Trip Report ** COMPLETED** The Wine and Dine and Halloween Time (in August) Trip Report

Hey guys! Sorry for falling off the face of the Earth for a few weeks. Its taking me a little bit longer to recover from my eye surgery than I would have liked so I still have a hard time seeing my computer screen (plus I actually had to go back to full time work :):joyfull:). Anyway, I am going to *slowly* work on my TR! Also half my pictures may or may not be blurry and I still couldn't tell you :p

Who?
The usual cast...my Mom (Mary) and I (Megan)
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When?
August 29-September 3, 2017

Where?
The Polynesian - Club Level (thanks to a very last minute discount I happened to find after stalking the website for months)

Why?
This trip was planned before our other summer trips :) We wanted to go to Disney right before I started back to work plus thanks to things happening earlier than ever it gave us the opportunity to experience Halloween and Food and Wine :)

Day 1 August 29, 2017
This morning we got up fairly early and got ready for the airport. Unlike our last trip my Mom did not have to work this day so we got an extra full day in the World :)
I was still (am still...) recovering from my eye surgery 3 days prior so I could not wear makeup yet. Get used to seeing my very light sensitive squinty eyes as well :joyfull::p
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We got to the airport, got our bags checked and got through security very quickly so we headed to get some breakfast. Bagel time :)
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My Mom took the time to take this lovely picture of me experiencing some residual eye pain :p
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We usually get fountain pop with our breakfast but their machine wasn't working so we headed to Tim Hortons instead. The worker insisted I try White Hot Chocolate...it was OK but not great :) My Mom got some iced tea
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While waiting for our flight to board there was a girl sitting across from us who was SO nervous and asked me if she had time to go to the bathroom before we boarded....mind you we were boarding in 25 minutes :joyfull::joyfull:
Anyway, soon enough it was time to board our plane :)
Orange Magic Bands for the win! We choose orange for Halloween :)
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The gang was ready to fly
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Next up: we land!
 

Doc Disney

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Day 4 September 1, 2017
As usual for this trip we got up and ate some breakfast in the lounge. I wrote down "cheese-yummy" so I think it was the day they had extra good cheese out :joyfull:
We walked to the TTC then soon enough we were on our way to Epcot!
Its Food and Wine!
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I felt a little meh about the theme this year :oops: It was pretty cartoon-ish
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We decided to rope drop Mission Space since it's refurb finished just after our last trip ended! I can not tell you the last time we rode Mission Space...it has to be at least 15 years ago :joyfull:
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We picked the green side. I know I've done the orange side before but I wasn't into risking feeling sick plus the green side is new anyway :)
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They still give you a warning on the green side which was semi-freaking me out! In the end it was a fun ride despite the fact that the screen is small and I couldn't see anything :joyfull::joyfull::joyfull: My Mom said it was pretty neat though!
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We forgot to say goodbye to Universe of Energy while it was still open so we walked by it and I quickly snapped a picture to say goodbye :p
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Next up: Festival Center
 

Doc Disney

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Day 4 continued
Since we were in the area we decided to check out the Food and Wine festival center. I don't think we ever looked in before actually.
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The whole point of going in was the get the AP pin (which I proceeded to lose a few hours later:joyfull:) so we got that and looked around. In the Ghirardelli section they had these awesome chocolate displays made by the pastry chefs of different resorts! I remember seeing something similar a few years ago too :)
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We checked out some of the merchandise but we weren't really feeling any of it so we moved on.
Our first FP was for Soarin' so we headed there. I have no pictures :joyfull:
Then we headed to The Seas...this is the only picture I have! :rolleyes:
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Then apparently we got a PP picture :joyfull: I don't know why my shirt is tucked in!
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Next up was Spaceship Earth!
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Next up: Food and Wine
 
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Doc Disney

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Day 4 continued
After Spaceship Earth it was just around 11:30 so we headed to Food and Wine. Our first stop was the Active Easts stand because they had my Mom's favorite Food and Wine food: Loaded Mac ‘n’ Cheese with Nueske’s Pepper Bacon, Cheddar Cheese, Peppers and Green Onions. When I first looked at the booths and realized that the Farm Fresh one no longer had the Mac and cheese I knew my Mom was going to be so bummed...but thankfully they just moved it to a different booth :)
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Next up was one of my favorites from the Wine and Dine Studio: Trio of Artisan Cheese (Fromager Affirois de Excellence served with toasted Baguette,Point Reyes Original Blue served with Apricot Jam, and Point Reyes Toma served with Honey).
This is a terrible picture...
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The cheese was yummy but it was SO hot! I thought we had experienced the worst of the heat in July or beginning of August but it was brutal this day. I just remember trying to eat the cheese but just sweating profusely and wanting to get out of the sun. However, I really wanted to keep moving and try a few new things so we dealt with the heat and moved on.
Next up was Canada. We shared (aka I ate most of...) the Canadian Cheddar Cheese Soup served with a Pretzel Roll and the “Le Cellier” Wild Mushroom Beef Filet Mignon with Truffle-Butter Sauce.
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Sorry about the poor quality of pictures...eyes were extra bad this day! But yum yum yum to both!
Next we made our way to France. I begrudgingly agreed to a PP picture even though I was so hot :hilarious:
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Our next booth was France for Crème Brûlée à la Confiture de Framboises: Crème Brûlée with Housemade Rasberry Jam
We both wanted our own!
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This was pretty good! I think my Mom liked it more than me.
The Frogg Toggs made an appearance
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Next up was Belgium!
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Next up: finishing up Food and Wine for the day
 

