The water may be fake, but the wine is real! Mother Daughter 2017 F&W Trip!!! (Updated 5/27!)

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Day 6, Part 4: It's a Giraffe...sitting down!

We finally made our way out of the jungle trek just in time for our FP+! We made our way out of Asia and over to Africa! As we were making our way over, we saw another PP photographer, so stopped to get our picture!



We then headed back to the Safari to ride for our second time that morning with our FP+! This time we did not have a row to ourselves, whomp whomp.

There were a lot more animals out this time compared to earlier in the morning, so it was a great ride! We even got to see a giraffe laying down! Never seen that before! Apparently they only do that when they feel very safe.



We also had some good views of the elephants and zebras this time around. The lions had already gone into hiding though. I don’t blame the, it was hot hot hot that day!


I have way too many pictures of animals butts...









After we wrapped up on the safari we discussed what we wanted to do next. It was only around 11:00 at that point, and our FP+ for FOP wasn’t until 1:00. Since it was getting super hot outside we decided to grab an early lunch and cool off for a bit! Our plan was to grab some food at the Nomad Lounge, so we made our way over.

On the way out of Africa, we stopped by the photopass photographer on the bridge.



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Day 6, Part 5: Yup. FOP is as amazing as they say!

After wrapping up with the PP photographer, we made our way slowly over to the Nomad Lounge, getting there around 11:15. When we got there we discovered they weren’t opening until 11:30, oops! We decided since we were already there, and there were a handful of other groups waiting to get in, to wait just in front of the entrance until they opened.

They thankfully opened up the doors closer to 11:25, so we were able to get out of the heat a bit earlier! We made our way into the lounge and got seats up against the window. The lounge filled up quickly, by 11:45 all the seats were taken, and groups kept coming in looking for tables and not being able to find any! Glad we got there early!

Our waitress was great this time, and much more attentive than in past visits. She quickly took our drink order and gave us a few minutes to peruse the menu. I ended up getting the Spiced Excursion Ale (so good I took a picture of the menu so I wouldn’t forget!) and my mom got the IPA.



We decided to get some appetizers to split for lunch. We ended up ordering the slider, the poutine and the pork ribs. The food came out fast and was really good, but it was a LOT of food. It was a struggle to finish!



All the food was good, I think the ribs were my favorite though. I didn’t try the poutine until I had finished the other two appetizers, and by that point it was getting hard to fit more food in, so I didn’t have much of it, but it still tasted good!

It was a fantastic break, and since we had so much time before our next FP+, we stayed for a while enjoying the food, drinks and air conditioning!

Eventually we had had enough of the food and drinks, so decided to head to Pandora!

We got to FOP right at the start of our FP+ window, perfect timing! There was hardly any line for FP+, and within 5 minutes we were in the preshow!


Nice and empty FP+ queue!

As many others have said, this ride is amazing! It is so well done! We absolutely loved it! Definitely made up for the Na’vi river ride! We only wish we could have ridden it more than once this trip!

After our flight, we made our way out, taking random pictures of the exit queue…



The one thing we did not like, especially my mom with her claustrophobia, was the gift shop dump. The shop was wall to wall people, and when the rides dumped into it, it was just a cluster of people. My mom started having a panic attack it was so bad! So we quickly pushed our way through the crowds to get out, didn’t even bother checking out any of the merchandise! I’m sure it’ll be a lot better once the Pandora mania dies down, so hopefully in our next trip we can actually take a look at the merchandise in there!

By the time we wrapped up FOP, we were ready to head back to the hotel to rest. We made our way out of the park and luckily a bus was there waiting! Yay for good bus luck!

Next up: We're here for the party!

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[missangelalexis]

Sounds like a nice lunch at Nomad Lounge! Good thing you got their early!

FoP is amazing, glad you enjoyed it!

 

[StarWarsMomofGirls!]

All the food was good, I think the ribs were my favorite though.

Nomad Lounge sounds delish. I def want to try it sometime!

