Becca's Trip Report "The Rollercoaster of Food"

Oh Becca, I'm so sorry to hear about your ankle! I applaud you for just moving on though, I think I would have freaked at the technicolor on that if it had been me.

You're Brown Derby experience looks & sounds wonderful though! I'm looking forward to hearing about Epcot!

Nice looking ankle. My right one will roll if I step on a small pebble, so I know that feeling. It's one of the few things that will make me puke. You are right, the only cure for a sprain is to use it. If you bandage it, it only gets stiff and sore.

Great TR and pics. Keep it rolling!!!! (pun intended).

Ok, that Hollywood Derby food looks absolutely out of this world! That place just became a Must Do for me!

Great minds really DO think alike!

Day 5 - Part 1 - Thursday 12/6 - Epcot (Whooooooowhooooo! Weeeeee!)

We started the day earlier than the previous two for breakfast ADRs at The Wave. I had heard good things about the Sweet Potato Pancakes and the Cheesy Grits. I was a little slow getting ready with my limping around, but it was bearable so I was happy to know I wouldn't need a wheelchair. I'm fairly sure that Sean was pretty happy about that too! We were a couple of minutes late for our ADR due to the hitch in my giddy-up but they were able to seat us right away. Thankfully we were seated near the entrance to the buffet. Our server was really great, one of the others, well she wasn't so good, more on that at the end of the meal. We both decided on the buffet after I confirmed that the 'signature' dishes (Cheesy Grits, Sweet Potato Pancakes, Eggs Benedict w/ Key Lime Hollandaise Sauce) were included. Oh! and all of those dishes were everything they were reported to be! One of the tastiest breakfasts I've had in a long time and a great start to the day! Now for the slightly annoying part. Our server was great and very attentive but just after she had dropped off the bill, one of the other servers picked up the 'folder' to help her out. This server had also been helping with clearing away the dishes, etc. so we thought it was very nice of her. As anyone who has had the dining plan can attest to, the plan you have is clearly marked on the front of your Key to the World card. Our server brought the folder back with the receipts to sign and they didn't look 'right'. I was used to the meal charge being zeroed out to show that the meal was covered by the plan and just showing the tip charge if you're not leaving a cash tip, which we were, so I was expecting a zero balance. But, the receipt showed the full breakfast charge?!! I flagged down our server and asked about the bill. Apparently, the other server had rung the entire bill through on our credit card rather than using the dining plan credits! Thank goodness we were paying attention, while it was only breakfast, that's a surprise that would have diminished the magic a bit if we hadn't noticed it until we got the final charge list. Luckily, she was able to fix it with minimum fuss. I just hope she doesn't let the other server 'help' her out in the future! Having dined at The Wave for dinner and breakfast, I highly recommend it for both meals!

Because we were on our way to Epcot, we headed upstairs to the Monorail. Have I mentioned how much I love the Monorail? Well, I do! I Luhuhuhove the Monorail and I'm not afraid to admit it! At the TTC, we got off to transfer to the Epcot line. But there was a chain over the ramp? Oh NO! Turns out, the line to Epcot was experiencing some technical difficulties so we had to take a bus from the TTC to Epcot. Have I mentioned how much I dislike the buses? Yeah, I know I've mentioned that before, but it bears repeating. I'm not a fan of the buses (and here we have the understatement of the year). Aaaaand of course, they use the farthest, most remote stop for the 'emergency' Epcot route. Hellooooo there, sprained ankle! Just as I was starting to forget about you. And of course, there was a bus there, but I couldn't move fast enough to get us to the stop to catch it. But, we were first in line for the next bus and we had a very pleasant chat with the CM who was helping to direct us all to the right place. I always admire the CMs in these situations. Every glitch is handled so smoothly and calmly, or at least that's the outward appearance they project. Two buses showed up at the same time so they were able to load everyone who was waiting. And we were off!

