Walt Disney World Trip Report Part 27 – Last Tango in Epcot

Day 7 – 11/10/2014

I left the Imagination Pavilion and made my way to World Showcase. This would be my last visit to Food & Wine. I was near the Puerto Rico booth so I started there. I ordered the beef with rice ($4.50). I have it down as being just okay I think because they had these ready to go; wasn’t too memorable. While I was waiting for my food a couple came up to where you pick up food and just grabbed a plate. I guess he thought it was like Costco samples. You know Disney is not doing anything for free man. The CM asked for his receipt and I guess he learned. I ate my beef and went back to Canada for some more soup.
– Carne guisada con arroz blanco: Slow-braised beef with Puerto Rican-grown rice (gluten free)
– Canadian Cheddar Cheese Soup

Since I had already made my way on the Canada side I decided to start back in Mexico. On the way I passed the Desserts & Champagne booth and I had to get something sweet. I chose the dessert trio ($4.00) with a creamsicle, espresso cake, & cheesecake roll. The cheesecake roll was okay, the creamsicle was good, and the espresso cake was very good; despite me not liking coffee flavoring. – Dessert Trio: Passion fruit coconut creamsicle, blueberry lime cheesecake roll, and chocolate espresso opera cake

In Mexico I looked around the stalls a little before getting in line for The Gran Fiesta Tour. I didn’t get any food since I live in Arizona with tons of Mexican food.

I hadn’t really been to the “top” part of World Showcase yet so I sped past Norway & China on my way to Germany. At the German booth I got the pasta gratin ($3.50). It was also just okay. It was supposed to have ham, but I don’t recall there being much if any. The Poland booth was nearby and I stopped for what would end up being my last booth 😦 From there I got the kielbasa pierogi ($5.25) & the apple pie drink ($8.75). The kielbasa was very good and the apple pie drink was great. I wish I had one right now.
– Schinkennudeln: Pasta gratin with ham and cheese
– Kielbasa and potato pierogi with caramelized onions and sour cream & Frozen Szarlotka (apple pie) featuring Zubrowka Bison Grass Vodka

I continued along and did some browsing in Italy. I found this Italian candy I had bought the year before in Italy, Perugina Baci. I absolutely loved these so I had to buy a bag. I really should’ve bought more than one. They are like Hershey Kisses, but filled with a hazelnut filling and a whole hazelnut, basically one of the best things ever. I was ecstatic to find these. I passed the US and went to Japan to do some shopping. I looked around the main store a bit, but I was really after candy. I purchased a couple bags of candy to bring home.

I had been to every country and checked off quite a few of my Food & Wine list. I really wanted to check out Stormalong Bay before we left and this was really the best time. I started walking out, but before I left I stopped and just took it all in for a couple minutes. World Showcase is one of my favorite parts of WDW, so just looking out over the lagoon for a couple minutes was a great way to say goodbye.

I decided to walk back to Yacht Club and see what that was like. Probably not the best idea since my feet were already hurting, but oh well.
– Beach Club

Walt Disney World Trip Report Part 20 – Eating My Way Around the World

Day 5 – 11/8/2014: Part 20 – Eating My Way Around the World

After my steak and soup I continued deeper into Canada. O’Canada was about to start so I stayed to watch that. Circle-Vision is pretty confusing to watch, I found myself constantly looking around to see everything. I enjoyed the film and it made me want to visit Canada, so I guess it did it’s job.

I continued onwards to the United Kingdom. I did a walk-through of the stores. I was mainly hoping to find some candies we don’t get like Kinder Buenos or a Quality Street bar, but alas it was not to be.

I headed to France. I wanted to give the escargot a try during Food & Wine. That line was ridiculously long and I didn’t feel like waiting forever. Other than F&W lines, my timing was working out nicely since Impressions de France was a couple minutes away. I was glad to see seats, but I may or may not have started to fight some sleep in the darkened theater. Another item I was looking forward to try was the macaroon ice cream sandwich at L’Artisan des Glaces. I opted for the chocolate on chocolate. I wanna hug whoever came up with that idea. So delicious. I had to stop for a Grand Marnier Orange Slush before I could leave France.

