Ready, Set, Let the Games Begin! - Link to new PTR/TR!

[rentayenta]

That's still better than being an up-chucker (me! ).

Do you and the drink not agree?

 

[PrincessInOz]

Do you and the drink not agree?

Asian Alcoholic Disposition. I love the taste of alcohol but my digestive system doesn't seem to have enough alcoholase enzyme to digest too much alcohol.

 

[kmedina]

The items from the food carts look fantastic. Nothing but bacon would be the perfect light breakfast to snack around the world, so that is probably why you could not find any other pictures. We had great intentions to try some but we never did. At least we got some on our previous F&W trip. If I ever get brave enough to leave the kids, we will spend more time at Epcot. We were about 25 minutes late to our F&W event (the Italian Regional lunch), because we were on Soarin and it broke down. I offered my drinks up to Crap and my table mates but they declined. It was a lot of wasted alcohol. Crap did not eat my seafood dishes either, so those were wasted as well. Oh well. He enjoyed everything and we hired a sitter to get a break from the kids. That was the best part.

My SIL is always talking about cooking with Grand Mariner. I have never tasted anything cooked in it that I can recall, but I am glad you enjoyed the experience. I want up do it one day (for Crap).

 

[rentayenta]

Asian Alcoholic Disposition. I love the taste of alcohol but my digestive system doesn't seem to have enough alcoholase enzyme to digest too much alcohol.

Has it always been like that? The reason I ask is because our IOP coordinator at work told me that as some women age, our ability to break down alcohol decreases. I have found that to be the case with me. I could drink like a sailor in my 20's but now, not so much, and it's very dependent on what I'm drinking. Tequila gives me terrible heartburn and more than a glass or two of red gives me a terrible headache. Those beer/margarita mixtures also don;t seem to agree with me anymore.

 

[mvf-m11c]

The food at the kiosks during the F&W Festival look appetizing. The waffles at Belgium kiosk look very good to start the day at EPCOT.

I'm not a drinking type person so I might never try the Grand Mariner tasting at Le Cellier. It was neat that the tasting was at the Le Cellier restaurant at the France pavilion. It is neat to see it during the day where I had dinner at night. The dessert really look very nice.

Great update.

 

[Paula Sedley-Burke]

Omg crepes suzette! Ong omg omg is all I have to say......Served at the table! My favourite thing ever! They never do that here anymore I love it! Loose the cake with it you just need the crepes on their own.

waffles from Belgium... yum to berry!

GM tasting looks great. I had a friend that use to make the most amazing chocolate and orange cake and when I asked her the secret she said it was aged GM! I was amazed but she made one with regular GM and sure enough it was nice but not mind blowing. Folks would go crazy for a slither of this cake! We even knew the container that she carried it in and folks in the office would scream 'she's got a cake'

 

[Paula Sedley-Burke]

Btw was there opportunity to but GM?

 

[Captain_Oblivious]

But first, Bacon! I’m not exactly sure what we did for breakfast, if we just had bacon, but this is the only picture I took. I know my plan was breakfast would be at the first kiosk (you’ll see in a moment).

Notice how empty the queue area is and how short the lines are.

Wow, big difference compared with later in the day. Good planning!

The sweet waffles were just divine, I liked the berry one best, but the one with the chocolate ganache was pretty darned good too!

Ok, I can see where this would make a nice addition to the bacon.

I confirmed that I don’t like Beverly either. My favorites were one from China and the one from Israel.

No Beverly pictures?

Here are the desserts that we enjoyed with our drinks. There was no way we could finish all these, they were very tasty, but just way too much.

Next time, save it for me. I'll help you finish them off.

Good thinking swiping samples from the no-shows!

 

[scottny]

I love Stormalong bay. Best pool on site.
That Cobb Salad is so good.
The tequila lunch sounded great.
The sundae sampler looks so good.
The Wishes cruise is the best money spent at Disney. Such a great experience.
Those selections have changed for Club Cool. Vinny said he didn’t care most of them.
The Grand Marnier lunch sounds nice. YUM!
I am all caught up. Great pics.

 

[Leshaface]

Finally all caught up!

Dinner at Brown Derby looks fantastic! Love the cobb salad. The best dish, next to the Grapefruit cake, for me

I'm going to be the only one on your entire TR that prefers the WDW version of F! to DLR. I really think it's the 'seating' situation at DL that makes me not like it. And I really like the Pocahontas part at WDW! I like the songs. But you are right about the ending. I prefer seeing all the characters on the MT

I love the MU topiaries!

I'm always scared i'll get 'yelled' at for taking redneck photos, so I never do it!

What a nice dinner at CG, but it sounds like it was a hit and miss meal. I think that sundae dessert is such a fun thing!

Glad you guys had a good time on your cruise!

