Trick or Tweet! The Lurkyloos Do F&W, etc: 11/8 Last Day at WDW!

[lurkyloo]

I have to do this installment in parts or I'll NEVER get it posted...


According to my journal, today was fun even though D23's Sip & Stroll turned out to be pretty lame. It sounded good on paper: Meet at the new Hacienda de San Angel for an early breakfast, followed by presentations in The Odyssey Center and then sipping and strolling around World Showcase. In the evening we'd all get back together again for reserved seating at the Eat to the Beat concert (Howard Jones!) and an IllumiNations dessert party.

One thing they did right this time was to let us enter Epcot through the International Gateway. At Magic & Merriment the previous year, they made all of us staying at the Epcot-area resorts drive to the front of the park to check in. So this time we had a nice walk through an empty World Showcase to Hacienda de San Angel.

OK, I'm cheating and putting in this glamor shot from the previous day cuz we forgot to get one that morning…

When we got to La Hacienda de San Angel, we had to wait a while because they weren't ready for us yet. This later became a theme for the event. We passed the time chatting with DISers Andrea and Brian. AllEars.net's Deb Wills passed the time by tweeting an unflattering picture of me pawing through Patrick's pocket…

When they finally let us in, we all made a beeline for breakfast, which consisted of two fruit-sullied varieties of Mexican pastry and nothing else. There was probably coffee, and there might have been juice, but there was no hot chocolate (contrary to what D23's Jeffrey was announcing to everyone on the way in) and they didn't even have water to drink! Huh.

Frooty Tamales!

Frooty Empanadas!

The next head-scratcher was where to sit. The restaurant is kind of L-shaped, and it was not clear where the presenter would be standing, so we made our best guess and took seats near the window with Andrea and Brian. I managed to find a server who scrounged up two cups of tap water, one of which I promptly spilled all over our table. This was not my morning...

Meanwhile, Patrick was dashing around shooting the place as fast as he could before it filled up—I love me some empty location photos for PassPorter!

Patrick's breakfast

A representative of the company that owns the Mexico Pavilion's Hacienda de San Angel and San Angel Inn stood in the "elbow" between the two dining rooms and gave a short presentation about the idea behind the new restaurant (authentic modern menu items, more upscale) and its décor, which was interesting and insider-y the way you want a D23 presentation to be.

Then the D23 folks announced that we were all going to get a special souvenir of the event, and it was…. a patch…?!? Not only that, but we'd be collecting more patches later at each stop on our stroll around World Showcase.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again: What is D23's deal with patches? What the heck are you supposed to do with these things now that it's no longer the denim-obsessed 1980s? They used to give us pins, which actually have value because you can trade them for other pins or sell them to crazy pin collectors on eBay. All I can think is that patches are cheaper for them to produce than pins (why else would the card that came with our Rocketeer Anniversary event patch refer to it as a "pin" unless the budget demanded they switch gears at the last second?).

However, waving any kind of collectible in front of a Disney fan is like red to a bull, and the moment Jeffrey's mouth snapped shut he was swarmed by D23 members grabbing for patches. We managed to wriggle our way through the crowd and took off like a shot for the Odyssey Center so we could get good seats for sleeping through the PowerPoint presentation.

 

[lurkyloo]

Again there was a delay before they let us inside, probably due to the patch mob back at the Hacienda. The D23 staffers eventually straggled in, their hair mussed and clothes torn, and then made us wait another 10 minutes for good measure.

Once inside, we discovered tables set up instead of the rows of chairs at Magic & Merriment. Surely this meant we were finally going to get real food!

In what was surely confirmation that D23 uses its post-event survey results solely to paper Donald's cage, the first presentation was another snoozerific PowerPoint presentation like the one at Magic & Merriment. Something about Givenchy ad campaigns through the centuries or something…? Lots of photos of magazine ads, plus I think maybe a video of a TV ad? I had actually been looking forward to this part of the event because I love cosmetics and thought maybe we'd get to see a demo or a makeover, although I wasn't sure how any of it fit in with sipping and strolling. We did get bunch of perfume samples, but really the whole thing was another head-scratcher...

Huh…?

Ya think Patrick was bored?

Next, Steven Clark introduced two German guys from some brewery. They were utterly charming and managed to keep even those of us who don't know a lager from a loogie entertained. They also passed out free samples, which we teetotalers passed on to our surprised and soon-to-be-soused tablemates.

They were kinda braggy about how they invented the castle that Disneyland's is modeled on…

BURRRRP!

By the time it was over, D23 had plied attendees with 2 beers and 1 glass of wine on virtually empty stomachs, so I think we weren't the only ones who were glad to see some real food arrive in the form of an appetizer sample from the Disney Dream. The Executive Chef at Victoria & Albert's did a cooking demo of a crepe for Remy, the swanky restaurant on the new ship (in yer FACE, Palo!!!), and at the end we all got one to try. Hooray! Breakfast at last!

