We only live 8 hours away now, that means we can go once a month, right?! -- 7/19 Homecomin'

[Vernie822]

This picture made me laugh...you and I think alike

That is SO FUNNY! To tell you the truth, I was kind of glad for some alone time, hahaha!

 

[kastoney]

A left for the bus so she could head to the airport. So I did what any adult does in Disney, and went off in search of alcohol.

That a girl!

Fortunately the bartender didn't ask me for my ID. I had put my backpack down on the counter to get my wallet out, and sat my cell phone face down next to it. So of course when I put the wallet back in, put the backpack back on, and picked up the shopping bags, beer, and my phone, I had to drop something. And that something is my iPhone. Face down. On the concrete.


Yes, I ran 6.2 miles throughout Epcot, without dropping my phone. Yet I cracked the screen picking up a beer.

Yikes. Glad it wasn't too badly damaged, but part of the sacrifices we must make for beer!!!

I was dyingggg to go to Homecoming but I was half asleep so I didn't want to sour my experience by not being able to enjoy it! And unfortunately, we decided to hit the road early the next morning and cancelled our Homecoming ADR for the next day. I made Justin promise we could go this time!

Hope you get to go soon. It is SO good!

I love ordering fish and chips when it's on the menu at a place like this. I can name a few places I've been with better fish and chips, one of them being the UK Pavilion at Epcot. For $10 you get just as much food, probably more. The fish and chips here are $21, which is a little pricy for what you get, but they're pretty good nonetheless!

I'm totally with you on the UK pavillion being the fish and chips value winner. I still can't get over how for $21 you get one lousy piece of fish that is likely the exact same fish they are selling at Cookes of Dublin for half the cost.

 

[inkedupmomma]

I'm enjoying your go with the flow pace! Nice to see that. We have only done RR once, but enjoyed it.

 

[TeresaNJ]

My husband is also a huge Nascar fan, and would love to get to the Daytona 500 one of these years! I love the Spice & Tea Exchange! It's been around now for a few years if I'm not mistaken. I always always pick up a few packets of Habanero Sugar. It is so delicious in hot chocolate! Turns it into Mexican Hot Chocolate. Yum! With whipped cream on top and chocolate Hershey Kiss shavings added, oh my gosh! A little of that sugar goes a long way, so a packet lasts a while. I also picked up a packet of Truffle Salt. It smelled so awesome. Once I opened the packet though, I wasn't quite sure how to store it. I put it in a small Tupperware like container that I thought was airtight, but unfortunately, after a few months, the truffle fragrance is pretty much gone. They had it in a shaker, too, but that was super pricey, and I wasn't sure if it would be worth it, if I'd use it enough.

Macarons are one dessert I can usually eat on a gluten free diet. I've had them at les Halles in Epcot, and loved them. Will have to try Amorette's! I enjoy some time by myself at WDW, also. It's such a freeing feeling to be able to do whatever you want!

 

[ariane37]

On running away because you didn't have your ID! I try to always bring it when in Disney but I did leave it in the room once last Nov. I was hoping I didn't get carded and then I thought "hmm, I'm in my 40's, might be nice to get carded!"
Your carrot cake looks and sounds amazing, I don't remember seeing that when I Was in there but I will be looking for it next week
Also have to google the Emma Watson doll now. Haven't seen it yet but I NEED to lol
We stayed at SSR back in 2011 and I liked it. I think now with all the improved dining options it definitely has more of a draw. We actually looked at availability for Aug. but right now nothing is open for when we want to go

 

[jerseytinkerbell]

So many awesome updates to catch up on!

Yum D-Luxe! I need to do what you did and try all of the dipping sauces. I am curious to see what which ones we would enjoy.

That particular Sprinkles cupcake was my least favorite. I am in love with the red velvet and the salty caramel ones. They are totally worth it.

I am so not crazy about BOG. As far as looks go, its amazing, but there is always something missing with the food. It's good, not great and for the price it should be great.

The 10k looks like a blast! I would love to do a runDisney event. One day!

So wait, wait, wait. There are bottomless mimosas in WDW? Well, you just sold me on The Wave. It's a must now. You had me at bottomless mimosas.

