"No, We're Not Getting Married at Disney!" a 2018 tripS report - update 10/25 AKL food + DHS Day

[amazingact21]

Love the Mickey ears you wore for your Epcot day...but yeah, I can see how the veil might get a mind of its own in the wind.

How awesome that you and one of your friends did the face painting! It turned out really cute, and the sparkles were the perfect addition.

 

[suse66]

Can you tell which of us are the seasoned fans hamming it up for the photo?

Yes, I think I might be able too......

I only had my phone, but I present the amazing Shaman! I still love this ride and my friends liked it too. I wish you could have a dinner party inside there! It's so relaxing. Between this and the bioluminescent forest in Flight of Passage, I think Pandora has some of the most beautiful show scenes at WDW.

Gorgeous! I am sad I missed Navi this summer.

When she noticed I was getting married, she mentioned that her Dad really wanted her to marry Kocoum. This is when things went off the rails. Partly because I was awestruck to be meeting one of my favorite princesses, partly because she was such a great conversationalist, and partly because of the beer, I retorted with "Oh no, you need to marry John Smith. Kocoum is hot but he dumb!"

OMG, hilarious!!

I kinda broke Pocahontas. Oops!!! Not one to miss an option for a good comeback, she told us, "Yes, and you know, John Smith comes every night" (!!!)

Best comeback ever, I love it!!

I've gotta say, it's a great photo spot!

Beautiful picture!

Bee Haven Fried Green Tomatoes ($14) Shaved ham, rémoulade sauce and dressed local greens. These are some of the best fried green tomatoes I've ever had, always sliced perfectly thin and fried crisp. Tender and tangy in the center, balanced with the rich and succulent ham and creamy remoulade sauce.

This looks delicious!

WE ARE GOING BACK TO DISNEY!!!!

Hurray!!!!

We got no further than the bridge from International Gateway before I made the girls stop for photopass:

Love this shot! What a wonderful time you had with your girls!!

The photopass photographers here were good with letting us take individual photos with the characters as well as the usual big group shots.

Such a lovely picture! You are glowing!

 

[Elevationist]

I finally had my @Elevationist moment! I got my face painted at the Africa Outpost station. The cast members there were so funny - it was two young-20s gentlemen and they were loving that these two adult women were getting face paint. I asked the guy if my design came with sparkles, and he was like "Do you want it to come with sparkles?" so I told him ALL THE SPARKLES! He made it happen

Girl, you know I'm never on the Dis anymore, so popping back in tonight to read this just MADE MY FREAKING DAY! So adorable, and I'm so proud of you! You look GORGEOUS!

 

[Lesley Wake]

We had a plan of attack that day that worked well for our group - we would pick an area of booths and everyone would look at the festival offerings and sort of split off to pick up whatever looked best and then regroup at a table or bench to enjoy everything.

We'll have to use that strategy in May!

 

[StarWarsMomofGirls!]

Hello! I am catching up on everyones trip reports. I just wanted to say that I am so glad we were able to meet up! I hope it won't be the last time.

 

[suse66]

After digging in on the idea that we'd go a year without Food and Wine Festival, my beloved husband suggested we book a trip over his school system's fall break. We are supposed to be saving money for Hawaii, so this is going to have to be a very budget-conscious trip. (But like, best husband ever, amirite? )

I ended up finding the Towneplace Suites at Flamingo Crossing for an incredible rate - I've paid $267.96 including tax for four nights and they don't charge for parking or a resort fee. It's a bit farther away than we prefer to stay - when we've stayed offsite in the past it's mainly either been at Disney Springs or Bonnet Creek, which are both technically still ensconced within Disney property. When I stayed offsite at a vacation home a couple of years ago, I really didn't love the distance, but Flamingo Crossings is closer than that was and it's just off the toll road we usually drive in on from Atlanta, so I'm at least familiar with the area.

As I write this, your Disney weekend has come and gone and I am dying to know how it went! I had originally booked an Air BnB for my December weekend but was starting to feel nervous about going back to a house alone late at night when I don't know the area well. So, I remembered you had mentioned Townplace and I totally dug around on Priceline, matched up the description to the Express Deals and snagged it for $77/night! It looks great and I hope you enjoyed it! Looking forward to hearing all about your F&W adventures.....

 

[pepperandchips]

These are so sweet! Love the Alice quote—very appropriate.

