A Shining New Era is Tiptoeing Nearer for the TCD Gang

[Momof6....aka Marty 769]

Glad T#2 is okay!

 

Making notes on my Epcot map about free chocolate and the time Club Cool opens.

[DaveInTN 3,247]

Interesting that Club Cool (or whatever it's called) doesn't open till 10:30 now.  I know for certain that at least in March 2012 it opened at park opening.  That's when we all (all 17 of us) were there for rope drop and Ray was charged with leading the herd to Test Track right when we got it while I took all 17 tickets to get Soarin' fastpasses.  I was going to single rider TT and catch up with them.  Great plan, right?  Well, what did they do instead?  They went to Club Cool.  At 9:00 a.m.  And wasted about 20 prime minutes during spring break.  I could have killed them.

 

Ahhhh, memories.

 

Do I need to get some Beverly for Ray this weekend? 

[lklasing 16]

Do I need to get some Beverly for Ray this weekend? 

 

Yes.  I actually almost killed him.

[fowlandfishmommy 10]

Okay I have to post this.  :) I couldn't help myself.  I saw this and immediately thought of a trip report!!  It had to have been a TCD trip report because he is the king of posting pictures of people's weird clothes.  

 

http://uniquecoolyou.com/collections/shop-all/products/rock-out-with-your-peacock-out

[fladogfan aka Gretchen 259]

Very interesting.  Back in the late '70's you would be doing all that baking just for the MK, and the few resort hotels that existed then.  I guess that facility was too small to keep up once the other parks and all the other hotels opened.

 

Which begs the question:  where does all the baking take place now?  Where exactly do they make all of those cupcakes that are in all the parks and resorts? 

 

TCD

I really don't know. I left working for WDW as Epcot was being built and know the bakery had added some ovens  to be able to bake for Epcot.  Maybe the countries do their own baking, if I remember correctly, a lot of work was farmed out during the reign of Eisner.  It's a good question TCD, who bakes and preps for all the food places in AK, MK, Epcot and HS, plus all the Disney hotels and the cast eating spots also?

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

I'm glad the other insurance company finally took the blame.

Bring on the pood forn!

 

I'm glad too.  Fortunately, I have never had to personally deal with a situation like this where the at-fault driver decided to lie.  The thing that really irritated me was that this other driver and her boyfriend are both Castmembers.  And not college program kids- actual Disney castmembers.  As far as I'm concerned, they committed insurance fraud.  I wanted to turn them in to Disney, but Twin #2 asked me not to.  She doesn't know either of them, but they both work at DHS, and given what they already did, Twin #2 had fear of what could happen if I complained.

 

Photographs and descriptions of various Food and Wine Festival dishes are on the way.

 

My parents took me to the making of me. Pretty sure I covered my eyes the whole time.

 

After trying to watch the video John posted, I don't blame you.

 

Here ya go !

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EZhnqkL8tCQ

 

Thanks.

 

I tried to watch it, but man, it's boring.  I could only take about 3 minutes.  Glad to know that we didn't miss anything.

 

I am glad the Twin was not injured and refrained from injuring the lying sack of #%#$.

I think I will not plan on making rope drop for Club Cool.

 

In the grand scheme of things, it wasn't that big of a deal.  If I think about it, it does make me mad that the other driver would be clueless enough to back into somebody else in a parking lot, and then lie about it.

 

Yeah, don't plan on rope drop for Club Cool.

 

Interesting that Club Cool (or whatever it's called) doesn't open till 10:30 now.  I know for certain that at least in March 2012 it opened at park opening.  That's when we all (all 17 of us) were there for rope drop and Ray was charged with leading the herd to Test Track right when we got it while I took all 17 tickets to get Soarin' fastpasses.  I was going to single rider TT and catch up with them.  Great plan, right?  Well, what did they do instead?  They went to Club Cool.  At 9:00 a.m.  And wasted about 20 prime minutes during spring break.  I could have killed them.

 

Ahhhh, memories.

 

Geez.  I hope Ray and the others enjoyed waiting in line for Test Track after the free soda.  That's a great story.  I'm sure it wasn't funny at the time, though.

 

Happy that Twin #2 is okay.

 

Rope drop for Club Cool?  Unbelievable.

 

Otherwise too much to comment on.

 

Yeah, don't go out of your way for the Club Cool rope drop.