I just love having a Cider & Black at R&C. It is such a great combo. Like you said, not too sweet.

I never knew about the spices either. I need to check that out. And I still haven't been to Amorette's yet. I like the looks of your choices.

It looks like you had a great stay at SSR too! We just love it there. You can't beat that walk to Disney Springs.

Great updates!

 

[Vernie822]

That a girl!


Yikes. Glad it wasn't too badly damaged, but part of the sacrifices we must make for beer!!!


Hope you get to go soon. It is SO good!


I'm totally with you on the UK pavillion being the fish and chips value winner. I still can't get over how for $21 you get one lousy piece of fish that is likely the exact same fish they are selling at Cookes of Dublin for half the cost.

I am dreaming of those fish and chips. I don't know if I love them because of the atmosphere.. or if they're such a bargain at like $10.. but they are so delicious. I was wondering if they're the same as Cookes of Dublin. I bet they are!

I'm enjoying your go with the flow pace! Nice to see that. We have only done RR once, but enjoyed it.

I have a hard time letting go sometimes and just going with the flow. I was anxious not having a plan in place (that's just my personality), but I love when you can just let loose and see where it takes you.

My husband is also a huge Nascar fan, and would love to get to the Daytona 500 one of these years! I love the Spice & Tea Exchange! It's been around now for a few years if I'm not mistaken. I always always pick up a few packets of Habanero Sugar. It is so delicious in hot chocolate! Turns it into Mexican Hot Chocolate. Yum! With whipped cream on top and chocolate Hershey Kiss shavings added, oh my gosh! A little of that sugar goes a long way, so a packet lasts a while. I also picked up a packet of Truffle Salt. It smelled so awesome. Once I opened the packet though, I wasn't quite sure how to store it. I put it in a small Tupperware like container that I thought was airtight, but unfortunately, after a few months, the truffle fragrance is pretty much gone. They had it in a shaker, too, but that was super pricey, and I wasn't sure if it would be worth it, if I'd use it enough.

Macarons are one dessert I can usually eat on a gluten free diet. I've had them at les Halles in Epcot, and loved them. Will have to try Amorette's! I enjoy some time by myself at WDW, also. It's such a freeing feeling to be able to do whatever you want!

That Habanero sugar sounds awesome! I am such a sucker for those kind of stores, but you can always find pretty unique things there. It was a little pricey but so far I really like the items I've purchased. I will probably have to go back and try some more. The truffle salt sounds good, I was thinking of picking some of that up but went with the Himalayan pink sea salt instead.

I always mean to get a macaron at Amorette's! That's an awesome treat for a GF diet. I forgot that they're usually gluten free. Amorette's was great! They had a lot of mousse-y desserts so maybe they have more that are GF as well.

On running away because you didn't have your ID! I try to always bring it when in Disney but I did leave it in the room once last Nov. I was hoping I didn't get carded and then I thought "hmm, I'm in my 40's, might be nice to get carded!"
Your carrot cake looks and sounds amazing, I don't remember seeing that when I Was in there but I will be looking for it next week
Also have to google the Emma Watson doll now. Haven't seen it yet but I NEED to lol
We stayed at SSR back in 2011 and I liked it. I think now with all the improved dining options it definitely has more of a draw. We actually looked at availability for Aug. but right now nothing is open for when we want to go

I can't even tell you how paranoid I was, LOL! I forgot my ID on the way to the casino once and Justin had to turn around, we were like 30 minutes in to our drive so he always reminds me to bring it now haha. I think the carrot cake is rather new! I was looking online for a description and I think DFB said it was new this January. You must google that Emma Watson doll.. sooo funny, she looks like Justin Bieber HA!

DS is totally the draw to SSR for me. I bet it gets more popular now that DS is pretty much done! I think it would be a good spot for a resorts-only stay too.

So many awesome updates to catch up on!

Yum D-Luxe! I need to do what you did and try all of the dipping sauces. I am curious to see what which ones we would enjoy.

That particular Sprinkles cupcake was my least favorite. I am in love with the red velvet and the salty caramel ones. They are totally worth it.