Victoria & Albert's maître d' provided some background on the restaurant and interviewed the chef while he worked.

 

[lurkyloo]

I find this shot mesmerically unflattering to everything in it...

Aiyeeeee! The PowerPoint is BACK!

At the end of the presentations, D23 gave us unwieldy beer steins to haul all over Epcot as we sipped and strolled. Patrick and I spotted our DIS pals Trish and Christine for the first time since lunch at Le Cellier and ran over to get their take on the event so far. Turns out we weren't the only ones feeling underwhelmed!

From there we were turned loose to wander the World Showcase until it was time to collect the next patch, in Italy. We dashed off to the member lounge in the American Adventure Parlor so we could get people-free shots for my Disney wedding book. The American Adventure Parlor/Dining Room is on the third floor of the pavilion and used for smaller receptions.

When we got to the pavilion, the Cast Members were a bit confused about what we were asking for and where we should go, but eventually they found someone who'd heard of D23, and he escorted us to the elevator. We had the place all to ourselves!

There was a nice beverage station set up with real lemonade—whohoo!

The parlor is nice enough, but the windowless dining room is a bit grim.

 

[lurkyloo]

Here's a more flattering shot the Roots took at one of their weddings:

The dining room is at the end of the hall nearest the elevator. The other end of the hall houses the Secret Bathrooms and a couple of small boardrooms. I was very excited to get shots of the bathrooms because Disney's Fairy Tales Weddings likes to pretend they're not there. When you rent out the American Adventure Rotunda downstairs, they make your guests go all the way outside and around the building to the public restrooms there. If you insist, they will grudgingly charge you an arm and a leg to open the restrooms upstairs in the Parlor.

We decided to go down to Italy Isola a little early and start the line for the patches, and we were glad we did. When the D23 staffers finally breezed in, they seemed to have no idea of where to set up or how to efficiently distribute 200 patches in the middle of a Saturday-afternoon Food & Wine Festival crowd.

One thing they were sure to do was hole-punch our badges so we couldn't try to get more than our fair share of coveted patches.

After that we dashed back to the member lounge for more lemonade, a Secret Bathroom break, and a little maniacal moustache-twirling in front of the fireplace.

Then it was off to make our own meal from the Food & Wine fest booths around World Showcase.

Tuna Sensation & California Sushi Roll

Baklava & Falafel Pita Pocket

 

[lurkyloo]

The next stop on the Great Patch Hunt of 2010 was France. This time we were lying in wait for the D23 staffers so we'd know exactly where to stand to be first in line for patches. Mercifully, they chose a shady spot this time.

"Hey buddy, you're missing the patch hand-out!"

Back to strolling!

In Canada, we had to get one of everything on the menu.

Canadian Cheddar Cheese Soup

Chicken Chipotle Sausage with Sweet Corn Polenta

Maple-Glazed Salmon with Lentil Salad

Nanaimo Bar

I was inordinately excited to see a Nanaimo bar on the menu—a friend brought these to our at-home wedding reception, and I've been cracked on them ever since. I think it's cuz there's frosting inside!

(In Ed Wynn voice) "Frosting?! Ya don't say!!"

 

[lurkyloo]

We backtracked to the UK to collect the last patch. When the D23 staff eventually sashayed in, they seemed to be having the best time of any of us. They kinda tried to fake us out by picking a spot and then moving it a couple times, but by then we were all patch-stalking pros.

D23's Becky fortifies herself for the next patch mob while Dave Smith spends his first day of retirement on a busman's holiday

What we didn't know, as we leapt in the air to catch the patches being flung at the mob in a desperate act of self-preservation, was that we had just paid for our tickets to Sip & Stroll. It turns out, D23 patches DO have eBay resale value, and when we later sold two complete sets, we actually ended up making a couple bucks more than price of our admission!

Up Next: How to Kill Time Before a HoJo Show!

 

[Disneygrl36]

I can see why you were underwhelmed by the Sip & Stroll so far.......a perfume presentation?
Your food from the F&W booths is making me hungry right now & I even ate breakfast first.
Patches???? I got one of those in the mail with my D23 magazine & I was like what the heck am I supposed to do with this since I don't have a jean jacket anymore?

 

[lurkyloo]

I know, right? I'm seriously wracking my brain trying to think what to do with all these dang patches they give us. I mean, I guess I could frame them, but that doesn't really go with our style. I don't wanna just put them on a tote bag, and I seriously do not go for the jean jacket look.

Free Mickey Bar to whoever comes up with the best use for D23 patches!

