Trip Report Sweating at the Swolphin: a 2017 Food and Whine Report

Hello and welcome to another Bee trip report! My DW M and I had the privilege of attending the opening weekend of the 2017 Epcot Food and Wine Festival, and the timing couldn't have been better! We both go "back to school" soon (she's an academic admin at a university and I teach voice and piano at a performing arts school), and last month we found out we have to move from the very affordable apartment we've loved for over three years because someone new bought the building and wants everyone out. We considered cancelling the trip given the moving news but almost everything was paid for already, and we decided in the end that we really needed this escape from reality. We made the right call!

You may know from the PTR to my California trip that this trip was originally scheduled for the end of September and beginning of October to coincide with Epcot's 35th birthday, but a flight change caused us to reschedule. More on that here.

The Plans
Who: M and me
What: A quick trip to Food and Wine!
When: Thursday, August 31-Monday, September 4
Where: Caribbean Beach and WDW Dolphin
Why: Because we needed a distraction from real life!
How: Lyft, Southwest Airlines, Magical Express, and more Lyft!

Keep reading for new experiences, old favorites, and of course lots of food and drinks!

 

[DryerLintFan]

Loving this trip report so far!!

 

[bee]

Day 2, cont.

My soup

M's grilled salad

Okay I just need to stop right here and say BEST. APPETIZERS. EVER. When we ate at Jiko last year I had a roasted poblano soup that was soup heaven. This tomato bisque may have been even better, or at least tied for best soup ever. I tried a bite of M's salad and WHOA. I've had grilled salads once or twice before but never this good. There was nothing dull or bland about either of these dishes!

We'd seen other tables with bread baskets so we requested one, and Joey brought it with a smile. He told us the butter had SEA salt and the bread had SEAweed in it.

HOLY. BREAD. This may have been my favorite bread from any restaurant ever. Fair warning, it does have a strong seaweed taste so if you don't like seaweed you probably won't like this. But I could have eaten the whole basket alone and asked for a second (I didn't!).

Entree time!

Shirred egg with spaetzle

Grilled avocado and tomato

We didn't think the meal could get any better after the appetizers and bread...but it did! The flavors, textures, and presentation were all spot on. I love spaetzle and mine was cooked perfectly, and the eggs and vegetables and different sauces all complemented each other. M's grilled plate (we only noticed after the entrees came that her meal had a grilled theme ) was delicious as well. We both ate every bite.

We also had wine! I had the Stag's Leap Petite Sirah (YUM) and M asked me to pick a citrusy white that I thought she'd like, and I picked the Eroica Riesling. She said I chose well.

(PS yes, that's M in the plaid. *insert lesbian joke*)

We didn't order dessert because we knew we wanted to try a couple of things at F&W later in the evening.

At the end of the meal we concluded that we both loved Flying Fish and would absolutely return! The food, service, and atmosphere were all great and the 30% Tables discount was a nice bonus. Of all the restaurants we've tried at WDW, FF may have had the best variety of vegetarian dishes, which is important to us as we like to share things and get different things and try each other's food. We actually liked the food here better than California Grill, though of course CG has an ambience that can't be topped.

Up next: A rainy evening in Epcot

 

[Tuvalu]

I am coveting all of Ms grilled food.....

 

[gdisneyfans]

Another @bee TR - yay! Love the refurbished rooms at the CB. We stayed there a number of years ago and they still had the older look like this (not my photo!):

Much nicer now! I would really like to try to the Dolphin some year - your photos make me want to even more!!

Your food and drink pictures are !

 

[bee]

Loving this trip report so far!!

Love that gif! You have come to the right TR!

I am coveting all of Ms grilled food.....

I was too! She only let me have one bite of each even though I offered multiple bites of my food.

Another @bee TR - yay! Love the refurbished rooms at the CB. We stayed there a number of years ago and they still had the older look like this (not my photo!):

View attachment 229651

Much nicer now! I would really like to try to the Dolphin some year - your photos make me want to even more!!

Your food and drink pictures are !

Well that's...bright! I really like that the new rooms are still colorful, if much more subtle!

Definitely try the Swan and/or Dolphin if you have the chance! Glad you like my photos-I sure enjoyed eating and drinking all that stuff!!

 

[MinnieM123]

Love the tableware at FF. I thought it was really eye-catching, and it took me a few moments to "get" what the design was! (I'm a little slow . . . LOL ). Really creative design!

 

[Trisha Lynn]

I kinda want that flatware now.

 

[newhorizons1]

I got really excited seeing your photos of the food from the booth from India. I love naan! Then, I read your review. Oh well. That is disappointing. I guess I can cross that one off my insanely long, highlighted list.

Nice room at the Dolphin. It’s definitely on my list of places to stay!

The bread from Flying Fish sounded good. I love a good seaweed salad, so…yum!

 

[BuddyThomas]

Day 2, cont.

