Throwback Thursday: Walt Disney World-September/October 2008 - Part 4

By Nick

Day 4, Tuesday September 30th 2008

Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3 

Made the 8AM rope drop at Epcot, and went right to Soarin', which was walk on. Got a FP on the way out, and headed over to Spaceship Earth.

Rode it twice, once in English, and the second time in Portuguese. Why Portuguese? I have no idea! I pressed English. Weird.

Over to the Seas and rode Nemo then watched a Turtle Talk.



Went back to The Land and used our Soarin' FPs.

By now it was almost 11, so we made our way up to World Showcase to hit some (okay, a lot) of the Food & Wine kiosks.



Had some great and some not so great food, but all the wine was good. Even Barbie had some ice wine, and Barbie doesn't drink. She is such a non drinker, that by 12:30, she said that she was going back to the room for a nap, as I believed the ice wine/heat/sun had knocked her out.
Brave adventurer that I am, I continued on.
I did the free (yes, it was free at one time!) beer seminar at the American Adventure Pavilion, and enjoyed some samples of Samuel Adams.



After that I continued to eat and drink till I was full and feeling good, and decided to ride Test Track.
I went over to the F & W Welcome Center to check out the merchandise, and discovered I was only 10 minutes away from a free WIne Seminar, so I attended that.



Shirah Vs. Shiraz. Delicious.

So, now that I'd had even more wine, and was feeling even better, it was time to use my FP for Test Track. Got to TT, and the ride was down. Probably for the best.
I headed back to the Boardwalk for a swim.

After our swim, we went down to Spoodles (Which was were Trattoria al Forno is now.) to see if they had a table available, and they did. I cancelled our ADRs there for the next night, and we sat down to a really good dinner. I had the grilled beef kabobs, Barbie the rigatoni.

After dinner, we hopped a bus to Downtown Disney. It was a mad house. I realized too late, that Magic Kingdom had closed at 7, for the MNSSHP, and that most of the people
were apparently now at DD. So, after picking up just one T-shirt, we got out of there. At least Barbie made some good pin trades.

We got off the boat at the Swan and or Dolphin, and made our way to the bridge connecting Boardwalk to Yacht & Beach, and watched Illuminations.



Then we watched some Boardwalk entertainment, as Hallowishes went off in the distance.

 Please come back next Thursday for Part 5.

January 2015 Walt Disney World Trip Highlights : Part 1 of 4

By Nick

I thought rather than doing a daily trip report, I'd share highlights for each day of our most recent vacation.

We spent quite a bit of the trip with our friends Kandi and John, and their kids Jazzlyn and Grayson, and met several Disney friends throughout the week, which were certainly highlights, but I'm going to share daily high points as well.

Kandi, Grayson, John, Barbie, Jazzlyn, and me

Saturday - 1/10 

To start things off, we checked into the Boardwalk Villas, and within minutes, before even leaving the lobby, we were sent a text that our room was ready. And better yet, the room's view was fantastic!
I'm going to share the room number with you, but you have to promise not to tell anyone! 4007.

We could see Wishes, and we watched Illuminations each evening we were there, sometimes from bed!

 Wishes

Illuminations

At Disney's Hollywood Studios, we met Baymax and Hiro from Big Hero Six at The Magic of Disney Animation.

Also at DHS, we had lunch at Hollywood & Vine for the first time. This is character meal with Disney Junior pals. I'm not very familiar with the characters, but the food was terrific, and I'll feature a more in depth article in the future.

Me and Jake

To cap off the evening, I got to meet Dave Hodges one of my co-hosts on The Disney Exchange Podcast for the first time. We had a really good time hanging out, enjoying entertainment on the Boardwalk as well as grabbing a beer over in Epcot's France Pavilion.

Sunday - 1/11

I was awoken by the sound of loud music and fireworks (this isn't a highlight, just an observation) which was the start of the Walt Disney World Marathon, which our friend Kandi ran, and watching people run the marathon and cheering them on WAS a highlight! Congratulations to all our friends, and, well, everyone that participated.

Before our cheering our friend and other runners on, we had breakfast at the new Trattoria al Forno located on the Boardwalk, and it was really, really good. Barbie and I both had the same thing, the Waffle, with Espresso-Mascarpone Cream and Bacon.

And since I'm on the subject of food, (and, really, it isn't often that I'm NOT) I'm going to put dinner at Trail's End at Fort Wilderness on my highlights list as well. It's never disappointing!

Finally, we have Seven Dwarfs Mine Train. Yes, I rode it for the first time back in October, but this was the first time I rode it at night, and it was so much more fun in the dark, when you don't see the twists and drops coming!

Oh, and my favorite seat is in the back!

Have you ridden Seven Dwarfs and what's your favorite seat?

Trip Report: October 11th-October 17th 2014 - Part 6

by Nick

Up early, after not having the best night's sleep. A cold was coming on. Not completely there yet, but inevitable.

