Wining & Dining Around the World~ An October 2013 TR w/pics~ UPDATED 2/11 (x2)!

[herb102211]

Hi Everyone!



We’re back! Although I’m not sure if that’s a good or bad thing. Seriously, miss WDW already and we haven’t even been home 48 hours. We had an amazing trip, probably one of the best Disney trips we’ve had



Had a few bumps along the way but it all worked out in the end.



I’m editing/uploading all of our photos from the trip, so I’m hoping to start on the TR this week.



Can’t wait to tell you all about our adventures!!



See ya real soon!!!​

 

[herb102211]

Chapter 4: Next Stop, Disney World!



The day was finally here!!! We were heading to Disney today . As always, I book the earliest morning flight possible (hey, it’s more time in Disney, right! Who needs sleep ) Our flight was scheduled to leave at 8:00am so we were up around 4:30am. We got some last minute things together, grabbed a quick bite to eat and we were out the door by 5:30am!



We got to the airport around 6:30, parked the car and headed into the airport to check our bag. I could not believe how PACKED it was. Seriously, I’ve never seen our airport this busy. I mean, we aren’t talking MCO here!



We waited in line 20+ minutes just to check one stinkin’ bag (this is why I try to cram as much as possible into the carry on bag!) In any event, we headed over to security and the line was pretty backed up to the airline checkin counters. Are you serious, right now? It was almost 7am at that point and we scheduled to board at 7:30. Ugghh… But then it dawned on me. We had purchased the Even More Space seats on Jetblue, which means we could use the priority security line. Score! See ya long security line.



After that point, security was a breeze and we were to our gate in 15 minutes. We’ve never cut it that close to before but we were at our gate still with 20 minutes to spare before boarding. Since we were the Even More Space customers, we were first to board. Everyone was on board, but I noticed we were still sitting at the gate longer than usual. The pilot then came over the loud speaker and said that they put the fuel in the wrong tank last night when they were re-fueling and that they were fixing the issue, but that it would be about 30 minutes before we’d be taking off. I’m all about safety so I’m glad they caught this before we left, and luckily we had the TV’s to keep us occupied while we waited.



The flight from that point on was pretty uneventful, and somehow landed only 10 minutes later than we were scheduled to. We grabbed our things and made our way over to Magical Express where we were greeted by another ginormous line. I was hoping that this wasn’t a sign of things to come for the weekend. It was long before our bus came and we were on our way.



It wasn’t long before we were seeing this…..







Ahh, we’re here!!!



Funny story about THE sign- The bus driver had made mention that anyone that wanted to take a picture of the WDW sign should get their cameras out since we would be approaching the sign momentarily. This lady, who was quite spastic and annoying throughout our hour long journey to WDW, thought the bus driver was going to pull over so she could get out of the bus to take a picture. She then started yelling to the bus driver, “I thought you were going to stop for the photo” Oh boy! I was trying so hard not to laugh.. Clearly she didn’t see the “No Stopping” sign either….



We stopped at Caribbean Beach first and then the Boardwalk. The “motor coach operator” said generally the Beach Club was the next stop but since they were waiting for traffic clearance, he headed over to the Yacht Club first. Yay, we weren’t going to be the last stop after all. We grabbed our things off of the motorcoach and made our way inside to check in. Let’s get this vacation started!!!!
​

 

[herb102211]

Chapter 5: Checking In at the Yacht Club



We’ve never stayed at the Yacht Club before, so I was super excited we were staying a new resort this time. I just love the décor and ambiance of the resort! Since I checked in online, we made our way over to the online check in counter. The CM grabbed our folder and told us that our room was ready. Woohoo!! I had requested that we be on the 1st floor and near transportation, and that’s exactly what we got! I love it when little things like this go right on a vacation. Our room number was 1100 which was right around the corner from the Fittings & Fairings gift shop (which proved to be deadly on my wallet, later on) LOL! Since our MagicBands didn’t get sent to our house for some reason, they were waiting for us at checkin. Let’s just say, I loved using the MagicBands. They were so convenient and I didn’t have to keep reaching into my purse to get my KTTW card out all of the time. The CM loaded our Annual Passes onto the MagicBands too, which was great, as well as our room key, room charging privileges and our FastPass+ Options. Once our MagicBands were set, we stopped by our room to drop off our things and freshen up a bit before heading out to grab a bite to eat.



