Trip Report Food & Wine/Horror Nights - September

My daughter lives in Jacksonville. She convinced her brother to move down as her roommate so he can help pay the very expensive, rising townhome rent. He's looking forward to the change. While scheduling this tricky move from PA we realized that we had some DVC points that need to be used before the end of the year. My other son is a huge fan of Universal Horror Nights so we hashed it out last night on what we can do. We managed to book AK for three nights and one night at the Grand Floridian. This satisfies both my wife and daughter's wishes. My wife always wanted to stay at an AK Savanah view and my daughter always wanted to stay at the Grand Floridian. We'll schedule Horror Nights for Thursday since we learned from previous visits that it's not as packed as the weekend. Also looking forward to the Food and Wine menu release. We'll be there from 9/15 through 9/19.

 

[macefamily]

My daughter is changing to a townhome to get a bigger space because her brother is moving down to Jacksonville with her. There's alot of moving, touching up the old apartment to avoid security deposit forfeit, and touching up the new place. We drove down last month, but there's still some work to be done so my wife and I decided to use our Frontier points and head down next Thursday for a long weekend. The trip is mainly to get the work done, but we decided to make a park reservation for Friday. Still putting plans together, but I do know I'll be doing a short one-day trip report after the 4th of July. Our September trip is still on, so this one is a little bonus.

 

[LisaBelle]

Looking forward to hearing about both trips!

 

[macefamily]

It was a one day trip to Epcot for Flower and Garden. We had our menus picked out that we wanted to try, and we also booked Guardians. Was looking forward to that. As I said, this trip was a little bonus so we were going to take advantage of it. There weren't many cars in the parking lot, but I didn't want to jinx us so early.

 

[macefamily]

The crowds were very light. But it was only 11:00 AM so there was plenty of time for it to fill up. It was a Friday so it should be a little better than the weekend.

 

[macefamily]

It was our first time in the new Creations shop. Of course my wife and daughter had to head in there first to see what Disney goods they'd be taking home. I just walked around checking stuff out. I noticed that since the Blue Man Group shut down at Universal Studios at least one of them found a new gig at Disney.

 

[macefamily]

Just a few pics as we finished up in the store then walked around on our way over to Guardians. It was a gorgeous day. It was still a little humid for a Pennsylvania guy, but I had my cooling towel draped around my neck.
As usual, Disney did a wonderful job of putting out a variety of beautiful plants and flowers. The topiaries always wow us. Very creative and gorgeous.

 

[macefamily]

Still had some time to kill before our Guardians reservation. By the way, it cost us an additional $51 for three of us to get that reservation. It's been three years since we rode Mission Space. Not sure why, but I guess it just never made the list to carve out the time for it. So I suggested we ride it before Guardians. I'm Mission Orange all the way; never rode Green. Green wait time was 20 minutes while Orange was 35. This was 'the incident' that always happens on a family trip. My daughter was all about the shorter wait time while I argued that Green does not have the thrill of Orange. After a brief "discussion" we got into the Orange line, which quite honestly, was barely moving.
Notice the last slide. Where's Lieutenant Dan; Gary Sinese ? It has been three years since I last rode Mission Space. Not sure when the preshow was redone. Is this another woke move by the Disney Corp or am I just overdramatizing it ? Gary Sinese is a well-known conservative who does a load of charity work for American veterans.

 

[macefamily]

Some more pics of Mission Space Orange as we approach our capsule. My wife took her Dramamine a half hour ago so she should be OK. I hope. Check out the dude on the bench at the exit. Another one bites the dust on Orange !

 

[macefamily]

It was finally time for Guardians. It's not often that any of us get to ride a brand new attraction for the very first time. I'm a 54 yr old kid at that point.
I thought the pre-show was OK. There was a final part of the pre-show that I wanted to take a pic of a really cool effect of a shot in outer space. But I couldn't because a CM was hawking me. I had no idea of what to expect. But I'm going to say that this was the absolute best indoor roller coaster I have ever ridden. The cars ride very smooth, but they are still fast. They pivot and move to face you towards brief high def video shots. Spoiler alert: It moves backwards. I exited that attraction with a huge smile on my face and the perfect attitude to start eating around the world !!!