I am so not crazy about BOG. As far as looks go, its amazing, but there is always something missing with the food. It's good, not great and for the price it should be great.

The 10k looks like a blast! I would love to do a runDisney event. One day!

So wait, wait, wait. There are bottomless mimosas in WDW? Well, you just sold me on The Wave. It's a must now. You had me at bottomless mimosas.

I just love having a Cider & Black at R&C. It is such a great combo. Like you said, not too sweet.

I never knew about the spices either. I need to check that out. And I still haven't been to Amorette's yet. I like the looks of your choices.

It looks like you had a great stay at SSR too! We just love it there. You can't beat that walk to Disney Springs.

Great updates!

Thanks Jeri! I think trying all of the dipping sauces was lots of fun. I always mean to get to WPE again when we're at Disney Springs but I think between DLuxe, WPE, and Blaze, there are lots of good QS options.

I kind of felt the same way about BOG. Looking back we did have a great meal. It just wasn't mind-blowing. And for a cup of soup, 2 meals, and one cupcake, I just don't feel like it was worth the ~$100 we spent.

Everyone keeps saying "WAIT, THERE'S BOTTOMLESS MIMOSAS!?" Looks like we need to have a mega DisDining meet and just sit in The Wave and drink mimosas all day

I can't wait to go back to that spice store- a touch pricey, but a lot of great options! I love that kind of stuff!

 

[pepperandchips]

I have a bunch of things to say but my phone is misbehaving with the boards so I'll leave it at this:

Everyone keeps saying "WAIT, THERE'S BOTTOMLESS MIMOSAS!?" Looks like we need to have a mega DisDining meet and just sit in The Wave and drink mimosas all day

I'm in!
Wonder if we could get a group rate.

"Hello Disney? We need a block of rooms as close as possible to the Wave. What's that? Yes we're requesting a low floor. Better make those beds low to the floor. Also, can you confirm what time breakfast ends? Okay we'd like a reservation for 30 people for your first breakfast time, THANKS!"

 

[nco91590]

What if we create some sort of conference? Disney loves a conference. We could do like....Disney Drink Appreciators of America Conference.

 

[Vernie822]

What if we create some sort of conference? Disney loves a conference. We could do like....Disney Drink Appreciators of America Conference.

I have a bunch of things to say but my phone is misbehaving with the boards so I'll leave it at this:

I'm in!
Wonder if we could get a group rate.

"Hello Disney? We need a block of rooms as close as possible to the Wave. What's that? Yes we're requesting a low floor. Better make those beds low to the floor. Also, can you confirm what time breakfast ends? Okay we'd like a reservation for 30 people for your first breakfast time, THANKS!"

Disney Champagne Conference... Disney Drinkers Conference.. Disney Board of Booze.. I think we could make this work!

 

[Dis_Yoda]

Disney Champagne Conference... Disney Drinkers Conference.. Disney Board of Booze.. I think we could make this work!

I would go to that!

 

[pepperandchips]

Mixologists
In the
Cocktail
Kingdom
Eat
Yummy stuff

Sorry, gotta head off to the MICKEY conference again this year

 

[toomuchtv]

I just zipped through your report so far. I wish I was only 8 hours from Disney, but we're in Ohio, and moving would require moving the entire extended family, so that is not happening.

And then, in a bit of disappointment, they brought us all 4 appetizers on the same platter, literally 2 minutes after we sat down. I say disappointed because there was only TWO CHICKEN WINGS on this whole thing! I can see why they wouldn't want to be wasteful.. but that's only one wing per person, and my husband can EAT

That would have made me so sad!!!

I think our server could tell we wanted to take our time, since we asked for more pot stickers and wings. We always love the appetizers the most!

I totally agree. I could mostly do without the meat (even though it's still yummy!!!), but all those appetizers are DELICIOUS!

I had to get my all-time favorite the.. Carrot Cake Cookie!!

Words can't really describe this goodness, although I did find a similar carrot-cakey love this trip! This cookie sandwich is sooooo very rich that there's no way I needed to eat the whole thing for breakfast.

