PTR-Cheating on Mickey w/Harry!...OMG! Only a month to go!

[franandaj]

So I'm sorry that I haven't been around much lately, but about a month ago we chose a company to handle the sale of my FIL's posessions. We had spent about 3 months bringing over our own garage sale items with about 50 boxes of stuff that we incorporated into the house. We thought that the Estate people would not take kindly to us bringing over our own crap to sell. However we were dead wrong. They didn't care whose stuff that they got a 30% commision out of!

We spent every spare moment of the last three weeks going through our garages, closets, bedrooms and managed to find 25+ loads (with which we filled the back of our Expedition) of stuff to cart over there. This morning was the First Day of the Estate Sale, by noon they had sold off quite a bit of stuff! Tomorrow they will complete the sale. What ever is left after tomorrow will be sold for pennies on Saturday, and what's left after that will be donated to a thrift store. Then I can get back to life as normal!

 

[franandaj]

However now comes the good part. Today they released the official menus for the kiosks at the Food & Wind Festival, plus all the other details on the Disney website! It’s easier to read from the Disney Food Blog

Kiosk Menus

So now that I know what they will have for sure (pending last minute changes), I can get down to some real eating planning!

 

[bangzoom6877]

However now comes the good part. Today they released the official menus for the kiosks at the Food & Wind Festival, plus all the other details on the Disney website! It’s easier to read from the Disney Food Blog

Kiosk Menus

So now that I know what they will have for sure (pending last minute changes), I can get down to some real eating planning!

Sounds great! You must be so excited...when they release these things, it just means that the trip is that much closer!

 

[franandaj]

Sounds great! You must be so excited...when they release these things, it just means that the trip is that much closer!

YOU must be excited! Only 3 days for you!

 

[Leshaface]

So I'm sorry that I haven't been around much lately, but about a month ago we chose a company to handle the sale of my FIL's posessions. We had spent about 3 months bringing over our own garage sale items with about 50 boxes of stuff that we incorporated into the house. We thought that the Estate people would not take kindly to us bringing over our own crap to sell. However we were dead wrong. They didn't care whose stuff that they got a 30% commision out of!

We spent every spare moment of the last three weeks going through our garages, closets, bedrooms and managed to find 25+ loads (with which we filled the back of our Expedition) of stuff to cart over there. This morning was the First Day of the Estate Sale, by noon they had sold off quite a bit of stuff! Tomorrow they will complete the sale. What ever is left after tomorrow will be sold for pennies on Saturday, and what's left after that will be donated to a thrift store. Then I can get back to life as normal!

Omgosh Alison I forgot to tell you!

The Wine Cabinet is AMAZING!!!!

It took 4 grown men to move that thing with GREAT difficulty. You should have heard all the noises these guys were making...I was like, "WTHeck is going on in there!? It doesn't sound very pleasant!"

Right now it's in our Sitting room area...I need to take a picture of it and post it! We'll treat it good! I promise! PLUS next week, we'll be hitting up Paso Robles wineries so now we can start filling this baby up!

 

[franandaj]

Omgosh Alison I forgot to tell you!

The Wine Cabinet is AMAZING!!!!

It took 4 grown men to move that thing with GREAT difficulty. You should have heard all the noises these guys were making...I was like, "WTHeck is going on in there!? It doesn't sound very pleasant!"

Right now it's in our Sitting room area...I need to take a picture of it and post it! We'll treat it good! I promise! PLUS next week, we'll be hitting up Paso Robles wineries so now we can start filling this baby up!

Cool! I hope you guys are able to get a cooling unit for it, or fix the one that goes with it! Our handyman actually moved that thing out of our house by himself! Have fun in Paso Robles! Make sure you visit Zaca Mesa when you are there! They are one of my favorites, I'm still in their wine club, and also Sanford, especially if your DH loves Pinot Noir, they are known for that. I cancelled the other clubs that I was in because at one time I was enrolled in more than 10 wine clubs including Fess Parker, Firestone, Buttonwood and maybe one or two others.

Yes I'm dying to see a picture!

 

[bangzoom6877]

YOU must be excited! Only 3 days for you!

Oh yes!!! Now only 2 days...when I wake up in the morning I can say "We sail tomorrow!"

AND...looks like we will be checking in at BWV July 17, 2012...so I will be booking that trip 11 days after we get back from the cruise. YAY...more planning!