Doc Disney

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Day 4 continued
I thought this little garden area was so cute!
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Anyway, in Belgium my Mom got Belgian Waffle with Berry Compote and Whipped Cream
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She liked it! Overall we liked everything we tried, but we did not try anything new....so that would be our goal the next day :)
Since we were so hot we headed out and back to the Poly. Our room wasn't ready yet so we relaxed in the lounge for a bit. It still wasn't ready so we went in and quickly changed into pool clothes. We walked out our porch and to the pool since we were so close :joyfull:. We actually got a table at the pool which was nice to relax at! Anyway while at the pool we were deciding what to do for dinner and I happened to find a reservation for 4 pm for Tony's Town Square. Only it was 3:20 pm so we knew we had to book it. We were going back to the Halloween party this night so we quickly changed into our costumes and up to the monorail. Only...the monorail was down :eek:
So...we went to the boat but the line was crazy and there was no way we would make it to the MK by 4 pm. There was no monorail line bus running yet either. We overheard a man talking about just getting the express monorail at the TTC so we thought ... why not? We legit sprinted over there---while sweating---only to find out that monorail was also down (after a very long security line) :mad: We got in the massive line for the ferry and worked our way to the front. The ferry was packed and everyone was sweating because it was SO hot. It was SO gross! Like we were sweating too (especially after running to the TTC) but not as bad as some people who were near us and dripping sweat all around them :hungover: I was worried checking into the party was going to take us a ton of time but there was no line so we checked in and headed right to Tony's. Despite that insane travel issue we still made it at 4:07! I explained why we were late to the CM and he didn't seem to care.
We were seated very quickly and explained to the CM who sat us about our monorail disaster. She was much more sympathetic than the CM I checked in with :joyfull:. Anyway for once we were grateful that it was so cold in Tonys!
We started off with bread as usual
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My Mom got her usual....Baked Rigatoni
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I decided to try something new and went with the chicken parm *with the sauce on the side because I'm not super into red sauce.
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While we were eating we saw tons and tons of people pouring into the Halloween Party...it was definitely going to be much more crowded than the last party! Anyway, our dinner was delicious! I'm so happy I went with the chicken parm it was really good. My Mom said her rigatoni was really good as well!
We then went into to side entrance for Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween party.
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It was around 5 or 5:30 at this point and I suggested we see what the wait for Jack and Sally looked like. The line was long but we decided to wait because overall it didn't look too bad.
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My Mom feigned enthusiasm since she's not super into Nightmare Before Christmas !
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Everything was going great until it started to sprinkle a bit. Apparently even a VERY light (like practically nonexistent) rain means Jack and Sally could not be out (even though they are under cover). We, and nearly almost everyone else, in line decided to wait it out since after like 10 minutes the rain was gone and it was sunny. However, we waited 45 minutes...45!!!!! It was sunny for approximately 40 minutes of that :arghh:
This is how we felt
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Everyone in line, including ourselves, debated about staying in line. A lot of people went and got food. No one left though because we all felt like we already put in so much time. Had the party already started we would have left but it was still well before 7. Plus we could sit down which helped. Finally I did give us like a 5 minute window before we should give up and within a few minutes Jack and Sally came back out! HOORAY! We were moving pretty slowly so my Mom and I each took a turn going to the bathroom. It gave us the opportunity to see how long the line got...it was insane! It was almost all the way back to Casey's Corner! The party did start while we were in line but we were only about 20 minutes from the front. It was finally time to meet Jack and Sally !
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Next up: more Jack and Sally!
 

Doc Disney

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
That Crème Brûlée with Housemade Rasberry Jam looks delicious. :hungry:
I can't wait to eat the regular Crème Brûlée from the Boulangerie, might even have it for breakfast. :D

It was really good...but I prefer the regular kind so I think you will really enjoy it!
 

