Stop Throwing Tissues on Me! – September 2023 Food and Wine Fest Trip Report! (Updated 2/12!)

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Day 3, Part 3: New Food Booths!​

We last left off heading out of SE and over to the new food booths that were opening this day! The four new four new booths were opening for the first time this morning, and there was one in particular we really wanted to check out, wine and wedge! So we made our way over there and got in line.

So we got in line for Wine and Wedge, but sadly today was not our lucky day, 11am comes and goes, and the food booth didn’t open. Finally around 11:10 a CM comes out to let everyone in line know that they had to replace equipment and they were going to have a delayed opening, and she didn’t know when they would open.

We decided to wait until at least 11:15 just in case, but by about 11:18 we realized we were going to waste the rest of our time in Epcot waiting for a booth that wasn’t opening so moved on.

The good news is that one of the other new booths were nearby so we headed over to Char and Chop, which thankfully didn’t have a horrible line, so we picked up the porchetta and the meat assortment there. We took these over to the picnic benches, that I swear no one knows exist since we always seem to find them empty even when Epcot is super crowded, to enjoy.





We loved both of these dishes, so I’m glad we stopped there!

After finishing up our food, we decided to take the long way around WS, so headed off. We checked out the food booth offerings as we went, but nothing caught our eye until Spain!

We stopped at Spain where my mom got the paella and I got the sangria flight.





The paella was ok, I’ve never been a fan of the food booth paella, but the sangria flight was awesome! While enjoying a few people came up to ask what the flight was and I just had to recommend it, it was so good! I hope they bring it back next year.

While eating I noticed that there were some tables around the corner with chairs, so I moved our stuff over there so we could sit. (In other news, now that I’ve experienced F&W with someone in a wheelchair, I’m shocked that there are no accessible tables set up around WS. I know Disney uses their own code, but I would think they would try to at least match the IBC which requires 5% of dining surfaces to be at accessible heights...but whatever, I digress).

Anyways, so since the tables were so high, mom had to stand up to eat, and it was getting pretty painful for her, so when I saw they had the high top table nearby but with chairs, of course I ran to grab it.

The tables were right next to the Italy booth, so while mom was still eating, I ran over there where there was absolutely no line to pick up the margarita and the cavatelli.



I always love the margarita, and I was pleasantly surprised with the cavatelli, it was really good!

Our goal this morning was to leave Epcot by about 12:15, at this point we were already past that, so we decided to head out and get some rest since we had a late night coming up at the Halloween party!

Up Next: MNSSHP Part 1!​

 

[Wood Nymph]

the sangria flight was awesome!

I would have loved to try this one. I'll look for it to return next year.

now that I’ve experienced F&W with someone in a wheelchair, I’m shocked that there are no accessible tables set up around WS. I know Disney uses their own code, but I would think they would try to at least match the IBC which requires 5% of dining surfaces to be at accessible heights

I never really thought about the accessibility issue before. It is really hard to eat without a table.

 

[vamassey1]

Your dishes from Char and Chop look really good. I'm sorry we missed trying any of the new booths since they weren't open when we went. I think most will be open for Festival of the Holidays with some options.

I think we may have sat at these picnic tables in 2021 but have totally forgotten about them, thanks for the reminder.

Looking forward to MNSSHP.

 

[suse66]

It was amazing, almost every single place we stopped to get pictures, there was no one there, yet the second we stopped and started taking pictures a lined formed to get the same picture. Seriously, the queueing instinct is real!

We took our time strolling through the countries before making out way into FW!

Love a leisurely morning!

Once that fun was over, we entered the queue. When we got to the part after the preshows where everyone dumps into the hall and we all try very poorly to merge and not be separated from our party I was a bit worried about my mom since she was down low and people might not see her. Turns out there was no need to worry, and funny enough even though I tried to be one of the last to exit the second preshow room we ended up being towards the front since everyone kept insisting we go ahead of them.

Nice that there were some kind and thoughtful people there.

Since we each had our own circle, the CM said we could each design our own car. This is what we designed:

Cool!