That thing is HUGE! I don't like carrot cake (or cake at all), but my husband would love it. Sadly, we are not making it to HS this trip.

Dole Whip Float!

We actually always get the pineapple soft serve and had never tried the float, so it was new to us. Well, I gotta be honest.. I think I'm a bigger fan of the plain soft serve. The pineapple juice was just way too sweet, although it was nice to try something different.

I'm just the opposite in that I have never NOT had the float. I dream about that float..........

Justin and I tried the French Onion Soup once before at lunch, so we decided to order it and share it. BOG makes their onion soup with a vegetable based broth rather than beef, so it is vegetarian friendly! It is so delicious. I don't order French Onion soup too often but I really enjoy it here. The cheese on top is gruyere I believe, and it's amazing!

I need to eat that soup. I don't suppose I could get French Onion soup for breakfast, though, and that is when our ADR is this trip. I've never had French Onion Soup, but OMG, that CHEESE!!! (Also, not swiss is a good thing!)

We were actually right near a family who was walking back to their car and encountered a little girl walking around crying, lost from her family. The dad walked back to the TTC and found a police officer while his family stayed with the little girl. Turns out we were walking towards the family as well. The girl's mom and older sister saw her from a distance and yelled her name and started running towards her. Ugh talk about a tear jerker at 10:30 PM. I was crying too! I was so glad they found her, and it was really nice of that family to wait with her while the dad found a police officer.

Ugh. I had that kind of experience at the State Fair once, and I was totally crying when they were reunited, too.

We still had a good 2-2.5 hours to kill, so we snagged a FP+ for Spaceship Earth and did that. I'd be lying if I said I didn't nap during the entire thing..

I bet that was a great picture!

I had not yet been to Amorette's, but OMG. I wanted one of everything.

We were seriously drooling as we walked along the case. We were torn between a few. The key lime pie (next to the Mickey) sounded delicious, as did the blueberry lemon cheesecake (far right with the yellow and blue). I am a sucker for anything berry with lemon.

I'm a sucker for a berry/lemon combo, too!

We also decided to each get a macaron. They were $3 each or 5 for $12, so we ended up with 5.

We did two pistachio, two salted caramel, and I think the last one was a lemon.

Macarons are my absolute downfall. I'll probably have to go to Amorette's for some to compare to the ones at Epcot!

Looking forward to the next trip!

 

[jerseytinkerbell]

Everyone keeps saying "WAIT, THERE'S BOTTOMLESS MIMOSAS!?" Looks like we need to have a mega DisDining meet and just sit in The Wave and drink mimosas all day

Well count me in!!!!

 

[Vernie822]

I just zipped through your report so far. I wish I was only 8 hours from Disney, but we're in Ohio, and moving would require moving the entire extended family, so that is not happening.

I need to eat that soup. I don't suppose I could get French Onion soup for breakfast, though, and that is when our ADR is this trip. I've never had French Onion Soup, but OMG, that CHEESE!!! (Also, not swiss is a good thing!)

Macarons are my absolute downfall. I'll probably have to go to Amorette's for some to compare to the ones at Epcot!

Looking forward to the next trip!

Hey, thanks for reading! We used to be in PA and my husband worked in Ohio- his parents live there in Cortland. I don't miss living so far, but totally get you on the extended family thing!

I totally meant to grab some macarons this past weekend and I forgot.. they were so good!

 

[Vernie822]

Last Day - Monday 2/27

I've been meaning to get on here and update FOR EV ER, but Photobucket is being extraordinarily crappy. I can't log in from my phone or my computer.. so I can't upload or access any of my photos! Grr. I've resorted to using Flickr as a backup.

Anyways, I totally meant to post our last day's worth of food (really just breakfast) before leaving for our trip last weekend and I couldn't!

Since we'd had an exhausting weekend between the 10K & Justin's trek to Daytona, we decided to leave just after breakfast on Monday. We didn't feel like anything fancy, so we thought we'd check out the QS at our resort, Artist's Palette. After that we just headed home and got home nice and early, around 6 pm, and had some time to relax and unwind before work the next day. For breakfast, Justin had his usual fave, the bacon/egg/cheese croissant. Oddly, the egg on the sandwich was a mini cheese omelet, which was also an option on the kids menu, so.. multi-purpose mini cheese omelet, I guess!? No complaints from him.

