Galaxy's Edge and Festival of the Arts Figment Brush with the Master's Scavenger Hunt

Just in case you are a little nostalgic for Walt Disney World, here are three videos from our January trip.

These videos, as well as many others, can be found on our Youtube Channel.    You can subscribe and get updates of when a new video is posted.   We are closing in on 1,000 subscribers and would love to get over that hump.

Video 1:  Walking Around Galaxy's Edge with a stop in Oga's Cantina and a ride on Smuggler's Run

 


Video 2:  Galaxy's Edge Rise of the Resistance full experience with portions from the queue and full ride video
 


 
 Video 3:  A tour around Epcot's World Showcase playing Figment's Brush with the Masters scavenger hunt game.

2020 Epcot's International Flower and Garden Festival

Unfortunately not many people are going to get to experience Epcot's Flower and Garden Festival this year.     It was only running for 10-or-so days before Walt Disney World parks shut down to limit the spread of COVID-19.  Our trip was booked months ahead of time and the concept of social distancing was coming into play towards the end of our trip. Luckily we left Orlando for home on schedule, before the announcement of the park closures.

Overall impressions:  Same festival, different year.   With Epcot's construction a few things were out of place and there wasn't the usual grand display at the park entrance.  The butterfly house was between The Land and Imagination.

Things we experienced

• We played Spike's Pollen-Nation Exploration scavenger hunt game.
• Enjoyed the temporary entertainment in Canada - Marc Angers and Friends.  This is the best act we've seen in the Canadian Pavilion since the departure of Off-Kilter.
• Took in 3 Garden Rock Shows:   Peabo Bryson in the front row, The Orchestra featuring former members of ELO, and The Guess Who.
• Ate or drank something from most of the festival food booths.   
• Had dinner with friends at Takumi-Tei, the newish restaurant in the Japan Pavilion.  We had excellent service and food.    Our table enjoyed the omakase (tasting) menu along with wine/sake pairing.

We put together a 20 minute video from our festival experience which includes all the locations of Spike's hiding spots, some topiary characters, Marc Angers and Friends, and bits from the three Garden Rocks artists we watched.

Never Homevember: 2019 Walt Disney World

Our travel schedule for November got full quickly.   Our traditional Thanksgiving vacation to Jamaica was booked in the summer of 2018 when we found a crazy cheap promotion for one of our favorite hotels.  We booked a short Disney World trip centered around the Swan and Dolphin Hotels’ Food and Wine Classic event and our wedding anniversary.   This summer a friend suggested we should join him in Las Vegas for the Rock and Roll Half Marathon - which of course was the weekend between the other trips.   We were on the fence about Vegas but when we canceled our Labor Day trip to Florida, due to Hurricane Dorian, we used the airline credit and budget from that trip to book the Las Vegas trip and then drowned our sorrows in Milwaukee (an hour from our house) over Labor Day Weekend.  That meant we would not be home 4 weekends in a row.  Of course this came at extreme busy times at work so lots of time was spent on the laptops at night during the work weeks.

Disney Highlights

Stayed at the Polynesian using our Disney Vacation Club.  We booked a lake view room which offers a view of the Magic Kingdom from the 2nd and 3rd floors.   We of course ended up on the first floor with no view.  Oh well...  One benefit of our location was the quick walk to the Transportation and Ticket Center to grab the Monorail to access to Magic Kingdon, several resorts, and Epcot.  Another plus was access to Trader Sam's Tiki Bar for the chance to get the Hat Box Ghost mug.

Checking out the new land in Disney's Hollywood Studios:  Galaxy's Edge.   We were really looking forward to experiencing the land, especially after missing opening weekend.  Since the land’s opening crowds at Disney World were low....but not on Veteran's Day Weekend.   The place was packed with lines out-the-door to get into shops.

We experienced a lot in a short amount of time thanks to Holly's tenacious attack on Disney's online reservation system.   The morning started with cocktails and beer at 10am in Oga's Cantina. "Fortunately" they still had all the collectible tiki glasses including the Rancor tooth flight glasses and tray.  Next we went to build our custom remote control R2-D2 style droids. Around noon we finally got in the 105 minute long line for Smuggler's Run - the Millennium Falcon simulation.  Holly let people go ahead of us at role assignment time so we could be the pilots.    2pm:  Time for more cocktails since we had another Oga's reservation.   4pm: Build light sabers.

Overall the world was very well thought out, just wish we could have had the non-crowd experience of the prior months.   Dave felt it needed a little more nods to the old era like having the Jawas trade with guests and more random creatures walk around the area.

