Trip Report Mad dash for Lunch with my Valentine

My first pre-trip report. Previously I wondered what would happen if my trip report turned out dull? I could just skip posting it altogether - but not if I've already announced it with a pre-trip report.

And who wants read a pre-trip report that basically says the same things as the actual trip report, sans details?

Let's stick to the entire pre-trip era LOL.

The set-up: this will be our last planned WDW trip until at least December 2016/more likely January 2017. Caveat: Our Tables in Wonderland card is good through the fall, so we may make a non-park trip, or do a holiday party, or a combo Uni-Dis trip for a few days in 2016.

Our annual passes expire on the 13th of this month, and from the two phone calls I've had with WDW cast members, that means we can go to the parks on the 13th.

We were torn between doing a little extra since we won't be back so soon vs. saving money because...bills and stuff.

We also wanted it to be unrushed, easy, stay at one hotel the whole time, and maybe get an extra night out of the deal.

Almost booked CBR. Almost booked offsite. Almost booked offsite first night or two and then CBR for a couple of nights. Compromise: we booked Pop Century for the first time, for three nights.

Originally this was to be Sunday night through Thursday, but Brian has to be home for work Thursday morning. so we switched it to Sunday day through Wednesday.

We've lately been driving up from Fort Lauderdale late on Sunday nights after Brian works an 18 hour day at a Dolphin's Game. I work Sundays, too, but I don't come close to that level of exhaustion. So I get to drive the whole 3 or so hours myself at night, while he sleeps.

I was hoping for more of a - let's both take Sunday off, wake up when we wake up, try to get out the door by 9 or 10AM, but 11 is fine, and take turns driving without rushing. (And I can work a little when he drives.)

Our AP's are weekday only anyway, so when we get there, we can explore Pop and AoA, and we can go to Disney Springs, but no parks. I kind of liked that idea - again, less rushed, relax a bit, get to really explore Disney Springs with all the new stuff without feeling like I'm missing something at MK. A leisurely pace of strolling, shopping, eating...maybe the hot air balloon thingy?? I've had my eye on that for a few years.

We booked Morimoto for our first dinner. Likely will have lunch at the resort.

Who knows if that will work out to have us waking up early and making our first rope drop? One can hope.

Day one - relaxing day.

Which leaves us scrambling today and yesterday and the day before...

 

[Tony the Tigger]

So, after waking up from passing out, and chilling out a little bit – we decided to walk over to the art of animation to check it out and had heard that the food court was much better there. We knew we didn't have time to go back to any parks.We knew we didn't have time to go back to any parks

First of all, it was freezing. So that made exploring a little less comfortable. Love the design of the place, though. The food court – sure they had a few more options and the seating was a little nicer – but I would not say the food was "better." I would say they are two very comparable food courts. Just a few more options at art of animation.

I got a burger because I wanted one since I saw the one Brian had for dinner LOL and because Disney is one of the only places I stray from my mostly vegetarian diet. I honestly don't remember what Brian got.

You gotta love being able to just walk over to a food court at night rather than going to 7-Eleven or something. The walk here seemed shorter than any of the moderate resorts.

And that was Monday - we watched some TV and went to bed. Fully expected to go to Magic Kingdom the next morning – possibly for rope drop – but…

 

[MinnieM123]

It's always fun to read your TRs! By the way, I really like that 1971 sign--I probably should know where that is, but I don't. Where is that sign located in the park? (By the way, great picture of Sci Fi, too.)

 

[Tony the Tigger]

Ok, Tuesday – Tuesday turned out to be weird – and then fantastic.

I woke up not feeling so great. Not hung over, just very tired and kind of foggy. I really didn't feel like going up and walking into a theme park. I thought, "OK, so we won't make rope drop." I let Brian sleep in and just sat there feeling foggy for a little while LOL.

We decided to walk over to the food court for breakfast. It was OK. Didn't make me feel better. I really just wanted to watch TV. And it was chilly even in the sun. Not kidding. Here's 8AM-ish:

 

[Tony the Tigger]

It's always fun to read your TRs! By the way, I really like that 1971 sign--I probably should know where that is, but I don't. Where is that sign located in the park? (By the way, great picture of Sci Fi, too.)

Thanks!! That sign was one of many similar signs detailing important events through the various decades covered by the Pop Century resort. They were all around the property walkways. I just liked that one because our birthdays were on it LOL. Sort of.

 

[MinnieM123]

Thanks!! That sign was one of many similar signs detailing important events through the various decades covered by the Pop Century resort. They were all around the property walkways. I just liked that one because our birthdays were on it LOL. Sort of.

