Brent... Just Brent

I'm pretty sure the first Fez wearer was supposed to be Doctor Who. Fez's are cool!
Great report! Thanks for the bonus content.

Is the 30th  ever going get here?   I keep looking at the calender and there is a whole bunch of squares before  I come to the one highlighted, and circled,  and stars flying from it........

No problem! And I'll help more when I'm back in a couple of weeks. Haha

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.

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.
 

Hey hey hey! Only Lou was around when the Mayflower sailed.
 
I simply meant that was 15 years ago and isn't one of those movies that everyone has a copy of.

I use the candles, but they don't do much. The Off Lanterns that Jason mentioned are absolutely fantastic.

Hmm, I would assume outside of a park due to crowds so I'll say:
 
Casual, not a super quiet place - Boatwrights at POR. I think it's major underrated and I've had great food there.
Casual and quieter - Sanaa at Kidani. It's quiet and very, VERY underrated. It's hardly ever crowded, either.
Casual and loud and in a park - Mama Melrose. It had a great Christmas feel.
 
Fancier - Flying Fish. Hands down. Big flavors and the best steak on property.
 
I also like Olivia's at OKW, but it's nothing super fancy at all. Typical American food with a few surprises like the conch fritters.
 
Just my opinion, though. It all depends on what kind of food you like. You're at WDW for Christmas, so I'm sure you'll enjoy almost anywhere.

I actually like Epcot. Illuminations is my favorite firework show and I enjoy the pavilions. Other than Spaceship Earth and Soarin', though, I can't tell you the last time I didn't hurry through future world to get to something in WS.

Spectro was definitely my favorite. Best new from a bus driver all night.

I'm lucky to plan two months in advance.... no way I can do two years. I will say, though, that it's always good to get the reservation as soon as you have firm dates. The Fort books up so fast.

The conversations we were all having that evening were.... interesting. I just remember being in Stef's chair and having to roll out onto the ground so I could standup near the end of the night.

The conversations we were all having that evening were.... interesting. I just remember being in Stef's chair and having to roll out onto the ground so I could standup near the end of the night.

Nate and Genia were getting their groove on? Umm. Right there at DTD?
Oh.
Wait.
You mean dancing. Gotcha! Looks like a great time.

We had a pop-up for 4 years and bought a TT this spring. We loved the pop-up but it was alot of work, but we pulled it fine with our Honda Odyssey. We camp alot, at least 10 tomes a year, mostly to FW!!
When it was time to let the Odyssey go and we were looking for a new vehicle, our criteria was mostly based on towing capacity. We ended up with a Nissan Pathfinder w/tow pkg. As far as our research it had the most towing capacity of the major suvs.
I second the post about not trusting the sales people (camper and vehicle). We had some that tried to tell us we could safely tow the longer heavier TT, but upon researching it was not true!!
We ended up buyimg a 23 ft. with a rear slide (the queen bed). Do we wish we could have a bigger one? Of course!! But we really enjoy this camper and we have piece of mind that we are safe and not pushing the limits of our vehicle!! And, we camp comfortably and within our budget!!

Yeah, you can definitely add the Dining Plan later. I did it last summer about a week out.

Awesome report. Congrats, Ed!

I concur with Ed and Carol. I was in 523 earlier this summer and it, like most of the loop, had generous sized sites as well as a decent amount of privacy. I was also in 1321 for July 4th and that was a huge site with no one within 20 feet on either side, though not much shrub/landscaping privacy. I also like the premiums (spoiled now) to avoid that coquina. It gets on everything, especially when it rains.
There are some sites that get more sun than others, but they're spread throughout the whole campground. It seems like 400 has quite a few of them, though.
Good luck planning your first trip to the Fort!

Great hijack. Thanks guys.

I forgot to mention that at some point on Tuesday I saw something floating in the canal. Luckily it wasn't a gator. Seems someone didn't appreciate the yellow pole telling them not to drive their carts somewhere and deposited it in the canal.

You can see just how close to the pool we were. I thought it was fine. Justin, the teacher, thought it sounded like recess 12 hours a day and wasn't as happy.
And since I'm backtracking, we'll call this "Dusk in the 1300 loop". I must have taken this while we were eating on Tuesday.

