Photo Flashback! EPCOT International Food & Wine Festival

The EPCOT International Food & Wine Festival is just around the corner.  It is celebrating 20 years. 

This year the dates are September 25 - November 16, 2015.  The Growing Up Disney family will be there in October once again.   This year the theme is:

Taste Your Way Around The World
Embark on a culinary adventure celebrating 20 years of culture and cuisine with the finest wine and beverage offerings at the Epcot Food & Wine Festival, presented by CHASE®.

This year they have, as described by Disney's website, over "30 unique market places.  I've looked over the list and there are some old favorites as well as some new marketplaces that will be favorites.

In 2007 the theme was "Tastefully Inspired" and featured Oklahoma.  This fit well as Amy and her husband of 2 years lived in Owasso, Oklahoma at the time.  

Mom and DisneyDad

Tastefully Inspired

Oklahoma's Marketplace

A little Seared Buffalo anyone?

Some of Oklahoma's Famous residents

Somehow Amy didn't get her picture taken with her husband, but she did make sure I took her picture with Toby Keith.

--DisneyDad

Thanks for stopping by Growing Up Disney

Photo Flashback! Really Good? -- no Great!

The EPCOT International Food & Wine Festival 

is always a good time to visit Walt Disney World.

EPCOT International Food & Wine Festival 2014

It's always good when you can get one good picture 

of the fireworks at Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party

 or two,

.

Or you capture a good photo after watching a show

for at least the 10th time

Or you get a photo made with Mickey

Or you have a great view from your room

to start your day

But know what is REALLY GREAT?

Spending time at Walt Disney World

with family.

Mom and Ridge

Mom and DisneyDad

These photos were taken during our October 2014 visit to

Walt Disney World.  Amy and her family

were not able to come on this trip, but 

Ridge was able to come along with us.

--DisneyDad

Thanks for stopping by Growing Up Disney

October at Walt Disney World!

Walt Disney World does a wonderful job of decorating for seasons.  October turns the Magic Kingdom orange for Halloween and Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party.  There is special entertainment and the Boo-to-You Halloween Parade and the Happy HalloWishes fireworks. October means the EPCOT International Food & Wine Festival is in full swing.

Magic Kingdom Halloween 2012

Sunday night, Ridge and I, (Mom decided to skip this) will be at the Magic Kingdom for MNSSHP.  I hope to post some and tweet (@DisneyDad28) some from the Party.  I'll do what I can but Amy normally does the live posting, but unfortunately she was not able to be on this trip.

Train Station Halloween 2012

The rest of the week Mom, Ridge, and I will be having some fun the EPCOT International Food & Wine Festival.  Unlike some trips we only have one meal reservation.  We have a Fast Pass for lunch at "Be Our Guest".  We were fortunate for our last trip and this one to have an invitation to use the Fast Pass for BOG.  You don't just get a time to go to the restaurant, you go ahead and order your lunch on line.  You check in at the Fast Pass entrance, verify your order, pay and find a seat.

If you have never been to Be Our Guest Restaurant, there are 3 massive dining rooms that seat a total of about 550 guests. The dining rooms are easily recognizable from Beauty and the Beast.  You may dine in the Grand Ballroom, the Rose Gallery, or if you dare, the West Wing where you may catch a glimpse of the enchanted rose.

October has been a family trip for years, but this year Amy and her family won't be with us.  So no granddaughters on this trip. :-(  So without children we don't have to try to keep to the kiddo's schedule. And can dine places you wouldn't want to take a small child (like the BOG West Wing).  But this also means we have not scheduled any character breakfasts or meet-and-greet with any characters.  

Olivia's at Old Key West Resort 2013

It also means we will spend more time trying out the different offering of the Food & Wine Festival. For the 2014 EIF&WF there are 25 Global Marketplaces where you can "Taste Your Way Around the World".  I always love to start in Canada where they have Canadian Cheddar Cheese Soup and “Le Cellier” wild mushroom beef filet mignon with truffle butter sauce.  Wow!  What a way to start!  This year they have 2 new booths and a lot of returning favorites.  New this year is Farm Fresh that is "straight from the farm too you" and Patagoina where you can sample some South American cooking.  Check out a full list at the official F&WF website at https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/dining/epcot/food-wine-marketplaces/

At each marketplace there is also a selection of beer and wine representative of the countries.  And Hanson (who performed in September at the Eat to the Beat Concert Series) has their craft beer - Mmmhop - at the Fife and Drum at the American pavilion.

EIF&WF 2012

I'll also try to give an "unbiased" review of the Lumber Jack Show replacement for Off Kilter which is reported to begin next week.  I'm not sure how unbiased I'll be as I absolutely loved Off Kilter and am very disappointed Disney has gotten rid of them after all these years.

--DisneyDad

Magical Blogorail: My Ideal Disney Meal

Welcome to those of you joining me from A World View and those of you just hopping aboard. I am the 2nd stop on our Magical Blogorail.

