Stop Throwing Tissues on Me! – September 2023 Food and Wine Fest Trip Report! (Updated 2/12!)

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Yay! Glad you are feeling better!

Thank you! I'm so happy it cleared up before the trip!

I found the ride stopped a lot this summer too. Lie you, I really enjoyed the chance to take in all the details.

Yeah I don't mind so much if it stops for short bits, there is so much to discover in there it's great to have that mini stop to try to find new details!

Wow!!!!!

I know, big wow! I had no idea! It's so cool, I wish he were still alive, I would have loved to get more details from him about it.

Amazing pictures!

Thanks!

Weird! Usually they are pretty diligent about checking.

Yeah, we're used to them being super strict about who gets by, maybe it was just an off night or they were understaffed that night?

Woohoo!!!!! What a fabulous upgrade!!!!!

Such an amazing upgrade, I still can't believe it happened!

 

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I'm very excited about your new trip and know you will have a fabulous time! Loved your last Trip Report as always.
Thrilled you have a two bedroom!

Thank you! I'm still in shock we got that upgrade, I've heard of such things happening, but never thought it would happen to us!

 

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Best upgrade ever! I am very impressed. It should make your mom and dad happy, too. Did you have just a regular cl room booked?

It really was, it was the most amazing way to start the trip! We had a deluxe cl room booked originally.

 

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Yay to feeling better. And mega YAY to that upgrade!!! Have an amazing trip!

I'm so happy I got better just in time for the trip. And that upgrade was so amazing, I can't believe how lucky we got!

 

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If anyone is interested in checking out my new December TR, you can find it here: https://www.disboards.com/threads/you-get-a-suite-you-get-a-suite-everybody-gets-a-suite-december-2023-trip-report.3935559/​

 

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Day 3, Part 7: MNSSHP, Part 4!​

We last left off playing around on Buzz.

After Buzz we wandered looking for more photopass photographers, and when we saw treat trails with short lines we hopped in those as well.





I do have to say, the CMs handing out candy this night were stingy! I thought by using the scoops we’d get so much more than normal, but most of the time they only had like 3 pieces of candy in each scoop.

At some point after the party started, I had booked us a DAS for 7DMT, and by the time we made it to Fantasyland it was past our return time, so we headed there to ride!

After the ride we continued our way around the park, stopping at the treat trails on the way.

Also, I’m not sure what was going on this evening, but the party seemed super crowded, like way more crowded than last year. You know that period between 4 and 6 when you still have the day guests and the party guests have entered and it seems unnecessarily crowded? Well, that’s how it ended up feeling all night long. Definitely felt way more crowded than last year, but not as bad as 2018 when it felt actually unsafe with the crowds (we couldn’t physically move at points the path was so congested…and this wasn’t after a parade or fireworks).

Anyways, moving on! After strolling around the park getting treats and pictures, we finally found ourselves in Liberty Square, where my favorite party photopass pictures are, so we of course stopped for them!





After the pictures we decided to head back towards the hub and possibly get more pictures and see if anything was going on.

The Hocus Pocus show ended up starting just as we arrived, so we stopped to watch. Of course this group of what looked like college kids decided to get up on the walls in front of us so no one behind them could see. I’m actually shocked the CMs allowed this, this seemed kinda unsafe, plus it ruined the view of everyone behind them!

We ended up listening to the show for a bit, but as we were standing there I looked over and noticed that people were already seated at Tomorrowland Terrace for the dessert party, so I suggested we head over there even though it was crazy early.

Now in the past we’ve found that they start letting people in ~15-20 minutes before the arrival time provided and there is usually a line at that point, so I believe this evening it said to arrive at 9:15, so we had planned to arrive around 8:45, so it was shocking around 8:30 to see people already seated!

We made our way over and sure enough, they were already open for business! Since we were still one of the first to get there we mostly had our choice of table, but my favorite table that I’ve been lucky to get the last two dessert parties was already taken, so we selected the table next to it.

We actually ended up chatting with the people that took “our” table, and funny enough they also always try to be the first ones in to grab that exact table. Haha! They were super sweet though so we couldn’t stay mad at them.

