Disney World Vacation Round Up

Today, I will be sharing with you all the links to my previous posts about our trip to Disney World in October. Hopefully, they will be helpful to you. We had such a great time. It completely baffles me the people that don't have fun at the happiest place on Earth. Go in with the right expectations and all the right information.

Well, here they are! Enjoy!

Animal Kingdom
Hollywood Studios
Magic Kingdom Day 1
Magic Kingdom Day 2
Epcot
and a special one where we Ate Our Way Around the World!

Again, I hope you find these informative and helpful.

Vacation: Eating our way around the World in Epcot

Then we started our journey to eat ourselves around the world.

Our first stop was New Zealand where we had a lamb meatball with spicy tomato chutney and Nobilo Icon Pinot Noir. The meatball was moist but there was too much chutney and it wasn't very spicy.

Then we went to Mexico where we ate a barbacoa enchilada (corn tortilla filled with beef barbacoa and covered with oaxaca mole). The mole was very spicy. The enchilada was well seasoned.

Then we went to China where we ate chicken pot stickers. The sauce was a little sweet for my taste, but overall, it was good.

Then we went to South Korea where we ate Korean-style BBQ beef with steamed rice and cucumber kimchi. The cucumber kimchi had a very mild taste so even I, who does not like kimchi, enjoyed it. The acid from the kimchi complimented the meat well. The meat was tender and flavorful.

Then we went to Africa where we ate berbere-style beef tenderloin tips with onions, jalapenos, tomato and pap. I don't really like pap. It's bland. The jalapenos made the dish very spicy. It seemed like there wasn't a lot of meat compared to the number of other things in the dish.

Then we went to Germany where we ate an apple strudel with vanilla sauce. It was great. It is exactly what I would expect from any German bakery. It wasn't too sweet like some desserts tend to be.

Then we went to Poland where we ate kielbasa and a potato pierogi with caramelized onions and sour cream. Everything was very flavorful. The kielbasa had good caramelization. The pierogi tasted great. There were just too many onions for the size of dish.

Then we went to Italy where we ate cannolis al cioccolata (chocolate-covered cannoli filled with sweet ricotta). I absolutely adore cannolis. They were so good. We ended up buying 2 because there was no way I splitting one of those small cannolis amongst 4 people.

Then we went to Japan where we ate a spicy sushi roll (tuna and salmon with kazan volcano sauce). I personally did not eat any of it because I don't like sushi, but my mom and husband really seamed to enjoy it. My husband said the sauce wasn't as spicy as he was expecting it to be.

Then we went to Morocco where we ate chocolate baklava (rolled phyllo dough with toasted almonds and dark chocolate sauce). This is one of my husband's favorite dishes. We were not disappointed. It wasn't too sweet. There was good spice to it. I would eat it again.

Then we went to Belgium where we ate beer-braised beef served with smoked gouda mashed potatoes. I love a good mashed potato and these were seriously good. The beef was pretty good too, but I will rant and rave about these potatoes.

Then we went to France where we ate crème brulee caramel chocolat (caramel and chocolate crème brulee topped with caramelized sugar). The chocolate in this dish was a little on the bitter side for me, but I enjoyed it.

Then we went to Scotland where we ate a traditional Scottish lamb stew with neeps and tatties. I don't really like neeps, but the tatties were good. The lamb was tender. We enjoyed it.

Then we went to Canada where we ate a wild mushroom beef filet mignon with truffle-butter sauce and Neige premiere 'apple ice wine'. My husband had a really large complaint with this one and I have to agree with him. It was too small. The steak was so good. If you go to Le Cellier, order the full-sized portion of this dish. It was that good. The apple ice wine was really good as well. Again, the only complaint was the size. The cup we got was easily 1/3 the size of the glass of wine mom got earlier in the day.

And finally, we went to the Refreshment Port where we ate a croissant doughnut with cinnamon sugar and a pineapple Dole whip soft-serve ice cream. The croissant doughnut was seriously flaky, covered in cinnamon sugar, and amazing to eat. I think my son ate like half of it. I have a major complaint with all the people that write blog posts. I tried the Dole whip and it wasn't good. I didn't love it. I only ate it because I felt like I had to. I don't care how much of a staple it is, don't get it. It was just bad (but that's just my opinion).

