Nibbles and Grapes and Suds, Oh My! The Hunt for 35 Foods and Drinks!

[PNO4TE]

We both woke up about 6:30 or 7:00 and decided we wanted to check out and make our move to the Polynesian early this morning. We also were hoping to get into Kona Café for breakfast. So, we packed up the carry-on we had opened last night and high-tailed it out of Sports. Got to the Polynesian in good time and were first in line to check in. We received our Happy Anniversary! Pins as well as our leis and instructions to call after 3:00 to get our room number. Everything else we could possibly need was in our welcome packet.

We were able to get a table immediately at Kona Café so we enjoyed a little relaxation over breakfast at one of our favorite places.

Our quest this trip was to try to find 35 new things to eat and/or drink in celebration of our 35th anniversary. I had never had the Pineapple Macadamia Nut Pancakes here so that was our first “new” item of the trip!

For some reason the lighting fixtures caught my eye on this visit too:

Needless to say our room was not ready so we walked around the grounds a bit to get acclimated. Saw a few things that needed recorded!

Neither of us really felt like going to AK which was on the plan for the day, so we opted to go over to Epcot to see the Festival Welcome Center for the Food & Wine Festival. We traditionally start our day with a glass of champagne there so we had our second new food item of the trip: Caposaldo Prosecco Yummy!

We had made plans to meet some new DIS friends at Victoria Falls at AKL for drinks before dinner so we drove over there. That is only one of two times we would use our car this trip.

I had a glass of Kanonkop Pinotage and Bob had a Stella Artois (nothing new here) but we did share the Crispy Breads and 3 Dips which is item #3 in our search for new things. It was delicious! The three dips were white bean, sun-dried tomato and olive. I loved the olive, Bob liked the white bean and we both thought the sun-dried tomato one a little bland. The breads were perfect.

I finally got to meet RachelTori, DisneyBride03 and Ben'sMom (along with Ben and Mandy {friend of Ben'sMom}. We got along famously and Laura and Diana presented Bob and me with an anniversary card!

After lots of yakking and giggling we all went our separate ways for dinner and Bob and I went back to the Poly to get dressed for our 9:20 seating at California Grill.

We arrived by monorail a little early and checked in on the 2nd floor. We were taken upstairs immediately but told to enjoy a drink at the bar because it would be about a 30-45 minute wait. We ordered a drink (item #4: Twenty Bench Cabernet Sauvignon) at 9:23 and almost immediately our buzzer went off! By the time we tracked down the bar tender again it was about 9:35 and we were seated at a lovely window table. Bob and I shared the Triple Cheese Flatbread as our appetizer, eating only a couple of pieces. For entrées we had the Grilled Pork Tenderloin with Goat Cheese Polenta, Button Mushrooms and Zinfandel Glaze and the Oak-fired Filet of Beef with Boniato Mashed Potatoes, Sauteed Haricot Vert and Teriyaki Barbeque Sauce. We shared both plates and declared the food just fine. Service was just adequate too. We were too full for dessert but before Wished started one of the CMs came over and offered to take a picture of the two of us to commemorate our anniversary. When I returned home there was a copy in my email!

We were to meet some other DIS friends at Spectro in the MK at 11:00 but our diner was not over until 11:19 according to my receipt. That made me very sad, but there was nothing I could do about it so we didn’t let it ruin our evening.

We headed back to the Poly for a good night’s rest and plans for the next day already set!

 

[PNO4TE]

I realized that I didn't talk about our room! That will have to wait until later tonight. I have my own students to teach, but I also am teaching two classes for a co-worker who had to rush to her home in Brazil today. Her father died suddenly and I don't want her to come home to a lot of classes to make up. I will check in with you all later tonight!

 

[Me&3]

BACK Sorry it took so long with the airlines. But it sounds like the trip is going great . I am enjoying your pics can't wait to see and hear more . Sorry about your friends dad

 

[PNO4TE]

BACK Sorry it took so long with the airlines. But it sounds like the trip is going great . I am enjoying your pics can't wait to see and hear more . Sorry about your friends dad

Thanks for reading! I hope you will enjoy the rest.

 

[PNO4TE]

We got our room at 3:00 on the dot. We already knew we had a lagoon view and that we were assigned to Tahiti. We found out we were in Room 2015 and it was a lovely room:

Our view was as we thought it would be:

To the right:

Straight ahead:

To the left:

The castle would have been right in front of us to, except there were two lovely stands of trees between us and that view. We were able to watch the fireworks from our balcony later in the week. We had absolutely no complaint about the room. It was clean and well-cared for. It was a corner room right by a set of stairs. Just what we paid for (and our only request was for a balcony). Day 3 coming up tomorrow.

