Trip Reports
02-21-2007, 09:06 PM
Anne Howard - October 2005 - Beach Club Villas
Time of Year: Fall
Travel Method: Plane, shuttle
Resort: BCV
Accommodations: Studio
Ages Represented in Group: Adult
WDW Experience Represented in Group: Veteran
Comments: Anne and her husbands appreciate wine and so the Food & Wine Festival seems a great fit. With this trip they finally get to experience it (and left the kids at home).
Anne Howard -- October 2005 - Walt Disney World (BCV)
Cast of Characters:
Anne Howard - age 36, Disney fanatic! Previous trips in 6/05, `02, '95, '91, '89, '88, '81, '79, '77, '76, '74
David Howard - age 37, indulges me in these trips.6/05, ’02, '99, '95, '91
For years, I have wanted to attend the Epcot Food & Wine festival. My husband and I have enjoyed wine for years. We have attended a lot of wine dinners and stayed at many inns that sponsor wine events. The F&W festival seemed right up our alley. We knew this would definitely not be something the kids would be into so we decided to go just the two of us.
Because of school schedules, we decided to go Oct 19-21st, Wednesday to Friday. This didn’t give us a lot of time but it is difficult for us to leave the kids. I booked my airfare through SouthWest. I always find the cheapest deals. I was able to get $39 each way for a total of $156 for the two of us. I was very pleased. With gas prices the way they are, I would have been lucky to get to Virginia in my truck for that amount of money.
I knew I wanted to stay at an Epcot Resort. When we stayed at the Beach Club, it was so convenient to walk right into Epcot. I was able to get a Beach Club Villa Studio room with my AP discount. I wanted to see what the BCV were like.
I called the day they opened up all the F&W festival events. I was not able to call first thing in the morning because I was working. I really wanted to attend the Odyssey Cooking School. They were working on Italian the day we could go, which is our favorite. Unfortunately, they were booked. I was put on a waiting list but they never called me. I was able to book a food & wine pairing for Oct 20th at the Coral Reef Restaurant and Lunch and Learn on Oct 21st with a ‘celebrity chef’, Rocco DiSpirito. Since we planned on eating the bulk of our meals at the F&W booths, we didn’t book any other PS.
Wednesday October 19, 2006
Plan: Get the girls off to school, flight at 11:10am, land at 1:00pm, town car to the BCV, check in and hit the F&W festival, Extra magic hours at the Magic Kingdom.
I woke at 5am. I wanted to do something special for the girls (since I was going to WDW without them.) I made cinnamon rolls with cream cheese icing. I invited Beth’s friend she shares a bus stop with. They were running a little late, so I offered to drive them to school since that would give them a little extra time to enjoy their breakfast. They loved the pastries and fruit. It was a nice goodbye. After the girls were deposited to their respective schools, we finished getting ready. I left an agenda for the girls with my father and a note for our pet sitter. My Dad picked us up and we left around 8:50am. The traffic was bad; we didn’t get to the airport till 10am.
Since we had no luggage to check and we had printed our boarding passes the night before, we went right to security. When my purse was scanned, security personnel said that it would have to be searched. They searched, scanned, and rescanned my purse. At one point, there was four security police hovering over my tiny purse which contained keys, wallet, ibuprofen and lip gloss. Finally, after 15 minutes, they returned my purse. The agent said it was the key to my Honda Pilot which has a keyless entry device built into it that was causing the problem. I found this a little implausible since so many people have these now. But I walked away knowing I had made the nation a little safer. We were in the Southwest A group. We went to our gate, shared a hot pretzel and after a little while, the plane boarded. We took off and landed on time. Our flight was very smooth and uneventful. Our Tiffany Town Car driver was the same guy as before. He was a little friendlier this time, but the car was still dirty and smelled. I am going to try a different service next time. He remembered us from before. We stopped at a grocery store since it was included and picked up soft drinks, bottled water and milk.
We were at the Beach Club by 2pm. The Beach Club really is beautiful. It is a casual, classy, New England Clam Bake feeling. The lobby is full of upscale wicker and muted sunshine and sea colors with sunshine streaming in through the windows. We checked in promptly and our room 375 was ready. This is a very long walk to the room, where we were disappointed. We had a view of the road, the carpets were soaked and the room smelled overwhelmingly of deodorizer. They had fans set up in the room, blowing, making a deafening noise. We started to unpack but my husband said we should call and complain. I called the front desk and explained the situation. They immediately offered to get us another room. They asked us to come to the front desk to get new keys. She said that we could wait for a porter to come get our luggage or transport it ourselves. Since we did not have that much luggage, we brought it with us. We cleared out of that room, went back to the front desk, got new keys, and headed to our new room, which was a little closer to the elevator. The CM at the front desk said that this room would have an Epcot view. When we got to the new room, no view of Epcot, just the same road. But the carpets were dry and the room was clean. This room had the same deodorizer smell but much weaker.
