Brent... Just Brent

OK, so I just realized I only have a few pics left, so time to wrap this non-report up.

And there are no food pics left, so Dave can stop following along now.

Sunday morning I woke up pretty early and partook of the complimentary breakfast at the hotel. The plan was to get out, hit DHS and the main attractions, then head over to the Fort to meet up with Lorna, Doodle and everyone.

But, I was tired. Exhausted might be a better description. I knew there was no way I could do all of that and make it home safely. I decided to just head over to DHS and maybe ride a thing or two and then head home, so that's what I did.

I wasn't there at Rope Drop like TCD and the twins, but I wasn't too far behind them. Of course, we never saw each other.  I rode ToT, RnRC, Star Tours and then I decided I needed to hit up the Muppets. It had been closed for a while, so I wanted to see if there were any noticeable changes.

The props are still fun.

The only thing I thought might be different about the attraction was the movie itself was definitely digital and VERY sharp. That may have changed before this, though, so I'm not sure why it was closed for so long.

While I was there, I made my way to the Streets of America to check out the Osborne Lights progress.

The globe was up. I was very excited. This is one of my favorite holiday traditions.

And, on my way out, I swung by Pixar Place. The TSM line was out the door, so I knew that was out of the question for the day.  Mr. Spell was working, though it's hard to tell in this photo.

And the last of the turnstiles are still closed off being converted to RFID.

And that's it. No mas. No fuego.

I got on the road and drove, with only one stop, all the way back. Ok, so it's really not that far, but I made it home around 6 and collapsed.

It was a great weekend and I really enjoyed F&W. Would I do it again? I'm not sure. I think I'll wait a few weeks next year and hit the festival on a weekday. The crowds were completely unbearable that night and, while I love a drink, the hundreds of drunk men yelling profanities and stumbling around just wasn't my thing. I assume they were mostly locals.

Also, not staying at the Fort was a tough decision. I knew it wasn't worth it for a short, heavy-on-parks trip. That didn't make it any easier, though. The next trip in a few weeks will definitely be a Fort trip and I HOPE to see some of you there.

Other than the slimy shellfish discussions, I am enjoying this!  Thanks for sharing your delicious adventure.

 

Which Holiday Inn did you stay at?  Was it nice, or just OK?

Thanks.

 It was the Holiday Inn Express Lake Buena Vista. I think it's nice enough as far as hotels go. It's right off 536, so a very quick drive to Epcot and DHS.

I'm going to go ahead and admit I've been Bob Barker and Rod Roddy for Halloween before. Except my costumes were much better. And only older ladies seemed to get it. Oh well....

I was also in DHS Sunday morning. We just missed each other again.

Great TR.

OK. Thanks for all the comments everyone. I need to get this trainwreck back on track.

We left off with my nap. Naps aren't typically allowed on vacation, but I was exhausted. Once I got myself moving I headed back to Epcot.

The first stop, ironically, was France for... wait for it... Escargot.

I have to say... eh. It was all butter and garlic. Definitely not bad and very filling.

I then went in the French bakery and had a snack. Nothing fancy. After that, we kept moving. The next stop was Hawaii. My DFJ was wanting to try the Kahlua braised pork. The report, "Eh. It wasn't what I was hoping."

Oh, did I mention it got crowded?

Next stop was dessert. I wanted the sampler, but somehow ended up with the molten chocolate dessert from Ireland, maybe? I can't remember where, but shut the front door it was delicious.

After that it was Illuminations time. I didn't have the FP+ reserved viewing, but my friends did. I stood along the rope right behind them. It was a good show.

There was some shopping and then photos on the way out of the park.

After that, I think I had some sort of adult beverage and called it a night.

I would wait to talk about Saturday on a new post, but... I slept in. And then had lunch with some local friends in Windermere. And then hot tubbed. And then FINALLY made my way to MK to meet my friends who had spent the day there.  The park was open until midnight, so we had big plans. I think i got there around 7 and we went right to work on riding things. Except it was crowded. So crowded there may have been an altercation with an angry mom.  We ended up watching Wishes! here:

After, we rode a few things and I was forced to watch the MSEP. I refused to take photos. That's about the time I walked to Sunshine Tree Terrace to TRY and get a drink, but it was a nightmare. No one knew what they were doing. It took ten minutes but I finally got a raspberry lemonade... which is all they had. I considered it a success  when I got back to MSEP and the last several floats were missing.

