“I do not deal with my problems like I know I should” - F&W Fest 2018 - Update 1/20 Going Home

I love the Muppets too. Hope that attraction doesn’t go away! Other than your server, Brown Derby looks and sounds delicious. I had that corn soup a few months ago and it was soooooo good. But I see what you mean about the heat. That’s my one complaint about the lounge - that it’s open to the elements. I had forgotten there are Galaxy’s Edge Passholder shirts - will have to go back for those. Can’t wait to hear about V&A’s!!!

I hope it doesn't go away either. I Think the risk is low especially if they are developing their own Muppet show for their new streaming service that is opening next year. We've skipped the lounge a few times because of the element exposure. We were under an awning which helped some from the heat. I didn't even know there where Galaxy's Edge shirts but I was glad to see them. It is a subtle design for the females which makes me happy.

Oh man, HBD Cobb Salad. I love it.

My mother loves it too! As I dont like tomatoes, blue cheese or egg, I would feel bad asking for it with that much of the dish missing. She used to make that salad for herself for dinner while I was going up she loved it that much! They no longer hand out those recipe cards though.
 
Victoria & Albert’s

I woke up from my nap at 4:45PM and slowly got ready. As the meal was in walking distance from our room, we didn’t have to worry too much about rushing. We ended up leaving the room around 5:15PM and were greeted with open arms by the hostesses. We were walked to our table towards the front of the restaurant with a view of the harp but close to the front door.

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Place Setting

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Menu

We were presented our menu for the evening by the first of our two servers. We did find out that they do have a smaller menu than just the set course where you select one of the two main seafood courses (bass or sole) and one of the two protein courses (quail or lamb.) You also wouldn’t get any of the two bonus courses. My mother heavily considered this option but decided against it. Not sure of the price of that option though. I ended up deciding on the wine pairing and my mother stuck with just having a few glasses of the Chateau de Bligny Brut we were given with the first course (although 3 glasses of it were $86) We were given the option of sparkling or still water. I went with sparkling while my mother did still.

Our Amuse-Bouche was a healthy serving of Imperial Caviar underneath an egg yolk sheet and asparagus. Imperial Caviar is apparently from China but right on the China/Russia border. The serving was large enough that I hope people that decide to do the add-on caviar course don’t get annoyed as that would be a lot of caviar in a short amount of time!

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Amuse-Bouche - Delta Asparagus with Imperial Caviar paired with Chateau de Bligny, Blanc de Blancs, Brut NV

We were then given the first of the three breads. The french baguette is my favorite of the three.

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French Baguette

We were then presented with our first course. The crab paired well with the melons and bite of the peppercorn for the sauce.

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Alaskan King Crab with Sun Kissed Melons and Pink Peppercorn Yogurt paired with Weingut Hiedler, Thal, Gruner Veltliner, Kamptal 2016

We continued our seafood courses with the black bass. The lemon ravioli was the best part of this dish to me as it had nice subtleness to its flavor.

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Virgina Black Bass with Poppy Seed and Lemon Ravioli paired with Domaine Bois de Boursan, Chateauneuf du Pape Blanc, Rhone 2016

The next course I paid extra for as it was an add-on course. I’ve loved their lemon/toasted caper sauce no matter what they’ve paired it with although it does taste better with abalone. The turbot is such a nice fish that isn’t easy to find well prepared as well.

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Wild Turbot with Toasted Capers with Preserved Lemon paired with Salus, Staglin Family Vineyard, Chardonnay, Napa 2014

We then had the last of the seafood courses. My photo doesn’t really capture how pretty this dish was. The langoustine was perfectly sweet and tender. The sole also had a mild sweetness to it.

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Dover Sole with Langoustine and Tomato Water paired with Montagny “Les Bassets” Laurent Cognard 2015

To begin the meat courses, we were given an unlisted course as a ‘surprise’ but this course is given to everyone not doing the ‘limited’ option. The braised short rib was perfectly tender and melted in your mouth. The potato chip was actually potato water that had been dehydrated and was the right amount of crisp to balance the softness of the short rib and puree.

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Braised Short Rib w/ Potato Chip and Puree

Our second of the bread courses was a brioche. In the spring/summer, it is herb. I like the truffle version of the winter better but still a nice bread.