Since this was the official Grand Opening day of the new Test Track, we headed straight over to get our FPs. It was crazy! We were watching the return times get later and later as we were standing in line! After getting our FPs, we decided to catch Universe of Energy. I know some people think it's a waste of time, but I like it. Because it's one of the original rides it has the nostalgia factor for me despite the revisions made to it. That being said, WDW Big Wigs? If you're reading this, it needs another update. The 90s did not 'age well' if you know what I mean. Please keep Ellen though! I love her! We wandered through the MouseGear shop, watched the Fountain of Nations for a bit and stopped by Club Cool and had a few free refreshing beverage samples. No, we didn't drink the Beverly soda. Been there, done that, not doing it again. We had lunch ADRs at Restaurant Marrakesh so we started to stroll around the lagoon. I considered the Friendship boats, but decided that between waiting in line and where the stops were, it made more sense to just walk slowly. And happily, my ankle was loosening up bit by bit as I was walking.

We got to Marrakesh a few minutes before our ADR time, but they seated us immediately. We were seated right next to the 'stage' although we didn't get to see the performers. Our server, Hakim, was amazing! He was super helpful and made some excellent suggestions. We started with the Goat Cheese with Crispy Bread for Two (Goat Cheese with Crispy Bread for Two - mixture of cheese and kalamata olives served with red pepper sauce and balsamic vinegar reduction). WOW! Just wow! So yummy! Sean was really surprised. It was one of his favorite dishes of the trip. I know I say that a lot, but we ate a lot! I had the Shish Kebabs (Shish Kebab - grilled tenderloin of beef with roasted rosemary potatoes and vegetables medley) and Sean had the Chicken Kebabs (Chicken Kebabs - grilled brochettes of chicken breast with olive salad and dried fruit sweet couscous) for our entrees. Both were mouth-watering! I was very happy because I'm an adventurous eater while Sean is not. Not even close. But he loved Marrakesh! We both had the Bastilla (Bastilla - crispy leaves of pastry topped with vanilla cream and sprinkled with toasted almonds) for dessert. The yummy just kept coming on during this meal! It was delicious!

After lunch we resumed our leisurely stroll around the other side of the lagoon because we were approaching our Test Track FP window. As we walked up to TT, we noted the re-donkulous stand-by line and thought "haha! Suckers!" but that bubble was burst plenty quickly! We headed toward the FP entrance and saw a line that stretched all the way back to Terre Haute! (name that movie line!). Confused, we asked a CM if it was the single-rider line? Nope, it was the FP line. A 45 min to an hour wait in the FP line?!?! Nothankyouverymuch! We decided that TT was just going to have to wait until our next trip and I'd keep the FPs for the scrapbook that I'm never going to make (I still haven't done anything from our honeymoon and it's been 7 years. It ain't gonna happen but that doesn't mean I can't prepare for the possibility! ) If anyone was wondering, the stand-by line was over 3 hours long! Whoa!

To be continued...More walking (surprise!) and quite possibly one of the best meals either of us have had in our entire lives....at the Yachtsman Steakhouse!

I love love love the goat cheese appetizer at Marrakesh! Great choice!

Looks like you had Marrakesh to yourselves! And woah, TT sounds like it was insane! Good call on skipping it! Can't wait to hear about Yachtman's...I've been vicariously living through all our delicious meals!

We may have to try Marrakesh and the Yachtsman Steakhouse on our next trip. Excellent report!

Oh pick me, pick me!!!! I know, I know!!!! Lol. A Christmas Story!!!!!!! Don't bother me. I.... I'm thinking..... LOL!!! Would have answered much sooner, but I just got a chance to catch up on your report. And yikes!!! that is way too long to wait for a FP line. And there is NOOOOO way I would wait 3 hours either. Yikes!

Oh yes! I highly recommend Marrakesh! I think they're trying to make up for being so lackluster in the past. I also think it depends on what you order. There are plenty of 'regular' meals on the menu, so if you're not an adventurous eater don't feel like you have to try something you won't like.

