Ooh-de-lally! A dining heavy October '13 Trip Report *update 2/23-We're Going Back!*

[TheMaxRebo]

Got a little behind, but KONAAAA. I've never actually been for dinner but I adored our breakfast there. I'd love to try the teriyaki steak.

Love the Belle dresses on the girls, she's my favorite princess

We did Akershus years ago. It didn't blow us away but it was a great way to meet a lot of princesses! And now you only have a few to go!

We were very happy with Kona - pretty good variety of food and great location! The steak was very good - cooked well and the sauce and pineapple topping was super!

We enjoy Akershsus - probably not the best food on property but we have always found it to be solid at least and have enjoyed it. I have read some not as happy reviews from there, specifically about the food, but we think it is at least above average

Hi Phil! Ha ha! A Stanley reaction! Loved it!

Akershus is a favorite of ours. I love the cheesy potatoes and the Mickey waffles. Wait?? Where's the Mickey waffles? Did they hold out on you?

I completely agree with your observation that Disney knows if you have a little girl under 10 dine with princess meet and greets the parents are under obligation to outfit said little girls in all manner of princess-wear. But the good thing is those princess dresses can also double as a Halloween costume!

Aurora didn't seem to have her dazzling princess smile that day. That super tanned Ariel is distracting me! I'm not sure I'm a fan of the new dress either but I'm more annoyed that she doesn't have her seashell swag in her hair anymore!

On a positive note, you knocked out 5 of the 8 princesses!

Did you use TiW at Akershus? You know I'm tracking your savings so you have to hand over the info buddy!

Hi Brenda

The cheesy potatoes were great - it was very hard not to eat even more than we did. They made no mention of Mickey Waffles and we did not see them on any other tables either .... was that something we could have asked for? Good news is that we got them on more than one occasion at future breakfasts

I am very glad that Olivia is fine with (and wants to really) just wear one of her Disney princess outfits for Halloween - plus her and her friends (and, to be honest, Peter too) use them for dress up all the time so we definitely got our value from them. Just hard to put a price tag on seeing Olivia's face light up when she sees Snow White or Ariel or any of them really.

Thanks for the reminder to add in the TIW savings

Ahhh, there is nothing like a good 'ol Stanley Hudson slow burn.

Hahaha, first line of the trip is always the worst. Too bad it's somewhere you have a reservation.

Hey getting almost all of a party that big in a proper photo pose is a win in my book.

Yeah the whole princess thing... I think Disney does ok.

I guess I'll have to have a chat with Olivia to get her ALL the way over to the Ariel side, lol.

And my Ariel, what a great tan you have!

And you know, Ariel without the hair swag just isn't right. To me it's just looks like a girl going to prom.

Yeah, overall it was a pretty good picture - plus at that point I was just happy Peter wasn't running amok, tripping princesses, etc. - boy needed some food!

Olivia has definitely been in an Ariel mode - getting on "her" ride was her number 1 request (tease for the post - did we get on it?!?!?!? ) and we have watched the movie quite a bit lately. I think Snow White will always hold a special place in her heart but it has been more about Ariel than anyone lately

Yeah, her tan was pretty distracting. I mean, I guess it makes sense if you going to be sunning yourself on a rock wearing a sea shell bikini that you would get tan .... not that I can speak from personal experience

 

[TheMaxRebo]

*******************

Day 2 - Part 2: EPCOT ... meeting Mickey and Friends​

The last update ended with us finishing breakfast with some princesses - you know, the usual. World Showcase (and thus the Food & Wine Festival booths) weren't open yet so we traveled back to Future World. I collected everyone's park tickets and ran to Test Track to get fast passes - the return times were already up to 2:35pm to 3:35pm and the standby line was up to 80 minutes

We then walked over to The Land to ride Soarin'. Bob was going to watch the two boys as while the rest of us rode. The standby wait for 40 minutes, which wasn't too bad, but I was afraid it would wind up cutting it too close to our Food & Wine Festival lunch event so I decided to not ride either. After a few minutes of waiting everyone else decided to not wait either. So we decided to just ride Living with the Land - but we needed to find Bob with the boys first. He said he was going to watch the Circle of Life with them, but as there was a 20 minute wait for the next show he in fact decided to take them on .... Living with the Land. Well, they enjoyed it so we decided to just ride it again - though there was now about a 15 minute wait for it. Oh well.

