Drink It In MAN! One week trip feat. F & G Fest and lots of offsite intrigue

[LadyDebs86]

Day 6

Ah the bliss of waking up at Disney

We'd had the curtains open as looking out at the lights was so lovely to fall asleep to. I headed out onto the balcony to watch the Boardwalk wake up, this has to be one of my favourite things to do in the whole world.

I got ready while Chris went to pick up Rob and Laura from the Rosen, because today was our EPCOT day!

We had an early breakfast booked at Garden Grill so we wandered through the International Gateway and round World Showcase to The Land. We had hoped to get a ride on Soarin in (as we'd decided to FP Test Track instead) but sadly the queue was already up to 50 minutes so we sacked that off.

We were seated at our table (sadly not a booth, boo, although I'm sure we could have asked to wait for one) , our server was fab and performed the 'magic trick' of turning the stacked plates and bowls into a hidden Mickey

First course was fresh fruit and a big cinnamon roll:

The fruit was lovely although predominantly melon. I didn't think I liked cinnamon buns but I decided to try a bit and it was soooo good, all warm and oozy and spicy. I had to stop myself from having loads as I knew there was more to come.

Next course was the family-style skillet, containing bacon, sausage, tater tots, scrambled eggs and Mickey waffles, which came with a chocolate-hazelnut sauce.

I'd also originally ordered an orange juice but then remembered that you could get POG juice (aka Jungle Juice) from here so asked for a glass of that - its amazing.

All the savoury food was really good, nice and hot and the eggs were just how I like them. I must admit to being one of the few who doesn't really 'get' Mickey waffles. They're not really sweet enough and I find them too crunchy. Oh well, we cant all like everything.

We got visits from all the characters and had the obligatory photos, I'd say despite us being a party of 4 adults the interaction was really really good and made us laugh a lot.

The server had obviously clocked my birthday badge because she brought me this at the end:

I was too full to eat more than a bite but Chris unselfishly finished it off She also gave us 4 free paper FPs to Turtle Talk with Crush but we never ended up using them. I've still never done that.

I'd say Garden Grill is a really good breakfast option. It was pricy when paying OOP as we were but if we were on the dining plan we'd definitely go back.

We did a few rides and then raced on over to the Boardwalk community hall for our DVC presentation. We stayed there for about an hour and were grateful to be given cold cans of pop to go with our $100 gift card and 3 FPs each! Sadly the FPs weren't valid for Frozen (or SDMT, TSMM or any character meets/shows) but we were delighted to know we'd get to ride Soarin'.

Following that, we headed back to the park with plenty of food for thought! We rode Soarin (I loved the new film and much preferred it to the old one, having had time to think about it) and then headed back to WS to commence our Flower and Garden Festival journey!

I had grabbed a passport earlier in the day, these are free and located next to the park maps at the entrances to the park. They detail all of the menus at each booth along with any other special events that are going on. You can also mark off which booths you've visited, this used to be with a stamp but this has changed to a sticker.

We started at the Urban Farm Eats booth, Chris got a beer and we shared the pork tenderloin (Seared Pork Tenderloin with Mushroom Ragoût, Spring Vegetables and Fingerling Potatoes)

This was really good, a great start. Really tender and flavoursome.

Next up, Pineapple Promenade - a Pineapple Soft-Serve with Parrot Bay Coconut Rum and a Frozen Desert Violet Lemonade:

Look how pretty that violet lemonade is! It was beautiful, like a freezy parma violet sweet the Dole Whip was amazing but the rum didn't really add anything. It all collected in the bottom so once you got there it was basically pure rum with a bit of melted ice cream in.

We then made our way into the pyramid in the Mexico pavilion and after a quick ride on the Three Caballeros boat ride we grabbed a table in La Cava del Tequila, a first for me

I had a pineapple margarita:

Chris had a Wild Passionfruit Margarita:

Laura had the Blood Orange Margarita and Rob had a negroni, which was a limited special:

We also shared some chips and salsa:

Back out in the glorious sunshine, our next stop was the Bauernmarkt booth. The boys both had a beer flight:

I had the Potato Pancake with Caramelized Ham, Onions and Herb Sour Cream

Rob had a Currywurst with paprika crisps:

Mine was lovely, anything with sour cream and I'm a fan!

We then hit the Primavera Kitchen near Italy and both couples shared a portion of Meatball Parmigiana: Hand-made Beef and Veal Meatballs, Tomato Sauce, Mozzarella, Parmigiana and Fresh Basil. I had a Peach Bellini, Laura had a Prosecco, Chris had a beer and I'm not sure what the other one was, I think a Rossini (sparkling wine and strawberries)?

