We're all going on a Poly-holiday - October 2019: Day 2: Hold my (green) beer...

[bambikate]

Day 2: Hold my (green) beer...
Monday 14 October 2019

Index

Tonga toast for breakfast, a day at Epcot, Food & Wine, Trader Sam's, Pandora at Night and Rivers of Light.

After a jam packed day yesterday, we gave ourselves a slight lie in until about 7am local time, I think if you go hard the first day it sort of forces your body clock into getting used to the different time zone.

The plan today was to head to Epcot for park opening, ride some rides, eat lots of food around the world showcase, visit trader Sam's for a quick drink then head back out to Animal Kingdom to see Pandora at night and watch Rivers of Light.


We decided to try out Capt. Cook's for breakfast this time, we joined the regular queue rather than trying mobile ordering again and managed to find a table to sit down inside.

Carpets in our longhouse on our way to breakfast



I had my first ever Tonga Toast (Banana-stuffed Sourdough Bread, Battered, Deep-fried, and Dusted with Cinnamon-Sugar served with Bacon or Sausage - I chose Bacon)



Andy had the Bounty Platter (Scrambled Eggs and French Toast served with Bacon, Sausage, Breakfast Potatoes, and a Biscuit) *picture inexplicably missing*

The girls had a giant chocolate chip muffin each and chocolate nesquik - their fave breakfast whenever they go to Disney



To get to Epcot from the Poly, you just needed to walk to the ticket and transportation centre (about 5 minutes from our longhouse) go through security and board the monorail. It was very convenient and a nice stroll.

The only thing was, you had to then do security twice as they also checked you after you got off the monorail, which did slow things down a bit but we didn't mind if it kept everyone safe



This lady decided to hold on to the handrail with her butt cheeks which was... different



If that doesn't make you want to carry round a spare hand sanitiser I don't know what does!

Epcot is our absolute favourite park, we couldn't be any happier to be back here









As we'd already eaten and our first fast pass wasn't until 10:15 we decided to mooch around the shops, first on our list - MouseGear!

Bubblegum wall



This dress is so extra!



Looking for new mugs to add to our growing collection







STIIIIITCH!



A new fan to replace our broken one



Dog toys...



We bought some nice souvenirs and had them shipped back to our resort so we didn't have to lug them around all day.

After shopping we walked over to the land pavilion ready for our Soarin' fast pass. I just love the smell in this pavilion, it makes me feel so nostalgic.



There were already 3 families waiting for B1 so it would've been quite a long wait to get the optimum seats. We decided to take our chances and just get seated where we were given and we got A1 but as we were first in the line it was right next to the edge of B1 anyway so at the front and fairly central, which we were really happy about.









Ahhhhh I LOVE this ride so much

Afterwards it was time for our Living with the Land fast pass. Initially I didn't think it was even worth booking this one as it's usually pretty quiet but it turned out to be a 20 minute wait so we were happy to be able to scan and get straight to the front











How lush are these lights, I bet they look gorgeous at night



Futuristic looking cabbage!

[bambikate]

As much as we love the food at Sunshine Seasons there was only one place we were headed that day... Food & Wine festival! We had learnt from previous trips to avoid peak times and avoid weekends as the crowds were just crazy.

We had specifically planned this in for a Monday and were heading there early (about 11:45am)

Our plan worked and for the most part and the queues were all very short apart from our first stop which had a moderate queue.

First on our whistle-stop tour: Flavors from Fire!



Honestly it all sounded and smelled incredible it was really hard to choose but we eventually picked the smoked corned beef and the chocolate picante.







It was absolutely baking already and we were struggling to find somewhere to eat that was in the shade.

We managed to find a lovely little picnic table with a parasol hidden behind the booth, which gave some shade.

I've asked everyone for their scores out of ten for all the food and wine treats, which I've listed below...

The chocolate picante was OK but the smoked corned beef was just lovely!

Chocolate picante:
Izzy 3/10
Immy 4/10
Kate 4.5/10
Andy 7/10
Average 4.6/10

Smoked corned beef
Izzy 8.5/10
Immy 9/10
Kate 9/10
Andy 7/10
Average 8.4/10

Next ,we went to Active Eats and Earth Eats





There was only one thing on our hit list from each place here - The loaded mac and cheese and the impossible burger slider.



Loaded macaroni and cheese
Izzy 9/10
Immy 10/10
Kate 10/10
Andy 9.5/10
Average 9.6/10

This was SO GOOD



It was so rich and creamy and the leeks and bacon gave it such a gorgeous flavour - deffo recommend!

