Tuck your elbows in - a September / October trip report - day 8 - Epcot!

[lumosq102]

Day 7 is here

Index is here

Thursday 28 September

Waking up in the DVC villas at the Grand is never a hardship. I was determined to be up in time for sunrise to make the most of those glorious colours over Seven Seas Lagoon. Apparently sleep is for losers (it’ll be worse next trip) so I was out of bed quickly, stealthily putting the coffee pot on and creeping out on to the balcony.



I am sure R was awake and just doing her best to ignore me from the sofa bed. It comes pretty close to the balcony doors and I have never been known for graceful movement, as evidenced by the constant bruises on my shins.



Still, the early wake up was worth it and I had a few minutes with Hercules (the camera) and the view. Sigh. It was already very steamy so we knew we were in for another warm day.







See that balcony with the person on? That’s the room I want. Someday… you can see the fireworks from that room. A little of the castle. Someday I will luck into that room



Today was our first day at Epcot this trip – pretty shocking since we are now on day 8 and the Food and Wine festival is in full flight. I disappoint myself. The park was opening at 8am for EMH so we needed to get moving early. We were dressed and fully caffeinated early, leaving the room at 7am for our walk over to the main building to hop on the monorail to the TTC, and our connecting ride to Epcot, the plan was to arrive before rope drop at 8am.

Best laid plans and all that – we missed the monorail to TTC by a hair and had to wait 15 minutes for the next one, slowly rocking back and forth by this point as I see all my delicately arranged plans fall apart. The next monorail finally arrives at 7:25 and we get to watch a little of that gorgeous sunrise as we travel around the lagoon, arriving at TTC 7:35 where, you’ve guessed it, a monorail is heading off into the distance as we walk to the Epcot platform.



Worth noting here – if you are changing to go to Epcot at the TTC, get the resort monorail. There is a nifty little path that takes you around the pack of the platforms and brings you out at the Epcot platform without having to go all the way down and around the front of the TTC loading area. It’s very helpful. Of course this morning we could have walked down the slope, nipped to the Joffrey’s kiosk and still made it round in time for the monorail to finally arrive at 7:48. My dreams of making it to rope drop vanishing along with my good humour.



Monorail red finally arrived (hurrah) and we were on our way, disembarking at Epcot at 7:58. We had already seen people all over Future World as we travelled around the loop on the monorail, me crawling up the walls of the monorail in frustration as they all happily strolled along. So long rope drop, so long.



Our little preview did helpfully show us one thing though – Test Track was not running. We didn’t have a fast pass for this on this day and had planned to trek over there first thing to ride standby. We swiftly realigned our plans and as soon as we were through security and off we went to the Land pavilion, showing our best in London Commuter speed walking. Although it was now 10 minutes after official park opening and Test Track was down there was barely a line at Soarin’. We were loaded into our usual concourse B and asked to wait for the next show so we could be in our preferred spot – front and middle.



(photo taken on the way out – it was dead as we walked in)

It was our first time Soarin’ around the world and you know what? It was lovely. CGI heavy (I know Disney can do better than that – its like the want us to know its not all real) but very pretty. We did come off saying we preferred the California version though.



From here there really was only one place to go – Living with the Land. It was a walk on and was up to its usual high standards. It is in all honesty one of my favourite WDW experiences, restful, charming… as soon as I hear “In farmlands across America…” I’m in my happy place. It was good to see the Epcot 35 tribute in lettuce form too.







Our original plan was to walk over to Beach Club this morning for breakfast (I’m obsessed with the cheese-tastic breakfast potatoes that come with their egg & cheese – minus the bacon – croissants). Well, the original plan was the new character breakfast at Trattoria al Forno. The revised plan was cheesey eggy goodness. In the end? We decided we would be mad to waste all of that park time walking there and back so headed into Sunshine Seasons instead for a balanced breakfast. R went for a chocolate and vanilla coffee cake, I went with a chocolate covered macaroon and we split the cheese and grape box. With a couple of drinks it came to just under $20. Hurrah for sensible holiday breakfast decisions!





