Trip Report The Worst Week: A December 2013/January 2014 Trip Report! *COMPLETE*

You all know the week I'm talking about.

The week that all the guidebooks and fan sites warn about...the parks are packed, Soarin' hits a 4-hour wait, and there are phase closings left and right. It's the week between Christmas and New Year's - the worst week to go to Disney World.

What kind of idiots would book a trip during this crazy, insane time??

Hi, I'm Shannon. Nice to meet ya.

See that guy in the picture with me? That's my husband, Will. He's sort of my favorite. WDW is my favorite place. I like to be in my favorite place with my favorite person.

But there's a catch. You see, this favorite person of mine is a teacher who coaches tennis. So for all of you that smugly say stuff along the lines of, "why not go during off-peak times," (is there even such a thing anymore?!) well, some of us can't. Seriously, like we wouldn't rather go during some random week in February or whatever??? In our case, it's summer or Christmastime for a longer trip. Those are the only options.*

We did the summer thing in June of 2011. It was hot and crowded, and Will swore we'd never do it again. The heat and humidity were too much. I agreed and set my sites on Christmas 2013 pretty much as soon as we got home from that hot, sticky trip. Yep, this trip had been planned (or at least thought about) for about 2.5 years! I'm ridiculous.

But this is where my crazy OCD planning began to shine. Right at the 11-month mark I had our resort reservation secured - no discounts are ever out for that time of year, but I was able to rent DVC points, which saved a RIDICULOUS chunk of change. We still had our APs and Tables in Wonderland card from earlier in the year, we booked flights on rewards points, and thanks to saving up our points on our Disney Visa we had just about enough rewards dollars to cover our food for the week. So as far as Disney trips go, this one was relatively cheap. And I of course woke up early at our 180-day mark to make reservations (19 ADRs! But would we keep them?! ) and grabbed some FP+ reservations at the 60-day mark or whatever. I also pored over the few Christmas-week trip reports on this and other Disney boards from fellow *idiots* like me, which were pretty hard to find...because most threads started with someone asking about traveling during this week didn't have actual USEFUL information, just snide replies along the lines of "cancel and book another week."* Um, thanks?

ANYWAY...I planned for and thought about this trip more than any other trip we've taken, and that's really saying something. But I'd say it paid off overall.

*Yes, I'm a little bitter about it. It just got really old to read how stupid people are for going during this time over and over. I promise the rest of the report won't be like this! Let's be friends?

 

[dancingtodisney]

Aw you're killing me with the cliffhangers!

 

[alissafalco]

Great TR, I love the foodie pics

 

[Ariel484]

Okay so I'm laughing histerically as I read this, because your experience was so similiar to Mike and I's with the stool and the tiny little spoons. We cracked up with them too. And a water menu?? I don't remember that part! and agreed on the TiW part, that meal pretty much paid for it! Bummed the price of it went up to $100....won't be purchasing it in May because I don't think I'll eat at enough places to justify it..

Looking forward to the rest of V&A's!

Yep, a water menu! I wish I would have seen it. I re-confirmed it with Will a couple of days ago just to make sure I didn't dream up the whole thing.

We won't be purchasing TiW this year, either. Our current card definitely got a workout though - Marathon Weekend in 2013, this trip AND I'll be able to use it again next weekend (!!). But next year I did some number crunching and it's just not going to be beneficial for us.

Another cliffhanger!

Aw you're killing me with the cliffhangers!

Sooorrryyy!

Great TR, I love the foodie pics

Thanks! I looooove taking (and looking at) food pictures, glad you like them!

 

[LindsayLoves]

Now that was a cliffhanger worth the wait! You both look fab in your fancy wear and I think most couples need to remember take photos *together* when on vacation. Also I think the two year planning of this meal is awesome, I love going for a nice meal for a special occasion but I usually feel all sorts of guilt afterwards when it sinks in how much we just paid for dinner. I might need to adopt your method for the future.