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Herb Brioche

Our next meat course was a light addition with the french quail. Inside the quail was confit meat so you had two types of flavor to enjoy. The corn pudding was more like a crisp which helped with the texture.

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Roasted French Quail with Corn Pudding and Spinach paired with Copain Kiser “En Bas” Pinot Noir 2014

The next meat course was probably the most creative of the dishes. It was a play on the eateries where you enjoy your meal in the dark. The wine was also served in a completely black Riedel glass. The lamb was covered in the olives so that you couldn't tell it was lamb until you cut inside and it became bright red. Very lovely contrast!

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Lamb Loin, Piperade, Panisse and Kalamata Olives paired with Cote-Rotie, Lionel Faury, Rhone 2015

The last of the bread courses was presented. It was multigrain and not that exciting. I stole my mother’s brioche instead.

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Multigrain

I decided against the upgrade for this course as I know I have wagyu coming my way in November with the Hibachi Experience. The Australian Kobe-Style Beef is good enough for me! I had my prepared to Rare while my mother did Medium Rare. It was perfectly tender and Duckhorn is one of my favorite Cabernet Sauvignon so that was an added bonus to the meal!

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Australian Kobe-Style Beef with Potato Pinwheel paired with Duckhorn Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley 2015

Our server carted out the cart of cheese and we made our selections. As we both were really full, we didn’t over pick options. I selected a cheddar, a sheep milk, a soft rind and a goat cheese. I wish I took notes on them but well, I was many wines deep and that just wasn’t going to happen. I know I cleaned my plate of everything but the raisins.

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Selection of Cheese from Cheese Cart paired with Pulenta Estate, Gran Malbec X, Mendoze 2014

As we were done with the wines, we were given an option of coffee, tea, espresso. I went with a double espresso as I enjoy that more than coffee. I probably also needed it for sobering up a bit.

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Espresso

The first of the desserts wasn’t listed on the menu. It was a light airy banana toffee dessert. I actually enjoyed this one more than I did the second one.

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Banana Toffee Tower

For our final dessert, we had a super rich chocolate dome along with some nice airy meringues. While I had a bite o the chocolate, it was too rich for me at this point in the evening. I really liked the meringues though.

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Bittersweet Chocolate Dome on Praline Crunch

We both were stuffed to the brim so we each only selected two chocolates from the box as that was all we could handle. My mother had the brandied cherry and a truffle which she enjoyed. I had a toffee and a caramel.

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Selection of Chocolates

We were presented our roses along with our individual bills. Overall, this meal is amazing in terms of food, wine and service. That said, I’m good not doing this meal for many years to come. Just my portion of the meal (Tasting Menu + Wine Pairing + Turbot) was $532 with tip. L’Olivo (2 Michelin Star) last year in Capri, Italy was $450 with tip total for my husband and I. Magnolia (1 Michelin Star) last year in Rome, Italy was $325 with tip total for my husband and I. Another place I didn’t review from that trip, La Serra in Positano, Italy just received their 1st Michelin Star and our meal there was $150. When I do a cost-worth estimate in my head - V&A is now officially over that threshold. I’m glad I decided to cancel our Queen Victoria Room reservation in November especially since Queen Victoria Room has no additional special enhancements to it. While some of the courses would be different or slightly tweaked - many will be close to what I had in September as well.

After dinner, we headed back to the room. I saw the welcome party going on for the daughter of a former member of this board. I tried to see if I could find him in the crowd but there were lots of people and I had lots of wine. Wasn’t going to try that hard to say hello so when he wasn’t easily picked out - I left the marina and headed back to Sago Cay. His daughter did look extremely happy and beautiful that night as well as during the photos post wedding as we say them the next day when were were heading back to the park in the afternoon.
 
Great review of V&A! I’d love to experience this some day! I’m sure it will be a one and done though!
 


Wow!! That looks like an epic meal! It’s good to know there is a “light” option. I wonder if they planned that all along or added it based on all the feedback. The price point is sobering - especially with those comparisons. I’m on the fence. I really wish they’d bring back the chef’s counter experience at Flying Fish — fewer courses, more casual, still great service, interaction with chefs etc.
 
That is quite the meal! I hope to try it one day but for that cost I can definitely understand not doing it regularly.
 