I loved them! And it wasn't clobber-you-over-the-head with bridal stuff either. I don't know how many people got the quote but I was happy so who cares?!

I love this!! I'm SUCH a grandma!! If you can stay grandma-classy, and still be a fancy-pants, I think you're winning at life.

Must be why I like you!!!

If you can’t get sparkly face paint on your bachalorette weekend, when can you?

Looks like a fun start! I usually like Rose Maragaritas - most of the premades are sweet though which is why we just go for straight tequila.

Unfortunately that may have been the start of a face painting addiction... every time I see those stations now I want to do it again!

I need a lesson in tequila. We will have to rendez vous some time and you can show me how it's done!

I love your Epcot adventures! The shirts are so cute.

Such a fun way to spend your bachelorette party, eating and drinking around F&G.

I love your face painting so sparkly!

It really was the perfect bachelorette adventure, complete with matching shirts and sparkles! Can't wait to do some of that again in the Spring

You all are having a blast! I love the matching tees. My sister had matching tees made for our June girl's trip, but they were an epic fail...Waaaaaaaay too small...

Etsy size roulette!!!

Did I tell you at DS that I had to go to the website for the blank tees she ordered and look at the measurements and then measure myself? They were unisex tanks so I was afraid of it being like Goldilocks and the three bears situation...

I love your joy on this day!
At my wedding shower my friend gave me the Minnie ears with the veil. I got Jason a tux ear hat for our honeymoon. You're right, that darn tulle goes everywhere. I have a ride picture from Splash Mountain of them actually flying off during the final drop. You know why I didn't lose them? The tulle was stuck to the seat. Ha!

Thank you! I bet that is quite the ride photo! I wonder how many hats and ears and sunglasses they find each day. We took the Keys to the Kingdom tour and you get to see the back side of splash and they told us that there are a ton of lost items in the water but I don't remember if there was a statistic!

 

[pepperandchips]

Thanks for the tip. I had no idea. We've only been here once but ate at the small bar downstairs. I had no idea there was even an upstairs option.

Shhh don't tell anyone! It is a good "secret" to know though!

Hopefully in May we can eat the actual Steve Special with the actual Steve and minds will be blown everywhere!

The man, the legend, the shrimp fiend!!!

Awesome pointer. I don't think I ever stop in China so I had no idea.

And, this just in from our news reporter in the field: still the best option at Food and Wine!!!

You are perfect and who doesn't want to be Billie full of sparkles every once in a while.

Only a fool!!!

Sounds like a plan!!!

WE DID IT!!!! It was such a pleasure. I hope our paths cross again soon! You guys were so fun to chat with!!!

Love the ears even if the fabric was hard to keep out of your face
LOL I knew right away you were talking about Arianes-Steve Shrimp skewers

Thank you! And yes, he is an ICON!!!

How cute! And the shirts are perfect!

And you still are!

Aw, shucks. Thank you friend!

 

[pepperandchips]

Wow, how has it been almost three weeks since I updated? That's embarrassing. I know I owe a few more replies but I have to get out of the office before six on Friday so let me fix the delay in posting... post haste! (Ba dump chhhh ) I promise I will come back to replies!

April 7, Continued: DAS SAUERKRAUT!!!!

We continued to nosh around the festival booths, stopping next at Germany, where I split the item I wanted to try from Bauernmarkt: Farmer’s Market with my friend Ash: Toasted Pretzel Bread topped with Black Forest Ham and Melted Gruyère Cheese – $5.00



I had read a lot of great things about it earlier in the festival so we were dismayed that ours wasn't really very good. It seemed it had been sitting a while and the melty looking cheese wasn't even remotely warm. I think this is a "mileage varies" situation for sure. Someone else from our party grabbed:



Potato Pancake with Caramelized Ham, Onions and Herb Sour Cream – $4.50
I don't remember this one getting rave reviews either, but I do remember liking it in the past.

I did get one of my favorite beers, Ayinger Bräu Weisse Hefeweizen, Munich, Germany – $4.50. This isn't too exciting since I can get Ayinger here in Atlanta at a number of places but midafternoon in Epcot when drinking around the world is served by nothing better than a nice light hefeweizen.



We enjoyed our snacks and drinks while watching this band:



They were AWESOME! They attracted such a crowd, it was like a little party up in Germany!



