We're all going on a Poly-holiday - October 2019: Day 6: Day of a thousand snack credits

[bambikate]

Day 6: Day of a thousand snack credits
Friday 18 October 2019

Index

A full Epcot day with ALL the snacks, laundry at the hotel, the world’s most expensive cocktails and pizza and cake in the room

After a pretty full on day the day before (a pretty full on 5 days, to be honest!) we rewarded ourselves with a little bit of a lazy morning.

Andy volunteered as tribute to go down to Capt. Cook’s to bring us back some breakfast

We stayed in our jammies, watched weather and storm programs and had some lovely food and basically just RELAXED





We were in no rush today as it was just a totally chilled day and the first thing we were going to Epcot for was to World Showcase for food and wine which didn’t start until 11am.

On our way to the TTC to get the monorail to Epcot











We really liked this path where the Poly becomes the TTC



After a nice short security queue (as it was later on in the day) we were through to the monorail queue.

The lazy morning had given me time to give the girls a “special” hair do. I had bought some ombre fake hair before we left and braided it in to the girls’ hair - I think it turned out pretty cool



Waiting for the monorail!





We made it on board!



After a short ride we arrived at Epcot and walked down to security and through the magic band scanners.

There it is! (With lots of construction walls…)



We arrived just in time to watch a little performance by the Jamminators





After a short stroll, we arrived at our first country for our ultimate tour of the food and wine booths. As our title suggests, today was all about the snack credits and trying as much delicious food and drink as possible.

For consistency with my previous days, I’d better keep scoring the F&W snacks…

FYI all food snacks were snack credit eligible unless stated otherwise below.

To start with, we chose Taco de Puerco and Tostada de Carne and two classic margaritas. I have to say we all absolutely loved the food - it was all super flavourful and had lots of different textures.

Taco de Puerco: Shredded Pork Belly on a Corn Tortilla with Salsa Verde



Taco de Puerco:
Izzy 9/10
Immy 10/10
Kate 9/10
Andy 8.5/10
Average 9.1/10

and

Tostada de Carne: Braised Beef on a Corn Tostada with Mole Oaxaqueño and Chicharrón Dust



Tostada de Carne:
Izzy 7/10
Immy 9/10
Kate 7.5/10
Andy 7.5/10
Average 7.8/10

Andy and I also had the Clasica Reyes Margarita each: 100% Agave Tequila, Ancho Reyes Liqueur, Lime Juice, and Agave Nectar served on the rocks with a Tajín Chile-Lime Powder Rim – $10.75





Clasica Reyes Margarita:
Kate 8/10
Andy 8/10
Average 8/10

I really liked the Tajín powder instead of salt.

After our first of many snacks we wandered in to the Mexico pavilion for the girls to do some colouring and to have a browse around the indoor market before hopping on the Gran Fiesta Tour



Arrrrrriba! Gran Fiesta tour starring the three caballeros

















This is such a cute ride, it makes me feel really happy and relaxed.

After Mexico we found ourselves in Norway and stopped at the kidcot station for the girls to do some more colouring. They have changed the colouring now so instead of Duffy Bears to colour in they have cute little ziplock bags with luggage cases on them and you get a sticker and a little paper postcard to colour in each country.

I quite liked this Norway mug



Colouring time



Of course Andy and the girls and I all insulted each other saying “hey, they made a statue of you!”



I was keen to try the raclette from the Alps both but the others turned their noses up. I didn’t want a portion all to myself… there were too many snacks to try to take up that much space



We moved on to China as there were a few item on our snack list to try there. Andy picked up a Draft Beer from Lotus Blossom Cafe



Kate 7.5/10
Andy 7.5/10
Average 7.5/10

We all loved the Wuxi Spareribs - tender, fall off the bone meat with lots of lovely flavour





Wuxi Spareribs:
Izzy 9/10
Immy 8/10
Kate 8.5/10
Andy 8.5/10
Average 8.5/10



Next we tried the chicken and shrimp bao bun



Mala Chicken and Shrimp Bao Bun
Izzy 10/10
Kate 7.5/10
Andy 7/10
Average 8.2/10

[bambikate]

Chicken Dumplings with Chinese Slaw - this was really good too.



Izzy 7/10
Immy 9/10
Kate 7.5/10
Andy 7.5/10
Average 7.8/10

After our snacks we ventured into the China shops for a browse



The girls were heavily into the squishes phase when we went and they had a pretty good selection in the gift shop. After a lot of deliberating they eventually decided on which ones they were going to buy





We couldn’t leave the China pavilion without having our favourite cocktail in Epcot - Tipsy ducks in love

If you aren’t familiar with this one it’s iced black coffee, iced black tea, dairy free milk, bourbon and chocolate sauce shaken over ice (you can also have it with dairy free whipped cream on top)

The Sears introduced us to this cocktail a few years ago and it's blimmin' lovely.





Tipsy ducks:
Kate 10/10
Andy 10/10
Average 10/10

Next, we walked round to Epcot’s Refreshment Outpost.

