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!
 

bee

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Day 2: Friday, September 1
Switching to the Dolphin, and EPCOT!!!

The night before we'd set alarms for 9:30am, JUST IN CASE we didn't wake up on our own. Somehow we slept all the way to the alarms. I guess we were tired!

While M packed I went to one of the hotel rooms-turned-Island Markets in search of breakfast.

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We shared these and both preferred the Danish.

We called a Lyft and soon we were on our way to the Dolphin!!

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Once inside:

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A work in progress

There was a line to check in but we reached the desk soon. An employee named Jane helped us and she was great. Our room wasn't ready (we hadn't expected it to be at 11:00am) but she took my phone number and told me I'd receive a text when it was.

We dropped off our bags with Bell Services (no unfriendly service here!) and headed toward Epcot!

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A boat had just left, but we didn't mind the walk!

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We walked along the Boardwalk, and by the time we got to the boat dock the boat was just arriving! So we took it the rest of the way. Swolphin Protip: if you miss the Epcot boat, walk to the Boardwalk stop and you may save your feet a bit of walking. If you're heading back from Epcot and miss the boat, walk to the Yacht/Beach Club.

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These boats actually weren't horribly hot on this trip, @sheriffwoody!

Bag check was quick but when I scanned my MB, Mickey turned blue! I had to try again twice for him to turn green.

But once we were inside it was time for more F&W kiosks!

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Moelleux au Fromage de Chèvre et Épinards: Warm Goat Cheese Pudding with Spinach (GF) – $4.25

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St-Germain Sparkling Kir: Sparkling Wine and St-Germain Elderflower liqueur – $8.50

It's never too early for cocktails, right?? These were both good. The goat cheese pudding had a quiche-y texture to it and would have made a great breakfast.

We enjoyed the peace and quiet of a relatively empty France.

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Up next: We continue our F&W adventures
 
Last edited:

BuddyThomas

Well-Known Member
Day 1: Thursday, August 31
Travel, Caribbean Beach, Food and Wine

Our day started with a 3:45 alarm and a bit of last-second packing. At 4:00 I requested a Lyft ride from home to EWR; we were on our way before 4:15 and our driver's name was Orlando, which I took as a great sign! :D

Luckily we didn't need to check a bag (since it's a giant pain at Newark early in the morning!) and security was a typical twenty minutes. Our first stop post-security was, of course, COFFEE!

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We also shared a bagel with egg and "cheese"

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We had just enough time before boarding to enjoy our breakfast and fill up our water bottles. We were both in the A group and managed to get these coveted seats:

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This was of course an exit row so we had to verbally confirm we would assist in case of emergency. No problem!

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This was just orange juice. And I didn't actually eat these crackers because I'd just had the bagel. I saved them for later.

The flight was smooth and uneventful. We did have a chuckle at a FA who was alternately wearing Elvis sunglasses (complete with sideburns) and a red clown nose. During the safety speech he even put the demo safety belt around his head. :joyfull:

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Since we'd taken off a little early we were on track to land early!

Up next: Bracing ourselves for crazy holiday weekend DME lines!
You lost me at "this is just orange juice."

Kidding, kidding - great report. Following along. ;)
 

bee

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Ok I give up on the cheese puns
You can be so difficult at times
Seriously there is no Riesling with you

Max
:joyfull: Keep the wine puns coming!

I've always wanted to try Nine Dragons but haven't. You're making me rethink to do it the next time!! Thanks!!
Try it! I can't speak for the meat options but the veggie options were good.

You lost me at "this is just orange juice."

Kidding, kidding - great report. Following along. ;)
:hilarious: Wait until you see Day 3...

We always go this time of the year but the heat seemed to hurt a little worse. Maybe it was the strollers? Lol but it was toasty. Love your food and wine photos. You did a lot of stuff I wanted to try but didn't get to.
Thank you! I don't know why it felt extra-hot. Maybe it was!

I like how the Dolphin's lobby remodeling is coming along. Too bad it wasn't completely finished when you were there.
We liked what we saw! We're planning to be back at the Swan around Thanksgiving (fingers crossed) so hopefully we'll see it then.
 

bee

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Day 2, cont.

Our next kiosk stop was Ireland.

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Warm Irish Cheddar Cheese and Stout Dip with Irish Brown Bread – $4.75
Bunratty Meade Honey Wine – $5.50

The cheese dip was SOOOO. GOOOOOD. Literally the only complaint I had was that it could have used one more piece of bread because we couldn't get to all the cheese with these two. I almost just poured the rest of the cheese in my mouth, it was that good. The wine was nice too.

Since it was still early we enjoyed sitting at a table in the UK.

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Suddenly a Very Assertive Squirrel (TM) appeared.

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Sorry buddy, we're not sharing! I think he was more successful with another family.

As we made our way to FW we passed a surprise character conglomerate.

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What's this? Joffrey's?

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Don't worry, @BuddyThomas, this is NOT just a latte. ;)

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Next we stopped at the Wine and Dine kiosk.

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Artist Palette of Cheese and Wine – $11.25
Cheeses:
  • Fromager Affirois de Excellence served with toasted Baguette
  • Point Reyes Original Blue served with Apricot Jam
  • Point Reyes Toma served with Honey
Wines:
  • Round Pond Estate Sauvignon Blanc, Rutherford
  • St. Francis Chardonnay, Sonoma County
  • Recuerdo Malbec, Argentina
This was a nice little sampler. My favorites were the blue cheese and the Malbec. And we got our first AP mini-pin.

*WHINE ALERT* It was REALLY hot at this point so we headed to the nearest air conditioned building.

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Figment was a walk-on and it was nice and cold inside! I got my room ready text at 12:30, while we were on the ride, yay! But we still had things to do in Epcot.

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Club Cool ft. Dragonfly

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:(

Up next: Future World East
 

bee

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Thanks for sharing all the F&W pics!!

Question about CBR---how was the noise level, assuming it wasn't an issue since you were able to sleep until your alarm went off;) Also, what building would you recommend there? TIA!!
We had no noise issues from where we were, but we also weren't there for long during the daytime, which is when most or all of construction work is done. It definitely was quiet at night!

Since Barbados and Martinique are now demolished I assume the best place to stay for proximity to the (limited) amenities would be Trinidad North. Personally I wouldn't go back until construction is finished, but I would definitely give it another shot later, especially after the gondola system is operating!
 

bee

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Day 2, cont.

We had a FP we were very excited to use:

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U ok??

It was a walk-on even without a FP, and soon we were here:

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Hi, Gina Torres!

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We were the only two on our team. There were only two teams in the whole room.

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We couldn't figure out what these were until the video outside the capsule area told us they were booster seats for smaller kids.

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We liked the update and were glad to see a family-friendly version of the ride. The old mission (now just the Orange Team mission) is potentially frightening and this one was not so scary. I won't spoil the mission itself but I will say that this and the new Soarin' help to tie Future World and World Showcase together.

Next we visited the Big Golden Boo-...er, Festival Center.

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Look at this tiny pineapple!

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Hand for scale.

Up next: Frozen again, and back to the Dolphin
 

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