The line for Belgium wasn’t terrible so I hopped in line for a waffle and beer. I went with the potato and beef waffle ($4.25) with the Leffe Blonde beer ($3.50). I’m not much of a beer drinker and the Leffe Blonde did nothing to change that, but the savory waffle was very good.
– Food & Wine crowds
– Potato and Leek Waffle with Braised Beef with Leffe Blonde

I finished my Belgian meal and popped into Morocco since it was right next door. I did a little browsing in the shops before getting in line at their F&W booth. I got the Kefta pocket ($5.00), which was probably my least favorite F&W food. It wasn’t bad, it was kind of dry and could’ve used some sauce.

– Kefta pocket: Ground seasoned beef in a pita pocket

Japan was my next stop. I took some pictures around the torii gate before getting in line at the Japan booth for the hand roll ($4.95) and a Sake Sunrise ($7.50), both were very good. It was getting close to the time I had told Moms I’d be back so after eating I made my way out.




– Spicy hand roll: Tuna and salmon with Kazan Volcano sauce with Sake Sunrise

Walt Disney World Trip Report Part 12 – Goodbye Universal

Day 3 – 11/6/2014

After getting the famous Vitameatavegamin skit stuck in my head again, I continued on my way to Transformers: The Ride – 3D. Transformers & Spider-Man use the same ride systems (even the same vehicles). Having just rode Spider-Man, Transformers just didn’t feel different enough.

– passed by some beautiful classic cars on my way to Transformers
– Autobots, Roll Out!

Mom’s kept herself busy taking some photos while she was waiting.
– you can kind of see them filming the Steve Harvey show here
– Moms used to love Emeril’s show on Food Network

The Decepticons defeated, I headed to the exit. Moms collects Hard Rock shot glasses and we couldn’t remember if she had Orlando already. I decided to stop in the Hard Rock Café when I exited to get her a shot glass.
– bye for now Universal Studios

We were hungry and Emeril’s had a promotion going on for like a buy-one-get-one free entrée or free appetizers with a theme park ticket. We thought that seemed like a good deal and the menu looked good, so we decided to try it. The thing is, the promo was only for lunch and they had just opened for dinner. Neither of us caught that bit on the outside menu. Plus we had been looking at the lunch menu which had completely different food and prices from dinner. We stayed though and both got some small dishes. After looking at the lunch prices we weren’t prepared to pay double that for the entrees. The food was excellent though. I got a prosciutto pizza and Moms got some sort of pasta.
– my prosciutto pizza
– Moms’ pasta

After dinner we made our way back to the car, stopping at a nearby Walgreen’s before going back to PORS.
– this mini golf course looks insane

We got back to the room and rested a bit, but we ended up feeling a little hungry after our light dinner. We went to the food court and decided to split a burger back in the room.
– Downtown Disney boat taking off
– moscato colada I got from the pool bar on the way to the room (yes, it was very good)

After second dinner around 11 I wanted to go take some photos of the hotel with my tripod. Port Orleans Riverside is such a beautiful property at night. I mainly stayed around the lobby/pool area since I was super-tired.

– I like this spot




– Old Man’s Island pool

Walt Disney World Trip Report Part 7 – Today We Visit the Competition

Day 3 – 11/6/2015

I am a Harry Potter fan and had been regretting not visiting Hogsmeade on our previous WDW trip. With the opening of Diagon Alley I couldn’t resist anymore. I had bought us each a 1-day park-hopper (or whatever Universal calls it), but no express pass. We put the address in the GPS and made our way across the Florida wilderness to this strange & mysterious land.

We opted for the Express Parking and after parking we hopped on the first moving sidewalk. Took another moving sidewalk to the bag check area, before taking two more to get to Citywalk. I’m glad we didn’t have to walk all that way, because I would’ve been exhausted already. We made our way through Citywalk and entered Universal Studios Orlando.
– passed this minigolf course on one of the moving sidewalks

– like far-out man!