Food:  This whole trip was supposed to be centered around eating, but we had to cram all the Star Wars stuff in after cancelling the September trip.   We had a great night at the Swan and Dolphin's Food and Wine Classic.  The event gets better each year with more offerings and themed areas.  Epcot was still hosting their Food and Wine Festival.   Our original wish list of 75 items was created in August when we had two trips to spread the eating.    We culled that down a bit before the trip and maybe ended up skipping a 1/3 of what we wrote down.    We enjoyed the new night time show - Epcot Forever. Too bad it's temporary.

We grabbed a drink at the new Enchanted Rose Lounge in the Grand Floridian. The bar is a lightly themed to Beauty and the Beast and replaces Mizner's Lounge in a much larger space.   It will be nice to spend some time on their outdoor deck during a longer trip.

We decided to celebrate our anniversary dinner at The California Grill.   Food was good as always, but we had some issues with the check-in desk.  They had us wait a 1/2 hour past our reservation time in some dank corner of the Contemporary 2nd floor and weren’t sure they would have called us if Dave didn't check on the progress.   We had it noted all over the place it was our anniversary - so where do they sit us?  A booth in front of the chef's pass.    Not cool.   We told them we were not happy and were reseated a few minutes later.    Kinda put a damper on the mood and we left 5 minutes before the fireworks.    We did catch them at TTC - good spot for them.   

We scored a Mickey's Christmas Tree popcorn bucket.   It's our Christmas Tree this year.  Dave was really tempted to buy more for ebay after seeing the after-market price, but we believe in letting people have a chance to get one in-park.

Once again we were able to squeeze a lot into a short amount of time and had a great trip.   

The video below is our experience making custom light sabers in Galaxy’s Edge.  Dave gets to show some Star Wars nerdiness when a cast member asks him a question.

Walt Disney World Highlights - September 2018 Trip

The two main focuses of this Labor Day weekend trip to Walt Disney World were Epcot’s International Food and Wine Festival and Hollywood Studio’s Toy Story Land.  The Food and Wine Festival was covered in our last post so please check this link to view that post.   Thanks to our Disney Vacation Club (Disney timeshare program) ownership we were able to stay at The Grand Floridian Hotel.  The relatively new rooms were very nice and having two showers in a studio room helped us to get ready quickly in the mornings.

Toy Story Land

This section of Hollywood Studios opened up in the early summer.  Guests are made to feel like hey are in Andy’s backyard experiencing his creations from a toy’s POV.   The land is home to a new roller coaster, spinner ride, and the new entrance to Toy Story Midway Mania.   As of now there is only one narrow entrance into the land.   We rope-dropped the new coaster (Slinky Dog Dash) on both our visits. These ended up being the most aggressive rope-drops ever experienced since this was the longest distance we’ve ever traveled with the hordes.  We made it on the first coaster of each day (unfortunately Dave takes pleasure in navigating the rope-drop) making enemies with pushy selfie-loving millennial along the way.  

Slinky Dog Dash is not a thrilling coaster.  It is a fun ride with lots of cute features and nods to the movie lore.

Alien Saucer Swirl is a copy of Mater’s Junkyard Jamboree in Disneyland with a green alien overlay.  It’s very cute and the techno soundtrack is fun.

The rest of the land is filled with giant statues of Toy Story characters and vignettes of toys.  

Other Fun

In the Magic Kingdom we visited Stitch’s new meet and greet location in the old location of Stitch’s Great Escape.  The meet took place in the preshow lobby and they did not spend one cent on remodeling.   When finished we walked through the preshow theater and out the door that must have been a chicken exit.  We got to walk on a little back area path we’ve never been on before and saw a cool poster about a rocket expo.  





The Incredible Summer Celebration (Tomorrowland takeover) was still going on.  We spent a few moments at the Purple Wall (made a thing on Instagram so now Disney is capitalizing on it) having Photo Pass guy take our picture.  We were on Splash Mountain when the lights came on for the end scene.  We were hoping to get evacuated but it never happened.  

Victoria and Albert’s Chef’s Table Dinner: Walt Disney World May 2018

During our most recent Walt Disney World vacation we were able to enjoy dinner at Victoria & Albert’s Chef’s Table in the Grand Floridian Resort.  The last time we enjoyed this experience was in 2011 with just the two of us dining.   This year we invited long-time friends to join us.    There’s only one seating per night in the kitchen and to get that reservation you need to call six months in advance. For us, that meant remembering to make the phone call during our Bahamas vacation.

