“I do not deal with my problems like I know I should” - F&W Fest 2018 - Update 1/20 Going Home

[Araminta18]

Yak & Yeti is one of my favorites Your meals look delicious! I'm definitely planning on going back in February...would ordering the Ahi Tuna Nachos and the honey chicken be too much for one person? Hm........

 

[Dis_Yoda]

Funny, I was just thinking the other day that I missed Yak & Yeti. Your drink looks delightful. And hurrah for paid-for exercise being over and time to go into full vacation mode. That those green onions constitute “vegetables” is hysterical ... but it looks good. Hurricane Hanna’s is a fun spot for a meet! Good call on saving appetite for Jiko!

Yes, total full vacation mode had totally started for me! I need to make sure I try to keep it a bit more even between Tiffins and Yak & Yeti! I do really enjoy both & our trips in January/April will be without Table in Wonderland so I may adjust our plans based on that. My husband still has two more updates until he's on full vacation mode. I love that wonton soup even if the veggies aren't really veggies. Jiko coming up!

Yak and Yeti looks good. Another place I haven’t been to yet.

The meet up was a lot of fun! Can’t wait to do it again.

You should try that one day rather than getting your pods from Pandora. It will be fun in January!

Yak & Yeti is one of my favorites Your meals look delicious! I'm definitely planning on going back in February...would ordering the Ahi Tuna Nachos and the honey chicken be too much for one person? Hm........

You're on vacation - you are allowed to over order food. If you don't finish it, that is totally ok. I've also ordered entirely too much a few time around the block! Your trip in February is going to be so much fun!

 

[Dis_Yoda]

Jiko

I had about enough time after getting back to the hotel to freshen up before we needed to head to the 1st floor to Jiko. This was a great choice for the night before the half marathon since it was at our hotel and we didn’t feel rushed to have to get back to the hotel since we were already there! We checked in and were seated along the window in front of the water feature outside. It was nice to view until the sun set.

As we reviewed the menu, our waitress brought us out their welcome drink. It was a moroccan tea that was very floral. My husband didn’t enjoy it so I had both of them. I also loved the glassware as it was very unique. We also were presented warm towels to wipe off before the meal.

Moroccan Welcome Tea

For our meal, we went with a bottle of Cabernet Franc. The markup here was only around 150% so still reasonable when it comes to restaurant markups. It is a 93 point Wine Enthusiast Rated Wine and it deserves that rating. I enjoy cabernet franc as they are more a medium heavy body rather than a full cabernet sauvignon so that it doesn’t need to be opened up for a bit before drinking through a decanter.

Bottle of RAATS Dolomite Cabernet Franc

Once we started enjoying our wine, our waitress brought the bread and butter. They had switched it up since the last time we were here. We both really enjoyed this but who doesn’t love bread and butter? We also skipped appetizers so this was the lovely start to our meal.

Bread with Whipped Butter

My husband kept it safe for his dinner and had chicken. He was tempted by the steak but he had filet the night before and wanted to make sure he switched it up. The chicken was nicely cooked and had some nice notes to it.

Chermoula Chicken - Babe Ganous, Fregula Salad, Baby Squash

I went with the elk for my entree. This was perfectly executed and I was totally a member of the clean plate club. The lemon elk jus was the right sauce for the meat as the meat really didn’t need much for sauce as it was correctly seasoned. I tried to convince my husband he needed to try it but he was keeping to the whole “nothing new on race day” mantra since elk isn’t a normal meat in our diets.

Durham Ranch Elk Loin - Celery Root Puree, Hibiscus-Candied Apples, Turnip Atjar, Lemon-Elk Jus

And because I hadn’t had enough shrimp yet this trip, I also had the enhancement of coconut-curry shrimp. This is what I ordered instead of doing an appetizer and it was well worth it. These had a nice kick to them thanks to the peppers and curry powder. There was also a decent amount of shrimp within the small container.