I had the country breakfast wrap, which was just a wheat tortilla filled with scrambled eggs, sausage, cheese, onion, and peppers, and salsa for dipping. It was definitely mediocre, but I didn't expect much. It was enough to fill us up for the first half of our trip.
​

 

[Vernie822]

March Trip
Epcot & Hollywood Studios Snacks

Our long weekend in March came around pretty quickly. Our February trip was the last weekend in February. My mom, my sister, and one of my brothers were off for Spring Break (they're in college and my mom works at the university my brother goes to so she gets some awesome additional vaca time when the students are off) so they came down to visit the following weekend. We had two weekends off and then we were in Pittsburgh for my cousin's bridal shower/other cousin's baby's first birthday/meeting my best friend's new baby, and then our WDW trip was last weekend. Phew. We are sick of traveling for a while!

This trip was a pretty relaxed one. I wasn't too crazy about making ADR's. We only had three, for four days, and ended up making a breakfast one as well. It was also our first time staying at Bay Lake Tower. That's just kind of how this trip came about - we were looking to go in the spring, and Justin has always wanted to stay at BLT, so we thought we'd give it a try. We just did a studio for 3 nights. I'll get into more pics later, but it was great being next to MK!

We did our usual, leave after work Thursday, spend the night in Jacksonville, and get to the parks early on Friday. We started at Epcot, with the intention to grab a few snacks at Flower and Garden before heading to Hollywood Studios for some FP's.

If you're into taking pics under the WDW sign as you drive in, you'll have to wait a bit..​

Our first stop upon getting into the park was the new Northern Bloom booth. Justin decided he wanted to try the Nanaimo Bar Trifle ($4.25).

(Sorry.. Justin wasn't in Disney-mode yet and stuck his spoon in before I could grab a pic)

Last year, I had the Nanaimo Pie at Le Cellier, and I really enjoyed it! It has chocolate hazelnut crust, coconut custard, and cream anglaise.

For some reason, the only thing that I recall being similar from the trifle was the coconut, and even so, I don't remember the trifle being overly coconutty. I love love love coconut, Justin's just eh on it, so I figured we'd remember if it was overpowering. If I'm not mistaken this had hot fudge, cookie crumbles (like Oreo) and whipped cream on top.

Maybe we were just really hungry but this was at most two spoonfuls each. It definitely wasn't big. It wasn't too memorable, but it wasn't bad. I liked it and I'd get it again. But I think the actual nanaimo dessert I had at Le Cellier was way better!


Next up we stopped at France at Fleur de Lys where I thought about getting the onion tart and for some ungodly stupid reason, I decided against it. Now I'm seeing everyone's pics like W T H! Why did I skip that!?

I skipped it in favor of this beauty.

Swear, this one never, ever gets old! I wish they had this year round, but I definitely look forward to it at Flower and Garden.

La Vie en Rose Frozen Slush: Grey Goose Vodka Orange, St. Germain Liquor, White and Red Cranberry Juice – $9.95

I just love this. I don't taste the floral notes as much as others say they do, I mostly just get the sour-ish cranberry notes and a little of the vodka.


We were kind of moving quickly, hoping to knock out a few booths before our FP's at HS. We decided on the Smokehouse next.

The burnt ends hash is one of my favorite F&G items as well, so I had to have one of these. We can get pretty good BBQ here in NC, and burnt ends is always a solid choice. However in NC they don't seem to cover it with delicious white cheese fondue & jalapenos.. maybe they should start.