Mmm, the Grand Marnier tasting Would love to taste the 150th anniversary someday.

 

[dgbg100106]

i am caught up! The Tequila pairing looked like something we would enjoy. Thanks for the great review.

The California Grill review looks to be mixed between you and PIO. We have never eaten there, but i will take your word for it.

I know the big DISmet was a success, looks like fun was had by all!

The Grand Marnier tasting sounds heavenly! I really like the raspberry peach flavored Grand Marnier as a Cosmo, the flavor is truly wonderful. The recipe is on the bottle.

 

[Luvchefmic]

Just popping in to say Hi and that I have been reading along Haven't had any comments because I haven't experienced any of this There is so much I can't drink so never tasted GM never even had Tequila Like a great glass of wine though Nothing at F & W described here or in other reports appeals to me at all so I'm really not sorry I missed going this year EXCEPT I missed the ravioli Last year it was to die for, hope to have it again next year

 

[franandaj]

I definitely remember you telling me about the GM tastings. Aside from the shots, you should have swiped those extra bottles earlier; rather than having to share.


Looking forward to the playing with fire.

I get to relive that here; and then hopefully on my TR as well; when I eventually get to it....slowly.

It was a really fun (and tasty) tasting! You're moving right along in your TR!

oh I see thank you! Mezcal is like Cava to Champagne. Cava being the sparkling wine from Spain but because it's not from the Champagne region in France they have to name it something else. Got it! Great explanation thanks! Oh my the worm being hallucinogenic! More like if you got to the worm at the bottom you are probably fully loaded on Mezcal hick!

There are a couple other differences in Mezcal, it is smokier and prepared a little bit differently, but it comes from the agave and some other regional Mexican plants. And yes, if you get to the worm at the bottom you are pretty much fully loaded!

LOL yes we talked about it! You asked if I had the ravioli and I said yes and you said "Wasn't it fantastic?"

I agree it was the best thing I had that night (besides the company)!

That was a while ago, and lots of drinks ago!

Ohhhhh.....Gran Marnier is my absolute favorite liquor EVER! How incredible to have all of those tastes in one sitting. How was the cocktail? They have a gran marnier cocktail over at the Crew's cup that I LOVE- which i hope is still there...thanks for reminding me I need to go get one on Dec 27th when we are staying there before the cruise!

Oh- just wanted to add something about the worm-

The first worm I had was hard, it was very easy to swallow. The second one was soft and squishy- gotta say, that was DEFINITELY not as much fun!

And FWIW- neither one had any hallucinogenic effects- they were just freakin worms that used to live in a cactus and were now completely pickled!

The Grand Marnier Cocktail was pretty good, but I preferred the shots.

Yeah, and the worms pretty much were that, freakin' worms!

How sad dinner did not live up to expectations. I've dined there twice pre changes, and really enjoyed it.

The tequila tasting confirms my thoughts that I shouldn't chance anything like that. There's no way I could eat some of the courses. The tasting itself would be nice though. Hearts of Palm is one of my favorite things, glad you tried them.

How nice you were able to enjoy lots of lovely company

We enjoyed our dinner there pre-changes, just not sure how much I really want to go back now. You definitely wouldn't do well with most of those lunches/dinners. Pretty much you need to be omnivorous, and willing to try just about anything. They chefs really like to try new things and make it interesting. At all the ones I've done at WDW, they really have at least one or two things that push the culinary envelope.

Hilarious, I can just see you guys, after a few *tastes* of Grand Marnier, saying forget it it to the no shows and grabbing their bottle. What a fun event.

I think I'm white trash though. I'm more of a chugger not a sipper.

Fran had to convince me to do it, I was apprehensive, but she was just grabbing the shots. With the size of the portions, I didn't want to chug it, I was trying to make it last as long as I could!

 

[franandaj]

Asian Alcoholic Disposition. I love the taste of alcohol but my digestive system doesn't seem to have enough alcoholase enzyme to digest too much alcohol.

The items from the food carts look fantastic. Nothing but bacon would be the perfect light breakfast to snack around the world, so that is probably why you could not find any other pictures. We had great intentions to try some but we never did. At least we got some on our previous F&W trip. If I ever get brave enough to leave the kids, we will spend more time at Epcot. We were about 25 minutes late to our F&W event (the Italian Regional lunch), because we were on Soarin and it broke down. I offered my drinks up to Crap and my table mates but they declined. It was a lot of wasted alcohol. Crap did not eat my seafood dishes either, so those were wasted as well. Oh well. He enjoyed everything and we hired a sitter to get a break from the kids. That was the best part.

My SIL is always talking about cooking with Grand Mariner. I have never tasted anything cooked in it that I can recall, but I am glad you enjoyed the experience. I want up do it one day (for Crap).