Great, thank you. It was driving me crazy trying to figure out where that sign was, because it was so retro in style--and for a moment, I gleefully thought to myself--hey, they're bringing back some classic signs to the WDW parks!

 

[Tony the Tigger]

More random Pop pics:

Giant eight track tapes everywhere, outdoor twister games…

And goofy taking a picture of goofy!

 

[Tony the Tigger]

I told Brian if something happens to me, he has to find the password for this site so he can read my trip reports as documentation of memories LOL.

 

[Tony the Tigger]

Back to foggy Tuesday afternoon – I don't even remember what we did for lunch, but it must've sucked because I have zero memory LOL. But I started feeling better. Still can't explain what it was. Unless it was just pure lack of sleep because I really didn't sleep well Sunday night or Monday night. (The beds were OK – we ended up with two small beds – probably should have paid extra for a king – they were I would say slightly lower quality beds. But my sleeping issues are my own LOL.)

I kept thinking: "I can't believe I'm here at Disney World sitting in my room at Pop Century resort." Brian really didn't care – like I said, he will just sleep as long as I let him. Meanwhile, I'm torturing myself over it LOL.

This was to be our big Magic Kingdom morning! All the Disney calendar guides said so! Dammit.

I knew we had a 6:55 PM reservation at flying fish – which is one of our very favorite places to eat anywhere – we had such a memorable fourth anniversary dinner there, it was probably the best meal of our adult lives. We've been there once or twice since then. But that fourth anniversary dinner was really special. A good friend of mine who came to our wedding is an In Law of one of the bartenders at the ff and she hooked us up with the wine pairing which at the time we could not have afforded. It was amazing. Again, this was over four years ago.

So with all our Chase Visa dollars and gift cards – still haven't spent a dime of real money yet – I decided to spring for the wine pairings again and knew our friend the bartender would be there. Checked ahead of time.

So I guess it was around four-ish we drove to the boardwalk area, parked there, and walked into Epcot.

There was no line to get in, and lucky me – I was randomly chosen for extra security measures LOL. There were like six security people there with just me and Brian walking in LOL. He didn't get checked. I did. We joked that it was my beard. This was no big deal – As usual, all the crying and gnashing of teeth on other threads is over done. I took the metal things out of my pockets and put them into a bowl, I walked through the metal detector, I picked up my stuff and kept going. Absolutely no big deal.

 

[Tony the Tigger]

We did one tour around the world – no time for future world – first stop was France for a quick turkey croissant to split between the two of us and hold us over until dinner. Oh, that's right! We never did have lunch that day – that's why I couldn't remember it a few minutes ago LOL. So I guess it didn't suck after all, it just never happened.

We thought about watching one of the movies to pass the time – don't think I've done that since 1999 – but it was not happening.

We kept walking and on our way to Italy stopped at a kiosk for a coffee and a hot chocolate.

Yes, of course they each had a shot of whiskey in them! What do you think - we are new at this?

And this marked a toast to one year to the day that we renewed our vows back home when it became legal in the state of Florida, and took a Disney trip the next morning!

And yes, we acknowledged and joked about how bad we are at selfies.

Continued the trip around the world – not much of note – Mexican boat ride, couple of shops...

...and then back to the boardwalk. By the way, there was an airplane on the boardwalk.

 

[Tony the Tigger]

Also I got a kick out of this sign because it was right outside the frozen Norway construction, and probably even more because I had just chugged a hot chocolate with whiskey. Because today it doesn't seem as funny.

Fun fact: I have never had a cup of coffee in my entire life. The closest I will get is Kahlúa.

 

[Tony the Tigger]

And now to the flying fish:

Or "Flyin Fish" as the sign read. It's not supposed to be that way, the G in flying was out. And now you know why they are going down for refurbishment!

 

[Tony the Tigger]

This dinner turned out to be even better than expected. Definitely another highlight in all our years at Disney.

The bartender remembered us, but didn't know we were coming. I wasn't sure if my friend had told him we made reservations or not. I asked if he would mind personally doing our wine pairings again because he made it so special the last time.

This man – to call him a bartender is woefully inadequate. To call myself a bartender, as I have been called in my life – no. I was a beerslinger. This man is a bartender. And he knows his stuff.

So rather than the "book pairings" listed on the menu with each item, he chose maybe less traditional pairings specially for us with each course.

Starting with a clean small glass of white wine on the house as a "welcome back."

And then a scrumptious little cup of cauliflower soup that was not even on the menu. At this point I had not quite yet resigned myself to the fact that I was going to have to take pictures, no matter how ridiculous I felt, just to share with you guys. So I apologize for skipping the introductory wine and soup!

I guess I can just say his name – Craig, the bartender – explained every wine to the hilt. I found that fascinating, and appreciated it so much. The first one was more of a citrus-y note to cleanse the pallette. Then the soup.