 

[DisneyBride'03]

Hi Elin!

Blue is your color!! I thought that as we passed you so quickly as you were on your way up to CG! lol

It was a lovely afternoon at VF! It was so nice to meet you and Bob, Laura and I had a wonderful dinner at Jiko afterwards!
I really enjoyed my quick trip...
I just love the Poly, and your photos....make my heart skip a beat! lol What a great view you both had!
Cant wait to hear more!

Great photos so far, especially the one of all of us

 

[PNO4TE]

Hi Elin!

Blue is your color!! I thought that as we passed you so quickly as you were on your way up to CG! lol

It was a lovely afternoon at VF! It was so nice to meet you and Bob, Laura and I had a wonderful dinner at Jiko afterwards!
I really enjoyed my quick trip...
I just love the Poly, and your photos....make my heart skip a beat! lol What a great view you both had!
Cant wait to hear more!

Great photos so far, especially the one of all of us

Hi, Diana!

Thanks for the compliment! I love that top too. I wish we could have joined you and Laura at Jiko that night, because I know you had an amazing meal. Glad that your quick trip was enjoyable. I know you are excited to come back.

I thought of you every single time I looked out from the balcony at Sunset Pointe!

Thanks for reading... Day 3 is up next.

 

[PNO4TE]

Bob had told me last night that he wanted to sleep in a bit this morning so I knew whatever I did I would be on my own. Translate that to mean, “I get to do whatever I want to do!!” So I brewed a pot of the Kona coffee we had shipped to the resort, took a quick shower and off I went. I walked over to Captain Cook’s and had a Dole Whip for my breakfast. Then I took the first monorail to the MK. I arrived in time for the opening and lots of time photographing the sights:

I especially loved the filler used to make Mickey’s head on the hill leading up to the train tracks! I am used to seeing mums and other fall plantings, not gourds and pumpkins!!

At opening I decided I would walk leisurely through the shops on Main Street and go where I felt like after that.

I got to the castle and there was almost no one around!

And decided I wanted to go over to Epcot to the Festival Welcome Center again. I turned around and walked back down Main Street doing a little browsing as I went. I loved being able to do this!

There was a CM with a bucket of water and a broom who was painting Mickey and Goofy heads on the ground. He was doing it upside down… just amazing.

Monorail red whisked me to Epcot and I still had about hour before Bob would meet me at “our bench” near the fountain. We had a reservation at Biergarten at noon. I grabbed another glass of prosecco and walked all around the Welcome Center, picking out things I wanted to purchase for myself as well as for gifts. I know, I know… if you want something, buy it when you see it. I figured since this was opening weekend I would have a good chance of still being able to get the things I wanted. I was right, in the long run, but there was one thing that was very popular and sold out in the first 2 days! It was a wrought iron wine rack that hung flat on the wall. There were grape vines winding up from the base that held 4 bottles of wine, neck down, and there were slots in the base of the rack that held 4 wine glasses. I would have liked one, but it wasn’t something I needed. Just like the great cookbook holder that I liked but didn’t need since I already have one.

One thing I did purchase was the F&W Festival Gift Card. It is re-loadable and extremely convenient to use. The top section snaps off, leaving you with a small card with an attached strap. Ingenious!

We took the boat over to Germany and had a typically good meal. I had never had the wurst salad so, in the spirit of our quest, I tried new item #5! Ehhhh…

We had a full table and one of the young ladies is a DISer! Unfortunately I don’t remember her name but I know she was there with her Mom and her son, leaving her DH and her 8 month old at home for this trip. We had a very nice time talking about our experiences so far on our trips. About the time we finished our food and our liters of beer the floor show was about to start. Bob was worried they would select him since we were on the front row, but they must have seen the terror in his eyes, because they moved to another gentleman one table over. He was hysterical as the Burgermeister.

The Oktoberfest keg was tapped and he downed the mug in one long series of gulps!

They presented him with the mug, refilled from the keg. We listened to a bit of the music before heading out of the building.

We took our time walking out of Epcot and I snapped some photos.