Enhancement of Coconut-Curry Shrimp

For dessert, we went with both drinks and dessert. I had noticed on the menu there was a scotch I hadn’t tried before so of course I needed to correct that. I liked it as it was softer than my usual smokey Islay scotches and the pour was decent! The waitress even let me bring it back to our room since I hadn’t finished it by the time we were done as I did have wine I was finishing off as well. Another advantage of eating where you stay!

Oban 14 Year Western Highlands

My husband went with coffee as he enjoys that. Who doesn’t love alcoholic coffee covered in whipped cream? (Unless you don’t drink, which is cool too!)

Cape Town Coffee - Van der Hum, Kahlua and Coffee Topped with Whipped Cream

My husband was the more reasonable dessert man. He ordered off the adult menu the chocolate dessert as he acts more like an adult than me some days. It was the perfect size to enjoy dessert but not leave overstuffed. He liked how the peppercorn balanced out the sweetness of the chocolate.

Kilimanjaro - Tanzanian Chocolate Mousse, Pistachio Financier, Pink Peppercorn Meringue, Cacoa Nib Crunch

If you haven’t established this by now, while I enjoy the nice things in life, sometimes I am silly. When I looked at the dessert menu, nothing interested me but I still wanted something sweet. I took it upon myself to pull up the kid’s dessert menu on my phone and I found exactly what was going to work for me as if there wasn't something there, I would have just gotten candy from the gift shoppe. Pumbaa’s Dessert Grub! Chocolate Pudding, Oreo Crumble, Gummy Worms and Chocolate Rocks! This hit the spot very well even if it doesn’t pair with Cabernet Franc or Western Highland Scotch. Sometimes you just got to go with what you are craving. Our waitress also had fun with us about it too, especially when I didn't finish it as I hit the wall with food.

Pumbaa’s Dessert Grub - Chocolate Pudding, Oreo Crumble and Gummy Worms

As we finished our desserts and were given the bill, our meal wasn’t quite over yet. We were given two cookies. These were such a perfect light option to end the meal on!

Almond Cookies

We settled the bill (thank goodness for Tables in Wonderland!) and headed upstairs where we settled in for the night. I finished my scotch as we watched the latest episode of Gold Rush off my iPAD before my husband went to bed and I stayed awake playing on my phone/iPad for a while. Such a nice way to end the day!

Gold Rush​

 

[Araminta18]

Yum! Next trip with my husband we'll have to eat here....

 

[Dis_Yoda]

Yum! Next trip with my husband we'll have to eat here....

You two would very much enjoy it! It is so unique when compared to other Disney options!

 

[Dis_Yoda]

Wine & Dine Half Marathon

This morning, 2:45AM didn’t feel as bad. It was thanks to the daylight saving time that occurred this day. Who doesn’t love an extra hour of sleep, especially when you have to wake up so early? I had to help my husband with some of his costume which also meant, I was wide awake and there was no hope in going back to sleep anytime soon.

Mr. Dis_Yoda’s Costume

I took advantage of being awake and today being our resort hop day to do some laundry as running means we have some stinky laundry that doesn’t need to fester. One advantage to doing laundry so early is that there is no one else in the laundry room with you so you don’t feel bad taking over all the washers and dryers, especially since there are only two washers and 4 dryers for all the studios at Animal Kingdom - Jambo House.

3:30AM Laundry Room

During this time, I got to chat with some of the racers through our group chat as I spent the next 2 hours dealing with the laundry. I also saw some people just hanging out in the laundry and I wonder how much of that to do with this story that came out later that day:

https://www.wdwinfo.com/news-stories/abandoned-newborn-baby-handed-to-guest-at-animal-kingdom-lodge/

PSA: People are crazy

3:30AM Lobby

So here are some shots of my husband during the race. He even stopped for characters once he realized he wasn’t going to PR & he knew I would be mad if he didn’t stop for one certain one. I’ll let you guess which one that is. Apparently rained a bit hard at the start of the race and during the rest of the race it was lightly drizzling. His chef’s outfit does not have wicking abilities so it soaked up all the rain along with whatever sweat left his underclothes (he had on a dry-tech shirt and compression shorts underneath) I was very glad to have those clear runDisney bags for him to dump it in until we got to our next hotel as those weren’t going to stew for more than than a day!

