TR Bonus - 10/20-24/18 "I hope you like pictures of food” - New TR LINK added 3/12

Should I post October TR as a continuation on this TR Thread or a separate one

  • Yes - keep it going on here, It'll be easier to find.

    Votes: 22 68.8%
  • No - that makes no sense - separate trip, separate thread.

    Votes: 10 31.3%

  • Total voters
    32
  • Poll closed .
Due to popular demand - or at least a 69% to 31% vote - here's our last trip of the Quadrilogy - posted as part of the existing TR. I hope you like pictures of food!

Well, here we come to our fourth trip in 12 months – and one that we were really looking forward to. Though we enjoy our trips with our daughter, it’s these adult trips that really got us to realize that we are DFFLs (Disney Fan For Life). While this is the third time we’ve taken a couples trip for Food and Wine (2014 and 2017 were the previous ones), this was the first time we were able to book at our new “home” at Boardwalk. We had purchased 75 points here last May when I got a big promotion and I got the points for DWs XX birthday. Because of the need to book so far in advance, it took 17 months before we could USE the points. And because we were staying so close to Epcot, I had pushed for us to ONLY go to Epcot. DW said we shouldn’t just do Epcot, but we probably spent 90% of our time there. We also ended up adding on some stuff that we weren’t expecting when we planned the trip. (More on that later.)
These long weekend trips we stretch the trip as much as we can, and this one was no different. 6:20 AM flight meant we were out of the house by 5 AM. DD was being watched by DMIL so no issues there. Happy to be all set at the airport on time.



Hoping to enjoy some alcoholic beverages this trip (and I tallied 47 of them) we started early with Mimosas.



We made it safely, and we were at the airport on the shuttle by 9 AM.



Then 67 minutes later, we were walking through THESE doors…



Very excited for our first true trip “Home”.



I just really love this resort – I’d way rather be here than across the lagoon at Beach/Yacht Club.




We got really lucky with this buy. I got the small contract purchased last fall at $105 a point, now you’d be lucky to buy that same contract under $125 a point. It’s only got a 24 year lifespan left on the contract, but even factoring that in – the 2018 points would cost us roughly $12 per point including maintenance fees. The result is the trip cost us 44 points, or $528 for the 4 nights, or $132 a night – which is deal that can’t be beat.

We actually dawdled a little bit in the lobby – mostly because World Showcase doesn’t actually open until 11 AM, and we were sort of too early for it to be open. After filling our water bottles, we decided to head out and we saw there was no boat coming, so we walked to Epcot.

A shot of the new Ratatouille ride


For comparison, here’s what it looked like two months earlier.


And away we go…


You have two choices when entering at International gateway – left to England or right to France. So we started off going…a droit.




This is the first food we got. Carbonade de Bouef (braised beef) with potatoes, Crème Brullee with Raspberry and a legendary Grey Goose slushie (Drink #2).



We always rate the foods on a scale of 1-5 and these samples got a 4 with a 5 for the slushie. We were also very organized, and had taken a book from back in August, and put our ratings of the various foods in there from 2014, 2016 and 2017.

In addition, one of my goals for this trip is to “Drink Around the World” – NOT in a single day – that’s too rough – but across the entire trip. We have 11 countries to get through – and this was the first one.



Hey look, it’s the International Gateway.


Next stop was Brazil.


We tried the Moqueco – a seafood stew with scallops, shrimp, fish, and steamed rice (rated 3). And then we finally tried the Crispy Pork Belly with Black Beans (rated 4).


I am usually terrified of the idea to come to F&W on a Saturday, but apparently if you are going to do that – come at 11 AM, the crowds didn’t start out too badly.


I had to get a good shot of DWs new shirt. Not really the correct park for it, but she got 4 or 5 compliments on it in the few hours we were there.


A quick shot across at the Gaurdians ride…I think it is not a rare prediction to say this is going to be a big ride.


We don’t typically wait in long lines for characters, but Belle’s line was really short. So we decided to say hi. We talked about the different books we like to read, of course. She signed our Food & Wine guide.






Continued in next post...
 
We then stopped in Belguim for some Beer-braised Beef (rated a 3) and a Belgian Waffle with Berry Compote (rated a 4).