They are called "Durch und Durch" from real Germany. They had such high energy and let's be honest, they were easy on the eyes of all the ladies grooving to their music (not just us, I mean). They finished out this set with a song that was an audience participation song during which they invited you to shout along with them... DAS SAUERKRAUT!!! Which, to be honest, was one of the titles I considered for this report! They were just fantastic and I really hope Epcot hosts them again in future.

Afterward I went full on mom-mode and made my friends pose with their mimosas from Italy

And their... whatever these are.... haha

Italian Margaritas maybe?

We were starting to lose steam (or at least I was, as I fantasized through my beer haze about our cool hotel room and the idea of a nice refreshing nap) but I knew I couldn't leave the festival without trying out my perennial favorite dish.



The Smokehouse: Barbecue and Brews was host to the Beef Brisket Burnt Ends Hash with White Cheddar Fondue and Pickled Jalapeños – $6.50. This is a hit-or-miss always depending on the quality of the burnt ends that day, and today's serving was a mixed bag. But I always love the flavor and the hash dishes are always some of my favorites. The beer in the photo is the Central 28 Brewing Company Sunshine Greetings Orange Hibiscus Wheat Ale, DeBary, FL – $4.25. I don't remember a lot about this but it looks like it got good reviews online from trusted sources.

As we continued our shuffle out, we stopped by for one last treat, which is basically like MY NEW FAVORITE THING EVER, thanks a lot @Lisa F...



The Macaron Ice Cream Sandwich from Artisans Glaces in the France pavilion. Ash got an ice cream cone and we were the only two to partake! But let me just tell you, this macaron sandwich thing is the best ever $5 you can spend at Disney World. The chocolate is dark and rich without being overwhelmingly so, and the macaron comes up to temperature to give a nice chewiness to each bite. Plus who doesn't need ice cream at all times in Florida weather, let's be honest?

At this point we split up, with some of us heading to the room to avail ourselves of heavenly beds and some staying on like troopers to continue their tours of World Showcase. Everyone eventually made it back to the room for a rest - I can't remember whether I actually went to sleep or not, but I know I at least got horizontal for a while. Much needed!

After our rest, we played a bunch of embarrassing games and drank some champagne before we headed back into Epcot. I love love love Illuminations so I wanted to experience that. No sooner had we rolled in through the International Gateway, ominous clouds started to form. Not one to be deterred by a little rain, I went ahead and got myself a La Vie en Rose Frozen Slushy: Grey Goose Orange, St. Germain Liqueur, White and Red Cranberry Juice – $10.75 from the Fleur de Lys booth.



They are my favorite! It started raining shortly after this photo was taken, so we decided to wait it out inside Impressions de France. Only... we had just missed a show starting. So we sat on the grungy floor and drank our drinks and kept each other company. Eventually impatience got the better of me and we noticed the rain had let up so we bailed without actually seeing the show. I was afraid it would put us all to sleep!

We must have moseyed in the direction of the UK in search of sustenance and a fireworks viewing spot, as my next photo is of GLORIOUS POUTINE!!!



From the Refreshment Port. I have no idea what the price for these was back then but several of us split these and the cheese soup variety. I think I liked this "classic" (I know that is an insult to Canadians) version better with the savory gravy on top! While we were in the area I also grabbed a



Playalinda Brewing Company Violet Lemonade Ale, Titusville, FL – $4.25

It was still raining on and off and we basically stayed in the vicinity of the entrance from Future World to World Showcase.



I loved this photo because I thought I was being clever and making it look like she was the butterfly... in retrospect I may have just had too much champagne before leaving the hotel...



For once, the Mexico booth had a really great dish that I loved! Chilaquiles served with Chorizo, Mexican Cream and Cotija Cheese – $5.95. They were spicy and savory and delicious. Not much to look at but I assure you they were yummy!

We ended up watching Illuminations from the pathway near Mexico up toward the Odyssey pavilion because the path slopes slightly so we were a bit higher up than the folks at the rail. We all enjoyed the show. I probably cried.

We journeyed on and out, hitting up Abracadabar at the Boardwalk resort to continue the Bachelorette debauchery.



