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!
 

Tuvalu

Premium Member
** Saving this picture for future ammo **

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bee

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
I absolutely am loving your trip report, I like your style of vacationing...laid back and some light drinking!!
Thank you! We were both very fortunate to have visited the parks frequently as kids and teenagers, and we've also been lucky to have purchased APs every other year since 2013-2014. My wife's parents live in Florida still so we always know we'll be back, and we have never felt the need to be park commandos! Yes we miss out on rope drop and doing 10 rides in the first two hours of park opening, but we have developed our park style over the years and we love just spending time together, even if we only do one or two rides in a day. :)
 

bee

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Day 4, cont.

The walk between the Poly and the GF is a recently-discovered (for us) favorite. We noticed that at one point the Polynesian music stopped, then there was silence in "no man's land," then the Victorian music began when we'd officially reached Grand Floridian territory.

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If you look closely at the last two you can tell there was a huge swarm of wasps in the sand. Yikes!

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By this point we were regretting our choice to walk instead of take the monorail. Yes, we'd saved ourselves a security check and yes, the walk was beautiful, but it. was. HOT. All we could think about was getting inside and getting some cold water to drink. Even cold cocktails were not appealing!

Up next: A break from the heat
 

bee

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Day 4, cont.

Luckily we found some relief in Gasparilla Island Grill!

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At first we just filled our water bottles and sat and enjoyed the air conditioning, but then we were ready for some more caffeine, so M went to buy an iced coffee (or maybe it was cold brew?). When she came back to the table she had not only the coffee but also...

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...a Minnie cupcake! It was SOOOOOOO GOOD!!! The coffee was good too and was a nice complement to the cupcake.

We finished our treat and headed upstairs to catch the monorail to MK.

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A train was pulling up just as we were exiting on the second floor, but bag check was quick and we made it!

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We considered going in the park just for a short while since it looked so appealing all decked out for Fall, but ultimately the heat and crowds convinced us we were better off going right to the bus stop.

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While we waited I scored a lunch reservation for a place we'd never eaten at before: Captain's Grille at the Yacht Club. It didn't take long for a bus to arrive and soon we were on our way back to the Swolphin.

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Up next: Lunch!
 

bee

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Day 4, cont.

The first stop was the Swan so we got off there.

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We did have to stop and ask for directions to the restaurant, since it's temporarily located in Ariel's while the actual Captain's Grille location is refurbished.

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When we arrived the restaurant was nearly empty. We were a bit early but we were seated immediately.

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Our server was Mandy and she did an excellent job. She answered all our questions about the food (including one question that required a visit to the kitchen to ask the chef how something was made) and she was super friendly the whole time.

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I went with the Tomato Soup (the item in question) and the Farmer's Market Salad.

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M had the Tomato and Mozzarella Sandwich with chips instead of salad.

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Everything was really good! I appreciated that the soup was light and not cream-based and the salad was very refreshing on a hot day. M's sandwich was a generous portion (hard to tell from the photo maybe) and nicely seasoned. We hadn't saved room for dessert but Mandy brought us the menu anyway so we could preview it for next time. And there will be a next time! She said this is a limited menu and there will be more options when they're back in their regular location. The prices were reasonable (for Disney), the service was excellent, and there were several vegetarian choices, so CG will go on our return list. Not to mention we usually spend all/most of our time in the Epcot area anyway!

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Up next: Back to Epcot!
 
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bee

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Day 4, cont.

After lunch we decided to go relax in the room for a bit to avoid the heat (WHINE).

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Tiny shrooms!

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We enjoyed some slightly deformed Ghirardelli squares we'd gotten the other day in the Festival Center.

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And soon we were ready to walk back to the park!

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Once inside we were on a mission to collect all eight mini AP buttons that some of the F&W booths had. At each stop M held down a table while I waited on line to obtain treats.