We also got a drink in the Morocco pavilion – country #2 and drink #3. I tried a beer while DW tried the Sangria.



One of our OTHER goals for the trip was to take a little time in Epcot to actually explore the countries. So we decided to take a little time to explore Epcot.



This is a very neat pavilion. There is a lot of areas to explore in the back, though what I noticed is that the goods being sold are rather repetitive from shop to shop.










The Restaurant Marrakesh entrance. We haven’t eaten here in about 13 years.



Not so hidden Mickey.



Photopass!






Next country up --- Japan!


It’s noon and still crowds aren’t bad at the back of the park yet.



So for drink #4 and the Japan drink – we tried a Fuji Apple cocktail. Contains Sake, Peach Schnapps and Green Apple Syrup (yup it was terrible) the meat is beef Nigiri – which is apparently a slice of Voldemort’s snake. Okay, that’s a joke, but it was topped with shrimp sauce and pickled Jalapenos. It was just OK though – rated a 3.


We actually had a goal for today and that was we had a Fastpass for Test Track at 1 PM. So we kept moving around WS to Italy.



We went to Italy last year, and DW has been keeping up on her Italian. I made her test her Italian on one of the CM. She said (on purpose) “The monkey eats because it is hungry.“ The look on the CM face was priceless, she was clearly not sure if DW was just an idiot or if she had heard what she said incorrectly. We had a laugh with the CM when we explained this was a sentence on the Duolingo app that DW uses for Italian lessons. “La scimmia mangia perche ha fame.” DW was able to conduct a purchase of some chocolate candy “le caramelle” in Italian with the CM.

After we left there we headed over to Germany for one of our “Bests of the Fest”. Well, first a beer and some wine (drink #5 just past noon guys).


It is super simple – but we love the Shinkennudeln (ham and cheese noodles) they always serve. We also got a strudel, and unfortunately the strudel was pretty awful. Give it a 2. Noodles always get a 5.


Even though we hadn’t eaten a ton of food, we were pretty full by this point – and we had ONE FP to use today. It was odd that we had received an e-mail saying the ride had been closed – and our FP became an “anytime FP” but we had evening plans, and needed to use it. In addition, we planned to meet some friends at the festival center to say hi. Fortunately, whatever triggered the ride to be down was fixed, and we were able to ride.


For some reason though we never got the ride photo, which is a bit disappointing. We made this super goofy car, and it actually got a really high score. So next we headed over to the festival center to meet our friends – Mr. and Mrs. D. On the way, we got to see Ellen’s Energy Adventure torn down to the guts (so much so that you could see all the way through the building!)





We met our friends, and went through the AP holder line to pick up our free gift (4 visits gets you a cutting board, though only DW had reached her 4th visit, I was still at day #3). After that, we wanted to try a Mimosa in honor of DW shirt. She had the Blood Red Orange Mimosa, I had the Madrais Mimosa. Both were very good, but of course rather sweet.



Our friends offered to give us a ride back to our resort, and then also a ride over to our next destination – which again I will hold as a surprise. Honestly, I am not sure that the ride with them back to the resort was faster or not, but it was a nice offer and we got to spend a little more time visiting. We had really hoped to have time for a nap today because of our early start – but regardless of whether we took the offer or if we walked back, we wouldn’t have had time. So we did something we hadn’t done in a LONG time – we went to the front of the park to take the parking tram. I could not believe the sheer number of people just streaming into the park. (It was now a little after 2 PM.) I was very glad we were done with Epcot for the day.

We were happy that while we were waiting for the parking lot tram, we got the text that our room was ready, which made us very happy. We had checked bags, but also had packed a change of clothes in our carry-ons just in case.

Next time....In the Not too Distant Future....
 
And THIS is why I need to get more adults-only trips in my life! Can't wait to read more!

And your wife's shirt is EVERYTHING. I literally said it out loud when I saw it - it's impossible not to!

Wow - you caught me in between two posts...make sure to catch the second one.

I got her that shirt for Mother's day. She got at least 5 comments about it during the day. I can't wait to see the response when we go to Universal!