It was ok though, we pushed in a bit further and realized we came into where the ride dumps out. Eventually a CM spotted us and checked to make sure mom could walk a bit and was capable of self preservation in the even of an emergency. Once that was cleared up he had us walk up the exit queue of the ride behind other guests who had transferred from their wheelchairs and soon we were loading on the ride…from the unload. I didn’t think much about this, until suddenly we arrive in the load and there were people waiting to join us. Silly me for thinking we’d have a ride vehicle to ourselves!

I never knew that entrance existed.

The good news is that one of the other new booths were nearby so we headed over to Char and Chop, which thankfully didn’t have a horrible line, so we picked up the porchetta and the meat assortment there. We took these over to the picnic benches, that I swear no one knows exist since we always seem to find them empty even when Epcot is super crowded, to enjoy.

I had no idea those picnic tables existed. I will have to find them,

 

[2xcited2sleep]

The sangria flight was awesome. Great point on the table heights ... I hadn't thought of that. I wish there were more tables with chairs in general. And IDK who thought that metal chairs outside in Florida was a good idea. I have burned the back of my thighs too many times. Your holiday trip is coming up soon, isn't it? So exciting. I love Festival of the Holidays in EPCOT.

 

[VAtink]

I would have loved to try this one. I'll look for it to return next year.

It was so good, definitely recommend it if it comes back!

I never really thought about the accessibility issue before. It is really hard to eat without a table.

Yeah, neither had I, but now I'm really surprised they don't have some shorter tables set up around for those in wheelchairs or ECVs.

 

[VAtink]

Your dishes from Char and Chop look really good. I'm sorry we missed trying any of the new booths since they weren't open when we went. I think most will be open for Festival of the Holidays with some options.

They were so good! We're debating getting some repeats at Festival of the Holidays or if we should go for completely new.

I think we may have sat at these picnic tables in 2021 but have totally forgotten about them, thanks for the reminder.

It seems like either a lot of people don't realize they're there, or maybe it's because there is no shade they get super hot, but we're usually very lucky and find most of them empty when we go!

Looking forward to MNSSHP.

Will be posting soon! It was a weird one for us this year, but we still had so much fun!

 

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Love a leisurely morning!

Same here, I've definitely moved away from the rushing to the rides first thing!

Nice that there were some kind and thoughtful people there.

There really are, we were so surprised at how many thoughtful people there were, so many times people saw the wheelchair and insisted we go first!

Cool!

Yeah, it was great to each do our own, we clearly have very different styles!

I never knew that entrance existed.

Haha, neither did we!

I had no idea those picnic tables existed. I will have to find them,

Yeah, it's wild, we rarely see them full, I guess they are kinda hidden behind the store!

 

[VAtink]

The sangria flight was awesome. Great point on the table heights ... I hadn't thought of that. I wish there were more tables with chairs in general. And IDK who thought that metal chairs outside in Florida was a good idea. I have burned the back of my thighs too many times. Your holiday trip is coming up soon, isn't it? So exciting. I love Festival of the Holidays in EPCOT.

The sangria flight was sooo good! It wasn't very sweet, which is probably why I liked it so much, I'm not a huge fan of very sweet things.

The table height thing never occurred to us before, but yeah, once we had the wheelchair we were really surprised how unaccommodating WS was for eating with one!

Yup, trip is coming up in either 14 or 15 days! Yes, we don't actually know currently. Right now the GFS model has a huge storm hitting the east coast the day we're supposed to fly out, so now we're debating leaving a day early. Yes, I know it's way too early for the forecast to be correct, but so far every single time it has shown storms when I checked two weeks out, those storms have happened (including hurricane Ian!), so it just seems to be our Disney trip luck. And honestly I wouldn't be too upset about having to spend an extra night in Disney!

 

[2xcited2sleep]

The sangria flight was sooo good! It wasn't very sweet, which is probably why I liked it so much, I'm not a huge fan of very sweet things.

The table height thing never occurred to us before, but yeah, once we had the wheelchair we were really surprised how unaccommodating WS was for eating with one!