I've gotta tell you, I am so not into this place. We had a terrible server who was kind of acting like we put her out in some way, and when we were ready for a second round of drinks I asked her about any drinks that had effects and she snapped at me that they haven't had any in a long time. Well, excuuuuuuuse me! I thought the MAGIC THEMED BAR might have some MAGIC THEMED DRINKS!

There was another server waiting on a different section and he came over and was halfway apologizing for her, halfway complaining about his own tables, and giving us total sass so he pretty much redeemed the experience for us. I don't think they had any snacks to speak of either, so.... lounge fail. I won't be back especially with Belle Vue just upstairs being such a gem.

Along the way back, we stopped in at the photo booth on the Boardwalk....

We got some nice, silly ones...

And some SILLY silly ones... I think I was doing a pirate face in this one?

And some... "okay, go to bed now" ones!

We weren't quite done with our evening though, there was another train wreck of a lounge to visit!



We stopped in at the (then) new lobby bar in the Dolphin, Phins. It was comically bad that night. They were out of ALL draft beers, they had no bottled IPAs, and there was something else that went wrong. Obviously it wasn't a big deal it was just so bad at that point that we were all laughing. I think I ended up going for the ridiculously overpriced "1565 TIKI" ($17) St. Augustine Rum, Malibu, Orange Juice, Pineapple Juice, Vanilla Syrup, Grenadine, Myers’s Dark Rum Float. All I know is that I ended my night with another pile of Picabu nachos and I call that a bachelorette win!!!

Up next: Boma Brunch and a few goodbyes

 

[Jenny Sanders]

Did I tell you at DS that I had to go to the website for the blank tees she ordered and look at the measurements and then measure myself? They were unisex tanks so I was afraid of it being like Goldilocks and the three bears situation...

HA!!!
All those food pics are making me hungry!!!

 

[kastoney]

I had read a lot of great things about it earlier in the festival so we were dismayed that ours wasn't really very good. It seemed it had been sitting a while and the melty looking cheese wasn't even remotely warm. I think this is a "mileage varies" situation for sure.

Yum this sounded like it could have been so good. Sorry it was a fail.

I did get one of my favorite beers, Ayinger Bräu Weisse Hefeweizen, Munich, Germany – $4.50. This isn't too exciting since I can get Ayinger here in Atlanta at a number of places but midafternoon in Epcot when drinking around the world is served by nothing better than a nice light hefeweizen.

1. I've never had this so will have to rectify that and 2. Love your magic band!! Gotta get Jason to make me a monorail one!

They finished out this set with a song that was an audience participation song during which they invited you to shout along with them... DAS SAUERKRAUT!!! Which, to be honest, was one of the titles I considered for this report! They were just fantastic and I really hope Epcot hosts them again in future.

DAS SAUERKRAUT!!!! Love it and this would have been a great name too.

Good timing as we are have a little Oktoberfest at our house tonight. I tried to find the Das Sauerkraut song but found this little beauty instead. Please do enjoy.

The Smokehouse: Barbecue and Brews was host to the Beef Brisket Burnt Ends Hash with White Cheddar Fondue and Pickled Jalapeños – $6.50. This is a hit-or-miss always depending on the quality of the burnt ends that day, and today's serving was a mixed bag. But I always love the flavor and the hash dishes are always some of my favorites. The beer in the photo is the Central 28 Brewing Company Sunshine Greetings Orange Hibiscus Wheat Ale, DeBary, FL – $4.25. I don't remember a lot about this but it looks like it got good reviews online from trusted sources.

This is my perennial favorite too!! Agree it can be hit or miss but even miss is dang good

From the Refreshment Port. I have no idea what the price for these was back then but several of us split these and the cheese soup variety. I think I liked this "classic" (I know that is an insult to Canadians) version better with the savory gravy on top! While we were in the area I also grabbed a

YUM!!!! We saw the sign for this but but didn't realize they looked so freaking good. Will definitely have to try these soon.

I loved this photo because I thought I was being clever and making it look like she was the butterfly... in retrospect I may have just had too much champagne before leaving the hotel...

I've gotta tell you, I am so not into this place. We had a terrible server who was kind of acting like we put her out in some way, and when we were ready for a second round of drinks I asked her about any drinks that had effects and she snapped at me that they haven't had any in a long time. Well, excuuuuuuuse me! I thought the MAGIC THEMED BAR might have some MAGIC THEMED DRINKS!

