Posts
First up- the Royal Room! It was amazing- we had a corner room, so that meant an extra window! We could see the main lobby/restaurants/boat docks from the front of our building. It only took about 5 minutes to walk there.
The picture over the bed had LED lights in it that made fireworks when you pushed a button!
All Princess Tiana's friends had their own pictures on the wall. I even got a special welcome letter from Tiana herself
It's the magic lamp faucet!!
I missed the view of the carpet- an image of the magic carpet from Aladdin is in the center of the floor!
We took the boat to Disney Springs for some food and shopping, and even got a selfie with Cinderella:
Finally got to visit Jock Lindsey's Hangar Bar!!!! I seriously could have stayed in there all evening and looked around- it wasn't crowded at all, we had zero wait, and for a while there was almost nobody else inside. We didn't try the food but I got the Cool-Headed Monkey, a rum, tangerine liqueur, lime, watermelon, and pineapple juice concoction. YUM!! Fedora got the Hovito Mojito and Sparkles got the sangria. High marks across the board from everyone.
I loved sniffing around and checking out all the aviation memorabilia!
I even found a letter from Indiana Jones!
After a night of food and drinks, we hit up Epcot the next morning for some more!
We got soooo many compliments on our dresses and mouse ears!
It's not part of the Passport list, but head into the Girardelli chocolate exhibit inside the Festival Center and get the Rosa Regale and a pot of drinking chocolate. It's an amazing combo!
So what did we eat and drink? Here's the list and my thoughts:
SCOTLAND: Seared Sea Scallop with Spinach-Cheddar Gratin (this was our first stop, we were famished since we didn't eat breakfast. OMG soooooo delicious!!!!)
CHEESE STUDIO: Cheese Fondue with Sourdough Bread (meh. Skip it unless yourluuuurrrrve fondue. But if you have a thing for fondue, you probably know there's better fonbdue than this out there somewhere)
CRAFT BEERS: Flight #2 (Fedora got this, I'm not a fan of beer. She liked 2 of them, one Sparkles drank for her, and the last one was an espresso porter we gave to a group of guys at the next table because GROSS)
DESSERTS & CHAMPAGNE: Strawberry-Basil Champagne "Toast" (It is not a drink, but more of a mousse in a champagne glass. Sparkles didn't like it but Fedora and I devoured it. Perfect for a hot day, and the basil taste was next to non-existent)
HAWAII: Kalua Pork Slider with Sweet and Sour Dole Pineapple Chutney and Spicy Mayo, AND Maui Splash Sweet Pineapple Wine (YUM! And I don't like mayonnaise but it was very light on this. There was a definite spice though, and the wine pretty much tasted like pineapple juice. Dangerously good!)
PATAGONIA: Kaiken Torrontes (This was wine. It had a light floral taste, not unlike Gewurztraminer. Very good!)
AUSTRALIA: Lamington (This is yellow cake dipped in chocolate and rolled in coconut. There was nothing wrong with it, but it was not spectacular and I could have made it at home with no instructions)
CHINA: Mango Jasmine Tea with Bubbles (I loved this last year and was glad to see it again. Love me some tapioca chews!)
SOUTH KOREA: Bulgogi BBQ Pork Rib with Steamed Rice and Cucumber Kimchi AND Myungjak Bokbunja Raspberry Wine (The cucumber kimchi was NOT spicy at all, it was actually really good. Sparkles said it was pickled, but then I'm thinking a pickled cucumber is...a pickle? The rib was pretty spicy and chewy, but there were 3 of them so we were able to split. The girls got the wine. I tasted it, not for me. It just tasted like Sangria.)
POLAND: Kielbasa and Potato Pierogi with Caramelized Onions and Sour Cream (Had this last year, it was just as good!)
BLOCK & HANS: Champagne Enchantee Brut (Hey, it's at an American cart but it's French champagne. Delicious as usual)
BRAZIL: Pao de Queijo- Brazillian Cheese Bread (We all got our own portions of this- 2 large cheesy buns that were perfectly hot, chewy, and cheesy. Heaven!)
FRANCE: Croissant aux Escargots AND Boeuf Bourguignon (I wanted to try everything in France but I was getting full! The escargots this year were cooked in a croissant roll and topped with pesto. It was alright. A little too much bread for me, I like my snails in garlic butter. The short ribs in cabernet were served with mashed potatoes and was almost too much food for the 3 of us to split! Lots of Boeuf for your buck on that one!)
IRELAND: Lobster and Seafood Fisherman's Pie (Every year I get this and every year I burn my mouth on it. It takes forever to cool enough to eat safely! But it's good, and there were a decent amount of chunks of scallop and lobster throughout.)
SHOWCASE COFFEE CART: Frozen Chai Latte with Bailey's (Fedora got this- it's really rich but perfect for a hot day!)
Overall, Day 1 of the festival was a success! Scot and I are going to go back, maybe on Monday after our 2 wedding appointments: florist and CAKE TASTING!!!!!
As for the running.... well, the festival didn't put a huge dent in my training but I did miss my usual Run Club on Monday night. I made up for it Wednesday after work with a 25 minute 3 miler. I carried a good pace of 8:24/mile, the weather finally started to cool off a bit and the humidity was low. I knocked out 4.6 miles today at a minute slower pace but ran pretty steady. Next week holds longer back to backs- 7.5 and 17 miles! I did it once, I can do it again :)