Hanger seen off, we were sugared up and ready to face the parks again. We had a little while to kill before our fast pass at Mission Space was good so we went into Mousegear for a little air conditioning and retail therapy.



My luck was in and they were just laying out the cutest jewellery for the 35th anniversary – it was Spaceship Earth / Mickey Mouse jewellery. Necklace, earings and a ring. They were gorgeous. The earings and necklace were to be mine. I can’t find a photo of them on my computer, but I posted this to IG that afternoon:



How gorgeous are they? I’ve heard they are now back in stock at Mousegear too.

[lumosq102]

From here we wandered over to Spaceship Earth for our first fastpass of the day. We were heading on the green side though, thank you very much, to be guided through our trip around the world by Zoe from Firefly. It was a lovely update, but one and done for us.



We even found a photopass photographer over that way too:





We managed to run into the end of a Muppet Lab show. Literally the end, but we figured we had so much time ahead of us in Epcot we would catch it again. Spoiler alert – we didn’t.



From here we were headed back through Mousegear (smells odd but that A/C is just lovely on hot Future World days) and over to our first Food and Wine booth of the holiday. The Future World booths had just opened and R was up for trying the sweet pancake with spicy chipotle chicken sausage, onion jam and maple butter syrup. We sat in the seating area whilst R enjoyed her pancake and sausage (finally one of was eating actual breakfast food) no picture though as, well, it’s not worth the space it would take up. This is not a great day for my photos – just a warning.



Our fast pass for Spaceship Earth was finally up so off we trek back to the front of the park to spend some time with the Phoenicians. It was 11:15 at this point and we figured we had plenty of time before our Mix It, Make It over at the Festival Centre.


The SSE sign needs a clean…



I love this but can never pause for a good photo – too close to boarding to slow down without slowing down others.



We boarded our vehicle at 11:20 and enjoyed a restful trip through time.



Monk hard at work:



Until he was put out of work by the printing press. Darn Guttenberg!


Mid century room of my dreams



Sartorial hero



Until we got stuck on the descent.



We were sat on the hill backwards for 15 minutes, all the while I was getting more and more panicked that we were going to miss Mix It Make It… and kinda hoping that we would be evac’d so we could walk down the track.

Finally our future arrived:



Salad and a city view. Dearly needed veg after this trip.



The beginning of our future – and a skin issue for me. Look at those red cheeks – my skin was angry.



We were off and racing across Future World just before noon, R grabbed a place in line and I grabbed the tickets from the booth at the front of the festival centre, and we could rest easy 15 minutes before our first food and wine event of the trip.

We had been trying to do the cheese, wine and chocolate session for ages and this trip it finally fell in our dates and we were able to get tickets.





It was a great hour. We had the fantastic Pam Smith who has hosted most of the food and wine demonstrations we have been to before, who was joined by 3 local food industry women who took us through a tour of their respective areas – cheese, wine, chocolate, and how to pair the three. We had four wines, 4 cheeses, 4 chocolates. They were all delicious and we left satisfied if a leeeeeetle bit merry.

Pam:



Pam and friends:





The wines were all from a Florida wine producer (although they buy their grapes from elsewhere). I was especially fond of the Dog Watch, the dessert wine. R was not. Obviously I drank both glasses.



Looking back to Spaceship Earth







We thought we would take a little wander over to the old Odyssey building to start our afternoon of food and wine fun where we picked up the chocolate stout (to give it its full name – Florida beer company Passport 35 Triple Chocolate Milk Stout). We both really enjoyed this and it was nice that it was making use of the old Odyssey restaurant building. We both enjoyed having a wander around here (and getting a blast of a/c now that the afternoon was marching on)

[lumosq102]

In the great debate of which way to go as you enter World Showcase, R and I didn’t think on it at all and just headed straight to Mexico as it had been over a week since we had arrived in Orlando and I was yet to be reunited with my Three Caballeros:



Strangely there was a photopass person on the way into the pavilion so we of course had to stop



the look of two gals who are relived to be in a cool dark room



Time to Fiesta!