Once settled in, we headed up to grab some food and drinks!





The desserts were really good, but I wish they would bring back some savory stuff, remember when they had the cheeseburger egg rolls here years ago? I miss that!

After a few rounds of desserts and wine, it was finally time for the fireworks to start!





The fireworks seemed extra vibrant this night, I think it was because it was sooooo windy the smoke cleared almost immediately, so it lead to a great show!

I know the view isn’t perfect from Tomorrowland Terrace, but we really love this dessert party. Having a seat, some food and wine, and being away from the crowds makes it 100% worth it to us!

After the show ended we hung out and enjoyed some more wine for a bit to let the crowds disperse.

Finally we headed out again, this time on a mission to get more candy! At this point we had been through the treat trails 10 times and our bags weren’t even half full. Seriously, this was the worst showing for candy handouts we’ve ever seen!

We started at Monsters Inc Laugh Floor, and ended up just looping around going through that treat trail 4 times before taking a break to watch some of the show.

It’s always fun to stop there a bit to take in some of the comedy!

Finally we felt it was time to move on, so headed to the next treat trail, which we looped through this time 5 times!

You would think by now we were almost up to 20 times through treat trails we would have full bags right? Nope! Our bags were still not full. We went through far more treat trails this evening than ever before, and got significantly less candy.

Our original plan had been to head to Frontierland to watch the second parade, but by 11:15 my moms leg was really starting to bother her so we decided to heads towards Main Street instead so we could make a quick exit after the parade.

Well, sadly that didn’t last long, after making it to Main Street, my mom was in a lot of pain, and I actually was too (that wheelchair in the morning really messed up my back), so we decided to just call it a night.

At this point both mom and I were struggling to walk, and I just couldn’t fathom having to stand up on a bus, so I decided to see if I could get us a Minnie Van. At this point it was close to 11:30 so I had hopes it would be early enough we could get one, and I’m happy to say I did!!!!! A true MNSSHP miracle!!!!

Of course I got one while we were on Main Street, and it was at the Contemporary, so would be there basically immediately, and we still had to hobble out of the park and over to the pick up spot!

I had to tell my mom it was 10 minutes out so she wouldn’t get upset, but I did encourage her to hustle.

We actually got to the car only about a minute after it arrived, so they didn’t have to wait long!

It was a glorious relaxing trip back to the YC, and soon we were home and ready to head to bed.

But the night wasn’t done with us yet!

Upon entering the room we found there was a box sitting on the counter under the TV, which we soon realized was full of chocolate covered strawberries!





I have no idea why we received these, but it was so nice to get!

Next up: The Most Crowded Epcot Morning​

 

[Wood Nymph]

The Hocus Pocus show ended up starting just as we arrived, so we stopped to watch. Of course this group of what looked like college kids decided to get up on the walls in front of us so no one behind them could see. I’m actually shocked the CMs allowed this, this seemed kinda unsafe, plus it ruined the view of everyone behind them!

That was really rude of those kids to do that. It would have been nice if the CM's told them to get down. The CM's tend to be a little too non-confrontational at times.

We actually ended up chatting with the people that took “our” table, and funny enough they also always try to be the first ones in to grab that exact table. Haha! They were super sweet though so we couldn’t stay mad at them.

That's funny about the favorite table.

The desserts were really good, but I wish they would bring back some savory stuff

The lack of savory options is the number one reason I won't buy a dessert party ticket.

Upon entering the room we found there was a box sitting on the counter under the TV, which we soon realized was full of chocolate covered strawberries!

That was a really nice surprise. I would guess that you weren't too hungry for them that night.

 

[Stacybaeasm]

I can't wait to hear about the strawberries!

 

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That was really rude of those kids to do that. It would have been nice if the CM's told them to get down. The CM's tend to be a little too non-confrontational at times.

It really was, I wish the CMs would do more to stop behavior like that.

That's funny about the favorite table.

Haha, yeah, wild that the night we go just happened to be the same night as that family and we both wanted that exact table!