Yup, trip is coming up in either 14 or 15 days! Yes, we don't actually know currently. Right now the GFS model has a huge storm hitting the east coast the day we're supposed to fly out, so now we're debating leaving a day early. Yes, I know it's way too early for the forecast to be correct, but so far every single time it has shown storms when I checked two weeks out, those storms have happened (including hurricane Ian!), so it just seems to be our Disney trip luck. And honestly I wouldn't be too upset about having to spend an extra night in Disney!

I'd take it as a sign and book the extra night!! Hopefully the weather here is good. This past week we've had an enormous amount of rain so hopefully it will be clear skies from here on out!

 

[VAtink]

I'd take it as a sign and book the extra night!! Hopefully the weather here is good. This past week we've had an enormous amount of rain so hopefully it will be clear skies from here on out!

Haha, I'm definitely leaning that way! Need to see what the resort availability looks like that night, we may end up with a quadruple split stay!

And yes, I've been seeing reports on the rain this week, I feel so bad for everyone at the party last night! Hopefully it clears out and stays relatively (for FL) dry through the next few weeks! (especially our trip! )

 

[tazdev3225]

I've been reading along and enjoying your trip. I went with my mother solo once and that was one time too many. I travel solo a lot and love the festivals but you are so correct that they do not have many accommodations for us in ECV's or wheelchairs. Trying to get through the lines is tough enough and then balance it all on your lap to eat what you buy. I have often wished they had a few more lower tables.

 

[VAtink]

I've been reading along and enjoying your trip. I went with my mother solo once and that was one time too many. I travel solo a lot and love the festivals but you are so correct that they do not have many accommodations for us in ECV's or wheelchairs. Trying to get through the lines is tough enough and then balance it all on your lap to eat what you buy. I have often wished they had a few more lower tables.

Yeah, it was crazy that we couldn't find any tables to eat at where my mom could stay in the wheelchair. I'm shocked that Disney doesn't have many of these tables out, so many guests use wheelchairs and ECVs!

 

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Day 3, Part 4: MNSSHP, Part 1!​

After a nice, albeit short, break, we started getting ready for our evening plans, MNSSHP!

Now our original plans had been to head over to the MK around 3, however after seeing so many reports of how insanely packed the entrance to MK was prior to the party, we decided to head over earlier to avoid getting stuck behind a massive party line and not being able to get through.

So at 2 I called for a Minnie Van, and it was a MNSSHP miracle, we got one immediately! Seriously, this never happens. Although, now that I think about it the real MNSSHP miracle happens later this night, but we’ll get to that later!

Our car arrived about 10 minutes later and we were off to MK!

We arrived around 2:30 and quickly made it through security and headed over to the regular entry since we had park hoppers and had no desire to wait in the party line.

Since we were using our leftover tickets from the hurricane last year, this day had Genie+ already on it, so earlier in the day I had booked us a LL for Jungle cruise for 4:35, and another for Thunder for 3:00. We also had dinner reservations for Skipper Canteen at 4:05. Also, once we entered the park, I booked us a day of DAS for Buzz with a return time of 2:50. So yeah, jam packed pre-party!

After getting into the park we did one of our favorite activities….getting pictures!!!











By the time we wrapped up with all of our pictures we were already into our return time for Buzz (we take a LOT of pictures), so we headed over there.

It was a fun ride, although I came just short of Galactic Hero…I’m going to blame the gun, didn’t seem to be working



After Buzz we had to head over to Thunder quickly since it was already around 3:00 and we had to ride it and make it back in time for dinner at 4:05!

Now here I made a rookie mistake. I completely forgot about the 3:00 parade!

Ok, not a problem, we could walk through Fantasyland.

Well, that was a brilliant idea if half the park didn’t also have that idea and my mom wasn’t moving at a slower pace. It was slow going back there!

By the time we got around HM, it was already about 3:15 and I realized there was no way we’d get to Thunder at our pace, ride it, and make it back to Skipper Canteen by 4:05 with how slow we were moving with my mom’s leg, so I made my mom pull to the side while I adjusted our plans. I quickly modified our Thunder to a 4:50 return time, and then booked us a day of DAS for pirates with a return time of 3:20, it was 3:18 at that point. Perfect!

