RUN, EAT, DRINK, REPEAT- Wine and Dine Weekend 2016 Report (New 1/2 x2)

[emilyindisney]

Hello humans!



Welcome new friends, and welcome back old friends! After almost a two year hiatus from runDisney my sister and I are back to run, eat, drink, repeat at the 2016 Wine and Dine Half Marathon Weekend for Lumiere’s Two Course Challenge! That’s right- we were in for the 10k on Saturday and the half marathon on Sunday.

Let’s do some introductions:

Meet Emily:

Been to Disney: Eight times
Favorite Park: Epcot
Favorite Ride: Tower of Terror
Favorite Disney memory: Sitting outside the MK train station and having the most perfect view of Wishes!

Meet Caitlin:

Been to Disney: Ten times
Favorite Park: DHS
Favorite Ride: Star Tours
Favorite Memory: Being the rebel spy-twice!

Some introductory details: we traveled November 3rd to November 8th and stayed at Disney’s Beach Club Villas. We partook in the ‘Boardwalk Bar Crawl’, Epcot’s Food and Wine Festival, Lumiere’s Two Course Challenge, and the first Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party of the year among other adventures!

Let’s get down to business and start this trip report!​

 

[emilyindisney]

Table of Contents

Thursday, November 3rd, 2016
Welcome home!
Let's get down to business...
A Future World interlude
Balalalalala!
...To Defeat the Hun...ger
Time to Crawl the Boardwalk!

Friday, November 4th, 2016
Race expo
Back to Food and Wine
Sisters Meet Sisters
A Magical Afternoon (part 1)
A Magical Afternoon (part 2)

Saturday, November 5th, 2016
Disney Wine and Dine 10k part 1
Disney Wine and Dine 10k part 2
Breakfast...Interrupted
Dinner...Well Enjoyed

Sunday, November 6th, 2016

Monday, November 7th, 2016

Tuesday, November 8th, 2016​

 

[emilyindisney]

Welcome Home!

The alarm went off bright and early at 4:45 at my house but that’s okay because it was Disney day!! Caitlin and I were traveling separately today so I texted her once I was up.

It’s a quick 20 minute drive to the airport which was traffic free. Security was easy and I was boarding right around 7am. This was the first time ever I managed to get into Southwest’s ‘A’ boarding group (without any early check-in) so I was quite pleased with myself!

There was a beautiful sunrise just as we were pushing back.

The flight was quick, comfortable and over in no time! I met up with Cait, who’d arrived about an hour earlier, in Disney’s Earport and we headed for Magical Express! The area was crowded but the line moved quick and we were on a bus in no time headed for Disney’s Beach Club Villas!

We were fully anticipating our room not being ready until after check-in time at 4pm so we were pleasantly surprised when we got our text at 11:18am that our room was ready! We hopped off the bus and headed straight for the Villas building.

Welcome home!

Our room was 321 and it was absolutely the best location! If you’re looking for a room request- this is the one! We were right off the elevators and had a balcony that overlooked the main building’s lobby (but had a tree to provide for privacy.) Without further adieu, our room tour in pictures:

I loved all the little ocean details!

We didn’t realize these rooms had trundle beds so we had a good laugh when we figured this one out.

Feelin’ fancy at the Beach Club!

Complimentary bug spray that Disney now provides in all guest rooms:

After opening all the closets and doors (and having a thorough, giddy giggle over the fact that we were finally in Disney) we took the short stroll over to Epcot to dive into Food and Wine!​

 

[buteraa]

Following along. I love the Beach Club!

 

[rteetz]

Just found this! Can't wait to hear about it! I love the Beach Club.

 

[Ariel484]

Hey Emily & Cait! Excited to read your report!

Those BCV rooms are gorgeous! Love the refurb!

 

[Keels]

Ahhhhhhhh!!!! So excited for this report!

And I LOVE the BCV rooms! We're staying there for Marathon Weekend and this has me SO hyped up!

Can't wait for the rest!

 

[emilyindisney]

Following along. I love the Beach Club!

Hi! Me too- such a beautiful resort!

Just found this! Can't wait to hear about it! I love the Beach Club.

Hi! Looking forward to your Dopey report in advance- good luck! Are you staying at the Beach Club this year?

Hey Emily & Cait! Excited to read your report!

Those BCV rooms are gorgeous! Love the refurb!

Welcome, Shannon! Aren't they awesome?! I actually just saw that the company that we rent our points from raised their rates to account for the fact that all BCV rooms accommodate five now (with the hidden trundle bed.)

Ahhhhhhhh!!!! So excited for this report!

And I LOVE the BCV rooms! We're staying there for Marathon Weekend and this has me SO hyped up!

Can't wait for the rest!

