BriarRosie
<font color=blue>Creator of Tag Fairy Haiku:<br>Cl
- Joined
- Mar 7, 2002
Ok, looks like my pre-trip and my full trip reports were merged! Therefore, here's the link to my first page of my report (which has an index of all days thereafter):
Link to Start of Trip Report (not pre-trip)
Don't want to read the entire pre-trip report? No problem! Index time!
Index:
Cast of characters (and tentative plans)
How Not to Book Airfare
Food and Wine Festival Tips
List of Dining Events I Wanted to Book...
And the Events I Actually Could Book
The Importance of Being Earnest about Checking Flight Schedules
The Surprise Last-Minute ADR for Epcot
It's happened. I caved in, jumping in and writing my own pre-trip report. It was bound to happen. For many years I had been in various Disney fan sites, newsgroups and message boards, and I'm no stranger to trip reports. (I've got a couple posted on Mouse Planet, but most were posted to the RADP newsgroup.)
In the RADP world, there was a group called Trimobius Disney Cabinet, or TDC for short. We had our own titles, respectfully submitted for approval from a member of the Trimobia Royal Court. ( http://welcome.to/trimobia ) This is a list of titles that were requested over the years. It's probably not current, but my title is:
TDC Briar Rose
Princess of Picking Berries, Defender of Trip Report Addicts
Yes, I have a history of enjoying trip reports, yet... I gave up writing trip reports due to stubborn laziness. I've done reports for WDW and Disneyland, solo trips, trips with friends, you name it.
Here's a brief history of my visits:
1977:
I was just a kid, and WDW was just a stop on the Big Fat Roadtrip that most families take. Back then, WDW was only as far as World Drive leading up to the Magic Kingdom archway to the TTC. I remember viewing the topiaries from the monorail, the A-E ticket books, and how scared I was of flying out of the Space Mountain ride vehicle. My favorites were Haunted Mansion, Pirates of the Caribbean, and It's a Small World. (Give me slack, it was and still is a Little Girl Mecca.) The Main Street Electrical Parade was brand new, with that Elliot character from that new movie that summer, "Pete's Dragon".
Ok, fast-forward to:
1987:
Senior year of high school. While my peers wanted to go to Ft. Lauderdale or South Padre Island,
my best friend and I wanted to go to WDW. I was so excited to be able to see Epcot for the first time, and little did I know back then I'd have to remember most of it as Epcot's Yesterland. Walter Cronkite hosted Spaceship Earth. It was "fun to be free" on World of Motion. And Horizons...what could I say? I loved the orange scent, the giant "Omnimax" screen, and the pick-your-own ending.
My friend and I stayed offsite at a Days Inn with a shuttle that dropped us off in the morning and picked us up at night. Oh yeah, it was also the 15th anniversary year at WDW, so I won a pin in the random turnstile "your a winner" thingie. I wish I could remember where I had put that pin...
1992:
Five years later, the same friend from my 1987 trip and I went during the 20th anniversary of WDW.
What was new since our last trip? Oh, a new theme park and nighttime entertainment district. I loved the new Disney-MGM Studios, and I got picked to be a participant for Superstar TV. I remember going to the Adventurers Club for the first time, and Pleasure Island was PACKED with people. It was very funny to mention that the mid-area stage was being used for a Right Said Fred mini-concert one night. Yes, the "I'm Too Sexy" guys. We saw them. And it was New Years Eve every night. With confetti. But the biggest milestone of the trip: My first stay at a Disney resort. We stayed at Port Orleans. (Not French Quarter, just Port Orleans, thankyouverymuch!) We were so excited to stay there, on Disney property, with FREE transportation. Yes, it was a big deal to us!
We felt spoiled.
Hmm, so far, I've managed to hit a trip during the 15th and 20th anniversary celebrations. Will I hit the 25th? Yes. Many times. And I'll have the first of a few "week-long" birthday trips, as well as my first solo trip!
Fast-forward to:
1996:
It's January, and I discovered this thing called the Internet. Back then, I was on Prodigy dial-up.
I found a bunch of Disney fans on that ISP who posted to the BB. We had decided that a few of us would go to WDW together in November, and oh yeah...it was the birthday for a couple of us. I was also a cast member at The Disney Store, so I was getting discounts for the room, meals and souvenirs. Life was good. Oh, and I managed to convince a friend that he wanted to do the Chef's Table at Victoria & Alberts with me. This birthday trip rocked my socks.