Beef Brisket Burnt Ends Hash with White Cheddar Fondue and Pickled Jalapeños – $6.25, DDP Snack Eligible

I am a sucker for nuts/caramel/chocolate all in one (and separately) so after hearing good things about the Warm Chocolate Cake with Bourbon-Salted Caramel Sauce and Spiced Pecans

Warm Chocolate Cake with Bourbon-Salted Caramel Sauce and Spiced Pecans (V) – $3.75, DDP Snack Eligible

I liked this, although it was a little heavy for a hot afternoon. The Bourbon-salted caramel sauce was really thick, and there were soooo many pecans on top. The whole thing was good, although I found the cake to be a bit dry. I think there are a bazillion other delicious desserts to be had out there in WDW, so while there was nothing wrong with this one, it wasn't my favorite.

Justin wanted to stop at one more booth, so we went to Bauernmarkt in Germany. I'm kicking myself because I knew I wanted to try the cheese strudel, but I had just eaten 2 desserts and wasn't feeling another. So it would have to wait (spoiler alert, it's still waiting!)

He decided to order the Roasted Bratwurst with Curry Ketchup. He loves a good bratwurst.

Roasted Bratwurst with Curry Ketchup and Paprika-spiced Chips (GF) – $5.25, DDP Snack Eligible

Justin really likes this, I personally don't, I think it tastes like a skinless hotdog covered in ketchup. Instead I munched on a few of the chips which are particularly good.

Of course Justin had to get a Sunset Tokyo in Japan before we left!

We headed towards HS for our Fastpasses, and did Toy Story Midway Mania & Star Tours. It seems like the new Star Tours movie is a lot less jerky than before!? Or maybe it's just me, we sat in the first row this time and previously we've sat in the back.

We jumped in line to meet this snowy fella since there was only a 10 minute wait (which really only ended up being like 5).

Side note, this meet is literally in a side room with old musky gray carpet. Poor Olaf can't even get some sand colored carpet?!

We decided on one more snack since we hadn't eaten too much and we wouldn't be eating dinner until 7 pm.

A good ol Mickey pretzel with plastic cheese does the trick.

We also encountered Peevy's Polar Pipeline (something about name Peevy is just so weird). Kind of in between Min & Bill's and Hollywood and Vine. We've never spotted this place open before and I've been on a slushy kick lately so this was a good option.

They had blue raspberry fanta, cherry, coke, lemonade, and raspberry lemonade. I decided on the raspberry lemonade and Justin went with the Coke.

BONUS BOOZE: These were $3.99 and you could add a shot of Bacardi, cherry vodka, or Jack Daniels! I think they were $9-10 with the booze. Definitely a good option, these were delicious and the perfect drink on a hot day.

Is it me or you can you literally get booze on every corner in Hollywood Studios!?

We moseyed around a little more, just to take in some of the park. I love HS for the vibe, so I was glad we got to spend some time here.

After our time in HS, we went back to Epcot to get to our car to go check out BLT before our dinner reservation at Disney Springs.​

 

[ariane37]

Next up we stopped at France at Fleur de Lys where I thought about getting the onion tart and for some ungodly stupid reason, I decided against it. Now I'm seeing everyone's pics like W T H! Why did I skip that!?

We decided on the Smokehouse next.

We stopped here too! I'm going to keep my comments to myself though since I haven't gotten to this part of my report yet though

He decided to order the Roasted Bratwurst with Curry Ketchup. He loves a good bratwurst.

Wait, let me back up. I AM going to comment on this because I LOVED this!!! I know you didn't but I thought it was great, I thought both the bratwurst and ketchup each had their own kick. And those chips, which I know are the same you can always get with the regular bratwurst, are excellent
Looking forward to seeing what you thought of BLT. Steve has been wanting to stay there but so far it hasn't happened.

 

[kastoney]

Looks like a great first day in Epcot/MGM. Of course I'm totally loving the copious amounts of adult beverages!!!!!!! That slushy in particular looks great. I'm not normally a frozen drink fan, but I do love a slurpee so a slurpee with vodka - Yes. Please. And Thank You!

So disappointed we're missing flower and garden this year, but we will get to do food and wine. The hash you all got is still one of my favorite items from last year.

 

[Dis_Yoda]

I can't believe you skipped the onion tart! That is my favorite (I know you know). At least you got the burnt end hash!

Good to know you can make boozy slushes now at Hollywood Studios. I know what I'm doing in September!