How dare you think such blasphemous things? I've only been here once but we had a bad server too. Must be something in the non-magical, non-themed drinking air

Oh this is my favorite. I think I may make it my avatar on here!

think I ended up going for the ridiculously overpriced "1565 TIKI" ($17) St. Augustine Rum, Malibu, Orange Juice, Pineapple Juice, Vanilla Syrup, Grenadine, Myers’s Dark Rum Float. All I know is that I ended my night with another pile of Picabu nachos and I call that a bachelorette win!!!

Anything that ends with nachos (or pizza) late into the night is a definite win!

 

[pepperandchips]

Haha that's so funny, but at least you look the part so hope it was worth the wrestling with tulle. Did you make those ears too? They are awesome!

I did! It's one of my stress relief activities

She been waiting a long time for that ring! Poor Minnie.

Poor Minnie, she really has. Although I was reading a Tokyo Disneyland TR and apparently they're legally wed over there! Must be so confusing for our main mice keeping all that straight!

Yum my favorite shrimp!!

They really are so good! I am looking forward to having them again in May... I mean, they BETTER bring them back!

This just looks like Ohana dumplings with Ohana dipping sauce! Much better value to just have dinner at Ohana then at least there will be unlimited food!

I totally agree! I can't wait for our dinner in May! It's amazing that we've been to WDW so many times and still never made it there.

Love the look! It definitely suits you! All the sparkles for you!!

Thank you!

This whole scenario is me and zack last week. He freaked when I told him I cancelled our ADR. Then he felt bad at lunch because the ADR group that checked in before us didnt get seated until after we had gotten our entrees

And then I had to stifle this reaction

I may have you beat on playroom romance... I never had any Ken dolls, but I did have a cinderella and a snow white doll....

SALACIOUS!

These are pretty delicious nachos, we discovered

And even if they were average, they were supremely convenient, which is really the most important thing if you think about it

Loving your report even if I'm way behind

Thank you, and thank you for commenting! I always get behind and then turn into a lurker while I catch up, so you're a better Diser than I am

 

[pepperandchips]

Love the Mickey ears you wore for your Epcot day...but yeah, I can see how the veil might get a mind of its own in the wind.

How awesome that you and one of your friends did the face painting! It turned out really cute, and the sparkles were the perfect addition.

Thank you so much! It was fun doing the face painting. I need another excuse to do it again

Gorgeous! I am sad I missed Navi this summer.

Well it's a good thing you have this all sorted out with another trip on the books coming up here shortly!!!

This looks delicious!

Those fried green tomatoes are one of my favorite dishes at WDW!

Love this shot! What a wonderful time you had with your girls!!

We really did. I can't believe it took me so long to make a girls trip like this happen!

Girl, you know I'm never on the Dis anymore, so popping back in tonight to read this just MADE MY FREAKING DAY! So adorable, and I'm so proud of you! You look GORGEOUS!

Well I don't expect you to make a full time return, but stop by any time if you're going to just lavish me with unearned compliments Hopefully we can get our faces painted together in May!!!!

We'll have to use that strategy in May!

I have full faith that we will! I hope that some people from the group are sharers At least for photo purposes!!!

Hello! I am catching up on everyones trip reports. I just wanted to say that I am so glad we were able to meet up! I hope it won't be the last time.

It was wonderful! I hope that we will get to meet up again too. You and Andy are so great to chat with!

 

[pepperandchips]

DAS SAUERKRAUT!!!! Love it and this would have been a great name too.

Good timing as we are have a little Oktoberfest at our house tonight. I tried to find the Das Sauerkraut song but found this little beauty instead. Please do enjoy.

So I was actually looking online yesterday to see if I could find a video of Durch und Durch doing their Sauerkraut thang, and came across this video too! It was so awkward that I could not get that tab closed fast enough

Oh this is my favorite. I think I may make it my avatar on here!

Oh lort, that would be a sight to see! (You should see the ones that didn't make the cut for public viewing...)

 

[amazingact21]

It sounds like there was a boatload of food and drinks and shenanigans that went down on this Epcot day and I love that. Your recap of trying out the various offerings (or lack thereof at the lounges) makes me wanna grab some friends and sneak away for a Disney weekend.

 

[MeghanEmily]

Wow, how has it been almost three weeks since I updated? That's embarrassing.

This is the actual story of my life right now.

They are called "Durch und Durch" from real Germany.