All His Medals

Once he returned to the room, he cleaned up and took about a 45 minute nap. I finished any last minute packing at that time.

Packed Up

I also realized I hadn’t really taken photos of our room view, so here you go! We didn’t use our balcony muchi this trip as I saw a lovely wasp nest in the neighboring overhand.

Room View

We took our luggage to the truck to load up for our switch to the Boardwalk a little before 10AM. During our drive over to the Boardwalk, I received the the room ready text message and email. I was shocked! I also was very happy about this as it meant when we were done with brunch, we weren’t going to be camped out in the lobby.

We dropped off our luggage at Bell Services so they could bring it up and we wouldn’t have to do the puzzle game. Well worth the $10 tip! We unpacked and settled into our room for the next 7 nights! We had a decent Boardwalk View and weren’t too far from the elevator.

 

[SweetSerenity]

I love his Chef costume. I love to see what creative costumes the runners wear.

I wonder how many times we almost overlapped at the Boardwalk. Cue It's a small world after all.

 

[Araminta18]

This morning, 2:45AM didn’t feel as bad. It was thanks to the daylight saving time that occurred this day. Who doesn’t love an extra hour of sleep, especially when you have to wake up so early? I had to help my husband with some of his costume which also meant, I was wide awake and there was no hope in going back to sleep anytime soon.

I guess that’s the way to make the best use of the DST switch! . Also, I love your husband’s costume, esp the Remy on the shoulder

 

[kastoney]

Wonton Soup - Pork Wontons, Clear Chicken Broth and Vegetables

Casey had this once and I remember how good both the soup and the little fried things were. Glad you enjoyed!

I started with Frose and then switched to Summer Shandy’s. I probably spent around 3 hours there drinking and talking to the various members of the RunDisney boards - some of which I had met before and some that were first time meets! I did watch my drinking this time as during Dark Side - it ended up killing my appetite for Yachtsman and I wanted to make sure I was going to enjoy Jiko!

Sounds like a great afternoon. I never ended up getting this when we were at Beach Club because the dang pool was closed so much do to thunder/lightening. Suddenly feeling like I missed out.

Bottle of RAATS Dolomite Cabernet Franc

Yum! I'm always looking for a good wine recco. We'll have to check this out when we're at Jiko.

Durham Ranch Elk Loin - Celery Root Puree, Hibiscus-Candied Apples, Turnip Atjar, Lemon-Elk Jus

I was just looking at their menu the other day and thought this looked amazing. Glad to hear it didn't disappoint. We must get back there on our next trip. Its been way too long.

And because I hadn’t had enough shrimp yet this trip, I also had the enhancement of coconut-curry shrimp. This is what I ordered instead of doing an appetizer and it was well worth it. These had a nice kick to them thanks to the peppers and curry powder. There was also a decent amount of shrimp within the small container.

Are you growing a tail at this point?

Pumbaa’s Dessert Grub - Chocolate Pudding, Oreo Crumble and Gummy Worms

Love it. Sometimes a girl just knows what she wants

Mr. Dis_Yoda’s Costume

Love it!

Great view! I'm not sure I'd ever want to leave the balcony.

 

[Dis_Yoda]

I love his Chef costume. I love to see what creative costumes the runners wear.

I wonder how many times we almost overlapped at the Boardwalk. Cue It's a small world after all.

It is fun! He decided to order it all of 5 days before our trip (thank goodness for Amazon Prime!) although we did have to buy the Remy at Disney Springs that first day. We may have overlapped a ton and never even knew it!

I guess that’s the way to make the best use of the DST switch! . Also, I love your husband’s costume, esp the Remy on the shoulder

It was a great way to get some more sleep! That Remy is why I had to wake up with him. Had to make sure it stayed but luckily we had the 8 safety pins from my two races so we were all set!

Casey had this once and I remember how good both the soup and the little fried things were. Glad you enjoyed!

Casey has good taste, but we already knew that!