This was a Beach Club Studios Villa. It was smaller than I expected. It had a queen size bed, a small sofa that pulls out into a bed (probably a twin), and a table and two chairs. It has a ‘kitchenette’ area with a medium fridge, some cabinets and a microwave. There were very limited dishes, 4 glasses, 2 mugs, some plastic silverware and some paper plates, certainly, not enough to do any cooking. There is also a counter with a sink, a standard bathroom and a TV set with four small drawers. This was completely sufficient for our needs this weekend. However, for someone who had considered the DVC (David vetoed), this would not be a comfortable place to spend a stay with the four of us.
So, we did the little unpacking we had. I changed into my tennis shoes and we went out the side door, meandered around the front of the BCV and came right out at the bridge to Epcot. We went to guest relations (there was no line). I had lost my AP so I showed my ID and in a couple minutes, I had my new AP. David had three park hopper days left on his pass from June. My purse was searched and we walked into Epcot over the bridge.
First, let me explain our rating scale. We rated foods from 1 to 10 with 10 being the best. Our 10, comes from our favorite Inn, L’auberge Provencale in Winchester, Virginia where everything we have ever gotten is exquisite. Our 1 comes from Spanky’s, the dive restaurant/bar we stopped at in the Poconos when we were desperately driving around searching for some place to eat in the middle of nowhere. We never ventured past the doorway of Spanky’s so we actually didn’t sample the cuisine; it’s more of an imagined thing.
First, we went to Spain. We shared the tortilla potato & onion omelet and he had the Ham Genoa. ($4.25/total) I thought the tortilla was good but a little bland (5). David said the Genoa was great (7). We bought a passport to sample four different Spanish wines ($15). They have a booth for each wine region in Spain with representatives to tell you about the land, the wines, and sample one wine of your choice from each. The information was interesting. The representatives were at times hard to understand but very friendly. The wines were delicious. I love dry reds so these were great for me. My favorite was the Con Class.
Next, we went to France. I had high expectations of France after reading reviews on Mouse Planet. We shared the Quiche Lorraine, the chocolate Crème Brule and the Bonnet red wine ($10/total). The Quiche was very good. (8) The Crème Brule was disappointing. The top had a burnt taste and the filling was good but tasted like pudding. (5) The wine was delicious.
At each country, we would find a nearby bench, sit, and enjoy our food with the wine. We would soak up the atmosphere and stroll through some of the countries and the shops. It was not crowded at all. The booths never had more than two people in line and benches were available everywhere.
Next, we went to Morocco. We had the lemon chicken, the shish kebob and the Pistachio Baklava. ($8.75) The lemon chicken and the shish kebob were great. (8-for both) The baklava was incredible. I’m not a big fan of Baklava and generally, I don’t like Pistachio flavor but this was out of this world. We gave this a 10+.
Now we were headed for Japan. We had the Spicy Tuna roll and the Yamaddan Sake. ($8.75) These are two things I had never had before. I always steered away from the raw foods with Japanese cuisine and had never had Sake. The Spicy tuna roll was surprisingly good (7). The Sake was nothing like I expected. I expected firewater, but it was an unusual mellow taste. (8)
It was actually euphoric for us. We don’t get a lot of time to ourselves away from the kids. We were having a wonderful, romantic time. We called our best friends to share our experience. We are trying to get them to join us next year since they are our wine partners in crime.
At this point, I was full. So most of the following is from my husband’s input. I only had sips of wine and perhaps a small bite. This is the way I love to eat, a little nibble of everything.
At the United States he had a crab cake and a glass of chardonnay. ($5.75) The Chardonnay (7) was good but the crab cake (5) was only fair. We are from Maryland so we are pretty picky about our crab cakes.
At Germany, David had the BBQ beef and corn bread and the Black Lager. ($7.25) He said the lager was great and the beef and corn bread was good (7). We walked around Germany for a while and David wanted to try a dark beer. He went to the Bierline and got the only dark beer that wasn’t Lowenbrau. It came in a large draft glass and cost $7.50. I don’t drink dark beer so I will just give you David’s impression. He said it was ‘wheatie’, whatever that means. He also said it was the best dark beer he had ever had.
The last booth of the evening we went to was South Africa. We had the pumpkin bredie pot lamb roast and the Indaba Shiraz ($6.75). The pot roast was very good with unique spices that gave it sweetness. (8) The Indaba Shiraz was wonderful (10). Since we have come home, we have bought a lot of the Indaba wines. They are very reasonable and are great.
We headed through Epcot towards the main gates. We caught a bus to the Magic Kingdom, took the monorail and entered the MK. The front of the park was packed and people were already lined up for the parade. We hopped onto the train and rode to Frontier land. We staked out a stone wall to watch the parade from. We had sat here before; it is a nice viewing area. At least we could sit while waiting. David went and got a cheeseburger and fries and a diet coke for me. It was pretty crowded and people were acting pretty rude over spots. A British family came and plopped themselves practically on top of us. They had three sons who were very excited so we forgave them and propped the boys in front of us. The youngest was three and very cute. The oldest of the boys was about 11 or 12 and engaged me in conversation, asking where I was from. He had a heavy British accent and explained his family had recently moved to Kissimmee. I asked him how he liked the weather and his face lit up. He said, “It’s great!” He really was adorable.