Haha! You win! I like the Wizard of Oz....

Holy cow! Been away for far too long! Busy, busy, busy! We got a puppy last month - from Cape Cod, the weekend winter storm Nemo went through, no less! That was certainly an adventure!

Now it's time to get back to reliving our Disney trip!

Day 5 - Part 2 - Chocolate and Steak - Yippeeee!

After writing off the idea of riding Test Track we took another spin on Mission: Space (haha! Spin!). Again we lucked out, no digestive pyrotechnics nor close-space freak-outs, just a good time. Then we walked over to The Land to see what the wait for Soarin' looked like. It wasn't pretty, so we decided one day in Epcot without a ride on Soarin' wouldn't kill us. As we were walking out, I detoured over to Living with the Land. DH's reaction - Really? You want to ride that again? Me - Yes. Yes I do! As we were loading onto the boat, there was a family in the row behind us with a 8-10ish year-old boy who was, let's just say, less than enthusiastic about the ride. He semi-whined to his father "This is going to make me learn something, isn't it?" Dad's response - "Maybe, but just because you're on vacation, it doesn't mean you stop learning." Good response dad! This kid ended up totally making the ride for me! As we were going through the greenhouses, passing the Cacao plants, the boy said "Oh look! That's cacao (he pronounced it as kay-co), that's chocolate!". His father corrected him telling him it was pronounced cah-cow. The boy responded back that it was spelled like it should be pronounced differently and his father reiterated the correct pronunciation. The boy's response was "Whatever, it's still chocolate!" Smart, smart child!

Originally, we weren't planning on bothering with seeing Captain EO (we both much prefer Honey I Shrunk the Audience) but since we had plenty of time, we decided it was worth a view. We totally lucked out and walked in just as they were going to stop admitting people for the show. This was great because we skipped having to stand through the intro video! After seeing it again I do have to say it's not bad. I'm just not a fan of one of the "effects" (I won't spoil it for anyone who hasn't seen it, but for those who have, air is involved). I am however, a big fan of the music! As a child of the 80s, it speaks to me! We stopped to grab a drink at one of the snack carts and watched a squirrel run under the cart (the cart also sold roasted nuts) and we chatted with the CM for a few minutes. She said the squirrels have NO shame and run all over. Apparently, one CM had put a bag of the nuts in their back pocket and you can guess the rest....squirrel + nuts in back pocket = squirrel running up the CM's leg and freaking them out!