This month's blogorail topic is so much fun. We were asked to put together our ideal Disney meal, selecting its courses from any Disney restaurant we choose. I have no idea how I shall narrow the list but here goes…

Appetizers: Crispy Pork Belly with Black Beans, Onions, Avocado and Cilantro from the Brazil Marketplace at the Epcot International Food and Wine Festival -and- Mozzarella Stuffed Rice Balls - crispy fried risotto, fresh mozzarella, marinara sauce from Portobello at Downtown Disney

Soup: Canadian Cheddar Cheese Soup - made with Moosehead Beer and Nueske's Smoked Bacon from Le Cellier

Salad: Mozzarella and Tomato Salad- with mixed greens and balsamic syrup from Olivia's Cafe at Old Key West

Entree: Tamarind Seafood Stew over rice, salmon, and samosas from Tusker House with a side of green beans from Olivia's

Cheese: Kerrygold Cheese Selection: Reserve Cheddar, Dubliner with Irish Stout, Skellig from the Ireland Marketplace at EIF&WF

Dessert: The Chocolate Wave from Coral Reef -and- white chocolate Cinderella slipper from my Disney Fairy Tale Wedding

Oh my, would I be full but happy after this meal! What would be on the menu for your ideal Disney meal?

Thanks to AllEars.net for listing menus and making this post easier. :)

Thank you for joining me today. Your next stop on the Magical Blogorail Loop is My Dreams of Disney.

Here is the map of our Magical Blogorail should you happen to have to make a stop along the way and want to reboard:

1st Stop ~ A World View

2nd Stop ~ Growing Up Disney

3rd Stop ~ My Dreams of Disney

4th Stop ~ Disney Donna Kay

Final Stop ~ Colorado Mountain Mom

Walt Disney World: Epcot and Granddaughters

We just got back from a week at Walt Disney World.  This was a family trip.  DisneyDad and Mom with our adult kids, son-in-law, and granddaughters.  We stayed at our home-away-from-home Disney's Old Key West Resort and had a wonderful time.  Old Key West at dusk is absolutely beautiful as you can see below.  We love going this time of year for the Epcot International Food & Wine Festival.

Disney's Old Key West Resort

We tried out the new Magic Bands.  They seemed to work real well.  Door key, Annual Pass, Fast Pass, and room charge all on one "fashionable" bracelet with a Mouse Icon on it.  I didn't try to charge anything on it but it worked great for everything else.  No more trying to find the ID Card/door key when you get back late to the room.  Just touch the Magic Band to the door and open.  It was just as efficient entering the parks and going though the fast pass line.  (Amy had chosen our fast pass selections before we started our vacation on line.)

The Food & Wine Festival didn't work out like I had hoped. I didn't get to try much in the way of food.  It's hard to have a late breakfast with Princesses at Akershus Royal Banquet Hall and still "eat your way around the world".  Or have a late lunch at   LeCellier Steakhouse and have room for almost anything else.  But both meals were unforgettable.  I don't think I missed out on anything.

Amy had booked breakfast for our little princesses to visit with the Princesses at Akershus Royal Banquet Hall in Norway at Epcot.  It's an all you care to eat breakfast with  breads, fruit and smoked fish on the buffet and breakfast brought to the table, served family style.  The food was pretty good, but the "stars" were the pretty Princesses.

Tink

Minnie

Amy had dressed the girls in matching Snow White dresses.  Both of them looked cute enough to eat.  Of course as Granddaddy, I may be just a bit prejudice.  :-)  The girls ate more than I expected and never missed a beat when one of the Princess came by the table.  They jumped up and down and couldn't wait to get a hug and autograph from them.  Akershus features a rotating list of princesses.  We saw Belle, Ariel, Aurora, Cinderella, and Snow White walking through the dining room.  We had reservations for 10:30 and were seated promptly after the girls had a PhotoPass picture (included in the price of breakfast) with Belle.

Click on the photo above (or the restaurant name) to see a spherical photo of our table at Akershus Royal Banquet Hall.  You can look around and see the dining room in an interactive 360 deg photo.

Three Snow Whites

The girls loved seeing all the Princesses but I think the seeing them dressed in their Snow White dresses with Snow White was extra special.  As much as I enjoy the Food & Wine Festival.  None of what they have could compare with seeing the girls with their favorite Princesses.  We finished up breakfast just after noon.  Mom and I walked around for a while and visited the Chase VIP Lounge.  It took all the way around to Canada before we fell like we could eat anything.  A Canadian Cheddar Cheese Soup each and a shared beef filet was all we could manage. (Both were delicious.)

We spent one other day at Epcot.  Ridge took Andy, Mom and me to LeCellier for lunch to celebrate our 40th wedding anniversary while Amy occupied the girls elsewhere.  The food was fabulous.  I had the best ever filet mignon, but that is for another post.

Epcot and Granddaughters.  A wonderful combination!

--DisneyDad

Photo Flashback! 2007 EPCOT Food & Wine Festival

We have attended almost every EPCOT International Food & Wine Festival since we learned of the event.  These pictures are from 2007.  Amy and her family were living in Oklahoma and the Food & Wine Festival just happened to pick Oklahoma to feature.