The parade, (my favorite thing) did not disappoint. Afterwards, we found a nice spot to watch wishes. I love the wishes soundtrack. I have to get that. We got wristbands in front of Pirates of the Caribbean for EMH and rode the Pirates (David’s favorite thing). Afterwards, he had to buy some Pirate merchandise. He does every trip and is amassing quite a collection. When we have cookouts at home, he flies the Pirate flag much to my dismay. He also has his favorite sweatshirt that says, “The beatings will continue until morale improves.” We rode Splash Mountain, Haunted Mansion; It’s a Small World, Peter Pan, Mickey’s Philharmagic and back to Pirates again. We went back to the room around midnight.
Thursday, October 20, 2006
Plan: breakfast, swim at the pool, Food and Wine pairing at the Coral Reef Restaurant, spend the rest of the day at Epcot, Extra Magic Hours at Epcot.
We had a fruit cup and a bowl of berries delivered to the room for breakfast. I made tea with my teapot I had brought from home. We put on our bathing suits and swam at the pool and lay out to get some sun. When we told our kids we were coming to WDW, we made sure to tell them we were only coming to the F&W festival, stuff they would not be interested in. David and I joked that if they knew we were at Storm along Bay, they would be having a fit. They love this pool. It was very relaxing. We swam and sunned till 1pm. We shared a frozen drink from the outdoor bar, Hurricane Hannah’s. We showered and changed and headed for Epcot again.
We went to the food and wine pairing at the Coral Reef Restaurant. This was the definitely the best culinary experience of the trip. This was incredible from start to finish. We had lunch at this restaurant during our last trip and everything was exquisite. This did not disappoint. We sat at the back portion of the restaurant. We were seated across from a couple from Connecticut that we hit it off with. They actually made their own wine at home from grapes they buy. They added a lot to the experience. They also said they had come to the F&W festival last year on the weekend and the crowds were incredible. They were here for a whole week this stay and they were marveling how light the crowds were at the festival during the week. This made us very glad that we had decided to come during the week. The portions were not huge but everything was delicious. The owner of Kalin Cellars presented the wines and they were all wonderful. First we had a cheese course with three different kinds of cheeses and sun-dried apricots paired with Livermore Valley Semillon. Next we had roasted salmon over a spatzle tossed with Bacon, onions and apples. This was paired with Sonoma Chardonnay Cuvee LV. Last we had roasted lamb served with Au Gratin potatoes. This was paired with Sonoma Pinot Noir Cuvee DD. Everything was incredible. The entire experience cost $35.00 per person, which we thought was incredible value compared to the Lunch & Learn. The food and the wine were exquisite. David & I looked at buying the wines at the festival center but they were all over $50 per bottle. This is above our wine allowance.
There was a pastry chef scheduled to do a demonstration, so we headed over to the Odyssey center. When we got there, we found that it was cancelled. We wandered around future world for a while mostly sight seeing. We rode Soarin and Test Track. Eventually, we headed back over to the countries heading to Mexico first. We bought a silver ring from Mexico with my daughter Beth’s name spelled out on it. This was really nicely done and she loved it. ($22) We rode the El Rio de Tiempo
In Chile David had the Paila Marina and Carmen Chardonnay ($5.00)
In Ireland we shared the Salmon, Flourless chocolate whiskey cake, and Omara’s Irish Cream ($8). The salmon was a little too raw for me, but David said it was delicious (8). The flourless chocolate cake was mouth-watering nirvana, my favorite dessert of all the choices. (10+). The Irish cream was also wonderful; definitely comparable to Bailey’s with a little bit of a smoother taste. (10)
In Scandinavia, David had the Meatball Scan and bottle of water ($4.50)
In Australia, we went to the Aussie Wine Walkabout – You visit all five regions of Australian Wine Country, learn about their land and wine and sample one of your choosing from each region. The representatives were pleasant to talk to and I loved their accents. They were having a good time with the whole thing and it was very enjoyable. We are pretty familiar with Australian wine so we had heard of all the wines they had; the little Penguin Chardonnay, Lindemans Cabernet Sauvignon, Rosemount Cabernet Sauvignon, but it was still enjoyable.
At the Hops and Barley stand David had a Sam Adams Stout ($2) David said this was good. I had a sip but I do not care for dark beer so I am certainly not a good judge. We went to the beer seminar at the Sam Adams pavilion. This is free and they give each person a nice silver key chain. You sample four different kinds of Sam Adams beer while they talk about the company, its history and the different types of beer that they make. It was interesting but David definitely got more out of it. I am not a big beer drinker. We had fun with the people sitting around us. They were a lively crew.
Epcot was having EMH this evening and I was pleasantly surprised to find that all the F&W activities would stay open as well.
