Trip Report COMPLETED: Yes, we're a little crazy! Our trip to the 20th Annual Beer and Heat Festival

This is the fastest I've ever finished a trip report! (ETA: but the slowest I've actually posted it, oops!) Part of that is due to the fact that this trip was only three nights when past trips have been five-plus nights. Here is the PTR: http://forums.wdwmagic.com/threads/...wedding-anniversary-halloween-getaway.905768/

Again I have written the entire thing (though I am still working on my final thoughts) and will post in smaller installments over the next however many days (ETA: or...months...).

The Cast

Me (Bee)
Opera singer

DW (M)
Writer

Us
Married since October 2014
Grew up in Florida, now live just outside of NYC
Favorite park: Epcot

The Plans

Flights: Delta
Hotels: All-Star Sports (1 night), WDW Dolphin (2 nights)
Tickets: APs
ADRs: None...or are there??
FPs: Soarin', SSE, Mission: Space, Nemo, 7DMT, HM, Pirates

Prelude

On Tuesday evening I noticed a scratchy feeling in my throat. Sometimes it's hard to tell if I'm actually getting sick or if I am just tired; I had had a pretty intense lesson with my teacher that morning and had taught five of my own students in the afternoon so I figured I was just vocally tired from overuse and would feel better in the morning. As a precaution I took Vitamin C and drank plenty of fluids, but let's be real, I'm an opera singer and I am never not drinking plenty of fluids.

Alas, I woke up Wednesday with more scratchiness. I kept drinking water and took some acetaminophen which helped relieve some of the pain. I went to Target to get some last minute things for the trip like apples for the room and some cough drops since it seemed like I would end up sick. I still had to teach but my boss texted me and two of my students were out and I only ended up teaching for an hour! I got to go home at 6:00 and M and I finished most of the packing.

Next up: Travel day. Will I wake up sick or will it turn out to be just tiredness?

 

[catmom46]

You two would drink me under the table, I think! P.S. My first apartment was in Elizabeth, NJ. 1989.

I think we all need to arrange a trip together someday!

 

[bee]

You two would drink me under the table, I think! P.S. My first apartment was in Elizabeth, NJ. 1989.

Something about WDW increases my ability to drink. At home, two glasses of wine and I am GONE. Sometimes it just takes one. Maybe I drink more water in Florida because it's so dern hot? Maybe my body is too busy dealing with all the extra food that it doesn't bother getting so drunk?

We considered Elizabeth but got super lucky to find our place in North Bergen through one of my professors at UM, who lived in Fort Lauderdale at the time.

 

[bee]

Day 4: Sunday, November 1

We awoke on our own around 9:30 and took our time getting ready and getting everything repacked. We had a simple breakfast of Larabars and apples and did express checkout using our in-room phone. After checking that we hadn't left anything we went down to the lobby to leave our bags with luggage services.

Our humble in-room breakfast

We made the walk to Epcot once again and decided our first stop MUST be the coffee cart with the chai lattes with Bailey's. This time the CM asked if I wanted a double and I OBVIOUSLY said yes. We enjoyed the beverage as we made our way to our first FastPass of the day: The Seas with Nemo and Friends. Am I totally imagining this, or is this ride actually a sequel to Finding Nemo rather than a retelling of it? Marlin says something like "I've lost Nemo AGAIN" and the whole dentist office situation is removed from this ride (except for the starfish at the end) so maybe this is a different story? Which doesn't make any more sense than the possibility that it IS a retelling. Hmmm.

No need to guess what this is...

After our time at sea we were hungry again and decided to eat real food at Sunshine Seasons instead of getting a bunch of tiny F&W items. We shared the vegetable flatbread sandwich and the "chicken" korma. Both were solid choices, though the korma wasn't as good as previous vegan offering from the Asian station. Still, I appreciate that they change up the menu and vegetarians aren't always stuck eating the same thing from SS. Here M noticed that there are a lot of dead bugs sitting on the streamers by the ceiling of the pavilion. Oops!

Appetizing

Not so appetizing

It was time for another beverage, and we split up again so M could get the raspberry cider from Farm Fresh and I could get the Innis and Gunn beer from Scotland. The park was far less crowded this afternoon than it had been the previous day and we actually found a table!

Rasperry Cider and Innis and Gunn

Next we took a Friendship boat across the lagoon to Morocco. I had one more beer to try and that was Brazil's Kaiser Brewery Xingu Black Beer. I had read on some F&W review that it was totally amazing. Neither M nor I really cared for it. It tasted too much like raisins and I don't really like raisins. At least we tried it!