We didn’t have an ADR’s scheduled for lunch since we didn’t know what time we’d be arriving at the resort, so we made our way over to Beaches & Cream. We arrived at the podium and the CM said there was a 30 minute wait. We were starving so we opted not to wait, and made our way over to Hurricane Hanna’s since we knew they’d be quick.



Picture Perfect

DH and I both got the chicken sandwich with fries. We found a table near Stormalong Bay and were soon greeted by this little guy…





It was almost 2pm by the time we got done eating and DH made his way back to the room to take a quick nap. I decided to hang outside and explore the resort a bit…








DH joined me outside around 3pm and we made our way over to Epcot for the best event of the year, the Food & Wine Festival!


​

 

[herb102211]

Chapter 6: Cheers to the Food & Wine Festival!



So the schedule that I had posted on here in August for our trip, most of that went out the window as soon as we arrived at WDW…haha!! On Tuesday night, I had seen a copy of the Food & Wine Festival Guide online and noticed that the 4pm Wine Demo that was TBA was now the Martini & Rossi Asti tasting. I love Asti- It’s my favorite sparkling wine/champagne ever . So naturally, I booked it and I knew DH would be equally as happy because he loves going to those events. We had intentions of going to the demo from 4-4:45pm and then taking the monorail over to Magic Kingdom for MNSSHP. Well those plans got axed Wednesday night when we found out that MNSSHP had sold out for Thursday night. Bummer! Oh well, on the bright side I saved $140. I didn’t want to get tickets ahead of time for Thursday’s MNSSHP in case we had flight delays/cancellations, etc. Plus, we already had tickets for Friday night’s MNSSHP so it wasn’t a deal breaker. It just left our evening wide open to relax and enjoy the Food & Wine Festival. No complaining, here!



Ok, so now that you’ve got the background on how this event came about, let’s get on with the show.



We arrived at the Festival Welcome Center around 3:30pm and checked in at the podium to get our tickets for the Wine Demo.



We made our way over to The Vineyard where we got in line and waited for the hostess to let us in. The line filled up quickly and the seating arrangements were first come, first serve, so I was glad we were at the beginning of the line. Around 4pm, they let everyone in to take a seat. We were in the front row. There were an assortment of goodies waiting for us; a Martini notepad, reusable shopping bag and a pen. Oh, and not to mention 3 champagne flutes of sparkling wine (can’t forget the good stuff!)



Our presenter for the demonstration was Jimmy Cefalo, a former NFL football player for the Miami Dolphins. He is now an ambassador for Martini & Rossi.





The demonstration started off with a background on the company’s founders, the types of products they sell and in what countries they could be found, etc. This went on for about 15-20 minutes, meanwhile, you’ve got 3 glasses of wine in front of you that you’re just waiting to try (so unfair!). Soon enough though, it was wine tasting time!





During each of the tastings Jimmy mentioned a bit about that specific wine, where the grapes were grown for it, how much sugar was in it, what food pairings you should eat with it etc. I found this to be really helpful!
The first wine we tried was the Martini Prosecco. This is the traditional Asti that most of you I’m sure have had at weddings, New Year’s Eve, etc.



The next was the Martini Rose. In my opinion, this was the best one of the 3. It tasted like Asti Supmante mixed with Rose wine. It was perfect! I don’t know how I’ve never had this before but we definitely plan on buying a bottle soon.




The last wine was the traditional Asti Moscato. If you like sweet wines, then this is for you! This stuff was even too sweet for me, and I love sweet! It’s basically a dessert wine. There were 130 grams of sugar per liter in the Moscato compared to only 15 grams of sugar in the Prosecco.



Once we were finished sampling the wines, there was a Q&A with Jimmy. I really enjoyed him as our presenter and thought he was very articulate, had a great sense of humor and was very knowledgeable about the products he was presenting.



After we were done with the tasting, I headed over to the festival center gift area and bought the “Taste Your Way Around the World” shirt, a magnet, and the potholders and towels for my sister.



It was a little after 5pm at that point, so we headed out to eat around the world!



We had looked at all of the food booth menus online before our trip so we had an idea of what each was offering. I was sad to see that the Cheese booth wasn’t offering the Cheese fondue with sourdough bread this year However, we still had quite the list to try and accomplish-



Australia-

Grilled Lamb Chop with Mint Pesto and Potato Crunchies

Pavlova



Mexico-

Taco de Ribeye with Salsa de Chipotle



Cheese-

Once Upon a Vine’s The Fairest Chardonnay



Germany-

Roast Bratwurst in a Pretzel Roll

Apple Strudel with Werther’s Original Karamel and Vanilla Sauce (yum!)