It definitely was an ADULT oriented trip. Love going with our daughter - but it's hard not to prefer going just the two of us!!!
 


Wow - you caught me in between two posts...make sure to catch the second one.

I got her that shirt for Mother's day. She got at least 5 comments about it during the day. I can't wait to see the response when we go to Universal!

It definitely was an ADULT oriented trip. Love going with our daughter - but it's hard not to prefer going just the two of us!!!

Well, ya know, when you are living in the Midwest on a crappy Saturday night in January, and you have absolutely no life, and are dreaming about the fact that you will have just finished up 4 days in WDW and relaxing on the Fantasy four weeks from today...….. you tend to spend WAY too much time on the disboards and therefore you see alerts pop up real time. :)

Seriously, though, that is an awesome shirt. You guys look like you had an amazing time, and your DW looks so happy! :)
 
Welcome Home! Congratulations on your promotion and DVC purchase!! It sounds like you got a great deal! Your tally of drinks is impressive. I’m not sure I’d want to count mine!! ADORE your wife’s shirt - is it on Etsy? I need it! I find the Morocco pavilion very immersive as well but agree they could take another look at their merchandise offerings and displays. 11am on Saturdays isn’t bad at all...especially when you know you can always walk home if it starts to get crazy. Speaking of, I’ve never seen the debauchery some have... but will keep looking. :D I’m already looking forward to this year’s festival!
 


I hope you like pictures of food!

We love pictures of food around here!

6:20 AM flight meant we were out of the house by 5 AM.

That's not bad. We fly out of Philly and need to arrive at least 2 hours before. Sometimes security is backed up.

Hoping to enjoy some alcoholic beverages this trip (and I tallied 47 of them) we started early with Mimosas.

Good job!

I am usually terrified of the idea to come to F&W on a Saturday, but apparently if you are going to do that – come at 11 AM, the crowds didn’t start out too badly.

I have to remember this.


Great shirt!

This is a very neat pavilion. There is a lot of areas to explore in the back, though what I noticed is that the goods being sold are rather repetitive from shop to shop.


It's a beautiful pavilion.

I like your rating system. Can't wait for more food and drink pics!
 
LOVE DW's shirt!! Perfect for Food & Wine, even if it is HP related!!

We are the same...we love our trips with the kids, but it's really nice to get the chance to go just the two of us every now and then and explore the parks in a different way than we do when the kids are with us. Very cool that you & DW are able to do this so often and enjoy F&W!
 
I, too, read her shirt out loud. Love it.

Looking forward to more

You HAVE to read it out loud in that uppity young Hermione voice. Else you might get killed...or worse...expelled!

Well, ya know, when you are living in the Midwest on a crappy Saturday night in January, and you have absolutely no life, and are dreaming about the fact that you will have just finished up 4 days in WDW and relaxing on the Fantasy four weeks from today...….. you tend to spend WAY too much time on the disboards and therefore you see alerts pop up real time. :)

Seriously, though, that is an awesome shirt. You guys look like you had an amazing time, and your DW looks so happy! :)

Hey are you kidding, we woke up in our own beds and were lunching at Epcot - how could we not be happy!!

Welcome Home! Congratulations on your promotion and DVC purchase!! It sounds like you got a great deal! Your tally of drinks is impressive. I’m not sure I’d want to count mine!! ADORE your wife’s shirt - is it on Etsy? I need it! I find the Morocco pavilion very immersive as well but agree they could take another look at their merchandise offerings and displays. 11am on Saturdays isn’t bad at all...especially when you know you can always walk home if it starts to get crazy. Speaking of, I’ve never seen the debauchery some have... but will keep looking. :D I’m already looking forward to this year’s festival!

I do believe I got the shirt for her off of Etsy - it was definitely not a standard commercially available shirt. We saw lots of people with fun shirts. My favorite was the Nemo inspired shirt that said "Finding Vino".

We love pictures of food around here!

:thumbsup2

That's not bad. We fly out of Philly and need to arrive at least 2 hours before. Sometimes security is backed up.

Buffalo is a fairly small airport - only about 25 gates. Rare that security is more than 15 minutes, plus we have TSA pre-check because we have NEXUS (card for getting over Canadian border).

