frosting was left. I liked the frosting in the layers of the cake. I rated this 6/10. DD thought it was too sweet and said if you like frosting, you will love this. She rated it 4/10. This cake cup was $4.47 with tax and we paid for it with one of our gift cards because we couldn’t locate the rewards card. We finished this and continued to tour the park until it started getting crowded.

NEXT REVIEW: LUNCH BEACHES AND CREAM

 

[MLinDisney]

We left MK and returned to the Beach Club to check into our room. The room had a full balcony, which we had requested. After a short rest, we took a walk to Beaches and Cream for lunch.


The booths were so cute. Each one had a juke box. The tiled floors and tin ceilings made it look like a 1930s malt shop.



We decided not to wait for a booth and to sit at the counter. I’m glad we did. We got to watch all the sundaes being made. I liked the tiled pattern on the walls and the old fashion ice cream dishes.



This is a view from our seat. It shows the take out area. There is a large jukebox in the front of the restaurant.

We ordered:


Tomato soup and grilled cheese. Also a side order of fries. DD ordered that diet coke in the back. We told the waitress that we were sharing the sandwich and she brought out two bowls and shared the soup too! I enjoyed this soup and the grilled cheese. The fries were regular fries. I rate this meal 9/10.
I ordered a chocolate malted milk for a drink:


This was very good and reminded me of the old fashioned malted milk from many years ago. That metal cup held almost another glass full!!
At this point I was full, but DD didn’t have the malted milk and she didn’t have much of the soup, so she ordered a:


A Small No Way Jose!!! This wasn’t that small, and I don’t think DD finished it. I didn’t taste this, but DD rated this10/10!! She rated the lunch 8/10 for grilled cheese! She's not a tomato soup fan and thought the fries were good but nothing special. I enjoyed the tomato soup and grilled cheese. I rated it 8/10 and the same for the malted milk. This meal was $28.17 with tax. We paid for this with our rewards card which we finally found somewhere!

By now it was 3:30 and we made a pit stop in our room which was right there in the Beach Club. We walked over to Epcot to visit the Food and Wine Festival Building and the Chase Lounge.

NEXT REVIEW: SNACK IN GERMANY

 

[MLinDisney]

After shopping at The Food and Wine Festival Center, getting some free Ghiardelli chocolate at their display, getting some maps and passports, and looking around the building, we headed for the Chase Lounge to check that out. While there, we sat down and had some orange flavored water. I don’t have a photo of that. The Chase Lounge is a nice place to get out of the heat and relax, recharge your phone and get some free beverages. We weren’t that hungry and we realized we had an ADR at Rose and Crown for 7:20. We decided to cancel it. We won’t be able to do this in the future with the new cancellation policy.
When we came out of the Chase Lounge we saw that they were starting to set up for Starship. We got seats in the last row which weren’t too bad. They put on a really great show!


After the concert, we stopped in Sommerfest in Germany and bought a snack.


Nudel Gratin! This was a big piece and we shared it. This was delish and very creamy! I rate it 10/10! DD rated it 8/10. I found the recipe for this on Disney site. I will be making this! The nudel gratin was $3.72 paid for with our rewards card.

It was a long day and we decided that we were going to go back to the Beach Club. Illuminations was going to start in 30 minutes, but we didn’t want to wait. When we got to our room, we were able to see parts of Illuminations from our balcony!!



We watched another night too. I'll post more from our balcony in another review.

NEXT REVIEW: BREAKFAST KUSAFIRI BAKERY, ANIMAL KINGDOM

 

[MinnieM21]

Loving all of your reviews. The No Way Jose looks soooooo good!!

 

[Terrie..]

That cake cup looks so good! I can't wait to try a mocha one!

Also, that Beaches and Cream meal looks great! We have never eaten there but it is something I want to add to my list. Do they take the DDP?

 

[HBGdancermom]

Hi! Joining in! I am loving all your pics and reviews so far! We will be at BC on Sunday. (Our first on property stay)

I thought my 11 year old was going to go through my laptop to get to that milk shake you had at B & C. Definately putting that on my list. I also now really want to work in Raglan Rd. That looked great too!

Can't wait to read more!