"I'm Off to Do Independent Duck Things!": a twice solo, F&W+MNSSHP DR *update 12/2, JLHB + Sprinkles

Well, my junior high apparently failed me as I did not learn that about tomatoes. Very interesting. But :eek: on the metallic taste to your dish. That does not sound good. And ugh on the bouillabaisse. I have seen other reviews that said the same of that dish so at least they're consistent? That stinks. And especially when you were hungry hippo level hungry! When the rolls are a highlight, it's not a good sign. I agree the atmosphere is cute and can understand wanting to meet Beast but that it's still a hard to get reservation baffles me a bit. As soon as I read that you were heading to AK, I thought "oh, maybe Nomad Lounge can save the night food-wise." And it looks like that's exactly where you were headed. :thumbsup2
 
Ugh, so sorry about your experience at BOG. My husband and I ate dinner there in 2016 and thought it was delightful, but once I saw the menu change it was no longer appealing to either of us. I wish you had a better experience with the new menu.
 
I would ask how I missed your prior reviews but 2018 has been a whirlwind of a year for me! I'm here and loving your report so far!

On the bus ride over I realized I was accidentally starving, having only eaten two F&W booth items all day :guilty: This happens to me sometimes

Well that makes one of us...

only to turn into a hungry hungry hippo a few hours later.

OH THANK GOD ME TOO. Hahaha

The circumstances of your solo trip stink but I'm loving reading about it! I hope T wasn't too sad at home.
 
I just finished up your last report and here you are with another one :-) Loving all the food and wine goodness. We just missed it by a few days and I was so disappointed. Speaking of disappointed, sorry BoG was such a fail. I didn't really care for it pre-signature status and will unquestionably skip it now.

Congrats on your promotion!
 


That bouillabaisse sounds so disappointing! Especially the flavorless potatoes. I'm usually a sucker for confit anything.

Unrelated, but I developed horrendous thigh chafing this day because I wore chino shorts that are (in hindsight) not ideal for walking long distances, even with anti-chafing gel on. So it was all longer undershorts from there on out, and I used boat transportation more often than I normally do

Have you found a brand of longer undershort that doesn't ride up? I have the worst luck.
 
Joining in!!

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This dish looks really good! Where exactly is the booth located? I'll be there in late October to try all the Food and Wine offerings.

The octopus itself was quite good. A little overcooked around the edges and too chewy in those spots, but otherwise it was the best part of this dish. The potato (salad, it's basically a vinegar-based potato salad...) was fine. I liked the zesty and tart profile of it but as I went on, it got really bitter and tasted metallic, as if there was iron leaching from the serving platter. :scared:
I'm going to BOG on New Year's Eve Eve, so I'm guessing it's going to be crazy crowded, but I'm excited to try the new menu. I really liked the old one and they took what I liked off so it'll be interesting.

I normally really like Octopus, but it has to be cooked well and I'm a little nervous about ordering it here.

You know how you learn in junior high that tomatoes were believed to be poisonous in the middle ages, but really it was serving the acidic tomatoes on pewter plates, and the tomatoes leaching lead from said plates, that caused lead poisoning and death?
This is an interesting fact! I never knew this and must now tell everyone I know :) I absolutely despise tomatoes, so it's funny since I tell people they'll kill me.

I should've gone with any of the other options. :guilty: First, this was a very small dish, served lukewarm at best, and definitely not a bouillabaisse in any sense of the word. The broth was a ladle-ful in the bottom of the dish. It had ZERO flavor. It was lukewarm water sitting under pieces of seafood... seriously.
That stinks I'm sorry :( I'll be ordering the Filet Mignon so hopefully that comes out better.

These look adorable and delicious!

So your review of BOG dinner has me a little scared, but I'm hoping if we choose didn't options maybe it'll be better? On such a busy night I doubt I'll find somewhere else to eat anyway and want to be in the park for fireworks that night.

Look forward to reading the rest!
 


Oh thank you for your post! Ugh.. don't need metallic tasting food for me.. guess I'll plan something else.. was all food prepared on iron plates? Gathering from what other tables were eating? I'm not into metallic unless I'm Fonduing lol..
 
