JoAnn's wine and dine adventure

My flight landed about 5 minutes early and I was at the resort shortly after 8:00. I went to Disney Springs and got my annual pass, Tables in Wonderland card and booked the Caring for Giants tour for next week.

I had dinner at Frontera Cocina. First new restaurant of the trip.

I got back to my room to find my luggage had not been delivered. It is here at the resort. I asked them to bring it up in morning. It's passed my bedtime.

18 minutes until race time

Very long day. After the race, my cousins and I breakfast at the Wave. After breakfast, I went back to my room to rest and shower. Around 11:00, I was off to Epcot. Wait times were short at Epcot - 10 minutes for Nemo, Turtle Talk with Crush, Figment and Spaceship Earth, 20 minutes for Living with the Land and 35 for Soarin'. I hit up a couple of food booths before my fast pass for Frozen. While waiting in line for Frozen, the ride broke down.

As I was getting off the ride, my cousin sent me a text asking if I wanted to go to dinner with them. They picked me up and we went to Maggiano's in Orlando. It was really good. They dropped me off around 7:00. I thought about going to a park. I am exhausted.

Tomorrow is breakfast at Boma (first time there) and a massage at Grand Floridian.

Today was a relaxing day. I didn't sleep well last night. I took my time getting ready this morning. My cousin texted me that they finished the 10k. I met them at Animal Kingdom Lodge for breakfast at Boma. We were early for the reservation. They checked us in letting us know they were seating by reservation. I barely sat down when I got the text that our table was ready. I really liked breakfast there. I loved the scambled eggs with goat cheese.

After breakfast, I took the bus to Magic Kingdom. I think I saw Carla from The Chew while walking through MK. My cousins went back to their hotel to shower. I met them at Grand Floridian around noon for massages. While waiting for mine, I almost fell asleep in the waiting area. The chair was so comfortable.

We left the spa at 3:00 to find something to eat. We tried Grand Floridian Cafe but they were closed. We went to Disney Springs and had an early dinner at House of Blues. I had a burger. It was good, but I have had better.

I didn't have breakfast reservations until 10:00 Sunday morning. I took my time getting ready. I met my cousins at Ohana right at 10:00. Stitch doesn't walk the room anymore. He takes pictures with guests before they are seated. My cousin and her fiance both have food allergies. The waitress couldn't bring anything to our table until the chef came out to talk to them. She was only allowed to give us coffee. I asked about juice. She said she would pour it but if anyone asks she was going to tell them we insisted. Alrighty then ....

After breakfast we went to Epcot for a couple of hours then to MK for dinner at Be Our Guest. After dinner we watched the taping of the Christmas special (Nick Lachey and Julianna Hough).

Monday morning, I got up and packed. This is the day I moved to the Boardwalk. I brought my bags to luggage services to have them transfered. I had some breakfast and headed to Epcot.

I booked a culinary demonstration in the afternoon. What I got was a 20 minute presentation on conservation and the environment, 10 minute sales pitch for Joffrey's coffee and 10 minutes for the chef to give an overview of the dessert that was passed out. After the "demonstration", I went to the festival information desk where three other ladies were there to voice their disappointment. We all got refunds.

After I got my money back, I met up with my cousins who arrived not long before the "demonstration". We walked around World Showcase for a bit. I received the text that my room was ready. They had to leave for the airport. We said our goodbyes and went in separate directions.

I found my room and called to have my luggagr brought up. I rested a while before it was time for dinner at Garden Grove. My meal was good. Their options are limited. I ordered the chicken. All meals come with the soup, salad and dessert bar. Pluto and Goofy were making their rounds. After dinner, I walked back to the Boardwalk and called it a night.

The theme of this trip was "I am not rushing to go anywhere". I got up Tuesday morning and got ready. I wanted to do a load of laundry. All washers were in use. I walked the Boardwalk for a little bit. A washer finally became free. While my clothes were washing, I went to the Boardwalk Bakery to get something for breakfast. I had to wait about 30 minutes for a dryer to become available. I sat outside and chatted with a couple of people. I was done with laundry around 11:00. I had a fast pass for Seven Dwarfs Mine train around 12:30. Before getting on the bus, I decided to get a slice of pizza at the Boardwalk Pizza Window since I had time.

I spent the afternoon in MK. While there, I looked to see if there were any dinner reservations available. I found one for Trattoria al Forno. I originally had an ADR for Shula's but cancelled it to save money.

I got to the restaurant a little early and got seated pretty quickly. After I finished my meal, my waiter asked I wanted to see the dessert menu. I declined. I was pretty full, plus I wanted to get ice cream at Ample Hills. He walked away to get my check. When he returned, I went to hand him my Tables in Wonderland card. He said "it's all set". Someone paid for my meal. I was shocked.

Wednesday I grabbed a bagel before going to Animal Kingdom. OMG - Flight of Passage is awesome!!!