Sounds like a great afternoon. I never ended up getting this when we were at Beach Club because the dang pool was closed so much do to thunder/lightening. Suddenly feeling like I missed out.

At least you don't have to stay at the Beach Club to enjoy Hurricane Hannah's but with EPCOT having so much wonderful booze as well...I can see why it gets neglected. One day!

Yum! I'm always looking for a good wine recco. We'll have to check this out when we're at Jiko.

They have an excellent wine menu! There are lots of wonderful choices depending on the mood.

I was just looking at their menu the other day and thought this looked amazing. Glad to hear it didn't disappoint. We must get back there on our next trip. Its been way too long.

It had been a long time for us as well. Every part of that plate went together very well. Made me happy, especially since Elk isn't a protein I can get easily around here.

Are you growing a tail at this point?

Love it. Sometimes a girl just knows what she wants

That she does! Don't need fancy desserts all the time!

Great view! I'm not sure I'd ever want to leave the balcony.

When we have the Boardwalk View, we do use our balcony a lot more. Although when people were playing the basketball game, it was less enjoyable as they were loud but I wouldn't stop that from us getting a Boardwalk View again although I usually screw myself over for that when I forgot to book at exactly 11 months out. I missed 11 months by 1 day for Wine & Dine next year and no Boardwalk or Standard Views Rooms left!

 

[disneyAndi14]

Every time I see your shrimp I want some yum, love shrimp!

Jiko looks very nice and it is always nice to be in your resort!

Ahh your husband did get some good character meets, loved his Chef outfit with Remy on his shoulder, cool!

Nice, you got your room at BWV early always a plus!

 

[rteetz]

Congrats to your husband on the race weekend!

I am gonna guess Stitch is the one you wanted him to stop for

Nice AKL view! I want to stay there one of these days. Yay for BWV room being ready early!

 

[Dis_Yoda]

Every time I see your shrimp I want some yum, love shrimp!

Jiko looks very nice and it is always nice to be in your resort!

Ahh your husband did get some good character meets, loved his Chef outfit with Remy on his shoulder, cool!

Nice, you got your room at BWV early always a plus!

Yay fellow shrimp lover! It is one of my favorite foods (along with cheese).

It is nice to eat at the resort from time to time - we do try to keep eating near the resorts the night before a major race. Makes life a little easier!

Mr. Remy now lives in our kitchen over our fridge. Figure that is the right place for him.

Congrats to your husband on the race weekend!

I am gonna guess Stitch is the one you wanted him to stop for

Nice AKL view! I want to stay there one of these days. Yay for BWV room being ready early!

He says thank you!

Stitch is the one I wanted him to stop for! I mean, it isn't like we have a dog named Gantu or anything

I'm so happy our room was ready that early - especially on a race day. I knew we would be indulging at California Grill so being able to nap afterwards was amazing!

 

[Dis_Yoda]

All The Mimosas

Around 11:15AM, we headed down to the front of the Boardwalk and summoned an Uber to take us to the Contemporary Resort. I knew we would be drinking so no reason to drive over there since we wouldn’t be able to drive back safely. The Uber arrived in about 5 minutes and we were on our way. This also meant we ended up about 25 minutes early for our reservation but they let us check in and head upstairs anyway. Although we weren’t seated until noon, we were allowed to start drinking our mimosas and we totally were on our third before we were sat. During our 20 minutes waiting, my husband spent the time looking at all the wines inside their wine fridges. They had a really great selection.

Mimosa

We were sat along the far wall near the room that used to be the wine room but we had a nice view of the Seven Seas Lagoon if I turned my head. My husband had the wonderful view of the Lagoon and me so he was totally winning here.

Menu

My husband was also high maintenance and requested their wine list as he wanted to see the prices of all those great wines he had seen. If the prices were reasonable, we probably would have ordered a bottle of wine in addition to the mimosas but their bottle markup was over 300% for the special wines and he made a comment about how it felt like price gouging since so many other places were much more reasonable in their price markups. So while he asked for all that stuff, it ended up being a waste of effort. I felt I needed to make up for that come tip time and I did.