Mom and DisneyDad

Remy is cooking up something good at EIF&WF

Amy and  a few famous people from Oklahoma ...
or maybe she just wanted her picture with Toby Keith

I can't wait until we go this year for the 2013 version of the EPCOT International Food & Wine Festival.
--DisneyDad

Are you ready for this year's Epcot International Food and Wine Festival?

Do you have your reservations for this year’s Epcot International Food & Wine Festival?  This year it starts on September 27, 2013 and runs through November 11, 2013.  We have our reservations and will be doing some live postings while we are there. 

2012 Epcot International Food & Wine Festival

Click to download your copy of this year’s festival guide from > here < so you can start making your plans.

The International Marketplace kiosks include 200 items, with more than 30 new food offerings and 60-plus additions to the beverage list.  The list of marketplaces this year includes:

Africa, Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Cheese, China, Desserts & Champagne, Fife & Drum, Florida Local, France, Germany, Greece, Hawaii, Hops & Barley, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Morocco, New Zealand, Poland, Scotland, Singapore, South Korea, and Terra.

2013 Epcot International Food and Wine Fesival

Scotland is new this year and official Epcot International Food & Wine website lists its goodies:

To eat:

• Seared Scottish salmon with cauliflower puree, watercress and malt vinaigrette
• Vegetarian haggis with neeps & tatties (griddled vegetable cake with rutabaga and mashed potatoes)
• Scottish banoffee tart with bananas, Scottish whisky toffee, Walkers Shortbread Cookies and sweet cream

To drink:

• Innis & Gunn® Original
• Loch Lomond featuring Glenfiddich® 12 year
• Glenfiddich Scotch Flight (12, 15 and 18)

2013 Epcot International Food and Wine Guide Map

I always have my list of favorites and this year they include:  

•  Canada: Canadian Cheddar Cheese Soup
• Argentina: Beef Empanada
• Germany: Roast bratwurst in a pretzel roll
• Ireland: Lobster and seafood fisherman’s pie and Kerrygold cheese selection: reserve cheddar, Dubliner with Irish Stout, Skellig
• Poland: Kielbasa and potato pierogie with caramelized onions and sour cream
• Hops & Barley: Lobster roll with lemon herb mayonnaise
• Plus many more as I find something I like at each Marketplace

There are always new tastes to try and this year Scotland sounds wonderful.  You can easily find something to try at each of the Marketplaces as you eat your way “around the world”.  I know I try.

What’s your favorite delights at the EIF&WF?  I hope you get to go and enjoy them all!

One of my favorite memories is not of food but of something my wife overheard.  As they were walking past us a man was telling his wife:  “This is GREAT!!  Every few feet you get a snack and a beer!!”

For the official Epcot International Food & Wine Festival web site click > here <.

I’m looking forward to this year’s trip—

--DisneyDad

Photo Flashback! Family Favorites

This week's topic is "Family Favorites."  Here are a few things that came to mind (in no particular order other than how the photos loaded...)

Favorite Disney nerd thing to say

Favorite tropical frozen treat

Favorite hard ticket event

Favorite time of year to visit WDW

Favorite afternoon snack

Favorite ice cream ever

Favorite resort

Favorite way to travel

Favorite icon

Favorite bus

Favorite place to get hitched

Favorite breakfast

Favorite little girls to see smiling
Favorite character to meet

Favorite silly hat

Favorite kiddo attraction

Ok, now I really need a trip to the World.  Who's with me?!?  What are your favorites?  ~Amy

My Favorite WDW Trip -- The Next one

 Photos from EPCOT International Food & Wine Festival October 2012

What's your favorite trip to Walt Disney World?  Was it the first time you went, like my first visit in 1971?  Or was it a visit on your honeymoon, like when I took my wife to WDW on our honeymoon in 1973?  Or was it when you had some special event at WDW, like Amy’s wedding in 2005?  Or was it a trip where you were told your daughter is expecting your first grandchild, or maybe when she told you about the second one?  We heard about both of our granddaughters at WDW.  Or was it a trip when you just got to walk hand in hand with your granddaughter as she took her first steps on Main Street USA on her first birthday?  (Check out the Growing Up Disney logo.)

What was your favorite trip to Walt Disney World?  After 40+ years of visiting what is my favorite trip?  My next one.

I’ve enjoyed going to WDW over the years and look forward to going back over and over.  Our next planned trip is a family trip while the 2013 version of the EPCOT International Food and Wine Festival will be going on.  This year the Food and Wine Festival will be September 27 to November 11.  Check out one of the posts on the official Disney Parks Blog by clicking here. 

Expect over 40 new dishes and 80 new beverages at this year’s Food and Wine Festival plus a new cookbook so you can take home your favorite recipes from the festival.

Of course the Festival is just the backdrop for a vacation spent with family.  It makes a fun time with family even better.  And it gives me another “excuse” to visit.

--DisneyDad