chechas
12-21-2013, 08:56 AM
Day 3 dawned bright and clear and a bit warmer than the previous 2 days. We had a quick breakfast in the room then caught the bus to EPCOT (this bus was shared with Ft. Wilderness). Lines weren’t bad at all to get in and soon we were striding through Future World. First stop as usual was Club Cool. We had visited right after they switched over to the new flavors so we once again tried the new flavors and I think we both liked the Melon one the best. Next up was a stroll through World Showcase and trying some of the new yummy holidays goodies. We decided to head right towards Canada. First stop was Refreshment Port to try one of the new cronuts (croissant donut). It was nice! Flaky deep fried goodness coated in cinnamon sugar! How can that be wrong? LOL
Next was a stroll through the UK and we tried to watch the Holiday Players who were doing their usual hilarious rendition of Scrooge but there were just too many people so we kept moving. I would have loved to have tried the Hot Applejack Cider but it was just too hot outside by that time. On to France!! Where we tried the Gingerbread Ice Cream. While it was yummy and spicy it could have used a bit more sugar. We sat and listened to Pere Noel tell his Christmas story and then continued on to Morocco. I figured we had had cronut and ice cream already guess we better get some real food. One of my favorite meals and great bargains has always been the Shawarma Platters at Tangierine Café. These platters include meat (chicken, lamb or a combo) served with Hummus, Tabouleh and Couscous Salad with fresh Moroccan bread. I usually love it. This time not so much. They changed the chicken and now it was chunks instead of a long thin Gyro like skewer and the chicken was just fatty and grisly. The tabouleh was also different along with the bread and not in good ways. So all in all we were disappointed. Sigh.
We wandered through Japan and then DD decided she had to get a funnel cake as it is tradition. SO while she got in line, I wandered some more. She ended up getting the pumpkin spice one but when the guy tried to ring it up and use her gift card to pay, the machine died so she got it for free. A little holiday pixie dust? We scoped out a spot in the American Pavilion near the Xmas tree to snack and watch the Spirit of America Fife and Drum Corp. They were excellent as usual. By the time we were ready to move on, there was a cast member giving a presentation on Hanukkah.
Italy was pretty quiet but Germany was hopping. DD tried a Werther’s Caramel Mocha Iced Coffee which was pretty good. We sat again and listed to their storyteller, Helga talk about the first Christmas tree and nutcracker. At this point it was very late in the afternoon since we had been taking our sweet time wandering around, shopping, snacking etc so we decided to catch the boat back to the future world side of the lagoon and head back to hotel to rest before the Luau. I stopped by the concierge at the WL once we got back to pick up our tickets and they said to be at Luau Cove 45 minutes before the show, so that would be 7:15. As we were leaving later, they had a choir singing in the lobby, they sounded wonderful!
I got there a little earlier than planned because I needed to try to get them to honor my Tables in Wonderland discount and was not sure how long that would take as I have had issues for the last few years and have never been able to get it honored at any of the dinner shows or for valet for the show. But this time was different. Yay!!
Anyways. This made the 7th time we have gone to the Luau at Xmas in the last 9 years. And I have to say this was the smallest crowd ever!!! It made it more intimate but also not as much fun. The upper level was completely empty and the lower level was maybe 3/4th full that is it. Was very weird. It made seating and service quicker but there was less audience to participate and interact etc. This was our first time with the new menu. Hmmm not thrilled. Not that we ever went for the food as it was never meant to be gourmet but this time the only things we liked were the roasted chicken, the bread and the soba noodle salad. The pulled pork had zero BBQ sauce in it. Really? I saw a lot of people ask for a cup of sauce. Lol. The veggies were very salty and the apple mango cole slaw was very bland and had not set long enough. Even dessert was a disappointment mostly due to lack of flair. They used to play the Hawaii 5-0 theme (can’t think of name of the song) and the waiters would come out with smoking platters of a chocolate something or other dessert and serve it with fanfare. This time they still played the song but the waiters were just doing whatever and the ones were did serve dessert at that time just flopped down a brick of bread pudding. I am not a bread pudding fan so of course I was not pleased. DD thought it was pretty good though. I just drank one of my included glasses of wine and sat back and relaxed.