Hi Dis_Yoda! We were there around the same time: Sept 1st to 9th. We were also at Bon Voyage on Sept 3rd - I think we had an 8am ADR. We sat all the way in the front near to the entry.
Beautiful Dooney bag, and I bought the same Galaxy's Edge shirt as you!
Your meal at V&A looks amazing! I really like the summer menu, it looks delicious! I've only had the Fall and Winter selections, and yes that truffle bread is the best!
 


What a great review of V&A's, and interesting to compare it to the restaurants you experienced in Europe. I'm glad we've done V&A's as well, but as you say, it will be several more years before I'm tempted again. Still, it's a fun luxury and a great way to explore different wines. I wish Disney would offer just a high end wine tasting experience, maybe during Food and Wine... but since they cut the resort dinners I'm not holding out any special hope.
 
Awesome review of V&A, wow everything looked amazing. The price is high especially for one person!

I really want to try The Brown Derby lounge, I always like what I see in the reviews!
 
Great review of V&A! I’d love to experience this some day! I’m sure it will be a one and done though!

It is something great to experience! I'm lucky I've gone as many times as I have (at least a dozen times - I lost count) but as the cost keeps growing and some items tend to stay the same, its no longer the must do for us.

Wow!! That looks like an epic meal! It’s good to know there is a “light” option. I wonder if they planned that all along or added it based on all the feedback. The price point is sobering - especially with those comparisons. I’m on the fence. I really wish they’d bring back the chef’s counter experience at Flying Fish — fewer courses, more casual, still great service, interaction with chefs etc.

It was an epic meal! I'm wondering it they added it because of feedback. It isn't listed on the menu as the server only offered it when my mother made a comment about the amount of courses! The price point is a lot which is why I figured I would list what it cost me. I miss the chef's counter too and it seems they got rid to the Omakase at California Grill too.

That is quite the meal! I hope to try it one day but for that cost I can definitely understand not doing it regularly.

I hope you do get to try it one day as well! Just wait until after you get out of college and have a steady job.

Hi Dis_Yoda! We were there around the same time: Sept 1st to 9th. We were also at Bon Voyage on Sept 3rd - I think we had an 8am ADR. We sat all the way in the front near to the entry.
Beautiful Dooney bag, and I bought the same Galaxy's Edge shirt as you!
Your meal at V&A looks amazing! I really like the summer menu, it looks delicious! I've only had the Fall and Winter selections, and yes that truffle bread is the best!

You must have been getting settled as we were leaving (we left around 8:15AM). Too bad we didn't know we were going to be there at the same time!

I love that Galaxy's Edge shirt!

The menu was delicious! I've have the Fall/Winter meal more than the summer was well but its good to know how they adjust even the bread selection on the seasons.

What a great review of V&A's, and interesting to compare it to the restaurants you experienced in Europe. I'm glad we've done V&A's as well, but as you say, it will be several more years before I'm tempted again. Still, it's a fun luxury and a great way to explore different wines. I wish Disney would offer just a high end wine tasting experience, maybe during Food and Wine... but since they cut the resort dinners I'm not holding out any special hope.

You put it the right way - it is a fun luxury! Can't go wrong with having so many wines to try either. That black Riedel glass was so cool! I had texted a photo of it to my husband and he hasn't seen one of those yet but he's just on Stage 1 of 6 for his Wine Certifications for his job. I'm sure he'll see it eventually as he goes higher.

I'm still annoyed they got rid of the resort dinners as we had been planning on doing those! I feel so less excited about the festival this year even for our big trip. I'm glad we're planning on skipping in 2019. We are trying one of the DVC Beverage Tastings in November - we'll see what the quality of bourbons they offer since my husband now knows those things!

Awesome review of V&A, wow everything looked amazing. The price is high especially for one person!

I really want to try The Brown Derby lounge, I always like what I see in the reviews!

It was amazing! They are great when it comes to quality and precision and creativity which makes it worth it so I get why the price is so high, especially now that they don't turn over tables each night. Once you are placed at a table - that is your table for the evening.

The Lounge is nice but it does get hot as there isn't a ton of shade. We were under one of the awnings but you could feel the heat. Lots of water to be had!
 