After that we rode HM, Little Mermaid and POTC. Then we pulled a TCD/Brent and walked onto Space Mountain at 11:57. It was pretty much deserted in there. That's an old trick, but it still works. Then there was more shopping. I got bored, but ended up in the Confectionary.  These looked great.

When I got back to the TTC, this was the sight.

It was officially late.

I got back to the hotel and called it a night.

You're all jumping ahead! The escargot pics are coming in the next update.

There is a place for soft serve Brent. At least there was in July. The crepe stand in France also has soft serve. It was the same place that makes the ice cream at the place in the pavillion. It was very rich and creamy. Sil and I each had one. 

I'll have to check that out. I was pretty sure I didn't see it, but it was chaos around there. Thanks!

I'm going to power right through this and post away. I'd draw out the suspense like others, but I'm not that sort of writer. 

So, it was around noon and F&W had officially started. The first booth we stopped at was Australia. I think all three of us had the shrimp.

It was pretty good. I'm used to good shrimp, so I know my expectations were pretty high. For how it was cooked, it was better than expected. The greens were bitter, too, which I really liked. It was a good start.

Before I forget... In previous years there have been tables setup along the lagoon railing all the way around WS. Not so much this year. It was virtually impossible to find a place to stop and eat. Then we discovered the plastic trays they are selling this year. It has a place for your food AND your drink. Makes it super easy to stand and eat. Best $5 I spent... until I broke it later.

We continued on. There was a stop at Mexico, but I didn't get anything.

Then we stopped in China. I wanted the Mongolian Beef in a steamed bun. They had it, or something similar last year, and it was as good (and spicy) as I remember. I may have gotten a second.

Deliciousness.

There was a stop in Africa, but I was pacing myself since it was early. I just got a view.

About this time we'd all eaten a good bit in 30 or so minutes, so we decided to hit up the Chase Lounge.

If you haven't ever experienced this before, it's a lounge that's for Chase cardholders. I don't believe it even has to be a Disney Visa. Any Chase card will do.  All three of us have one, but the CM at the door told us one person could have up to 10 guests.

Last year, the lounge was in the Festival Center. I found out that morning that it was on the third floor of the America Pavilion. Since that's a space most can't see, I wasn't about to miss it.  We decided to take the stairs up. These signs were all over the stairwell.

Once we got upstairs, a very nice CM greeted us and told us about the lounges offerings. There were comfortable places to sit and relax on one side with soft jazz and charging stations. There were restrooms on that side as well.  The other side had candy, coffee, lemonade and two Coke Zero machines. All complimentary.

Sorry about the blurry photo. I was grabbing for a tiny cup and taking the photo.

The other side:

The windows you see there look out over World Showcase. It felt like a fairly nice space, but the ac (Not Aaron, but the air conditioning) worked very well, so that's all I could ask for.

After we relaxed and charged a bit, Disney Friend Joe (DFJ) wanted to see The American Adventure. I'd seen it the night before, but went anyway. It's always a good show. This time we sat in the very front of the theater. Try that sometime. It's interesting.

Before the show, we saw these guys:

And caught an excellent Voices of Liberty performance. One of them said, and I question it, that some of the members have been around since the beginning in the 80's. 

About this time I was getting hungry again, so it was off to Japan for some sushi. This was, I believe, the spicy hand roll.

And this is where it got a little ugly.

I was dehydrated. And tired. And all I wanted was soft serve. Did you know that there is nowhere in Epcot to get softserve anymore? Well, that appears to be true. The refreshment port used to have it, but they had Dole Whips for F&W. So I left and went and found my ice cream elsewhere. Then took a nap. Then a dip in the pool. And then I headed back. More to come in the next update because there was a lot more eating to be done.

Because really, I don't do so well writing trip reports.

And Bob/Lou don't read them. 

If they don't read them, why bother writing them? That's the logic I'm using here.

So last Thursday, September 26, I hit the road and took off for a quick weekend trip to WDW. The Food and Wine Festival was officially kicking off Friday morning. I didn't need more reason than that. I have an AP and was staying off property, so it was an easy weekend.

I wanted to leave early, and I didn't. I made decent time and pulled into Epcot around 7.

This was the first thing I saw:

I thought of many Fiends and their love of Starbucks. It's hard to tell from that photo, but it was actually pretty crowded.

There aren't any other photos from the evening. I met up with some friends from Charleston and did a few attractions and watched Illuminations. Afterwards, I checked into the Holiday Inn and called it a night.

