Two Saturdays in September with TCD

[caveat lector 181]

Wow, bonus coverage before the weekend lands. That's a pretty good deal.

I know it's strange, but I just can't get past the name "Nutella". Is it something that reduces friction in your engine? Is it the stuff fake mink coats are made from? Is it some sort of new tropical penicillin? Nope. Based on the writings of you, Stef, and several others, it must be delicious. I'm sorry, but I'm afraid it will be relegated to "egg plant" status in my mind.

You have mad skills when it comes to intuition. Good choice switching to video, although I have denied myself the pleasure of viewing it. Like I heard on a sitcom awhile back, "I want to go in FRESH." :)

[Nicki aka Rebelstand 272]

I don't think he said how he like or didn't the Nutella waffle

[Katman1356...Jason 1,140]

I know it's strange, but I just can't get past the name "Nutella". Is it something that reduces friction in your engine? Is it the stuff fake mink coats are made from? Is it some sort of new tropical penicillin? Nope. Based on the writings of you, Stef, and several others, it must be delicious. I'm sorry, but I'm afraid it will be relegated to "egg plant" status in my mind.

In case you don't actually know Nutella is a Hazelnut Chocolate Spread from Italy. My wife's family loves it. We buy it in the big containers. Make dessert pizzas with it too.

ETA Oh and I don't like it but then I dont like Hazelnut.

[caveat lector 181]

I don't think he said how he like or didn't the Nutella waffle

Very good point

In case you don't actually know Nutella is a Hazelnut Chocolate Spread from Italy. My wife's family loves it. We buy it in the big containers. Make dessert pizzas with it too.

ETA Oh and I don't like it but then I dont like Hazelnut.

Sounds good, but I still can't get past the name

[DaveInTN 3,247]

Don't you like how they included the Hidden Mickey?

Oh, Lou?!?

I doubt he would agree with your designation. And I have a feeling you placed that in your report just waiting for someone to question it. :rofl3:

[DaveInTN 3,247]

Oh, one more thing. If they sold Nutela in 55 gallon drums, I would buy it that way. And we'd still run out by the end of the weekend.

[LONE-STAR 370]

Enjoying your report.

[dvccamper 32]

We always dip pretzels in nutella. I will have to try it on a waffle.

[Discamper 394]

This trailer complex didn't used to be here:

TCD

I think this area is sitting on the old runway/landing strip used by Walt and other when they scotting and building WDW

[stefa70 205]

I'm behind, as usual these days.

Love the service dog, he looks like Mason. :heart:

I'm so happy you finally got a nutella waffle, but Nicki is right, you never told us if you liked it?

[Momof6....aka Marty 769]

I am a big hazelnut fan and have been since I went to Germany in '79 and tried Hazelnut ice cream. My, oh my, but that is good! I gained 5 pounds the three weeks I was there and that was 5 lbs. of hazelnut ice cream and worth every ounce! I believe they call it Nuss ice cream there, in case you ever get there and want to order it.

BUT, I don't like Nutella because they claim to be good for you, yet use artificial flavors made from petro-chemicals. Yuck.

[CCIntrigue...aka Gwen 547]

I'm so happy you finally got a nutella waffle, but Nicki is right, you never told us if you liked it?

Yes, Andrew, do tell!

[Nicki aka Rebelstand 272]

but Nicki is right

could you please, please, please, with Jello shots on top say that again?

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Wow, bonus coverage before the weekend lands. That's a pretty good deal.

I know it's strange, but I just can't get past the name "Nutella". Is it something that reduces friction in your engine? Is it the stuff fake mink coats are made from? Is it some sort of new tropical penicillin? Nope. Based on the writings of you, Stef, and several others, it must be delicious. I'm sorry, but I'm afraid it will be relegated to "egg plant" status in my mind.

You have mad skills when it comes to intuition. Good choice switching to video, although I have denied myself the pleasure of viewing it. Like I heard on a sitcom awhile back, "I want to go in FRESH." :)

I am with you on the Nutella. I had never tried it until recently. I remember having seen it around in various places for years, but I never even thought of trying it.

We were introduced to it after my oldest daughter went off to college. Nutella was all the rage in her dorm.

Now, it seems to be everywhere. Carrabbas's restaurant has a Nutella and bananas dessert panini on their menu now. We tried one of those a couple of weeks ago. OMG, that was good.

I don't think he said how he like or didn't the Nutella waffle

Sorry. How could I have forgotten my review.

The Nutella waffle is a big win.

That thing is good.

I will definitely be having another.

In case you don't actually know Nutella is a Hazelnut Chocolate Spread from Italy. My wife's family loves it. We buy it in the big containers. Make dessert pizzas with it too.

ETA Oh and I don't like it but then I dont like Hazelnut.

Nutella is Italian?

I didn't know that. I always figured it was German.

I like Hazelnuts, but I don't really taste the Hazelnuts in the Nutella. Mostly it tastes like chocolate.

Oh, Lou?!?

