What is This Wet Stuff Falling on Us? September 2021 Food and Wine TR! (RL Update 10/2!!)

[Wood Nymph]

I kind of wish we started in Adventureland one of our mornings this trip, we never made it on JC since by the time we made it over there the line was longer than what we were willing to wait. Oh well, next trip! We did do a pretty great job that morning at MK, I'm so happy we got to get on Splash twice with no wait! I can't wait to get back and see what it's like with the 30 min early entry for resort guests and genie+!

I'm embarrassed to say that MK was something of a disaster today. I didn't do my homework, I didn't know that only Tomorrowland and Fantasyland were open early and they held the crowd at those two entry points until 8:30am. The other lands opened at 9am. We couldn't get over to Jungle Cruise early because the normal park crowd filled the line. We didn't buy Genie+ or ILL$. The entire early morning thing at MK was terrible, IMO. I like how they do it at HS.

So, anyone have any recommendations on which to do?

I enjoy F&G more than FARTS.

 

[VAtink]

We love FARTS. And I do think it's not as busy as Flower and Garden. But the first weekend will be busy with vloggers and all. I mean you can't lose with either!

Oh, that's good to know. A break from the winter weather up here also sounds nice! It's a tough decision, but it's a great decision to have!

 

[VAtink]

Everything at the Germany Pavillion was excellent this year! I agree with your assessment of the noodles (I’m going to mess up the spelling so I won’t even attempt it). Loving this TR!

The noodle dish was so good! I didn't expect to like it as much as I did! I also triple checked the spelling of the dish before posting it here, and I still think I got it wrong.

 

[VAtink]

This past March was my first time being there for F&G and I loved it. My upcoming trip falls during FARTS and I am so excited because it's my first trip during this festival. I always love seeing everyones photos and reading trip reports from during FARTS. Basically I have no advice since I haven't been to FARTS yet but I would probably choose FARTS if I were you just for the fact that it would be something new.

You bring up a good point, it would be nice to see something new. I also very much appreciate the number of FARTS in your post, seriously this acronym brings me way too much joy!

Hope you have a great FARTS trip!

 

[VAtink]

I'm embarrassed to say that MK was something of a disaster today. I didn't do my homework, I didn't know that only Tomorrowland and Fantasyland were open early and they held the crowd at those two entry points until 8:30am. The other lands opened at 9am. We couldn't get over to Jungle Cruise early because the normal park crowd filled the line. We didn't buy Genie+ or ILL$. The entire early morning thing at MK was terrible, IMO. I like how they do it at HS.

Oh no! I'm so sorry you had such a rough morning at MK. I do wish they opened the whole park for the early entry, most of the rides we want to get on are in the non-early opening lands. As a super planner I can't believe I'm saying this, but I do wish there wasn't so much to research before the trips.

I enjoy F&G more than FARTS.

Oh really, good to know! Do you mind saying why?

 

[disneyAndi14]

We have been going towards the end of January since 2019 and we really enjoy the FArts The crowds are lower and all the art is beautiful. I would say go to experience it at least once, however, I do love F&G.
We are going 1/22-1/30/21 and staying at Beach Club. The weather can be cold at the end of January and I don’t like that. My daughter has the whole month of January off so it works good for us!
Which ever you choose it will be wonderful because it is Disney and a festival!

 

[BroadwayHermione5]

The noodle dish was so good! I didn't expect to like it as much as I did! I also triple checked the spelling of the dish before posting it here, and I still think I got it wrong.

As someone who had to sing in multiple languages during college including German, it never gets easier to spell or pronounce. You always doubt yourself!

 

[Wood Nymph]

Do you mind saying why?

FARTS is much smaller, with a lot less food booths. And I like flowers more than artwork.

 

[suse66]

The ride was essentially walk-on at this point, we ended up on the second boat of the day. I think we were in the last row, our pictures never showed up and Disney hasn’t gotten back to me about all the missing pictures yet, so I may post those pictures later if they ever appear.

Once off splash we saw that Thunder was up and running and headed over there. This was basically a walk-on as well at that point, and the CM put us in the second to last row, so score for not having to ask for the back of the train!

Thunder felt, I guess faster? Like I was catching some air this ride which I never have before. It was so much fun!

When we got off Thunder we saw that Splash was still posted as a 5 minute wait, so of course we headed over there again!