Vacation: Epcot

We got to Epcot about 8:15am and they started letting everyone in at 8:45am.

The first thing we did was The Seas with Nemo & Friends over in Future World. You will board your shell and go through the story of Finding Nemo. It was alright. It's a little boring, but still fun.

While we were there, we checked out Bruce's Shark World. My son enjoyed taking the little touch screen quiz and playing in the shark, maze-like area. It's a great photo op with your child inside Bruce's mouth.

Then, to finish this area, we went to Turtle Talk with Crush. That was pretty cool. Owen was the first kid he talked to. Crush taught him how to talk like a turtle. It was great and I'm so glad he wasn't too shy to talk to him. Crush was very entertaining. The kids get to sit up front while the parents sit on benches. The room is really small so clearly you can't fit a ton of people in there. There was no wait when we went, but I can see how it could take a while.

We had a FP+ to Soarin'. It was a very cool ride. I would say the part I liked the least was going through The Land to get to it. That was horrible. There are way too many people there. I love how you're suspended in the air above a huge dome-like screen, sailing through the air all over the world. This experience is so submerssive that they even pump in amazing smells to really take you to all of these locations. When it was all over, my son asked if we went through that screen to get there when we were leaving. It felt so real to him. I say this is a must-ride. We all felt like we were way in the air and it was a little freaky to feel like we could fall out at any moment.

We met Baymax. That was pretty cool. He is an inflatable character and they do such a good job about making him feel like he's the real deal. When he needs to go on a break, he starts to deflate a little and stumble around like he has a low battery just like in the movie.

Our next FP+ was for Spaceship Earth. Even the FP+ line was very long. That was kind of annoying. And to be entirely honest, the ride was boring. I think the big selling point for this ride was that it was inside the ball. That's probably the only thing that made it super cool. You go around in circles hearing about technology throughout history until you reach the top of the ball. Then, you go down backwards back to the bottom of the ball while you create your own possible future.

We had a free FP+ to use on anything except Frozen Ever After, so we chose to use it on Test Track. Designing your own car beforehand is a pretty cool way to get you involved in something while waiting to actually ride the ride. Then, since there are so many people in one car, you go through all these tests and they show you how your car stacked up against everyone else in your car. Clearly, the highlight is when you get to go fast around the track. That was fun.

We had a FP+ for Mission: Space. My husband, son, and I decided to go on the more intense ride rather than the less intense ride that my mom decided to go on. I can tell you for sure that the more intense ride has a longer wait time. It was so much fun though. Everyone gets a job (Navigator, Pilot, Commander, and Engineer). We were only 3 people and my son was very concerned that we would crash if we didn't have an engineer so I ended up hitting the buttons for that job as well as the ones for Commander. My son clearly wanted to be the Pilot. We actually switched places after the jobs were handed out so that he would get this spot. The G-forces are pretty intense so be aware of that when choosing the more intense ride. They're not kidding when they say you may feel disoriented and there is even a barf bag, but we still had a lot of fun.