I like your rating system. Can't wait for more food and drink pics!

We find it very useful to remind ourselves what we tried and what we had liked. It helps prevent us from repeating things that we don't really like.

LOVE DW's shirt!! Perfect for Food & Wine, even if it is HP related!!

We are the same...we love our trips with the kids, but it's really nice to get the chance to go just the two of us every now and then and explore the parks in a different way than we do when the kids are with us. Very cool that you & DW are able to do this so often and enjoy F&W!

Yes - it's good for both Universal AND food and wine!!

We really WANT to go every year from now on. The reality is that won't always work. We were debating about going this year, but with DD wanting that Universal weekend that we talked about, that essentially canceled our weekend. The nice thing is it allows us to bank the points and give us more time there in 2020!
 
At the hotel we told them to give us 20 minutes to wash up. We invited them in, but they declined. So we just grabbed our stuff and went to clean up. I also took a few pictures of the clean room.



As you can see, our bags were already there!





This is our second time staying at the Boardwalk Villas this year. Last time, we had a view of the Boardwalk, while this time, we had a view of the parking lot. But that was OK, because we used our points toward a standard room instead of a pool or boardwalk view room. To me, it’s totally worth it. I am not really a “view” person and neither is DW. We rarely sit out on the balcony – especially in the heat of Florida – so looking out at the parking lot is fine.

Our special event that we were attending was actually over at Universal Studios at the Hard Rock Live! Concert venue. I am a huge fan of the TV show Mystery Science Theater 3000 – and it was recently revived by the original creator from 30 years ago. The rough plot of the show is a guy is shot up into space as part of an experiment and forced to watch really bad movies with his robot pals. What I find fascinating about the show is that it is really the forefather to much of what you find on Youtube nowadays. Theres a lot of present day comedians that grew up on the show. (It was mostly on in the nineties.) If you have a chance – check out the new seasons on Netflix. It takes a little getting used to, but it can be really, really funny. (Check out the Mac and Me episode from the newest season – the Gauntlet.)

Anyways, last year they toured the show with the new cast. They covered two movies last year, but not every location got both shows. The nearest they came to Buffalo – where we live – is Cleveland, abut 3.5 hours away, and even there we only got one show. When they put out the schedule for this years tour, we saw that they were coming to Orlando and doing TWO NEW shows. So, I couldn’t resist buying tickets to both shows – though I knew that this much would be a little overdoing it.

Had to have another drink (#7) before the show.



This is also the 30th anniversary of the premiere of the show on cable access in Minnesota.




One of the big deals of this tour was that Joel Hodgson – one of the originators of the show – was going to join in the movie riffing this tour. (First time since 1994.)



The shows were each about 2 hours long, and we had only maybe 90 minutes between shows. (One was at 4 PM, one at 8 PM.) We had decided we were going to try to eat at Toothsome’s Chocolate Emporium, but weren’t sure if we could get in. We were chatting up another MSTie (MST3K fan) before the first show, and he said that a lot of times you could walk up to the upstairs bar and get a table without waiting in line. When we walked in, the wait was like 75 minutes, so we tried his trick and we were able to sit. I couldn’t resist getting a chocolate stout. (#8 on the day).



I got a Reuben with fries.



DW got a grilled chicken sandwich.



We were looking forward to trying a dessert, but they were all so huge and we were so full from the food. Instead we went downstairs and got a chocolate treat.



We had really close seats for the second show, but they were kind of off to the side.



So we decided to move after the intermission to some bar tables that were on the side of the balcony.



I have to say both shows were so funny – we were laughing so hard. But towards the end of the second show, we were ready to be done with it. It had been an extremely long day getting up at 4 AM, and we were ready to go to sleep. So when the second show ended at 10 AM, we went right out of Citywalk and ordered a Lyft to take us back to Boardwalk. It really was only maybe a 15 minute ride at that time of night – so we were able to be back in our room by 11 PM and ready for bed. Because we had some late nights ahead of us.

