Day 7: Tipsy Ducks In Love is literally alcoholic chocolate milk
Tory and I arose plenty early for our Breakfast ADR down in the lobby. We decided along with John that if we were going to be drinking, we needed to have a hearty meal to start the day. So after John made plans to join us, we booked an 8:20 AM ADR for Boma. We headed downstairs to wait for John.
We met up with John who arrived right at 8:20 AM because his Lyft driver got lost. Seems to be a common occurrence out in Florida.
We were seated immediately in the gorgeous dining area of Boma. It’s amazing the level of detail and décor that Disney put into a buffet. We were greeted warmly by our server who congratulated us on our marriage. She offered us some complimentary mimosas and was gracious enough to offer John one as well. We accepted even though we knew we had a long day of drinking ahead of us!
John isn’t quite as adventurous food-wise as we are, and so we made sure to do our research and ensure that there was plenty standard breakfast fare. It was a pretty even split of African-inspired fare and standard American breakfast food.
After our mimosas arrived, we headed out to the buffet. Wow! It is seriously quite the spread! It’s a little daunting to even decide what to get and I decided I would need at least two plates. All the food we tried was delicious! The item I will not forget is the African mustard-rubbed corn beef. So incredibly tender and complemented so well with that mustard. I certainly went back for round 2 of that. Tory loved the bobotie and hash. While we enjoyed the African fare we got to try, we wished there was more. We will need to come back for dinner to try some more! All in all, for the quality and variety of the options, Boma is a really good value and we are very glad we got to try it and complete the food tour of Animal Kingdom Lodge. The only thing missing from breakfast is the Zebra Domes! For some reason, we have no photos from Boma. Sorry!
We took our time finishing our coffee and tea and let digestion begin before hopping a bus over to Epcot. Once again, Epcot security was an absolute mess. However, we were mentally prepared and sent John ahead through the no bag line to sort out his park ticket. The line moved marginally faster this time, but the cast members were still not particularly pleasant. But, we eventually made it inside. Hi Figment!
Once through, we welcomed John to Epcot and began wandering through Future World. We walked into Club Cool. This was a really fun little experience. While neither Tory and I normally drink soda (it’s way too sweet for our tastes), we did enjoy trying the global flavors. We told John about the Beverly and he took a brief video of us trying it. To our collective surprise, Tory and I actually enjoyed it. Pretty sure the last photo of us is just us wondering why people hate the Beverly so much! It would be a great digestif after a heavy meal. The anise flavor isn’t that bad. We were kind of confused as to why people seem to hate it so much! John was certainly intrigued and I handed him the rest of my cup. He took one swig and immediately had a large grimace on his face. Wish we had a video of his reaction instead!
Again, it was cold, as it had been all week. John, despite now being a New Yorker, was underprepared and wanted to go look for a sweater. It was freezing this day! Tory had two jackets on and was still cold! We took this moment to grab our AP magnets! Again, despite not having grown up with Figment, we are big fans now!
John didn’t find anything he loved and decided to tough it out for the time being, especially since we would be “drinking ourselves a sweater” throughout the rest of the day.
We arrived outside the Mexico pavilion at 10:50 AM, ready to start the marathon. If we were ever going to make it, we would need to start as early as possible. While waiting, we wondered if La Cava actually opens at 11 AM. We did a quick google search and saw opening times ranging from 11 AM to 12:30 PM. We resolved to head in, and if it wasn’t open, to head back out to the margarita stand out front.
We watched the cast from the pavilion do a quick opening ceremony. Then the rope was dropped, and we headed into the pyramid. Much to our excitement, La Cava was open! We were the second group that got seated and we were taken to a booth in the back of the very small bar.
We had read about the Twitter freebie, and so I had made sure to follow them before we got in. Our waitress was very friendly and explained the menu. We mentioned that we followed them on Twitter and she graciously brought us out some free chips and salsa. Tory and I chose to split the avocado margarita and John opted for the Maelstrom.
As is apparent by the quick facts at the start of this trip report, the avocado margarita was Tory’s favorite drink of the whole trip (and my second favorite). I don’t know how all the flavors came together so well, but it was seriously an amazing sip. It was absolutely worth the high cost, as it was clear this was quality tequila. We savored our drinks and chips (Tory loves chips), and took in the really cool space. I did remind the group that we had 11 hours to get through 10 more countries, so despite how amazing it was, we couldn’t linger in La Cava forever.
On our way out of the Mexico pavilion, John spotted some authentic Mexican ponchos and grabbed a purple one to wear the rest of the day. As newlyweds, we also stopped to take a photo with our fellow newlyweds!
We then began to saunter next door to Norway, stopping briefly to listen to the Mariachi band.
Not knowing what other drink options exist in the Norway pavilion, we took John straight into Kringla. We got our second school bread of the trip and an Aass beer. John got a Viking Coffee, which is a very him drink. He doesn’t drink beer, so he would often come to parties and get togethers with pre-spiked coffee in his travel mug if beer was the only option. We sat down on the small stage/rock area right next to Akershus to enjoy our libations and baked goods.
Despite the chilly breeze, it was a truly beautiful, sunny day. We all marveled at how beautiful EPCOT and the lagoon are in the sun.
Once finished, we got up and wandered almost directly into a Viking. He was very interested in Tory’s ears and you can see in this series of photos that I was very concerned about his intentions with them. We all really appreciated the street performers and entertainers that were in each country since it was
Festival of the Arts.
A few minutes ahead of schedule (I eventually gave up trying to keep us on schedule probably due to the alcohol), we arrived in China. From the Joy of Tea, Tory and I grabbed a Tsingtao and got another John drink: Tipsy Ducks in Love. The Tsigntao was as expected. John’s drink tasted essentially like alcoholic chocolate milk, which suited him well, but would have been so hard for us to finish. We meandered through the shops of China. John was in the market for a small dragon figurine for his desk at home, but we ended up not finding one.
We left China in time to catch the next showing of the German acapella group. Since John was going to drink wine, we went into the winekeller shop in search of a German riesling. But, we found that they were selling Gluhwein due to the chilly weather. We all opted for a glass of this. It really hit the spot and warmed us up. Plus, it was really delicious!
We took our “mugs” of Gluhwein back outside to the stage. The German acapella group is seriously impressive and fun! We got pictures with them when they finished their set and they were incredibly excited that we got married and were on our honeymoon.
I was at a point where I needed a snack to soak up some of the alcohol and so we popped into the line for the Germany stand outside Biergarten to grab a Nudel Gratin. Tory and I had meant to share it but I ended up eating 95% of it, it was just so good! I couldn’t put it down. (Tory wants me to tell the readers that she was a little annoyed/sad about this). I also didn’t get a photo of it before digging in.
We also took some more train photos to send to our friend who is German and loves trains!
Next up: We're nearing the half-way point! Will we make it all the way around the World? Stay tuned!