It ended up being a walk-on again as well. When we got to the loading area I saw we would be in the last row again, so I asked the CM assigning rows if we could wait for the first row, and he happily goes “you don’t even have to wait! Head to row 5!”

At first I was all “but 5 isn’t 1…” and I think he saw my confusion and goes “5 is the first row in the second loading zone.” Ohhhhhh. Duh. I’m gonna blame lack of coffee that morning for not being able to figure that out.

We actually ended up getting the boat completely to ourselves! There was one group right behind us in the queue, but the CM put them in the last row of the boat in front of us instead. Yay for our own private boat! I really wish Disney would find our pictures from this ride since I love the ones where we’re the only ones in the boat!

What an absolutely perfect morning!

Now, I love F&G, but I’ve been itching to check out FARTS (I just love this acronym). The thing is though, if I go during the winter I only have enough vacation time to go for 4 days, but if I wait until the spring I could go for a full week. UGH, the choices!

Personally I would go for a weekend at F.ARTS. If you chose spring you would have to deal with the crazy spring break crowds as well as Easter. Jan/Feb would be much better.

 

[VAtink]

We have been going towards the end of January since 2019 and we really enjoy the FArts The crowds are lower and all the art is beautiful. I would say go to experience it at least once, however, I do love F&G.
We are going 1/22-1/30/21 and staying at Beach Club. The weather can be cold at the end of January and I don’t like that. My daughter has the whole month of January off so it works good for us!
Which ever you choose it will be wonderful because it is Disney and a festival!

Ohh, good to know! I do like low crowds. I've only been down there once in the winter, at the end of December/early January and it was super cold, I was so surprised! Although, the nice thing about it being cold is it's easier to eat all the food booth goodies! My biggest complaint about F&W is it's so hot it kills my appetite!

 

[VAtink]

As someone who had to sing in multiple languages during college including German, it never gets easier to spell or pronounce. You always doubt yourself!

Haha, I can imagine! And that is really impressive you can sing in multiple languages!

 

[VAtink]

FARTS is much smaller, with a lot less food booths. And I like flowers more than artwork.

I didn't realize there were fewer food booths, that's a bummer. Checking out the food booths is one of my favorite activities!

 

[VAtink]

What an absolutely perfect morning!

It was such a great morning! We got so much done with super low waits. Love mornings like that!

Personally I would go for a weekend at F.ARTS. If you chose spring you would have to deal with the crazy spring break crowds as well as Easter. Jan/Feb would be much better.

Yeah, I'm noticing the lower crowds for FARTS seems to be a trend, and I love lower crowds! I'm still so torn, who knew making a Disney decision would be so hard!

 

[2xcited2sleep]

Another trip! YAY! Good news is that you can't go wrong! I love all festivals but think I might prefer ARTs to F&G. I think food at booths is probably better at Arts. Fewer booths but more intricate plating and more unique dishes and cocktails (note that this also can mean longer waits whilst they are plating your dish). Also probably lower crowds for Arts (watch for marathon weekend and MLK day crowds) . I also really love the opportunity to browse/shop and meet different artists (talking about "normal" operations vs. COVID). I've had the opportunity to get some really special personalized pieces by stopping in to chat with the artists (Dave Avanzino is my favorite and go-to). On the con side, FL weather can be fickle so you might get but can't bank on sunny and 70+. It is also missing the glorious gardens and topiaries.

Is going for both an option? I realize that isn't helpful...

 

[VAtink]

Another trip! YAY! Good news is that you can't go wrong! I love all festivals but think I might prefer ARTs to F&G. I think food at booths is probably better at Arts. Fewer booths but more intricate plating and more unique dishes and cocktails (note that this also can mean longer waits whilst they are plating your dish). Also probably lower crowds for Arts (watch for marathon weekend and MLK day crowds) . I also really love the opportunity to browse/shop and meet different artists (talking about "normal" operations vs. COVID). I've had the opportunity to get some really special personalized pieces by stopping in to chat with the artists (Dave Avanzino is my favorite and go-to). On the con side, FL weather can be fickle so you might get but can't bank on sunny and 70+. It is also missing the glorious gardens and topiaries.

Is going for both an option? I realize that isn't helpful...

Haha, don't tempt me! Although to be fair, the thought has crossed my mind!