We were all keen to try the Nigerian meat pie after hearing lots of rave reviews. It was an interesting blend of apricot, curry, beef, and onions wrapped in flaky pastry and it was absolutely delicious.

Before I could take an insta-worthy picture, Izzy managed to accidentally poke her thumb into the pastry and made a big dent

It was expertly covered by a fork…







Nigerian meat pie:
Izzy 10/10
Immy 10/10
Kate 9/10
Andy 8/10
Average 9.25/10

Next, we stopped in Germany for some colouring and a browse then on to Italy

Selfie



There was a lot we wanted to try here as we are big Italian food fans here’s our selection:



We had: Ravioli Carbonara: Parmesan and Pecorino Ravioli, Egg Yolk, Cream, and Bacon. Andy and I loved it but the girls thought it was a bit dry (not enough sauce) which is a fair comment.



Carbonara:
Izzy 5/10
Immy 5/10
Kate 8.5/10
Andy 8.5/10
Average 6.75/10

Pollo: Crispy Chicken with Marinara Sauce - this one was a real winner. We all love marinara anyway but with the crispy chicken it was especially good!



Pollo:
Izzy 7/10
Immy 8/10
Kate 9/10
Andy 9/10
Average 8.25/10

Chocolate-Hazelnut Cake: Vanilla Cake and Chocolate-Hazelnut Mascarpone Cream dipped in Chocolate. With a description like that, who isn’t going to want to try it? Izzy loved it, Immy was full and didn’t want to try any and Andy and I thought it was just ‘OK’. A mixed review from us.





Chocolate hazelnut cake:
Izzy 9/10
Kate 6/10
Andy 6/10
Average 7/10

To drink, Andy and I loved the sound of the Italian Margarita with Limoncello and Tequila, and ordered one each. Unfortunately, it wasn’t great. We were convinced they had swapped out the drinks for just a lemon slush - it was just so sweet and we couldn’t tast the alcohol.



Limoncello slush:
Kate 5/10
Andy 6.5/10
Average 5.75/10

We stayed eating our treats in the shade for a while, watching the entertainment and taking in the atmosphere. We popped in to the kidcot station and the chocolate shop.

We walked round to the USA for.. you guessed it! More colouring and more food



YUMMY!



We OF COURSE had to have the New England Lobster Roll: Warm Lobster with Fresh Herb Mayonnaise and Griddled Roll. It was just as good as we remembered - and such great value for a snack credit. The girls were stuffed so were happy with just water and colouring for now.



Lobster roll:
Kate 9/10
Andy 8/10
Average 8.5/10

We paired the lobster roll with the beer flight which was made up of North Coast Bewing Co. Blue Star Wheat, Fort Bragg, CA, 3 Daughters Brewing A Wake Coffee Blonde Ale, St. Petersburg, FL, and Heavy Seas AmeriCannon APA, Baltimore, MD



Beer flight:
Kate 8/10
Andy 8/10
Average 8/10

Now on to our favourite pavillion, Japan



So pretty!



And on to our favourite shop in World Showcase


We loved these hidden Mickeys in the windows of the shop





Andy actually loves shopping believe it or not… you wouldn’t guess it by this face…



The girls bought some surprise keyrings they liked the look of - something to do with cats and sushi?! Who knows. They also picked up a couple of ramune sodas to have later.

My face when the girls start arguing again…





The girls sat down to learn some Japanese and do some more… you guessed it! COLOURING!

I waited with the girls and Andy nipped over to the shop to get some sparkling sake, it was beautiful and something we are always trying to find it back in the UK but it’s always super expensive.



Sake:
Kate 9/10
Andy 9/10
Average 9/10





All that colouring and browsing had really given us an appetite again

[bambikate]

Luckily, the Japan F&W booth had just what we needed - Teriyaki Chicken Bun: Steamed Bun filled with Chicken, Vegetables and a Sweet Teriyaki Sauce and oh my it was delicious!



Bao bun:
Izzy 8/10
Immy 10/10
Kate 9/10
Andy 8/10
Average 8.75/10

Pretty Morocco



Hanging around in France for a while, enjoying just “being there”




A few photos









Our dish of choice wa the Boeuf Braisé à la Bordelaise, Pomme Dauphine: Beef Braised in Cabernet Sauvignon with Red Onions and Puffed Potatoes - it was LUSH! Would so order this again.

I was keen to try the escargot but no one else was keen *rolls eyes*



Boeuf:
Izzy 6/10
Immy 9/10
Kate 9/10
Andy 9/10
Average 8.25/10

BUSY



Our final country - Canada! Eh?



We were too full to properly enjoy the filet so decided to give that a miss until next time.

Instead we have a good explore and the girls got their final stickers for their little ziplock bags and did their final colouring.



We were really keen to see the Epcot project,we had seen so much about it online and it looked so cool. I’m happy they are investing so much in our favourite park (just for us, obvs…) but I am really hoping they keep the original feel and don’t make it unrecognisable.