Now onto the The IMPOSSIBLE™ Burger Slider with Wasabi Cream and Spicy Asian Slaw on a Sesame Seed Bun - which I believe is a vegan option and it was DELICIOUS





Impossible burger
Izzy 4/10 (she just didn't like the horseradish flavour)
Immy 9/10
Kate 9/10
Andy 9/10
Average 7.8/10

Next up, an oldie but a goodie... The Chocolate Studio

We probably could've tried some new menu items but the girls really wanted their favourites - the chocolate raspberry tart and the whiskey caramel

Dark Chocolate Raspberry Tart with Whipped Cream



Izzy 9.75/10
Immy 10/10
Kate 7/10
Andy 8.5/10
Average 8.8/10

Liquid Nitro Chocolate-Almond Truffle with Warm Whiskey-Caramel



Izzy 10/10
Immy 7/10
Kate 7.5/10
Andy 8.5/10
Average 8.6/10

Next, we went to the wine and dine studio to try the scallops and the butternut squash ravioli



Seared Scallops, Truffled Celery Root Purée, Brussels Sprouts and Wild Mushrooms

This was really lovely, the girls weren't too keen but I guess the flavours are a little more mature.



Izzy 1/10
Immy 3/10
Kate 8/10
Andy 8/10
Average 5/10

Butternut Squash Ravioli with Brown Butter Vinaigrette, Parmesan Cheese and Pumpkin Seeds



This was soooo delicious, it was a great mixture of textures and flavours and the salty and sweet combination went so well. The girls were not keen to try this one so only Andy and I scored

Izzy (not tried)
Immy (not tried)
Kate 9/10
Andy 7/10
Average 8/10

Next, we went to the Hawaii booth for an old favourite, the Kalua pork slider and to try something new - the passionfruit cheesecake with macadamia nuts.

Kalua Pork Slider with Sweet-and-Sour DOLE® Pineapple Chutney and spicy Mayonnaise



The slider was as good as always and had tons of flavour. I would definitely order a full size on of these.

Izzy 8/10
Immy 8.5/10
Kate 8/10
Andy 7/10
Average 7.9/10


Next up, the Passion Fruit Cheesecake with Toasted Macadamia Nuts.

Now passionfruit and macadamia nuts are two of our favourite flavours so e were all super excited to try this but my goodness it was such a huge disappointment! It tasted like a vanilla cheesecake. We just couldn't taste the passionfruit at all. So bland and boring and hardly any macadamia nuts - would definitely not recommend.



It even looks bland!

Izzy 1/10
Immy 1/10
Kate 2/10
Andy 3/10
Average 1.8/10

Next, on our list was shimmering sips to try the Mimosa flight and the strawberry soft serve in a waffle cone.



The mimosa flight was made up of:

1. Tropical Mimosa with Sparkling Wine and Passion Fruit, Orange, and Guava Juices
2. Key Lime Mimosa with Key Lime Sparkling Wine and Cranberry Juice
3. Blood Orange Mimosa with Sparkling Wine and Blood Orange Juice



They looked great and were very refreshing but unfortunately the sparkling wine wasn't particularly fizzy and made the whole thing a little flat and it felt kind of mass produced (which I guess it is, but still!)

Kate 5/10
Andy 4/10
Average 4.5/10

Now for the very instagrammable Shimmering Strawberry Soft-serve in a Waffle Cone

Another disappointment over here, I'm afraid. It tasted very milky and bland, given the colour I was expecting a big strawberry hit like you get with the pineapple dole whip but to me it tasted exactly like a strawberry mini-milk (which if you love, then go for this!).

Andy and the girls agreed it wasn't great and we didn't even manage one between four of us and the rest went in the bin.



Izzy 6/10
Immy 2/10
Kate 2/10
Andy 2/10
Average 3/10

We decided to end our food tour today on a high and walked over to the Canada pavilion for some filt mignon and cheese soup.

The only snack of the day that we ordered 2 of

Le Cellier Wild Mushroom Beef Filet Mignon with Truffle-Butter Sauce



As always, super tasty but it's so hard to eat with a plastic knife and fork! It would be great if the filet was pre-sliced

Izzy 8/10
Immy 8/10
Kate 8/10
Andy 8.5/10
Average 8.1/10

Finally the yummy Canadian Cheddar Cheese and Bacon Soup served with a Pretzel Roll

So good and really rich and delicious





Izzy (didn't try)
Immy 9/10
Kate 9/10
Andy 9/10
Average 9/10

Mission accomplished, it was time to head back to the resort to escape the blistering heat and relax before going back out tonight

But not before our last fast pass of the day... Spaceship Earth Another one which ended up being worthwhile as it saved us a 25 minute wait.



I'm so so sad this is going soon

After a monorail ride and a short walk home we popped back to our room for a short rest and refresh. We had planned in a visit to Trader Sam's so we could go in when the girls were allowed (pre 7pm) and when it wasn't too busy.

We went in and they advised it was a forty minute wait, it was a bit longer than we'd hoped but we accepted and they gave us a buzzer.

We decided to have a stroll round to Pineapple Lanai to grab a dole whip whilst we waited.

We saw they had some little games set up on the artificial grass near the great ceremonial house including corn hole, which we love.

[bambikate]

We ordered one dole whip and a heart of tefiti cone to share, which was a lime dole whip in a green cone with an edible flower. This one was super pretty and also tasted great. So refreshing and tart.







Right on cue, our buzzer buzzed and we were allowed in to Trader Sam's, annoyingly there were still no tables but we could order our drinks at least so we stood around awkwardly table watching, waiting to jump in a free seat as soon as it became available.