We rode Spaceship Earth again and made funny faces for the video again and laughed our butts off again and then started walking back toward World Showcase. We stopped to listen to the Christmas Storyteller in Canada, very cute! and then wandered around the countries for a while checking out the shops and such. We took it very slow and I stopped and rested my ankle when I needed to. I wasn't sure how long the walk from the International Entrance to the Yacht Club would be, having never been to any of the Epcot resorts (I know right!) so we started walking over for our 7:15 reservations at Yachtsman Steakhouse, around 6. We figured we'd either try to get in a little early or just check out the hotel. That is such a nice walk! A definite plus in the YC/BC/BW's favor in addition to their proximity to Epcot of course. We're still not big fans of the size of the resorts, but they certainly haven't been ruled out for future visits. We were reaaaallllyyyy early, so we decided to check out the resort. We walked through the lobby and down the hallway to the shops. Super cute! The themeing is great! As only Disney can do it. We sat in the lobby (really comfy chairs!) for a while and just took it all in. I took a few pictures and Sean broke out his phone to plug in for a while. We were still a little early for our reservations, but we figured we'd check in. We got our pager and went out to the porch to sit in the rocking chairs. I couldn't believe we were sitting outside, watching kids playing in a pool, enjoying the warm breeze....in December!!! These born-and-raised Northerners were shocked and amazed! We waited about 20 minutes and our pager buzzed. They really tease you with the walk past all of those steaks! It's beautiful! We were seated in the 'rotunda' area, next to the windows. It's absolutely breathtaking! Our server was David. Anyone who's going to be eating at Yachtsman Steakhouse in the future, I highly recommend requesting him! Sean had questions about the cheese board (how anyone could have questions about cheese, I don't know!). David was great, he actually brought out a list of the cheeses and gave a wonderful description of the accompaniments. Of course, Sean decided on the cheese board (Assortment of Artisanal Cheeses - sourdough Baguette and seasonal accoutrements) and I ordered the Calico Bay Scallops. I guess it's a newer app because I can't find the description on the online menus, but it was delicious! It was almost like a chowder, with fennel and crispy prosciutto. Yummm! Another table also ordered the Steakhouse "Wedge" salad, it looked amazing and they raved about it. Entrees were the 12oz NY Strip for Sean (12-oz "Prime" New York Strip Steak - Carmody potato gratin and peppercorn bandy sauce) and the Filet for me (8-oz Center Cut Filet Mignon - Mashed Potatoes, and Cabernet Wine Sauce) if anyone is counting, that's Filet #4 (and a 1/2 if you count the tenderloin in the Shish Kebabs at Marrakesh). I could go on and on about these meals! The sauces on each perfectly complemented the steaks and I think the mashed potatoes were quite possibly the best I've ever eaten! Dessert continued the wonderful experience. I had the Creme Brulee (Creme Brulee - Fresh Berries and Rolled Chocolate) and DH had the Peanut Butter Pretzel Cake. A-MA-ZING! And the Creme Brulee was so pretty! Overall, between the atmosphere, server, and food...one of the best, if not, the best meal we had the entire trip. We agreed that Yachtsman is a must do on every trip we take now!

After dinner, because it was so late, we knew we wouldn't be able to take any of the direct routes back to WL so we hopped on a bus to Downtown. Yes! More walking! We checked out a couple of stores. We planned on going back to do our 'wrap up' souvenir shopping on Saturday so I scoped out some potential purchases. Now here is where it gets good and I can't believe that I never unearthed this little tidbit of info when I was doing my usual obsessive WDW trip planning. In Goofy's Candy Co. you can use your Dining Plan snack credits on mostly anything that costs $5.00 or less! I was flabbergasted! Because the plan descriptions always say 'single serving' I hadn't even considered all of the possibilities. And we were going to have a LOT of snack credits left (rubs hands together with glee)! We knew that GCC was going to be a must stop before we returned home!

At this point, my ankle had pretty much had it so 'home' we went to WL.

Up next...Mathematics, thrills, and Sean hits "The Wall"

Nice to have you back, am really enjoying reading your report (although the puppy is a good reason to have been away)! Did you get any veg to go with your steak? It looks a bit lacking with just the mash ( but then I love salad or veg). I would have a hard choice for dessert as they both look srummy.

YAY! I'm so happy this trip report has been revived! But we all understand life getting in the way....what kind of puppy did you get?!

I loved the story about the Living with the Land, what a great dad! And that squirrel story...I better not let DH read that. His biggest fear is that a squirrel will think he's a tree and run up him (he's a weirdo, I know).

The food at Yachtman's looks absolutely incredible. Can't wait for more!

They do have sides available for an extra charge, but nothing that comes with the steaks automatically. It's a very "meat and potatoes" menu, literally! I love salads and vegetables too, but I didn't find anything lacking here, the mash was just soooo good it wiped out any thought of a veg! I would recommend the Steakhouse Wedge salad (Steakhouse "Wedge" -iceberg lettuce, blue cheese, hazelnuts, tomato broth), it was served to a table next to us and left an impression!

That family was so awesome. I love the Living with the Land ride (I have since I was a kid, yes, I'm a total nerd) but they just made that ride for me! haha! I can't say I blame him, squirrels are so shifty, you never know what they're going to do!

We got a Leonberger. <- and after you google that, you'll know we're insane! When we picked her up she weighed about 14 pounds at 8 weeks old. First vet appointment at 11 weeks she weighed 18.8 pounds. And we just took her for another shot at 15 weeks and she weighs 33.6 pounds....yeah....

