Welcome to another edition of Trip Report Tuesday! Let's jump right in...
We began our day at Disney's Hollywood Studios, excited to experience a fun first!
On this marvelous Monday we had fastpasses for Slinky Dog Dash. I had fun planning our outfits accordingly, choosing playful primary colors with a dash of Disneybounding too!
Since the wait for PhotoPass pics at this location was typically a long one, we headed there first thing to get a couple fun family pics.
Little One was Disneybounding as Luxo (aka: The Pixar Ball), while I tried to subtly replicate the iconic Toy Story clouds with my top.
Our fastpasses were for a bit later in the day, so we made our way out of Toy Story Land and onto Tower of Terror!
Lunch at Woody's Lunchbox
We enjoyed this quick service restaurant so much we made it back a second time this trip!
I shared our first experience (which included sitting at a "special table") in my trip report covering day 7. If you missed that and are interested in a closer look at the food and dining area, you can find that post here.
I'm a big fan of this grilled three-cheese sandwich! The melted provolone, cheddar, and american cheese on grilled sourdough bread totally hit the spot! This time I didn't get the tomato-basil soup for dipping and I totally missed it. If you try the sandwich sometime I highly recommend ordering both for the perfect pairing.
After lunch we headed into hyperspace at Star Tours. Then it was time to return to Toy Story Land to use our fastpass for our first ride on the new Slinky Dog Dash!
We loved the Slinky Dog Dash! Honestly, it exceeded my expectations. I expected it to be on par with Goofy's Barnstormer coaster. Yet, this one had a bit more thrill to it - not so much that it would make kids leery, but enough that as an adult I enjoyed it. It's not a ride I'd wait in a lengthy line for, but an enjoyable addition to the park and a fastpass well spent.
Our final ride of the day at Hollywood Studios was Rock 'n' Rollercoaster!
I can almost hear Aerosmith playing just looking at this pic!
AeroStitch? ;)
Time for some Studios' snacks!
Can you tell by that smile that Jason is holding one of his long time favorite Disney snacks? He and Princess grabbed some sweet cream cheese pretzels which are growing increasingly more difficult to find in the parks these days. There's a cart that's occasionally open near Rock 'n' Rollercoaster that has them. We'd tried earlier in the trip to hit that cart when it was open and failed. This day they felt like they hit the jackpot when they saw a cast member ready to sell them the sweet snacks! Meanwhile, I treated myself to a cup full of frozen deliciousness in the form of a strawberry daiquiri.
The "feels like" temp that afternoon was 104 degrees and this was just what vacation called for!
Time to return to Animal Kingdom Lodge for a relaxing afternoon break.
A peek out at the savanna in the distance from our pool view room.
When I went down to The Mara to fill my rapid refill mug I picked up a cute chocolate chip cookie treat topped with the sweetest face (that I can never bring myself to eat)!
The girls ended up asking if they could chill at the resort that evening, so Jason and I ordered them a pizza to share in our villa before we headed off for an unexpected date night at Epcot.
A fresh pizza pie and resort sister time, they were settled in for a sweet night together!
An Unplanned Epcot Food & Wine Festival Date!
It's not everyday that we get an unexpected date night at Epcot and we did not take a moment of that for granted!
We began our eating adventure at the Coastal Eats booth.
Jason went with the baked shrimp scampi dip. I'm not a seafood fan so he had this plate all to himself. ;)
Next we headed over to the Flavors of Fire booth.
I always say that Disney magic is in the details. I love how they take advantage of every opportunity to add to the theming of atmosphere. These plants were perfect alongside this booth.
We shared the "piggy wings" and they were so good!
Time for one of our favorites, China!
The mango bubble tea is super yummy! That's coming from someone who doesn't even typically care for tea.
We also shared roasted duck on a bao bun. Love a good bao bun topped with tastiness!
We saw a storm a brewing and took the opportunity to seek dry shelter and some patriotic entertainment with a viewing of The American Adventure. It was a half an hour of cool relaxation along with an enjoyable show.