I doubt he would agree with your designation. And I have a feeling you placed that in your report just waiting for someone to question it. :rofl3:

Good catch, Dave.

I have made a few Hidden Mickey references in this little report.

Lou has not taken the bait.

Where is Lou, anyway?

Oh, one more thing. If they sold Nutela in 55 gallon drums, I would buy it that way. And we'd still run out by the end of the weekend.

LOL!

It seem like Nutella is everywhere now.

I was just at a 7-11 over the weekend, and they had small packages of it for sale at the cash register.

Really.

Enjoying your report.

Thanks, Michael.

I still have a little ways to go with it.

And, then we will finish up with the best part of the trip.

We always dip pretzels in nutella. I will have to try it on a waffle.

Pretzels?

That's genius.

I am going to give that a try.

I think this area is sitting on the old runway/landing strip used by Walt and other when they scotting and building WDW

No, I don't think so.

This is the old STOL-port. It wasn't there when Walt was flying around looking for land.

I think the new trailer complex is sitting on the old runway, and that the curving roadway in the photo is new.

I'm behind, as usual these days.

Love the service dog, he looks like Mason. :heart:

I'm so happy you finally got a nutella waffle, but Nicki is right, you never told us if you liked it?

I'm pretty sure I told you in person when I saw you later that night that I liked the Nutella waffle.

And, I have now said so in this report.

I am a big hazelnut fan and have been since I went to Germany in '79 and tried Hazelnut ice cream. My, oh my, but that is good! I gained 5 pounds the three weeks I was there and that was 5 lbs. of hazelnut ice cream and worth every ounce! I believe they call it Nuss ice cream there, in case you ever get there and want to order it.

BUT, I don't like Nutella because they claim to be good for you, yet use artificial flavors made from petro-chemicals. Yuck.

Petro-chemicals?

They don't sound good.

But, they taste good.

I have never had hazelnut ice cream, but that sounds good too.

TCD

[CCIntrigue...aka Gwen 547]

Anxiously awaiting an update!

[shoreline99 137]

Most gelato places (good ones, anyway) usually have Hazelnut (and probably pistachio) as one of their standard flavors.

If you ever have the opportunity to find and try this, i highly recommend it.

Gelato, by the way, is Italian for 'very rich and expensive ice cream', which I guess is appropriate to mention today in honor of Christopher Columbus.

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Anxiously awaiting an update!

Sorry to leave you hanging.

An update is on the way.

Most gelato places (good ones, anyway) usually have Hazelnut (and probably pistachio) as one of their standard flavors.

If you ever have the opportunity to find and try this, i highly recommend it.

Gelato, by the way, is Italian for 'very rich and expensive ice cream', which I guess is appropriate to mention today in honor of Christopher Columbus.

Thanks for that tip.

Every now and then, I found myself at a gelato place. It seems like I always go for the pistachio. I will look for hazelnut next time.

TCD

[CCIntrigue...aka Gwen 547]

Sorry to leave you hanging.

An update is on the way.

TCD

Still waiting!

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

We left off with our arrival at Epcot.

The crowds didn't look bad as we circled the park in the monorail.

But, there were long lines at the bag check and turnsyles.

It was the first Saturday night of the Food and Wine Festival.

We were arriving along with the rest of the party scene.

A lot of folks say avoid the Food and Wine Festival on weekend nights.

I am not one of them.

I like to be where the people are.

The Food and Wine Festival is fun when it's crowded.

Here we are at this year's official cardboard welcome sign:

I don't know that couple there on the right.

There was kind-of a line here at the entry sign to take photos. And I waited on it to get my turn. But, that couple just jumped right on in.

Whatever.

Now they are kind of famous.

Being in a TCD TR and all.

Also, I am probably mistaken, but I swear that little plaque on display there is not what is usually there. That plaque is from when they were selling the Leave a Legacy portraits. I thought it had been replaced a long time ago. But, there it is.

We headed straight back through the middle of Future World.

The cranberry bog is back again this year:

I guess since it was the first weekend, they had plenty of workers available to stand in the bog:

I learned something interesting about fruits native to North America. It turns out cranberries are only one of three:

To quote FWG . . .

Sometimes I feel like I live in Russia:

But, all is not lost.

Even though you can't scoop your own berries out of the bog, there is a little stand off to the side where you can get a free small bag of craisins.

Yes, I said free.

Don't get too excited. I also said small.

But still, any free stuff in Disney is nice when you can get it.

I guess someone from the Watermelon Commission heard about the cranberries at the Food and Wine Festival last year, and they wanted in on the action.

So, this year, we get a watermelon patch:

And, there were even some watermelons growing in the patch:

Talk about some random facts:

As far as I could see, there was no free watermelon to be had.

Bad job Watermelon Commission.

The cranberry folks are putting you to shame.

There have already been several excellent reports posted on ff.net about the Food and Wine Festival. With photos and everything. Two good ones are Devores' and BBB's.

I am not going to cover the same ground they did.

Instead, I am going to focus a bit on what it is like to visit on a Saturday night.