 

Glad T#2 is okay!

 

Making notes on my Epcot map about free chocolate and the time Club Cool opens.

 

There is also a bowl with Werther's Carmel Apple candy at the booth where they pass out the Festival passports and maps.  However, if you are pressed for time, I don't think the Festival Center should be a priority.  Even with the free mini piece of chocolate.

 

Do I need to get some Beverly for Ray this weekend? 

 

Is Beverly sold anywhere?

 

Yes.  I actually almost killed him.

 

Since the murder trial would be held in Orange County, you would just have to hope for one Disney World fan on the jury.  You'd be acquitted.  He deserved it.

 

Okay I have to post this.   :) I couldn't help myself.  I saw this and immediately thought of a trip report!!  It had to have been a TCD trip report because he is the king of posting pictures of people's weird clothes.  

 

http://uniquecoolyou.com/collections/shop-all/products/rock-out-with-your-peacock-out

 

Wow.

 

Those are spectacular.

 

And you're right-if I ever saw those in person, there would be many photos of them in the trip report.

 

TCD

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

I really don't know. I left working for WDW as Epcot was being built and know the bakery had added some ovens  to be able to bake for Epcot.  Maybe the countries do their own baking, if I remember correctly, a lot of work was farmed out during the reign of Eisner.  It's a good question TCD, who bakes and preps for all the food places in AK, MK, Epcot and HS, plus all the Disney hotels and the cast eating spots also?

 

Hmmm.  This is something that I would like to know.  There has to be a big baking facility somewhere, or a bunch of small ones.  It would be a very interesting thing to see, I'm sure.

 

As far as cast eating spots,  I once went to one as the guest of my old buddy, Lou, and was surprised to see that it was operated by a third party vendor, Aramark.  Since then, there was an announcement that a different company would be taking over the venues that serve food to the cast.  It even was mentioned here on ff.net:  http://www.fortfiends.net/forum/topic/9398-disney-cast-dining-changes-from-aramark-to-sodexomagic/

 

I wonder how much more of the food preparation is farmed out to third parties?  I've don't recall hearing much from people who are actual Disney CM's and work in a baking facility.

 

TCD

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Before moving on with the next update, I need to back up and post this photo from my shuttle ride from the B hotel to Epcot.  This shows the tip basket, which the driver primed by throwing in a couple of bucks to get the money flowing:

 

 

I zoomed in as much as I could on the signs above the baskets.  The top one says "Gratuity Permitted For Exceptional Guest Service."  The bottom one gives the driver's name.

 

And, this is a photo for anyone interested in an update on FP+ hacks.  I used three of the Magic Bands I got for fictitious members of the TCD gang on previous Fort trips to see what I could get at an Epcot FP+ kiosk on a not so busy Monday morning, around 9:45 am:

 

 

Not too bad, as these were supplementing the FP+ reservations I had already made on my actual MB's.

 

TCD

[Helmsey......Todd 134]

Caught up after being away for a bit.

Glad T2 is ok.

Lying idiots SMB.

[Beckers 1,136]

Soooo, does that mean for my trip we should add people to the reservation and use the extra MB? Am I following this correctly ?

[caveat lector 181]

TCD,

Rumor has it that the bird you hit on the way to Key West, is contesting your insurance claim. Supposedly, he has gathered many other "birds of a similar feather" and contrived a story that they witnessed you plotting with some of the cats in the area.

This will be tied up in the courts forever. The birds don't have a right hand to place on the bible, so you can't trust any of their attestations.

(No, I haven't been drinking this morning, just thought it was funny)

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Soooo, does that mean for my trip we should add people to the reservation and use the extra MB? Am I following this correctly ?

 

So far, the trick works.  These extra MB's don't have tickets associated with them, so they can only be used by someone able to enter the park with a ticket.  You have to go to a kiosk, and scan each of the MB's you want to use.  Then you can make FP+ reservations on them.  On the other occasions I've tested this, the pickings were slim because it was later in the day.  Here at Epcot on a slowish day,  almost everything was available, but for later in the day.  At the MK, it would be a good way to score some later in the day FP+'s.  All you have to do is swap wristbands at the appropriate time, and you're in.