Yes, this TR is very disorganized.
I promise I'll try to get it back on track.
Wednesday morning was July 4th and I was DETERMINED I wasn't going to miss the golf cart parade, even though Lorna and Doodle had been bad influences the night before and kept me up until near dawn. Ok, well 2:30am. Same difference to me.
As we were waiting for the parade to start we saw Lorna and Chris across the street. Donnie eventually got some free coffee from someone and came to join us. At some point we saw the traditional bagpiper go down the street on a Fort cart in his kilt with the bagpipe. We were confused. He didn't start the parade this year. These guys did.

I think someone told me the driver was a ranger. No comment.
There was the parade marshals, I guess. No idea. They were awake and smiling though.

It's not the 4th at the Fort without Goofy!

The Haunted Mansion Cart

That's all I have from the parade. It was fun. I was tired. Etc. I went back and had some more coffee and we discussed the day a little. We had a little cabin pool time again and that's about it. I think there was some napping. And I looped a little. I think Bob and Lou stopped by at some point, but it's a little blurry.
At some point GrumpyRVer Gary came by when he was walking his dog. Very nice guy. He and PartlyConfused Marilyn were in our loop, but we hadn't seen them outside yet. We talked for a while, but we both had to get ready for the potluck.
We loaded the cart up with crockpots, chairs, adult beverages, etc and gently headed off to the 1700 loop for the potluck. As was passed their site, Gary waved me down. Being the great folks that they are, they had more dishes than would fit on their golf cart. I'm not kidding you people! So, we loaded what we could fit on ours and then we caravanned over. Only to discover there wasn't anyone around. I'm pretty sure Lorna was napping, not "napping", inside so we sat outside and talked until others showed up. I guess we made so much noise Lorna woke up and we got the party started.
I met a whole bunch of Fiends. It was great. I can't even begin to remember who all was there. The highlight (other than dropping a meatball on my shirt) was meeting Family of Bears and Blondebunny. They were hilarious. Blondebunny's husband won the award of the day from me because, unlike me, he had brought a bottle opener.
At some point we all caravanned to the fireworks and made it just as they were starting. Feisty served as the official "horn" of the caravan.
The fireworks were good. please see Devores' pictures as I took none. After (we had parked at Judy's site) we had no problems getting out. Somehow, Rita and Linda had gotten down there but had no way to get back, so we loaded them onto the cart... where I discovered that we were actually moving slower than Bob. It just made it easier for Linda to harass him on the drive back, though.
After, we sat around and talked, then broke for a while, then went to Bob's and talked some more.
Thursday I was moving a little slower. We had leftovers for lunch and then hit Blizzard Beach for a while. It was crowded with tour groups so we went back, showered and went to DTD for some reason. I'm not sure what because I didn't get to go in. I circled the parking lot for 25 min looking for a parking space while Justin went and got what he needed. Another dinner at Sweet Tomatoes and then a few drinks.
The final night at Bob's was great. We all stayed up too late again. I got Disney PoPo'd on the way back to get more beer (driving the wrong way in a loop). We said our goodbyes and then headed off to get a little sleep before the drive home.
So that's all there is. Long on words, longer on memories, but short on photos.
It was great meeting everyone and I can't wait to see you all again! If I have anymore thoughts, I'll do my best to add them.

Wow. Now if only WDW would do this. I'd have them picking me up in Charleston and driving me down by now.

How have I not answered this? I thought I had. I actually REALLY liked the 1300 loop. I wasn't expecting to, but I did. I was in 1321 which was right across the canal from the pool. During the day there was pool noise. I could hear the CM yelling into the microphone when I was in the shower. Justin is a teacher, so it wasn't pleasant for him. I'm not, so it just sounded like white noise to me. After 6 or so, though, it quieted down and was fine. The site was big with a lot of space between them. If Marilyn had been in 1322, it really would have been a party!

I make no secret of the fact that Illuminations is not only a traditional WDW evening for me, but also my favorite of the nighttime shows at WDW. I'll be sad to see it go, but I won't complain unless the new show isn't good... then I'll complain loudly.

I'm waiting! (Just mimicking you! hahaha)

Thanks for sharing. Great report.