1997:
Hello? What's this? Suddenly, I'm not waiting 5 years to pass between trips. But do I have the 20/20 hindsight to buy an annual pass? NO. Which kind of bites considering I went again in May, 1998. Sigh. I was younger and less seasoned, then. But this is a milestone trip. This October 1997 trip was my first solo trip to WDW! And, as luck would have it, I stumbled upon the Food and Wine Festival for the very first time. Let's just say that I noshed my way around World Showcase for lunch or dinner (or both!) on various days of this trip. Also, the food demos were on location at the food kiosks. I saw the chef at the France booth cook escargot. The recipes for the festival were free, on cards that you could grab at each kiosk. Did I grab some? Yes. Not all. Do I still have them? No. I'm an idiot. I also didn't know that the festival had some special dining events, so the noshing part was as good as it got as far as I was concerned!
So I took trips in 1998, 1999, 2000...you get the picture. I bought my first annual pass in 1999, and I unfortunately let my renewal lapse in 2006 due to no trips to WDW at all this past year. That's ok, because I'm sure going to make up for it on this trip coming up! I didn't even know about the food and wine dining events until 2003, and I've been hooked ever since! Now, come summertime, I look forward to The List of the events, and I will carefully plan my time and budget around which events I want to book. I've discovered that they sell out as fast as a princess breakfast, so I prioritize accordingly!
Enough about my history, let's get to the pre-trip info!
Who - aka Cast of Characters:
Me, Lori - 37 and single.
I might have some Special Guest Stars make appearances, as I may or may not have friends stay with me. Some from the DIS, some from the VMK forum here.
What - aka The Motivation for the Trip:
Epcot's International Food and Wine Festival, baby!
Where - aka The Place I Rest My Head at Night:
Beach Club Villas. I bought into DVC in 2002, love it. I have not had a trip to WDW in 2006, so I banked my points (all 150 of them) and splurged for a 1 Bedroom Villa. Use 'em or lose 'em!
When - aka The Dates I'll be at WDW:
October 11-20, 2007
Do I really need to put a "how" in there? By plane, frequent flyer miles! I am very happy that I'm not doing the DVC Point Stretch this trip, as I'm very familiar with splitting my stay. Even before I bought DVC, I would often resort hop, staying at up to three resorts. After I bought DVC, I would conserve those expensive weekend points by booking weekdays at DVC and weekends at Pop Century.
2006 was the first year since before the Millennium Celebration that I did not have or renew my annual pass, but I believe that's going to change. I intend to get my DVC discount on a new AP, starting up again on having one. I buy standard and the Pleasure Island AP, as well. I don't visit waterparks, as I'm perfectly happy with Stormalong Bay, but I will go to the Adventurers Club every night of my trips.
But the main reason for this trip is the Food and Wine Festival or F&WF for short. I stumbled upon the Festival on a trip I took 10 years ago, and the only thing I knew about were the food booths!
I had no idea about the special dining events until about 3 years ago or so, and I've been hooked ever since.
It used to be that the Festival didn't start until October, ending in mid-November just AFTER my birthday, so I would combine a birthday trip with the F&WF. However, in the past couple of years, when the festival started the last weekend in September, the ending dates were often ON my birthday, so that stunk. I had to bump my trip back to October. My last F&WF was in October, 2005.
I won't have much to report until July or so, because that's when the special dining event schedule will be released. It's a frantic rush to plan what you want to book, in which order you want to book it, because some events sell out faster than a princess breakfast! I have to factor the cost and date of the event into my schedule. I don't want to book a Food and Wine pairing on the same day as an Exquisite Evening at Epcot. There's not enough time to digest one meal before heading into the other. (Although I call it, the Excrucriatingly Expensive Evening at Epcot. I went to one, and it was great, but ouch, the price!)
Here's a photo of the Sea of Wine Goblets at the EEE from Oct 2005:
This year, I intend to focus my dining budget on Food and Wine Pairings on as many days as I can get my first choices, plus the Party for the Senses. In 2006, the schedule was VERY revamped, eliminating events I loved, replacing them with newer events they've never had before. I will have to wait and see if they are offering the same events or tweaking the schedule again.
Anyway, this is only the beginning. I can go on and on about the festival, or as my friend Mickey likes to call it, the "Larded and Loaded Tour". I love her nickname for the festival better than my Food and Winopalooza Trip title.
While my trip will be a Salute to All of WDW, but Mostly the Food and Wine Festival, I will be out and about in the other parks a little bit. I also am thinking about booking the Segway Around the World tour again, as I had a great time doing in a couple of years ago! I was a Nervous Nellie at first, but by the time I was going back to Future World as World Showcase was opening to the public, I was in a Zen state, at peace with my Segway.
My trip is very food-centric, so I'm sure a lot of it will end up on the Dining Review board, too.