 

[PrincessInOz]

 

[franandaj]

Well this week, the Estate Sale people held a sale at the FILs house on Tuesday and Wednesday. We got back in the house on Wed at 1PM, and it literally looked like the place had been burglarized and they tossed the house. It was just like you see on TV when the suspects search a place looking for something. I was astonished, and wondered "what pack of wolves came through here?" Stuff was broken, it was a mess. It took us that day and the next two just to put everything back in order. Yesterday was a madhouse. We sold things for 5 cents, 25 cents, a dollar. But that stuff adds up and we took in over a thousand dollars!

So I posted on here earlier in the week that the kiosk menus have been released. Now that I KNOW what they have I will continue my earlier journey of what we want to eat!

So our plans have changed a dozen times since I’ve started this PTR. My first inclination was to avoid the weekends, but as I started to read reports from the 2010 F&W I realized that most of the good special events took place on the weekends. I think with our current schedule I have worked out a good balance of events and kiosks. We arrive at Disney on Thursday the 27th of October.

We’ll be coming from US/IOA so we won’t have far to travel. Hopefully we will arrive early in the afternoon. There is the possibility that some DISmeets may be forming with people on some of the other threads, so I won’t have really firm plans until after Aug 16th when we make our special event reservations. However in a perfect world these will be my plans.

Once we arrive at BCV chanced of our room being ready a slim, so we’ll leave the bags at Bell Services and head into Epcot. I plan to head left towards the UK and Canada for the following booths.

Ireland, Introduced: 2001
Lobster and Scallop Fisherman’s Pie
This is my absolute favorite festival offering and if I can, I want to eat it twice!

Kerrygold® Cheese Selection (Aged-Irish Cheddar, Dubliner and Ivernia Cheese) with apple chutney and brown bread
I’ll probably pass on this one.

Warm Chocolate Lava Cake with Baileys Irish Cream Ganache
This was my favorite sweet of the trip so again I hope to have it several times

Guinness Draught
Bunratty Honey Meade Wine
We’ll probably order one of each to accompany each of the choices of food.


Canada, Introduced: 1996
Canadian Cheddar Cheese Soup
This is soooo good. I’ve made it at home several times since I had it last. I can’t wait to try it again.

Maple and Moosehead-Beer Glazed Salmon with Barley Salad
Not being a fan of Salmon, I’ll pass on this.

Chicken Chipotle Sausage with Sweet Corn Polenta
I remember this was pretty tasty last time, and if I’m going to be in line for the soup, I may as well get the sausage.

Moosehead Beer
Neige Sparkling
Neige – FB
The Neige – FB is an apple ice wine. We will probably skip the Beer and have the sparkling and the Ice Wine.

Greece, Introduced: 1996
Greek Salad with Pita Bread
This was very good last time, so I’m looking forward to it, and it will be my first real vegetable serving!

Griddled Greek Cheese with Pistacios and Honey
This one is new, so I have no idea what to expect!

Chicken Souvlaki with Tzatziki
This was really good too and it’s close to Canada (why, I don’t know?)

Dannon Greek Yogurt Parfait with Strawberries
Now all the people on the F&W sticky are in an uproar about this and I agree. BAKLAVA was always the dessert in Greece! Yogurt with berries? I think most people have that in their fridge at home! I don’t need to show a pic, in fact I get this at McDonald’s all the time! Dannon is a F&W sponsor, so that explains everything.

Skouras St George
Boutari Greek (White) “Moschofilero”
Boutari Kretikos White
I don’t know which of these we’ll get but we’ll pick two.

So by this point, we’ll have eaten six savories, one sweet, and six “beverages”. I think we’ll still be sufficiently hungry to move on to Hawaii which is new this year.

Hawaii, Introduced: 2011 <– New!
Kalua Pork Slider with Sweet and Sour Dole Pineapple Chutney and Spicy Mayonnaise
This pictures is from a TIW preview event, they sound really good though!

Tuna Poke with Seaweed Salad and Lotus Root Chips
This one is brand new, but sounds really good.

Seven Tiki Mai Tai
Kona Longboard
Pipeline beer
They are introducing more cocktails at the Festival this year, we’ll probably try one of each and skip the beer.

I’m sure by the time we finish at Hawaii, we’ll be pretty full, but hopefully not comatose. I’m hoping we’ll be through all these things before 2PM and that will give us about an hour to go shopping at Publix. Our room should be ready by 4PM so we could get back with the groceries and hopefully take them right up to our room.

I thought I was going to cook a meal or so, but now I’m not so sure. We’ll mostly pick up breakfast foods, beverages and snacks, but I think I might pick up something I can cook up in the room that isn’t perishable. I know that’s not very good cookwise, but I might want to eat from the kiosks instead of cook something up!