The lack of savory options is the number one reason I won't buy a dessert party ticket.

I really wish they would bring back some of the savory stuff. Years ago the had the eggrolls which were great, I miss them!

That was a really nice surprise. I would guess that you weren't too hungry for them that night.

It was such a cool surprise! We did have one each that evening, but saved the rest for later in the trip.

 

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I can't wait to hear about the strawberries!

It was such a cool surprise, and they were really good! We never did find out why we got them, but they were appreciated!

 

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Day 4, Part 1: The Most Crowded Epcot Morning​

This morning we finally slept in! The alarm was set for 9, but we were awake around 8:30. Once up, I quickly booked us an ILL for Guardians with a return time of 9:30 (apparently I like to rush in the morning ).

We quickly got ready, and headed out of the room at 9:30.

Fortunately it’s a quick walk over to Epcot, so we had time to get some photopass pictures on the way to Guardians!







We made it to Guardians with time to spare! There was a bit of a wait even with the ILL this morning, but it was only like 15 minutes, so not horrible.



This time we got Everybody Wants to Rule the World (seriously, why do I never get Disco Inferno….it is my white whale. I’m starting to think the song doesn’t actually exist. )

By the time we got off Guardians it was already 10:30, so we headed over to our prebooked DAS for Soarin’!

This was our first time seeing Soarin’ over California in ages, so we were so excited!

There was once again a bit of a wait, but not horrible and soon we were flying! We got pretty decent seats too, we were in B2!

By the time we got off Soain’ it was already almost 11, and as we exited the Land we were completely shocked at the crowds that awaited us. Epcot was PACKED! It looked like the entire state of Florida decided to come to Epcot this day. Now we usually, foolishly, go to Epcot on Saturday during F&W every year, so we were expecting crowds, but we never could have imagined crowds like this (think touringplans had today as a 9 for the crowd level!)

So we ended up joining the masses of people slowly moving their way over to WS where we hoped to pick up some things from the food booths.

Our first stop was Wine and Wedge, but just like the previous day, they were having a delayed opening and weren’t going to open until at least 11:30. So we started to wander to find a booth that didn’t have a crazy long line. We eventually settled on the Refreshment Port, it’s line was pretty small compared to the others.

Well, the line length was deceiving. We ended up waiting for almost 40 minutes.

Like I said, the crowds this day were insane.

Once we finally had our food, we both got the poutine, I got the beef and mom got the original, we headed over to the “secret” picnic tables (which somehow one was actually available) to eat.



We got this last year as well, and once again it was very good!

While mom was finishing up, I decided to see if Wine and Wedge had opened, and if the line didn’t look horrible I planned to wait to get something.

Fortunately it was open, and the line wasn’t too scary long, so I went to get in line, but arrived at the same time as this other woman. Being (too) nice, I offered to let her go first, which she did while glaring at me, which I guess should have been my first indication this was not a good person.

A few minutes after joining the line, her group started to come join her. Over the next 10 minutes 12 people ended up coming to join her! Like *** woman?!!? If you had 12 people joining you, you should have let me go first! I need to stop being so nice to people.

It ended up being about a 30 minute wait for this booth, which again is crazy compared to what we normally experience, even on Saturdays, during food and wine!

Here I ended up getting the artist pallet of wine and cheese.



Now, we assumed this would be similar to the artist pallet of a few years ago which was one of our favorite items. This one was nothing like that. Yes it had cheese, and it had one wine, but it was not a pallet of WINE and cheese. It was cheese, a wine, and then basically hard liquor. Like what?!?

If I had not been expecting a delightful wine and cheese pairing, this wouldn’t have been as bad, but expecting wine, and having a super strong brandy instead just threw me off my game! My mom hated it this year, I didn’t hate it, but it was one of the worst items we tried.

By the time we finished up it was already after 12:30, and we had planned on heading out by noon, so we quickly made our way to the front of the park to catch a bus!