On the boat...

...and on to the beer!

We took our beer into the giant Japan store, where we didn't buy anything but did enjoy browsing. Someone was ceremoniously picking a pearl as we passed that area. From the store we went into the mini museum to learn about "Cute Culture."

Tom Nook! Any Animal Crossing fans here??

Since that last beer hadn't really done anything for us, we stopped for yet another frozen chai with Bailey's. I asked for a lid but the CM told me they couldn't provide lids for alcoholic beverages. Oh well, it's probably just some weird Florida law. Or maybe it's how CMs at the exits know you're trying to take alcohol out of the park as opposed to a regular ol' non-spiked coffee shake. No matter, we've been complying with weird Florida laws for most of our lives.

Non-lidded frozen chai with Bailey's

Our next stop was Innoventions to finally get our Passholder port wine glasses!

This is what they look like, if anyone was wondering.

Soon it was time for our next FP, Spaceship Earth. We actually made FPs for SSE for both of our previous park days but didn't end up riding it until this day. We were so excited to be inside with the AC that would certainly be blasting in this 88-degree weather. Yet once again we were let down and never got cool enough during the entire ride. It was so bad at the beginning that we both just made dead faces for the camera, which made for a pretty hilarious future at the end of the ride. Finally in the post-ride area we found some spots that were adequately cooled and stood under the vents for the next several minutes.

We had awhile until our last FP and M wanted to try one of the flavored popcorns from the popcorn cart near The Land so she ordered a box of buffalo bleu cheese popcorn. We took it inside The Land to enjoy while we waited for our Soarin' time. Once again the CMs were directing traffic so people actually went the right way and the flow throughout the pavilion was much better! We ate our popcorn and then hopped on the Vegetable Boat Ride, which had a ten minute posted wait. It was actually about two minutes, woohoo!

Popcorn

That's what I like to see!!!

(I took a buttload of pictures on the Vegetable Boat Ride, but it's nothing you all haven't seen so I'm going to leave them off.)

After our boat ride it was time to Soar for the last time of the trip. We were on the end of our row (which is the best place to be) and again couldn't stop thinking of "Saaarraaaaahhh!!!" We had planned for this to be the last thing we did, but after the ride I was having a major cupcake craving. Back at Sunshine Seasons I had a candy apple cupcake and M had a key lime tart. My cupcake had actual bits of apple baked into it and was AMAZING. M enjoyed her tart as well.


Lest ye forget.

The most apple-y cupcake ever.

Up next: THE END.

 

[catmom46]

I love Xingu beer!!! I never thought it tasted like raisins, though.

The apple cupcake looks so cute!

One of these days I've got to get a chai latte - they always look so yummy and refreshing.

 

[bee]

I love Xingu beer!!! I never thought it tasted like raisins, though.

The apple cupcake looks so cute!

One of these days I've got to get a chai latte - they always look so yummy and refreshing.

Who knows, maybe it was just me?

It was adorable and delicious! Although the thought of eating even 1/4 of it right now is making me feel queasy after getting back to non-vacation/holiday levels of sugar intake...

 

[bee]

Day 4, cont.

Sadly, the time to depart Epcot arrived. I stalled as much as possible on the way (let's be real, the cupcake craving was probably my subconscious trying to keep me in the park longer). I kept stopping to take photos after we exited. A boat was just leaving so we decided to walk back, and I kept suggesting we try a slightly different path just to see if it was faster. M, of course, was on to me and kept us walking. Around the time we passed the Yacht/Beach Club dock the boat that had just left us at Epcot was arriving, so we decided to ride it the rest of the way. Again I kept making excuses to stop and take photos, but eventually we made it to luggage services and called an Uber to take us to the airport.

Look at this beautiful sign! I MUST take a photo of it!!

Another great sign! Wouldn't want to forget it!

Wow, what a great view! I definitely haven't seen this 10 times already on this trip! We'd better stop for a photo!

Wow, another sign for my collection!!

A boat is approaching! Wow! Let's stop and wait for it!

Now that we are back at the resort, I should probably take a photo of this tiny model of the resort!

Wow, was that fountain always here??!??!?