Our first stop of the day – Despicable Me: Minion Mayhem! We both love the Minions and this was high on the list of rides to try. The wait was about 40 minutes, so not too bad. I didn’t do much research on the rides of USO, because I wanted to stay spoiler-free. We don’t really do roller coasters & I knew a lot of their stuff was screen based, but I didn’t know much beyond that. Now Moms doesn’t handle simulator rides that well. I don’t know why I thought she could handle it. I saw the stationary seats and I don’t know why I didn’t tell her to move down there. I felt really bad because I know she loves Minions, but she had her eyes closed the entire time. It’s in a similar vein to Star Tours and I really liked it. I wish we could’ve ridden it again so Moms could sit stationary and enjoy the film. Maybe next time.

Not having had breakfast, it was definitely time to get some grub. The nearest place was the Monster’s Café. The restaurant is themed to the Universal Monsters, like Dracula, Frankenstein, etc. It has this mad scientist vibe going on which was pretty cool.

We both ordered the half-chicken with potatoes and some green stuff that I hear San Francisco is using to ruin pizzas with. We were hungry, so we pretty much scarfed it down, but the chicken was not that great. I liked the potatoes, but didn’t touch the green stuff.

Up next, we were wowed!

Walt Disney World Trip Report: Part 1 – We Love Publix

Day 1 – 11/4/2014

Our US Airways flight, took us to Chicago where we had a couple hour layover. The flight wasn’t bad, but on our previous trip we had quite a scare, so every bump & wiggle on this plane had us especially nervous. The flight was practically empty and Moms moved up to the seat in front of me so we both had our own rows.

– me on the plane

We ate some food before getting on our second plane. We arrived in Orlando with no complications. Since we were planning a day at Universal, we opted to rent a car for the entire trip instead of letting Disney drive us around. We were given a Chevrolet Spark, a tiny car that couldn’t fit our two pieces of luggage in the trunk.

– our chariot awaits

We’ve used the tollroads in California, so it wasn’t too jarring stopping at the various tolls. One of the things I love most about travelling is going to regular places that we don’t have in AZ. So before we stopped at our first hotel, we visited Publix to get some snacks & drinks for the room. We have grocery stores like that here, but for some reason we really loved Publix. We were hungry, but decided to wait to eat at the hotel, since we’d only have one night to check out their food options. I knew we’d come back to Publix for a meal though.

Our first hotel for the trip would be –

Moms wanted to try it since it was a new hotel and to see how she liked the value hotels (our previous trip we stayed at the Polynesian).

We had done online check-in & with our Magic Bands everything was super easy. Yes, we did have 4 MBs each for the trip. We found our room and unloaded the car before visiting Landscape of Flavors for dinner.

– I can never get sick of something so simple

A lot of stuff at Landscape looked good, but we both opted for the make-your-own-pasta to take back to the room.

Europe 2013 Trip Report: Part 21 – Food So Nice We Had To Eat There Twice

Previous part here

On our last trip to Rome, our hotel had recommended a restaurant near the Pantheon called Casa Copelle.  It was delicious.  Since Castel Sant’Angelo was closed we decided to head to Casa Copelle for lunch.

 – Castel Sant’Angelo

 – the Tiber River

 – Pantheon

We had already been to the Pantheon, so we skipped it this time.  We did have the taxi drop us off there because I didn’t have the address of the restaurant, but I remembered how to get there from the Pantheon.  I had meatballs and Moms had carbonara.  It was still delicious.  After lunch, we headed back to the Pantheon to catch a cab back to the hotel.  First though, I had to stop for some gelato.  Previously we had really good gelato at Della Palma, which is also in the area, so as we were passing by I couldn’t resist.  I ordered two flavors, one was pink grapefruit, and the other I don’t remember.  The grapefruit was so good, it made me forget.  That was one of the best things I’ve ever eaten in my life and I’m pretty sure it has spoiled me on all gelatos going forward since I’m yet to find that flavor again.
 – meatballs
 – spaghetti alla carbonara
 – menu board behind the bar
 – pink grapefruit gelato along with some other flavor I can’t recall

Moms and I rested at the hotel for a while and eventually Jules came back.  Not too long afterwards, Nina and Fam finished their tour of the Vatican Museums and rejoined us.  Our last trip to Rome was definitely highlighted by fantastic food.  The staff at our hotel on that trip recommended some fantastic places (shout-out to Serena and Marco at Deko, they didn’t have two rooms available or else we would’ve stayed there again) and one of those places was Pizzeria San Marco.  I had this 4-cheese gnocchi there that was amazing and the thought of having that again was one of the reasons I wanted to go back to Rome.  So that was our dinner plan for tonight.  The food was excellent again (we were definitely eating good in Rome).


