Food and Wine- My experience

     On October 19th, we made our way to the food and wine festival finally! Of course, Shannon and I were running late to meet up with Anna and Matt. However, upon arrival we checked out our passports and started making our way around the world! We skipped a lot of the beginning places like Mexico due to the massive crowd, deciding another visit would include those. We stopped at China for our first try. Now for those who don't know, these are all basically samples and best to share and try different things with a group otherwise it probably will be WAY to expensive. And in an effort to share all we had, here is the list:
1. Kung Fu Punch-China
2. Almond Crusted Blue Cheese soufflé with Fig jam- Cheese
3. Schofferhofer Grapefruit-Brewer's Collection
4. Zapiekanki- Poland
5. Ravioli de Formaggio all'Emiliana- Italy
6. Teriyaki chicken hand roll- Japan
7. Griddled Greek Cheese with pistachios and Honey- Greece
8. Ouzo- Greece
9. Guylian Belgian chocolate seashell truffle- desserts & champagne
10. Chocolate orange cupcake- dessert & champagne
11. Morello cherry pistachio mouse- dessert & champagne
12. Kalua pork slider with sweet and sour dole pineapple- Hawaii
13. Leinenkugel seasonal shandy- craft beers

     I would say most were excellent and a few fell shy of expectations. All food samples we tried were between $3-$6 each. Liquor was around $8 each. While beer was $4-8 depending upon size. Not too bad for prices I would say. I would have to say the dessert were my personal fave followed by any alcohol hahah!

     I would suggest to bring your own regular drinks to stay hydrated (it was horribly hot that day). In addition, every so often seek some shelter (again from that sun). It might be hard to find a place to sit with your food so investing in a food and wine tray might be worth it. It holds your food and drink in one tray (even the wine glasses)! We missed out on the Night Ranger concert but I suggest checking the schedule whose playing when you plan on attending.

    
 We called it a day early to take advantage of Anna's family staying at Fort Wilderness with a dip in the pool. Following an awesome grilled burgers, baked beans and chips. The Barrett family did a great job feeding us a big full meal before we had to say goodbye for the day. Overall, a great experience and I look forward to going back!

Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party

This past Friday, I (Anna) along with my parents and Matt went to Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party at Disney’s Magic Kingdom. We also met up with Ashleigh and Alex later in the night. This was our first time going to the annual event and it did not disappoint!

We got there a little before 7 pm (it’s start time), collected our trick-or-treat bags, and through much confusion received our wrist bands that let us be there after 7. As usual for a trip to Magic Kingdom, our first stop was the “fire station” to get Matt cards for The Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom game, but instead of just getting the normal pack, we also received the special Halloween cards for this year. We then got dinner at one of our favorite “fast food” Disney restaurants, Casey’s Corner, which serves baseball park style food.

After filling our bellies, we were ready for the festivities! We headed off into Adventure Land and encountered Jane and Terk from Disney’s Tarzan. I got my picture taken with them and their autographs. Soon after we ran into Genie and Jasmine from Disney’s Aladdin and were able to get their autographs and pictures too. In fantasy, near where they are building the new seven dwarf’s ride, were the seven dwarfs! Matt and I also were able to get a picture with them.

We also went on a few rides. We of course had to hit up The Haunted Mansion because besides being one of my favorite rides at Magic Kingdom it also had some enhancements for Halloween. There was a "ghost" telling jokes as you waited in line and all the ride attendants were looking extra spooky with exaggerated makeup and costumes.   

All through the park there were places for anyone to go trick-or-treating. As a child, I never went trick-or-treating, so this was a first for me. The places that had candy were shown by Mickey lanterns and usually a cast member (employee) holding a Mickey pumpkin sign checking for the special wrist bands. The lines weren't very long and there were good varieties of candy at each station.

For the Halloween party, Disney had special shows at the castle, parades, and firework shows. We missed the shows at the castle. Will try to catch that next year! We saw the fireworks show while waiting in line to see the Seven Dwarfs. While we couldn't see what was going on at the front of the castle, the show was still pretty spectacular. The parade was very cute and was full of Disney characters that you don’t normally see out and about. All the Disney Villains were out in full swing.  The same song played throughout Main Street during the parade and that got annoying, but it was still a cute experience.

