Wining & Dining Around the World~ An October 2013 TR w/pics~ UPDATED 2/11 (x2)!

[herb102211]

Hello Everyone!!
​

Welcome to my new trip report, Wining and Dining around the World!​

Why the title you ask? Well, well be heading down to WDW in October for 4 amazing days to take in all that the Food & Wines Festival has to offer (or that our stomachs can hold!).


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For those of you that don't know me, my name is Melissa, 27 , accountant by day, and obsessed with all things Disney. No really, its pretty much all that I talk about Ive been to WDW 17 times and have cruised with DCL twice on the Wonder and the Dream. I (and DH) have been annual passholders for the past 3 years so we've been to WDW quite a bit the past few years (but who's complaining, right?!?)

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DH (Chris) is my travel partner in crime! He is 28 and an IT analyst. Hes not as obsessed with WDW as I am but he LOVES DCL and still raves about both of our cruises. He will be the first to admit though, that some of the best meals hes ever had have been at WDW.


​

Just a few faves-​

Me~

Park: Epcot

Resort: The Beach Club
Attraction: Thunder Mountain, Splash Mountain,
Show: Beauty and the Beast, Illuminations
Table-Service Restaurants: Crystal Palace, LeCellier, Sci Fi Diner and Via Napoli
Counter-Service Restaurants: Captain Cooks, Pecos Bill
Movies: The Little Mermaid, Beauty & The Beast, The Lion King, Toy Story, Aladdin
Characters: The Beast, Buzz, Cheshire Cat, Sebastian, Genie, Winnie the Pooh

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DH


Park: Epcot

Resort: The Beach Club or Boardwalk
Attraction: Thunder Mountain, Splash Mountain, Tower of Terror
Show: Illuminations
Table-Service Restaurant: Via Napoli, LeCellier, 50s Prime Time Cafe
Counter-Service Restaurant: Pecos Bill, Yorkshire County Fish Shop
Movie: Toy Story
Character: Lotso​

So now that you know a little about us, lets get on with the show!!




How this Trip Came About:



DH and I had gone back and forth about when we should take our fall trip to WDW. We had originally planned on going at the beginning of November, to catch the tail end of the Food & Wine Festival, and the start of Christmas season there. We went last year at that time and had an amazing trip! But, it seems like everyone else had the same idea as all of the DVC resorts were booked. Bummer! So we thought about paying OOP and staying at one of the Epcot Resorts (Were not a huge fan of having to take the buses everywhere and I love the Epcot area resorts, so we usually stay at BCV or BWV since we spend a majority of our time at Epcot and HS.) Whats better than being able to walk to the parks!! In any event, the Epcot resorts were sold out as well that weekend. We seem to be striking out here!



So when the details were released for the Food & Wine Festival events, we decided on going in October. It broke my heart that we wouldn't be going to the Osborne Lights at HS this year (my favorite event at WDW, other than the F&WF) but we would get to attend MNSSHP, which is a close second. The DVC resorts were once again sold out (as were going over Columbus Day weekend), but we got a great rate at the Yacht Club with the Fall Discounts that were released. The Yacht Club is the only Epcot area resort that we haven't stayed at and I can't wait to stay there! Its so gorgeous and convenient to Epcot (especially when the F&WF is going on and we plan on spending a majority of our time there; as you will soon see.) I can't wait!!





Trip Details:



When: Thursday, October 10th, 2013 through Sunday, October 13th, 2013



Where: Yacht Club!!



Why: Well be celebrating our 2nd anniversary (a week early), going to the F&WF and MNSSHP!!



The Itinerary:



Thursday, October 10th

I finally booked our flights yesterday and got a great deal on Jetblue (definitely my favorite airline to fly!). We should arrive @ MCO around 11am.

Drop our luggage off at the Yacht Club (it'd be great if our room was ready by then too, but I'm not banking on it)

Head to the F&WF for lunch at the booths

Back to the Yacht Club to get ready for MNSSHP

ADR @ The Plaza @ 5:30pm

MK for MNSSHP



Friday, October 11th

ADR @ Cape May Café @ 10am

Epcot all day for the F&WF

Wine Demo (Dreaming Tree) @12pm

Eat to the Beat Concert @5:30pm

QS @ Pecos Bills (unless I can get a ressie at BOG)

MNSSHP (yes, again! I love the Halloween party!)