Right now I'm slightly leaning towards FARTS, mostly because I haven't experienced it before and it would be awesome to try at least once. Interesting the food is better at FARTS, that pushes me more towards that one! I guess with a super short trip having fewer food booths isn't so much an issue anyways. But yeah, no matter what I decide I really can't go wrong!

 

[BroadwayHermione5]

Haha, I can imagine! And that is really impressive you can sing in multiple languages!

Thank you! I’m a little rusty in some, but you need anyone to sing in Latin or Italian I got you! French and Spanish re my next easiest, then German. I had to learn in order to be in choirs and for certain courses, and it can be a lot of work, but it can also sound gorgeous when done right!

 

[VAtink]

Well I did it, I booked a FARTS trip! Going the first week of February for four nights. Cannot wait! Now I just have to make sure there is room at my dogs boarding those days, and make sure my boss lets me take the time off. I may have jumped the gun a bit here...

Now back to this TR - update coming soon! ​

 

[VAtink]

Day 3, Part 4: Is Everyone in the Park at Haunted Mansion?

We last left off with us riding Splash for the second time and getting our own private boat! Wahoo!

Once off and sufficiently drenched we opted to head over to another water ride, although a slightly less splashy one, Pirates!

We arrived at Pirates to find an actual line, the horror! However, it moved fast and we were on our boat in about 10 minutes.



Next up we decided to head over to HM. When we arrived we were shocked at how crowded the area in front of HM was, and the queue extended way outside of the gates. Compared to the rest of the park at this time, HM was a madhouse! We joked that everyone in the park was at HM!

Fortunately, the posted wait time was still only 10 minutes so we hopped in line, although about a minute after getting into line the wait jumped to 25 minutes.

We decided to stick it out, and I’m glad we did since we were in the stretching room in about 10 minutes. It was definitely weird being told to fill all the dead space, and it seemed most people in there didn’t want to since no one moved to get closer to other parties when the CM told us to. My mom and I stayed close to the wall per normal since she gets claustrophobic and cannot handle being squished in the center of the room, especially when there are “no windows and no doors.”

The ride was awesome as always!



After our fun with the happy haunts we headed over to the other side of the park to ride Buzz! The wait was posted as 10 minutes, but it ended up taking 15. I’m not sure what it is with this queue, but I find it to be one of the worst to wait in, so those 15 minutes felt very long! At last we were on the ride!



Once again I beat my mom, and got one of my better scores, I think it was like 770,000 or something. Wahoo!

I wanted to head over to Space next, but my mom did not want to ride it, so we agreed we’d ride it during Boo Bash instead and headed over to ride People Mover!


Gotta get the feet picture!


Love getting the view of Tron, cannot wait for this to open!



After People Mover mom was getting really hangry (speaking of, I got her this AWESOME dish towel with the seagulls from finding Nemo on it with “Hangry” embroidered on it ) so we looked around nearby for something to grab to eat.

I pulled up the app and started reading through the quick service options nearby, but nothing really stood out to my mom since it turns out what she really wanted was ice cream. After figuring that out, we made our way over to Merchant of Venus where mom got the soft serve swirl, and I got a root beer float. Think it had been about 15-20 years since I’ve had one of these! We found a table overlooking the speedway and dug in.




Not sure why my float looks like its photoshopped in here...it's real I promise!

This was a really good pit stop, just what we needed to break up the day and cool off!

It was around 12:15 by the time we finished our lunch, and we were getting tired and overheated so decided to head out. On the way out we walked through Tomorrowland Terrace to get pictures of Stitch who I noticed earlier as we were walking across the bridge into Tomorrowland!





We also swung by the Emporium on the way out, and wow, it was insane in there! I have never seen it so packed! So we quickly left and headed out of the park.

Next Up: Can We PLEASE Move Park Hopping to Noon?​

 

[2xcited2sleep]

I've said before but I can't believe they didn't make some official activity out of finding all the gold statues. That Stitch one is awesome!! Love the Haunted Mansion but that part between the stretching room and boarding your doom buggy gives me anxiety. YUCK. There has to be a better way.

 

[VAtink]

Thank you! I’m a little rusty in some, but you need anyone to sing in Latin or Italian I got you! French and Spanish re my next easiest, then German. I had to learn in order to be in choirs and for certain courses, and it can be a lot of work, but it can also sound gorgeous when done right!

Wow, that is so cool, and what a talent! I can't even sing in English