One good thing about the Grog Grotto in the Poly over the Disneyland's Enchated Tiki Bar is that the bartenders didn't seem to mind the kids standing by the bar whilst we orders our cocktails and mocktails (maybe it's because it was them that let us in with no seats available... )



FLASH! Ahh-ahhh



Luckily we were only awkwardly lurking for a few sips of our drinks before we found a lovely big table in the corner.

Andy and I ordered a shrunken zombie head (Gosling’s 151 Black Seal Rum, Appleton Estate Reserve Rum, Bacardi 8 yr Rum, Tropical Juices, Falernum, and Cinnamon)

and a HippopotoMai-Tai (Plantation Original Dark Rum, Bacardi Superior Rum, Bols Orange Curaçao, Orgeat (Almond), Organic Agave Nectar, and fresh Lime Juice.)

Izzy had Schweitzer Falls (Tropical Juices and Sam’s Gorilla Grog topped with Sprite) and Immy had Polynesian Punch (Sam’s Gorilla Grog and Hibiscus Grenadine.)

We had the original first edition shrunken zombie head mug at home (green) so we went for the option to buy the souvenir mug again this time as we loved the new colour.

We also had the original clear glass tiki mug which came with the HippopotoMai-Tai so decided to also purchase the new stone effect one too.

We all decided on one more for the road and Andy and I shared an Uh-Oa. We also decided to purchase the new edition mug for this one. (Don't worry, we had a whole spare suitcase )

The girls chose to have a Skipper Sipper each - Tropical Juices, Organic Agave Nectar, Falernum, Mint, and fresh Lime Juice topped with Soda Water

Our server was hilarious bringing our Uh-Oa one to our table, he was so animated and encouraged us all to throw the cinnamon at the fire which made super cool sparks. The shouted SACRIFICE! And stabbed the fire out using the straws saying "stabby stabby stabby!" The girls couldn't stop laughing!

(The Uh-Oa is Plantation Original Dark Rum, Bacardi Superior Rum, Orange, Passion Fruit, Guava, Pineapple, and Grapefruit Juices, Falernum, Cinnamon, and fresh Lime Juice. Recommended for Two or more Guests)

Blurry pic










We all chanted along with the "Two shots of rum!" and enjoyed the fantastic atmosphere and fun as always, it's such a great experience for kids too. They always talk about it and we enjoy making fun cocktails and mocktails at home too.

We had a brilliant time at Trader Sam's but we were getting hungry and we had Satuli Canteen planned in so it was off to Animal Kingdom for us!

We strolled down to the bus stop and there was an Animal Kingdom bus waiting there ready to go!







We were a bit ahead of schedule so we checked our MDE app and found a fast pass for Dinosaur starting straight away, which we decided to book.






[url=https://www.thedibb.co.uk/p/2ir6M4A]





On the way over to Pandora we ordered our food at Satuli Canteen via mobile ordering. We had heard that the Satuli Canteen mobile ordering was really good so we thought we would give it a try

















Arriving at Satuli





It was super easy to pick up our order, we just went to the pick up desk and they were literally just putting our order onto trays Brilliant!

We found a table and took our trays over.

Andy and I chose Hawkes’ Grog Ale, which is green!








The girls had Cheeseburger pods with vegetable crisps





We had the beef and chicken build your own bowl, one with rice and one with regular and sweet potato hash, both with creamy garlic dressing



For dessert we of course had the Blueberry Cream Cheese Mousse to share, which has a gorgeous passionfruit curd on top - beautiful AND delicious!



We all agreed that Satuli is just such a brilliant use of a QS credit, theming, atmosphere, quality of food, value for money (if on DDP) all great.

We had planned on watching Rivers of Light next so we started walking over to the stadium.





As we got there, they were directing people to a new section and had just started filling up rows from the bottom (front row) upwards - we were really happy with our seats, it worked out so well!

Waiting for ROL


This was the first time we had seen the show since they removed the live actors and actually we all loved it! It was so pretty to watch and had nice music.

[bambikate]

I know this show gets a lot of hate but I think it's definitely worth a watch if you're there at night time.
















After a brilliant day we walked back to the bus station to catch a bus back to the Poly. We weren't quite ready for the day to be over yet so when we got back we quickly got changed into our swimming gear and went back down to the Oasis pool for a late night swim and hot tub before calling it a night.

A brilliant second day

[Floridafour]

Aaah, what a great day 🙂
Trader Sam’s looks great fun. I love Epcot, it’s my fave park ❤️
Thanks for posting

[LOU,]

Another great day. Great mix of food, will defo be trying a few. Green beer, not so sure about that, 😂 looking forward to your next day.

[snowdrop100]

another amazing day! i've said it before (and i'm saying it again)...you're daughters have so much energy on holidays! my two are very similar ages and just cant hack such full days. good for you guys though...you really do holiday the right way (in my opinion!)

[Tinkermom]

Love the girls matching dresses, so cute.

[mick]

A brilliant day and fantastic photos

Joan

[princess allie]

I’m in awe, you always seem to pack so much in.