REAL GERMANY

The Macaron Ice Cream Sandwich from Artisans Glaces in the France pavilion. Ash got an ice cream cone and we were the only two to partake! But let me just tell you, this macaron sandwich thing is the best ever $5 you can spend at Disney World. The chocolate is dark and rich without being overwhelmingly so, and the macaron comes up to temperature to give a nice chewiness to each bite.

Oh my goodness yummmm!

I think I liked this "classic" (I know that is an insult to Canadians) version better with the savory gravy on top!

Well, let's see...cheese curds? Meat-stock-based gravy? Looks pretty "classic" to me! This Canadian approves.

We ended up watching Illuminations from the pathway near Mexico up toward the Odyssey pavilion because the path slopes slightly so we were a bit higher up than the folks at the rail. We all enjoyed the show. I probably cried.

I'm going to miss this show so much.

 

[Elevationist]

Hopefully we can get our faces painted together in May!!!!

This is 110% going to happen!!!

 

[paradesintherain]

I'm soooo far behind, but loving the report!

Cutest set up!

Awww! The new designs actually look really cute there!

Ample Hills!!!!

Oh that place is so heavenly

Speaking of that trip, I decided to get myself a GoPro for snorkeling in Hawaii and it's supposed to be delivered tomorrow, so I am looking forward to playing with it during our Disney adventures next week.

GoPros seem like so much fun! I hope you enjoy it

The cast members were warning people at that time that the wait exceeded three hours.

Yikes, no way

Of course, we waited for the front, which is my favorite way to experience this ride!

Everest in the front is the only way to go. It's like a whole different ride!

Love this group shot!

Anyone remember when the entrance had this sad dead dino mural in it?

Oh my goodness! I do remember this dino! Wonder when they painted over him?

Yum! I loved this drink, even though I tend to be more of a tequila than rum drinker.

I always hate it when people ghost from their trip reports so I figured I owe you all an explanation!

Guilty!

Such a cute photo and I'm obsessed with your dress!

Approximately TWO minutes later our table was ready.

Truly so magical - love that Landry's card

We were seated in a room at the front of the restaurant in the upstairs level with lots of sunlight.

That room is my favorite! Love people watching from there

So, Pocahontas is one of my favorite Disney movies (I know I am in the minority on this)

I love it too! It wasn't on my radar as a kid - I think I was too obsessed with The Lion King - but as an adult it's one of my favorites for all the reasons you mention.

I kinda broke Pocahontas. Oops!!! Not one to miss an option for a good comeback, she told us, "Yes, and you know, John Smith comes every night" (!!!)

I don't even have words! This made me audibly gasp and then sit there in shock. You really did break Poca!

Eeeek love this! So pretty!

and so this CM saunters up and starts a casual lecture about how authentic Animal Kingdom is and it's not cultural appropriation and blah blah blah

Oh boy, read the tone lady. And extra annoying because you seem like a person who's pretty aware of social issues and whatnot

THIS IS SO CUTE! Honorary bachelorette member

I finally had my @Elevationist moment! I got my face painted at the Africa Outpost station.

This is on my bucket list. Redo in May?

in retrospect I may have just had too much champagne before leaving the hotel...

Classic alcohol problems

 

[pepperandchips]

Posting first, coming back for replies. Yes, I'm a garbage human being.

April 8: Double Trouble - Two Friends enjoy Two Nighttime Spectaculars and Two Visits to Sanaa!

The next morning I was not feeling the world's best. Was it all those lovely drinks you saw in the previous two posts? NO! It was my dumb self having ordered late night nachos from Picabu with extra pickled jalapenos and my dumb drunk-ish self having eaten ALL of those jalapenos. Seriously, it had to be about 30 pickled jalapeno slices.... My tummy was revolting a bit...

Nevertheless we had MAJOR plans for brunch this morning! Most of my friends would be setting off to return home at various points in the day, so this was the last real scheduled event. We all headed out for Boma in different vehicle configurations - Sarah and I were actually checking in at AKL - Kidani, so I made sure to stash my things in her car. After everyone was reasonably put together, we set off for Boma and were seated reasonably close to our ADR time.