We were staying at Bay Lake Towers for this portion of the trip which made it convenient to navigate transportation in dress-up clothes.   Meeting our friends in the Grand Concourse we took the Monorail over to the Grand Floridian, leaving time for a pre-cocktail at Mizner’s Lounge.  We were greeted outside of the restaurant and were told it would be just a minute as they prepared for us.  It wasn’t too long before we were escorted through the dining area into the kitchen.  The dining table is off to one end of the kitchen to give diners a length-wise view to the action.  

One thing we observed in the beginnings their timing seemed off. The chef didn’t greet us right away, which was odd. Turns out a staff meeting was running late and Chef Amy was still at the meeting.  Our backup chef decided to start our toast.  Chef Amy joined us a few minutes later.  There were several times the ladies were not served first.  

Dinner at the Chef’s Table is a set ten-course meal that changes seasonally.  Offerings at the Chef’s Table are the same as in the main dining room.  Surprisingly it’s only a slight up-charge to eat in the kitchen, just requires luck to score the ressie.   We all chose to add the wine pairing which included three whites, three reds, and a dessert wine. We skipped the caviar, turbot, and Miyazaki upgrades.  At various points during dinner a different fresh bread is served along with your choice of salt and butter.

We were not fans of the duck pastrami.  We heard it is no longer on the menu - maybe a result of our dining companions sharing their opinion of the dish with the chef.

After dinner we were presented with a box of small candies to choose from.  Being full we asked for them to be boxed.   We were disappointed to find they did not box one of each for us.  Don’t know why - they had plenty.  

One of the more fun experiences we had in the kitchen was watching the chefs make stock.   Two large (20 gallon maybe) cook pots were close to our rooms doorway.  We watched the chefs stir the contents displaying whole garlic cloves, bones, other vegetables, etc.   this stock would be cooked down over 5 days.   

It was probably a little after 10 o’clock when we finished up our coffees and paying our bills.   We had a chance to get a photo with the staff, which was nice.  The quality of the food and knowledge of the staff still remains impressive.  On this night the attention to details slipped a little but it still did not detract from the experience.

Disney World Trip Highlights - May/June 2018

Every few years we book a week+ long trip to Disney World in May.   Typically we do this around Mother’s Day but since Dave started with a new company last year his vacation allotment reset, causing us to take advantage of the Memorial Day holiday to minimize vacation use.   We figured there would be a noticeable difference in the crowds for the holiday weekend, but it actually wasn’t any worse than earlier in the month. 

We’re going to cover the highlights in the post vs. a day-by-day account of our trip.   We spent the first 6 nights at Bay Lake Tower (attached to the Contemporary Resort) followed by 4 nights at Boardwalk Resort.   We are DVC (Disney Vacation Club) members.

We landed early Friday evening and rushed through MCO to our rental car.   We dropped everything off in the hotel room so we could head right into the Magic Kingdom to see the Happily Ever After fireworks show.   Holly was a big fan of Wishes and we both decided the new show was not a very good replacement – definitely less pyrotechnics and more castle projections (which are hard to see with all the darn kids on parents’ shoulders).

Memorial Day Weekend marked the last few days of Epcot’s Flower and Garden Festival.  This put the pressure on us to hit all the food booths around World Showcase that we wanted to try.   Overall offerings this year were not as good as they have been in the past.   Epcot did look great and it was fun to watch the flowers slowly disappear later in the week when the festival closed.   We took in The Spinners at the Garden Rocks concert.  Fun show!

Trader Sam’s at the Polynesian is still a fun place to enjoy the evening (outdoors).  We were happy to see that Disney did not get rid of the guitarist/singer on the terrace. 

California Grill is back on our top dining list.   We had really bad service on our last visit to the restaurant and the changes to the menu items at that time were not our favorite.  Now with the former Jiko chef at the helm things are back the way we like them.   We ate a late (10pm) dinner one night at the bar and then a normal time dinner the following evening.   The filet with the tamarind BBQ was as good as ever.   Our motto for Disney dining in May still held true:  If Zellwood corn is on the menu get it.  The corn chowder was fantastic!

We dined with friends one night at Victoria and Albert’s Chef’s Table.   We had a great night watching the kitchen team in action and enjoying great food and wine.   That evening will get a detailed post of its own.





We had a surprisingly good lunch at The Wave in the Contemporary.  We didn’t want park food or food court food and found this a decent option.  We split the appetizer mussels and Asian pork belly buns.   There were a few decent beers on tap.   This is a perfect break from the Magic Kingdom.