 

You don't want to do this trick if you're staying in a hotel, as they charge for more than 2 adults in the room.  At the campsites, though, you can have up to ten guests, and there is no extra charge. My original extra guests were my non-existent nieces, Anna and Elsa.  That ended up being a bad idea, as it always prompts comments from CM's, who ask if those are their real names.  Now, I go for gender neutral names, which is where Hunter and Pat came from.  Anyone can wear those wristbands, and I don't have to endure a raised eyebrow from a CM when my MB says Elsa.

 

TCD

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Caught up after being away for a bit.

Glad T2 is ok.

Lying idiots SMB.

 

Amen.

 

TCD,

Rumor has it that the bird you hit on the way to Key West, is contesting your insurance claim. Supposedly, he has gathered many other "birds of a similar feather" and contrived a story that they witnessed you plotting with some of the cats in the area.

This will be tied up in the courts forever. The birds don't have a right hand to place on the bible, so you can't trust any of their attestations.

(No, I haven't been drinking this morning, just thought it was funny)

 

I am not sure if I should believe that rumor.  When I hit the bird, I was shocked, and it didn't sound so bad, so I didn't stop and check on the bird.  When I stopped and saw the damage, I figured that bird ended up on the menu for his fellow buzzards.  So, I'm not sure I have to worry about him making a claim against me.

 

That was a good post, though.

 

TCD

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

So, let's get going with this latest bonus content.

 

I don't think there have been any Fiend reports from the Food And Wine Festival yet, and there are some things that need to be told.

 

I already broke the news that there is no cranberry bog and no free Craisins this year.  But, there's more new stuff to report on.

 

First, though, let me show you rope drop at Club Cool.  Look at the mob which had assembled to get a few free sips of weird soda:

 

 

Twin #1 told me that she had been here for rope drop before, and that a special song was played over the loudspeakers at opening time.  We heard no such song today.  The mob just plowed ahead and headed to the drink machines.

 

Since we were behind the mob, I walked all the way to the far side of the room, hoping everyone would be too lazy to walk that far.  And, it turned out that was a good strategy, because I spotted an open machine, and was about to step right up to it.  But, I made the mistake of stopping to get a cup first, which allowed a stroller mom to zoom behind me and park her stroller across the entire machine, so she could have it all to herself.  She was not rude though, because she did say excuse me when she reached her sweaty teacher flabby arm in front of me to grab a cup:

 

 

I am not even sure if there was an actual kid in that stroller.  If there was, he didn't get any soda.  Mom guzzled enough for both of them, though.  And she took her sweet time enjoying that machine all by herself.

 

None of this was necessary or a big deal, as most people in this situation practice something called sharing.  That's a foreign concept to stroller moms.  So, I got my free soda anyway.  All I wanted.  But, there wasn't anything here that I wanted:

 

 

I knew that they introduced new flavors, but I didn't know that they replaced everything but Beverly.  BTW, if you are somehow a newbie and have never been to Ice Station Cool, the Beverly is the best.  Get a big cup of that first. 

 

Oh, and I would be remiss if I didn't mention another huge benefit of getting here to Ice Station Cool for rope drop.  The floor was only barely sticky.  Like you could walk on it, and your feet only stuck a little bit.  That's a miracle.  Certainly not something that I had ever experienced in this place.

 

I think we were done with Ice Station Cool in five minutes.  Which meant we had to find something to do until 11, which is when the World Showcase food booths open.

 

We headed right next door into the big air conditioned space that doesn't really serve any purpose other than providing a really nice place to take a break.  We chilled there, and then headed out toward the World Showcase at a couple of minutes before 11.

 

In the place where the cranberry bog has been for the past few years, there is just a Mickey topiary.  No Minnie.  Just Mickey.  And, he's holding a big bowl of salad:

 

 

 

Sorry, but that ain't right.  When did Mickey go vegan?  He should be holding a turkey leg.  Or a Mickey Premium Bar. Or a bratwurst in a pretzel roll.  Not a bowl of salad. This isn't the International Salad Festival.

 

While Twin #1 and I were chilling, we studied our Festival map and the Discovery Passport to make a strategy of what booths we wanted to hit on the first lap around.

 

The big decision we had to make first is which way to go.  Toward Mexico, or toward Canada?