Saturday, October 12th

ADR @ Chef Mickey's @ 8:35am

Wine Demo ( Silver Oak & Twomey Vineyards) @ 12pm

Stormalong Bay in the afternoon

Hollywood Studios for a few hours at night

ADR @ Via Napoli @ 8:30pm



Sunday, October 13th

Check out of the Yacht Club

Sweet Sundays with Buddy Valastro @ the F&WF (Providing I can get through the F&WF line next week when booking opens up)

Hang out in Epcot for the afternoon

Our flight home is at 5:20pm, so DME will probably pick us up around 2:30pm



Besides attending MNSSHP, were also hoping to check out some of the culinary demonstrations and mixology seminars at the F&WF once those schedules are released. Were also planning on going to the Sweet Sundays event with Buddy Valastro (we went to his Kitchen Memories event last year and had a great time!)


We decided not to get the Dining Plan for this trip as last year we ate so much from the booths at the F&WF that we weren't really hungry for big meals. Plus, I wanted a trip where we were more free to come and go and not governed by ADR times. We always try and eat at one new restaurant each trip and that list keeps getting shorter and shorter (yay!) In any event, the Plaza will be our new restaurant for this trip. Nothing too fancy, but its the only TS restaurant in MK (other than BOG) that we've never been to, so I thought wed check it out.



I cant believe that we leave in 2 months!! We've got a jam packed, fun filled trip ahead of us, and I hope you join along!

 

[herb102211]

Chapter 1: Intro!​

Chapter 2: It's That Time of Year Again~ Booking F&WF Events!​

Chapter 2: Continued!...​

Chapter 3: Checking In!

Thursday, October 10th, 2013​

Chapter 4: Next Stop, Disney World

Chapter 5: Checking in at the Yacht Club

Chapter 6:

Cheers to the Food & Wine Festival!​

Chapter 7: Eat to the Beat Around the World....​

Friday, October 11th, 2013​

Chapter 8: Breakfast at the Happiest Place on Earth​

Chapter 9: The Dreaming Tree Wine Demo​

Chapter 10: We've Never Had Australian Wine Before So Let's Do Another Demo!

Chapter 11: A Not So Scary Night at Magic Kingdom!

Chapter 12: Boo To You!

Saturday, October 11th, 2013

Chapter 13: A Day at Stormalong Bay!


Chapter 14: Be Our Guest​

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Saturday, August 31st- Monday, September 2nd, 2013​

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Mini TR~ Chapter 1: Up, Up and Away, To Orlando We Go!

Chapter 2: Hanging out in Hollywood!

Chapter 3: Try the Grey Stuff, It's Delicious!

Chapter 4: Hangin' with the Animals!

Chapter 5: Around the World in 4 Hours!
​

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Following along!

We will be there the same time as you! (we arrive the 11th and leave the 18th)

Managed to book the tequila lunch on the 12th (for me a my fil) and the the grand Marnier shake thing for my dw and mil the same day. Super excited!

Now if they would just oped up ADRs for Calli Grill I can be totally done with planning

 

[herb102211]

Following along!

We will be there the same time as you! (we arrive the 11th and leave the 18th)

Managed to book the tequila lunch on the 12th (for me a my fil) and the the grand Marnier shake thing for my dw and mil the same day. Super excited!

Now if they would just oped up ADRs for Calli Grill I can be totally done with planning

Thanks for joining in!! We can't wait to tackle the F&WF this year. We've had a great time the past 2 years.

Your signature events at the F&WF sound great! I'll be making another post about which ones we were able to get (after hours of being on hold, being told events were sold out when they really weren't...why did it have to be so stressful this year, LOL!)

I would love it if they opened ADR's for Cali Grill too. I can't wait to see what they've done to it!! Hope you have a great trip

 

[herb102211]

Chapter 2: It’s that time of the year again~ Booking F&WF Events!​

We had been anxiously awaiting for the Food & Wine Festival schedules to be released to see what events we would want to attend. Anyone who has tried to book a Food & Wine Festival event, knows how stressful it can be. Luckily for us last year, I was able to book all of our events and only waited on the phone for about 45 minutes. Would our lucky streak continue into this year? I sure hoped so!!