 

[Ariel484]

We polished off our little salads and champagne, and our maid poured the wine for course #2 (the cold appetizer) - a Riesling:

Woohoo! Love me a good Riesling. My favorite wine to drink at home (besides my NEW favorite, Black Pearl - ordered it online and it arrived on my doorstep last week! Yay!!).

Now, I've seen lots of advice on how to do dinner at Victoria & Albert's. We'd already broken one "rule" by putting those no seafood/no veal/no mushroom requests in ahead of time. Throughout the meal we broke another by ordering the same thing on some of our courses. While I understand the suggestion to order different things (allowing you to try as many different foods as possible) if I'm paying this much for dinner, I want to order what I want to order, ya know?! (Though I should note that even with putting those requests in and sometimes ordering the same things we still tried quite a few things we've never eaten before.) I'm sure some people disagree with doing this meal this way...well, sorry. This is how we did it. Forgive me?

So this was the first course (of three, not including the amuse bouche) where we selected the same thing. We both chose the Pintade Fermiere Verrine with Fuji Apples and Walnuts. Our butler explained what everything was, but there was so much going on on the plate that I promptly forgot almost everything he told us. In googling it now this was some sort of guinea hen from France...ooh la la! Loved how this course was plated.

Like I said, I can’t remember the details of what was on the plate, but I know both Will and I agreed that our favorite part of this course was the little salad in the glass jar. I also really liked the applesauce smeared on the plate (in the middle above with the orange petal) and the sauce all the way to the left. Similar to the amuse bouche, this course was really light, refreshing and flavorful. Everything tasted amazing and I wanted to lick the plate clean.

I think this may have been the point of the evening where we saw a couple arrive and the gentleman was not wearing a jacket. One of the maids brought a loner from the closet, which was too short - eventually they got him in the right size. This is another issue that has come up in a recent thread, and I'm going to re-state my opinion here: it's bizarre to me that someone would get ready to spend a few hundred dollars on a meal and not research the dress code (for anyone wondering...my dress was silk and I rolled it up in between other clothes in my suitcase and hung it up right when we checked in, and it seemed fine. Ditto for Will's suit...if we needed to we would have sent them out to be pressed, I guess).

Another thing I noticed around this time was that the harpist was playing "The Best Day" by Taylor Swift - LOVE HER! (Judge all you want, I don't even care )

 

[Ariel484]

Now that was a cliffhanger worth the wait! You both look fab in your fancy wear and I think most couples need to remember take photos *together* when on vacation. Also I think the two year planning of this meal is awesome, I love going for a nice meal for a special occasion but I usually felt all sorts of guilt afterwards when it sinks in how much we just paid for dinner. I might need to adopt your method for the future.

Thanks Lindsay! I really did want more pictures but I sort of stopped caring because I felt so crappy for a good portion of the trip from that cold. Next time, for sure! I'm sure you're right that it's a common issue.

The saving-up method worked really well for us! I didn't feel any guilt when the check came. It was still shocking to see the total but at least it didn't show up on our credit card bill later, ya know?! I'm currently trying to dream up a similar "plan" that could be ready by Marathon Weekend... I ran that by Will last night and while he didn't say yes to the idea, he didn't say no either! Of course I'm not totally sure I'd appreciate the meal as much as I should with extremely sore quads and left-over exhaustion from the races...you know how it is.

 

[Ariel484]

Next up was course #3, the hot appetizer. Again, we selected the same dish for this course, which was paired with a glass of pinot noir. I LOVE this huge, awesome wine glass!

This course was the roasted duck with fennel and leeks "a l'orange":

First time for both of us trying duck, and it was soooooo so good. I don't remember many specifics about this course, just thinking that it was pretty awesome.

This was one of the courses that came with bread. I forget what kind of bread it was...not surprisingly it was very soft and tasty.

The accompanying butter was a truffle butter...i.e. butter with mushrooms. You'll recall that one of our requests was "no mushrooms" and our maid made sure to tell us both at the beginning of the meal and this course that the butter had truffles - she seemed concerned about it! Again, we felt SO silly for the "no mushrooms" request - again, not because she made us feel this way, just because actually sitting there the whole thing seemed stupid. We said it was fine and the butter was, of course, delicious.