 – 4-cheese gnocchi
 – roasted potatoes
– the Andy Warhol burger (Cuz’s order)
 – I’m not sure what Nina ordered
 – Uncle D’s steak
 – Mom’s pizza

With our bellies full we made our way back to the hotel for the night.

Tomorrow would be painful

The last installment is here

Europe 2013 Trip Report: Part 19 – I Guess Tossing A Coin In the Trevi Fountain Works

The previous part can be found here.

Nothing of note happened on the train to Rome.  I’ve taken the journey before, so I spent the time watching some Top Gear episodes and playing on my Vita.  The time passed pretty quickly for me, I don’t know about the others though.  We arrived at Termini Station and took two cabs to our hotel, Suite Dreams Rome.  This time we had the upgraded suite, but it really just meant we had a hot tub we never used.  It was getting to be dinner time so I looked online for some restaurants nearby.  I found one around the corner that had good reviews.  So we made the short trek to Target Ristorante.  I remember all of us really enjoying our meals here.


 – someone got a “salad”
 – this was my pizza with potato and mozzarella
 – pretty sure Moms got this risotto
 – Cuz’s pizza
 – spaghetti alla carbonara

After dinner, Moms was tired and went back to the room.  The rest of us walked over to the Hard Rock to get more shot glasses.  From there we headed to the Trevi Fountain.  The legend states that if you turn your back and toss a coin into the fountain it will guarantee your return to Rome.  I’m not saying it’s true, but I did toss a coin the last time I was there and here I was again.
 – the light rain had continued to follow us and gave the streets a nice glisten
 – Fiat 500

 – a better view of the masses of people you have to wade through to get down to the fountain itself.

After tossing more coins in, we headed back to the hotel.  I do know gelato was bought and my slippery shoes continued to be a nuisance as I almost fell a couple times.

Tomorrow we had a tour of the tombs below the Vatican

The fun continues here

Europe 2013 Trip Report: Part 17 – Bellissima Venezia

You can get caught up with the previous part here.

The hotel had a breakfast buffet available and we all eventually made our way down to get some nourishment.  I walked around the hotel area a little to take some photos before we left.  There was this church down the street and I wish I would’ve gone inside.  I can’t find any information on it now, so I don’t even know what it was called.

 – the church down the street

We would be leaving to Venice out of a different train station than the one we were next to, so we had the hotel call a cab for all of us.  Travelling by train in Italy is really easy-going.  Trenitalia, who seems to run all the trains in Italy, runs trains from the major cities every hour.  You don’t have to worry about booking seats in advance or showing up at a certain time.  You just show up and at most you’ll have an hour wait.  This was us, we just missed a train and had to wait.  We found an area to sit and most of us stayed there while some did some shopping to kill time.

The train ride was uneventful and I don’t remember much of it really.  I think I slept for most of it or played games.  After about 4 hours we were in Venice.  Coming out of the train station and that first glimpse you get of the city is breath-taking.  We got tickets for the vaporetto, which is a water bus.  It has lots of stops along the Grand Canal and some of the outlying islands of the Venetian Lagoon; plus it would be dropping us off not too far from our hotel.