For some reason or other it seemed that the deminar schedules were released a lot later than they have in the past. We decided, that if we could get through the phone lines ,and there was availability left, we wanted to attend:

Friday 10/11:
Wine Demo- Dreaming Tree

Saturday 10/12
Wine Demo-Heitz Cellar
Wine Demo- Silver Oak & Twomey Cellars

Monday 10/14
Culinary Demo with Buddy Valastro

I wished there were more culinary demos we could have booked, but they were all seafood dishes the week we were there (DH is allergic to seafood).

We also looked at the signature events and had planned on booking the Sweet Sundays with Buddy Valastro on October 13th. We attended his Kitchen Memories event last year and really enjoyed it. He was so down to earth and the meal he cooked was amazing. I was really glad to see that he would be doing the Sweet Sundays this year, since after all, desserts are his specialty. This was the one event that I was really hoping to get seats for.

Since we have AP’s and are DVC members that meant that we could book the deminars early than the public, on Friday 8/9. I planned on calling right when the lines opened at 8am. Evidentially, so did every other DVC, AP and TIW member. By the time I finally got through the only event available was the Wine Demo for the Dreaming Tree. I couldn’t believe that all of the other events (with the exception of the Sweet Sundays since that wasn’t released yet) were booked, considering that they weren’t even offered to the public yet. I had the CM book the Dreaming Tree event for us. At least we got something, right? I happened to be browsing on the Disney dining website later that morning and noticed that there was availability of the Silver Oak & Twomey wine demo. Hmm, guess it wasn’t sold out after all!! So I snagged that. I later found out, as we all did, that there were glitches in the system that morning. Uggh! So in any event, I called back later that day in hopes that the Heitz Cellar and the Buddy Valastro culinary demo had openings, but there was still nothing availability.

Since I also have a Disney Chase card, I received an email from them stating that all Disney Chase members could book the signature events early!! Woohoo..I had already planned to get into work late on Tuesday but I figured if I timed it correctly, and got through right at 7am, I should be all set….or so I thought! Monday morning arrived and I literally called at 7am, and was placed on a minimum 30 minute hold. So much for my theory, but, hey at least there is Disney music to listen to while you wait. A CM answered around 7:35am and I was still holding out hope that there would be seats available for the Sweet Sundays event. I gave the CM the information and she said couldn’t find the event in the system. Really? She checked with another CM who said the event was sold out. Are you serious? The event was sold out in a pre-sale in a half hour! I asked the CM if this meant the event was completely sold out if there were limited seats available for the pre-sale. She checked with her supervisor and said that the entire event was sold out. How could this be?!?! I wasn’t really sure if I believed her at that point, but I thanked her and still had planned on calling on Tuesday, hoping that the CM was wrong and that there were still seats left. I later heard that only 10% of the seating was released to Chase cardholders, so I figured I shouldn’t have an issue getting seats on Tuesday. Would we be able to get the one signature event that we really wanted to attend?!?​

 

[wiigirl]

Following along.

 

[herb102211]

Following along.

Thanks for joining!

 

[TheMaxRebo]

ugh, sorry for all the drama (so far) in booking your events. I have been following along the F&WF thread and saw all the issues people were having

I am not (currently) an AP, TIW, or DVC member so I couldn't call on Friday, but am a Disney Visa holder and called Monday morning and I think I got really lucky. Got through to a person after a 12 min. wait and, even more lucky, the CM I spoke with seemed to be on top of it. I did find that most of the events showed up by restaurant name and time rather than the the event name, and was able to get what I wanted - I think the fact I wasn't looking for anything super special (one time only events, celebrity chef, etc.) helped though

Hope things worked out Tuesday and you got what you wanted!