My soup

M's grilled salad

Okay I just need to stop right here and say BEST. APPETIZERS. EVER. When we ate at Jiko last year I had a roasted poblano soup that was soup heaven. This tomato bisque may have been even better, or at least tied for best soup ever. I tried a bite of M's salad and WHOA. I've had grilled salads once or twice before but never this good. There was nothing dull or bland about either of these dishes!

We'd seen other tables with bread baskets so we requested one, and Joey brought it with a smile. He told us the butter had SEA salt and the bread had SEAweed in it.

HOLY. BREAD. This may have been my favorite bread from any restaurant ever. Fair warning, it does have a strong seaweed taste so if you don't like seaweed you probably won't like this. But I could have eaten the whole basket alone and asked for a second (I didn't!).

Entree time!

Shirred egg with spaetzle

Grilled avocado and tomato

We didn't think the meal could get any better after the appetizers and bread...but it did! The flavors, textures, and presentation were all spot on. I love spaetzle and mine was cooked perfectly, and the eggs and vegetables and different sauces all complemented each other. M's grilled plate (we only noticed after the entrees came that her meal had a grilled theme ) was delicious as well. We both ate every bite.

We also had wine! I had the Stag's Leap Petite Sirah (YUM) and M asked me to pick a citrusy white that I thought she'd like, and I picked the Eroica Riesling. She said I chose well.

(PS yes, that's M in the plaid. *insert lesbian joke*)

We didn't order dessert because we knew we wanted to try a couple of things at F&W later in the evening.

At the end of the meal we concluded that we both loved Flying Fish and would absolutely return! The food, service, and atmosphere were all great and the 30% Tables discount was a nice bonus. Of all the restaurants we've tried at WDW, FF may have had the best variety of vegetarian dishes, which is important to us as we like to share things and get different things and try each other's food. We actually liked the food here better than California Grill, though of course CG has an ambience that can't be topped.

Up next: A rainy evening in Epcot

Those prices! $32.00 for tofu??????? Do you mind my asking how much your check was? We paid (gulp) close to $300 at California Grill for a party of two a few years ago. Great report by the way, and your pictures are amazing.

 

[bee]

Love the tableware at FF. I thought it was really eye-catching, and it took me a few moments to "get" what the design was! (I'm a little slow . . . LOL ). Really creative design!

It took us a bit too because it's intentionally subtle.

I kinda want that flatware now.

Amazing, right??

I got really excited seeing your photos of the food from the booth from India. I love naan! Then, I read your review. Oh well. That is disappointing. I guess I can cross that one off my insanely long, highlighted list.

Nice room at the Dolphin. It’s definitely on my list of places to stay!

The bread from Flying Fish sounded good. I love a good seaweed salad, so…yum!

It was very disappointing naan. You're better off at Sanaa.

And yeah, if you like seaweed salad, you must try the FF bread!!

Those prices! $32.00 for tofu??????? Do you mind my asking how much your check was? We paid (gulp) close to $300 at California Grill for a party of two a few years ago. Great report by the way, and your pictures are amazing.

Thank you! Our total was $140, which takes into account the 30% discount, the 18% added gratuity, and the fact that we would never only tip 18%. So I'm guessing without the discount it was about $150 before tip. That's for two cocktails, two appetizers, two entrees, and two glasses of wine.

 

[bee]

Day 2, cont.

After dinner we made our way to Epcot.

Boat!

Remember how we didn't have dessert at FF? It was time!

The Tipsy Laird: Whiskey-soaked Cake with Lemon Cream and Toasted Oats – $3.50

The Tipsy Laird was surprisingly light. I always like a good lemon dessert and the raspberry, uh...stuff?...on the bottom was really good. It almost looks like the photo...

Living with the Land is always a good choice...

...except when it's closed for the night

But don't fret, Soarin' was open and had a decent standby wait!

See the girls' heads in this photo? There were five o two friends were behind. Instead of the three ahead waiting for the three behind (line etiquette 101!), the two RAN right past us and almost ran right INTO us to catch up. Okay, WHATEVER, we're all going to the same place and it won't make a difference if we're in front of them or behind them.

Hard to tell, but the glass on the apostrophe is broken.

Our athletic "friends" were of course obnoxious the entire rest of the way. They kept sitting down and then taking forever to stand back up when the line moved (which was often! With the new theater this line moves fast!) and bumping into others in the line, and they were having conversations that I would not want my child to hear if I were a parent.

Also, someone before us had clearly had trouble holding onto their popcorn while waiting!

Whatever, teenagers are annoying, get over it, etc. As we approached the point where guests are divided into different theater groups, the CM was sending us all to the new theater! Hooray! EXCEPT...the five girls got sent there and M and I had to wait for the next one So if they hadn't rushed past us in the first place we may have been in the new theater

Yes, I'm being petty here, but they were about as bad as a South American tour group! I was glad we weren't staying at their resort!

After Soarin' it was time to visit Nemo. It was raining pretty steadily so we got our umbrellas out.