These Shoes Weren’t Made for Walking

The park opened at 9AM so I was up around 7:30 AM. I know my mother woke up before that. We both were dressed a little nicer than normal for going to the park but we had California Grill to head to after we got a few rides in. We headed to the monorail after getting ready as we wanted to arrive at the Magic Kingdom before opening so we could head straight to certain rides. We arrived at the Magic Kingdom around 8:30 AM and headed down Main Street to wait for opening.

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Monorail Arriving

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Waiting for the gates to open

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Pre-Opening Waiting

Waiting is always fun as we people watch. Lots of characters out this morning with varying stages of entitlement, especially those that don’t about pre-park opening breakfasts. Once we officially opened the park (I didn’t pay attention to the new opening show as I miss my “Good Morning song”, we headed to Peter Pan since we had a FP+ for the Mine Train that afternoon (which becomes a fun story but thats 2 updates from now)

Peter Pan was pretty much a walkon since the opening rush does get split in many directions now. My mother walked through the que for the first time since the update a few years ago which she really enjoyed. The details really make it!

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From Peter Pan, we headed straight to Haunted Mansion as there was no wait there and we were close by! We did stop by Memento Mori first as we were dressed for brunch and the shoes and my ankle were not getting along. They didn’t have more supportive shoes for me. I was not happy.

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We headed to Pirates next using our first FP+ of the day but we saw some country bears in Frontierland that distracted me but probably not as much as if I was @rteetz. We also looked inside all the shops between Haunted Mansion and Pirates to find me better supportive shoes and found nothing. I probably was starting to be cranky at this point.

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So we checked into Pirates and enjoyed our ride. We got wet for the first time ever thanks to the various upgrades made to the first part of the ride. Wasn’t really happy with that but now I know and I’ll make sure to be mentally prepared for it.

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Pirates!

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Shouldn’t she be auctioned off rather than a pirate?

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Good dog not listening to the prisoners

My mother wanted to do Winnie the Pooh next even though my feet were not happy. I was not happy as we backtracked to Fantasyland to ride Pooh with a 10 minute wait. I may have snapped at my mother for making me walk in circles. It happens.

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I mean, I like the ride but my recently hurt ankle was not happy with the shoes I picked to go with the dress I wearing. I should have just risked them yelling at me for flip flops (post race flip flops with support) rather than my flats. We headed out of the park to head to the Contemporary for our next meal!

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Hey there stranger! I took some time off from the boards after our August trip and now here you are making me look bad by starting your September report already :-) I'm all caught up now and oddly very hungry and surprisingly jonesing for lots of adult beverages :drinking1 Looks like you and your Mom are having an amazing trip. V&A looks divine though I'm with you on the cost. Think that is why we haven't done it. We did do French Laundry for our honeymoon several years back and that set up back almost $1000 for the 2 of us. Italy certainly seems to have the pricing much more manageable.
 
Hey there stranger! I took some time off from the boards after our August trip and now here you are making me look bad by starting your September report already :-) I'm all caught up now and oddly very hungry and surprisingly jonesing for lots of adult beverages :drinking1 Looks like you and your Mom are having an amazing trip. V&A looks divine though I'm with you on the cost. Think that is why we haven't done it. We did do French Laundry for our honeymoon several years back and that set up back almost $1000 for the 2 of us. Italy certainly seems to have the pricing much more manageable.

Hi there! Taking breaks from the board happens! I've done that before. I want to get the September trip done before we go in November. I'm also so starting a new job in October that may mean less computer time as I get settled in.

Adult beverages are my jam!

I would do $1000 for French Laundry once as well. We'll get out there one day. We are planning on doing a 3 Michelin or 2 Michelin Star when we go to France next year and I know the Paris 3 Michelin Star meals will put me back about $1200 but that will be an experience.
 
Hitting A Wall

We got off at the next stop of the monorail and headed to the 2nd floor to check in for our California Grill Brunch. We were a little early but that was no issue and we were whisked to the 15th floor and seated with our first mimosa of the day.

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While reviewing our menu, we noted that a new station was set up that was different than last year. It was a brown sugar butter cake that was flambed in bourbon orange sauce and topped with ice cream. At that point, I didn’t care what else was on the buffet as that was where I headed first! It was what I hoped it to be. It was extremely rich so having just one was more than enough for me. You could taste the bits of burnt sugar with the bourbon and who doesn’t love ice cream? Their cheddar biscuits are also pretty good and I ended up having two during the course of the brunch!