Welcome!! These rooms are gorgeous! It's fun to have everything be so fresh and new I'm a huge HGTV fan and these rooms soooo remind me of something you'd see on one of their reno shows!

 

[emilyindisney]

Let’s Get Down To Business...

Taste your way around the world? Don't mind if I do!

We entered through International Gateway and hung a left towards the United Kingdom. Our first stop: Ireland.

Here we sampled the Warm Chocolate Pudding (served with Irish Cream Liqueur Custard) and the Kilkenny Irish Cream Ale. The beer was good but the pudding was delicious!

Next stop: Canada! Even though it was a warm day we couldn’t resist trying the Cheddar Cheese soup (with pretzel roll) and the Apple Ice Wine.

I asked Caitlin to take a funny picture of me with the tiny cup and I ended up with a picture that looks like I've had about ten tiny cups too many! The Apple Ice Wine was tasty. I saw it for sale inside the pavilion by the bottle later in the trip (though I didn’t bring any home myself.)

We passed a handful of food booths, and visited the festival merchandise booth before landing at our next stop: Hawaii! We ordered the Kalua Pork Sliders (sans spicy mayo for Cait) and the Florida Orange Groves Sparkling Pineapple Wine.

The sliders were good- I really liked the pineapple chutney that comes with them. Would have liked to try the spicy mayo though.​

 

[rteetz]

No im not staying at BC this year even though I'd love to. We are staying at Saratoga Springs with friends who own DVC.

That pudding looks really good!

I love a good pretzel roll so that looks like a good dish in Canada too.

That slider looks very good. So many great choices! I need to get to food and wine some day.

 

[emilyindisney]

A Future World Interlude

We decided we were full for now and figured we would head into Future World towards the Festival Center. On the way we decided to jump into the single rider line for Test Track. We hadn’t been on this one in ages and pretty much walked right on and sat in the same car which worked out nicely.

Our verdict on Test Track?

Doing her best McKayla Maroney!

Sorry, but we’re not impressed. The Tron-like overlay is just bleh and we miss the old test dummy/testing center storyline. Whenever we start to wonder why we skip this so much we get suckered into riding and it quickly comes back to us!

We continued as planned to the festival center.

We poked around and looked at merch before stumbling upon the bottle booth. We decided to purchase a bottle of wine to drink later. While I was buying that Caitlin found that they sell sample sizes of wine out of these cool vending machine type things (like the kind you see on cruise ships.)

She indulged in one for our walk to Mouse Gears, our next destination.

We finished drinking the wine sample while walking through Mouse Gears. Cait really wanted to buy a new Alex and Ani but couldn’t decide on one yet so we figured we’d look again later in the trip. After window shopping we walked over to Spaceship Earth for a little history lesson.

Always a classic! Along with Dumbo, this is one of the rides we consistently get stuck on for long periods of time (longer than I imagine ECV/Wheelchair loading would be.) Probably got stopped mid ride for a good five minutes this time. Still doesn't rival our April trip where we sat on the initial lift hill for a solid ten minutes!
​

 

[rteetz]

I don't remember the old test track much anymore. I like the designing your own car and competing with others though. Maybe if they could've mixed the two together

 

[momabaarjo]

I am so excited to follow along...we were neighbors and I am sure passed each other without knowing!

 

[emilyindisney]

No im not staying at BC this year even though I'd love to. We are staying at Saratoga Springs with friends who own DVC.

That pudding looks really good!

I love a good pretzel roll so that looks like a good dish in Canada too.

That slider looks very good. So many great choices! I need to get to food and wine some day.

These were probably some of my favorite dishes of the trip! Food and Wine was a ton of fun- but definitely make sure to go once you're 21 so you can get the complete experience

I don't remember the old test track much anymore. I like the designing your own car and competing with others though. Maybe if they could've mixed the two together

I will admit- the high speed loop hasn't changed and I'm glad. That's always fun!

I am so excited to follow along...we were neighbors and I am sure passed each other without knowing!

We probably did! Funny- one time I was reading a PHM report on DIS and saw my sister and I in one of the writer's race course pictures! So you never know who you might be bumping elbows with, haha!

 

[emilyindisney]

Balalalalala!

We headed in the direction of The Land next but stopped on our way to meet everyone’s favorite Personal Healthcare Companion!

Remember the Iron Giant?

We walked over and rode Living with the Land next:

Front row, wooooooo!

Surprised to see these guys working in the pond without waders on- just bare legs (and presumably bare feet.)

Living with the Land was hoppin’ today- lots of exhibits being worked on, and lots of tour groups walking through!​

 

[emilyindisney]

...To Defeat the Hun...ger

We saw the line was Soarin’ was reasonable (60 minutes) and considered jumping in as that was pretty much the last thing we wanted to accomplish in Epcot and it was still over two hours before our 5pm Fastpass window opened. Cait decided she wanted to eat again so we decided to hit a few more booths and then decide what to do about Soarin’. On our way towards the Chew Collective booth we saw Mary Poppins out so of course we had to stop and selfie!