It combines my love of ancient structure with my love of Donald Duck so it all works out



I know it makes sense that they will update this to Coco, and I’m sure it will up its popularity, but for now I’ll enjoy whatever time I can get with Donald, Jose and Panchito.







Viva Donald indeed





I adore these animatronics. They’re actually older than Walt Disney World



And still happily shaking those maracas



Adios friends – hope you are still there in June



We of course take a little wander around the little shops where we found a new shirt for R



The sugar skulls were really pretty. They really were upping the quality of the World Showcase merch since our last trip.



It was now time for our final fastpass of the day – Frozen Ever After. Unfortunately it was down. Gah! There was a lovely photopass photographer in place however so we stopped for a couple of photos. R got her wings:



before she told us to pretend we were cold. It was 90+ degrees. I’m not that good of an actor



and then made us hug. We’re very god friends, but again its 90+ degrees and exceptionally humid. These are the faces of 2 gals who want to get it over with ASAP



So onwards to China where we shared a Happy Peach (Happy Peach with DeKuyper Peach Liqueur and Myer’s Dark Rum). The good people of China do not skimp on their booze pours! This was lovely though, sweet and strong, but not overly sickley. It was nice and refreshing.




Now time for my first food item from the festival – the spinach and paneer cheese pocket with mint raita from the Africa outpost.


I had this a few years ago at food and wine when it came on its own, no raita, and remember eating a fair few of them that trip. This was just as good as I remembered, if not better. The paneer was lovely, the spinach had a nice spice to it and the raita was delicious. My only regret is that I didn’t get back to have another one. Or five.





We took a slow walk around the lagoon, not stopping for any more food as our evening dining reservation was coming up soon.

We made it to the American Pavilion in time to see the last performance of the day by Voices of Liberty.





I absolutely adore this group, their talent is astounding and there is no better way to round off an afternoon in the world showcase than by sitting down on the floor of the American Adventure and listening to them sing. Lovely. My notes say they sang about liberty, immigration and cowboys. Truly I’m a connoisseur of American folk music. Blush.



Worth noting – they have expanded the museum area in here. Someone set of an alarm so R and I left lest our eardrums explode but it looked like it had a really interesting selection. Its on our list of places to spend time next time we are here.

Now we snuck out of the building and were given cranky face from a cast member who was hustling the crowd on to the next showing of the American Adventure. We had dining reservations to get to that we were really excited about otherwise we would have been heading upstairs too.









We walked through International Gateway to stroll over to the Boardwalk for our 5:25 reservation at Flying Fish. This is an old favourite of ours but we hadn’t been back since the refurb so we were pretty excited going in



We checked in and were escorted to our table pretty quickly. This is where I made a big mistake. We had just got out of the sweltering heat and were feeling a little overheated from our commuter in a hurry pace from Epcot to the Boardwalk; they promptly sat us at a four top right on top of the open kitchen, specifically right by the kitchen hob. It was like being seated in hell.

We took the outer chairs, but really I should have asked to be moved. It did not get our dining experience off on the right foot.

Our view



That’s how close we were to the flame. If I was wearing hairspray I would have become the human torch.



To the food! I was handed the vegetarian menu. Now this isn’t available online so I’ll share, the meaty menu is of course online here disneyworld.disney.go/en...ng-fish/menus/



Lets start with drinks

A g&t for me



R went with the pacific rum punch



Both were lovely and refreshing and went down very easy. Perhaps too easy.

The bread – unfocussed but delicious



I ordered the Grilled baby romaine salad to start



It was delicious, it actually surprised me. I thought it might be a little dull but it was anything but- fresh, tasty, creamy yumminess.

R went with the Kurobuta Pork Belly with Croquette, Royal Gala Apple Slaw, Cranberry Gastrique.



R was in heaven – she had high hopes for it after the Dis’s review shortly after the restaurant reopened but she agreed with their description of the belly pork as “meat butter”. Happy campers all round!