On the way the smells coming from the Islands of the Caribbean booth drew us over. It smelled incredible.



We figured we had enough space to share an empanada

Here we have the Ropa Vieja Empanada with Tomato Aïoli!



Empanada:
Izzy 7/10
Immy 7/10
Kate 7/10
Andy 7/10
Average 7/10

It was really flavourful and delicious but perhaps our eyes were a little bigger than our bellies in all honesty

Now time for a huge photo overload of the Epcot project. It was truly stunning and it looks as though it’s going to be incredible when it’s all done. Bravo, Disney!



























Here’s a little montage of our snack haul for the day!





We decided to call it a day and started walking back to the monorail. On the way through we saw the Cool Wash had transformed into a custom frozen slushy booth for the F&W festival - awesome!

The girls’ eyes lit up and asked if they could get one. We agreed they could share one as they were huge. There was a plethora of favours on offer but the girls wanted just good old blue raspberry! We filled out the little form and handed in - the CM was like (just the one flavour?!) OK!

As a topping, the girls chose boba balls there were lots of options on offer!



The girls gave it a 10/10

[bambikate]

Leaving Epcot







After a short wait we hopped on the monorail to go back to our resort.



The weather forecast was really bad for the rest of the day - torrential rain. We were supposed to be going back out to Hollywood Studios to see Fantasmic and ride Slinky Dog, which we had a 9pm fast pass for so we could ride it in the dark but none of us were feeling it at all and decided to cancel it and just chill out. We planned on an early start to HS later in the holiday to be able to ride it instead.

We decided to use this bonus free time to do some laundry! Rock and roll, baby!



Our room was super close to the laundry, which was right behind the bus stop, which was really handy.



It was a decent laundry room with a waiting area with TV and a vending machine.



All of the machines operated through a central machine which you could monitor the progress of through an app. AMAZING!



We loaded up a washer and put the number of the machine into the app and off we went! Revolutionary!

On the way out in the waiting room we saw this awesome picture with SO MANY hidden Mickeys! We spent a good while picking them all out…



See it?



And this one?




What about this one?



Feeling super relaxed and happy we went for a stroll around the lobby and saw they had a little pop up bar selling Lapu Lapus: one of our faves.

I know they are available in the other bars but we were feeling spontaneous and it was so much more convenient so we just ordered two without asking how much they were (there were no prices displayed)

Well, can you imagine my shock when I was about to happily tap my magic band to pay when she tells me that those two cocktails will set me back $38.82 BEFORE tip - holy cow! I nearly dropped my pineapple in shock. Swallowing my pride and scanning my magic band trying to hide my total disbelief, we took our liquid gold and headed back to our room to sip them slowly and savour every last bit…









We chilled for a while watching TV, sipping our drinks and snacking on this apple that we had picked up at Disney Springs the day before - how cute?



After checking our app, we saw it was time to move the clothes to the dryer. We all popped down then mobile ordered some pizza from Capt. Cooks and walked over to go and collect it.

We went back to the room and tucked in to our pizza



The girls had their ramune sodas that we had bought in the Japan Pavillion earlier that day



The girls opened their surprise keyrings they had picked up in the Japan pavilion - they were as random as the box had promised…






Ummm OK….



And ummmm…



We also had a game of cards using our brand new Haunted Mansion cards that we bought earlier in the holiday





We checked the app and the laundry was done so Andy popped down whilst I got the girls ready for bed.

Lovely lamps in the room



Oh here’s that torrential rain we were avoiding - good call I’d say (it was hammering it down BTW - pic doesn’t show it at all!)




Andy and I cracked out our Hummingbird cake and Chocolate cake from Homecomin’ the night before.

They were still really moist and delicious. They were so big we shared them with the girls and still couldn’t manage the entire Hummingbird slice!







We watched some US TV and called it tonight - a delicious and relaxed day!

[4fromsuffolk]

What a lovely chilled day! Just what was needed. Thank you for carrying on with your trip report. I do love reading along.

[Inky]

So glad to see this post, have you had a grey goose slushy at Epcot? My favourite! The photos are great , our favourite shopping experience at Epcot is also Japan. Love the Haunted Mansion playing cards as well!

[sheluk]

Another fabulous eating day! You guys must have had a fair share of the snacks on offer!

Grey Goose from France is our fave, I’m not sold on the Tipsy duck but you guys give it such rave reviews! Is there anything you can compare it to?

So glad you are continuing your report - can’t wait to read the other days xx

[Partythemestarz]

Ahhhh this was such a lovely day! Makes me even more sad that we might not get to go in July... even doing the laundry in WDW is enjoyable isn’t it 😂x

[minnie52]

What a fab day! It's nice to have a relaxed morning and the girls hair looks amazing!

What I wouldn't give to be drinking a margarita in Epcot right now 🙈

Thanks for carrying on with your trip report, it's nice to have some escapism during this time x

[ILoveDaveLamb]

Great food choices! After 9 trips I have still never managed a Lapu Lapu. I hope it was worth the hefty price tag. Great Plaiting skills! X