We’ll play it by ear!

 

[franandaj]

Soooooo

With the Estate Sale behind us, we're not out of the woods yet because we have to dispose of all the stuff and get the stuff we want to keep out of there so the Contractor can begin work.

BUT

I have set aside a couple days this week for a Staycation. I've just finished making all the arrangements. (Well most) First off we are staying two nights at an efficiency place in Garden Grove.

What, you say? Garden Grove? Is that a hot spot? No there really isn't anything to do there. So why would we go there? Because there isn't anything to do there!

Check in is at 3PM and I so hope that we are there for that. Once we get settled and relaxed we're going to head out to one of my favorite restaurants. California Shabu Shabu!

And in the end becomes

The next day, we'll get some breakfast somewhere, it can be Denny's, I don't care, as long as I don't have to be up before 9AM and we are out of there so I can get to the Spa by noon. It's only a mile and a half from our hotel.

I'd like to get there well before my first appointment at 1:30 so that I can use the large jacuzzi tub, the steam room, the sauna before my 1:30 Mustard Detox Bath. They put something in the bath water to Detox your muscles, then they put cucumbers over you eyes and just let you soak for about 20 mninutes. "The ultimate in detoxification and tissue cleansing, relax as our soothing blend of wintergreen, eucalyptus, rosemary and thyme combine in our unique Mustard Bath."

At 2:00PM I have a Savannah's Surrender scheduled.

"Fall under the spell of this enchanting treatment and you’ll emerge soothed and energized at the same time. It begins with Burke Williams Mineral Salts vigorously massaged into your skin. Next, the salt is rinsed off and your body is washed with exfoliating gloves and our own special cleanser. Immediately, a warm, organic mud is applied, followed by a bath of cascading waters that literally wash away stress and tension. Finally, an invigorating peppermint-menthol application leaves your body tingling and your senses awakened."

And at 3:00 a Pure Relaxation Massage. "Just as the name implies, this is the perfect modality to relieve the stress and tightness caused by your hectic life so that you can return to schedule refreshed and rejuvenated. Blending Swedish and circulatory massage strokes, your therapist will gently knead your muscles to increase flexibility, stimulate circulation, and promote relaxation."

After all that, I sure hope that I'll be awake enough to go to dinner, but I'll sure be relaxed! Our plan is to go to the Anaheim White House for Dinner. It's a fancy Orange County restaurant known for it's swanky charitable contributions and exquisite cuisine.

http://www.anaheimwhitehouse.com/

I'm sure we'll pass out after dinner, and the next morning I will go home, hopefully rejuvenated!

Does anyone want me to post any food porn?

 

[Leshaface]

Cool! I hope you guys are able to get a cooling unit for it, or fix the one that goes with it! Our handyman actually moved that thing out of our house by himself! Have fun in Paso Robles! Make sure you visit Zaca Mesa when you are there! They are one of my favorites, I'm still in their wine club, and also Sanford, especially if your DH loves Pinot Noir, they are known for that. I cancelled the other clubs that I was in because at one time I was enrolled in more than 10 wine clubs including Fess Parker, Firestone, Buttonwood and maybe one or two others.

Yes I'm dying to see a picture!

Zaca Mesa...I need to write that one down...I know we have to hit Tobin James (Dsil wants to go there for some reason), Castoro Cellars, Peachy Canyon, Zenaida Cellars, and a few others. I believe we'll be tasting ALL day on Thursday, then again all day on Saturday. Hopefully I'll come back with some good bottles (although i'm trying to save up for our MR cruise, so we'll see how many I can get away with!)


And all those pics of the kiosks looked YUMMY! ESPECIALLY that Moosehead Salmon.. Want now.

I'm super happy to hear that your estate sale went so well and that you were able to get rid of a lot of things!

 

[PrincessInOz]

I'll have one of everything!

There's going to be grilled greek cheese on the menu and they are serving it with HONEY?
We have Saganaki (Halloumi or Kasseri), which is grilled with lemon and maybe some capers. I can't say I've ever had it with honey!


Enjoy your staycation. I'm really envious!

 

[franandaj]

Back to WDW, it's our arrival day on property coming from US/IAO....we ate lunch at the kiosks and then headed off to the grocery store for some provisions around 2PM.....

So I figure we’ll arrive back from the grocery store about the time our room is ready (if not after). We can go get settled in our room, have our bags brought up and the groceries too. At this point I’ll probably do my tub cleanout. For those of you who are saying “tub cleanout”? One bedroom units have Jacuzzi Tubs, and if you have the heebie jeebies about hotel rooms, check out this thread (or maybe don’t!)