There are still nights you can attend Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party through the rest of October and on the first Friday of November. Check out their website for special deals for Florida residents and annual pass holders. 

Girls Night Movie Night #96

      Hey Y'all! My post is a little late but we continued our girl's night with number #96 on our Disney Top 100 list! The feature was Disney Channel's "Right on Track". Like Number 97, we struggled to find a way to actually watch the movie this week. Thankfully, Neil was able to find an online version we could watch. For those who don't remember this movie, it's a movie from 2002 about Erica and Courtney Enders. This movie is actually about the real Erica and Courtney and from my research was pretty accurate in telling their story.

     Erica and Courtney were two young teens who competed in Junior drag racing in Texas. I think the movie focuses mostly on Erica in her struggle to win. Erica doesn't accept losing and even at a young age in her drag racing career she loses to a boy and well she becomes determined to beat him later in life. Erica gets the opportunity years later (still a young teen though) and accomplishes her goal (sorry for those who haven't seen it). However, Erica becomes a sore winner. Her father does a great job showing how embarrassed he is by his daughter and teaching her to be better than that.

     The movie does a great job showing what many of us might have felt in high school/middle school with the pressures to do go at an extra curricular activity, do good in school and have a social life. It's tough being a young teen and handling all that. Erica experiences this the most since her focus is to win more than anything. Part of the reason she is allowed to race is if her grades stay up. As she struggles with French class and meets a boy she wants to be with she gives up racing. This is when Courtney's story comes into play. Courtney is old enough to race and succeeds very easily. Courtney is the exact opposite of Erica's personality in the fact she is fun, carefree and simply enjoys her time. She is no where near as serious as Erica. After Erica succeeds in French class and the jealousy of her sister's success, she gets back behind the wheel.

     Erica approaches Nationals finally and well I leave that part for you to watch if she wins or not. It's a heart warmed Disney Channel movie full of good morals and things young teens typically deal with. If you haven't seen it, I'd watch it sometime. Who knows maybe you'll be inspired to succeed at your favorite hobby! Oh and the pic on the right, that's the real Erica and Courtney!

 

Furlough-cation

Since the government shut down a week ago, I (Anna) have been on furlough and since I’m on this forced vacation I’m trying to make the most of it and do some vacation-y stuff. What better way to spend the day than at Disney? That’s exactly what my mom (also furloughed) and I did last Wednesday. We went to all four Disney World parks in one day!

We started our day at Animal Kingdom, but before we even got in the park my mom dropped her annual pass somewhere between the bag check and the ticket entrance. Fortunately for her, someone had picked it up and brought it to the lost and found where we were able to get it back pretty quickly. When we finally got into the park, we headed to the Tree of Life to do the A Bug’s Life show, It’s Tough to be a Bug. It was cute as usual. After that, I convinced my mom to go on Expedition Everest – Legend of the Forbidden Mountain. Although I enjoyed myself, she did not. She’s not a fan of roller coasters and she confirmed that once again after riding this one. After our adventure with the Yeti in the Himalayan Mountains, we went to hang out with Dug and Russell from the movie Up. The characters spent a lot of time with each person that stood in line and it was very special.

After finishing up at Animal Kingdom, we hopped on a bus to Epcot. Upon arriving to the park, we were a little bit hungry. The International Food and Wine Festival is still going on and will continue until about mid-November; because of this we were able to visit a few stands to get our lunch. Our first stop was Brazil. We ordered the Seared Scallop with Ragout of Tomatoes, Peppers & Hearts of Palm and the Frozen Caipirinha featuring LeBlon Cachaca. Both the scallop and drink were very good and I look forward to having them again. After Brazil, we headed to Mexico and tried the Shrimp Taco with Purple Cabbage. It was probably my favorite food there so far this year.

Once our tummies were full, we got on another bus heading to Hollywood Studios. Upon arriving at the park, a couple who was leaving gave us their fast passes to ride Toy Story Midway Mania!. We had a little bit of time before we could use them so we first headed to Star Tours – The Adventures Continue. It’s a ride I’ve been on a lot and it was good as usual. Since we were there on a week day in the fall, there weren’t a lot of people in the park so we had time for another ride. We chose The Great Movie Ride and practically just walked on. By about the time the ride was over it was almost time to get in line for the Toy Story ride. Neither of us had ever been on it, so we were very excited and it did not disappoint! The ride has been blogged on here before, but I thought I needed to reiterate its awesomeness.