Boma continues to be one of my very favorite breakfast options. I feel like I discovered it way too late in my returned-to-Disney-as-an-adult-superfan life and I am making up for lost time. A couple quick photos, I didn't eat as much as I would usually like to since I was still enjoying the above-referenced jalapeno-induced gastric distress:



And my favorite waffle hack:



(they sure are tasty topped with the sauces meant for the bread pudding! BOTH! YASSSS)

and our server was very kind and brought us all Jungle Juice mimosas to celebrate the bachelorette.



As always, the coffee was excellent and despite being on the late end of breakfast, we weren't rushed with our service at all. We had some final bawdy bachelorette chatter (some of those ladies make me look like a prude!) and reminisced over how much fun we'd had all weekend. It was a lovely way to end the group part of our adventure and I am so so so grateful to my girls for making this weekend so special! I am delighted to share that my friend E, who did the heavy lifting on planning all of these shenanigans, just got engaged about a week ago to her beau! So R and I are looking forward to celebrating their nuptials with them early next year. AND I GET TO HELP PLAN THE BACHELORETTE!




The trip changes gears:

We'd had plenty of downtime - it's not that I felt we were run ragged or anything, but now that the majority of the group had departed, Sarah and I had a bit more of a luxurious ability to just take Disney at our leisure. It's not like we had endless time on our hands, but my flight home wasn't until 8:30 pm the following day, so we had a few ideas tucked away. The first was POOL time! Sorry, I didn't take any pictures for some reason. We visited the Kidani pool and just relaxed on some loungers. We were hoping for a room ready text and played along with the recreation team's Disney trivia game from our sun chairs. The weather was kind of grey, so we didn't even swim. Around 2:00 we got a text letting us know our room was available so we finished up at the pool and headed up to change.

Once all our bags were stowed and we'd changed and freshened up, we headed down to the Sanaa podium to join the "Cultural Tour" which was very worthwhile for the bargain price of FREE fiddy!



Our host, Chikanda (sp?) from Zambia was so sweet and knowledgeable. We learned a lot about the art in the restaurant and were treated to a sample of three different types of bread and three dips (from the Sanaa bread service) and a quick visit from the chef after our tour of the restaurant. There was only one other couple on the tour besides me and Sarah, and we were all just given a big plate of the bread service sample to share and we enjoyed visiting with them, though at first I thought it was going to be awkward. The total time including snack was about 30 minutes. I didn't even bring any stuff down, so sorry I didnt take any photos.

After, we ran up to the room to grab our park gear and headed off to DHS.

We rode Tower of Terror, but there's no point in posting the photo as people with arms up in front of us totally obscured us I guess our terror worked up a thirst, because from ToT we grabbed a box of popcorn and then headed over to Baseline Taphouse.



This has become one of my favorite spots to just relax for a bit - sometimes the pseudo-coffeehouse jazzy covers of pop songs are annoying, but other times it's like we hit at the right point in the playlist and the outdoor patio becomes a prime spot for just taking a load off and people watching. Sarah had recently learned that the British term for bachelor/bachelorette parties are stag and hen parties or a "hen do". So we were absolutely delighted when we were joined at our picnic table by some British ladies who asked if we were on a "hen do"! They were lovely company.



Sarah and I each had a 22 oz Golden Road Hefeweizen draft, including tax $9.88 per beer. We enjoyed these as well as



California Cheese and Charcuterie Plate ($10) - Toma Farmstead Cheese, Point Reyes Original Blue Cheese, Laura Chenel's Sonoma Goat Cheese, Chorizo and Calabrese Salami, Cornichons, Grapes and Toasted Baguettes

This was a lovely little cheese plate and looking back I can't believe it was only $10! We enjoyed it quite a lot, especially that super tasty goat cheese. As is always my complaint, we really needed more bread. Oh well, very worth the cost!



I took a picture of the inside of a popcorn box for whatever reason. In case you ever needed to know....



Beers in better lighting. As I mentioned earlier, I was still suffering some effects from the ill-advised "Pickled Jalapeno Incident" so I documented my relief:

I had picked these up in the AKL Kidani gift shop earlier, thank goodness they have this kind of thing there! After we finished playing with our food, we visited the nearest restroom, which happened to be the recently installed or refurbed bathrooms by Pizzerizzo. It was weird how quiet it was over there, so I totally understand why Pizzarizzo is out of commission now.

Next, we stopped in to visit with my favorite Muppets!