At the Champagne Kiosk, I had the Rosa Regale ($6) and immediately fell in love with the fruity, pink, frothy concoction. I have bought a couple of bottles of this back here in Baltimore. One we shared with our best friends upon returning and the others we had New Years Eve. Now I am all out. :-{
In Poland David had the Cabbage Roll. ($2.75) He gave it an 8. In New Zealand, David had the lamb stew. ($4.25) In England (not at the booth), I had a small fish and chips. ($9) This was very greasy but delicious. I bought a souvenir shot glass from Scotland. We finally headed back to the room.
Friday, October 21, 2005
Plan: Lunch and Learn at the Odyssey center, beer seminar at Sam Adams Pavilion, buy souvenirs, other seminars, final tasting at the booths, and town car to the airport, flight home.
We woke, showered, packed up, checked out, left our bags with the bellhop and headed to Epcot to be on time for Lunch & Learn at 10:30am. Lunch & Learn with Rocco DiSpirito sponsored by Martini & Rossi had cost $75.00 per person. Rocco was the celebrity chef that prepared the meal while we watched and it was also filmed and shown on two large screens on each side of the room. The food was great. Three courses were paired with three Rieslings, which were wonderful. The first course was good but cool by the time we got it. The dessert was Tiramisu, which was pretty good. They also gave you the recipes for all the food. I thought the food and experience was very good but the Coral Reef wine pairing was better, with the same amount of food and cost $40 per person less.
We went to a tea seminar in England on the different types of English tea and proper making of tea. I really liked this. I am a big tea drinker.
After this we stood in line for a culinary presentation by Alain Roby, (why are all French chefs named Alain?) the senior executive pastry chef for Hyatt Hotels. He made Raspberry Summer pudding, which was very simple and delicious. We each sampled a soufflé-sized portion. I have made this at home since I have been back. It is very simple but looks complicated and impressive. He also showed a little demonstration on how the pastry chefs work with sugar to make those incredible sugar sculptures. Afterwards, you were able to come up and see it.
At the Food and wine festival, there are culinary demonstrations like the one above and wine seminars going on all day long. During the week, you should line up at least 20 minutes ahead of time to get into these. They take so many people to be seated, participate in the demonstration and get a sample. Then, they let others stand in the back but you don’t get a sample. They go on at the Odyssey center and at the Festival center. We waited for another demonstration. In this one, the chef made some sort of Shrimp dish and shrimp bisque. It was pretty good.
At Mission Space we were looking for Stitch merchandise for our daughter Quinn. Quinn insisted she had seen a stuffed Stitch with his antennae and extra arms. We looked all over for this. We asked the CM, and he called around but was unaware of this version of Stitch. Finally we settled on a Stitch trouble game and some Stitch hot chocolate that turns red when you make it. She liked these.
We went to the festival center to look around. They have all the wines that they sample in the booths. Most were pretty expensive. I ended up waiting till I came home to get some of the ones I was interested in. As it turns out, their prices were just about the same as home. I bought another glass of the Rosa champagne I loved so much. I bought a festival mug and a festival recipe book that has recipes from all the booths.
We rode Soarin again. We went to the margarita kiosk and shared a strawberry margarita. ($7.99) We rode Maelstrom. David loves the Vikings. We saw Reflections of China. This was very good.
We returned to Ireland for the Salmon and the Flourless chocolate whiskey cake ($5). You could really tell that the crowds started picking up Friday afternoon. All of the booths had added queue lines to their stations. And for the first time, there were lines for the booths. It started to rain around 5pm, so we ducked into a shop. It really poured. We tried to wait it out but we had to be leaving soon. We finally donned our ponchos and walked in the rain. It was a real downpour and we were soaked by the end. We did take the boat because it was right there when we came out but I am not sure how much that saved us. My socks and shoes were soaked through. I had to wear my flip-flops home.
Back at the Beach Club, I bought candy for my parents. Our town car took us to the airport. Unfortunately, our flight which was supposed to leave at 8pm was delayed till 11pm. It was storming pretty well at this point. I was due to be at work the next morning at 6:30am. I called work and was able to get another nurse to cover my shift till 11am. This way I could sleep in a little. The flight was terrible and scary. I have never flown with lightning going off both sides of the plane. David and I were not able to sit next to each other but he was right in front of me. At one point, they suspended drink service because of the turbulence. I was very glad and relieved when we finally landed. We took a cab home and picked up the girls. It was late but we had promised to get them that night. I was very grateful to sleep in the next morning.
**Looking back on the report, it looks like all we did was eat and drink but we spent a lot of time exploring the countries. Something we have never been able to do since we had children. We browsed the shops, the bakeries, and the many artists they had set up and soaked in all the scenery. Especially at night, this was beautiful.
**Even midweek, there was a lot of live entertainment around the World. Just the ones that I remember were a revue at Sam Adams and acrobats at China. Aborigines performed at Australia that was really entertaining and we stayed for their entire presentation. Saturday night, Starship performed a concert and though we did not go, we were able to hear the whole thing while we were touring around the world.
**Looking back on the trip, I can’t think of much I would change. Going midweek was definitely the way to go from everything we heard. The trip and the F&W festival definitely exceeded my expectations. We are hoping to go back next year for a similar trip with two other couples. I hope to attend the Odyssey cooking school then.