Jet Tubs and Bath Bombs

So after reading that little thread, I have little bottles of bleach that I carry in Ziploc baggies and I run the tub through a bleaching before I decide to enjoy it!

Usually I do this while I’m unpacking our clothes, groceries and other things. So by the time that is all finished, I’m going to say we’ll be hungry for some more F&W kiosks. I’m making a plan, but often times I am overruled, but this plan is also an exercise to just see if it is possible to hit all the booths that I want in the designated amount of time. I’m guessing early evening or knowing Fran, maybe later in the evening, we’ll head back out to the kiosks to get some dinner.

I’m thinking we’ll pick up where we left off. Now for those of you not familiar with this year’s map, the booths we covered for lunch were spread from England to the entrance to WS. If we didn’t get to Hawaii, we’ll start there, otherwise, we’ll move on through to Australia.

Australia, Introduced: 1997
Shrimp on the Barbie with Pepper Berry Citrus Glaze
This sounds very good, and the woman who went to the TIW preview dinner (from whom I got this picture) said it was really good too!

Grilled Lamb Chop with Potato-Goat Cheese Salad and Shiraz Reduction
This isn’t the exact Lamb Chop since this year’s will have a Goat Cheese Salad (which I think will pair stellarly with it )

Lamington (chocolate and coconut covered Yellow Cake)
You couldn’t PAY me to eat this. I am not at all a fan of Coconut.

Penfolds “Koonuga Hill” Chardonnay
Greg Norman Estates Shiraz, Limestone Coast
Lindeman’s “Bin 90″ Moscato
Penfolds “Thomas Hyland” Cabernet Sauvignon
Hard Choices here on the wines, the Chardonnay would be good with the shrimp. Perhaps I should try two of these lamblets and get a different red wine each time. Fran would like the Moscato, I would too probably, maybe I would get something from the Desserts & Champagne booth to go with it!


Brazil, Introduced: 1996
Brazil’s National Dish — Feijoada (a Black Bean and Pork Stew)
Seared Mahi Mahi with steamed Rice, Hearts of Palm, and Coconut-Lime Sauce
LeBlon Frozen Caipirinha

I can’t say that anything here but the Caipirinha interests me!

Argentina, Introduced: 1996
Beef Empanada
I do remember liking this one quite a bit, I mean it’s a little beef filled pie, what’s not to like?

Grilled Beef Skewer with Chimichurri Sauce and Boniato Purée
And meat on a stick, who doesn’t love that?

Terrazas Reserva Charddonay
Terrazas Reserva Cabernet Sauvignon
Terrazas Reserva Torrontes
Terrazas Reserva Malbec
There’s more wines than there are foods! What will I do? We can only carry so much AND drive the scooters!

The next booth we come to is the Caribbean Islands. Everything is new so there are no pictures.

Caribbean Islands, Introduced 2011 <– New!
Ropa Vieja (Braised Beef) with White Rice
Jerk spiced Chicken Drumstick with Mango Salsa
Frozen Dragon Berry Colada
Frozen Rock Coconut Mojito
I’m sort of lukewarm on these items so we’ll have to see how it hits me at the time. But here’s a shot of Both the items from the TIW preview night.

Mexico, Introduced: 1996
Rib Eye Tacos
This sounds wonderful, as long as they don’t cook the meat to the consistency of shoe leather. I will probably be disappointed, because the way I would cook it, is to let it kiss the grill, short and sweet and serve it up still mooing. No pictures since it’s new.

Shrimp Tacos
I don’t think this is new, but there are still no pictures. Sounds excellent to me

Flan
We’ll see on the day how I feel about this one, not a big fan of flan, the consistency is a little weird.

Dos Equis Beer
Lime Strawberry Margarita on the rocks
L.A. Cetto Chardonnay
L.A. Cetto Petite Sirah
We’ll probably go with the wines here and maybe the margarita. I think I’ve even been to this winery, if it’s outside of Enseanada!

OK so by now we’ll have eaten six savory dishes, maybe more and eaten hardly any sweets. We could either push on or what I think might be a better move is to head backwards and hit up the Desserts & Champagne booth!

Desserts & Champagne, Introduced: 2000
Lemon Chiffon
White Chocolate Macadamia Mousse with Dark Chocolate Pearls
Tres Leches Verrine
Now what I think would be the smartest idea is to get the Moscato from Australia (as I really don’t think Champagnes go all that well with sweets) and we’ll be having one of each of these!