 – Saint Mark’s Square
 – Santa Maria Della Salute

We made it to our hotel and only had to cross a couple bridges to get there.  We were staying at the Liassidi Palace Hotel.  The room was a good size and they included a complimentary bottle of Bellini for us.  Nina and fam had booked the upgraded suite on the top floor.  Their room had a separate living room and windows that overlooked a canal.
 – our room

 – complimentary Bellini and chips

 – our floor had this sitting area in the middle of the rooms

 – the upgraded suite
 – view from the suite
 – the boat dock

We walked around a little bit before getting dinner.  I didn’t get the name of the restaurant, but it had some outdoor seating and we were the only ones there.  This was a great meal.  Moms and Uncle D each got roasted chicken and still talk about how good it was when they see each other.
 – a drinking fountain





 – Jules got anchovies on her pizza
 – gnocchi (mine)
 – Nina tried spaghetti alla carbonara
 – Cuz got something with clams
 – roasted chicken

Everyone was having a good time relaxing with good food and good drink.  I was anxious to take some photos so I went walking about while they waited for the check.
 – Bridge of Sighs

After dinner we did some shopping in various stores as we made our way to Saint Mark’s Square.  At this time, the basilica was closed, but Hard Rock was open and there were shot glasses to buy.  We slowly made our way back to the hotel with some more shopping, a bird pooped on Nina, and gelato was eaten.  It was a good night.


 – Saint Mark’s belltower
 – Saint Mark’s Basilica
 – Saint Mark’s Square

Once back at the hotel, we all went up to Nina & Fams suite with our bottles of Bellini.  We sat and talked and just enjoyed being on this trip and getting to experience everything we got to experience so far.  Definitely in the running for best moment of the trip.

Unfortunately, tomorrow we’d be leaving Venice 😦 and making our way to Rome.

Our time in Venice continues here

Europe 2013 Trip Report: Part 16 – I’ve Never Been So Scared

Go back to the previous part here

Our day started super early since the driver would be coming to pick us up at 5 am.  We had already paid the driver for both journeys yesterday, so there was some trepidation about whether or not he’d be back.  He showed up right on time though, so it was all good.  European train travel is nothing like American plane travel.  You don’t know what platform the train’s going to be at until about 20 minutes before the scheduled departure time.  So getting there much earlier than that doesn’t help you much.  We basically sat at the train station for an hour and a half.  We got breakfast at a Paul bakery in the station.  Those croissants were so good.  I miss them now.

We had a 7-hour train ride ahead of us.  I always take the window seats on planes, so Moms took the window for this leg of the journey.  It was pretty uneventful, only a couple areas had interesting scenery.

 – train food (I think this was lasagna)
 – I’m not sure what this was, but Cuz and Nina got this

Many hours later we arrived in Milan.  Our hotel, AC Hotel Milano, was super close to the station.  I found out just how close it was later on.  We grabbed some taxis since we were unaware.  Nina and fams driver didn’t want to take them since it was so close, but eventually relented.  We got checked in, paid for wifi, and checked out our rooms.  They were really nice.  Lots of space and the style fit the city.

We added Milan as a rest stop basically.  The most famous thing to see there is Da Vinci’s Last Supper.  This requires buying tickets online in advance and there are multiple sellers.  When we looked during our planning, the sellers were all sold out for the time after our train would be arriving.  So we wouldn’t get a chance to see that.  We went to the Duomo of Milan instead, which is not a consolation prize.  It’s breath-taking.

It started to sprinkle, I swear the rain was following us by this point, as we drove to the Duomo.  You can take an elevator to the roof and it’s supposed to have great views of the region.  The pictures I had seen showed people in the middle of the roof so I figured I’d be okay with that.  I’ve never been more scared in my life.  The elevator is in the back.  So when  you exit there is fencing all the way up.  You walk towards the front and when you get there, the fencing goes away.  It’s just a waist-high rail.  There’s wire mesh below, but you can lean over the edge.  You can step up and walk along a path that’s not next to the rail, which I immediately did.  As you work towards the front, you pass some archways and when people would be coming the opposite direction of me I had two choices.  Step down near the rail, or go up to the slanted roof.  I opted to instead hug the side of the archway as they passed me.  When you finally get to the front, there are stairs you take to get to the top where it’s flat.  Those stairs are right up against the front of the building and I just couldn’t take it anymore.  My fear of heights coupled with my shoes lack of grip on the wet surface up there were too much.  I didn’t care what the family did I had to get off that building.  Moms said she’d come with me, but I wasn’t trying to wait for her if she took too long.  I’ve never had one, but I think I was starting to have a panic attack up there.  It’s a shame that that’s my memory of my visit.  I don’t really remember taking photos up there, but looking at them now it’s beautiful up there.