Next up: Sangria University!​

 

[2xcited2sleep]

Crowds lately have been insane. You showed more restraint with the woman and her twelve friends than I would have. I miss the 'old' palette and that whole section the booth used to be in with the twinkle lights.

 

[Wood Nymph]

Once we finally had our food, we both got the poutine, I got the beef and mom got the original, we headed over to the “secret” picnic tables (which somehow one was actually available) to eat.

This is the second time you mentioned the secret picnic tables. I can tell from your earlier post that the tables are along the edge of the lake. But I can't quite figure out exactly where they are.

A few minutes after joining the line, her group started to come join her. Over the next 10 minutes 12 people ended up coming to join her! Like *** woman?!!? If you had 12 people joining you, you should have let me go first! I need to stop being so nice to people.

That was unbelievably rude of that person. But it was also rude of the other people who also jumped ahead of you.

My husband is nice like you. He lets people in ahead of him, especially when driving. And invariably, that person he let in will drive crazy, or slow.

 

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Crowds lately have been insane. You showed more restraint with the woman and her twelve friends than I would have. I miss the 'old' palette and that whole section the booth used to be in with the twinkle lights.

Haha, yeah, I was waaaaay too nice in that instance. I should have said something. And yes! I miss the old palette and food booth area, loved that space!

 

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This is the second time you mentioned the secret picnic tables. I can tell from your earlier post that the tables are along the edge of the lake. But I can't quite figure out exactly where they are.

They're in this area-ish, although they were not there the other week, guessing they put them away with the stage so close:

That was unbelievably rude of that person. But it was also rude of the other people who also jumped ahead of you.

Seriously, some people!

My husband is nice like you. He lets people in ahead of him, especially when driving. And invariably, that person he let in will drive crazy, or slow.

Yeah, I was way too nice there!

 

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Day 4, Part 2: Sangria University!​

We last left off heading out of Epcot.

As we were approaching the bus stop we saw that our bus was there, so we hurried up to catch it, as hurried as we could go with my moms leg at least.

Fortunately we did make it, wahoo!

The ride over to Coronado Springs was pretty short, but once we arrived on property I realized I never looked into which bus stop we needed to get off at! I totally forgot they have multiple bus stops there. I knew we wanted to get off near the tower, so figured we’d just stay on until we were near it. This was pretty easy and soon we were pulling into the stop right in front of the tower.

Once off the bus we headed inside. The lobby is really pretty, but didn’t really feel Disney to us, which I guess makes sense being more of a conference hotel.

We first swung by the bathrooms before heading downstairs. I had the intention to stop at the bar downstairs to pick up one of their specialty coffees, but was shocked to see that they weren’t open! They weren’t opening until 3:00, oh well.

Since we had arrived very early (I had given us a lot of time for waiting for the bus, which we didn’t end up needing!), we decided to head to some Adirondack chairs out back that were in the shade.





We ended up sitting there taking in the view for quite a while. It was really nice back there, there was hardly anyone around so it was super peaceful. Plus this was day one of the most beautiful weather, hardly any humidity, it was sunny, and not too hot. It was a great day for relaxing outside!

Around 1:00 we made our way over to Three Bridges to see if they were checking in for the event yet, but nothing yet. I did get a picture of the sign though!



We ended up walking over to some benches on the bridge where a bunch of other people were waiting for the event.

Within minutes a line had formed, and at 1:10 they started letting people in, so we headed back to get in line.

It was a quick check-in, and soon we were being brought back to our table. They had some ice cold bottles of water set up for us and some chips and guac.





Shortly after being seated, our sangria flights were brought out. The CM dropping them off told us to think about what the flavors were in each one since we would be tested later. So of course we got right into tasting the sangrias!





My favorite was the cava sangria, it was so light and refreshing.

We guessed at the flavors, I will say our taste buds are apparently not that great. I did get the cava ingredients correct, but that’s the only one!

The class started right at 1:30, and our instructor was amazing! She had the most amazing energy and was so much fun. Plus she really knew her stuff when it came to sangria.

We started off going through the history of Sangria, and then got into what actually makes a Sangria, apparently in Europe they are very strict on what can be called a sangria. The big one is all ingredients need to come from Spain.