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Savory Caramelized Onion Boursin Garlic and Fine Herbs Cheese Tart with Cold Arugula Salad and Aged Balsamic – $4.50
AND
Sweet Dark Chocolate Raspberry Torte with Whipped Cream and Raspberry Dust – $4.25

The Tart was okay but it seemed like it should have been served hot instead of lukewarm. The Torte, though...:hungry: :hungry: :hungry: It was very rich and had a great balance of textures and contrasting flavors. The raspberry dust on top really took it to the next level. I wish I had one of these RIGHT NOW.

The next stop was Active Eats. As I approached the line there was a family of a mom and three girls standing not quite in the line and not quite out of the line, with faces buried in their F&W passports. It looked like they hadn't decided yet if they wanted to order from this particular booth. Another guest stood behind them and I stood behind her. After about 30 seconds of the line in front of the four moving while they stayed put, the guest behind them went around them and I followed. Then this occurred:

Mom: Um, excUUUSE me, we are in line.
Other Guest: I couldn't tell because you're standing to the side and didn't move when the line moved.
Mom: Well you can't just cut in front of us!
Other Guest: ...Then move up in line...

I stayed quiet. Later I heard the mom trash talking the other guest to her girls, and I heard the other guest complaining about the mom to her companion. Really??? What an example to set for your kids. You and someone else each made an honest mistake (standing to the side, skipping someone who you thought wasn't in line) and instead of apologizing and moving on you feel the need to escalate the situation and dwell on it?? :rolleyes:

Anyway, here's what I ordered from that booth:

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M.I.A. Beer Company HRD WTR Cucumber & Lemon Lime Hard Sparkling Water, Doral, FL – $4.00

As sparkling water that happened to be spiked this was pretty good. If I'd wanted a drink I would have been disappointed.

Next was Earth Eats:

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Redstone Meadery Black Raspberry Mead – $7.00

This was good and not overly sweet. I'd try it again.

On the way to the next booth...

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From Coastal Eats:

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Soter Planet Oregon Pinot Noir – $7.00

Don't worry, the serving was actually more than this but we drank some on the way to find a spot to take a photo.

We had one more booth to try: Light Lab. We weren't in the mood to wait on the long line to go in the special black light room, and we hadn't had a beer flight yet (shocking!) so we stuck with the non-special-glowy-room part.

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Space Flight – $9.00
Left Hand Brewing Company Polestar Pilsner, Longmont, CO
Playalinda Brewing Company Robonaut Red Ale, Titusville, FL
Elysian Brewing Space Dust IPA, Seattle, WA

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Light Flight — $9.00
Sixpoint Brewery Mad Scientist Radiant Flux, Brooklyn, NY
Founders Brewing Company Green Zebra Watermelon Gose Ale, Grand Rapids, MI
Blue Point Brewing Company Hoptical Illusion IPA, Patchogue, NY

TBH none of these stood out to me as particularly memorable, except for the Watermelon Ale, but not for a good reason. It was overly tart and sweet. Oh well, we got all our buttons!

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(Not my photo)

Up next: More Epcot
 

Tony the Tigger

Well-Known Member
I stayed quiet. Later I heard the mom trash talking the other guest to her girls, and I heard the other guest complaining about the mom to her companion. Really??? What an example to set for your kids. You and someone else each made an honest mistake (standing to the side, skipping someone who you thought wasn't in line) and instead of apologizing and moving on you feel the need to escalate the situation and dwell on it?? :rolleyes:

Stay in Jersey a few more years. It becomes second nature. Also Jersey Road Rage.
 

bee

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Let's get this thing wrapped up!

Day 4, cont.

After the beer fights we were thinking of riding LWTL, but the posted wait time was 60 minutes! No thanks! Instead, we crossed over to Future World East for...

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We made it around the earth and back just fine even though there was a storm over the landing site.

We had dinner plans in WS but didn't feel like walking all the way around so we took a Friendship Boat.

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The ventilation system was actually working!

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I see you, IllumiNations globe!

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The mob waiting to get on

We had some time before our reservation so we stopped in Mitsukoshi.

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Up next: More time in Japan
 

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