I treated my FB friends to a pic:

I then insisted Rob should be treated to 'The American Adventure' , it gets better every time

Laura then had a try of the Beef Brisket Burnt Ends Hash with White Cheddar Fondue and Pickled Jalapeños:

Our second-to-last food stop before Illuminations and park closing was the Fleur de Lys booth in France. I had the Tarte à l’Onion Alsacienne: Alsatian Onion Tart with Sautéed Onions, Fresh Thyme and Rosemary on a Flaky Puff Pastry Crust and a La Vie en Rose Frozen Slushy: Grey Goose Orange, St. Germain Liqueur, White and Red Cranberry Juice:

Nommmmm! The drink was beautiful and the tart was soooooo yummy! I'd enjoyed everything but this was my fave

Mine and Chris' final food stop was Northern Bloom for Seared Scallops with French Green Beans, Butter Potatoes, Brown Butter Vinaigrette and Apple wood Smoked Bacon:

After the always-wonderful Illuminations we all headed back to the Boardwalk for a final drink in Abracadabar. I had a virgin Magic Mirror (the drink Chris had had the day before), Chris had a beer, Laura had a Pepsi and Rob had a Coney Negroni:

We'd had a ridiculously packed day but I'd absolutely loved it

[Rescuer]

Another great day. I really liked the garden grill breakfast.
How long did your dvc thing take?

[LadyDebs86]

Originally Posted by Rescuer

Another great day. I really liked the garden grill breakfast.
How long did your dvc thing take?

See more...

We were there for about an hour. We were just in a sales office with no model units so it was just a pitch, not a tour. I knew a lot about DVC due to my parents being members so I didn't have a huge number of questions. It can take a lot longer.

[debojahh]

The violet lemonade and Rose slushy are so pretty!
Love all the little food around World showcase too. Yum.

[sheluk]

That sounds like an amazing day! And that rose grey goose slushie yummmmmm

[scottishnellie]

I love your taste in cocktails! We go with the kids in tow so I don't get to sample as many as I would like - loving your choices 😍

[globedust]

What a brilliant Epcot day! Defo adding Garden Grill breakfast to my list for next year, the cinammon bun sold it. Thanks for sharing your experiences!

[DisneyDreamer81]

Have just binge read this and I am starving now! I had that honey herbed chicken on my BA flight to The Bahamas last week and was so shocked at how nice it was!

Also, I've never seen anyone with a wedding ring similar to mine before so you clearly have fantastic taste

Keke's looks incredible - definitely want to give it a try at some point!

[LadyDebs86]

Thank you all for your lovely comments, hope I've given people some food for thought

Last day coming up now...

[LadyDebs86]

Day 7 -Travel Home Day

Today was sadly the last day of our trip, we weren't flying until after 6pm so we had some time to linger.

While I got ready and finished some last minute packing Chris went down to the Boardwalk to grab us some breakfast. He went to the Boardwalk Bakery for a cinnamon bun.

"Do you want extra frosting?"

"Absolutely I do... "

He got some fruit too.

There was only one thing I'd asked for and one thing only.

THE BELLE CUPCAKE.

And here it is! Definitely an acceptable breakfast I'd say. The actual cake part was soooooo good, so light and sweet. There was far too much frosting for me though and I ended up scraping quite a bit off (sorry frosting fans).

After packing up me and Chris stowed our luggage with bell services. We had a date at Animal Kingdom Villas with our DVC guide Nick to sign some papers and buy the most expensive tote bag Ive ever purchased...

Yep, we're now owners of a small stake at the Polynesian Villas, meaning we are basically tied in to come back to Disney FOR EVER!

Anyway. I's dotted and T's crossed we were back in a minibus to the Boardwalk, driven by the most adorable guy who had a lot of questions about Brexit (mainly "what the hell are you guys doing over there?!?!" - we said we had no idea and it was nothing to do with us) and Donald Trump (he didn't vote for him and found the whole situation terrifying).

We grabbed the bags and drove over to I-Drive to pick up Laura and Rob, via Five Guys as I realised I had been in Florida for a week and not had a burger!

Chris had a cheeseburger, I had a 'little' bacon cheeseburger, and we shared a regular fries.

Yep - that's a regular size. Soooo many fries and plenty between two of us.

Still my favourite burger in the world. These don't look pretty but damn they taste AMAZING.

We both also had coke freestyles which were refillable. I started with a raspberry Sprite and then refilled with cherry coke for the journey to Tampa... sooooo good.

Pals collected it was off to Tampa Airport. We made a bit of an error as despite being very early to the airport AND knowing our flight was delayed even later than its stated time we decided to go straight through security. Sadly the food court airside was being refurbed so there were very limited options, the duty free was also dire so we ended up playing cards and trying to pass the time. There wasn't really anywhere to grab snacks for the plane so I went on empty handed.

The meal on board was a choice of cheese and tomato pasta or chicken curry. I had the pasta:

This was your standard microwave pasta meal, it was fine. Don't really know how you'd get it wrong to be honest. Chris had the curry:

I've just asked him what it was like and he said 'yeah, it was alright'. More glowing praise from my other half

There was also a salad, bread roll and dessert (which I think was Black Forest Gateau flavoured) - I cant comment on any of these as I didn't touch them.

An hour or so before landing we were given a breakfast box containing a pretzel roll with cream cheese and a cereal bar:

The pretzel roll was ok, I was starving though which probably helped. The cereal bar was disgusting, like chipboard. I gave it to Chris after one small bite.

A shame to end my food report on that note but alas, end it I must.

Here's to my new DVC membership and hopefully many more years of great Disney trips and food reports!

Thanks so much to all who have read and commented, it means a lot to me that people enjoy these reports and they can help people decide to eat somewhere that maybe they weren't considering before.