Yes, I had to google it to see what she was. These are beautiful dogs! We've always had big dogs (sable collies and bearded collies), but nothing this big! What did you name her?

Wow what an absolutely beautiful dog, she has my heart, look at that face, sorry was going to post about the veggies but your puppy is way to gorgeous for that!

Wowza she's growing fast! What a gorgeous puppy, though!

Thanks! Diana, her name is Meera.

She's killing me she's growing soooo fast!

She is just so cute!

Day 6 - Epcot - Thrills - awesome ones!, and Too. Much. Food!

Thankfully, we didn't have any breakfast ADRs so we were able to sleep in after the late night. I had fleeting thoughts of going to Animal Kingdom in the morning, but ditched that idea in favor of more sleep pretty quickly!

We got to the park around 11ish and decided to wander around and see some of the things we tend to overlook. Were we ever happy that we did! We stopped into Innoventions East (am I dating myself by saying that I keep wanting to call it "Communicore"?) and only discovered one of the greatest. things. EVER! The Sum of All Thrills - Presented by Raytheon. I guess it's because it's tucked away in Innoventions, which seems to be so forgotten, even though you have to walk right by it no matter what! I'm not sure if I should share this information, or keep this little gem to myself! For anyone who hasn't seen this awesomeness, it's a virtual reality experience/ride. You sit in one of two seats, which are on the end of an articulated arm. There is a 'hood' with shoulder restraints and a tv screen in the hood. There's also a camera and a picture-in-picture so you can see the person you are riding with. Before the ride, you're given a 'swipe' card. After a quick intro, you then go through to a design area where you create your own personal ride. Choices are (in ascending level of intensity) a bobsled, rollercoaster, and jet. There aren't any inversions with the bobsled, but there are for the 'coaster and the jet. YES! The ride does invert you! The concept is - design your ride based on engineering principles. You're given different options for maneuvers (rolls, turns, dives, etc.) and you have to adjust the speeds and angles based on the amount of energy available (it's set up very simply). The card you get before the ride? You swipe it and your ride info is downloaded. You then give the card to the cast members and they load your personal "Thrill". Once you load into the seats, they close and secure the hoods and you're off! Because the seat is in the air, at the end of a mechanical 'arm' that simulates the movements of your ride (including going upside down), you really do get the feeling that you're on a rollercoaster or in a jet! It. Is. So. COOL! Even better, those swipe cards? You keep them and there is a code on the back that you can text and get a download of your ride that you can watch and relive anytime. For FREE! I'll see if I can transfer one of the links here. It was just such an awesome ride, and there were NO lines. 5 minute wait, tops. I seriously have NO idea how this isn't one of the most popular attractions in Epcot. It is that good. As a matter of fact, we ran, well I hobbled, down the stairs and got right back in line!

After our second ride, DH needed a pit stop so I sat in the seating area near the building entrance. There was a cast member standing near the entrance to another attraction holding 3D glasses. I was intrigued. It ended up being "Stormstruck" where you sit through a simulation of a "severe weather event". It's actually pretty fun and I think worth it if you're looking for something to do inside.

We had already written off Test Track considering the lines from the day before, so we rode Mission: Space again.

Up for lunch, Le Cellier. Worth the hype? Stay tuned!

Loving your tr, but can I just say AWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW, your puppy is soooooooooooo cute!

I wouldn't be able to do that ride. I would be finished for the rest of the day.

We did Stormstruck when we were there, too, but then ended up having to skip Sum of All Thrills because the line was 30 min long and Stormstruck had taken longer then we thought and we were trying to make it back to DHS for Beauty and the Beast. After hearing your report, I'm even more sad we had to skip out on it! Must do for next time!

Awesome! I was just telling my youngest daughter about 'Sum of All Thrills' ride yesterday. She's totally put it on her "to do" list for the night we're at Epcot.