Anne Howard
Time of Year: Fall
Travel Method: Plane, shuttle
Resort: BCV
Accommodations: Studio
Ages Represented in Group: Adult
WDW Experience Represented in Group: Veteran
Comments: Anne and her husbands appreciate wine and so the Food & Wine Festival seems a great fit. With this trip they finally get to experience it (and left the kids at home).
Anne Howard -- October 2005 - Walt Disney World (BCV)
Cast of Characters:
Anne Howard - age 36, Disney fanatic! Previous trips in 6/05, `02, '95, '91, '89, '88, '81, '79, '77, '76, '74
David Howard - age 37, indulges me in these trips.6/05, ’02, '99, '95, '91
For years, I have wanted to attend the Epcot Food & Wine festival. My husband and I have enjoyed wine for years. We have attended a lot of wine dinners and stayed at many inns that sponsor wine events. The F&W festival seemed right up our alley. We knew this would definitely not be something the kids would be into so we decided to go just the two of us.
Because of school schedules, we decided to go Oct 19-21st, Wednesday to Friday. This didn’t give us a lot of time but it is difficult for us to leave the kids. I booked my airfare through SouthWest. I always find the cheapest deals. I was able to get $39 each way for a total of $156 for the two of us. I was very pleased. With gas prices the way they are, I would have been lucky to get to Virginia in my truck for that amount of money.
I knew I wanted to stay at an Epcot Resort. When we stayed at the Beach Club, it was so convenient to walk right into Epcot. I was able to get a Beach Club Villa Studio room with my AP discount. I wanted to see what the BCV were like.
I called the day they opened up all the F&W festival events. I was not able to call first thing in the morning because I was working. I really wanted to attend the Odyssey Cooking School. They were working on Italian the day we could go, which is our favorite. Unfortunately, they were booked. I was put on a waiting list but they never called me. I was able to book a food & wine pairing for Oct 20th at the Coral Reef Restaurant and Lunch and Learn on Oct 21st with a ‘celebrity chef’, Rocco DiSpirito. Since we planned on eating the bulk of our meals at the F&W booths, we didn’t book any other PS.
Wednesday October 19, 2006
Plan: Get the girls off to school, flight at 11:10am, land at 1:00pm, town car to the BCV, check in and hit the F&W festival, Extra magic hours at the Magic Kingdom.
I woke at 5am. I wanted to do something special for the girls (since I was going to WDW without them.) I made cinnamon rolls with cream cheese icing. I invited Beth’s friend she shares a bus stop with. They were running a little late, so I offered to drive them to school since that would give them a little extra time to enjoy their breakfast. They loved the pastries and fruit. It was a nice goodbye. After the girls were deposited to their respective schools, we finished getting ready. I left an agenda for the girls with my father and a note for our pet sitter. My Dad picked us up and we left around 8:50am. The traffic was bad; we didn’t get to the airport till 10am.
Since we had no luggage to check and we had printed our boarding passes the night before, we went right to security. When my purse was scanned, security personnel said that it would have to be searched. They searched, scanned, and rescanned my purse. At one point, there was four security police hovering over my tiny purse which contained keys, wallet, ibuprofen and lip gloss. Finally, after 15 minutes, they returned my purse. The agent said it was the key to my Honda Pilot which has a keyless entry device built into it that was causing the problem. I found this a little implausible since so many people have these now. But I walked away knowing I had made the nation a little safer. We were in the Southwest A group. We went to our gate, shared a hot pretzel and after a little while, the plane boarded. We took off and landed on time. Our flight was very smooth and uneventful. Our Tiffany Town Car driver was the same guy as before. He was a little friendlier this time, but the car was still dirty and smelled. I am going to try a different service next time. He remembered us from before. We stopped at a grocery store since it was included and picked up soft drinks, bottled water and milk.
We were at the Beach Club by 2pm. The Beach Club really is beautiful. It is a casual, classy, New England Clam Bake feeling. The lobby is full of upscale wicker and muted sunshine and sea colors with sunshine streaming in through the windows. We checked in promptly and our room 375 was ready. This is a very long walk to the room, where we were disappointed. We had a view of the road, the carpets were soaked and the room smelled overwhelmingly of deodorizer. They had fans set up in the room, blowing, making a deafening noise. We started to unpack but my husband said we should call and complain. I called the front desk and explained the situation. They immediately offered to get us another room. They asked us to come to the front desk to get new keys. She said that we could wait for a porter to come get our luggage or transport it ourselves. Since we did not have that much luggage, we brought it with us. We cleared out of that room, went back to the front desk, got new keys, and headed to our new room, which was a little closer to the elevator. The CM at the front desk said that this room would have an Epcot view. When we got to the new room, no view of Epcot, just the same road. But the carpets were dry and the room was clean. This room had the same deodorizer smell but much weaker.