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Brown Sugar Bourbon Cake & Cheddar Biscuit

Both of my trips to the buffet looked similar. The parma ham was nice. Who doesn’t love cheese (manchego and cheddar)? The pork rillette was nice one some of the flatbread cracker. Shrimp Tempura was nicely done and the soba noodles were good for something different in taste.

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I didn’t get photos of my mother’s plates but she really enjoyed the fish dip and the bacon and egg salad along with devil eggs.

After we had eaten our first plate, we had put our order in for our entrees. As bacon is something you request on the side, I asked for a few slices. What I ended up with was not a few slices but rather a large portion of the pig. I felt bad that I didn’t eat more than 3 slices and they wouldn’t let us box it up to go since its a buffet. It was entirely too much bacon to waste but I couldn’t do that to my stomach to try to finish more.

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Lots and Lots of Bacon

My mother and I picked the same entree - Shrimp & Grits. The shrimp were well cooked even though there were only three of them and the grits were different than the last time we were here. Previously, it was a grit cake but these were more varied in texture.

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Shrimp & Grits

Over the course of the meal, I failed to have as many mimosas as last time. I ended up with only having 4. I think doing Victoria & Albert’s for dinner the night before might have put me in an overdoing it mode and my body was like - too much food and alcohol for you! I won’t make that mistake in November since we won’t overeat prior to my husband’s half marathon. I did ask for an espresso as well to balance out the alcohol. My mother thought I was crazy to have a double espresso when we knew the next plan in the schedule was a nap. We only enjoyed the macarons and the chocolates off the dessert plate. We knew there was no need in bringing those back to the room as we both weren’t going to eat.

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Overall, a very good meal! We left around noon fully stuffed and ready to relax! After heading back to the Grand Floridian, we headed to the room for some relaxation. I stopped by Basin first to buy somethings. As a present for my husband, I got some shave cream for him. I got my some bath salts and facial wash for myself.

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Bath Salts & Facial Wash

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Shave Cream

First thing I did back in the room was take a soak in the tub to enjoy the salt and rest my feet. Once clean, I headed to bed to use some foot masks as well that I brought from home from a previous Sephora Visit.

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In bed, I took a nice nap after playing on my phone for a bit.
 
I love the Peter Pan queue. They did such a nice job with it. Sorry your feet weren’t loving your shoe choice. I bet they wouldn’t have blinked an eye at flip flops at CG but better to be safe than sorry. Brunch looks amazing. Two incredible meals back to back! I can’t wait to try brunch next month!! I’m hoping they still let you try a couple of entrees as I can’t make up my mind. Your afternoon looks relaxing. I didn’t know there were foot masks! Genius!!
 
Those new "action stations" at California Grill look amazing! We have a brunch booked for November. I can't wait to see what they offer!

Your poor feet... glad you had some goodies to pamper them with!
 
What a glorious looking brunch after a fun morning at MK! Love your relaxation post food and drink!
 
What exactly are these? I keep seeing them and people are calling them mimosa's but for the life of me I can't see an OJ in there.

It was a brown sugar butter cake that was flambed in bourbon orange sauce and topped with ice cream. At that point, I didn’t care what else was on the buffet as that was where I headed first! It was what I hoped it to be. It was extremely rich so having just one was more than enough for me. You could taste the bits of burnt sugar with the bourbon and who doesn’t love ice cream? Their cheddar biscuits are also pretty good and I ended up having two during the course of the brunch!
YUM to the um to the um, um, um!!! I had no idea they had added anything to the buffet. That butter cake looks and sounds amazing. Fingers crossed its still there when we go again in February. And those biscuits. They were my favorite on our last visit.

California Grill, Coronary much? That is enough bacon to feed a small village.

Glad you enjoyed though I can totally see how you'd be done after V&A the night before.

First thing I did back in the room was take a soak in the tub to enjoy the salt and rest my feet. Once clean, I headed to bed to use some foot masks as well that I brought from home from a previous Sephora Visit.

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What a great way to spend the afternoon. I'll have to remember that. Seems a much better way to relax and pamper the feet than my traditional aleve and wine cocktail.
 

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