Italy- (My favorite booth, ever!)

Ravioli de formaggio all’emiliana

Cannoli al Cioccolato



Florida Local-
Florida Grass Fed Beef Slider with Monterey Jack and Sweet & Hot Pickles
Florida Orange Groves, Hurricane Class 5 White Sangria
Florida Orange Groves, Key Lime-Key Lime Wine



Belgium-

Belgian Waffle with Berry Compote featuring Driscoll’s® Berries and Whipped Cream



France-

Boeuf Bourguignon (Braised Short Ribs in Cabernet with Mashed Potatoes)

Eiffel Sour Cosmo Slush (Vodka, Grey Goose Cherry Noir, Grand Marnier, Cranberry Juice)



Ireland-

Warm Chocolate Pudding with Bailey’s® Custard



Canada-

Canadian Cheddar Cheese Soup

“Le Cellier” Wild Mushroom Beef Filet Mignon with Truffle Butter Sauce



Refreshment Port-

Dole® Pineapple Fritters

Fried Chicken Chunks with Dole® Pineapple Sweet and Sour Sauce

Orange Dole® Whip



Desserts & Champagnes-

Frozen S’mores



Would we be able to tackle all of this food? You shall soon see….​

 

[RGirl]

Joining in! Enjoyed your mini-report-within-a-report, and I'm excited to hear all about your F&W fun! The Yacht Club is so beautiful - and I know what you mean about loving the Epcot resorts. We have stayed at the BW our last two trips (we don't get to go quite as often as you do being from the West Coast ).

 

[herb102211]

Joining in! Enjoyed your mini-report-within-a-report, and I'm excited to hear all about your F&W fun! The Yacht Club is so beautiful - and I know what you mean about loving the Epcot resorts. We have stayed at the BW our last two trips (we don't get to go quite as often as you do being from the West Coast ).

Welcome!
Thanks for joining in!!

We love the Boardwalk too. All of the Epcot area resorts are just beautiful. It's hard to pick our favorite.

 

[herb102211]

Chapter 7: Eat to the Beat Around the World...



Happy Saturday, fellow DISers!! It's hard to believe a week ago at this time I was hanging out in MK, and now I'm home ( and planning my next trip of course ) Now, where did I leave off....oh, yes, we were about to start eating our way around the world!!

For once we decided to hit up the Food & Wine Festival booths systematically. Since we were leaving the Festival Center, we figured we would start with Australia and head around the world until we reached Canada. DH has a seafood allergy so we skipped a bunch of the booths in the beginning. The first booth we stopped at was Australia. DH got the Grilled Lamb Chop with Mint Pesto and Potato Crunchies and I got the Pavlova (who needs dinner when you can just skip right to dessert )



I didn't get a photo of the grilled lamb chop but it smelled delicious. I've never had Pavlova before but it was so good! It was a meringue shell filled with vanilla custard and fresh raspberries and blueberries. It was a little difficult to eat because the meringue shell was hard and there weren't any tables to eat at, but we managed.



The next booth we came across was Mexico. We both really wanted the Ribeye Taco but the line was super long (it seemed like everyone was getting the margaritas!) , so we decided not to wait. We figured throughout the course of the weekend, wed end up there again, but unfortunately we didn't. We continued along on our journey when we reached Germany. DH got the Roast Bratwurst in a Pretzel Roll and I got the Apple Strudel with Werthers Original Karamel and Vanilla Sauce (dessert again, you bet!) I'm not a fan of Bratwurst but DH said it was good. The apple strudel was great though.




Next up was Italy. Italy has my favorite booth in the entire festival. I love the raviolis and the cannolis. Never could pass up food made by my fellow Italians!




DH and I each got our own tray of the raviolis, that's how good they were. They were well worth the $5.50 apiece.



The cannoli was very fresh and the shell was dipped in chocolate. Yum!




It was a little before 6pm at that point so we made our way over to the Eat to the Beat Concert.



Edwin McCain was playing tonight and tomorrow. We had originally planned on going to the show tomorrow night before MNSSHP, but we figured since we had nothing else going on tonight, wed go then, instead. We caught the end of the first show before heading into the second show. We got really good seats for the show.



Edwin was a great performer! He played his hits "I'll Be" & "I Could Not Ask for More" as well as a few other songs. I remember our prom song was "I Could Not Ask for More" lol.











It was after 7 by the time the show was over, so we decided to head back out with the crowds to tackle the rest of the Food & Wine.