It is a favorite of our family and we definitely enjoyed it:

My favorite part was the Mickey head shaped Hops plant (unfortunately did not get a good picture).

After that, we had some time before the event lunch so we decided to got to the Character Spot and meet some of the Fab Five.

First up, was the man, er, mouse himself - Mickey! This was a great meeting and all the kids were super excited. Peter loved Mickey throughout the trip - well, seeing him from afar at least. Up close he was nervous of all the characters except for tone (yes, yes another tease). We did ultimately get him to give Mickey a fist-bump to which Mickey "blew it up" which is great as we do that with Peter at home.

Bother girls had nice 1:1 interactions with Mickey:

And the boys had some help with their's. Peter looks like he is confused about the whole concept of a giant mouse signing his name in a book that we brought him:

We also got a picture of the two families together with Mickey:

note: I look especially manly carrying a princess autograph book and my wife's purse *sigh*


We then went to see Goofy who was, well, pretty darn goofy. He really tried to get Peter to engage him, but Peter really didn't want much to do with it. He gave out some good hugs for the girls though ... Goofy that is, not Peter:

Last up was Minnie who both girls were excited to see. Well, all the girls really as Bridget and Judi was nearly as excited as Tara and Olivia - so everyone wanted to get in the photo action:

This was definite a great set of meetings. I know when we came 2 years ago they had 5 characters here (also had Donald and Pluto) but knocking out 3 of the big guys with only one line to wait on is pretty good. Everyone was in high spirits!

Speaking of "spirits", after this meeting Bob and I were off to the Mexico Pavilion for the Mexican Tequila Lunch event (will be covered in detail in next update).

While we were there, the rest of the group went over to the Seas to spend some time with Nemo and Friends as well as Talk with Crush. Olivia actually got called on to ask Crush a question but after giving her name she kinda froze until she eventually sneezed ... but hey, it isn't everyday a sea turtle says "bless you" to you

 

[missangelalexis]

Great pictures with the princesses!

Love your character spot pics too. Don't worry, real men carry their wife's purse and daughter's autograph book!

 

[DisneyKid4Life]

Haha, you just can't get too much "Living with the Land".

I can totally get children being a little nervous of a GIANT MOUSE. On TV he's so small. Though come to think of it he is roughly the same size as Pluto, a dog. So I guess it's not completely odd that he's "people sized" in the parks.

 

[spiritsim]

Love the char. pics Minin is always so bright and vibrant......looking forword to the rest of your report.

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Great pictures with the princesses!

Love your character spot pics too. Don't worry, real men carry their wife's purse and daughter's autograph book!

Thanks! Yeah, I don't mind carrying my wife's purse / daughter's autograph book at times, but would have been nice if I thought to put them down for the picture .... don't necessarily need photographic evidence

Haha, you just can't get too much "Living with the Land".

I can totally get children being a little nervous of a GIANT MOUSE. On TV he's so small. Though come to think of it he is roughly the same size as Pluto, a dog. So I guess it's not completely odd that he's "people sized" in the parks.

"Living with the Land" is definitely one of our favorites. Once our kids get a bit older I could definitely see us doing the Behind the Seeds tour.

yeah, probably best to not think two hard about the character's size relationship to other characters. I mean, Mickey is like 80% the size of Beast which would either makes Mickey a giant mouse or Beast a rather small, um, beast

Love the char. pics Minin is always so bright and vibrant......looking forword to the rest of your report.

In keeping with the theme of teases in this trip report I will let you know that this was not the last time we met Minnie and every time she was always so friendly and sweet with the kids. Thanks for following along!

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Day 2 - Part 3: EPCOT ... 1 Tequila, 2 Tequila, 3 Tequila ....​

Ok, finally time for some actual Food & Wine Festival fun!

After meeting with Mickey it was time for Bob and I to head over to the Mexico Pavilion for the one F&WF event I really wanted to do: The Mexican Tequila Lunch. We walked over there and into the pavilion and up to the San Angel Inn to check in .... only to be informed that it is actually being held at La Hacienda de San Angel

(in my defense, did they both have to have "San Angel" in their titles)


So back out of the pavilion we went, across the road and into La Hacienda de San Angel. This was my first time in there and I must say that I thought it was quite beautiful and loved the way the light came streaming in off the lake. But enough talk of architecture - on to the booze!