I hate how they dump the rides into the gift shops. I get why they do it but it gets SOOOO crowded in them sometimes. Star Tours is the same for some reason...

 

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Day 6, Part 6: We're here for the Party!

Oh wow, it’s been a long time since I’ve updated…oops! So when we left off my mom and I had just left AK to head back to the YC for our afternoon break. We got back to the hotel around 2. Before heading up to the room to change, we swung by stormalong bay to see how crowded it was, and oh my goodness, it was packed!

Ugh, weekend crowds!

Since it was so crowded, we decided to swim at the quiet pool instead, so we went upstairs to get changed, and then made our way down to the quiet pool. It was actually extremely convenient, the staircase that dumps out next to the quiet pool was directly next to our room!

The pool was almost empty when we arrived, there was only one couple there, so much nicer than the crowds at stormalong bay! My mom and I picked out our lounge chairs, and noted they hadn’t updated the quite pool lounge chairs with the new padded versions yet.

After dropping our stuff on the chairs we hopped in the pool, it was so hot we couldn’t wait to get in! We swam for a while, then went to lay out and just enjoy the quiet back there for the afternoon. It did start getting crowded after a while, and soon all the chairs were taken, but it was still a very relaxed place, definitely living up to the name “quiet” pool!

We did try out the hot tub, but it wasn’t very hot, and the jets didn’t work, so that didn’t last long!

We ended up staying down there for quite a while, our next activity wasn’t until that evening so it was a perfect way to spend the afternoon!

Eventually my mom started getting antsy and wanted to start getting ready for our next adventure, so we made our way back up to the room to get ready for Party for the Senses!

We had done the Rockin Burger Block Party the previous year and loved it, so were excited to try Party for the Senses this year! We once again splurged for the special seating area, for this year it was the Wine View Lounge.

I had received an email the previous day explaining that check-in started at 6:30, and that the WVL guests would be allowed in 15 minutes before the remaining guests, which I expected based on our experience the previous year. I had wanted to not head over to Epcot until 6:15 since we were so close, but my mom was getting super antsy so I agreed to head out a few minutes before 6:00.

I admit, I’m SO glad I listened to my mom! The line to get in through the IG was crazy! It was all the way back past the boat docks! Food and wine of Saturdays is no joke!

It took a bit over 20 minutes to get through that line and into the park, where we ran into a wall of people. Epcot was packed! I have never seen it so crowded! It took us another 15 minutes to make our way through the crowds to event location. Yeah, glad I listened to my mom and headed over early!

We got to the check in around 6:45 and were surprised to see that they were holding everyone at the big wood doors unlike last year where the check in was inside. We quickly checked in, but they informed us they had run out of lanyards for the WVL guests, so told us to go wait to the side for more to arrive.

We moved to the side with the other guests waiting for the lanyards to come out. While waiting, I look over and see some familiar faces! The couple we had shared a table with at the Highway in the Sky back in May was there! What are the chances that we would be at the same event twice in a matter of months?!? So crazy! We chatted with them for a while, and after about 10 minutes a CM arrived with additional WVL lanyards for all of us.

I was hoping at this point they would let us in, we had been standing out in the heat in our fancy clothes at that point for over an hour, but nope, we were still being held outside those big doors.

Definitely not nearly as well done as the party last year!

Eventually the CMs opened up the big doors to let us into the next waiting area, again outside. Fortunately the wait here wasn’t long at all, but it was a huge cluster. Instead of separating the guests into their respective seating groups, we were all just huddled together in a big group. Suddenly I hear very faintly someone saying something about WVL guests, so I grab my mom and make my way through the crowd in the direction it came from. I found a CM there who was instructing WVL guests to move to the left…but it was SO easy to miss (spoiler alert, a bunch of WVL guests completely missed it!). When she had collected a handful of us, she lead us backstage into the “special” backstage entrance for the WVL guests.

My mom and I were chatting with some of the other guests, and the general consensus seemed to be that this event was being run so ridiculously poorly so far!