Hmm, we shall see, won't we?
Link to Start of Trip Report (not pre-trip)
Don't want to read the entire pre-trip report? No problem! Index time!
Index:
Cast of characters (and tentative plans)
How Not to Book Airfare
Food and Wine Festival Tips
List of Dining Events I Wanted to Book...
And the Events I Actually Could Book
The Importance of Being Earnest about Checking Flight Schedules
The Surprise Last-Minute ADR for Epcot
It's happened. I caved in, jumping in and writing my own pre-trip report. It was bound to happen. For many years I had been in various Disney fan sites, newsgroups and message boards, and I'm no stranger to trip reports. (I've got a couple posted on Mouse Planet, but most were posted to the RADP newsgroup.)
In the RADP world, there was a group called Trimobius Disney Cabinet, or TDC for short. We had our own titles, respectfully submitted for approval from a member of the Trimobia Royal Court. ( http://welcome.to/trimobia ) This is a list of titles that were requested over the years. It's probably not current, but my title is:
TDC Briar Rose
Princess of Picking Berries, Defender of Trip Report Addicts
Yes, I have a history of enjoying trip reports, yet... I gave up writing trip reports due to stubborn laziness. I've done reports for WDW and Disneyland, solo trips, trips with friends, you name it.
Here's a brief history of my visits:
1977:
I was just a kid, and WDW was just a stop on the Big Fat Roadtrip that most families take. Back then, WDW was only as far as World Drive leading up to the Magic Kingdom archway to the TTC. I remember viewing the topiaries from the monorail, the A-E ticket books, and how scared I was of flying out of the Space Mountain ride vehicle. My favorites were Haunted Mansion, Pirates of the Caribbean, and It's a Small World. (Give me slack, it was and still is a Little Girl Mecca.) The Main Street Electrical Parade was brand new, with that Elliot character from that new movie that summer, "Pete's Dragon".
Ok, fast-forward to:
1987:
Senior year of high school. While my peers wanted to go to Ft. Lauderdale or South Padre Island,
my best friend and I wanted to go to WDW. I was so excited to be able to see Epcot for the first time, and little did I know back then I'd have to remember most of it as Epcot's Yesterland. Walter Cronkite hosted Spaceship Earth. It was "fun to be free" on World of Motion. And Horizons...what could I say? I loved the orange scent, the giant "Omnimax" screen, and the pick-your-own ending.
My friend and I stayed offsite at a Days Inn with a shuttle that dropped us off in the morning and picked us up at night. Oh yeah, it was also the 15th anniversary year at WDW, so I won a pin in the random turnstile "your a winner" thingie. I wish I could remember where I had put that pin...
1992:
Five years later, the same friend from my 1987 trip and I went during the 20th anniversary of WDW.
What was new since our last trip? Oh, a new theme park and nighttime entertainment district. I loved the new Disney-MGM Studios, and I got picked to be a participant for Superstar TV. I remember going to the Adventurers Club for the first time, and Pleasure Island was PACKED with people. It was very funny to mention that the mid-area stage was being used for a Right Said Fred mini-concert one night. Yes, the "I'm Too Sexy" guys. We saw them. And it was New Years Eve every night. With confetti. But the biggest milestone of the trip: My first stay at a Disney resort. We stayed at Port Orleans. (Not French Quarter, just Port Orleans, thankyouverymuch!) We were so excited to stay there, on Disney property, with FREE transportation. Yes, it was a big deal to us!
We felt spoiled.
Hmm, so far, I've managed to hit a trip during the 15th and 20th anniversary celebrations. Will I hit the 25th? Yes. Many times. And I'll have the first of a few "week-long" birthday trips, as well as my first solo trip!
Fast-forward to:
1996:
It's January, and I discovered this thing called the Internet. Back then, I was on Prodigy dial-up.
I found a bunch of Disney fans on that ISP who posted to the BB. We had decided that a few of us would go to WDW together in November, and oh yeah...it was the birthday for a couple of us. I was also a cast member at The Disney Store, so I was getting discounts for the room, meals and souvenirs. Life was good. Oh, and I managed to convince a friend that he wanted to do the Chef's Table at Victoria & Alberts with me. This birthday trip rocked my socks.