She said it was essential that Polly be in the picture!

On to the Chew Collective which I would rate as one of our favorite booths of the festival. Here we ordered ALLLLL the food. But really- we got the Ricotta and Zucchini Ravioli, Grilled Beef Skewer, and Peanut Butter and White Chocolate Mousse. I found a shady table to wait for Caitlin to order:

All yum! The ravioli was one of my favorites out of all the things we tried! Cait wanted to try Liquid Nitro Chocolate-Almond Truffle from the Chocolate Studio so we walked over there.

Cait got in line and I snapped some pictures by the Wine and Dine Studio while I waited.

She forgot to take a picture but she said it was so cold it was almost hard to eat!

It was now about 4pm and the Disney App said the wait time for Soarin’ was still 60 minutes so we decided to go get in line. It actually only took 30 minutes from the time we got in line to the time we were exciting the ride- sweet!

I don’t really want to spoil the new Soarin’ movie for those who haven’t seen it but it was amazing! I have a few minor complaints (which are pretty much the same things most people of DIS say) but the images were breathtaking! Plus, they incorporated a lot of extra effects that I really liked! The original Soarin' soundtrack was my favorite ride music of all times so I'm glad they kept that theme.

We walked back to the Beach Club to rest up, explore Storm-along Bay and get dressed up for a night out on the Boardwalk.​

 

[rteetz]

Love the Baymax meet and greet! You got some great photos there.

Living with the land is a must for me. I know some people think it's dumb but I like it.

Great Mary Poppins selfie! I just watched that movie last night.

That food looks great, and now I'm hungry...

It's always nice when the wait is shorter than what's posted. I can't wait to experience the new soarin.

The best part of staying at BC is being able to just walk right out and be at your hotel.

 

[emilyindisney]

Time to crawl the Boardwalk!

Tonight we embarked on our self-titled, newly created Boardwalk Bar Crawl! (Okay, so this probably isn’t a new idea but why isn’t this a thing?! The Boardwalk has too many great bars to miss!)

Our first stop was Big River Grille and Brewing Works. They don’t take reservations but they have a double sided bar which made it super easy to walk up and sit down.

We both got a beer and some nachos. I wish I could remember the names of the beers but both were tasty.

The service here was great- really fast! We were in and out quick which was great. Our next stop was Abracadabar but on our way we stopped to play some games:

(We didn’t win- got beat our by a little kid. Don’t worry- we make our comeback later in the trip!)

And take in some entertainment:

All this walking got me thirsty and you know what the means...time to drink again! We were able to settle in at the end of the bar at Abracadabar with no wait.

According to legend it was a magical night that a group of magicians vanished from sight...

The old magic lounge still holds a few tricks. Open this menu and see if one sticks!

Cait ordered the Conjurita (picture right below) and I ordered the Seashore Sweet (pictured left, which though non-alcoholic on the menu, the bartender was happy to add some vodka!)

This was a really cool place. Very much a Great-Gatsby type feel!

The drinks are pricey (is there anything in Disney that isn’t? Hahaha!) but I definitely recommend trying it out. We finished up and wandered back down the Boardwalk...

...to our final stop: Jellyrolls! I’ll admit- at this point the early morning was catching up with me so I just ate some popcorn and enjoyed the music. We did attempt to make a request and I forced Caitlin to bring it up:

But it didn’t get played before we decided to call it a night and walk back to BCV.

​

 

[emilyindisney]

Love the Baymax meet and greet! You got some great photos there.

Living with the land is a must for me. I know some people think it's dumb but I like it.

Great Mary Poppins selfie! I just watched that movie last night.

That food looks great, and now I'm hungry...

It's always nice when the wait is shorter than what's posted. I can't wait to experience the new soarin.

The best part of staying at BC is being able to just walk right out and be at your hotel.

I never skip Living with the Land, too! Keep saying I should do the walking tour one day!

Only a couple weeks until you can see new Soarin' (assuming you'll do it during your Dopey trip.) It's great! Have you read reviews/spoilers of the new film?

 

[rteetz]

I never skip Living with the Land, too! Keep saying I should do the walking tour one day!

Only a couple weeks until you can see new Soarin' (assuming you'll do it during your Dopey trip.) It's great! Have you read reviews/spoilers of the new film?

I know I want to do the walking tour too. It's only like $20.

I've seen plenty of spoilers and even watched a video. Knowing ahead of time doesn't bother me much. I do have FPs for it in January.

Nobody seems to do Boardwalk pub crawls and maybe that's because people think it's not very good? I've only ever been to ESPN club on the boardwalk so I wouldn't know. The Abracadabar looks really cool though.