I wasn't really hungry at that point, but I did have one item in particular on my mind, Cheddar Cheese Soup!



We noticed a photopass photographer by the fountains in France, so we stopped there first, to get our picture taken. Ive never seen them there at night before, and we got some great shots!





We continued along the way towards the Canada booth. The line wasn't as long as Id thought it would be and before long I was devouring my cheddar cheese soup. Sooo good!! I wish Canada had a quick service that location that sold the soup year round (I'm sure a lot of other people feel the same way too!)



DH got the Filet Mignon. I had a bite of it and it was really good, but I was surprised at how small the portion size was that they gave you for $7. Epcot started to get really crowded at that point, and we had been up since 4am, so we decided to head back to the Yacht Club and call it quits for the night.



We had a busy day lined up for tomorrow, which would start with breakfast with that silly, old bear.....


​

 

[RGirl]

What a great time at the F&WF! Great way to spend an evening for sure.

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Great set of updates. Glad you arrived safe and that they noticed before takeoff that they had refilled the wrong fuel tank - it really is the little details that make the difference

Glad you enjoyed your seminar and got to catch the show and sample some booths without having to push it too much your first day.

Great Photopass pictures by the fountain in France. We found that one, also at night, two trips ago (took some with my daughter) and thought the pictures came out great.

Can't wait for more updates!

 

[herb102211]

What a great time at the F&WF! Great way to spend an evening for sure.

Thanks!! We love the F&WF. It's definitely the best event at Disney

 

[herb102211]

Great set of updates. Glad you arrived safe and that they noticed before takeoff that they had refilled the wrong fuel tank - it really is the little details that make the difference

Glad you enjoyed your seminar and got to catch the show and sample some booths without having to push it too much your first day.

Great Photopass pictures by the fountain in France. We found that one, also at night, two trips ago (took some with my daughter) and thought the pictures came out great.

Can't wait for more updates!

Thank you! We're glad we made it there safely too.

We've had a bunch of our photos taken in France during the day, but never at night. Glad they came out great.

Looking forward to reading your TR too. Hope you had an awesome time

 

[herb102211]

Chapter 8: Breakfast at the Happiest Place at Earth

Today was our first full day at Disney! I got such a good night’s sleep, I swear the beds at the Yacht Club are SOO comfy! I don’t think I’ve every slept that well on a Disney vacation ever before, which was a good thing, considering we had such a busy day ahead of us. My alarm sounded at 7am and I got up, showered, and got ready for the day. I woke DH around 8am and we left the room around 8:30 (I wish I was able to get ready in a under 30 minutes, LOL).

This morning we were headed to the Magic Kingdom!



We had a 9:55am ADR at Crystal Palace waiting for us We haven’t eaten breakfast at Crystal Palace in a few years so we were both excited for that.

We only waited outside for 10 minutes before the bus came to the Yacht Club to pick us up. I will say that the buses this trip were great, and we never waited more than 10 minutes or so. I’m not sure if we timed it right, or what, but we definitely lucked out. Before heading to the Magic Kingdom, we stopped at the Beach Club. There were only a handful of people that got on the bus at the Yacht Club, but by the time we left the Beach Club, it was standing room only. I was definitely glad the Yacht Club was the 1st stop.

We arrived at the Magic Kingdom a little after 9am. Since we were a bit early, I decided to check out all of the Halloween decor! I just love the attention to detail Disney has for all of the holidays!!









After hanging out on Main Street for a bit, I checked us in at the podium at Crystal Palace and we were called in 10 minutes earlier than our ADR time was originally for.

Our server was great and brought out our drinks right away while we hit the buffet. Unfortunately, I didn’t get to take any pictures of our food before we ate, but we each had an egg and cheese omelet, danish, fruit and yogurt, breakfast potatoes, Mickey waffles and of course, Pooh’s French toast. Pooh’s French toast is one of the reason’s I love the Crystal Palace breakfast. It’s just so good!

While we were eating Pooh and friends were making their rounds. First up was Eeyore. The character handler that was with Eeyore offered to take the photo of DH and myself, which I thought was super nice of her. It’s hard to get photos together at the character breakfasts, so we were glad she offered.



We sat back down and ate for a little while longer, when Pooh arrived!!




He’s just so cuddly and soft



Us with Pooh!

Piglet stopped by a short while later, but just waved and kept walking. We got rejected by Piglet, haha!