I'm sorry you didn't get to try the stuff at the kiosks. For most that is the highlight of Epcot F&W. Actually for us (me), it is the signature events like the lunches, GM tasting and Frunch (next day). When DCA had F&W I didn't miss the fact that there were no kiosks. We booked the special wine dinners at Steahouse 55, the Cooking School at Napa Rose and then I tried to go out for the Celebrity Chef free demos. It doesn't sound like CA F&W will ever come back so I need to rethink my VGC points....not sell, just what I want to use and then make them available to my "plan ahead" friends, at least that's what I'm thinking. :

Too bad that booze went to waste! You need to go to events with ME!

I've never "cooked" with GM, well I take that back, I have a couple desserts, one where you mix it into cream cheese and serve it with berries. Then another that they made at the Club on a French Inspired night, cook berries in butter, add a crepe until heated and then a pour in a splash of GM. It makes a delicious dessert, especially when served with whipped cream!

Has it always been like that? The reason I ask is because our IOP coordinator at work told me that as some women age, our ability to break down alcohol decreases. I have found that to be the case with me. I could drink like a sailor in my 20's but now, not so much, and it's very dependent on what I'm drinking. Tequila gives me terrible heartburn and more than a glass or two of red gives me a terrible headache. Those beer/margarita mixtures also don;t seem to agree with me anymore.

Hmmm....I'll have to notice if I have any of these ill effects.

The food at the kiosks during the F&W Festival look appetizing. The waffles at Belgium kiosk look very good to start the day at EPCOT.

I'm not a drinking type person so I might never try the Grand Mariner tasting at Le Cellier. It was neat that the tasting was at the Le Cellier restaurant at the France pavilion. It is neat to see it during the day where I had dinner at night. The dessert really look very nice.

Great update.

It does make it a little less to enjoy some of the F&W stuff without some of the booze. Most of the signature events are based around pairings of food and alcoholic drinks. The kiosks are one place that folks who don't enjoy the drink so much can enjoy the food without the drink and the price.

Omg crepes suzette! Ong omg omg is all I have to say......Served at the table! My favourite thing ever! They never do that here anymore I love it! Loose the cake with it you just need the crepes on their own.

waffles from Belgium... yum to berry!

GM tasting looks great. I had a friend that use to make the most amazing chocolate and orange cake and when I asked her the secret she said it was aged GM! I was amazed but she made one with regular GM and sure enough it was nice but not mind blowing. Folks would go crazy for a slither of this cake! We even knew the container that she carried it in and folks in the office would scream 'she's got a cake'

The crepes were wonderful, even better than the "strawberry booze crepes" I mentioned above. The aged GM makes all the difference. I don't dare keep it around the house as I would want it all the time! It should be saved for special occasions!

Btw was there opportunity to but GM?

No, oddly enough, they weren't selling any there. I bet there was some at the festival center.

Wow, big difference compared with later in the day. Good planning!?

Thanks! I try!

Ok, I can see where this would make a nice addition to the bacon.

No Beverly pictures?

Next time, save it for me. I'll help you finish them off.

Good thinking swiping samples from the no-shows!

I sure will! But will you want them mold and all?

Resourceful, if nothing else!

I love Stormalong bay. Best pool on site.
That Cobb Salad is so good.
The tequila lunch sounded great.
The sundae sampler looks so good.
The Wishes cruise is the best money spent at Disney. Such a great experience.
Those selections have changed for Club Cool. Vinny said he didn’t care most of them.
The Grand Marnier lunch sounds nice. YUM!
I am all caught up. Great pics.

I'm glad you're all caught up. I know, the Wishes cruise was awesome! I didn't care for most of the selections at Club Cool. I'm looking forward to hearing about your trip. Helps the time go by to the next one.

Finally all caught up!

Dinner at Brown Derby looks fantastic! Love the cobb salad. The best dish, next to the Grapefruit cake, for me

I'm going to be the only one on your entire TR that prefers the WDW version of F! to DLR. I really think it's the 'seating' situation at DL that makes me not like it. And I really like the Pocahontas part at WDW! I like the songs. But you are right about the ending. I prefer seeing all the characters on the MT

I love the MU topiaries!

I'm always scared i'll get 'yelled' at for taking redneck photos, so I never do it!

What a nice dinner at CG, but it sounds like it was a hit and miss meal. I think that sundae dessert is such a fun thing!

Glad you guys had a good time on your cruise!

Mmm, the Grand Marnier tasting Would love to taste the 150th anniversary someday.

Funny that you are the dissenter on F! I know, I always get scared about being yelled at for taking the redneck photos and this just put another nail in that coffin! I'm wondering where they serve the 150th Anniversary GM? If I ever go to a place and see it, I'll be ordering it!

i am caught up! The Tequila pairing looked like something we would enjoy. Thanks for the great review.