Total # of Rides: One (Test Track)
Total # of Drinks: 8
Total # of Steps: 13,750 (5.2 miles)

 
“Finding Vino” sounds like another shirt I must seek out. :rotfl: Never too early to prepare for the next F&W! I really like the Boardwalk studios - the decor is simple but lovely and can’t beat the location!! How fun to have another interest/passion coincide with your Disney trip! It sounds like a great night! Great tip for Toothsome... will file that away! :thumbsup2
 
I am a huge fan of the TV show Mystery Science Theater 3000 – and it was recently revived by the original creator from 30 years ago.

No WAY! MST3K was one of my favorite shows. I had no idea it's made a comeback! The things one learns on a Disney discussion board! :)
 
“Finding Vino” sounds like another shirt I must seek out. :rotfl: Never too early to prepare for the next F&W! I really like the Boardwalk studios - the decor is simple but lovely and can’t beat the location!! How fun to have another interest/passion coincide with your Disney trip! It sounds like a great night! Great tip for Toothsome... will file that away! :thumbsup2

I'm not sure if the "Finding Vino" shirt was homemade or not - probably another Etsy one! The MST3K show was an awesome co-incidence. Last year's tour we had to travel to Cleveland, and we would've had the same issue this year, so it worked out wonderfully!

No WAY! MST3K was one of my favorite shows. I had no idea it's made a comeback! The things one learns on a Disney discussion board! :)

There's two new seasons on Netflix! First season "The Return" was 14 episodes and 2nd season ("The Gaunlet" which just debuted at Thanksgiving) was 6 episodes. Pretty strong episodes, though it is a all-new cast so some old fans are having a hard time getting used to it. I personally think it's great - none of the episodes quite match the best of the original show - but overall it's a high degree of funny episodes. It's nice to see more current references too...
 
It was nice to hear about your F&W escapades. I haven't been back for a few years and we are planning it for next October. Nice to know that if you're on your way out by 2PM that is a solid plan.

I've heard the beef sushi was weird, but I agree with you on the German noodles.

I can't believe MST3K is really 30 years old! I used to love that show! I might check it out on Netflix when Fran is asleep and i can't watch the shows we share. Right now Puppy Dog Pals is my go to show.

We are planning a January trip for next year and hoping to stay at the Boardwalk for that trip.
 
It was nice to hear about your F&W escapades. I haven't been back for a few years and we are planning it for next October. Nice to know that if you're on your way out by 2PM that is a solid plan.

I've heard the beef sushi was weird, but I agree with you on the German noodles.

I can't believe MST3K is really 30 years old! I used to love that show! I might check it out on Netflix when Fran is asleep and i can't watch the shows we share. Right now Puppy Dog Pals is my go to show.

We are planning a January trip for next year and hoping to stay at the Boardwalk for that trip.

The new series is pretty great. Joel Hodgson is running the show behind the scenes and you can feel his influence. There's a kind of crazy Disney connection between the two. The guy that is puppeteering Crow T. Robot on both the show and also voicing him on the tour is named Grant Baciocco. When I first saw him I realized I recognized him - he had given us a tour of Jim Henson studios back in 2013 when we were on the Backstage ABD tour! He's also a big Disney fan and even has a Disney podcast called "Attraction Checklist". Some of the other writers on the show are Disney fans as well - including the head writer - Elliott Kalan was also the head writer on the Daily Show back when Jon Stewart was in charge.

Anyways, enough MST3K talk - except to say it's definitely worth a watch on Netflix!
 
Day 2 – Sunday

It’s sort of amazing how your Disney trips change the more often you go. Even though this was a very short trip – we had no desire to get out and rush to the park. Today we were meeting two of our other good friends that live down here – K and M – K we had met on our ABD trip as well, and M was a friend of hers that’s also a big Disney fan. Because we had rented a standard studio we had almost enough points to get an extra room for one night, so K and M could stay over with us. (They live local, but still a ways away – so it’s nice that they don’t have to drive home at the end of the day. ) Mr. and Mrs. D – who live even closer – were going to meet us for a while. We were not in any particular hurry, but we did have a FP for around 1 PM at Soarin – so we knew we at least wanted to be there in time for that.

K was running a little late, but M made it in and was in the parks – so we decided to head in to meet her for our first FP which was on Spaceship Earth – I think around 11:30 to 12:30. By the time we dragged our lazy butts out of bed – it was getting closer to 11, and we entered the park right about that time. Not many people around yet.