Once we made it into the building, we made our way to the seating area to find our table. Now the year prior, when we had entered there had been a group of CMs there to guide people to their table, this year there was no one around, so we were stuck wandering around trying to find our table number. Fortunately we found it fairly quickly and dropped our stuff off and headed out to pick up food before the other guests were let in!

Too bad, that didn’t go as planned. I had picked up my first plate when I look over to see the doors had been opened for everyone and all the guests were flooding into the room! So much for those 15 minutes mentioned in the email.

As annoying as it was how poorly this event was being handled, we made the best of it, after all there was food and wine to be had!

Next up: So Much Food!

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[StarWarsMomofGirls!]

I hope the event gets better for you. Disney seems to be super crowded these days!

 

[missangelalexis]

Sounds like a nice relaxing afternoon! Unlike the chaos getting into the party! Can't wait to hear about how rest of it goes!

 

[VAtink]

I hope the event gets better for you. Disney seems to be super crowded these days!

Thanks, it definitely did get a lot better after the rough start! Gotta get around to updating this report with the rest of the party this weekend!

 

[VAtink]

Sounds like a nice relaxing afternoon! Unlike the chaos getting into the party! Can't wait to hear about how rest of it goes!

Haha, yeah getting into the party was crazy! I expected Epcot to be crowded, but I was not expecting it to be THAT crowded!

 

[natebenma]

I LOVE your photopass pictures in Dinoland. I don't think I have seen PP pictures from here before. And like you said, not another soul in sight!

I love the Asia trek, but that really sucks that a rude teenager with an enabling parent spoiled your experience. But the picture you got of the tiger lying down is incredible.

 

[natebenma]

There were a lot more animals out this time compared to earlier in the morning, so it was a great ride! We even got to see a giraffe laying down! Never seen that before! Apparently they only do that when they feel very safe.

I'm glad you saw more animals on this round of the Safari.

I would have loved to see the giraffe trying to stand up!

We decided to get some appetizers to split for lunch. We ended up ordering the slider, the poutine and the pork ribs. The food came out fast and was really good, but it was a LOT of food. It was a struggle to finish!

That looks super yummy, especially the ribs. Your beer sounds very intriguing as well.

 

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I LOVE your photopass pictures in Dinoland. I don't think I have seen PP pictures from here before. And like you said, not another soul in sight!

I love the Asia trek, but that really sucks that a rude teenager with an enabling parent spoiled your experience. But the picture you got of the tiger lying down is incredible.

Thanks! I love those shots with an empty park! So hard to get nowadays!

Yeah, the trek was beautiful, so glad we did it this trip, even with the rude teenager!

 

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I'm glad you saw more animals on this round of the Safari.

I would have loved to see the giraffe trying to stand up!

HAAA! Oh man, I'm trying to imagine the giraffe trying to get back up! Need to google this now!

That looks super yummy, especially the ribs. Your beer sounds very intriguing as well.

It was so good! The food there never disappoints, probably our favorite place to get a meal in any of the parks!

 

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Day 6, Part 7: So Much Food!

When we last left off, my mom and I had just gotten into the venue for Party for the Senses and had quickly dropped our stuff at our table and headed out to pick up food! We learned the previous year that it’s good to grab a few plates at a time to avoid so many trips out to the food stands!

There was already a dish waiting for us at the table when we arrived, I unfortunately didn’t note what it was, but I do remember it not being great. It was lukewarm and just tasted like it had been sitting there for a long time.



On my first run to the food stands I decided to head to the back side of the room, and I picked up two dishes.

Btw, here’s a map of the event, the “backside” is where the garlic/lemon icons are.


Before starting those two dishes, I ran out to grab one more dish. By the time I returned I had four dishes to try, and got back just in time to meet our server for the evening, who was yet another familiar face! She had been our server the previous year at the Rockin' Burger Block Party! Ha! We chatted with her a bit about that, and she offered us some champagne, which of course we had! She was really nice, but we were a bit annoyed she never bothered telling us that the WVL wine bar was backstage! We didn’t even know about it until after the party.