We showered and made our way to Cabanas, where I was expecting a continental breakfast, but was pleasantly surprised to find that there was a wide assortment of breakfast items.

We headed downstairs to disembark, which went very smoothly. When we went outside for our Magical Express bus, we were offered a van instead, which left almost immediately. By 8:30am we were at the Boardwalk Resort checking in.

We checked in, dropped off our luggage, grabbed a coffee at the Belle Vue Lounge, and headed off to Epcot. We walked slowly through World Showcase, taking photos and enjoying the absolutely beautiful weather, sunny and not nearly as hot as it had been on the previous Saturday.

We spent most of the morning in the Seas with Nemo & Friends, watching the fish get fed, something we'd never seen. We also caught the tail end of the eels being fed, but I wasn't quick enough for a photo.

By now, it was closing in on 11:00am, so we headed for World Showcase, with our first stop being the Puerto Rico booth. This is easily the nicest food booth at the Festival, with a nice area to relax.

Unfortunately, the food offerings I sampled didn't impress as much as the surroundings. The Ensalada de Corrucho, or Conch salad, was good, but the onion was overwhelming. The Carne Quisado, or slow braised beef, was rather dry.

Next, we got the griddled cheese at the Greece booth, which was not as good as in previous years, Barbie even stating she thought the cheese had a hint of "goateness," and, as she isn't a goat cheese fan, that was not a compliment.

Our next stop was the France booth, which had been absolutely jammed on the previous Saturday, and for good reason, the food here is terrific. The Escargot Tart, which was not as tasty as the old way it was served, in tiny little brioche, was still very good. The Boeuf Bourguignon and the Creme Brulee were excellent, among my favorite items at the Festival.

While enjoying these offerings,  around 11:45am we were texted our room was ready. We went to our room, both laid down, and both fell asleep!

We didn't head back to the park until after 2:00pm. We stopped at the Patagonia booth, which used to be Argentina. Last year, our perennial favorite, the Grilled Beef Skewer with Chimichurri Sauce was dry, but this year it was back to it's former glory, and moved back to being a favorite.

 The Roasted Verlasso Salmon was very good, but a bit dry.

While eating at a table in a nice shady spot, we were joined by another couple who had the Grilled Lamb Chop from the Australia booth. As it looked really good, I walked over and picked one up for myself. Yep, it was as good as it looked. Sorry, the photo below doesn't do it justice.

By now, it was nearing 3:00, so we headed to the Craft Beer pavilion where we were meeting our friends Lisa and Raymond. For the first time this year, this pavilion is housed in the Odyssey Center.

I had a Wild Hare Pale Ale by Spoetzle, meh, a Rye Pale Ale by Terrapin, again, meh, and a Punkin Ale by Dogfish Head which is a favorite.

Lisa and Raymond got there around 3:45, and we could've spent hours talking, but they had to leave to get ready for the Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party.
 
We walked with them to the front of the park, as we had FastPasses for Spaceship Earth.

photo courtesy of Lisa

We then walked back to World Showcase, where we got the dessert trio from Desserts & Champagne.
Barbie's favorite was the Passion Fruit Coconut Creamsicle, mine was the Chocolate Expresso Opera Cake. We both thought the Blueberry Lime Cheesecake Roll was bland.

Next, I decided to give the Seared Sea Scallop at Scotland a try. Last year, their Salmon dish was a let down, and perhaps I wasn't the only one who felt that way, as it hasn't returned this year. I'm really glad I got the scallop, as it was one of the best selections at the Festival. Moist and tender, and the spinach-Cheddar Gratin and Crispy Bacon was amazing.

I was so impressed with this offering, I went and got another, and while I was there decided to try the Potato Pancake with Smoked Scottish Salmon, and it was almost as good! I paired this with Innis & Gunn Oak Aged Beer.

By now, I was feeling rather run down, so we headed back to the Boardwalk. I started watching Illuminations from our room, but headed to bed before it finished.

Links to the first 5 parts: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4 and Part 5.

Choosing your Resort By Room Picture – the Deluxe Villas

By Shendl

If money was no object, or if you are a Disney Vacation Club (DVC) Member,  and you could only choose your Disney Villa by a picture of the bedroom, which one would you choose?

The names are at the bottom of the article – No peeking!

Your choice may surprise you!

1.

2.

3.

4.

 5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

Of all the Deluxe Villa Bedrooms, my #1 choice would be No10!
Which one will you choose?

1. Animal Kingdom Lodge - Jambo House
2. Animal Kingdom Lodge - Kidani Village
3. Contemporary Resort - Bay Lake Tower
4. Beach Club Villa’s
5. Boardwalk Villa’s
6. Old Key West Resort
7. Saratoga Springs Resort & Spa – Treehouse Villa’s
8. Saratoga Springs Resort & Spa
9. Villa’s at Grand Floridian Resort & Spa
10. Villa’s at Wilderness Lodge Resort & Spa

Room photographs are from the Walt Disney World website.