 

[herb102211]

Chapter 2~ Continued....
​

I got up early again Tuesday in hopes that a little pixie dust would be sent my way and that there would seats available for the Sweet Sundays event. I called right away at 7am and a CM picked up the phone at 7:01. I couldnt believe I had gotten through that quickly. However, it turns out that in this case the early bird doesnt always get the worm. I gave the CM the name of the event and she said she couldnt find it in the system either. She told me if it wasnt in the system that means it was sold out. I was so disappointed at that point. I had her check with her supervisor and other CMs as well and no one could find it. I guess it really might have been sold out I hung up and headed to work. I checked the DISboards when I got to work and saw that there had again, been another glitch with the system and that a lot of events werent showing up until 8am. Still holding out hope, I called again. When I finally got through, I gave the CM the info and he said, Nope, theres no availability and hung up! Anytime Ive dealt with CMs they have always been friendly and would go out of their way to assist you. I know the CMs were super busy this day, but this guy was not friendly at all. I really wished I could have taken the survey at the end of the call, because I couldnt believe how rude this CM was.
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Being the persistent person that I am, , I decided I was going to try calling again around lunch time. I was only on hold about 10 minutes when the CM answered. She was really sweet and asked me which events I was looking to book. I gave her the info knowing that I was probably going to be disappointed again, until she said I am showing availability for 2 people for Sweet Sundays on Sunday, October 13th with Buddy Valastro. I couldnt believe it that there were seats left!! Woohoo!! Without hesitation I gave her my information as well as my credit card number. She even linked our Sweet Sundays reservation with our reservation at the Yacht Club. So I guess the moral of the story is, never give up! Come to find out a friend of ours booked later that afternoon and there were still seats left so Im thinking either there had been a lot of glitches with the system or the CMs werent sure what they were looking for. Since we werent able to book the Culinary Demo with Buddy, we decided to leave Sunday night instead of Monday afternoon. Unfortunately, the Heitz Wine Cellar demo also had no availability left so we werent able to book that either

But &.Heres a list of what well be attending-


Friday, October 11th

Wine Demo- Dreaming Tree @ 12pm


Saturday, October 12th

Wine Demo- Silver Oak & Twomey Cellars @2pm


Sunday, October 13th

Sweet Sundays- Buddy Valastro @10am

Now we just have to sit back and wait for it to be October!
​

 

[herb102211]

ugh, sorry for all the drama (so far) in booking your events. I have been following along the F&WF thread and saw all the issues people were having

I am not (currently) an AP, TIW, or DVC member so I couldn't call on Friday, but am a Disney Visa holder and called Monday morning and I think I got really lucky. Got through to a person after a 12 min. wait and, even more lucky, the CM I spoke with seemed to be on top of it. I did find that most of the events showed up by restaurant name and time rather than the the event name, and was able to get what I wanted - I think the fact I wasn't looking for anything super special (one time only events, celebrity chef, etc.) helped though

Hope things worked out Tuesday and you got what you wanted!

Thanks! That's so great you were able to book your events without any hassle. What did you end up booking?

We were able to get almost everything we wanted, including the one signature event we were looking for, so we were happy!

 

[Goofy442]

I wanted to see Buddy this year, but decided going down to see my DS and DSGF was a better choice. Since she just started her job at WDW we wanted to see her in action and visit with them. Last time we were at WDW we wanted to eat at BOG and they were sold out for months. So I said let's wait in the stand by line and see what happens. People around us who had reservations were telling us you will not get in. Well it's my time to waste so I'm going to wait, we stood for about forty five minutes and in we went for dinner. Not sure how they have no reservations because there was lots of tables empty.

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Thanks! That's so great you were able to book your events without any hassle. What did you end up booking?

We were able to get almost everything we wanted, including the one signature event we were looking for, so we were happy!

Glad you got into the Signature event with Buddy! Sounds like that was a popular event and I think all the glitches/delays/CM's not knowing what to look for created lots of frustrations with that one specifically

I was able to book:

Saturday October 12:
- Mexican Tequila Lunch for me and my FIL - noon
- Mixology Series: Taste, Shake & Indulge Like the French form my DW and MIL @ 2:30

Thursday October 17th:
- Wine Demo: Lasseter Family Wine (Sonoma Valley, California) me and DW - 2pm

very excited to get there!

 

[herb102211]

I wanted to see Buddy this year, but decided going down to see my DS and DSGF was a better choice. Since she just started her job at WDW we wanted to see her in action and visit with them. Last time we were at WDW we wanted to eat at BOG and they were sold out for months. So I said let's wait in the stand by line and see what happens. People around us who had reservations were telling us you will not get in. Well it's my time to waste so I'm going to wait, we stood for about forty five minutes and in we went for dinner. Not sure how they have no reservations because there was lots of tables empty.