After we checked in we were provided with a Horchata Margarita and led to our table. We were seated a a table for 8 with a family of 4 (parents and adult kids) along with a gentleman named Ken who has attended this event every year and indicated that it has gotten better each year.

You can see the Horchata Margarita on the left side of the place setting photo below:

Horchata Margarita: Exotico 100% agave premium silver Tequila, horchata liquor, agave nectar, agua de horchata and Fireball Cinnamon Whiskey served with a cinnamon and sugar rim

The Horchata Margarita was really good. Very refreshing - especiall considering it is a bit creamy. It is also the strongest margarita they make at La Cava Del Tequila (it is basically just a blend of liquor) and doesn't taste it - making it fairly dangerous.


In addition to the margarita we were provided with a shot of vodka, the three main tequilas that would be paired with lunch, and two additional shots on the right - the clear one is Mescal and the creamy one is a Tequila Liqueur.

Below is an image of the menu for the lunch as well as a closer look at the three main tequilas lunch would be paired with:

The session was kicked off by our host Hilda Castillo who is Disney's resident Tequiler (the tequila version of a wine sommelier) and is actually from Tequila, Mexico - so basically she knows her stuff. She was very entertaining and kept things moving, but also reviewed material as she was insistent we actually learn something - this was after all a tequila tasting/pairing and not an opportunity to get drunk off shots.

(sorry for the picture quality - with the light coming in from the windows it was hard to get a good picture in that direction)


She had three main rules for the session:

1. Be quiet and listen
2. Follow along, drink the tequila only when she tells us to
3. Ask questions

She started us off by telling us some of the basics of tequila (can only be made from the Blue Agave plan, only made in 5 regions in Mexico, etc.) and went over the 5 types of tequila:

1. Blanco (white)
2. Reposado (rested)
3. Anejo (aged)
4. Extra Anejo (extra-aged)
5. Hoven (a blend of two of the above)

She also discussed the evolution of the tequila tasting glass - from hollowed bull horn (which Tequilers now wear around their necks as a sign of their status), to shot glasses, to the current glass which looks like a stubby champagne glass which is what we used. As well as how to taste tequila: First notice color or body, then smell three places (front edge of glass, middle, back edge of glass - which is where you get the most notes from the barrel), then take a sip and swirl around your mouth for 4 seconds before swallowing.

Finally we were set to have our vodka pallet cleanser (um, ok) and then try our first tequila which was the Jose Cuervo Reserva Blanco:

Of the tequilas we had this one most reminded me of your typical tequila with a relatively strong alcohol feel - though it finished much smoother than most tequilas I have had.

This was paired with:

Pulpo en Escabeche: marinated octopus with vinegar, carrots, cauliflower, potatoes, cactus and hearts of palm

(kinda forgot to take a picture before I started eating - the original presentation was much nicer)

This was a lovely salad and paired quite well with the tequila. The octopus was very nice - not chewey but still meaty/solid enough to be noticable - definitely not mushy. All the elements were very bright and crisp. Hilda mentioned that Blancos pair very well with seafood.


We then moved to the next tequila which was the Milagro Select Reposado:

I am by no means a tequila expert, but generally I prefer the reposado style and it was not different today. I feel that the "resting" helps take the edge off the tequila without getting too much wood flavor like you can with the anejos. This one was excellent - very smooth with a bright flavor to it.

This was paired with a soup:

Crema de Cilantro: Cilantro and serrano peppers cream, served with toasted pine nuts

This also was excellent! Very interesting flavor - espeically when you got some of the cream and the pine nuts. It all blended well together and the pine nuts added another texture.


At this point Hilda provided some more tequila education (how tequila is made, etc.). She also throughout the session held quizzes ... with prizes!!!! And I got one right (I remembered the 5 kinds of tequila) and one a good sized bottle of agave nectar:

We then tried the Mescal - which actually isn't tequila at all but actually made from the maguey plant (a type of agave). This is apparently one of those things that people either really love or really don't .... and I fell in the later group. It was just super, super smokey and not something I would choose to have again - but it was fun to try once:

After that we moved on to the main course. The tequila we had with this was the Gran Centenario Anejo:

This was also quite yummy. I actually liked this nearly as much as the reposado, but just a little too much wood on it for me ... but definitely excellent and I would sip on that again if offered.