We made our way over to the World Showcase for our lunch reservation at Akershus Royal Dining Hall. Your reservation time is a joke though. There was a huge line just to check in so it took forever to get through it. Then you stand in another line to be called for your table. Then you stand in another line to get your picture taken with Belle before you are finally escorted to your table. Our server took our order for our main entree course. The first course is an appetizer buffet bar with salads, meats, cheeses, and seafood. There is something for most people. While we were eating our first course, the princesses came out to parade around the dining rooms. The kids were invited to go too. Our son started to go, but then got a little upset. While my husband was trying to get him to get in the parade, their handler asked what was wrong (he thought maybe my son missed his favorite princess). Apparently, my son only saw girls in the parade with the princesses so he thought it was only for girls and he wasn't supposed to be there. Well, the guy took pity on him and let him help collect the baskets at the end of the parade that the princesses carry. It made him feel special and he still got to be a part of something. After my son and husband got back to the table to continue eating, the guy came to check on him and ask if he felt better. He said yes. Then, he came back with a viking helmet for my son from the gift shop in Norway. It was so sweet. They did a great job to make him feel special. He just loved it. And while he didn't want to wear it during the whole lunch, he did insist on putting it on every time a princess came to our table. To eat, I had the Fylt Pasta (house-made potato-cheese and herb ravioli with wild mushrooms, leek cream sauce, tomato jam, and balsamic-onion reduction). It was very tasty. I definitely recommend it. My husband and mom both had the Svinekotelett (char-grilled center cut pork chop with jarlsberg potato gratin and port jus). I tasted it and it was also quite delicious. I know most people go to this restaurant for the princesses, but the food was surprisingly amazing! For dessert, there was a plate to share of rice cream with strawberry sauce, apple cake, and chocolate mousse. All were good. The rice cream was just a little weird for me. It was definitely the texture. I didn't love it. The apple cake was super good. I would love the recipe for this one! Please! And of course you can never go wrong with a good chocolate mousse. Now, for the princesses. We saw Ariel, Snow White, Cinderella, and Aurora. They came around one at a time to each table and spent lots of time talking to each child. They were absolutely fantastic. I just love all the characters that they have. They're always so friendly. I mean, I know you have to be a special kind of person to work at Disney World and I am just so thankful that those special people exist to be kind to my sweet little boy.

The Gran Fiesta Tour Starring The Three Caballeros is located at the back of the Mexican Temple. When you enter, go down the left ramp. We made the mistake of going down the right ramp and ended up walking in a large circle. The ride is on a boat and it was pretty entertaining. There is a great atmosphere in the temple. If you're short on time, I say skip it. But if you have the time, it's a cute little ride.
We made a FP+ reservation for the Disney & Pixar Short Film Festival even though it was completely unnecessary. There was no line for it. It was cute though. It was nice to sit and watch the 4D shorts. It lasts about 18 minutes. I'm not sure if the ones they show ever change, but there is a sign out front telling you which shorts are being featured. While we were there, we saw 'Get A Horse!', 'La Luna', and 'For The Birds'.

We then waited in a very long line to meet Joy & Sadness. The one biggest problem while we were there was the woman in charge of the line. She really needed to take some pointers from Joy. Seriously. I mean, mostly everyone we encountered at Disney was more than pleasant except for this woman. She seemed very sour. She spent her entire time yelling at everyone. 'Move forward' 'Fill in all available space' (we were told this a lot during lines that got full a lot, but this one was not) 'Don't touch the chains with your hands, mouth, and bodies. They will pinch' 'Don't sit on the ground' I mean seriously? Have you ever met a child? Calm down. Oh well. We had a great time with Joy and Sadness. They were great. They can't talk because they're not face characters, but they really communicated. They made gestures toward my husband's shirt (it had Anger on it). Joy was always dancing around. We just loved it.

We noticed that Frozen Ever After was temporarily closed and there was a line standing outside the doors waiting to re-enter. We decided to go ahead and get in that line. The employees suggested that we not wait, but we of course didn't listen. Our game plan was to have someone stand in line while other parts of our party were elsewhere. At first, I went to the Norway gift shop and then brought Owen with me to take a picture and let him color Duffy. We did that for about 10 minutes. Then, we went back to the line and about 2 minutes later, they opened the doors. It had been closed for about an hour before that so we actually got very lucky. The most annoying part was when we were in the first 100 people in line, but they let so many FP+ people through (most likely the ones that missed their reservation while the ride was closed) that we ended up waiting in line for about 45 minutes. Altogether, we waited about an hour which compared to the 2-3 hour waits that were more likely, we were still very lucky. The line was very well themed and you even get to go through Oaken's Trading Post where you see him in the sauna. The ride itself was adorable. I really enjoyed it. There were scenes from the movie and the short. It was great. Even though we sat in the front, it was only a slight misting that we received so while it might be possible that you'll get wet, it's very unlikely. We really enjoyed the ride.

We also ate our way around the world, but that's a whole different post.
We finally got back to the resort pretty late and pretty much went straight to bed.