 

[Lyear]

All caught up. Thanks for the knowledge on the camera lens. That dessert at Liberty Tree looks soooo good. And how exciting that you got to eat at V&A's. My wife and I dressed up one time for a meal in WDW, so I know exactly the type of looks you described receiving from other guests. It makes you feel somewhat self conscious. Ultimately who cares, you are on vacation after all. Very well written report.

 

[Ariel484]

All caught up. Thanks for the knowledge on the camera lens. That dessert at Liberty Tree looks soooo good. And how exciting that you got to eat at V&A's. My wife and I dressed up one time for a meal in WDW, so I know exactly the type of looks you described receiving from other guests. It makes you feel somewhat self conscious. Ultimately who cares, you are on vacation after all. Very well written report.

The Liberty Tree Tavern dessert was soooo delicious. I would definitely recommend it if you're there for lunch (I don't see it on the dinner menu, unfortunately ).

I can totally understand the looks we were getting from the other people on the buses! Who dresses in a silk dress and a suit to go to Animal Kingdom?! Maybe they just figured we wanted to look our sharpest for the yeti...or something. Haha!

Thank you for complimenting the writing, I really appreciate it!

 

[durangojim]

Thanks for sharing your experiences! I didn't read through the whole thread but were the food requests that you made due to allergies or just because you don't care for certain things? There's a number of foods I don't care for but when we've eaten at V&A's or Remy on the Disney cruises, I like to just put my faith in the chef and see what they can make. I've had my mind blown a couple of times (can you say foie gras foam with salted caramel and macadamia nuts?). Anyway, great report!

 

[lbrad]

We had nothing specific on the agenda after dinner, but eventually we found ourselves in Japan...and I decided to Pick-A-Pearl!

This was one instance where I wish I'd had my camera with me - it was so fun! The CMs here were hilarious. They were just SO excited about everything! They made a really huge deal about everyone that picked their pearls - "Good job! That's such a beautiful pearl!" etc.

So I told the CM I wanted to do it and she (excitedly) handed me a ticket. The woman in front of me finished and it was my turn!

There were a few other guests around watching and the CM made some speech about the pearl picking process (I wish I'd paid better attention, but I was sort of nervous and overwhelmed at the number of people watching - I'm so dumb ). And then it was time for me to choose!

I'd heard that sometimes a person can get really lucky and pick an oyster with 2 pearls, and I was really hoping that would happen here. Either that or I'd get a silvery/grey pearl. I'm really into the color grey lately, for whatever reason - I swear I'm not a depressing person or anything, just like the color a lot. I'd seen suggestions online to pick the ugliest, hairiest looking oyster, but I forget what picking an oyster like that was supposed to help you get - a bigger pearl? two pearls? Who knows. But it seemed like some sort of strategy so I went with it. I found an ugly, hairy oyster and the CM fished it out. She taught me to count down from 3 in Japanese (of course now I don't remember how to do it) and then opened the oyster. The result?

A silvery grey pearl! So I got one of my wishes!

It was so hilarious because the CMs FLIPPED OUT. I know they have to make a big show of it because there are other guests around and they want to make it seem exciting so others will do it too, but they really did sort of make me feel like I accomplished something. All of that hard work I did looking at the oysters and pointing to one really paid off! They were even asking me what my secret was, since I guess a small percentage (5-10%) of the pearls are silvery grey (others are the traditional white or have a more pink sheen).

They cleaned and measured my pearl (6.75mm) and asked if they could show it to the others guests (I said yes - again, I'm sure they want to drum up excitement so others will participate). After the pearl is picked and cleaned you can either take it with you or have them put a setting on it. As you can see in the picture I opted to have them put the setting on. There was one I'd seen online that I liked where the pearl sits in small "cage" shaped like Cinderella's Carriage (similar to this one), but it was HUGE in person. I'm pretty minimal when it comes to jewelry and I just wanted something sort of simple and small - that huge (to me) Carriage one did not fit the bill. Will helped me pick out the winning setting (it's white gold with cubic zirconia) and the CMs gave me a ticket to come back at 8:45PM, just before park closing, to pick it up.