Disney Springs has become an enjoyable place to eat and drink.   We experienced Paddlefish, Dockside Margaritas, Polite Pig, The Edison, Morimoto Asia, and more.

 Afternoon tea at the Grand Floridian is still a fun break from the Magic Kingdom.

 This summer Animal Kingdom started an event in Dino Land called Donald’s Dino-Bash.   The premise is Donald Duck discovers ducks are descended from Dinosaurs and throws a party. Uncle Scrooge is fighting with some rival duck over whom was the first duck clan of Scotland.  There’s some decent theming and backstory in the Uncle Scrooge photo opp area.  Other photo opps include Launchpad McQuack, Chip & Dale in cute dinosaur onesies, Pluto, Daisy, and Goofy.   We hit the character stops before they opened (at 10am) and breezed through them.   In the afternoon the hold a dance party in the courtyard.   By dance party think Disney Jr. vs. Dj Elliott.

 Incredible Summer was occurring in Magic Kingdom’s Tomorrowland.   Characters from the Incredibles movies were out along with some photo opp backgrounds and a stage show/dance party.   Banners were all over the place and the regular Tomorrowland music loop was replaced by an Incredibles themed soundtrack.   We weren’t fans of this since 1) we don’t really enjoy The Incredibles and 2) it replaced the theming of Tomorrowland.   Dino-Bash was an add-on vs. an overhaul.   There’s rumor Edna Mode is going to narrate the Tomorrowland Transit Authority.   If that’s true it’s time to bring headphones with us to stream an old narration.

We dined at Spice Road Table in Epcot’s Morocco for the first time.   We never included this location on our dining list before because the outside patio area was usually empty when we passed by.  They have a great location on the water so something must be wrong if it’s empty.  We booked a table in time to see Illuminations (fireworks show) and enjoyed how close we were to the action in the lagoon.  Then we remembered this used to be where we watched Illuminations before they built the restaurant.   Food was good, portions were large and reasonably priced.  We could come back and share an appetizer and share an entrée and be content.

Several months ago Dooney & Bourke  released a purse with a Disney dog pattern that Holly was after.  She missed out online at the release date (setting an alarm to get up in the middle of the night).  While we were on property some were being released in very limited amounts.    We got to Animal Kingdom later than we normally would one morning and she missed it by 10 minutes.  We started rope-dropping stores selling purses vs. attractions for a few days after that.   No luck.

Flights of Wonder bird show in Animal Kingdom was overhauled to be Up! A Great Bird Adventure.   By doing this they have incorporated characters from Up! into the show.   The birds are basically the same, just the main narrator’s “Eat, Pray, Love” shtick is more annoying than the tour guide shtick from the old show

Even though it was his birthday, Dave agreed to go to the princess character breakfast at Trattoria al Forno in the Boardwalk Resort.   Characters are not his thing, especially ones that talk back.   The food was good – can’t argue with steak at 8am and the character interaction was quick.    They had the annoying kid parade around the restaurant and other songs so be ready for that.   The characters were nice and knew to limit interaction with Dave, even when they found out it was his birthday.   This is worth a try if you want to see Ariel, Rapunzel, and related princes.

Since we are on the topic of the Boardwalk Resort we’ll cover our check-in mishap.   We left Animal Kingdom around 3:45 and finally got the notice that are room was ready.   We arrived, asked Bell Services to bring our bags (we dropped them off earlier that day), and went to our unclean room.   The room had not been serviced.   Dave called the desk (which is a central line for all the hotels) while Holly went to the desk directly.   We were told it would be 45 minutes and received some compensation for our troubles.   45 minutes turned into almost 2 hours.   After some additional conversations were received 3 bonus Fast Passes (shorter wait tickets) per day.   

We were going to write a glowing review of Matboukha Groove at Epcot’s Morocco Pavilion but the band is no longer there.   They engaged the crowd with their high-energy performance.   Sahara Beat is the replacement act.

Brown Derby’s outdoor lounge in the Hollywood Studios is still enjoyable.  It’s a really nice dining venue with great appetizer selections and the chance to get Zellwood corn soup from the inside menu if you ask nice.    Sitting at a two-top we were not given the advantage of an umbrella for shade.   While dining around noon the breeze had stopped and the sun shifted perfectly over us.   It was HOT!

Those were some of the highlights.  We'll return back to Disney World Labor Day Weekend for a few fun days at Epcot's International Food & Wine Festival (Tiffany is performing that weekend) and to check out the Studio's new Toy Story Land.   This will also be our first time staying at The Grand Floridian Resort.