This was a Beach Club Studios Villa. It was smaller than I expected. It had a queen size bed, a small sofa that pulls out into a bed (probably a twin), and a table and two chairs. It has a ‘kitchenette’ area with a medium fridge, some cabinets and a microwave. There were very limited dishes, 4 glasses, 2 mugs, some plastic silverware and some paper plates, certainly, not enough to do any cooking. There is also a counter with a sink, a standard bathroom and a TV set with four small drawers. This was completely sufficient for our needs this weekend. However, for someone who had considered the DVC (David vetoed), this would not be a comfortable place to spend a stay with the four of us.
So, we did the little unpacking we had. I changed into my tennis shoes and we went out the side door, meandered around the front of the BCV and came right out at the bridge to Epcot. We went to guest relations (there was no line). I had lost my AP so I showed my ID and in a couple minutes, I had my new AP. David had three park hopper days left on his pass from June. My purse was searched and we walked into Epcot over the bridge.
First, let me explain our rating scale. We rated foods from 1 to 10 with 10 being the best. Our 10, comes from our favorite Inn, L’auberge Provencale in Winchester, Virginia where everything we have ever gotten is exquisite. Our 1 comes from Spanky’s, the dive restaurant/bar we stopped at in the Poconos when we were desperately driving around searching for some place to eat in the middle of nowhere. We never ventured past the doorway of Spanky’s so we actually didn’t sample the cuisine; it’s more of an imagined thing.
First, we went to Spain. We shared the tortilla potato & onion omelet and he had the Ham Genoa. ($4.25/total) I thought the tortilla was good but a little bland (5). David said the Genoa was great (7). We bought a passport to sample four different Spanish wines ($15). They have a booth for each wine region in Spain with representatives to tell you about the land, the wines, and sample one wine of your choice from each. The information was interesting. The representatives were at times hard to understand but very friendly. The wines were delicious. I love dry reds so these were great for me. My favorite was the Con Class.
Next, we went to France. I had high expectations of France after reading reviews on Mouse Planet. We shared the Quiche Lorraine, the chocolate Crème Brule and the Bonnet red wine ($10/total). The Quiche was very good. (8) The Crème Brule was disappointing. The top had a burnt taste and the filling was good but tasted like pudding. (5) The wine was delicious.
At each country, we would find a nearby bench, sit, and enjoy our food with the wine. We would soak up the atmosphere and stroll through some of the countries and the shops. It was not crowded at all. The booths never had more than two people in line and benches were available everywhere.
Next, we went to Morocco. We had the lemon chicken, the shish kebob and the Pistachio Baklava. ($8.75) The lemon chicken and the shish kebob were great. (8-for both) The baklava was incredible. I’m not a big fan of Baklava and generally, I don’t like Pistachio flavor but this was out of this world. We gave this a 10+.
Now we were headed for Japan. We had the Spicy Tuna roll and the Yamaddan Sake. ($8.75) These are two things I had never had before. I always steered away from the raw foods with Japanese cuisine and had never had Sake. The Spicy tuna roll was surprisingly good (7). The Sake was nothing like I expected. I expected firewater, but it was an unusual mellow taste. (8)
It was actually euphoric for us. We don’t get a lot of time to ourselves away from the kids. We were having a wonderful, romantic time. We called our best friends to share our experience. We are trying to get them to join us next year since they are our wine partners in crime.
At this point, I was full. So most of the following is from my husband’s input. I only had sips of wine and perhaps a small bite. This is the way I love to eat, a little nibble of everything.
At the United States he had a crab cake and a glass of chardonnay. ($5.75) The Chardonnay (7) was good but the crab cake (5) was only fair. We are from Maryland so we are pretty picky about our crab cakes.
At Germany, David had the BBQ beef and corn bread and the Black Lager. ($7.25) He said the lager was great and the beef and corn bread was good (7). We walked around Germany for a while and David wanted to try a dark beer. He went to the Bierline and got the only dark beer that wasn’t Lowenbrau. It came in a large draft glass and cost $7.50. I don’t drink dark beer so I will just give you David’s impression. He said it was ‘wheatie’, whatever that means. He also said it was the best dark beer he had ever had.
The last booth of the evening we went to was South Africa. We had the pumpkin bredie pot lamb roast and the Indaba Shiraz ($6.75). The pot roast was very good with unique spices that gave it sweetness. (8) The Indaba Shiraz was wonderful (10). Since we have come home, we have bought a lot of the Indaba wines. They are very reasonable and are great.
We headed through Epcot towards the main gates. We caught a bus to the Magic Kingdom, took the monorail and entered the MK. The front of the park was packed and people were already lined up for the parade. We hopped onto the train and rode to Frontier land. We staked out a stone wall to watch the parade from. We had sat here before; it is a nice viewing area. At least we could sit while waiting. David went and got a cheeseburger and fries and a diet coke for me. It was pretty crowded and people were acting pretty rude over spots. A British family came and plopped themselves practically on top of us. They had three sons who were very excited so we forgave them and propped the boys in front of us. The youngest was three and very cute. The oldest of the boys was about 11 or 12 and engaged me in conversation, asking where I was from. He had a heavy British accent and explained his family had recently moved to Kissimmee. I asked him how he liked the weather and his face lit up. He said, “It’s great!” He really was adorable.