Upon our exit of the theater Jason was ready for his festival fave, the lobster roll from the Hops and Barley booth!
More sweet strolling with my love and picturesque views...
We'd heard so many rave reviews about the crispy pork belly from the Brazil booth. Honestly, we were both completely disappointed by it. Jason likened it to a dry overcooked pork chop. We also ordered moqueca, a Brazilian seafood stew featuring scallops, shrimp, and white fish with a coconut lime sauce. As previously mentioned, I'm not a seafood fan so this was all Jason's. While prepping this post I asked what he thought of it and he laughed saying he couldn't really remember. So there you have it, it wasn't memorable. It's always fun to try new things, but we'll pass on both of these items next time we hit the festival.
On to a sweet treat we always enjoy, the warm chocolate pudding with Irish cream liqueur custard from the Ireland booth!
One of my personal favorites followed at the Canada booth, Canadian cheddar cheese soup with a pretzel roll. Yum!
Next we made our way into the Mexico pavilion. I absolutely adored this handcrafted perfect pumpkin necklace in the shop, but with a pretty high price to match, I opted for a sweet snapshot rather than a purchase.
Gran Fiesta Tour Starring The Three Caballeros...
Free festival merch for passholders, yes please!
Walt Disney World Annual Passholders could pick up complimentary gifts from the Food and Wine Festival. A complimentary cutting board was available to passholders upon their fourth visit to the Food & Wine Festival. They made it so simple too! Our magicbands tracked how many times we'd been at Epcot during the festival. When we arrived inside the festival center a cast member simply scanned our magicbands, we showed our annual passes, and we received our super cute cutting boards and passholder magnets too! (Unlike the cutting boards, the magnets are available to all passholders on their first visit to the festival.)
Here's a closer look at the Food & Wine Festival passholder magnet. (The photo was taken on the following day.) The cutting board has this same cute Chef Mickey in the center too!
Extra Magic Hours were in full swing by this point in the evening. We took advantage of the opportunity to enjoy Soarin' with a 15 minute standby time.
We exited over the "magical sidewalks" (as I call them) hand in hand with full hearts and fresh new memories we'll savor for years to come!
Thanks so much for stopping by the blog today! It was fun recapping our family first in Toy Story Land and an Epcot evening for two while our girls enjoyed some sweet sister resort time! I invite you to join me here this time next week for a recap of day 13!
You can check out the video footage from this day on my family's YouTube channel,
Eat, Sleep, Dis, Repeat!
Direct Link to the Video of Day 12:
Day 12 - First Time on Slinky Dog Dash!
Eat, Sleep, Dis, Repeat!
Direct Link to the Video of Day 12:
Day 12 - First Time on Slinky Dog Dash!
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:
Previous Trip Reports from this Vacation:
A sneak peek at what's to come...
Day 5-15: Walt Disney World
+ my 40th Birthday (September 13th)
Day 16: Georgia Aquarium
Day 17: Homeward Bound
I can't wait to go to Toy Story Land! I love Epcot in the evening too.
ReplyDeleteI’m sure you and your family will love Toy Story Land on your next trip! It’s such a cute and playfully decorated land! :)
DeleteI love how much you guys LOVE Disney! I do think by the 12th day on vacation I would be struggling with not having a lot of access to healthy foods and exercise. Do you guys ever want a "break" from the junk food while on your trips?? Are there any healthy food options in Disney these days? I haven't been in years personally!
ReplyDeletep.s. I always look forward to your Tuesday posts! :)
Yes, there certainly are healthy options available in the parks and resorts. While we enjoy splurging on fun foods (that aren’t always the healthiest) while on vacation, we are definitely craving healthy meals toward the end of each trip. Fitting in plenty of exercise on Disney trips isn’t a problem as we typically hit 10 miles of walking per Disney day. :) I’m so glad you enjoy these posts. Thanks for reading!
DeleteUnexpected date nights in Disney are the best! My mother in law often comes with us on our family vacations and at least twice that I can remember she watched the kids while my husband I went out and enjoyed ourselves... it was amazing!
ReplyDelete