The story of the Luau also had subtle changes and the traditional dances were great as usual, especially the fire dance! During the show the fireworks at MK started and you could see them as a backdrop over the trees behind the stage, added a great element.
Tomorrow: Downtown Disney, Hollywood Studios, EPCOT again
Next was a stroll through the UK and we tried to watch the Holiday Players who were doing their usual hilarious rendition of Scrooge but there were just too many people so we kept moving. I would have loved to have tried the Hot Applejack Cider but it was just too hot outside by that time. On to France!! Where we tried the Gingerbread Ice Cream. While it was yummy and spicy it could have used a bit more sugar. We sat and listened to Pere Noel tell his Christmas story and then continued on to Morocco. I figured we had had cronut and ice cream already guess we better get some real food. One of my favorite meals and great bargains has always been the Shawarma Platters at Tangierine Café. These platters include meat (chicken, lamb or a combo) served with Hummus, Tabouleh and Couscous Salad with fresh Moroccan bread. I usually love it. This time not so much. They changed the chicken and now it was chunks instead of a long thin Gyro like skewer and the chicken was just fatty and grisly. The tabouleh was also different along with the bread and not in good ways. So all in all we were disappointed. Sigh.
We wandered through Japan and then DD decided she had to get a funnel cake as it is tradition. SO while she got in line, I wandered some more. She ended up getting the pumpkin spice one but when the guy tried to ring it up and use her gift card to pay, the machine died so she got it for free. A little holiday pixie dust? We scoped out a spot in the American Pavilion near the Xmas tree to snack and watch the Spirit of America Fife and Drum Corp. They were excellent as usual. By the time we were ready to move on, there was a cast member giving a presentation on Hanukkah.
Italy was pretty quiet but Germany was hopping. DD tried a Werther’s Caramel Mocha Iced Coffee which was pretty good. We sat again and listed to their storyteller, Helga talk about the first Christmas tree and nutcracker. At this point it was very late in the afternoon since we had been taking our sweet time wandering around, shopping, snacking etc so we decided to catch the boat back to the future world side of the lagoon and head back to hotel to rest before the Luau. I stopped by the concierge at the WL once we got back to pick up our tickets and they said to be at Luau Cove 45 minutes before the show, so that would be 7:15. As we were leaving later, they had a choir singing in the lobby, they sounded wonderful!
I got there a little earlier than planned because I needed to try to get them to honor my Tables in Wonderland discount and was not sure how long that would take as I have had issues for the last few years and have never been able to get it honored at any of the dinner shows or for valet for the show. But this time was different. Yay!!
Anyways. This made the 7th time we have gone to the Luau at Xmas in the last 9 years. And I have to say this was the smallest crowd ever!!! It made it more intimate but also not as much fun. The upper level was completely empty and the lower level was maybe 3/4th full that is it. Was very weird. It made seating and service quicker but there was less audience to participate and interact etc. This was our first time with the new menu. Hmmm not thrilled. Not that we ever went for the food as it was never meant to be gourmet but this time the only things we liked were the roasted chicken, the bread and the soba noodle salad. The pulled pork had zero BBQ sauce in it. Really? I saw a lot of people ask for a cup of sauce. Lol. The veggies were very salty and the apple mango cole slaw was very bland and had not set long enough. Even dessert was a disappointment mostly due to lack of flair. They used to play the Hawaii 5-0 theme (can’t think of name of the song) and the waiters would come out with smoking platters of a chocolate something or other dessert and serve it with fanfare. This time they still played the song but the waiters were just doing whatever and the ones were did serve dessert at that time just flopped down a brick of bread pudding. I am not a bread pudding fan so of course I was not pleased. DD thought it was pretty good though. I just drank one of my included glasses of wine and sat back and relaxed.
The story of the Luau also had subtle changes and the traditional dances were great as usual, especially the fire dance! During the show the fireworks at MK started and you could see them as a backdrop over the trees behind the stage, added a great element.
Tomorrow: Downtown Disney, Hollywood Studios, EPCOT again