It was a fairly quick drive and soon we were printing our boarding passes and heading to the security line, which was absolutely mobbed. Flying into MCO is always a pleasant experience (and not just because your vacation is just starting!) but flying out of MCO can be super stressful. There weren't enough screening lines open and it took longer to get through than any trip in recent memory. After the hassle that was the screening we were both tired, stressed, and hungry. We tried to get veggie burgers from Burger King but at this location instead of ordering from a person and having your food made fresh you pick up premade sandwiches from under a heating lamp and that did not sound appealing. So instead we went to Outback, where we shared a Bloomin' Onion and each had a salad. Weird combination, I know.

Bye, Dolphin!

Bye, WDW arch!

Where's my security line FastPass+???

Our airport dinner: A giant fried thing, and a salad!

Random: The MCO wifi thinks I speak German. I mean I do a little bit, but not nearly fluently or anything!

Soon we were boarding at our exact appointed time and everyone stood in line politely and there was room for everyone's carryon bags and we were all ready to take off before our flight time!!! NOT. We finally got in the air about twenty minutes after our scheduled time and this is why I kind of hate flying in the afternoon or evening. The morning is sooo much less likely to have delays like this.

LIES

We still managed to land about on time, but it was so late and we were so tired that we decided to take a long and expensive Uber ride all the way home instead of taking public transportation all or part of the way. At last we were home and had to shower and get ready to work the next day.

A beautiful sight!

Such a relief after all the 88-degree days in Orlando.

Up next: Final thoughts (if I ever get around to finishing them...)

 

[catmom46]

LOL Sad, yet funny at the same time, all your pics of signs!

Although I really like the pic of the resort (not the tiny one), especially with the rays of sunlight breaking through the clouds right above it. It was definitely trying to call you back with this majestic vision.

 

[Figgy1]

At least flying in at night into JFK is so pretty it also looks like you missed rush hour or at least most of it LOL

 

[fractal]

Day 2: Friday, October 30

We had decided in advance to make this a sleep in day. I set my alarm for 10:00 but we woke up on our own around 9:00 and started getting ready to check out and transfer to our next hotel. We reheated the rest of the pizza with a hairdryer (don't judge! It works!) and packed up the things we had used the night before.

It worked!

On the way to the lobby we stopped at the food court for some coffee and requested an Uber pickup outside the main entrance. The ride to the Dolphin was less than ten minutes and cost less than $6. It was definitely better than waiting for a Hollywood Studios bus and walking to the Dolphin from there.

Look at this hidden Mickey by the coffee!!!!111111

I see you, Swan!

When we exited the car we entered the Dolphin and were greeted by the gorgeous lobby. A very personable staff member (they're not Cast Members at the Dolphin, right?) named Harold checked us in and we were delighted to learn that our room was ready even though it was before 11:00am!

Lobby...although now that I'm looking at this photo again I'm not sure what's with those hanging drapey-things. Anyone know?

Lobby chandeliers

Our room was enormous. I'm pretty sure our entire apartment is only marginally larger than this room. Opening the drapes revealed a lovely view of...some kind of work or delivery area. But we could also see a bit of the Yacht Club and, as we later realized, the very top of the Contemporary Resort.

The room

Enormous desk/dresser/entertainment center combo

Sink

Shower

Beverage area

A backstage view of Disney is better than an onstage view of most other places, right?

After setting down our things we went downstairs to take a pleasant walk to Epcot. Apparently everyone else staying around Crescent Lake had the same idea we had to enter the park right when World Showcase (and therefore the Food and Wine booths) opened at 11, because the bag check and admission area was more backed up than I've ever seen at the International Gateway. Still, the CMs kept the lines moving and it wasn't long before we were inside our favorite park!

The hallway...we're on our way!

Still on our way...

Here we are!!!

Next up: Booths, beer, and...bugs?

Cracking up at the pizza warmer and hidden milk Mickey!