We decided we wanted to end our “magical” day at Magic Kingdom, so we took yet another bus to that park. We spent the majority of our time there eating, walking around, and shopping. The main event at Magic Kingdom was getting good seats for the light show on the castle. We set our eyes on the tables outside The Plaza Restaurant near Main Street. Other people had the same idea, much to the dismay of the people who actually wanted some place to eat. One man got so perturbed that he was cussing loud enough for people to hear and came over to my table while my mom was getting us ice cream, yelled at me, and left his and his wife’s hotdogs on the table. The wife later came back and got the food and apologized. Even though getting the view of the castle was quite eventful, it was well worth it.

Eat and Drink Your Way Around the World

The Start to the Epcot’s Food and Wine Festival
This past weekend Epcot’s annual Food and Wine Festival started with a bang. I (Anna) along with Matt and my parents went to check out the festivities this past Saturday. The park was packed with all sorts of people ready to eat and drink themselves around the world. This year they added two new stands, American Adventure Coffee Cart and Scotland, which makes THIRTY destinations all together. If you have never been to the food and wine festival or the International Flower & Garden Festival in the spring then here are a few tips:

1. Go with a few friends and share every dish.
2. Get a “passport” at your first destination and get it stamped at every country.
3. Bring a pen so that you can mark off the things you have tried.
4. Buy a tray at the front of the park so that it’s easy to hold all the hot food and drinks.

Last year when the four of us went we had to visit all the countries in one day which left us stuffed (and a little tipsy). Since we have annual passes this year, we decided to take it slow and enjoy a few counties at a time. We went to Canada, Greece, and Scotland this trip.

Canada

Canada was our first trip and the busiest of them all. Since we had bought two trays when we first walked in, we let my dad go and try to find a seat in the shade for all of us after getting our food. We decided to get all the food items and two of the drinks to share. The dishes were Canadian Cheddar Cheese Soup, Seared Rainbow Trout with Bacon, Frisee & Maple Minus 8 Vinaigrette, and “Le Celliar” Wild Mushroom Beef Filet Mignon with Truffle Butter Sauce. The drinks we tried La Face Neige Apple Ice Wine and La Face Neige Sparkling. I loved everything that we tried! Matt is one of the pickier eaters in our group and is not a fan of fish usually, but the rainbow trout was easily his favorite.

Greece

In Greece, we tried the majority of the food choices and two of the drinks. They offered the Taste of Greece: Grilled & Marinated Calamari, Htipiti, Eggplant Dip, Olives & Pita Bread, Griddled Greek Cheese with Pistachios & Honey, Chicken Gyro with Tzatziki Sauce, and Spanakopita. We didn’t really know what any of the drinks were, so we let our cashier pick two for us. We got Alpha Estate Axia Syrah-Xinomavro and Ouzo by Metaxa. All of the food dishes were delicious. My favorite (as it was last year too) was the Griddled Greek Cheese with Pistachios & Honey. It’s so great! Everyone should at least try this in Greece. The Alpha Estate Axia Syrah-Xinomavro was good, but the Ouzo was very strong and definitely a shot that will have you yelling Opa!

Scotland

After Greece and buying Vinylmations, we decided to try one of the new destinations. Mom and I decided on Scotland and left Matt and dad to guard our seats. We once again got all of the food options, but stuck to water and coke for drinks. They offered Seared Scottish Salmon with Cauliflower Puree, Watercress & Malt Vinaigrette, Vegetarian Haggis with Neeps &Tatties (Grilled Vegetable Cake with Rutabaga & Mashed Potatoes), and Scottish Banoffee Tart with Bananas, Scotch Whisky Toffee, Walkers Shortbread Crumbles & Sweet Cream. Surprisingly enough, Matt’s favorite was the vegetarian dish which none of the rest of us really liked and he’s a meat guy all the way. Mom and Matt weren’t fans of the dessert claiming the taste of the Scotch was too strong, but dad and I liked it (not sure what that says about us…). They were out of cauliflower puree, so the salmon was also served with rutabaga and mashed potatoes.
All-in-all, our experience was great as usual and I can’t wait until our next trip to continue our way around the world.