We stopped at the Tambu Lounge and Walter pulled us a couple of Amber Bocks. Finished those and went back to the room for a nap before our 8:00 dinner reservation at Citricos. This was our first ever trip to this restaurant. The young CM who seated us there was just delightful! Donald was truly excited that we were there for our anniversary. He kept coming back to our table throughout the meal to make certain that everything was perfect.

Our server, John, brought us our drinks: Stella Artois for Bob and a glass of Banfi Rosa Regale for me. I was interested in sparkling wines this trip for some reason. That is unusual for me, in fact! We ordered from our personalized menu:

We shared our appetizer: New item #6 - Arancini (Crispy Risotto with Italian Sausage, Quaitro Formaggi, and White Truffle Aioli)

Bob had New Item #7 as his entrée: Braised Veal Shank (Carrot-Potato Puree, Roasted Vegetables, and Toasted Citrus Gremolota)

I chose New Item #8 for mine: Braised Boneless Black Angus Short Ribs (Creamy Polenta and a Blood Orange Demi-glace)

Our meal was fabulous. Every item that we ate was cooked to perfection and full of flavor. We both agreed that my short ribs were better than the veal. And I had really surprised Bob when I ordered them in lieu of one of my normal seafood choices. I am glad that I did. I ate about half of my plate, had a taste of Bob’s and he finished every last bite of mine! The veal shank went unfinished, not because it wasn’t good, but because mine was better and we were getting full. We had not ordered dessert the night before at California Grill and were determined to enjoy something sweet with our dinner tonight. We shared the Warm Chocolate Banana Tort with vanilla ice cream and caramelized bananas. Again, it was delicious. The presentation was beautiful too. The plate had “Happy Anniversary” scripted in chocolate and a tall tiara of chocolate along the back of the plate. The tort was New Item #9 and we were very happy to have tried it. We also had pressed pots of coffee with dessert and they were so tasty!

Donald came over to ask how we had enjoyed the dessert and was giddy when we told him it was as beautiful as well as scrumptious. He is a new CM at Citricos (from China) and had to learn how to make those "tiaras” of chocolate. He said it took him forever but he knew we would like it. He made me smile the entire time we were at dinner. His enthusiasm was contagious.

We left Citricos and strolled the grounds of the Grand for a bit before grabbing a monorail back to the Poly. We stopped in at the Lounge again and had an after dinner drink with Walter as our bartender again. We met another couple who were celebrating his birthday at WDW that weekend. They had left their kids at home (with supervision!) and made the spur of the moment trip planned on Tuesday. They were thoroughly enjoying themselves too.

As we sat there winding down from our day Bob and I made the decision to cancel our lunch reservations at Chefs de France and Coral Reef. We realized that we just could not eat all that food! We had not even started to enjoy the F&W Festival offerings yet and we were leaving food on our plates every meal. We picked those two restaurants to cancel because we have eaten at both before. It has been a while since Chefs de France, but we opted to cancel it anyway. We will put it on our next rotation.

I took a couple of pictures from our balcony before turning in for the night.

 

[Me&3]

What a great update really enjoying it . I like the Mickey the guy drew with the water and a broom. What happened to your card did it break in half ?

 

[PNO4TE]

What a great update really enjoying it . I like the Mickey the guy drew with the water and a broom. What happened to your card did it break in half ?

yes! It is supposed to be broken in half. It is scored so that you can. It makes carrying it around very easy. Can be put around your wrist, or on a backpack or (like I did) on a belt loop. VERY handy!

Thanks for reading.

 

[John's Mom]

Elin,

Glad that you enjoyed your trip. Your TR is off to a great start. I know I'm late, but "Happy Anniversary." I can't wait to read all about your new 35 foods and drinks. I've already put some of your new items on my "Items To Try" list for December.

Kathy

 

[DisneyBride'03]

Great photos Elin!!!!

I love Citricos too! I experienced Grappa there for the first time w/my new in laws...um, I will pass next time! LOL

I loved your menu!!!
And your meal looked delicious!!!! Bon Appetit!

 

[Me&3]

OH I get it I went back to look at it again I didn't relize the blue cord it attached . It like the photopass you get at the waterparks. More pics More TR . Loving all of it. Again CONRATULATIONS on 35 yrs. DH will celebrate 11 this month .

 

[PNO4TE]

Elin,

Glad that you enjoyed your trip. Your TR is off to a great start. I know I'm late, but "Happy Anniversary." I can't wait to read all about your new 35 foods and drinks. I've already put some of your new items on my "Items To Try" list for December.