While he was reviewing that wine list, I went up for my first plate as I was hungry even if I hadn’t run this day, but I had been up since before 3AM. I had no breakfast as I wanted to be prepared to be gorged. My first plate had that wonderful bourbon orange cake that I had loved over Labor Day. It did not disappoint this time either! I also got a cheddar biscuit (which I wish they had regular butter out for instead of just honey butter), cheese, prosciutto and pork pate. I probably would have asked for regular butter if my husband hadn’t done his wine exercise. I loved everything on my plate as I knew I would.

My First Plate

When I returned with that first dish, my husband finally left to head up to the buffet and he disappointed me with what he returned with. Cheddar Biscuit, half a bagel, chocolate croissant and cheese? My husband enjoyed it all but still!

Husband’s First Plate

I headed back up and got more goodies. Another cheddar biscuits, sushi, soba noodles, and more prosciutto and pork pate. I did give in for the honey butter as all biscuits need butter.

My Second Plate

My husband did go up to get that bourbon cake on my behest at least but I forgot a photo of it. I blame all the mimosas as whenever they neared empty, they were magically refilled!

Our entree order was taken around this time so we weren’t rushed to finish our plates. It was timed well as the right amount time came before we were greeted with our food. I’m very happy to report that we were not given grossly absurd amounts of bacon this time. That amount of bacon could easily be eaten by my husband and I. He only had one of the sausage patties which he liked but he liked his other food better.

Bacon and Sausage

What I got for my entree shouldn’t shock anyone. I mean, I have only ordered this dish the last two times I was here and I was on such a shrimp kick anyway. I was super happy with this dish. I also like that it isn’t overly large unlike some of the other entrees on the menu.

Shrimp & Grits

My husband went for a very large entree. He almost ordered two but I stopped him from that. He really enjoyed the chicken and waffles. It was two large pieces of chicken breast with a waffle. He did well on almost eating it all but he did have to throw in the towel before he was done.

Chicken & Waffles

When our entrees were cleared, I ordered a double espresso to help balance out the mimosas that had been consumed.

Double Espresso

We were also brough out dessert plate where we ate a few but declined to take the rest back with us as we knew wouldn’t eat anymore. I enjoyed my macaron and chocolate. My husband had all the chocolate bark along with another macaron and chocolate.

Dessert Plate

One comment about this meal is that I saw multiple people order the bloody mary drink and not a single one finished it. There is just so many food options that I think the novelty of doing the make your own bloody mary bar gets lost as you cannot leave here hungry!

We settled our bill and headed down to the main concourse so view their gingerbread display since it was very recently finished!

Contemporary Gingerbread Display

I picked up a couple of goodies that we enjoyed in the room over various times in the trip. I enjoyed each of them!

Gingerbread Goodies

We ended up eventually back on the first floor and ordered an Uber to take us back to the resort. I am sad to report that someone lost their bridal or bridal party ears but hopefully they were having a lot of fun if they forgot their special rose gold ears.

A Sad Bride or Bridesmaid

Once back at the room, I made myself a night stand out of pillows since my husband always claims the real nightstand and proceeded to head into bed to play on my phone and take a nap.

Make Shift Night Stand
​

 

[rteetz]

Those magically refillable mimosas are something!

That bourbon cake thing was so good!

I got the same big meal as your husband. I couldn’t finish it after all the buffet items.

We ended up taking the desserts back. You definitely cannot leave that brunch hungry.

 

[disneyAndi14]

This brunch is happening for me in May and I am super excited to try it! All the reviews except for 1 have been super positive! The endless Mimosas won’t hurt either. I will probably get the shrimp and grits, looks very delicious! Thanks for the review!!

 

[Araminta18]

Oooh that brunch looks so yummy! I really want to try it sometime, but so far the ADR finder has had no luck for my February trip. Oh well, maybe it will come through later.

Make Shift Night Stand

LOL This! So much! I used my carryon (after I emptied it out) as my makeshift night stand. My one complaint about the room furniture itself at the Boardwalk--needs to have a nightstand on both sides.