1997:
Hello? What's this? Suddenly, I'm not waiting 5 years to pass between trips. But do I have the 20/20 hindsight to buy an annual pass? NO. Which kind of bites considering I went again in May, 1998. Sigh. I was younger and less seasoned, then. But this is a milestone trip. This October 1997 trip was my first solo trip to WDW! And, as luck would have it, I stumbled upon the Food and Wine Festival for the very first time. Let's just say that I noshed my way around World Showcase for lunch or dinner (or both!) on various days of this trip. Also, the food demos were on location at the food kiosks. I saw the chef at the France booth cook escargot. The recipes for the festival were free, on cards that you could grab at each kiosk. Did I grab some? Yes. Not all. Do I still have them? No. I'm an idiot. I also didn't know that the festival had some special dining events, so the noshing part was as good as it got as far as I was concerned!
So I took trips in 1998, 1999, 2000...you get the picture. I bought my first annual pass in 1999, and I unfortunately let my renewal lapse in 2006 due to no trips to WDW at all this past year. That's ok, because I'm sure going to make up for it on this trip coming up! I didn't even know about the food and wine dining events until 2003, and I've been hooked ever since! Now, come summertime, I look forward to The List of the events, and I will carefully plan my time and budget around which events I want to book. I've discovered that they sell out as fast as a princess breakfast, so I prioritize accordingly!
Enough about my history, let's get to the pre-trip info!
Who - aka Cast of Characters:
Me, Lori - 37 and single.
I might have some Special Guest Stars make appearances, as I may or may not have friends stay with me. Some from the DIS, some from the VMK forum here.
What - aka The Motivation for the Trip:
Epcot's International Food and Wine Festival, baby!
Where - aka The Place I Rest My Head at Night:
Beach Club Villas. I bought into DVC in 2002, love it. I have not had a trip to WDW in 2006, so I banked my points (all 150 of them) and splurged for a 1 Bedroom Villa. Use 'em or lose 'em!
When - aka The Dates I'll be at WDW:
October 11-20, 2007
Do I really need to put a "how" in there? By plane, frequent flyer miles!
I am very happy that I'm not doing the DVC Point Stretch this trip, as I'm very familiar with splitting my stay. Even before I bought DVC, I would often resort hop, staying at up to three resorts. After I bought DVC, I would conserve those expensive weekend points by booking weekdays at DVC and weekends at Pop Century. 2006 was the first year since before the Millennium Celebration that I did not have or renew my annual pass, but I believe that's going to change. I intend to get my DVC discount on a new AP, starting up again on having one. I buy standard and the Pleasure Island AP, as well. I don't visit waterparks, as I'm perfectly happy with Stormalong Bay, but I will go to the Adventurers Club every night of my trips.
But the main reason for this trip is the Food and Wine Festival or F&WF for short. I stumbled upon the Festival on a trip I took 10 years ago, and the only thing I knew about were the food booths!
I had no idea about the special dining events until about 3 years ago or so, and I've been hooked ever since. It used to be that the Festival didn't start until October, ending in mid-November just AFTER my birthday, so I would combine a birthday trip with the F&WF. However, in the past couple of years, when the festival started the last weekend in September, the ending dates were often ON my birthday, so that stunk. I had to bump my trip back to October. My last F&WF was in October, 2005.
I won't have much to report until July or so, because that's when the special dining event schedule will be released. It's a frantic rush to plan what you want to book, in which order you want to book it, because some events sell out faster than a princess breakfast! I have to factor the cost and date of the event into my schedule. I don't want to book a Food and Wine pairing on the same day as an Exquisite Evening at Epcot. There's not enough time to digest one meal before heading into the other. (Although I call it, the Excrucriatingly Expensive Evening at Epcot. I went to one, and it was great, but ouch, the price!)
Here's a photo of the Sea of Wine Goblets at the EEE from Oct 2005:
This year, I intend to focus my dining budget on Food and Wine Pairings on as many days as I can get my first choices, plus the Party for the Senses. In 2006, the schedule was VERY revamped, eliminating events I loved, replacing them with newer events they've never had before. I will have to wait and see if they are offering the same events or tweaking the schedule again.
Anyway, this is only the beginning. I can go on and on about the festival, or as my friend Mickey likes to call it, the "Larded and Loaded Tour". I love her nickname for the festival better than my Food and Winopalooza Trip title.
While my trip will be a Salute to All of WDW, but Mostly the Food and Wine Festival, I will be out and about in the other parks a little bit. I also am thinking about booking the Segway Around the World tour again, as I had a great time doing in a couple of years ago! I was a Nervous Nellie at first, but by the time I was going back to Future World as World Showcase was opening to the public, I was in a Zen state, at peace with my Segway.
My trip is very food-centric, so I'm sure a lot of it will end up on the Dining Review board, too.
Hmm, we shall see, won't we?
We're leaving the 9th. (...unless I extend our vacation, which has been know to happen once or twice! 
I might try out the new AKV for a few days, but we can't book it until May.)
Oh, and do more laundry. 