DW and I are big recyclers, and we try at Disney to waste as little as possible. We kept using the same forks as the day before. I wish we could say we made it through the whole trip – but at one point mine broke, and DW dropped hers – so we actually had to switch to a second fork.



We hadn’t had anything to eat yet this morning. We had decided to try the Poutines from the Refreshment Port near Canada. One was a Beef Brisket Poutine with Beer Cheese Sauce and Gravy over the fries. The other was more of a dessert, and was sweet potato Poutine with caramel sauce, marshmallow sauce, and pecans. They were rather large portions and expensive as well. ($8.50 each)



But let me tell you, this was absolutely the BEST thing we ate this trip. Both were so good, and it was a LARGE portion. We really enjoyed it so much. Hopefully they bring these two back.
After eating these we were actually pretty satisfied, so we moved onto meeting M at SSE.



We also met Mr. and Mrs. D. as well, but since they didn’t have a FP, and standby was like 30 minutes, just the three of us rode. The photo didn’t work (again). Boy this ride needs a fixer-up.
We then all came out of the ride and headed to the nearest food location – this was the light lab. They had a drink that was 3 different colored slushies. I forgot the flavor, but most of them were pretty good. You were supposed to use science to determine the flavors.



I thought I took a picture, but I must not have. The three drinks also had Disney glow cubes in them. So even though it was $6 for the drink, you came away with three glow cubes, which is a pretty darn good deal. We also met up with K here at this point.
We next headed right outside for a really good booth – “Flavors of Fire”



Below is a picture of the Piggy Wings with Korean BBQ and sesame seeds and on the right was the Chimichurri Skirt Steak. These were both very good, but the Skirt Steak was the better of the two. (Also Drink #10)



It was really warm out already, so we were trying to find shady spots – we headed over to the Active Eats booth and ordered the Loaded Mac and Cheese and also the Energy Bar Bites. I really liked the Mac and Cheese, giving it a 4. The Energy bites were more for DW, but they tasted OK.



In the same area we got the Seared Scallops from Active Eats, and the Steakhouse Blended burger from Active Eats. Both were delicious. In the past I thought the scallops were just OK, but these were actual much better and quite edible. (With Drink #11 a glass of wine)



Last stop was at the cheese studio – with the Braised Beef Stroganoff and the Maple Bourbon Boursin Cheesecake. Again both were pretty good – the noodles were a bit dried out though on the Stroganoff. The Cheesecake was pretty yummy. (Drink #12 here)



At this point, Mr. and Mrs. D headed out of the park, while the rest of us headed to our FP for Soarin! We were also kept company by another friend in “flattie” form.



By this point it was like 3 PM, and we really were getting baked in the heat – so we decided to head back towards the room, but also made stops in Canada and England. I was pretty full, but I got a beer in Canada because I needed to complete the “drink around the world”, not because I can’t get better beer at home. DW loves the beer cheese soup. Drink #13.



We also had to go in and get the stamp for the Epcot Kidcot passport. DW and K had decided they were going to try and get them all.



This shot – while zoomed in – is looking across the lagoon and seeing the new DCV resort – the Riviera. You can just see it above and to the left of Germany. They will be having “theme park” views from this resort.



Couldn’t resist another Guinness Bailey’s stout (Drink #14). And the chocolate cake from Ireland is also awesome!



Walked around England a bit while the ladies tried to get the stamps.





At this point we finally made our way back to the resort. I went down for a swim while DW took a nap. I think I did take a short shut-eye as well. It was a little while before we went back into the park.



We tried the cheese bread in Brazil. One year we liked it, another year we didn’t. This year it was really good again…not sure what happened that off year!



Also got a Kefka pocket in Morroco. These are always good!



We next stopped in Japan – oh sure I’d already had a drink here – but in the back they have a Sake bar that’s open – so I got some Sake to represent Japan. (And Drink #15) It wasn’t the best thing I ever drank, but it was OK.




Next stop was in Italy for Polla Allo Cacciatora (Chicken with Mushrooms and Polenta) and Mezzi Rigatoni (pasta with Vodka Sauce and Pancetta) Both of these were pretty good but maybe not great.