 

[kastoney]

Although we weren’t seated until noon, we were allowed to start drinking our mimosas and we totally were on our third before we were sat.

We are so cut from the same drinking cloth! Gotta get those "free" mimosas in!

My first plate had that wonderful bourbon orange cake that I had loved over Labor Day. It did not disappoint this time either! I also got a cheddar biscuit (which I wish they had regular butter out for instead of just honey butter), cheese, prosciutto and pork pate. I probably would have asked for regular butter if my husband hadn’t done his wine exercise. I loved everything on my plate as I knew I would.

I loved the biscuit on our last trip, but I don't recall the bourbon orange cake. Fingers crossed we'll get there in February so I can try it myself.

You got shrimp? I'm so surprised to hear that. I didn't think you liked it Seriously though this looks and sounds amazing!

Chicken & Waffles

Ok he redeemed himself from the first plate. Yum!

Once back at the room, I made myself a night stand out of pillows since my husband always claims the real nightstand and proceeded to head into bed to play on my phone and take a nap.

Smart idea. I'm your husband and always get the nightstand but Jason uses a suitcase for his

 

[tigger536]

I love your report! I was actually there at CG at about the same time as you (we were seating around 12:30). I love that brunch SO MUCH!

 

[Dis_Yoda]

Those magically refillable mimosas are something!

That bourbon cake thing was so good!

I got the same big meal as your husband. I couldn’t finish it after all the buffet items.

We ended up taking the desserts back. You definitely cannot leave that brunch hungry.

They are something! Hopefully you got to enjoy some as well!

It was huge! I was shocked when it was brought out. My husband made a really decent dent in it too.

I feel bad for those desserts - they probably often get boxed up and forgotten. Too much other good stuff!

This brunch is happening for me in May and I am super excited to try it! All the reviews except for 1 have been super positive! The endless Mimosas won’t hurt either. I will probably get the shrimp and grits, looks very delicious! Thanks for the review!!

You will love the brunch in May! Endless Mimosas that turn into more and more sparkling wine than anything juice related helps. I've had the shrimp and grits three times now and loved it each time even with the little changes that have occurred.

Oooh that brunch looks so yummy! I really want to try it sometime, but so far the ADR finder has had no luck for my February trip. Oh well, maybe it will come through later.

Hopefully something comes up! I know you don't drink but they do have speciality mocktails that you can have as well which would probably be totally up your alley. Keep checking up until the day before since people cancel last minute!

LOL This! So much! I used my carryon (after I emptied it out) as my makeshift night stand. My one complaint about the room furniture itself at the Boardwalk--needs to have a nightstand on both sides.

Well - that nightstand issue exists in most DVC studio rooms. We just have learned to be creative! I can't remember which place it was but one there was barely any room between the bed and the wall which made it difficult.

We are so cut from the same drinking cloth! Gotta get those "free" mimosas in!

We love our alcohol!

I loved the biscuit on our last trip, but I don't recall the bourbon orange cake. Fingers crossed we'll get there in February so I can try it myself.

The bourbon orange cake seems to be a new addition in recent months. It is amazing. You will love it!

You got shrimp? I'm so surprised to hear that. I didn't think you liked it Seriously though this looks and sounds amazing!

Coming up - a meal where I did not eat shrimp!

I'm such a Floridian - I just love my shrimp.

Ok he redeemed himself from the first plate. Yum!

He wanted to only save the stomach room for the good stuff!

Smart idea. I'm your husband and always get the nightstand but Jason uses a suitcase for his

Yeah - my husband claims the nightstand for his stuff. I've learned to live with it! At least when we go in January - there will be nightstands on both sides since we are in a 1 bedroom. I love hearing about how other people deal with that problem as people need the nightstands for their stuff!

I love your report! I was actually there at CG at about the same time as you (we were seating around 12:30). I love that brunch SO MUCH!

Oh, wonderful! The brunch is so nice - even with the price increase. Its a great post race meal as well as what runner wouldn't want all that lovely food after running 13.1 miles?