For the appetizer, we split the tuna tartare with tuna sushi roll with sweet and spicy umami sauce. They split the plate for us so we got two each. Paired with a different white wine that Craig would explain beautifully for you right now but I cannot.

Stunning.

So here's the thing with the wine – and I am no connoisseur – when you're having a meal like this, you take a bite of the food and you enjoy the dish for itself – but midway through the chew, you take a sip of the wine and you get a different flavor for the rest of the bite which is just as delicious but in a different way. That is the best way I can describe it.

 

[Tony the Tigger]

Then, before the main courses were served, another pallette cleanser - A little sorbet in three different liquors. Yum! I remember one was Elderberry and can't remember the other two right now LOL. I'm just remembering all this and feeling happy. LOL.

EDIT: Brian just got home and remembers the other two were gin and limoncello!

 

[catmom46]

I am salivating! Can't wait to read more about this yummy culinary experience.

 

[Figgy1]

Those sorbets look like heaven in a bow.

 

[MinnieM123]

What an extraordinary tasting experience! Life is short, and we all need special, memorable times like this to realize what a joy it is to be alive!

 

[Tony the Tigger]

For dinner – I think I will just have to cut and paste the descriptions from the menu or I will not do them justice. We were each served a separate wine which paired with our individual dinners. How many glasses of wine is that so far? Never mind.

Brian had the pork dish:

Oak-grilled Snake River Farms Berkshire Pork Tenderloin
Wild Rice-Wild Mushroom-Leek-Game Sausage Cake, wilted Epcot Land Pavilion Greens, Mushroom-Shallot Ragoût, Pomegranate-Port Wine-Pork Jus Gastrique

Wait for it...

Something interesting to me about this dish was it looked and ate more like a beef dish would traditionally be served – hard to explain. I happen to be a huge lover of pork, and we always taste each other's dishes. Sometimes I think he orders pork on purpose for me LOL.

This was an absolutely gorgeous dish - and the wine pairing was perfect as always. And not crazy priced. Brian loved it.

 

[Tony the Tigger]

Now, I am not someone who likes to order the same thing every time. But what I ordered was something I had had before, adored it, and despite all indications that it will return when the restaurant reopens, I couldn't take the chance. So I ordered it again – their house special potato wrapped snapper:

Flying Fish Café's Idaho Potato-wrapped Red Snapper
Creamy Leek Fondue, Veal Glace de Viande-Red Wine-Cassis Butter

This is so deceptively simple and so delicious. A red wine sauce with fish. Sweet, savory - bravo!

That leek fondue is amazing. And again – the wine – I've had so many experiences where this is not the case, but you get halfway through the chew, you take a sip of the wine, and the rest of it you taste differently and just as delicious. You balance the wine out with the food, rationing it out properly to finish at the same time.

And by the way, I am used to snapper from Key West – which I love - but which is typically very flat. This was a huge fat piece of fish as you can see from the pic, actually wrapped in sliced potatoes.

 

[Tony the Tigger]

And finally, dessert.

Now, Brian has been type one diabetic since age 10. We are used to ordering sugar-free stuff where we can, and Disney is pretty good about that. He is also very good at managing his sugar levels.

I happened to give up processed sugars before Brian and I met. That's kind of made things easier for him because he's not constantly struggling with the typical sugar eater in the house.

However, I get to make exceptions. And when I do, it usually involves banana.

Brian ordered the cheesecake:

White Chocolate Mascarpone Icebox Cheesecake, No Sugar Added
Pistachio-crust, Citrus-Bing Cherry Compote, and Chocolate Accents

I love that it's not just plain old sugar-free cheesecake. So many places just come out and meet the minimum standard for a sugar-free or no sugar added dish. This was as beautifully composed a dessert as any with sugar in it.

Of course, I tasted – absolutely scrumptious.

 

[Tony the Tigger]

And for my dessert – right up my alley in every way –

Caramelized Banana Napoleon
Crisp Phyllo, Banana Mousse, Crème Caramel, Exotic Fruit Coulis, and Bitter Chocolate

This surprised me. It was even better than I thought it would be. Holy cow.

And the bonus crème brûlée thrown in:

And surprise! A dessert wine flight!!

It just magically appeared – and I intentionally took the pic with the bottles in the background. That one on the left paired so perfectly with that banana dessert, that I'm going to have to find it somewhere.

Craig of course explained each one – why one was darker than the other, the fact that one had thin skinned grapes, the fact that one is aged one way and the other another way, with different notes of this, that, or the other – see, I'm a total failure at this LOL.

Obviously we split those three glasses of wine. (Hiccup!)