Kathy

Thanks, Kathy! I hope you enjoy them as much as we did.

Great photos Elin!!!!

I love Citricos too! I experienced Grappa there for the first time w/my new in laws...um, I will pass next time! LOL

I loved your menu!!!
And your meal looked delicious!!!! Bon Appetit!

It might have been the best meal of our trip, Diana! I would skip the Grappa too.

OH I get it I went back to look at it again I didn't relize the blue cord it attached . It like the photopass you get at the waterparks. More pics More TR . Loving all of it. Again CONRATULATIONS on 35 yrs. DH will celebrate 11 this month .

Thank you! And congratulations on 11 years with your DH!

 

[PNO4TE]

I had every intention of going to Hollywood Studios this morning to ride Toy Story Mania. I got up, had a cup of coffee and grabbed a banana for breakfast. Took a few photos of the beautiful grounds and went to the bus stop.

As I sat there I saw 3 buses for AK come by. Hmmmmm…. Where were the buses for the Studios? Finally I realized that I must not even know what day it was! EMH was at AK, not HS… sheesh!

Plan B – BACK TO EPCOT!!

I took a few photos from the monorail and still arrived before opening.

The first thing I did upon entry this morning was Soarin’… I was on the first run of the attraction and sat beside someone who had never ridden it. That always makes for an enjoyable ride. I got to do the same thing in DL in January when I rode with 2 young men from Japan who spoke very little English and had no idea what to expect. They giggled like school girls and chattered the entire time. It was so much fun!!

Besides enjoying WDW with Bob I had 4 things I wanted to accomplish on this trip: Ride the new Spaceship Earth, ride Mission Space for the first time ever, ride Everest for the first time and also ride Toy Story Mania for the first time. I blew my chance at both Everest and TSM and didn’t feel too badly about those. I was determined to ride MS and SE.

I backtracked to SE and I LOVED it! I like the changes to the story line; they make the entire reason for the ride make more sense, I think. I like the updates to the Audioanimatronic figures. They are amazingly lifelike! I even like the cheesy interactive ending.

There was no wait at MS. How brave was I? Bob had offered to ride this with me, even though he doesn’t like rides much at all (loves Soarin’). He was still sleeping and I knew the lines would only get longer. So, I took a deep breath and got a Green Card to ride the less intense version of the ride. I was a little worried. I had absolutely no idea what to expect. I have friends who have gotten quite ill on the Orange version and refuse to even try the Green one. My daughters won’t even try it. So…. There I am in line with lots of excited kids and their parents, wondering what I have gotten myself into. I was fortunate to share my space capsule with a Dad and his two sons. Dad has ridden both versions, older son has ridden Green before and younger son has never ridden. He and I are still scared. Dad and older son assured us there was no reason at all for concern. Honest! We don’t believe them. We especially don’t believe them when we have to put that shoulder restraint system down over our bodies! BUT… how much fin is that ride!!! We both loved it. I cannot wait to make my… I mean, persuade my family to do this with me in December.

I got half the rides I wanted to do out of the way that morning and it was still early! I had another hour before Bob would arrive for our first foray into F&W kiosks. What to do, what to do… I know!!! The Festival Center and prosecco. On the way I took a couple of pictures:

Once again I hesitated at the shopping and simply walked around, enjoying my crisp, sparkling wine. I met two CMS who were retired and now working at WDW. We had the opportunity to talk for about 15 minutes and I was delighted to hear all their tips about seasonal employment at WDW and the different areas that one can choose to work in. It was an eye-opener and further cemented my belief that one day I will be there alongside them. (First I have to get to the point that I am tired of doing what I do now.)

I met Bob at our bench outside Mouse Works and we started counter-clockwise around the WS. I am a very fortunate teacher who often receives Disney-oriented gifts from students. I had a $25 gift card from one student, my Disney Rewards Card with $75 on it and my preloaded F&W Festival gift card that had $40 on it. We decided to see if we could use those up and not touch any cash for the next couple of days. We actually did very well! I think Bob had to pay for one round of drinks at one of the kiosks because their computers weren’t working right. But other than that, we used the plastic for two days of lunches.

This is probably our 10th year at the F&W Festival so many things being offered are old favorites. But we do have some new things to try according to the booklet so we will add to our Quest today, I am sure.