 

[NeverlandClub23]

I know, right? I'm seriously wracking my brain trying to think what to do with all these dang patches they give us. I mean, I guess I could frame them, but that doesn't really go with our style. I don't wanna just put them on a tote bag, and I seriously do not go for the jean jacket look.

Free Mickey Bar to whoever comes up with the best use for D23 patches!

Hmmmmmm...

You could attach self-adhesive magnetic stripping to the back and make them magnets...

You could make a lanyard out of them (or attach them to a lanyard, probably easier...)...

You could re-gift them to people you don't really care for at their birthday or Christmas...

You could put them in those little glass frame thingies that are coasters (I'm sure there's a much better name for them)...

You could hand them out as tips to servers (assuming you never care to return to that restaurant)...

You could glue them around the outside of a frame which may or may not display a picture of you rifling through your spouse's pocket...

You could sell them on ebay for the price of admissi...oh wait, nevermind...

You could mail them back to D23 and tell THEM what they could do with those patches


Great update Carrie! That bar from Canada looks scrumptious! And, I'm dying to know, did you fill up your beer steins with lemonade?

 

[lurkyloo]

BWAAAAAAAAAAAAhahahahahahaaa! Um, do you want to write the next installment of this report? I can pay you in patches!

Also, we *should* have tanked up our steins with lemonade, but we foisted those on our tablemates too.

 

[starann]

Hmmmmmm...

You could attach self-adhesive magnetic stripping to the back and make them magnets...

You could make a lanyard out of them (or attach them to a lanyard, probably easier...)...

You could re-gift them to people you don't really care for at their birthday or Christmas...

You could put them in those little glass frame thingies that are coasters (I'm sure there's a much better name for them)...

You could hand them out as tips to servers (assuming you never care to return to that restaurant)...

You could glue them around the outside of a frame which may or may not display a picture of you rifling through your spouse's pocket...

You could sell them on ebay for the price of admissi...oh wait, nevermind...

You could mail them back to D23 and tell THEM what they could do with those patches


Great update Carrie! That bar from Canada looks scrumptious! And, I'm dying to know, did you fill up your beer steins with lemonade?

TOTALLY made my day!!!!!

 

[DISNEYaddict4evr]

YEAH an update! Even in China I have to have my Carrie updates

Yeah that sip and stroll was very boring sounding, except the food presentation. I would have thought it would have been more strolling and sipping, with less sitting. More like random stops along the way and speeches, but perhaps there were to many people for that.

 

[mousescrapper]

Free Mickey Bar to whoever comes up with the best use for D23 patches!

Hmmmmmm...

You could attach self-adhesive magnetic stripping to the back and make them magnets...

You could make a lanyard out of them (or attach them to a lanyard, probably easier...)...

You could re-gift them to people you don't really care for at their birthday or Christmas...

You could put them in those little glass frame thingies that are coasters (I'm sure there's a much better name for them)...

You could hand them out as tips to servers (assuming you never care to return to that restaurant)...

You could glue them around the outside of a frame which may or may not display a picture of you rifling through your spouse's pocket...

You could sell them on ebay for the price of admissi...oh wait, nevermind...

You could mail them back to D23 and tell THEM what they could do with those patches

well looks we have a winner...those are some awesome ideas!!!!


wonderful update...the pixs of the guest lounge in the USA Pav was really cool...looked like inside of a museum. I was actually hoping to find patches to decorate my DVC tote w/ like an old suitcase w/ stickers of the places i have traveled

 

[beatlesblonde]

Ah Carrie, even though I just ate dinner your pictures are making me hungry! Especially cause I look at the pictures of the menus and reminiscing with Chauncey about what we ate while at F&W. (And we may or may not now be making of list of stuff to buy to recreate those yummy Frozen Cosmopolitans from France )

 

[NeverlandClub23]

BWAAAAAAAAAAAAhahahahahahaaa! Um, do you want to write the next installment of this report? I can pay you in patches!

Also, we *should* have tanked up our steins with lemonade, but we foisted those on our tablemates too.

Patches really are the gift that keeps on giving the whole year. I can't write the next installment, unfortunately. I have a patch collection that needs to be organized .

TOTALLY made my day!!!!!

Thanks! I just hope D23 staff don't receive a bunch of hate mail full of patches .

well looks we have a winner...those are some awesome ideas!!!!

Hooray! I'll buy my first mickey bar ever this December on lurkyloo . I'll just start a tab.

 

[burly]

Hey is Duffy big enough to sew all the patches on him? Patchwork bear?????????


I really hope patches do not become the new collecting craze.......


Great update! Witty as usual!