So we headed over to Pirates and walked right on.



Always a fun ride!

By the time we got off Pirates it was 3:45 so we headed over to Skipper Canteen for dinner!

Next up: MNSSHP, Part 2! (Skipper Canteen!)​

 

[2xcited2sleep]

It seems like you've had pretty good luck modifying Genie+ and/or DAS ... that's encouraging. You never know with Disney IT! Love Skipper Canteen. Definitely my MK go-to. I'm getting so excited for Festival of the Holidays! Maybe this time I'll finally run into you!

 

[VAtink]

It seems like you've had pretty good luck modifying Genie+ and/or DAS ... that's encouraging. You never know with Disney IT! Love Skipper Canteen. Definitely my MK go-to. I'm getting so excited for Festival of the Holidays! Maybe this time I'll finally run into you!

Yeah, we got very lucky this day, although it probably helped being a party day with the usual lower attendance.

I cannot wait to experience Festival of the Holidays! There is so much we want to see and eat, just hope we have enough time to do most of it! And yes, if you're there that week it would be great to meet you!

 

[Mollydolly334]

Hi Debbie! Just popping in to say hi and I love reading your TRs You and your mom remind me so much of my Mom and me!!! We were able to enjoy a day of F&W this summer, and by far my favorite was the Spiced Chocolate Tart from Flavors of Fire and the PB&J Sticky Wings from the Odyssey! Perfect sweet and salty combos! The fries from the Fry Basket were also delish.

 

[VAtink]

Hi Debbie! Just popping in to say hi and I love reading your TRs You and your mom remind me so much of my Mom and me!!! We were able to enjoy a day of F&W this summer, and by far my favorite was the Spiced Chocolate Tart from Flavors of Fire and the PB&J Sticky Wings from the Odyssey! Perfect sweet and salty combos! The fries from the Fry Basket were also delish.

Aw, thank you! I feel like I haven't seen you around these boards in ages, your TRs were always so much fun to read!

We didn't try either of those things at F&W and now I'm regretting not getting them. Hopefully they bring them back next year!

 

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Day 3, Part 5: MNSSHP, Part 2! (Skipper Canteen!)​

We last left off heading over to Skipper Canteen for dinner!

Once checked in we headed to the waiting area, at which point I booked us another day of DAS for HM for us to use after dinner. We only had to wait about 5 minutes before we were brought back to our table.

We were in the main room this year at a table in the middle of the room.

After getting settled in our waiter came over to talk about the menu and totally sold us on an appetizer (not that I needed it)….the Brazilian cheese bread!



Ugh, this was so good. I could eat this every day.

I also got a glass of pinot noir and mom got a shandy.





For out entrees my mom ordered the lamb, and I ordered the steak. It was actually a hard choice for me, I had the steak last year and it wasn’t the best, but I was really in the mood for steak this afternoon, so decided to give it another shot.

Well, I’m glad I did, it was great!



It was completely different than last year, and so much better. Mom’s lamb also seemed different than last year (yes we both got the same thing as a year ago), but for hers it was mostly the serving size seem much larger. Last year she got two chops, this year four, and they were larger too.

We of course shared and both dishes were delicious!



It was a great dinner, I really think this is the best sit down place in the MK currently.

We wrapped up with dinner right at 5, so after we paid and used the facilities, we headed out and over to our LL for Jungle Cruise, which I had to pat myself on the back for with the timing of that LL to go there straight from Skipper Canteen!

JC was fun, but we were in the back of the boat and the speakers or mic from the skipper were really really bad so we hardly heard anything she said. Fortunately we know most of the jokes so just imagined it going through the ride.

After JC we decided to swing by Tortuga Tavern to pick up our wrist bands and treat bags, then since were well into our LL return time for Thunder so headed that way.

Next up: MNSSHP, Part 3!​

 

[Wood Nymph]

Mom’s lamb also seemed different than last year (yes we both got the same thing as a year ago), but for hers it was mostly the serving size seem much larger. Last year she got two chops, this year four, and they were larger too

Four lamb chops is a lot of meat. At least she got her money's worth.