Our first stop was at Krakow, Poland… but the pierogies weren’t ready! OH, NO! I thought Bob was going to cry. I promised we would return and we moved onto Montreal, Canada. One salmon, one soup, one custard, one Moosehead and one Merlot and we were off and running! The Merlot was New Item #10. And very nice.

Istanbul, Turkey brought us New Item #11 – Manti with Yogurt Sauce. We “think” it was spicy beef and we remember enjoying it along with the Pistachio Baklava.

We sat and enjoyed the relative quiet in the area over by the water and finished our food and drink. Bob wanted to see what beers were available at the Great Beers kiosk so we walked over there and he had New Item #12: Staropremen beer from Czechoslovakia. His heritage is Polish, Czech and Slovak so this was a nice surprise for him.

The France Wine Kiosk was next. I had intended to get a Grey Goose slushy there, but something NEW caught my eye: New Item #13 – Nuvo Sparkling Vodka. OMG! I will be looking for this at my local ABC store!

Bob chose a Kronenburg and we sat at one of the little bistro tables along the water there and just relaxed and talked.

Next stop, Marrakesh, Morocco. We ordered Baklava, Kefta (#14 – spiced ground beef and hummus in a pita pocket) and Brewat (#15 – spicy shredded chicken encased in a fried pastry roll, think egg roll). WHOA, baby! It was SPICY!! It was the first (and last) thing we had that we did not care for. It was good, just a little too much heat for our taste buds.

We had decided that morning to split the WS into three sections to make it easier to enjoy over the three days we had left. We had accomplished our first third and decided to go back to the Poly to rest before our 8:00 reservation at Narcoossee’s that evening. We stopped at the Tambu Lounge once again and this time I had a new Sangria (#16). After Cisco showed me the bottle I realized that it was the same one I could have gotten at the Moroccan booth at F&W! Zambra Sangria; but at the Tambu Lounge they float Cointreau on the top. Very refreshing! Bob had a Sam Adams Seasonal and we were happy.

We took the boat from the Poly marina over to Narcoossee’s that evening. What a delightful way to go from place to place in that area. It had been a few years since had done that so we sat back and enjoyed the trip to the MK and then to the dock at the GF. We arrived a little early for our reservation and ordered a drink at the bar. Another Sam Adams for Bob and a glass of Domaine Ste. Michelle Blanc de Blancs sparkling wine for me (#17). Almost immediately our buzzer went off and we were seated in the upper level of the dining room in a small table for two.

Once again we were presented with a personalized menu:

I ordered the Narcoossee's Seafood Bisque with Maine rock crab and sourdough crostini (#18) and Bob had the Heriloom Tomato Salad with cantaloupe, prosciutto, house made mozzarella and aged balsamic (#19). Our entrées were Grilled Scallops with corn and crab risotto, tomato-shallot confit and sherry vinegar reduction (#20) and Free range Chicken Breast with "loaded" mashed potatoes, baby spinach, with a bacon vinaigrette (#21). Our server, Lisa, made certain we had plenty of time between courses and we enjoyed the fireworks that we could see from our table. For dessert we had another glass of wine and a beer and the following selections: Bob had the Key Lime Crème Brulee (#22) and I had the fabulous Artisan Cheeses - Humboldt Fog, Rogue River Oregon Blue, Aged Canadian White Cheddar (#23). We shared a pressed pot of coffee too. A lovely ending to a delightful meal. We took the remaining cheese back to the room and enjoyed it with fruit and croissants on our last morning for breakfast.

 

[PNO4TE]

More to come later. We are going to a local wine festival this afternoon and I need to get a move on! Once again, thanks for reading.

 

[John's Mom]

Elin,

How were the Grilled Scallops? December will be our first time dining at Narcoossee's and I was thinking about ordering the scallops.

 

[Me&3]

WOW what a great update you guys sound like you had a great time . All the food sounds so good yum. Can't wait for more. Hope you had a good time today

 

[mcbj]

Great trip report! I was about to ask if you rode any rides, then I got to day 4. We spent our 10th anniversary at Disney in 2005! We leave next Saturday for our first FWF and will be eating at Cali Grill, Kona, Narcoossee and Biergarten...so it was great to hear your thoughts!

 

[PNO4TE]

Elin,

How were the Grilled Scallops? December will be our first time dining at Narcoossee's and I was thinking about ordering the scallops.

Kathy -

The scallops were wonderful. Very flavorful and the risotto was some of the best I have ever eaten. I would order it again. Hope that helps!