Candlelight Processional at Epcot

This is the first year that my family and I (Anna) went to the Candlelight Processional at Disney’s Epcot. A friend at work had told me that I needed to go this year and as usual (she also convinced my family to get annual passes) we took her advice. For those of you that don’t know what that is, it’s when Epcot host several famous people that will read the Christmas story (you know, the one with Christ actually in it) while local choirs sing Christmas songs. They have three showing a night.

One thing I’m glad we did was make reservations in advance to eat before the show and then get priority seating for the processional. It’s called the Candlelight Dinner Package. It was well worth it for us!

The restaurant we chose was Tutto Italia Ristorante. I had wanted to eat here for a while anyway and this provided the perfect opportunity. The food was absolutely delicious! As part of the dinner package, my dad, mom, and I each got to pick a non-alcoholic drink, a starter, an entrée, and a dessert. Everything we all ordered was great. I shared the Calamari Fritti to start with my mom, the Filetto di Sogliola (lightly breaded fish served with white asparagus, capers, and a lemon butter sauce) as an entrée, and the Torta di Ricotta (lemon ricotta cheesecake topped with marinated strawberries) for dessert. I would definitely recommend any of my choices.

After we ate, we had enough time to walk around the other countries and make our way back to “America” for the spectacle. On our selected night Dennis Haysbert (might recognize him from All State commercials or the TV show 24) was the person reading the Christmas story. There were two lines. One of the lines was for the people that got the dinner package, and the other line was for the people who were waiting in standby. Both lines were so long that they were flowing into the nearby countries. It didn’t look like any of the standby people were going to get in, which was disappointing because Matt was going to meet us there after work. Luckily we were able to save him a seat, but hardly any other standby people were let in for our time slot.

The processional was very good. All the singers were excellent and Dennis Haysbert did a great job reading after a few mix-ups at the beginning. I was a little confused when the audience didn’t get any candles to hold, but I guess it’s safer that way. Overall, it was a great experience and I highly recommend it to everyone!

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!