KIM

 

[Aburns8]

I was mentioned in your TR! Awesome! We just got back from our cruise or I would have responded earlier. Funny, I am on this day of my TR as well. I am supposed to have it up when we get back from Orlando.

I agree with you on the perfume presentation, but I did end up buying some. I am such a sucker!

 

[lurkyloo]

YEAH an update! Even in China I have to have my Carrie updates

Yeah that sip and stroll was very boring sounding, except the food presentation. I would have thought it would have been more strolling and sipping, with less sitting. More like random stops along the way and speeches, but perhaps there were to many people for that.

Wowza—China! Are you going to Hong Kong Disneyland while you're there? I s'pose everyone asks you that. You could be on the other side of the country, but we'll still ask you that...

wonderful update...the pixs of the guest lounge in the USA Pav was really cool...looked like inside of a museum. I was actually hoping to find patches to decorate my DVC tote w/ like an old suitcase w/ stickers of the places i have traveled

Oh, now that's a good idea too!

Ah Carrie, even though I just ate dinner your pictures are making me hungry! Especially cause I look at the pictures of the menus and reminiscing with Chauncey about what we ate while at F&W. (And we may or may not now be making of list of stuff to buy to recreate those yummy Frozen Cosmopolitans from France )

Oh good, I'm glad you like the pix! I was convinced that someone would find that level of detail interesting...

Hooray! I'll buy my first mickey bar ever this December on lurkyloo . I'll just start a tab.

Yes, do that! And if some miracle occurs and we're able to get to WDW for the DIS Harry Potter Party, maybe I can treat you to that bar in person!

Hey is Duffy big enough to sew all the patches on him? Patchwork bear?????????


I really hope patches do not become the new collecting craze.......


Great update! Witty as usual!

KIM

I love that idea too! And I'm sure Disney would love it if you bought ALL the different Duffys and put one patch on each—you know, like the Care Bears!

I was mentioned in your TR! Awesome! We just got back from our cruise or I would have responded earlier. Funny, I am on this day of my TR as well. I am supposed to have it up when we get back from Orlando.

I agree with you on the perfume presentation, but I did end up buying some. I am such a sucker!

Aw shoot! If I'd known you liked it, I could have given you the bazillion samples I heisted from all the empty seats at our table and provided a year's supply free!

 

[lurkyloo]

I’m looking at our pictures for the middle of the day, and it seems we have a Festival o’ Food & Wine Festival Booths! I think I thought it would be helpful to have Patrick shoot every single kiosk’s menu and that it would be interesting to have a shot of every single sign. Actually, the signs are pretty cool. I love the typography they came up with for some of them!

Dagnabbit, Sun, you are ruining my coverage of the Festival o’ Food & Wine Festival Booths right outta the gate!

Dark Chocolate Sensation and Pear Streusel Pudding Cake….meh….

In Mexico we decided to take a break from the sun and made a beeline for (where else?)….

Did we ride this? Or just take a picture of the sign? …The world will never know!!!

Oh wait. I guess we rode it… and now the whole world knows!!!

 

[lurkyloo]

No mariachis… no Donaldo… aye caramba!

Back to “work”!

OK, that didn’t last long… We stopped in at Maelstrom to use the free FASTPASSes D23 gave. Yes, that's right, we used our FPs on Maelstrom. Well, we weren't gonna wait a whole 15 minutes to get on THAT ride!

It seems to me that the film they show after Maelstrom must’ve set some world record by now for highest number of screenings with the lowest number of viewers…

Ever since Carly had been thrown outta Norway for trying to take pictures of the event space known as Norway VIP Lounge, I’d been scheming about how I could get us one.

As Patrick and I exited Maelstrom, impulse grabbed me and I yanked him into the alcove across from the FASTPASS machines and up the stairs. I wrenched open the door to the loft, shoved him inside and barked, “Quick! Take a picture!” Technically, I still haven’t been inside the dang thing!

Here it is… the event space Disney doesn’t want you to know about… Norway VIP Lounge!

It’s not as ‘80s-lookin’ as it used to be—you can see older pics of it here, if you’re curious. Disney's Fairy Tale Weddings didn't want to show me and Carly this space, maybe because they really only use it as a rain backup location. But it's too bad, because the lounge is really not as horrible as everyone thinks it is—and maybe if they could actually see it, brides wouldn't be so terrified of getting stuck there if it rains on their Epcot dessert party!

At that point we did something I always advise but rarely do: We went back to the hotel to swim! GREAT idea! We were all sticky and yucky from the heat and humidity, but 45 minutes in Stormalong Bay fixed us right up! Then it was back into Epcot for more noshing before Eat to the Beat.

Continuing where we left off…

In China we ate a delicious… say, wait a minute!

Mmmm….. linty

Patrick's favorite