I'm here and reading along. Loving the empty Epcot! And BOG was just as I suspected, thanks for taking one for the team and preventing me from having to find that out for myself.
 
Yikes! Not a good review of BOG dinner! I wasn't really looking to eat here any time soon anyway.
A good choice, imo :)

Well, my junior high apparently failed me as I did not learn that about tomatoes. Very interesting. But :eek: on the metallic taste to your dish. That does not sound good. And ugh on the bouillabaisse. I have seen other reviews that said the same of that dish so at least they're consistent? That stinks. And especially when you were hungry hippo level hungry! When the rolls are a highlight, it's not a good sign. I agree the atmosphere is cute and can understand wanting to meet Beast but that it's still a hard to get reservation baffles me a bit. As soon as I read that you were heading to AK, I thought "oh, maybe Nomad Lounge can save the night food-wise." And it looks like that's exactly where you were headed. :thumbsup2
Oof, I should've looked harder for BOG's bouillabaisse reviews, I could've saved myself this fate! :laughing: Great minds think, and head to Nomad Lounge, alike!

Ugh, so sorry about your experience at BOG. My husband and I ate dinner there in 2016 and thought it was delightful, but once I saw the menu change it was no longer appealing to either of us. I wish you had a better experience with the new menu.
I must've just chosen the worst items off the new menu. Hopefully they'll make menu adjustments soon that appeal more to you and your husband; I'm not much a fan of the new options either.

I would ask how I missed your prior reviews but 2018 has been a whirlwind of a year for me! I'm here and loving your report so far!

Well that makes one of us...

OH THANK GOD ME TOO. Hahaha

The circumstances of your solo trip stink but I'm loving reading about it! I hope T wasn't too sad at home.
Welcome, welcome! :wave2: Thanks for reading! I seem to only miss meals at Disney (all the walking and heat, I guess), never at home. T was bummed at first, but now he is looking forward to whenever our next trip together may be :)

I just finished up your last report and here you are with another one :-) Loving all the food and wine goodness. We just missed it by a few days and I was so disappointed. Speaking of disappointed, sorry BoG was such a fail. I didn't really care for it pre-signature status and will unquestionably skip it now.

Congrats on your promotion!
Thank you! This new job is eating away all my time, so this report will take forever to write. Missing F&W by a few days sounds like an excellent excuse to return for a quick weekend getaway :) re: BOG, yes, disappointing but not altogether surprising! T was already over it too, so it's off our radar for the foreseeable future as well.
 
So happy to see another report. You really saved me from BOG. You ordered exactly what I would have, and it fell flat. Thanks
Hahaha, I am glad to have saved at least one person from my choices :D Order literally any other items!

That bouillabaisse sounds so disappointing! Especially the flavorless potatoes. I'm usually a sucker for confit anything.

Have you found a brand of longer undershort that doesn't ride up? I have the worst luck.
I have, actually through suggestions on this forum. Jockey makes a variety of different undershorts and I like these ones (link) in particular. The bands on the bottom keep them from riding up my thighs! I have quite a few pairs including some that are a bit longer too.

Joining in!!


This dish looks really good! Where exactly is the booth located? I'll be there in late October to try all the Food and Wine offerings.


I'm going to BOG on New Year's Eve Eve, so I'm guessing it's going to be crazy crowded, but I'm excited to try the new menu. I really liked the old one and they took what I liked off so it'll be interesting.

I normally really like Octopus, but it has to be cooked well and I'm a little nervous about ordering it here.


This is an interesting fact! I never knew this and must now tell everyone I know :) I absolutely despise tomatoes, so it's funny since I tell people they'll kill me.


That stinks I'm sorry :( I'll be ordering the Filet Mignon so hopefully that comes out better.


These look adorable and delicious!

So your review of BOG dinner has me a little scared, but I'm hoping if we choose didn't options maybe it'll be better? On such a busy night I doubt I'll find somewhere else to eat anyway and want to be in the park for fireworks that night.