The characters took a break from visiting the tables to go to the friendship parade. I can’t wait to have kids so I can join in the festivities! Once the parade was over we waited for the last character to come to our table- Tigger!




Our server brought our check to us, we paid and were out the door before 11am. We didn’t get to hang out in the Magic Kingdom afterwards, because we had to head over to Epcot for the Dreaming Tree Wine Demo at noon.

We said our goodbyes for now to the Magic Kingdom and boarded the monorail to the TTC. We then transferred to the Epcot monorail and before long I was back at my happy place!


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[NMW]

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[herb102211]

Subscribing

Thanks for subscribing. Enjoy!

 

[RGirl]

Looks like you had a great time at CP! We really enjoy that place too.

 

[wiigirl]

Great update!

 

[herb102211]

Looks like you had a great time at CP! We really enjoy that place too.

Thank you! We really love CP. We try and eat there at least once every other trip. It's a great character meal.

 

[herb102211]

Great update!

Thank you

 

[herb102211]

Chapter 9: The Dreaming Tree Wine Demo

We got off the monorail at Epcot around 11:30am and headed straight to the Festival Center.







Today we had the Wine Demo with the Dreaming Tree Winery from Sonoma, CA. DH is a huge Dave Matthews Band fan, and this happens to be the winery that produces the wine with Dave, so DH was very excited for this. We checked in at the podium, received our tickets and made our way over to the Vineyard. All of the wine demos are located in the same spot, which made it really easy that we always knew where to go. The line for this event was much longer than the Asti demo the day before. The seating arrangements were setup the same as yesterday, and we got the first row again (I guess it pays to be the early bird!).





We were joking around that maybe Dave Matthews was going to be the presenter. Haha! No such luck though

Before long our speaker did arrive. His name was Philip DeCosta and he did a great job! He was very knowledgeable about the wines we were about to taste as well as the story about how the Dreaming Tree wines evolved.




The wines are actually produced at Simi Winery in Sonoma Valley, CA, where Steve Reeder is the wine maker. I didn't know this but Dave Matthews actually has his own vineyard in Virginia. The two collaborated ideas on what they thought great wine would be; something that you could share with your friends at dinner or a wine that you could enjoy relaxing by the fire. The name The Dreaming Tree is actually a song by Dave and they decided to name the wine company after that. The Dreaming Tree is also a very environmentally friendly winery in that they use sustainable corks, and recyclable paper for the bottle labels, which a lot of people at the demo seemed to appreciate. After we had the introduction on the winery, we watched a couple of videos about the vineyard itself. It was a really gorgeous place!



Soon after we were ready to taste the wines. There was 1 white wine and 2 red wines to sample. Now, I'm not a huge fan of red wines, so I wasn't exactly sure if Id like them (I knew DH would drink them though, if I didn't!)

The first wine we tried was the white wine, which was the Dreaming Tee Everyday White. Lets just say, I loved this wine! It was such a smooth wine to drink and would definitely be something Id drink by the pool in the summer. I think it would make a great white wine sangria too. The wine was just released last year and is the newest wine on the Dreaming Tree line. We've been looking around a lot of our local package stores for a bottle but they seem to be a popular wine because no one has it. Its even sold out online, too.





The next wine we tried was the Crush red wine. I liked how all of the wines were tried were named after one of DMBs songs. As I said before, I'm not a big fan of red wines, but I gave this one a shot and actually enjoyed it. It had a smoky scent and flavor to it. Philip said this wine was best paired with spicier foods.



The last wine we tried was also a red wine, and it was called The Dreaming Tree Cabernet. I wasn't a fan of this one so DH finished it for me ( I never have an empty plate, or glass in this case, as long as DH is around!) DH really liked it and I think if I liked red wines more, then it would have been better.




Once we were done with the tasting, Philip mentioned the other wines that are in the Dreaming Tree line. There were 2 other red wines, a Reserve Cabernet a Cabernet Sauvignon and one white wine, which was a Chardonnay. While we were wrapping up the tasting, Philip mentioned this quote from Dave Matthews regarding wine If a wine tastes good to you, its a good wine. This is so true, because what one person likes, doesn't necessarily mean that you will. He answered a few more questions about the wines and vineyard from the guests, and we were on our way!​

 

[MollysWorld]

Love the update. The Wine demos are one of my favorite things about Food and Wine. Not just the samples, which are great, but hearing more about the history of the winery and stories behind the different wines.

We have just moved to less than one year for our trip next Oct. DW has the countdown calendar on her desk and I get a picture each day!