R’s main is also unfocussed. I may have been dying from heat exhaustion at this point. That’s my excuse and I’m sticking to it.



This is the Hokkaido Scallop Nero Pasta, Key West Pink Shrimp, Savoury Tomato Sauce, Artichokes, Braised Fennel. R was sold on this in its original form when they served it with lobster rather than the scallop. She loves scallops but was really disappointed with the dish as a whole. The pasta didn’t have the flavour that she was hoping for, and thinks that the change of main component negatively impacted the dish. She also mentioned that she was stuffed from her starter and the bread (and was dying from the heat) but if she was to do this meal over again she’d only have a starter. I’d do the same.


I had the roasted tofu with savoury potato beurre blanc and vegetable melange -



This was disappointing. I’d read rave reviews of this dish but maybe they were having an off night? The tofu was bland. I cook with tofu a lot, and it’s a vehicle for yummy flavours, you have to season it, but something on it – this desperately needed seasoning. The veggies were lovely though, but spending $33 on some nice vegetables? That does not sit well.

We decided against pudding. The bill was around $150 with tip after the 30% AP discount.





We had planned to spend the evening at Hollywood Studios for the Star Wars fireworks but, well, remember that problem I was having with my skin yesterday? Well I was starting to look like my face was falling off. I had a tub of moisturiser in my bag and was applying it all day to stop my face from hurting, but at this point there was only one solution – Sephora.

We hopped over to the Boardwalk bus stop and were soon on our way to (Downtown) Disney Springs for a very swift visit. The very lovely Natasha at Sephora had me sorted out in a flash and we were soon back at the bus stop heading back to the hotel.

We got back to the hotel at 9pm and instead of watching the fireworks we ended up doing our laundry! Horribly sensible. The laundry room was at the end of the corridor so it was delightfully easy to nip back and forth in our hotel provided dressing gowns like the classy ladies we are!

We got to see half of one of my favourites – the electric water pageant. Half. Where did the rest go?

Then on with another Nightline and off into the land of nod for both of us.

[collybird]

I was like being seated in hell

I was really excited to see your review of Flying Fish, I had my favourite every Disney dish there, and we haven’t visited since the refurb either. A shame it didn’t blow you away.

We saw the floats for the Electric Water Pageant backstage when we did the KTTK last year, the tour guide said that some of them had been damaged in the hurricane.

[lumosq102]

Originally Posted by collybird

I was like being seated in hell

I was really excited to see your review of Flying Fish, I had my favourite every Disney dish there, and we haven’t visited since the refurb either. A shame it didn’t blow you away.

We saw the floats for the Electric Water Pageant backstage when we did the KTTK last year, the tour guide said that some of them had been damaged in the hurricane.

See more...

The potato wrapped snapper? That was other Kirsty's favourite too (she loved the combo with the steak).

To be fair we possibly caught them on a bad day, I haven't read many bad reviews of the new format. Maybe would have been better if we were there later when it was busier? And we were not seated in hell?

Thank you so much for the information about the Electric Water Pageant - that makes perfect sense! I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it will be all fixed for our next trip.

[collybird]

Originally Posted by lumosq102

The potato wrapped snapper? That was other Kirsty's favourite too (she loved the combo with the steak).

To be fair we possibly caught them on a bad day, I haven't read many bad reviews of the new format. Maybe would have been better if we were there later when it was busier? And we were not seated in hell?

Thank you so much for the information about the Electric Water Pageant - that makes perfect sense! I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it will be all fixed for our next trip.

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Yes, the potato wrapped snapper It was so amazing, I couldn't believe the duo wasn't on the menu when it re-opened. I never got to try the steak because the duo had been ditched in favour of separate dishes.

[lumosq102]

Originally Posted by collybird

Yes, the potato wrapped snapper It was so amazing, I couldn't believe the duo wasn't on the menu when it re-opened. I never got to try the steak because the duo had been ditched in favour of separate dishes.

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You never know - it might come back someday. fingers crossed.

[Excitedx4]

A lovely day, what a shame your meal wasn’t great and it was expensive too!