 

[bee]

Final Thoughts

• The trip seemed longer than other short trips because we were able to rest more and therefore get more out of our park time. It also helped that we arrived late one night and had the next two full days to spend in parks.
• What's up with so few vegetarian options at F&W? When we went for three days two years ago we barely finished trying everything and it was great! We're not really excited to do F&W again, unless the menus drastically change next time we're considering it.
• The Dolphin is beautiful. I would absolutely stay there again. I can understand how some wouldn't find it to be "Disney" enough but frankly that was an asset to us. It was nice to escape to a classy, relaxing, QUIET hotel where we could feel alone together. At the same time we were just a quick stroll away from some more immersive Disney magic at the Boardwalk or Beach/Yacht Club. Maybe if I ever save up the money to stay at a true Disney deluxe I won't like the Dolphin anymore, who knows. (Side note: I maaaaaaay be planning a return to the Dolphin already...not posting a PTR yet because I don't want to jinx it.)
• So many bugs! I guess it's a Florida thing? We always had ant problems in our apartment in Miami and every summer we could count on being bitten by mosquitoes daily no matter how many times we applied bug repellant. We may have become spoiled by our usually bug-free existence in New York/New Jersey.
• The stuff that was in our Bonne Maman jam bag from the Parisian Breakfast (I don't remember if I posted this photo):
  
• I'm surprised Disney doesn't offer the Parisian Breakfast year round or at least during more of the year than just F&W, OR more days a week than just Saturday. It seems to get booked up every day it's offered and it must make them a buttload of money.
• I still have yet to buy some port wine to use in our Passholder port wine glasses. Any reasonably-priced recommendations for someone whose taste in alcohol generally leans toward strong and dry? Or even just where to start looking?
• We've decided we will skip at least a year of being Annual Passholders. Even though we got to go so many times this year I'm still a little sad when I think about not having APs for 2016-2017. Is that silly of me??

Thank you to all who followed along despite this taking so many months to post! I hope you enjoyed my TR!

 

[catmom46]

Not silly at all! I just got my DLR AP last August and have been going almost every month since then. It really has become my happy place.

 

[Goofnut1980]

I love the report! I agree, we stopped going to Food and Wine because it was worse than an OSU football saturday with irritating drunk people everywhere.... I wish they would stop doing the booze part really. It is not even family friendly at that point!

 

[Tony the Tigger]

I love the report! I agree, we stopped going to Food and Wine because it was worse than an OSU football saturday with irritating drunk people everywhere.... I wish they would stop doing the booze part really. It is not even family friendly at that point!

I guess it depends on when you go – we have never experienced this. Of course, we are drinking as we go so maybe we don't notice it as much LOL.

 

[bee]

I agree, we stopped going to Food and Wine because it was worse than an OSU football saturday with irritating drunk people everywhere.... I wish they would stop doing the booze part really. It is not even family friendly at that point!

See...I agree that many of the drunks are irritating and many have no consideration for the comfort and enjoyment of other guests. I can't even imagine what it's like to bring kids and want to have a nice family fun time and to be surprised by total 4$$holes behaving like animals in front of my kids. But I love the booze part of Epcot. I'm on vacation, I want to relax and drink while I enjoy the park. I also am responsible about my alcohol consumption. I know my limits, and I know I'm not the type to be loud and disturb other guests; I also travel with my wife, who ALSO knows my limits and whom I trust to stop me before I have too much and potentially do something stupid. I would be super unhappy if they just stopped selling booze at Epcot when they already have a dry park in MK (and for good reason). (Not to mention Disney would never stop selling alcohol at Epcot when it's a HUGE source of income for them...)

I guess it depends on when you go – we have never experienced this. Of course, we are drinking as we go so maybe we don't notice it as much LOL.

Looking back on the last few years of trips, including multiple visits to Food and Wine, Flower and Garden, and around various holidays, I think Halloween 2015 was the only time we were super annoyed by the drunkards. Maybe it was because of Halloween, maybe it just happens to happen once in awhile, or maybe when I drink more I don't notice haha? I don't know.

 

[Tony the Tigger]

We are also skipping the annual pass this year. I think it's a good year to skip. Still, it will suck to not be able to go to food and wine. If we are really Jonesing LOL we may go to a Halloween or Christmas party. However The Halloween party makes less sense with Brian being diabetic, and the Christmas party doesn't do much because we will get each other our new annual passes for Christmas. Unless we stay away for most of 2017 until the big September blowout and not start the clock on our annual pass until then. That might be better use of the pass if certain attractions will be done in 2018, and especially if ticket prices will go up every year.

 

[bee]

Sorry to bump this thread, but we finally made use of those port wine glasses:

(Try not to giggle TOO much at the brand of this wine...)

 

[Mindy16]

HAHA! I'm not elegant to not laugh at the name of the port... It's a pretty color though!

 

[Tony the Tigger]

Sorry to bump this thread, but we finally made use of those port wine glasses:

(Try not to giggle TOO much at the brand of this wine...)

Oh, I have a story...