This was paired with their surf and turf offering:

Mar y Tierra: grilled filet mignon over roasted tomatoes, dry peppers, almonds and sesame seed sauce, marinated shrimp with guajillo peppers accompanied with a cactus leaf vinaigrette

I am not one to internet hyperbole, but O. M. G. - this was sooooo good. The steak was cooked perfectly and the shrimp was wonderful but the star of the dish, and probably the best thing we had all meal was the sauce under the steak, just wonderful.


Last up was the dessert course. For this we had the shot of 1921 Crema de Tequila:

I've actually had this before - heck we have a bottle of it at home that we got in Mexico. It is really yummy - think of it as the Mexican version of Bailys.

This was paired with (and ultimately poured over):

Dulce de Mamey: mamey (exotic mexican fruit) served with berry and whipped cream

I don't mean this to sound like a back-handed complement but this was so much better than I thought it would be. It basically tasted like sweet potato caserole creme brulee - and pouring the 1921 Crema over it made it just that much better!


And that pretty much concluded the session after a bit of a wrap up (including more quizzes and education reminders from Hilda). They also brought the chefs out for a well deserved round of applause. Their goal with the meal was to show that Mexican cooking is more that tacos and burritos and they definitely succeeded in that.


If anyone is on the fence about doing this event in the future I cannot recommend it enough. The cost was $75 per person and considering the amount of food and level of tequila provided it was well worth it.


the next update will continue our adventures in EPCOT

 

[khaleesi]

Love the family picture with Belle!!

I'm surprised more kids aren't afraid of the characters, because every single one of my nieces and nephews were at one point in time... and not just Disney characters. Santa, the Easter Bunny, the mascots for our local baseball team.

 

[kastoney]

Subbing in a little late. Can never pass up tequila lunch ; )

 

[RGirl]

Sounds and looks like a great meet-and-greet with Mickey, Minnie and Goofy!

And, wow - the tequila lunch sounds amazing! I am so jealous!

 

[spiritsim]

I like tequila but never really got into all the different types......good to know the differences,TY

 

[DisneyKid4Life]

Hmmm, good title Phil!!

Hey, That's a completely honest mistake with San Angel Inn and La Hacienda de San Angel.

Yup, that's Epcot for you. They will teach you something no matter what! Nothing wrong with that though, as long as it's entertaining... and involves booze.

Thanks for the review. Sounds like a nice event.

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Love the family picture with Belle!!

I'm surprised more kids aren't afraid of the characters, because every single one of my nieces and nephews were at one point in time... and not just Disney characters. Santa, the Easter Bunny, the mascots for our local baseball team.

Thank you - one of my favorite things about Photo Pass is full family pictures (i.e., I am actually in some)

Olivia at this point is great with all Disney Characters (well, except Beast) but freaks out royally at non-Disney ones .... last trip to Chuck E Cheese was not pretty

Subbing in a little late. Can never pass up tequila lunch ; )

Welcome, thanks for joining! It was great - was really looking forward to it and loved it all. Still not sure how often I will have tequila but really enjoyed the lunch

Sounds and looks like a great meet-and-greet with Mickey, Minnie and Goofy!

And, wow - the tequila lunch sounds amazing! I am so jealous!

It was a great set of meet-and-greets! Love that they offer the character spot where you can get a couple of key characters done with only one line wait

If you ever get the chance definitely give the tequila lunch a go ... or, you know, buy a bottle of Jose Cuervo and a burrito and do your own

I like tequila but never really got into all the different types......good to know the differences,TY

We had stopped in a tequila shot in Mexico once so had some exposure (but were way over our head) but it was definitely fun to find out more. They do have some information at La Cava del Tequila and also have flights of tequila too if you want to try some different types

Hmmm, good title Phil!!

Hey, That's a completely honest mistake with San Angel Inn and La Hacienda de San Angel.