Doc Disney

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Day 4 continued
Jack and Sally are so cool to meet because they are so spot on with how they are in the movie! Jack was talking about my Mom and I dressing up like animals you would find in Halloweentown (not so sure about that...) and Sally asked if Doctor Finklestein sewed our costumes. She said he used to sew her but now she can do it herself :joyfull:
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My sister Jill asked me to take a selfie with Jack to carry on the tradition she started at the Christmas party last year...so I obliged :)
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Then Sally joined too :)
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This meet and greet was awesome! Overall we waited 2.5 hours....definitely not something I will ever do again! My Mom and I said had this not been our second party we would have never waited. Or, had we not been to Disney a bunch I think I would have felt bad not doing rides or something. But, we are very lucky we go so often and didn't mind spending so much time for a once in a lifetime meet and greet! Plus all in all we actually only waited about 20 minutes during the actual party :) When we got out of line we headed over to see the wait for Donald but it was long so we did the Barnstormer instead.
We had one last big thing on our Halloween party to-do list so we headed over to Haunted Mansion! I always wanted to ride it during the party but I had no clue just how cool it was over there!
I must live under a rock because I had no idea they had ghosts out!
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After HM we headed over to IASW
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When we got off IASW it was pouring! We made our way (safely...thanks to smart shoes :happy:) to Tomorrowland and hoped the rain would calm down but it didn't. We ended up killing some time with Trick or Treating and made it through three stops. It was still pouring and sadly there really isn't much to do during a party when it rains. No characters are out (except the few that meet indoors) and every inside ride had an insane wait. We walked up towards the front and I asked a CM if they thought the parade had any chance of running. As usual they gave me a nonspecific response but that next second they made an announcement about it being delayed. We were getting soaked so we decided to just head out. I would have been super bummed had it not been our second party. I noticed a giant line at Guest Services...I'm assuming people looking to get their money back or come to a different party. I didn't want to wait in that line but we did enough things anyway I didn't feel like I deserved any money back :)
We headed back to the Poly and to the lounge to see if we could catch the fireworks. The fireworks were delayed too (for lightening) so I am extra glad we didn't stay. We waited about 20 minutes and decided to just go to bed. I did end up hearing the fireworks around 10:50 :eek:. Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party is NOT made for rain! Thats the takeaway I will leave you with :)

Next up: Epcot again :)
 

Doc Disney

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Day 5 September 2, 2017
We got up and ate some breakfast in the lounge (I wrote down bad fruit so it must have been bad :joyfull:). We walked to the TTC then eventually made it to Epcot!
Not sure why my Mom looks mad about it :p Clearly couldn't see the screen when I took the picture otherwise I would have made her take another :joyfull:
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Jokingly we said we should rope drop Frozen...but we did indeed find ourselves actually walking that way. When we got there the wait was listed as like 30 minutes so we decided to hop in line!
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Overall we waited about 35 minutes so not bad! We were entertained by a group behind us talking about either not having student loans or only having a small amount...meanwhile I'm over here like....:greedy::greedy::greedy::greedy::greedy::greedy::greedy::greedy::greedy::greedy::greedy::greedy: I have so many loans..med school is expensive! :joyfull::joyfull::joyfull::joyfull:
I made sure we really smiled for the picture to avoid another awkward photo :) Still a little awkward though.
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Next up was our first FP: Test Track!
I took a million pictures (er....3) walking over there :)
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Epcot is so pretty, I think its underrated sometimes :)
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I let my Mom design the car....
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What a beauty!
I think it was really sunny out hence my uncomfortable look in this photo...not good for the eyes :)
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Next up: more Epcot
 

Doc Disney

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Day 5 continued
While we were in line for Test Track I saw on snapchat that @blgauger was also in Epcot so I sent her a message. She was on Living with the Land and we were heading there so we planned a very last minute meet up! My Mom wanted some candy so we got some and waited for @blgauger to get off the ride.
Quick hello and of course a picture!
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After our quick hello we headed on Living with the Land!
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Took me a minute to figure out this said 35 for the 35th Anniversary :)
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Our last FP for the morning was for the Character Spot! There was a Bachelorette Party in line behind us and they were so funny! They were really causing trouble with Mickey and I tattled on them with Minnie :joyfull:
These pictures never really turn out that great for some reason.
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I think I was pointing out to Goofy that we had the same color on
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Minnie was also mad about the Bachelorette party because she indicated that Mickey had not proposed to her yet :hilarious:
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After this we headed back over to Food and Wine. We got in line for a PP picture but it was super slow and very hot so we got right back out of line :rolleyes:
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Since I was determined we try something new we both decided to get something at the Mexico booth.
We both got the Rib Eye Taco: Marinated Rib Eye, Roasted Chipotle Sauce and Grilled Scallions on a Corn Tortilla
Sorry for the leg picture...there was nowhere to sit or stand other than a bench :)
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It was super yummy! I think I liked it better than my Mom did though :hungry:

Next up: a small bit more of Food and Wine
 

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