I took the Caring For Giants Tour. We were driven to the back of the safari. We watched the elephants. The tour guide told us about each of the elephants. Stella, the baby, is so cute. There was also a cultural representative from Africa there. She didn't say anything. I also hit Expedition Everest, Dinosaur and It's Tough To Be A Bug. I visited with Spook and her husband while they waited to get seated for lunch reservation.

I went back to the Boardwalk for a while, then went to Epcot to see Boyz to Men. Actually I listened to them. It was standing room only. I sat by the fountain in front of the American Pavillion. After the concert, I hopped to Magic Kingdom to see the castle lit up. When I walked in I saw 5 minute wait for Mickey. It was more like 35 minutes.

Back to the Boardwalk for the night.

Thursday morning, I went to breakfast at Fresh Mediterrean Market at the Dolphin. After breakfast I spent the morning and afternoon in Epcot. I hit up a few festival booths for lunch and went on some rides. I rode Mission Space for the first time since the refurbishment. The green side seemed tamer than what it was when I rode in February. I'm still too chicken to ride the orange side.

I went to Big River Grill and Brewery for dinner. The cobb salad was good. As many of you know, one of my hobbies outside of Disney is visiting craft breweries. This was the best of both worlds.

I relaxed at the resort for a little while and back to Epcot for the mini meet up with Allie, Lauren and Corey.

me too

It was too short. We have Princess coming up

there was 1/2 cup of coffee in the dessert. The demonstration was what Disney does for the environment and the conservation efforts at the farm where Joffrey's get the beans. They talked about the different coffee they have and where you can buy it.

One of the ladies who got a refund was about to cancel another demonstration she had booked for later in the week. They assured her it would be an actual demonstration.

Friday was my only day at Hollywood Studios. I had a quick breakfast at Boardwalk Bakery (OMG - the cinnamon roll) and hopped on the boat to the Studios. I hit my favorites - Toy Story (worst player ever but I still enjoy it), Star Tours and Muppets 3D. I also went to the Frozen sing along show. They added a Christmas themed ending to it which I'm still not sure how I feel about it. It wasn't bad but it just didn't seem to fit.

I grabbed a snack at the Baseline Tap House - beer and a pretzel. I also had the hot chocolate flight at Dockside Diner. They were good.

I tried to see Santa but when over to his meet & greet, the line was closed for his break. I didn't make it back over there.

I booked the Jingle Bell, Jingle BAM! Holiday Dessert Party for this night. I was enjoying evenings on the Boardwalk so much I canceled. I left DHS and went to dinner at The Fountain at the Dolphin. I walked back to the Boardwalk and started packing for my departure on Saturday. I went to the Abracadabar for a drink. There was no place to sit inside. I got my drink to go and enjoyed it sitting on the Boardwalk.

And now for my last day

I got up Saturday finishing packing my stuff and checked in for my flight at the resort. I had a cheese danish from Belle Vue Lounge. It was time to head to Epcot for the Cheese Seminar. I had been looking forward to this all week. It did not disappoint. Who doesn't love drinking wine at 10:00 in the morning? One of the wines we were supposed to have was nowhere to be found. The wine guy was told to pick something else. He picked a more expensive (and very good) wine. They had to reprint all the cards for the tables that had the wines and cheeses listed. The cheese were so good. If you are a cheese fan, I highly recommend this seminar. After the seminar I did a little Christmas shopping at the festival center. I bought a wine and cheese pairing book and had it signed by the author (who was part of the seminar).

It had rained during the seminar and the humidity increased 500%. It started raining again as I was leaving the festival center. I stopped in Mouse Gears and so did everyone else who was in Epcot. I had never seen it so packed. I picked up a few more Christmas gifts. I ended up buying the holiday tote bag to carry it all in.

I made my way back to the resort. I had a little bit of time before catching the Tragical Express. I got a quick lunch at Boardwalk to Go. While waiting for my order it started pouring again. I ran inside and ate it in Belle Vue Lounge. It was then time to head to the airport.

My flight home was uneventful.

This was my longest and most relaxing trip. I tried 13 new places and I absolutely loved staying at the Boardwalk.

I would have been ok with them talking about the farm where the beans where from for the coffee that we had with the dessert that we watched the chef make. Sadly, there was no demonstration.

I took advantage of being so close to Dolphin and Swan when staying at the Boardwalk to try the restaurants there. When planning dining, check out the options there. I enjoyed my meals there. I am planning on trying others. Keep in mind, they don't take the dining plan or room charges there. Some of the restaurants do take Tables in Wonderland.

Garden Grove called me the morning of my reservation to make sure I knew they didn't take the dining plan. I thought that was a nice touch. When I checked in for my reservation there were two families who were surprised by this. I'm not sure if they weren't called or maybe didn't answer the call.