Moet & Chandon Ice Imperial
Moet & Chandon Rose Imperial
Moet & Chandon Nectar Imperial
Moet & Chandon Imperial

At our last F&W this booth was right near the entrance to World Showcase so it was convenient to walk past and grab a glass of Champagne. I think I tried one of each at some point throughout the week that we were there. I can take it or leave it with the Champagne. By this point I’m sure we’ll be full, but it probably won’t be anywhere near closing time at Epcot. Perhaps we might space out the food offerings a little more and take in an attraction or two in between food. I’m SURE we’ll find our way into a store or two! If nothing else, we could always stop by New Zealand, it’s in the area between Canada and Great Britain. If you haven’t been keeping track, we entered through the International Gateway and headed toward the entrance to Future World. With that as our starting point, we got as far as Mexico and then turned back for the Desserts which were inbetween Canada and the entrance to WS. So NZ would be on the way back to BCV, plus we could get another lava cake!

New Zealand, Introduced: 1997
Seared Sea Scallop with Kumara-Red Curry Puree and Apple Radish Salad
I would definitely like to eat this at some point during the festival, but it’s not on the top of my list.

Lamb Slider with Tomato Chutney
While I am a huge fan of lamb, I could take or leave this one. I’ll only order it if we’re here for the Scallop and I’m pretty hungry.

Mohua Sauvignon Blanc
Mohua Central Otago Riesling
Whitehaven Sauvignon Blanc
Whitehaven Pinot Noir

We’ll probably go with the Riesling as Fran is a big huge fan of those. I like Sauvignon Blanc, but we’ll have the Pinot if we order the slider.

Assuming this is as far as we get the first day, and my Special Events go as planned, we actually have very little time for the kiosks. A little time Friday and Saturday mornings, and some of Friday evening (before the dessert party). But from what I hear, the Fri & Sat nights get CRAZY. So we’ll be avoiding Epcot at those times. We’ll have Monday once we check out of BCV while we’re homeless (waiting for our room at VWL) to get in as many things as we don’t do Fri & Sat.

So we’ll see how my little exercise in planning works out. Will I fit in all the yummy foods that I desire? Stay tuned!

 

[Leshaface]

EW! That was a NASTY picture!

I never even think about the tubs like that...and I've taken many a bath in hotels before that had jacuzzi's in their room. I feel like I need to go home and bathe in scalding water now.

I'm always concerned with the remotes, light switches, door handles, and telephones that i'm sure never get sanitized by housekeeping. I used to be so bad, that on trips I would pack the sanitizer wipes AND the clorox sanitizing spray with me on trips so I could spray the rooms.

But all that food looked LOVELY!

 

[Leshaface]

Also, I was looking at your tickers just now. Has the D23 expo always been in August?! I thought it was the beginning of September last year?

 

[franandaj]

EW! That was a NASTY picture!

I never even think about the tubs like that...and I've taken many a bath in hotels before that had jacuzzi's in their room. I feel like I need to go home and bathe in scalding water now.

I'm always concerned with the remotes, light switches, door handles, and telephones that i'm sure never get sanitized by housekeeping. I used to be so bad, that on trips I would pack the sanitizer wipes AND the clorox sanitizing spray with me on trips so I could spray the rooms.

But all that food looked LOVELY!

Yeah, we wipe down the switches, remotes etc, now I just run the tub with some bleach if I have a jacuzzi.

Also, I was looking at your tickers just now. Has the D23 expo always been in August?! I thought it was the beginning of September last year?

It was in September in 2009, probably the schedule for the convention center.

 

[franandaj]

I didn't want to ruin the flow of F&W on my PTR so anyone interested in some local So Cal food porn and the details of my staycation can find them here.

Staycation TR

 

[PrincessInOz]

 

[bangzoom6877]

Yeah, we wipe down the switches, remotes etc, now I just run the tub with some bleach if I have a jacuzzi.

I always bring Clorox disinfecting wipes on vacation...I put a few into a small ziplock bag and right into my purse. Anytime we check into a hotel, everyone knows not to touch anything until I wipe down ALL light switches, remote, phone, door handles, etc. I did this on our cruise last week too. I read the thread you mentioned about the jacuzzi tub. We used the tub as a regular bathtub for the boys last July and now I wonder what was in there. We didn't use the jacuzzi, but next time we go, I will be sure to use the bleach! Now both boys take showers instead of baths, but still...gross!

 

[Leshaface]

LOVED your staycation!

Your treatments sound so heavenly and relaxing.

The food looked AMAZING at the White House! Where is that place located at?