Friday, September 27

The plan was to get up early. To clarify, early for me and early for TCD are entirely different things. I got up around 8 and went down for a complimentary hot breakfast. Sorry, no pood forn.

Once I got myself together, I headed over to Epcot. I planned to take a break mid-afternoon and head back for more F&W that evening.

I got there and started making my way over to Festival Center. There were signs to get me there should I get lost.

As you can see, the signs were leading me to the old Wonders of Life pavilion. 

I actually liked this one when it was open, so it's always strange to see if as Festival Center. 

Inside, things were still moving pretty slow.

I poked around a little, asked about the Chase cardholder lounge and then headed out for a quick ride on Test Track before I met my friends.

Test track was fun, except the two idiots in line in front of me. Without going into detail, they complained about everything the whole time, then yelled at a CM until they got what they wanted. I'm sure they'll tell everyone they had a terrible time at Epcot.

After that, I checked out the new Chevy Cruze Diesel and met up with my friends. There are apparently no photos of all three of us.

So, all of the boring stuff is over and it was time to do what I'd come for... EAT. We made our way out of Future World and into World Showcase.  I'll post my pood forn and opinions in the next update.

I'd probably take the Boardwalk bus and just walk over to DHS.

What is the chase card lounge? Is it free? Do they give you stuff? Why haven't I heard of this?

I'll eventually dig out a pic of the other side of the space. They had two Coke Freestyle machines, coffee, lemonade and a bar. Everything was complimentary except the booze. It was a little crowded, but cool and a nice way to relax. The CM's in the lounge were great.

Great report so far, TCD. 

The girls picked great costumes. Not just because they are current and awesome, but because they're COOL. Everytime I've been to MNSSHP it's way too hot for a big costume - and it certainly was that night based on how warm I was over at Epcot.

Do we get photos of the candy haul? Some of us with a sweet tooth are wondering what kind of candy we're getting this year.

It wasn't too bad getting the sign photos. We went early enough the crazies were not out yet. Then we left when they showed up (its great living here).

 

The Festival center is the same is years past except they moved the chase card holder lounge to the area next to where the wine is sold. We did not go in there because we forgot our card.

Thanks for sharing all of this. It was, indeed, a pain to try and take all of the photos. Looks like you tried very similar things to us on our tour around.

Actually... The Chase Card lounge is on the third floor of the America pavilion...

I almost want to say Great Movie Ride, but not sure why.

What a great report. And knowing Jason and Sil, I can tell how excited they are in the photos. Can't wait to hear about the first trip out in Maria.

What?

You are correct-all three TCD girls and a friend were at the Food and Wine Festival on Thursday night.

They went around together.

And, I toured with a certain grumpy bus pilot and his lovely wife.

We were going the same way, just a little behind them.

You should have given the oldest TCD DD a War Eagle. She would have tracked me down for you.

TCD

I was also there Thursday night. It's a small fiend world.

Congratulations! It looks like a great event and people genuinely look like they're having fun.

I looked on Main Street and at Epcot and they didn't have the new print yet.

On our way.... be there late afternoon into this evening.  Anyone try the Cherry Beer at Canada yet?

Meh. It was ok. Not my thing, but I can see some liking it.

There appears to be TONS of merch this year. More than I remember in the past. It's easy to find, too. Port of Entry (isn't that the gift shop at the World Showcase entrance?) has nothing BUT F&W merch. Coincidentally, I now own more of it than I care to admit.

There are also stations setup in the parks where you can schedule FP+. I saw the first one tonight.

My friends I'm with got MB's this trip and don't like them. "Can I take this off yet" was the common reaction - and they're big WDW fans. I just used my AP and it worked fine.

I couldn't agree more Disneygirl4ever.

I love the escape from the real world at WDW, but lately I find myself planning trips when I know I can see Fiends.  Even if I sell everything, I'm pretty sure I still couldn't afford to move to a state park, much less the Fort, but if we're dreaming...

The only CS restaurant I remember having trouble finding a table at is the one outside in Mexico in Epcot. For some reason I can't remember the name. There was a lot of circling involved that night. Otherwise, even July 4th this year, there wasn't really a problem finding a table.

Seriously. If I videoed the ducks here, I'd be yelled at. I really need to go work for the parks.

I have it on the agenda for Friday. I promise I'll try and actually take pics this time. There are 4 of us, so we should get a pretty good sampling.

Looks like everyone had a great time last night. Happy Birthday Kathy!