Yup, that's Epcot for you. They will teach you something no matter what! Nothing wrong with that though, as long as it's entertaining... and involves booze.

Thanks for the review. Sounds like a nice event.

Thanks Rob - and for making me feel better about my mix up

That should become EPCOTS new motto - You will learn something whether you want to or not ... but you'll get booze!

It was a great event, definitely glad we did it

 

[herb102211]

The tequila lunch looks awesome! Glad you enjoyed it

 

[emmysmommy]

Em bought a bottle of agave nectar recently, should I be alarmed? I suppose as long as it's just agave we're good.

So you paid attention to the seminar, that's always good.

I wasn't going to say anything about you with a handbag in the character photos but since you mentioned it....nice!

Your F&W tee is very appropriate for the occasion.

 

[TheMaxRebo]

The tequila lunch looks awesome! Glad you enjoyed it

Thanks! It was a lot of fun ... edutainment at its finest

Em bought a bottle of agave nectar recently, should I be alarmed? I suppose as long as it's just agave we're good.

So you paid attention to the seminar, that's always good.

I wasn't going to say anything about you with a handbag in the character photos but since you mentioned it....nice!

Your F&W tee is very appropriate for the occasion.

I think you should be fine ... it can also be used as a substitute for honey for extreme vegans - but based on your dining reports I would be surprised if Emmy was becoming an extreme vegan

Yeah, Judi had to wrangle Peter a lot at the Character greets while I manned the autograph book and other bags and whatnot .... the things we do for our kids

Thanks for noticing the shirt ... and the good thing is that there was a washer/dryer in our condo so I was able to wear it the next F&WF day as well

 

[Nakkira]

Dinner at the Kona is fantastic!

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Day 2 - Part 4: EPCOT ... Taste, Shake, and Indulge!​

After finishing our adventures with Tequila we needed to complete an even more challenging task - finding everyone else.

Via various forms of communication (mobile phone calls, text messages, smoke signals, etc.) we found out that everyone else was ... in the Mexico Pavilion. Of course.

The McNamees decided to eat out at the quick service La Cantina de San Angel but Judi and the kids wanted to get out of the heat so checked at the San Angel Inn and found that it would only be a 15 minute wait for a table (at that point the line at La Cantina was at least that long and it was over 1 hour to get into La Cava del Tequila).

That decision turned out great as they split two entrées:

Enchiladas Verdes de Pollo: Corn tortillas filled with pulled chicken, covered with green tomatillo sauce, topped with sour cream, queso fresco and onion, served with black beans

Kids Steak Tacos: marinated steak on flour totillas, served with Mexican rice and vegetables

note: Judi swears she took pictures but we can't find them, oh well.

They also had a great view (much better than this picture would imply - but we did 27 takes and this was the best one) and Olivia especially loved waving to everyone at the start of their boat tour.

Also, I was able to get to them before they got the bill and thus they were able to apply the TIW card. This provided an additional savings of $6.15 bring the total to: $28.97 from AP + $114.51 from TIW = $143.48

After this I walked Judi and her mom over to Monsieur Paul for their booked sesison of Taste, Shake, and Indulge Like the French ... a.k.a. Grand Marnier Tasting. As I had done all the bookings I wasn't sure if they would be allowed in without me so I walked over just to be safe - it probably would have been fine but did make things easier that I was there.

While I did this Bob took the kids on The Gran Fiesta Tour Staring the Three Caballeros (a.k.a. Mexican It's a Small World)


From this point on, the commentary in this post is provided by Judi who actually attended the event. Her views do not necessarily reflect those of the rest of the staff of this report (i.e., Me).

Unless you like the rest of the post, in that case I did it all.

*******************************

Taste, Shake, and Indulge Like the French​

So right off the bat I will admit that I didn't take notes. Taking notes would have been helpful... so sorry if I don't have a ton of detail in my post.

Phil walked my mom and I over to make sure that we had no issues checking in as it was in his name and then he went back to find my dad and the kids.

Mom and I waited for a few minutes and then were seated at our table. Unlike the tequila lunch that Phil attended we weren't seated with other groups which had pluses and minuses - I enjoy meeting other people but I did have a nice time relaxing with my mom.