I have to say, I felt sort of silly wanting to try this but I'm really glad that I did! It was a fun memory and now I have something Disney that I can wear that isn't obviously Disney at all. The cost to pick the pearl was $17, and getting the setting added was about $30 I think. They told me to let the setting dry overnight (part of attaching it to the pearl involves using glue) and said if I have any issues I can bring it back. I haven't actually worn the pearl yet because I still need to get a chain - the ones in the pavilion were $100+ and I didn't feel like spending that much just then! Hopefully I can find something good and more affordable here at home.

I wanted to pick a pearl when I was there in November for my 25th wedding anniversary ... I forgot
I JUST LOVE YOURS!!!
I MUST GO BACK & DO THIS

 

[Ariel484]

Thanks for sharing your experiences! I didn't read through the whole thread but were the food requests that you made due to allergies or just because you don't care for certain things?

Neither of us feel comfortable eating veal, we don't like mushrooms (both texture and taste) and we HATE seafood (texture, taste, smell, everything)!

There's a number of foods I don't care for but when we've eaten at V&A's or Remy on the Disney cruises, I like to just put my faith in the chef and see what they can make. I've had my mind blown a couple of times (can you say foie gras foam with salted caramel and macadamia nuts?). Anyway, great report!

Oh, I totally get what you're saying. If I was going to like seafood somewhere I'm sure it would have been at V&A. But in general we hate it enough that we felt better having it totally out of the equation, especially for a meal we'd been putting money aside for, for so long. We'll most likely make the same requests at Remy this summer. Although I must say the foie gras does sound super interesting!

I wanted to pick a pearl when I was there in November for my 25th wedding anniversary ... I forgot
I JUST LOVE YOURS!!!
I MUST GO BACK & DO THIS

YES DO IT. And let me know how it goes!

 

[plaz10]

Another thing I noticed around this time was that the harpist was playing "The Best Day" by Taylor Swift - LOVE HER! (Judge all you want, I don't even care )

I despise Taylor Swift. But you are still awesome. Continue...

 

[Ariel484]

I despise Taylor Swift. But you are still awesome. Continue...

Thanks friend. See you in JUST A LITTLE OVER A WEEK AHHHH!!!!!!!

 

[Ariel484]

Okay everyone, you should be proud of us - for course #4 we actually ordered different items!

Will went with the Mangalitsa Pork with Zellwood Corn and Stone Ground Grits. It was paired with a Merlot:

My choice was the Palmetto Farms Quail with Asian Pears, Serrano Ham Jus:

Paired with a very yummy Syrah blend!

Again, it's been long enough that I forget the specifics, but it shouldn't be any surprise by now that this course was excellent!

This was the last course that came with bread (or I guess sort of in between this course and the next course)...looks like multigrain I think?

And sea salt butter:

 

[Ariel484]

And now, course #5...the entree. At this point I remember realizing that the meal was (in my mind) almost over and feeling pretty sad about it! It seemed to have flown by up until this point.

When you dine at Victoria & Albert's, the menu has a fixed price. From there you can add other items (i.e. the wine pairings, caviar, etc.). Going into the meal I knew I wanted an add-on for my entree - the Australian Kobe-Style beef tenderloin with oxtail ravioli. Yes, it was pricy, but where else would I get to try this?! Go big or go home, right?!

OH. EM. GEE.

SO delicious...mouthwateringly good. The beef was so incredibly tender, the veggies were cooked perfectly, and the sauce was the perfect accompaniment. Completely worth the add-on to the bill.

My entree was paired with another red, a Bordeaux blend. I remember this being my favorite wine of the meal. No picture of that one.