Look forward to reading the rest!
In order, because I am rushing lol:
- Coastal Eats is in the area where Active Eats, Flavor from Fire, etc. will be. They're all outdoors, right outside the Light Lab. It's like on the opposite side of Fountain Cool!
- What did you like on the old menu? I loved the lobster, shrimp & scallops pasta, and it gave me false hopes the bouillabaisse would be good :laughing:
- If you were allergic enough to nightshades, tomatoes really could kill you! Or at least by way of anaphylaxis.
- I wouldn't be nervous about eating there unless you wanted bouillabaisse super badly. Only MY choices sucked, lol -- my server said the filet mignon is the best-selling dish, and they still have tons of appetizers that are difficult to mess up (soups, salads, cheese plate, etc.). You should go and enjoy!

Oh thank you for your post! Ugh.. don't need metallic tasting food for me.. guess I'll plan something else.. was all food prepared on iron plates? Gathering from what other tables were eating? I'm not into metallic unless I'm Fonduing lol..
Nope! The rest were on the usual ceramic plates, as far as I could tell. I kind of recall seeing the cheese appetizer on the same plate my octopus was on, but I can't say for sure. The cheeses shouldn't pick up metallic flavors anyway, unless they pair them with something very acidic!

I'm here and reading along. Loving the empty Epcot! And BOG was just as I suspected, thanks for taking one for the team and preventing me from having to find that out for myself.
:wave2: Hi and welcome! Ahhh, empty Epcot, truly a gem. As for taking one for the team, don't mention it! :rotfl:
 
A non-update update: tomorrow morning I am flying to Dublin, Ireland for a week (work trip, with a leisure portion tacked on - and this time, T will join for the fun!). I'm not bringing my personal laptop, so I will be DIS-free until like, October 8th. I wanted to write the next update tonight, but laundry, cleaning, life, and packing stole Saturday out from under my nose (it's 12:23am here and I am STILL not quite done preparing!).

I am weirdly hoping to find a moment to take a photo on Raglan Road, just so I can say I've been to the "real Raglan Road" the next time we visit Raglan Road in Disney Springs. It doesn't look too out of the way, so hoping I can make that happen!

Hope you all are having excellent food, good drinks, and autumn weather :) See y'all in October!
 
That was the dish I usually ordered, shrimp and scallops. I’m hoping it’ll be an okay meal lol. I’ll just order the opposite of you :) and thank you for the location of the food booth!
 
A non-update update: tomorrow morning I am flying to Dublin, Ireland for a week (work trip, with a leisure portion tacked on - and this time, T will join for the fun!). I'm not bringing my personal laptop, so I will be DIS-free until like, October 8th. I wanted to write the next update tonight, but laundry, cleaning, life, and packing stole Saturday out from under my nose (it's 12:23am here and I am STILL not quite done preparing!).

I am weirdly hoping to find a moment to take a photo on Raglan Road, just so I can say I've been to the "real Raglan Road" the next time we visit Raglan Road in Disney Springs. It doesn't look too out of the way, so hoping I can make that happen!

Hope you all are having excellent food, good drinks, and autumn weather :) See y'all in October!

Oh wonderful! Although I've never been to WDW, I've been to Dublin twice. Have a great time! Try to walk around early in the morning. It's so beautiful and peaceful. And some of the shops get actual milk bottles delivered!
 
Wanderers Welcome: Nomad's Lounge

(Yikes on bikes, it's almost December. Sorry I completely abandoned this; I'm going to try to finish it out with short updates now.)

Dublin and Ireland was fantastic. Made a small side quest out of trying as many different varieties of fish and chips as possible, and I think the best we had was from this takeaway window (Kingfisher's). Of the ~chains~ I felt that Leo Burdock's had probably the worst (awful batter), but Beshoff's was pretty good. Also, we found the best bread pudding ever in a pub in Howth! A glimpse of that dream:



Also, we are going back to WDW mid-January together this time for a week-long trip! T reaaaaaally wanted to go, while I am kind of Disney-ed out. Planning ADRs has helped me build excitement, but I think maybe after this and possibly a short F&G trip, we'll take a break from Disney for a few years.