In Spain we picked up the Paella – which didn’t have seafood but I still didn’t care for in very much. I just don’t think I care too much for Paella.



Just that little bit of food had us full already, and it was getting up on 8 PM and we wanted to leave the park before the crowds from Illuminations, so we headed back to the resort to go to Jellyrolls. We thought getting there by 9 PM would be enough to get a table, but we almost DIDN’T get a table. We got lucky that someone got up and we were able to sit close. We had a REALLY good time as the place was packed with a lot of young people. (Turned out it was CM night.)



They no longer had a “Red Solo Cup Special” but still had a large Drink special. I had four of these throughout the night and that left me pretty loopy. (Drinks #15 - #19 as I kept count.)





This was the first time we ever CLOSED down Jellyroll’s – it was 1:45 AM when we rolled out onto the Boardwalk. The 5 minute walk to our room was the total bomb! So glad we could just go back and go to sleep.

Total # of Drinks: 10 (19 total)
Total # of Rides: Two (SSE and Soarin)
Total # of Steps: 14,537 (5.6 miles)
 
Day 3:
No hurry to get up in the morning – we had a specialty lunch set for today and we were did not rush to get out of bed. Our friends who we had booked the extra room with the night before stopped over to drop off their bags in our room while they went out to the parks – but we went our separate ways at this point – so let’s just pick up when we are heading out to the park at around 11 AM.



Have I mentioned yet that we totally love the Boardwalk?



It was a lovely day in the parks. A little warm but really not bad. We caught the Friendship boat just as it was leaving. I wish there was a way to tell from your room when the boats were about to depart.

[url=https://flic.kr/p/2dLutHg]



They were starting to paint the façade of the Skyway station at IG. I went up remarkably fast – It will be nearly complete by the time we leave.



We made our way around WS towards Italy where our meal was to take place – it was a Wine pairing luncheon. We had done one the previous year at Monsieur Paul’s and it was fantastic.
We got there a little early and we walked around the area by the water that attempted to simulate the canals of Venice – just not very well.





The Italy pavilion is a pretty decent simulation of St. Mark’s Square in Venice. One of my favorite details are the cracks in the circular (shamrock?) shapes in the palace that simulates the actual cracks in the real palace.




The wine tasting meal was in the bar area Tutto Gusto – which is off the restaurant Tutto Italia









Here’s all the glasses that they served us with.



Here’s the menu for the meal – 5 courses with 5 different wines.



We were seated at a table with 4 other couples. All the other couples were also DVC people – interesting one of the couples (the youngest one) was applying to be members of the WDW Club 33, and they had to leave early. We joked that if they needed a reference we would be happy to help! They had also apparently been at Jellyrolls the night before - but we didn't remember them from the crowd.

The meal starts with rolls and olives:




The first wine was a sparkling wine (similar to Champagne) - Private Curvee Brut. I had two of these.




This was the appetizer course – a ham with parmesan cheese and pear mustard.



The second wine was a Lacryma Christi Blanco –Tears of Christ. A guess one of the other women at the table had had that wine in Italy and loved it. It was pretty good. This particular wine was listed on the board at $68 a bottle – so that just shows the value of the wine we are talking about here.


I had two glasses of this one too.


The second course was a butternut squash risotto, which I thought would be iffy but was in fact completely delicious. BY the way, as part of the meal, the lead for the dinner describes each of the wines and why they are paired the way they are.



The third course led with a Pecorino wine and the course was Mussels in Broth. This was…well, neither of us are fans of mussels. The broth was not terrible but the mussels themselves…I ate four of them and DW didn’t eat any. It’s just a matter of taste, and I didn’t care for them. In fact it seems I disliked it so much I didn’t get a picture of it.



The fourth course was the meat dish, and it was a venison loin. Venison can be gamey, but in this case it was absolutely wonderfully prepared. The red that was served with it was Brunello di Montecino and was a great pair to the meat.



Somehow I missed out on taking a picture of this one. Perhaps it was my 7th glass of wine that caused it. Or maybe it was the 8th.