It was cute and enjoyable as always. When we exited, it had gotten chilly! We ducked into the Muppets gift shop because I love Muppets anyway but we started thinking about finding a blanket or something else warm as we planned to be outdoors for the foreseeable future. It's weird to me to get cold at WDW! The Muppets shop was underwhelming. They need some good Fozzie merch! I would spend a small fortune. OMG I just thought of a Fozzie Dooney... I know it'll never happen, but a girl can dream! As you can see, this long-sleeved tee caught both of our eyes...

And apparently somewhere along the way we'd picked up another beer. After our mini photo-session, we were off to the Hollywood Hills Amphitheater for our first time seeing Fantasmic.



YES, FIRST TIME! Can you believe it? We took seats in the uppermost section where it's really "overflow" seating. We were warned several times that it wasn't great viewing, but we wanted to be able to exit quickly. I still haven't had what I would call a proper view, but I have to say, I just don't think Fantasmic is my thing. I did enjoy seeing it, but I wouldn't go out of my way to see it again.



We did enjoy when John Smith visited Pocahontas...

When the show was over, I needed to visit the restroom again so we skittered out of the Fantasmic theater as quickly as possible and headed over to the Hollywood Brown Derby for a pit stop. It's old news now, but I was excited to see the MB reader for Club 33 installed...

There go my dreams of the Catwalk Bar ever re-opening. I hope I win the lottery so I can see the inside of WDW's Club 33 locations one day!

(I was not the Mega Millions winner this week, unfortunately)

There's an art to securing a great last minute spot for fireworks, which is to scoot in at the back of the crowd that's just in front of the tape walkway after the projection show ends before the fireworks start. We got a good spot this way and enjoyed this view of the Star Wars fireworks:

It was a Disney fan win for me - I have never seen two nighttime spectaculars in such close order. The Star Wars fireworks were very impressive. I don't know that I would make a special trip back into the park to see them (I reserve that level of enthusiasm for Illuminations) but I did enjoy them and love seeing them from Crescent Lake.

Our popcorn and cheese plate had long since worn off, so we decided it was a good idea to head back to the hotel and find more grub. If I recall, we started for the buses just before the fireworks finale to try to avoid the crush....

When in Rome, you do as the Romans do, and when staying at Kidani, you go to Sanaa Lounge post haste!



Sarah started with the wine flight ($14)



I had a Kona Longboard draft (yum! $8.50) I must have been missing and thus channeling R

For dinner, we shared small plates. I love Sarah, she is a good sharer



Lamb Kefta Skewers ($15) Wait... $15?! "with Tunisian Couscous Salad and Peppadew-Goat Cheese" These were good, but not $15 good. They had an unadvertised sweet glaze. I guess you can't be angry when you've already paid the credit card bill.



Samosas – with Potato and Pea Samosa with Tamarind and Mango Chutney – $9.00. Always good, always filling. Fried "hats" (at least that's how I think of them) filled with spicy potato and pea goodness? Count me in.



The salad sampler trio, which has changed (seasonally?) and was good, but didn't have my favorites on it. This time it was Berber Black-Eyed Pea, Jicama and Citrus, Tunisian Beet Chermoula ($9) Still tasty and still a good value, in my book.



Holy bad lighting, batman



You knew all along where this was going, didn't you? You know Coriander Chutney was coming, because you know I am in a quasi-monogamous relationship with naan and coriander chutney.... Can I go there right now? This long distance romance is leaving something to be desired.

Bread service - $16. Gimme all them bad boys. Official description: "Choice of Five Breads and with all Nine Accompaniments - Traditional Naan, Garlic-Ginger Naan, Spiced Naan, Onion Kucha, or Paneer Paratha. Accompaniments - Cucumber Riata, Roasted Red Pepper Hummus, Mango Chutney, Tomato-Date Jam, Tamarind Chutney, Coriander Chuntey, Garlic Pickle, Red Chile Sambal, or Spicy Jalapeño-Lime Pickle" Price currently raised to $17. Whatever, Disney. I guess I will play this extortion game but the Sanaa lounge menu online still says $13. Think they would honor that?

After our absolutely wonderful day, bookended with tasty Animal Kingdom Lodge meals, we settled down for the night and went to sleep. Our last day was coming up and it was going to be a Magical one!

 

[thumper*]

We did enjoy when John Smith visited Pocahontas...

Now that is funny.