And now, back on track to where we left off :)

~~~~~

After the disappointment at Be Our Guest, I headed over to Animal Kingdom to redeem the evening. It wasn't busy at all there, with Everest and Kilimanjaro Safari both being walk-ons. BUT let's skip all that and get right to the food for this very belated dining report!

After taking a seat at the bar, I ordered the Boto-rita and truffle poutine. Et voilà:





The boto-rita was excessively bitter and difficult to drink (I could've used a straw to avoid the peppercorns). I didn't really enjoy it, but drank it all anyway. Wouldn't drink again. Felt some regret at not just ordering the Annapurna Zing that everybody raves over!​





The truffle poutine was great, as it combines french fries and truffles, two of the greatest delights on earth. Savory perfection. It looks like the current menu has changed this to beef & truffle poutine, which I'm guessing is Disney's way to make it a more substantial dish (and also raise the price by a few dollars).

Overall, this was a fine hour or so of my evening -- not too much to say, but it was enjoyable, and of course the interior of Nomad Lounge is always so pleasant and calming. Probably saved a few dollars with Tables in Wonderland, a nice perk of this place.

After that, I caught a bus back to the Swan, showered, watched a bit of Jurassic Park (lol) and then turned off all the lights to watch the fireworks from Hollywood Studios from my room.

~~~~~

Up next, a mostly food-less post documenting my first ever time experiencing morning extra magic hours!

 
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Baby's First Morning EMH

A short update for this one, since the food wasn't much to speak of.

I woke up around 6:50am, headed out of the hotel with croissant in hand (from Java Bar, small coffee bar in the Swan) by 7:10am, and headed down to Hollywood Studios for morning EMH!



An average croissant, at above-average Disney prices!



The walk started out fine. I love this walkway; it's usually uncrowded and quiet, so it's as peaceful as you might expect.

However, what I didn't know was that the walkway was closed near the very last stretch and rerouted due to Skyliner construction, which added extra time and distance to this walk. Remember: it was September 2, and this detour was new enough that I hadn't read anything about it. I remember feeling particularly defeated as I walked through this endless detour, and way ahead of me, I could see hordes of people getting off the Disney Springs hotel buses. :laughing:

It was a tight squeeze with hundreds of new friends, but once we were through all of the detour walls, it was nice and empty in the park... everywhere except Toy Story Land, naturally. They had let people in super early before AM EMH officially began, which I expected, but I was honestly floored by how many people had gotten up so early to be there!





Also, I learned that bloggers/the internet are not kidding about people running and/or throwing elbows to get to their ride of choice during EMH or rope drop. It was fascinating! It was also useless at this point, as TSL was packed.



I stood in line (my view, above) for Slinky Dog Dash for about five minutes while eyeing TSMM and its completely empty queue. After not moving the entire time, I refreshed and picked up a Slinky Dog Dash FP on the app for later that morning:



An incredibly lucky score! I immediately exited the line, rode Toy Story Midway Mania (so empty, and still a walk-on when I left), rode RnRC twice in a row, ambled around the new gift shop where Sweet Spells used to be, then spent a while practicing shots with my GoPro around the empty park.







I also spent the last 30 or so minutes of EMH hanging out in the shade, re-applying sunscreen and doing nothing at all. Glorious morning. I can see now why people like going to the parks at opening or taking advantage of EMH; I rode everything I wanted to (besides SDD, because I picked up a FP) and still had time to shop and relax.

I think right around 9am I watched Muppetvision, then spent the remaining time until the SDD FP taking photos around TSL. The total experience time from tapping in to SDD and exiting was only 10 minutes! After that, made my way to the park exit and hopped a boat to the Swan. I changed and headed over to World Showcase, to meet up with some friends who live in Orlando.

Up next, more Food and Wine booths!​
 
That EMH looks glorious! You certainly did luck out on that SDD FP, great move there. The gauntlet to get in line for that was crazy when I did rope drop also. Not my thing at all, but I didn't have a FP wanted to ride. It seems like the best strategy is to get that SDD FP and experience the rest of the park empty.
 
Food & Wine Booths, Part Two

And now we move on to another sampling of Food & Wine!