We had already all agreed that we would go counter-clockwise tonight, starting with Canada.

Canada had something new that we all wanted to try. So, we made a right turn at the watermelon patch:

And headed toward Canada:

The photos I have seen so far of the Food and Wine Festival show the cute food booths with a couple of folks standing on line.

Well, that isn't what we saw tonight.

Here we are at the Canada line. All the people you see between me and that little booth in the background are ahead of me in line:

It doesn't look so bad across the way at Greece, but their line is along the railing in the back of this photo. It wasn't as long as Canada's but it was long:

Here are a couple of shots I took while waiting in the Canada line:

In case you can't tell, it was busy.

But, it still wasn't bad.

When Disney wants your money, they can make lines move pretty quick. I don't think it was more than 5 minutes from when I got on the Canada line until I was holding my filet.

We got two orders of the new Canada item- the beef filet. Oh, boy, that was good.

That was a good first choice.

Next stop would be Ireland. For Fisherman's Pie.

Here are some sights from along the way:

See that guy in the sombrero? Usually, you see at least one whole group of folks in sombreros. But we didn't tonight. Also, no groups in matching t-shirts. I guess that kind of thing will come in the next weeks. Tonight's crowd was actually kind of subdued.

The Fisherman's Pie was great! It used to be my favorite dish. But, now I think that honor goes to the Canada filet.

Next, we continued on to France:

We got three orders of Coq a Vin here. We all love it. And we are not alone. We had to wait a few minutes for them to get caught up with the orders. This is the line of folks behind us:

As we got around to the back part of the World Showcase, we found more crowds:

The girls wanted to try the new hand rolls from Japan. I wanted to try something from the new Florida booth, so they went to Japan, and I went to Florida, and we agreed to meet somewhere between the two to enjoy our dishes.

This is a shot of the decor of the Florida booth:

And here's a shot of the crowd walking by:

There was a small group of folks sporting fake moustaches. I only got their leader in this photo:

The Florida booth was slow. So slow, that by the time I met up with the girls, they had already finished their sushi and were ready to move on.

They gave me a minute to eat what I got from the Florida booth. This is the pork dish. It is served over corn and weeds:

On the weekends, the Food and Wine Festival includes performances by washed up one-hit wonder bands from the fifties through the nineties. Tonight's band was Night Ranger. I remember the name, but I couldn't remember their hit.

Well, as we walked past the Amercia pavilion, they were just wrapping up their concert by playing their hit. Then I remembered.

Sister Christian.

I sure remember that song!

And, Night Ranger sounded pretty good.

Here's a photo of the full house enjoying Night Ranger. Probably the biggest crowd they ever played to:

I thought I should take a video. The song was almost over, but I figured since it was their one hit, they would drag it out a bit. Plus, I didn't know this was their last song, so I thought I could record the next one. So, I started to video. If you know the Sister Christian song, you will definitely recognize the end of it:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=feHNFt_1gCE&feature=youtu.be

You may have noticed that video ends rather abruptly.

Well, when Night Ranger finished that song, you can see people began to get up and prepare to leave. Do you see how many people are there? What if they all headed out to the food booths at once? That would be bad for us. So, instead of watching any more, we bolted to our next stop.

Here's what I'm talking about- a group of ballet dancers and pirates:

And one more crowd shot before it gets dark:

If you know your International Showcase geography, you might know that we will soon be arriving at Italy. We love the Italy booth, but we were getting full, so we saved that for next time, and marched on to something that Twin #2 and I have been looking forward to all year. The sausage on a pretzel roll in Germany. The girls got on line for that, and I got on line for a beer. They have a special booth for beer back here by Germany. They call it the Brewer's Collection. Here are the choices they had there:

What would you choose?

What do you think I chose?

You are going to have to wait until the next post to find out.

Because, we are at the photo limit.

And, if you think that you escaped without seeing a photo of the sausage on the pretzel roll, you only are enjoying a temporary reprieve. Because there will be a photo or two of that subject matter coming up next as well. You have been warned.

TCD

[devores 382]

I know what you had.......

[The Troll 67]

Awesome trip report. Damn, you are making me so hungry.

[Nicki aka Rebelstand 272]

Funny... we are having hot dogs tonight and I am waiting on them to cook....YOU are making me very very hungry

[Heidi-meetsTCD@TSM 5]

Great update as usual!

Wow, that is quite a crowd there in Epcot!

I have never been to the Food & Wine Festival. I want to try it some year.

Heidi

[PureTcrazy...rita 380]

I just caught up. Whew. I was gonna skip the preview, but gave in. I didn't look at the Magic Mirror video though. I hope to see it myself soon! It looks like you had an awesome Birthday!

BTW, the photopass dude was mistaken. You know you should get your info from the bus drivers! Here is a picture of Ed and our tagalong with Mary Poppins!

[DaveInTN 3,247]

My money is on the Dunkel. I figure Dunkel sounds about right for a guy about to show us obscene pictures of a sausage.