I'd told Will a few weeks back that I was going to get this add-on for my entree and he said he would probably pass on any sort of add-on. But just like with the wine pairing he surprised me again. The other beef add-on option is Iwate Japanese Beef - not quite up to par with Kobe Beef but it's pretty close. There was an option to get a full portion of this beef or a half portion (with the half portion being about $10 more than my entree add-on) paired with a half-portion of a different entree that was on the menu. Will ended up choosing the half-and-half option. Our maid even brought out a certificate of authenticity that goes with the Japanese beef to show us where it ranked on the Kobe scale. With 8 being the best Kobe beef, Will's was rated a 5 and mine was rated a 2 or 3.

Here's Will's plate...the Japanese stuff is on the left-hand side, the other half of his entree (lamb with butternut squash agnolotti) on the right-hand side.

The hilarious part of all of this - because he chose two half-portions for his entree, he got two half-pours of wine to go with them. And he hadn't yet finished his wine from course #4. So this happened...

I think the look on his face says it all.

"Oh no, I'm totally happy about it!" Riiiiight...

Remember how I said earlier that we don't drink a lot at home?! Well at this point we were on our 5th wine pour (and they are GENEROUS with those pours - our maid said the entire pairing should equal 2.5 glasses of wine and I think she GREATLY under-estimated that ) and we were feeling gooooood. I was a nice wife and helped Will finished one of those red pours. Now that I think about it I'm pretty sure I also helped him with the Riesling from the cold appetizer course. I'm just a giver like that.

Anyway...I had a taste of the fancy Japanese-style beef, and I have to say, it was supremely awesome but I don't think it was a ton better than the stuff I had. And for about the same price of the half-portion I had a full-sized portion of mine...so that's definitely what I'll stick with when we come back (because we WILL be back!).

When we finished our entrees we were visited by (I believe) the maitre d'hotel. I remember he LOVED the fact that I brought a camera with me (another debate that I've seen here on the boards ), and I told him I was glad - this was a dinner we'd been looking forward to for a long time and we wanted to remember how beautiful everything looked! He told us he'd be sure to pass our compliments on to the chef.

 

[diddy_mouse]

Here you are posting all of these amazing food pics from Victoria and Alberts, and I'm sitting here eating a can of Nacho Cheese Pringles. #classy

Amazing stuff, Shannon!

 

[Ariel484]

Here you are posting all of these amazing food pics from Victoria and Alberts, and I'm sitting here eating a can of Nacho Cheese Pringles. #classy

Amazing stuff, Shannon!

Aaaaaand now I want Pringles.

No worries Erin, I was eating Goldfish crackers when I posted that last update.

 

[HouCuseChickie]

Awesome V&A pics and commentary! I've been trying to twist DH's arm for November. I wanted to read some of this yesterday, but we've been dealing with a stomach bug and it's hard to appreciate fine dining when you're feasting on Jell-O and chicken soup. I am curious about the oxtail ravioli. I've tried oxtail in the past, but not in a fine dining setting. I've heard it's great in the right chef's hands, but traditional southern style oxtail ... well, I'm not well enough to really think about it right now and truly discuss it. So, just interested in how the ravioli tasted.

 

[Ariel484]

Awesome V&A pics and commentary! I've been trying to twist DH's arm for November. I wanted to read some of this yesterday, but we've been dealing with a stomach bug and it's hard to appreciate fine dining when you're feasting on Jell-O and chicken soup. I am curious about the oxtail ravioli. I've tried oxtail in the past, but not in a fine dining setting. I've heard it's great in the right chef's hands, but traditional southern style oxtail ... well, I'm not well enough to really think about it right now and truly discuss it. So, just interested in how the ravioli tasted.

Thanks Sandy! Oh noooooo, I'm so sorry to hear about the stomach bug! I hope you guys feel better soon, that sounds awful!

That's interesting about the oxtail. This was something I'd never had before and something I'd never even heard of until I saw it on the V&A menu (of course now I just Googled it and some nasty pictures came up, yikes! Maybe ignorance was bliss on that one ). Anyway, I do specifically remember thinking that it was really good! As you can see from the pictures we each got one small ravioli and we both liked it.

Get well SOON!!