First up, we stop at Ireland for a taste of Warm Irish Cheddar Cheese and Stout Dip with Irish Brown Bread ($4.75). I was so hungry at this point (11:45am), the croissant now a faraway, distant memory.



I'm pretty sure I ate this last year and that they added another piece of bread for 2018. Still not enough to sop up all of the delicious cheese and stout dip, but no worries! I drank the rest :bitelip: :laughing:

After this I ran into my friends, waiting just by Canada (thankfully, they were spared the sight of me guzzling cheese dip). They really wanted to go to the Light Lab, and on the way we stopped at Coastal Eats for another greatest hit from last year, the Lump Crab Cake with Napa Cabbage Slaw and Avocado-lemongrass Cream ($5.25):



The slaw was excellent! Crisp, lightly dressed, and very fresh. The crab cake was also enjoyable, and I remember it being meaty without too much filler -- so I feel like this isn't such a bad price.

We then stood in line for the Light Lab, something I only did because I was in the company of these two lovely people. Also because it was boiling hot outside, so the AC was welcome. I didn't go last year, and I was surprised that once we finally got inside, THE PLACE WAS EMPTY! Like there was tons of room, plenty of open tables, etc. -- the line is really just for ordering.



I copied their order and got a Phosphorescent Phreeze, which is a $7 slushee similar to one you might find at 7-Eleven at a much lower price. But you get a "souvenir" beaker, which is... just (flimsy) plastic, with a Light Lab sticker on it. I took it home anyway; never know when you might need an extra decanter at the last minute.

I honestly could not distinguish between the sweet syrupy blue flavor and the sweet syrupy green flavor. I'm guessing it was blue raspberry and green apple?, but again, I couldn't tell much difference. They mixed almost instantly in my drink anyway. I personally would not order this or go to the Light Lab again (anticlimactic after the line), but you can't put a price on spending time with friends you hardly ever see. And if you did have to name a price, $7 seems more than fair. :)

After a couple of hours together we parted ways; I was off to Mission Space for a FP I'd picked up once my last HS FP window passed, and they were off to Magic Kingdom. Once we returned safely to Earth, I picked up a FP for Soarin', and then did a bunch of F&W Festival shopping. Browsing and actual purchasing -- so foreign, but so fun.

Walked back to the Swan around 3:30pm, and then I organized my things (read: purchases), showered, relaxed, and watched television until leaving for Disney Springs to meet up with another friend!

Stay tuned for the next update: two QS locations in Disney Springs.​
 
You were “lucky” to get the beaker/flask as they ran out of them before the first week of the festival was done. It wasn’t on my list but how they could have underestimated the demand by that much is beyond me. I missed the Irish cheese dip and the crab cake. Sigh. Even after spending a week there’s not enough time to try everything.

Sorry you are Disneyed out. I think the Jan trip will be fun. I really enjoy the Festival of the Arts.

Hope you are enjoying the new job!!
 
That EMH looks glorious! You certainly did luck out on that SDD FP, great move there. The gauntlet to get in line for that was crazy when I did rope drop also. Not my thing at all, but I didn't have a FP wanted to ride. It seems like the best strategy is to get that SDD FP and experience the rest of the park empty.
It really was a nice stroke of luck! I saw your rope drop experience had some luck, too, with third in line at the gate! A very nice turn of events :)

You were “lucky” to get the beaker/flask as they ran out of them before the first week of the festival was done. It wasn’t on my list but how they could have underestimated the demand by that much is beyond me. I missed the Irish cheese dip and the crab cake. Sigh. Even after spending a week there’s not enough time to try everything.

Sorry you are Disneyed out. I think the Jan trip will be fun. I really enjoy the Festival of the Arts.

Hope you are enjoying the new job!!
Weird that they ran out of the flasks. They seem to have problems with demand forecasting, like with the festival scavenger hunt prizes. I totally agree on not having enough time to try it all, even with a week -- you have to be super dedicated to overeating for many days, and only in WS, to really try everything!

I love Festival of the Arts, too! Sadly our trip ends on the first Saturday of it, so we have like 1.5 days to enjoy, but still looking forward to it.

And thank you -- really am liking the new job! :)
 

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