Well, our instructor pointed out that technically none of the sangrias in our flight were true sangrias based on those requirements (ingredients from Spain, must contain wine, juice, and a spirit, and the alcohol content needs to be between 4.5% and 12%). The only one that was close was the red one, but it wasn’t quite a “real” sangria since Disney was not about to start importing orange juice from Spain when FL has plenty!

After going through the history, we got into how to create them, and went over making our very own!

From reviews I’ve seen/read on this, it looks like they changed this part a bit. I had seen they used to pass out paper which we marked up with what we wanted, however now the instructor just came around to get our order.

There were only three liquors that were included in the price of the event, if we wanted any other kind it would be $5, and we could get two, but then we would be charged for the full price of the shot of the non-free one instead of just the $5. We were able to pick from any liquor at the bar except for some crazy expensive on which was like $100 a shot!

I ended up making one with cava as the base, then added pineapple juice, and the blackberry liquor.

My mom got the rose as a base, then got the blackberry liquor and the “non-Spanish” orange juice. The instructor seemed to appreciate my mom had clearly listened to that part of the presentation!

It took a little bit for our ingredients to come out after putting in the order.

They were finally brought out, and we were able to mix them ourselves, so we could control how much of each thing to add.



Mine was pretty good, although it was super sweet, I feel like it could have used some citrus to cut through the sweetness.

Mom’s was really good!

At the end we got some certificates, which had the recipes for the sangrias in the flight on the back. We also were able to get a picture with the Sangria University frame!



It was a great class, I would definitely do it again, it was so much fun!

Once we wrapped up, we headed back to the lobby where I called for an Uber to head back to the YC. It was a super short ride, only about 5 minutes, and soon we were back in the room for some much needed down time!

While mom napped, I attempted to enjoy some time out on the balcony, however there was some guy it sounded a few doors down from us who was smoking and on a call with the speakerphone on, so not only did I have to hear him yelling on the phone, I also go to enjoy the smoke drifting over. Ew. It was a shame since it was such a beautiful day out, but because of this guy I ended up spending most of our downtime inside. Whomp whomp.

Also, as an aside there were so many people smoking out on their balconies this trip. We saw a bunch across the courtyard from us, and course this guy a few doors down from us. I really wish Disney would be stricter about the no smoking policy, it sucks when we can’t enjoy our balconies because of people smoking nearby!

Next up: Monsieur Paul! Part 1​

 

[2xcited2sleep]

There is almost nothing as exhilarating as just catching your bus and saving yourself 20+ minutes. Sangria U is so fun. Great offering. Ugh to smoking and talking on speaker phone on the balcony. I have no patience for it. I'm always tempted to start participating in the conversation. And the smoke is just gross.

 

[Wood Nymph]

I love Sangria and your experience looks like fun.

I've called the front desk when there was a smoker on the balcony next to our room. The smoker can be fined by the resort.

 

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There is almost nothing as exhilarating as just catching your bus and saving yourself 20+ minutes. Sangria U is so fun. Great offering. Ugh to smoking and talking on speaker phone on the balcony. I have no patience for it. I'm always tempted to start participating in the conversation. And the smoke is just gross.

So true about the buses! I budgeted about 40 minutes to catch that bus, so to have one waiting was a nice surprise! Sangria University is so much fun, I definitely want to do it again, and it was pretty inexpensive per Disney standards!

Yeah, I hate the smoking on the balconies, this was the first time we've really ever experienced it, and there were so many people doing it! I wouldn't be surprised if people originally wouldn't have, but saw one person doing it and thought maybe it was ok so did as well.

 

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I love Sangria and your experience looks like fun.

Sangria University was so much fun! I definitely want to do it again, maybe be a bit more daring with the one I make, lots of people were putting bourbon in theirs which seems like it wouldn't be great but they all loved it!

I've called the front desk when there was a smoker on the balcony next to our room. The smoker can be fined by the resort.

Ohhh, I should have done that. I didn't realize they could actually be fined!