Anyways, it was time to start trying out the food! On my first round I picked up the sliced sirloin from Plant Hollywood, the mushroom crusted wagyu beef medallion from Rainforest Café, and the Braised Beef from Raglan Road. The chef at the Rainforest café stand mentioned that his dish paired well with one of the beers at the stand, so we picked up one of those (well, a short size of one) to try as well!





Those dishes were amazing, and went down quick! So off we went to grab more food!

My next trip I headed to the opposite side of the room and grabbed the braised wagyu short rib from STK. I then headed back to check out the food truck. Like most booths, they had the dishes sitting out on serving platters for guests to take, so I went over to grab one, when one of the CMs at the stand shouted at me “No! Those aren’t for guests!” Um…ok?

He then explained in a nicer way that they were display only and that they would make the food fresh. Oops….wonder how many people that poor CM had to yell at to not touch the “display” food that night!

I ended up grabbing the spiced achiote rub verlasso salmon tacos at the food truck, then on the way back to the table swung by the Polite Pig table and picked up the BBQ Lamb Pita.







These dishes were also good, I liked the lamb pita a bit better than the taco, and neither were as good as the first round of dishes I tried.

Next up….Even More Food!

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[StarWarsMomofGirls!]

All of the food looks really good! And decent sizes!!!

 

[wisteria1019]

I love a mother daughter trip (when I'm the mother lol)....

 

[VAtink]

All of the food looks really good! And decent sizes!!!

The food was amazing! Even though the start of the event wasn't great, the food and entertainment totally made up for it. We'll definitely be doing it again this year if it's offered during our trip!

 

[VAtink]

I love a mother daughter trip (when I'm the mother lol)....

Haha, they are fantastic! I'm lucky to have a mom who loves Disney as much as I do!

 

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Eek, I'm doing a horrible job wrapping up this TR! We've been so wrapped up in planning some upcoming trips, that I've dropped the ball on reliving this one! Will solidly attempt to focus on this one this weekend though so I can prepare for the next TR!

In case anyone is wondering about the upcoming trips, there are two we're planning! The first is taking my pup to the Cape for a week!

Here he is last year learning how to surf!


Then of course, the second trip is another Food and Wine trip!!! This trip will be our longest one yet, so I'm super excited. If work and planning for these trips slows down ever, I may put together a pre-TR because I am SO excited for all the fun things we've already planned!

Anyways, done with this mini life update, now on to writing the rest of this TR!

 

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Day 6, Part 8: More Food!

After the first few dishes, I had finished off the champagne, so decided to go try some wine. I headed out to the nearest stand and asked for a glass of one of their reds. The server looked at me like I was stupid and told me I needed a wine glass. Oh.

I went back to the table and grabbed the souvenir wine glass that was on the table, then made my way back to the stand to get a glass of wine. Based on our experience the previous year, I expected a normal pour, but sadly I was wrong. The woman at the booth only poured enough for one sip!

Disappointed, I wondered off to the next booth to find more food and hopefully some more wine! I found my way back to the D-Luxe burger stand and grabbed the curried lamb and beef slider, then swung by the wine booth there as well. This is where I hit the jackpot, the woman at this wine booth were not only pouring full glasses, they were pouring VERY full glasses!

Happy with my new food and wine choices, I headed back to the table to enjoy.



The slider was amazing, one of my favorite dishes from the night, and the wine was delicious!

After finishing that round, I was getting super full, so decided to take a break and watch the entertainment for a while.



Meanwhile, my mom had also been heading out grabbing food. She picked up pretty much the same dishes as I had, but also got this drink. I thought it was a watermelon martini, but looking through the menu now I don’t see that listed, so I’m not sure what this was!



Throughout the event a cheese cart was being pushed around the WVL area, so we had some of the assorted cheeses from that as well.



My mom loved the cheeses, I just found them to be ok.

Up next: Seriously, even more food!

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