The California Grill review looks to be mixed between you and PIO. We have never eaten there, but i will take your word for it.

I know the big DISmet was a success, looks like fun was had by all!

The Grand Marnier tasting sounds heavenly! I really like the raspberry peach flavored Grand Marnier as a Cosmo, the flavor is truly wonderful. The recipe is on the bottle.

I thought of you guys at the Tequila Tasting and figured you two would have loved it. We loved the big DISmeet, we all had a great time! Where do you find the raspberry peach GM? I don't get to a lot of liquor stores, so I wouldn't know where to look for it.

Just popping in to say Hi and that I have been reading along Haven't had any comments because I haven't experienced any of this There is so much I can't drink so never tasted GM never even had Tequila Like a great glass of wine though Nothing at F & W described here or in other reports appeals to me at all so I'm really not sorry I missed going this year EXCEPT I missed the ravioli Last year it was to die for, hope to have it again next year

Hmmm.... you are lucky, you saved a lot o money but not being interested!

 

[franandaj]

Back in the room, Fran needed to sleep off her buzz.

I prepared the Tri Tip. For anyone who has not thoroughly been through this whole Tri Tip thing already, Tri Tip is a cut of beef that was commonly incorporated as part of regular ground beef. However in the 1950s in Santa Maria, CA they started to marinate and grill the cut, soon it was known as a “Santa Maria Style Steak.” Now it’s a very common choice for summer grilling all over California. In preparing for this trip, I discovered that folks back east were not at all familiar with this cut of meat. BTW, there are two in this pan, they are triangle shaped, hence the name tri tip.



While the steaks were coming to room temperature and the seasonings were taking hold, I melted the queso on the stove.



This is probably a more appetizing photo (even though it wasn’t from that night). Everyone seemed to like it, as I don’t remember there being much left of it.



Bobbi and her sister had secured the table and the grills. They also started the charcoal when it was time.



We stole chairs from the pool area.



The whole gang showed up eventually.



We started the steak on the grill



We enjoyed some salad with our chips and queso.



Meanwhile, PIO stir fried her veggies for the fried rice. As we commented, after Fantasmic! We came back to the room and she prepped her veggies in the kitchen so as to make things move a little quicker the day of the cookout.



The Tri Tip took a long time to cook, a lot longer than I had expected and even then, some people had to put their slices back on the grill.

As the Tri Tip was resting, we put the Bacon/Pineapple Chicken sausages and Oscar Meyer Smokies on the grill. On the other grill we started the Portabello Mushrooms with Pesto and Goat Cheese.





Soon everything was all ready and we sat down to eat. Shrimp Fried Rice.



Portabello, with Pesto and Goat Cheese, oh look and in the background you can see the serve of the queso.



Our meats





There was also Potato Salad, but I didn’t’ get a picture. Here is my plate.



In honor of PIO’s DH’s birthday, we had a cake from Publix…actually we had two!





Throughout the evening I had been texting with Alicia (Leshaface). She and her family were arriving at WDW that night, but they needed to take care of a few errands before heading over. They showed up in time to sign the DISmeet poster, but had already eaten dinner so they just chatted with us for a bit before the party broke up.



We had sooooooooo much food! It was all really good too! Just sitting around the table chatting and enjoying a meal with friends was a really relaxing way to spend a Saturday evening. I’m sure the parks were packed. We sent most of the leftovers home with Ruthie, and many of us planned to meet up again the next night….

 

[ACDSNY]

What an outstanding DISmeet! The food looked yummy and I'm sure a great time was had by all.

 

[Luvchefmic]

What an outstanding DISmeet! The food looked yummy and I'm sure a great time was had by all.

The food was delicious, the company was fabulous, a time I
will always treasure

Ruthie

 

[dgbg100106]

I thought of you guys at the Tequila Tasting and figured you two would have loved it. We loved the big DISmeet, we all had a great time! Where do you find the raspberry peach GM? I don't get to a lot of liquor stores, so I wouldn't know where to look for it.

My local store carries all of the ones you tasted! Just step in there and look, you will be amazed at what you find, and really this time of the year is the best time to go, almost all of the liquor brands have gift sets free with the purchase of the booze...

 

[dgbg100106]

A dismet cookout... Love it, so sorry I missed it!

 

[Paula Sedley-Burke]

How interesting re Tri tip I have never seen that cut of beef before so was very keen to learn about it. Thank you for sharing the history and information! If I see it on a menu won't feel so ignorant! I would have died and gone to heaven with all that protein I love the look of the cake too. Jo and I got addicted to going to the store Publix. We found it to be the nicest supermarket with fresh produce and the different stock they carried. Also nice ambience and staff. We don't have an equivalent I can think of in the UK which is a shame. How nice re your dismeet sign! Sounds like a fun evening