After giving serious consideration to kissing the ground, the rest of the family joined us a few minutes later.  We proceeded to enter the Duomo at this point.  Admission is free, but they offer a photo pass for 2 euro.  They give you a wristband and those are the only people allowed to take pictures inside.  I have no problem with this method.  Too many places don’t allow you to take photos inside, and I understand the flashes can cause issues over time, but I feel this is a good way to let people know the rules and let those who want to take pictures the opportunity.

Once I had got my fill of pictures, we went in search of food.  I had heard of a place that was popular with locals and tourists alike.  Luini, they serve something called panzerotti which are like small calzones but with a softer dough.  It’s just down the street from the Duomo, but it’s a little hole in the wall.  They don’t have tables, and everybody was tired and wanted to sit and eat, so only Cuz and I got something here.  It was so delicious.  Just dough, mozzarella, and sauce; but done to perfection.  After the terror of the Duomo, this was the thing that I would’ve come back to Milan for.  Unfortunately, I didn’t get a picture of them.

In our search for Luini, we had seen a place nearby called Mama Burger that appealed to us.  These were some delicious burgers that really felt like home.  After dinner we made our way back to the Duomo to catch a taxi.  Cuz and I stopped in a chocolate shop and bought some amazing chocolate bars.

 – looks so American doesn’t it

Once back in the room, I went out to find a convenience store nearby to get some drinks for us.  Directly next to the hotel was a metro stop and the people at the front desk told me to go through that and come out the other side and I’d be near something.  Coming out the other side of the tunnel led me to the train station where we arrived.  I guess that’s why the taxi drivers were so reluctant to take us, we really were incredibly close.  I ended up finding a place to get some water and pop to take back to the room.

The fun continues here.

Europe 2013 Trip Report: Part 11 – The Mustard Store

You can catch up with part 10 here.   A few years ago I had seen an episode of Bizarre Foods set in Paris and the host went to a mustard store that looked really neat.  I love mustard, so I was dying to get over there and check it out.  Moms and Cuz were both too tired to go back out, so Jules, Nina, Uncle D, & I set out to buy condiments.  We hopped on the Metro and made our way to the Madeleine stop. Maille sells oils and vinegars, but mainly mustards.  I mean all kinds of mustard – gingerbread & chestnut honey, mangoes & thai spices, cocoa & raspberry, etc.  A really wide variety of flavors.  My desires were for something a little more extravagant.  Maille sells a couple of mustards that aren’t pre-bottled and when you buy them they are pumped up from the basement.  The one I bought was a black truffle mustard and it was not cheap at €20 (about $30); but I can bring my jar back and get free refills for like, so I think the math works out.  The mustard was absolutely delicious.  It was a sad day when I finally emptied that jug. The shop was really cool and I’ll definitely go back if I’m ever in Paris again.  – Maille store front  – mustard taps   We left and headed back to the pizza place the others had eaten at the night before.  They got some pizza since I didn’t know what Moms wanted.  She was feeling a little more rejuvenated by the time we got back so she and I went back out and grabbed some pizzas.  – me taking the previous picture  – the entrance to the Mercure Paris Centre Tour Eiffel  – my pizza  – Moms’ pizza   This was our last night in Paris, tomorrow we’d be staying near Disneyland Paris for a night.  We just had to get there.  After eating I was looking up the route to get to Disneyland Paris and the information I was finding said it was going to cost us €15/person to travel to Disneyland Paris.  It seemed really high, but I couldn’t find any info to the contrary.  Moms found a car service, ACS Transfer, that would take us for the same price.  I emailed them and they responded right away and we got everything set up for the morning.  Tomorrow we’d be getting our Disney on!  – the Maille mustard jar

Continue with part 12 here.