The parade, (my favorite thing) did not disappoint. Afterwards, we found a nice spot to watch wishes. I love the wishes soundtrack. I have to get that. We got wristbands in front of Pirates of the Caribbean for EMH and rode the Pirates (David’s favorite thing). Afterwards, he had to buy some Pirate merchandise. He does every trip and is amassing quite a collection. When we have cookouts at home, he flies the Pirate flag much to my dismay. He also has his favorite sweatshirt that says, “The beatings will continue until morale improves.” We rode Splash Mountain, Haunted Mansion; It’s a Small World, Peter Pan, Mickey’s Philharmagic and back to Pirates again. We went back to the room around midnight.
Thursday, October 20, 2006
Plan: breakfast, swim at the pool, Food and Wine pairing at the Coral Reef Restaurant, spend the rest of the day at Epcot, Extra Magic Hours at Epcot.
We had a fruit cup and a bowl of berries delivered to the room for breakfast. I made tea with my teapot I had brought from home. We put on our bathing suits and swam at the pool and lay out to get some sun. When we told our kids we were coming to WDW, we made sure to tell them we were only coming to the F&W festival, stuff they would not be interested in. David and I joked that if they knew we were at Storm along Bay, they would be having a fit. They love this pool. It was very relaxing. We swam and sunned till 1pm. We shared a frozen drink from the outdoor bar, Hurricane Hannah’s. We showered and changed and headed for Epcot again.
We went to the food and wine pairing at the Coral Reef Restaurant. This was the definitely the best culinary experience of the trip. This was incredible from start to finish. We had lunch at this restaurant during our last trip and everything was exquisite. This did not disappoint. We sat at the back portion of the restaurant. We were seated across from a couple from Connecticut that we hit it off with. They actually made their own wine at home from grapes they buy. They added a lot to the experience. They also said they had come to the F&W festival last year on the weekend and the crowds were incredible. They were here for a whole week this stay and they were marveling how light the crowds were at the festival during the week. This made us very glad that we had decided to come during the week. The portions were not huge but everything was delicious. The owner of Kalin Cellars presented the wines and they were all wonderful. First we had a cheese course with three different kinds of cheeses and sun-dried apricots paired with Livermore Valley Semillon. Next we had roasted salmon over a spatzle tossed with Bacon, onions and apples. This was paired with Sonoma Chardonnay Cuvee LV. Last we had roasted lamb served with Au Gratin potatoes. This was paired with Sonoma Pinot Noir Cuvee DD. Everything was incredible. The entire experience cost $35.00 per person, which we thought was incredible value compared to the Lunch & Learn. The food and the wine were exquisite. David & I looked at buying the wines at the festival center but they were all over $50 per bottle. This is above our wine allowance.
There was a pastry chef scheduled to do a demonstration, so we headed over to the Odyssey center. When we got there, we found that it was cancelled. We wandered around future world for a while mostly sight seeing. We rode Soarin and Test Track. Eventually, we headed back over to the countries heading to Mexico first. We bought a silver ring from Mexico with my daughter Beth’s name spelled out on it. This was really nicely done and she loved it. ($22) We rode the El Rio de Tiempo
In Chile David had the Paila Marina and Carmen Chardonnay ($5.00)
In Ireland we shared the Salmon, Flourless chocolate whiskey cake, and Omara’s Irish Cream ($8). The salmon was a little too raw for me, but David said it was delicious (8). The flourless chocolate cake was mouth-watering nirvana, my favorite dessert of all the choices. (10+). The Irish cream was also wonderful; definitely comparable to Bailey’s with a little bit of a smoother taste. (10)
In Scandinavia, David had the Meatball Scan and bottle of water ($4.50)
In Australia, we went to the Aussie Wine Walkabout – You visit all five regions of Australian Wine Country, learn about their land and wine and sample one of your choosing from each region. The representatives were pleasant to talk to and I loved their accents. They were having a good time with the whole thing and it was very enjoyable. We are pretty familiar with Australian wine so we had heard of all the wines they had; the little Penguin Chardonnay, Lindemans Cabernet Sauvignon, Rosemount Cabernet Sauvignon, but it was still enjoyable.
At the Hops and Barley stand David had a Sam Adams Stout ($2) David said this was good. I had a sip but I do not care for dark beer so I am certainly not a good judge. We went to the beer seminar at the Sam Adams pavilion. This is free and they give each person a nice silver key chain. You sample four different kinds of Sam Adams beer while they talk about the company, its history and the different types of beer that they make. It was interesting but David definitely got more out of it. I am not a big beer drinker. We had fun with the people sitting around us. They were a lively crew.
Epcot was having EMH this evening and I was pleasantly surprised to find that all the F&W activities would stay open as well.