That's great that DSGF works for WDW! Whereabouts does she work? Thanks for the tip on BOG. I've noticed that with a lot of the TS restaurants there is no availability when trying to book an ADR, but then there are a bunch of empty tables.

 

[herb102211]

Glad you got into the Signature event with Buddy! Sounds like that was a popular event and I think all the glitches/delays/CM's not knowing what to look for created lots of frustrations with that one specifically

I was able to book:

Saturday October 12:
- Mexican Tequila Lunch for me and my FIL - noon
- Mixology Series: Taste, Shake & Indulge Like the French form my DW and MIL @ 2:30

Thursday October 17th:
- Wine Demo: Lasseter Family Wine (Sonoma Valley, California) me and DW - 2pm

very excited to get there!

Thanks!! We were very excited to get the Buddy reservation It does seem like a popular event (I know his Kitchen Memories that we were at last year ended up selling out). The mixology event that you're going to sounds really fun. Is it October yet, lol?

 

[saintstickets]

Looking forward to your TR. DW and I will be at BCV 10/19-10/27 for our first MNSSHP & F&W. I too tried to call at 7:00 am and got through only to be disconnected! It was about 8:15 before I finally got through again but I was on hold for over an hour when I finally talked to a CM. We were able to make reservations for the Italian F&W luncheon and the Cheese seminar but the France Regional luncheon was already sold out.

 

[Goofy442]

That's great that DSGF works for WDW! Whereabouts does she work? Thanks for the tip on BOG. I've noticed that with a lot of the TS restaurants there is no availability when trying to book an ADR, but then there are a bunch of empty tables.

She drives the boats between Studios, resorts and Epcot.

 

[herb102211]

She drives the boats between Studios, resorts and Epcot.

That's great. I hope she enjoys it

 

[herb102211]

Looking forward to your TR. DW and I will be at BCV 10/19-10/27 for our first MNSSHP & F&W. I too tried to call at 7:00 am and got through only to be disconnected! It was about 8:15 before I finally got through again but I was on hold for over an hour when I finally talked to a CM. We were able to make reservations for the Italian F&W luncheon and the Cheese seminar but the France Regional luncheon was already sold out.

Thanks for joining in!

We love BCV and stay there whenever we can!

You're going to love the F&WF and MNSSHP. They are both great events and really fun.

Sorry to hear you weren't able to book the French Regional Lunch, but I hope you enjoy your other events

 

[herb102211]

Checking In!



Hi Everyone!



We’ve got about a month to go before our trip so I thought I would check in and give you a few updates. I cannot wait to be back at the World


We bought out MNSSHP tickets last week for the Friday October 11th party!! Woohoo. Can’t wait! I’ve heard they have added some new things to this year’s party so we’re really looking forward to it. We also plan on going to the Thursday party but I’ll wait to get my tickets until that day.

I’m not sure what DH will be dressing up as yet, but I’ll be going as the Mad Hatter and I also bought these at the Disney Store last week....

We also changed a few ADR’s around, so our dining schedule now looks like this~

Thursday-
Food & Wine Festival booths for lunch
Captain Cook’s for dinner

Friday-
Crystal Palace breakfast @ 9:30am
Pecos Bills for dinner (unless I can get a BOG ressie!)

Saturday-
Les Chefs de France lunch @ 11:30am
Via Napoli dinner @8:30pm

Sunday-
We have the Sweet Sundays event from 10-12pm, so we’ll probably grab something quick from the F&WF booths on the way back to the Yacht Club.

I also ended up booking our flight home this past weekend. We were originally going fly home on JetBlue but DH ended up having enough points in his Southwest account to cover both of our flights home, so we ended up going that route instead. We’ll be leaving WDW 2 hours earlier than we would have on Jet Blue but we’re saving $400, so I guess saving $$ trumps staying in WDW longer, lol.


Oh, and one more, very special update….

Last weekend, we ended summer the best way we knew how….




at WDW, of course!

We ended up heading down to Disney for Labor Day weekend to meet up with some friends. It was a quick trip but we had a great time. I’m going to post a mini TR this week within include our October TR, so stay tuned! We ended up hitting all 4 parks in 2 days, and scored an ADR the day before we left at a very coveted restaurant….Any guesses as to where?

I’ll leave you with a clue as to where…..


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[JulieODC]

Joining in! Sounds like a fun trip!