 

The booths are numbered, and booth #1 is on the Mexico side.  I like to do things in order.  But, the number one thing we both agreed we wanted was in the Brazil booth.  Last year, the Brazil booth was on the way to Mexico, and was one of the first booths you would come to.  This year, it is all the way across the lake next to France.  We would get there first by heading toward Canada, so that answered that question.

 

I also decided that there was something at the Scotland booth I wanted to try,  And that was the very first booth we saw as we headed into the World Showcase.  This was also a new location.  The Scotland booth used to be over by the Great Britain pavilion, along with Ireland.  Which made sense.  Now, it's the very first booth on the right.  And because of that, it's the first booth people wanted to stop at, which meant there was a line:

 

 

I didn't expect this many people to be in line for a booth where the first item on the menu was vegetarian haggis:

 

 

Since the numbering system began on the Mexico side, Scotland was booth number 36.  Guess what's booth number 1?  Terra. The vegan's paradise. You saw the line at Scotland. Look over there at the line for Tera:

 

 

The people you see in front of the booth aren't in line.  There is no line.  You can see there are some CM's there waiting to help the guests who want to try the "CraB'less CraB" cakes.  But there are no takers.

 

And, let's pause for just a minute and look at the name of that item.  That is exactly how that is spelled on the menu.  Why are the "B's" capitalized?  And what's with the apostrophe?  What the heck are those things?  No wonder there is not a single guest in line.

 

Now, let's take a look at what they were offering up here in Scotland:

 

 

That's a page from the Discovery Passport I picked up in the Festival Center.  You see how there's a little place to get the passport stamped?  That's a thing.  But notice that Scotland is the 36th booth.  That means you have to get 36 stamps to get them all.  When we were newbies, we started with trying to collect all the stamps in the passports. But, that's a lot of stamps.  And, there isn't a good reason to collect them all.  On the inside cover of the passport, there's a place to get a stamp to confirm that you got all the stamps:

 

 

I once asked a CM what a guest got for earning the stamp of completion.  The answer was that you got the satisfaction of collecting all the stamps.

 

Truthfully, it's not all that satisfying.

 

Oh, here's what the passports look like in case you're looking for one:

 

 

Anyway, this time, Twin #1 and I agreed that we would try to get a passport filled with stamps over the course of the Food and Wine Festival.  We were here at the beginning, and it goes all the way through November, so we should be able to do that.  Time will tell.

 

Getting back to Scotland, what I wanted to try was the seared scallop with spinach cheddar gratin and crispy bacon.  This is what I got:

 

 

Twin #1 said her stomach wasn't feeling a scallop and spinach that early in the day.  But, that thing was good.  She tried a bite and agreed.  All of the components worked very well together, especially the bacon,  and this is now definitely one of my top 5 dishes for this year's festival.

 

Next to Scotland, just like on the globe, was Hawaii.  Nothing new here.  Pork sliders or bait:

 

 

We kept walking.

 

Next was dessert.  Too early:

 

 

 

Then we came to a new booth for this year- Puerto Rico.  The Puerto Ricans got the hook-up, their booth is down this fancy path:

 

 

And it's got a second floor:

 

 

This is the Puerto Rico page in the passport, in case you're interested in what they're serving there.  I want to try some of those items, but today, we had agreed to head to Brazil after Scotland:

 

 

The Canada booth is one of our favorites, and we planned to come back to it later. For now, we kept going:

 

 

Here's Canada's menu:

 

 

Here's a look at the Canada pavilion from near the booth- note the lack of sweaty mobs of guests:

 

 

We kept walking past Greece, and then past Ireland.  We were encouraged to see that there were no lines at any of these booths. That is not at all what we're used to. The people you see in this photo are just standing around gawking.  The place for customers to order is over to the right, and nobody was in line to order:

 

 

We walked past some street performers in England.  Not my cup of tea (as they say across the pond) :

 

 

When we got to France, there was no line there either:

 

 

There is a new item on the France booth menu that I wanted to try.  It's the mushroom pasta dish listed second for the France booth:

 

 

Please disregard the fact that the Ireland and Canada stamps have been placed on those pages.  Spoiler Alert- we took a second lap later with Twin #2.  But, I am telling you about the first lap now.

 

Even though we had agreed to head straight to Brazil, we agreed to get one of the mushroom pasta things and split it.  Here it is:

 

 

If you like mushrooms, then you'll like this.  There are a lot of mushrooms in there.  More that you might think.  Like maybe more mushrooms than pasta.  I like mushrooms, but they could have gotten by with a few less.  Still, it was a good dish, and a very nice portion too.