At the Champagne Kiosk, I had the Rosa Regale ($6) and immediately fell in love with the fruity, pink, frothy concoction. I have bought a couple of bottles of this back here in Baltimore. One we shared with our best friends upon returning and the others we had New Years Eve. Now I am all out. :-{
In Poland David had the Cabbage Roll. ($2.75) He gave it an 8. In New Zealand, David had the lamb stew. ($4.25) In England (not at the booth), I had a small fish and chips. ($9) This was very greasy but delicious. I bought a souvenir shot glass from Scotland. We finally headed back to the room.
Friday, October 21, 2005
Plan: Lunch and Learn at the Odyssey center, beer seminar at Sam Adams Pavilion, buy souvenirs, other seminars, final tasting at the booths, and town car to the airport, flight home.
We woke, showered, packed up, checked out, left our bags with the bellhop and headed to Epcot to be on time for Lunch & Learn at 10:30am. Lunch & Learn with Rocco DiSpirito sponsored by Martini & Rossi had cost $75.00 per person. Rocco was the celebrity chef that prepared the meal while we watched and it was also filmed and shown on two large screens on each side of the room. The food was great. Three courses were paired with three Rieslings, which were wonderful. The first course was good but cool by the time we got it. The dessert was Tiramisu, which was pretty good. They also gave you the recipes for all the food. I thought the food and experience was very good but the Coral Reef wine pairing was better, with the same amount of food and cost $40 per person less.
We went to a tea seminar in England on the different types of English tea and proper making of tea. I really liked this. I am a big tea drinker.
After this we stood in line for a culinary presentation by Alain Roby, (why are all French chefs named Alain?) the senior executive pastry chef for Hyatt Hotels. He made Raspberry Summer pudding, which was very simple and delicious. We each sampled a soufflé-sized portion. I have made this at home since I have been back. It is very simple but looks complicated and impressive. He also showed a little demonstration on how the pastry chefs work with sugar to make those incredible sugar sculptures. Afterwards, you were able to come up and see it.
At the Food and wine festival, there are culinary demonstrations like the one above and wine seminars going on all day long. During the week, you should line up at least 20 minutes ahead of time to get into these. They take so many people to be seated, participate in the demonstration and get a sample. Then, they let others stand in the back but you don’t get a sample. They go on at the Odyssey center and at the Festival center. We waited for another demonstration. In this one, the chef made some sort of Shrimp dish and shrimp bisque. It was pretty good.
At Mission Space we were looking for Stitch merchandise for our daughter Quinn. Quinn insisted she had seen a stuffed Stitch with his antennae and extra arms. We looked all over for this. We asked the CM, and he called around but was unaware of this version of Stitch. Finally we settled on a Stitch trouble game and some Stitch hot chocolate that turns red when you make it. She liked these.
We went to the festival center to look around. They have all the wines that they sample in the booths. Most were pretty expensive. I ended up waiting till I came home to get some of the ones I was interested in. As it turns out, their prices were just about the same as home. I bought another glass of the Rosa champagne I loved so much. I bought a festival mug and a festival recipe book that has recipes from all the booths.
We rode Soarin again. We went to the margarita kiosk and shared a strawberry margarita. ($7.99) We rode Maelstrom. David loves the Vikings. We saw Reflections of China. This was very good.
We returned to Ireland for the Salmon and the Flourless chocolate whiskey cake ($5). You could really tell that the crowds started picking up Friday afternoon. All of the booths had added queue lines to their stations. And for the first time, there were lines for the booths. It started to rain around 5pm, so we ducked into a shop. It really poured. We tried to wait it out but we had to be leaving soon. We finally donned our ponchos and walked in the rain. It was a real downpour and we were soaked by the end. We did take the boat because it was right there when we came out but I am not sure how much that saved us. My socks and shoes were soaked through. I had to wear my flip-flops home.
Back at the Beach Club, I bought candy for my parents. Our town car took us to the airport. Unfortunately, our flight which was supposed to leave at 8pm was delayed till 11pm. It was storming pretty well at this point. I was due to be at work the next morning at 6:30am. I called work and was able to get another nurse to cover my shift till 11am. This way I could sleep in a little. The flight was terrible and scary. I have never flown with lightning going off both sides of the plane. David and I were not able to sit next to each other but he was right in front of me. At one point, they suspended drink service because of the turbulence. I was very glad and relieved when we finally landed. We took a cab home and picked up the girls. It was late but we had promised to get them that night. I was very grateful to sleep in the next morning.
**Looking back on the report, it looks like all we did was eat and drink but we spent a lot of time exploring the countries. Something we have never been able to do since we had children. We browsed the shops, the bakeries, and the many artists they had set up and soaked in all the scenery. Especially at night, this was beautiful.
**Even midweek, there was a lot of live entertainment around the World. Just the ones that I remember were a revue at Sam Adams and acrobats at China. Aborigines performed at Australia that was really entertaining and we stayed for their entire presentation. Saturday night, Starship performed a concert and though we did not go, we were able to hear the whole thing while we were touring around the world.
**Looking back on the trip, I can’t think of much I would change. Going midweek was definitely the way to go from everything we heard. The trip and the F&W festival definitely exceeded my expectations. We are hoping to go back next year for a similar trip with two other couples. I hope to attend the Odyssey cooking school then.
Anne Howard