When we sat down we already had our tastings, cocktail ingredients, and accompaniments set out:

Here is a close up of the tastings:

And here is one of the cocktail ingredients and accompaniments. The orange Madeleine is the baked good you see and that and the chocolate square were the accompaniments. The mint and the lemon slices were for the cocktail and I will come back to that desiccated green thing on the side.

I also wanted to show off the uber cute way that they folded our napkins:

While the rep from Grand Marnier talked to us about the history of the drink we got to have a mimosa. I didn't get a picture of the rep, she moved around the room to include everyone and I just never had a good opportunity to get a pic. Originally mimosas were made with Grand Marnier as an ingredient and it does add a bit something special to the drink, amplifying the orange flavor and smoothing out the sharpness of the OJ. Besides, who doesn't like extra booze in their booze?

The big things I remember from the history is that fine cognac is special and pretty rare so adding orange liquor to it was a great idea. Back when it was created (it had a different name that I can't recall) oranges were a rarity as well so putting together two rare and special ingredients made for something truly decadent. Obviously oranges aren't as hard to find now but this is still really good stuff.

Back to that green thing on the plate. Another thing I learned is that all the orange flavor is in the orange flesh by the time that the peel turns orange. As the orange liquor is made from the peels the fruit is harvested while still green and the peels have the most flavor. We broke our dried peels to get a strong burst of orange scent. The rep also told a comical story of one drunken gentleman who actually ate the dried peel - not just a nibble but the entire thing.

The rep talked us through the tastings while continuing to give us more info. The first we tasted was the cordon rouge. This is your basic Grand Marnier. It has a strong orange scent and a warm bite from the cognac. Next was the 100th anniversary (my favorite) which is smoother and really brings out the orange flavor. I could have just relaxed with a glass of that for the rest of the day and let the rest of the world pass me by. The 150th is richer and the orange flavor less pronounced. I liked the smoothness but missed the fruitiness that the others had. The last one we tasted was the raspberry peach. In keeping with the brand it isn't just made with any raspberry and peach, they are both uncommon varieties of the fruit and made for a lighter and sweeter version. My mom liked this one the best and I enjoyed it also. The Madeleine and the dark chocolate went very nicely with all of the liquors.

Next it was time to make our cocktail. We each had some tools on the table: a Boston shaker, a muddler, a strainer, and a straw.

We squeezed our lemon slices into the shaker, added some of the mint and muddled it gently (too much muddling makes for a bitter drink). Then we added the wee bottle of Grand Marnier. The waiters had brought the other half of the Boston shaker with ice in it and we shook it up. Finally we strained it into the cocktail glass and garnished with more mint leaves.

The Grand Smash is a good cocktail and I will definitely be having it again sometime, even if it means making it myself every time (not sure how many bartenders know this one).

Then came the Crepes Suzette demonstration. I do love a good flaming dessert.

After the demo they brought out our crepes and a Grand Marnier tart with that. The tart is an orangey version of a lemon meringue. I really wished that I had the recipe for this. Of course, I like meringue a lot so was predisposed to like this dessert. The crepe was good too but suffered a bit from the time between cooking and plating.

On the way out we received our goody bags. Inside are a mini shaker, a cool round (i.e., orange shaped) cup, a straw, and a Grand Marnier flavored chapstick.

I was glad that I had eaten lunch before attending, both so that I didn't end up too tipsy and so that I felt ready for dessert. Basically this tasting is like a super long dessert course and I thoroughly enjoyed it. It was extra nice to have some mother-daughter time and escape the crowds into the peace and quiet of air conditioning. Since then I have had Grand Marnier while out so this did open my eyes to Grand Marnier as more than an ingredient in better cosmos.

 

[RGirl]

Wow! I didn't know there was a Grand Marnier tasting/presentation. It looks like a lot of fun and very interesting. I had no idea that a mimosa originally included Grand Marnier. I am totally going to try that!

 

[emmysmommy]

Thanks Judi for the great Grand Marnier review! Any class that starts with a mimosa is great in my book! I learned something about the ripening of oranges and the green peel as well. Crepes Suzette and a bag of swag what's not to love with that?

Great job Phil getting the TiW card to Judi since every $6.15 adds up. It's ironic that two of the restaurants that made an appearance in your update were two of our firsts this trip.