 

Then we found Brazil.  I don't like Brazilian tour groups.  But I like the Brazil booth.  And here it is in its new location:

 

 

Brazil is right next to France now. Belgium used to occupy this spot.  Which makes sense.  I don't know why Brazil is here.  But it is.  And luckily for us- there was no one in line here either.  You see all the posts they have there for crowd control?  They usually need to use them here.  Not today:

 

 

This is the Brazil page from the passport.  We were here for the Crispy Pork Belly:

 

 

This was our favorite dish from last year's festival, so we each got our own serving.  It's a little different this year, as they have dropped the avocado,  which we both missed:

 

 

It may not look like much, but that crispy pork belly is the bomb dot com. Since avocado is not listed as an ingredient in the passport, it must have been dropped this year.  This was still Twin #1's favorite dish at the end of the day.  I have a new one.  But, we will need to wait for the next update for that.

 

TCD

[GaDawgFan.....Kelly 799]

Based on the inside of your passport, they're going to offer food booths and the Flower and Garden Festival since they are telling people to continue their culinary adventure. 

 

Lucky you with the low crowds. I bet even early on Friday and Saturday, it will be A LOT busier. 

 

Good to know about the scallop because I want to try that. I'm undecided about the pork belly. I like bacon and most pork, but fatty limp bacon kind of grosses me out. Is that what it's like? 

[alexwyattmommy 181]

Lots of Gluten Free and Vegetarian options.  That is pretty nice.

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Based on the inside of your passport, they're going to offer food booths and the Flower and Garden Festival since they are telling people to continue their culinary adventure.

That is a very good observation. I did see they were promoting the Flower and Garden Festival, but skimmed right over the part about continuing your culinary adventure. I think you are right-they are planning to bring back food booths then.

 

Lucky you with the low crowds. I bet even early on Friday and Saturday, it will be A LOT busier.

Absolutely. I've been on a Saturday morning, and it's been wall to wall people back there in the area of France. We were very lucky on this trip. It's not as much fun if you have to stand on a long line at each booth. But, I will say that they do a pretty good job keeping the lines moving. You can see in the photo of the Brazil booth that they can put three CM's out there to collect money if they need to.

 

Good to know about the scallop because I want to try that. I'm undecided about the pork belly. I like bacon and most pork, but fatty limp bacon kind of grosses me out. Is that what it's like?

The scallop is great.

The pork belly is not like fatty limp bacon. It's more like the crispy edge of a pork chop. But, there's no getting around the fact that it's fatty. The fat is kind of crisp though.

TCD

 

 

Lots of Gluten Free and Vegetarian options.  That is pretty nice.

Good point. The Gluten free items are indicated in the descriptions. The vegetarian items are marked with the green box with the V in it next to the item.

TCD

[DaveInTN 3,247]

 

 

 

 

:barf:

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

:barf:

 

What has gotten in to you, man?

 

That's basically a giant piece of bacon.

 

I guess you prefer CraB'less CraB cakes now?

 

TCD

[LONE-STAR 370]

:barf:

Yep I am with you on that.

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Yep I am with you on that.

 

OK.  More for me.

 

Enjoy the CraB'less CraB cakes over at Terra with DIT.

 

Don't forget the cupcake with Tofu icing.

 

TCD

[CCIntrigue...aka Gwen 547]

What has gotten in to you, man?

 

That's basically a giant piece of bacon.

 

 

That's basically a giant piece of RAW bacon.

[DaveInTN 3,247]

What has gotten in to you, man?

 

That's basically a giant piece of bacon.

 

I guess you prefer CraB'less CraB cakes now?

 

TCD

 

The crabless crap would make me puke too.  That just ain't right. 

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

That's basically a giant piece of RAW bacon.

 

It's not raw. It's crispy.  Says so right there in the description.  And it's gluten free.  So, it's good for you, right?

 

The crabless crap would make me puke too.  That just ain't right. 

 

OK.  So there's still some hope for you.  Glad to hear it.

 

TCD

[DaveInTN 3,247]

 

OK.  So there's still some hope for you.  Glad to hear it.

 

 

Probably not by your standards.