I did get a picture of dessert though. The fifth and final serve was a chocolate hazelnut cake served with a sweet moscato.



I have to say – if you can afford it – these meals are wonderful. I hesitate to call them a great “Value” at $95 a person – but in the end you get a really wonderful meal and a lot of really fine wine for that price, so I think that overall it is worth the spend.

The meal starts at noon, but runs close to 3 hours as well, so by the time we were done we were full and drunk and headed back to the hotel. For we had plans for the evening and needed a nap to sober up. [/url]
https://flic.kr/p/2cEAVMf
https://flic.kr/p/2cEAVMf
https://flic.kr/p/2cEAVMf
 
Day 3:
No hurry to get up in the morning – we had a specialty lunch set for today and we were did not rush to get out of bed. Our friends who we had booked the extra room with the night before stopped over to drop off their bags in our room while they went out to the parks – but we went our separate ways at this point – so let’s just pick up when we are heading out to the park at around 11 AM.



Have I mentioned yet that we totally love the Boardwalk?



It was a lovely day in the parks. A little warm but really not bad. We caught the Friendship boat just as it was leaving. I wish there was a way to tell from your room when the boats were about to depart.




They were starting to paint the façade of the Skyway station at IG. I went up remarkably fast – It will be nearly complete by the time we leave.



We made our way around WS towards Italy where our meal was to take place – it was a Wine pairing luncheon. We had done one the previous year at Monsieur Paul’s and it was fantastic.
We got there a little early and we walked around the area by the water that attempted to simulate the canals of Venice – just not very well.





The Italy pavilion is a pretty decent simulation of St. Mark’s Square in Venice. One of my favorite details are the cracks in the circular (shamrock?) shapes in the palace that simulates the actual cracks in the real palace.




The wine tasting meal was in the bar area Tutto Gusto – which is off the restaurant Tutto Italia









Here’s all the glasses that they served us with.



Here’s the menu for the meal – 5 courses with 5 different wines.



We were seated at a table with 4 other couples. All the other couples were also DVC people – interesting one of the couples (the youngest one) was applying to be members of the WDW Club 33, and they had to leave early. We joked that if they needed a reference we would be happy to help! They had also apparently been at Jellyrolls the night before - but we didn't remember them from the crowd.

The meal starts with rolls and olives:




The first wine was a sparkling wine (similar to Champagne) - Private Curvee Brut. I had two of these.




This was the appetizer course – a ham with parmesan cheese and pear mustard.



The second wine was a Lacryma Christi Blanco –Tears of Christ. A guess one of the other women at the table had had that wine in Italy and loved it. It was pretty good. This particular wine was listed on the board at $68 a bottle – so that just shows the value of the wine we are talking about here.


I had two glasses of this one too.


The second course was a butternut squash risotto, which I thought would be iffy but was in fact completely delicious. BY the way, as part of the meal, the lead for the dinner describes each of the wines and why they are paired the way they are.



The third course led with a Pecorino wine and the course was Mussels in Broth. This was…well, neither of us are fans of mussels. The broth was not terrible but the mussels themselves…I ate four of them and DW didn’t eat any. It’s just a matter of taste, and I didn’t care for them. In fact it seems I disliked it so much I didn’t get a picture of it.



The fourth course was the meat dish, and it was a venison loin. Venison can be gamey, but in this case it was absolutely wonderfully prepared. The red that was served with it was Brunello di Montecino and was a great pair to the meat.



Somehow I missed out on taking a picture of this one. Perhaps it was my 7th glass of wine that caused it. Or maybe it was the 8th.




I did get a picture of dessert though. The fifth and final serve was a chocolate hazelnut cake served with a sweet moscato.



I have to say – if you can afford it – these meals are wonderful. I hesitate to call them a great “Value” at $95 a person – but in the end you get a really wonderful meal and a lot of really fine wine for that price, so I think that overall it is worth the spend.

The meal starts at noon, but runs close to 3 hours as well, so by the time we were done we were full and drunk and headed back to the hotel. For we had plans for the evening and needed a nap to sober up.

Wow this looks good! I’m debating if I can fit it in if we go this October. But the trip would be so short I’m not sure it would be worth it.....
 

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