 

[macefamily]

The obligatory monorail shot in Epcot. It still feels a little weird seeing that since we didn't see it for two years.
So thankful that most things are back.
I am putting a teaser out there that the final trip summary has a twist. You'll have to wait.

 

[fractal]

It was finally time for Guardians. It's not often that any of us get to ride a brand new attraction for the very first time. I'm a 54 yr old kid at that point.
I thought the pre-show was OK. There was a final part of the pre-show that I wanted to take a pic of a really cool effect of a shot in outer space. But I couldn't because a CM was hawking me. I had no idea of what to expect. But I'm going to say that this was the absolute best indoor roller coaster I have ever ridden. The cars ride very smooth, but they are still fast. They pivot and move to face you towards brief high def video shots. Spoiler alert: It moves backwards. I exited that attraction with a huge smile on my face and the perfect attitude to start eating around the world !!!


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Thanks for the review. Can't wait to try it!

 

[macefamily]

We were done the rides we wanted to try so it was time to sample some foods and drinks. I totally messed up and didn't take a picture of our first food from the sunshine griddle. It was corned beef brisket hash with veggies and a soft runny egg. It was really good. Below is the Taco Vampiro from Jardin de Fiestas. It was OK. Not spicy enough for me. I had the Mexican Ale. I like that they now have 6 oz sizes so you can sample more beers and not get so full. My daughter ordered the poppy flower margarita which she said was so-so.

 

[macefamily]

As you can see, the crowds were light. That was nice. When we were down for Food and Wine last year lines were jammed. Just about every booth was at least a 10-15 minute wait to place your order. This time, the lines were much more manageable and the walkways around World Showcase were very clear.

 

[macefamily]

Onward we go. Next stop, Lotus House. I love this area of Epcot, and there's always something we get from this outdoor kitchen. We ordered the spicy mala chicken and crab rangoons with a jasmine draft beer. Everything was great.

Can you find the bird ?

 

[macefamily]

We continued our trek after stopping at the Refreshment Outpost for something I've always wanted to try. It was a pineapple skewer with tajin spice. Loved it ! Now when I buy our fresh cantalope and melon from our local farmer I'm going to add that spice. Already bought a bottle. Just a few other pictures on our clockwise walk around the Showcase. I was already getting a bit full from the multiple beers and plates that we sampled. That being said, we bypassed Italy and looked for a place to sit.

 

[macefamily]

First picture is of the damage from Magnolia Terrace. Always love the entire menu from this kitchen. There have been years when we purchased one of everything. This year we stuck with the gumbo, grilled oysters, and the American beer flight. Still would have liked to try the shrimp and grits, but we were approaching the end of our trek around the World. We were getting a bit full so we needed to be selective with our choices. The weather was also getting a bit humid with some dark clouds so we needed to figure out what our next step was going to be.

 

[erstwo]

I meant to comment after your last post - we recently discovered Tajin as well! My sisters in law made us blueberry margaritas (I think it was just the pre mixed blueberry margaritas from Costco- we don’t have that here, but they did in Texas) and put Tajin on the rim of the glasses - it was crazy good.
Funny thing was - we went out and bought some, only to find out my son - who has his own kitchen in the basement - already had a bottle. Wish he would have told us sooner how good it is!
Now I will have to try it on pineapple…..

 

[macefamily]

I meant to comment after your last post - we recently discovered Tajin as well! My sisters in law made us blueberry margaritas (I think it was just the pre mixed blueberry margaritas from Costco- we don’t have that here, but they did in Texas) and put Tajin on the rim of the glasses - it was crazy good.
Funny thing was - we went out and bought some, only to find out my son - who has his own kitchen in the basement - already had a bottle. Wish he would have told us sooner how good it is!
Now I will have to try it on pineapple…..

I've heard about it in the past (on the Covino and Rich Sirius XM show). Those guys were in southern CA where trendy fads are the cutting edge, whereas, I'm in rural northeastern Pennsylvania where it takes three years for something new to hit the scene. I'm now seeing tajin in all of the major grocery stores which is good. We recently tried it on roasted corn on the cob with lime juice. Very good.

 

[cgersic]

I just saw the tajin used on a cooking competition show to rim margarita glasses!! If you know, you know!