And then, we needed one more dessert!

Chocolate Picante: Dark Chocolate Mousse with Cayenne Pepper, Chili Powder and Raspberry Dust – $3.25

This was soooo good. The chocolate mousse was rich and the raspberry dust and crunchy pearls made it even more special. But (WHINE) I wish they hadn't implied that this thing had any spice to it, because...it didn't. So if you don't like spice don't be afraid of this because it had none!

Time for another ride!

When we exited it was still raining.

Up next: Mission: Space, and will we ever get to see IllumiNations??

 

[bee]

Day 2, cont.

We took another ride on the new Mission: Space, this time waiting on the standby line.

I was the Engineer!

And M was the Commander!

When we exited it was about 8:50 and IllumiNations was scheduled for 9:00. It was still lightly raining so we didn't know if IllumiNations would be delayed or cancelled. Nevertheless we found a spot and waited for an announcement.

@DisneyShe look at this cutie!

At five minutes till 9:00 the regular five minute announcement came on! The show would go on as planned!

If you didn't know from my previous TRs, IllumiNations is my absolute favorite nighttime show at Disney. I hope that when changes come in the near future it is just as good!

I believe we walked all the way back because the boat line was crazy long. When we arrived we saw a bunch of rooms that were...missing something!

It looked like this whole wing was still undergoing some kind of refurbishment.

We showered and went right to bed because we had important plans in the morning!

Up next: Day 3

 

[DisneyGigi]

Day 2, cont.

@DisneyShe look at this cutie!





Up next: Day 3

Aww! I didn't see a single rabbit this time!
So jealous you got to go to Flying Fish. I am the only one that wanted to go. :-/

 

[bee]

Aww! I didn't see a single rabbit this time!
So jealous you got to go to Flying Fish. I am the only one that wanted to go. :-/

Awww! I didn't see other than this one, I think. I hope you get to eat at Flying Fish next time, especially since you love the Boardwalk area.

 

[ScarletBegonias]

The FF meal looked very good! Glad you were both pleased with it!

 

[Figgy1]

It took us a bit too because it's intentionally subtle.


Amazing, right??


It was very disappointing naan. You're better off at Sanaa.

And yeah, if you like seaweed salad, you must try the FF bread!!


Thank you! Our total was $140, which takes into account the 30% discount, the 18% added gratuity, and the fact that we would never only tip 18%. So I'm guessing without the discount it was about $150 before tip. That's for two cocktails, two appetizers, two entrees, and two glasses of wine.

Best part of not eating meat

Spoiler

more money for wine

 

[bee]

The FF meal looked very good! Glad you were both pleased with it!

SO good, and we'd love to go back!

Best part of not eating meat

Spoiler

more money for wine

This is why we're friends.

 

[bee]

Day 3: Saturday, September 2

We woke up to a humid Florida morning.

After quickly getting dressed (and probably having some coffee?) we began the walk to the International Gateway.

Uh...thanks?

We went through security and scanned our bands (my Mickey turned blue at first...AGAIN). There was a large group on the bridge waiting to get into France, and there was another horde waiting for rope drop to Future World.

Since we were heading to the Parisian Breakfast we obviously belonged in the group on the bridge. We made our way through the crowd and said, "Excuse me," when it seemed we might bump into someone. A fellow guest looked at us like we were horrible line-jumpers and M explained, "We're just going to France." The guest snapped back, "We're ALL going to France!" We knew that was wrong but there was no point in arguing so we continued.

Waiting on the bridge to France

As we knew would happen, the rope dropped and all (most!) of those people waiting in the horde would run to Future World. Then our rope dropped and those of us with breakfast reservations ran walked safely to Chefs de France.

After checking in we were offered mimosas (we accepted, OBV.) and a host brought us to our table.

As in previous years, there were four identical buffet tables with pastries, cheeses, meats, fruit, etc.

Top L: Tomato and goat cheese tartine. Top L: Lemon pastry. (*Sansa voice* Lemon cakes are my faaavorite)
Below those: Almond/cherry pastry. And lots of cheese and fruit.

Um. My eyes MAY have been bigger than my stomach because I couldn't finish all of this.

Cappuccino

As you may know, the mimosas at the Parisian Breakfast are BOTTOMLESS. If you know us at all you know we took full advantage of this fact. Every time a server came around and asked if we wanted more, YOU KNOW THE ANSWER WE GAVE.

But life must have balance, so it was time for some coffee.

I normally don't take my coffee black (I also can't stand when it's overly sweet) but this was perfect just as it was.

After one more mimosa (I think the total was five? six? seven? ???) we waddled out and happily accepted the gift bags we were offered at the exit.

Up next: A mimosa-influenced morning in Epcot...

 

[myhappyplace]

Mmm sounds like I would like that tomato and goat cheese tartine

 

[bee]

Mmm sounds like I would like that tomato and goat cheese tartine

Les Halles sells a larger version!