Marvelous Mrs. Morin

If there is one thing you should know about me, it is that I LOVE Christmas. I love the music, the lights, the smells. I love the feeling of hope and joy that Christmas brings. I love that everyone seems to be a little kinder, a bit jollier, and just a smidge more hopeful. Hugh Grant said it best in one of my favorites, Love Actually, when he said “If you look for it, I’ve got a sneaky feeling you’ll find that love actually is all around.” *cue Billy Mack singing Christmas is all Around*.

So what does this have to do with right now, you may be asking. It’s June, right? Christmas isn’t for another six months! You are absolutely right, but June 25th marks a special day, Leon Day if you will (Noel spelled backwards), which marks the halfway marker to Christmas. I can’t think of a year more important to celebrate Leon Day. With so much tragedy surrounding us, just for one day, let’s maybe fill our homes and hearts with the Christmas spirit instead. I’m not saying go put up your whole Christmas tree (or do, Im not going to stop you) or make a whole Christmas dinner (again, not going to stop you), but maybe try some little things to remind you of a happier time.

For my family, I decided to keep it simple. I wanted to go to my favorite Christmas shop, Robert’s Christmas Wonderland, but unfortunately they are still closed due to Covid, so we created the magic right here in our home. That started with one of my favorite Christmas traditions: making Christmas cookies. I decided to go for one of my easier recipes, Grinch cookies. I will post the link to the recipe at the bottom of this post in case anyone is interested in trying them out. They are a super simple recipe, with the only difficult part in June being you have to buy a giant bag of M&M’s and sort out all the red and green ones. The cookies were a huge success with my kids and are always in the Christmas cookie boxes I send out to my in-laws. My Christmas expert advice is to blast your favorite holiday tunes while you bake, for me that would be the She & Him Holiday Station on Pandora.

Our next Christmas activity was obviously Christmas movies. My kids already have some favorites and mine aren’t necessarily child appropriate (looking at you Christmas Vacation), so we rolled with the kid’s favorites: The Grinch, Olaf’s Frozen Adventure, and Mickey’s Twice Upon a Christmas. The best part? All of these are available on streaming services. The Grinch is the new animated take on the beloved classic and is available on Netflix, while Olaf’s Frozen Adventure and Mickey’s Twice Upon a Christmas are both on Disney +. Regardless of which movie you choose to watch, it is a great way to get yourself in the holiday spirit. Hey, maybe you can enjoy one of your Christmas cookies while you watch your movie!

For our final Christmas activity, I wanted to bring out some of our favorite Christmas books. For us, those books are Olaf’s Night Before Christmas, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, and The Story of Christmas. The Story of Christmas is a short little kids book, but I love it because it explains why we give gifts as a way of celebrating the birth of Christ. For me the nativity story is so near and dear to my heart and fills me with a spirit of love and giving.

No matter how you choose to spend your Leon day, I hope it is a great one. I hope that you are filled with the Christmas Spirit and that maybe a Christmas tune fills your ears. From the Magic Kingdom Morins, Merry Leon Day!

To see more of our Christmas adventures, make sure you follow us on Instagram and check out our stories!

Cookie Recipe: https://therecipecritic.com/grinch-cookies/

A LOT of news came out of Disney this week, one of the more exciting announcements being what dining options will be available within the parks when they open. I thought the most simple way to do this was to list what WON’T be open. Anything not on the list will be open. I thought it was easier to do it this way because so much is opening with the parks. Dining reservations will only be available for guests staying on property, but my suspicion is that they are doing this to allow for walk-ins, similar to what has been done at Disney Springs. We have yet to have a reservation and have gotten in everywhere just fine. So let’s break it down park by park.

Let’s start with Magic Kingdom. Before I dive into the list, I wanted to mention the two most shocking closures on the list: Casey’s Corner and the Ice Cream Parlor. Both of these are Magic Kingdom staples, so to see them stay closed really did shock me. My thought is that they are keeping these closed to allow those walkways to stay open. Both locations tend to cause major traffic on Main Street, making it difficult to social distance. While these being closed may seem like a bummer, so many terrific dining options will reopen with the parks. Here are the restaurants that will stay closed:

• The Diamond Horseshoe
• Casey’s Corner
• Cheshire Cafe
• Cinderella’s Royal Table
• Columbia Harbor House
• Cool Ship
• The Crystal Palace
• The Friar’s Nook
• Gaston’s Tavern
• Golden Oak Outpost
• The Lunching Pad
• Plaza Ice Cream Parlor
• Prince Eric’s Village Market
• Tomorrowland Terrace
• Tortuga Tavern
• Westward Ho

The closures at Epcot concern me less because I think we will hopefully see several of the closed restaurants represented through the festival starting July 15th. They have decided to open Garden Grill, although the character experiences will be slightly different. Here is a list of everything remaining closed when Epcot reopens July 15th:

• Askershus Royal Banquet Hall
• Block & Hans
• Chefs de France
• Cool Wash
• Joy of Tea
• Kingla Bakeri Og Kafe
• Las Halles Boulangerie-Patisserie
• Les Vins des Chefs de France
• Lotus Blossom Cafe
• Monsieur Paul
• Nine Dragons
• Restaurant Marrakesh
• Sommerfest
• Takumi-Tei
• Teppan Edo
• Tokyo Dining
• Tutto Gusto Wine Cellar
• Tutto Italia Restorante
• Yorkshire County Fish Shop

For Animal Kingdom, I was really happy. My favorite counter service and my favorite sit down are remaining open, as well as many other favorites. Here is the list of everything remaining closed at Animal Kingdom:

• Dino Diner
• Drinkwallah
• Eight Spoon Cafe
• Harambe Market
• Kusafiri Coffe Shop & Bakery
• Mahindi
• Pizzafari
• The Smiling Crocodile
• Terra Treats
• Tusker House Restaurant
• Warung Outposts

Hollywood Studios and Animal Kingdom probably have the shortest list of closures. 50’s Prime Time AND Sci-Fi are coming back which I am super excited about! The idea that we may be able to get walk in seating is also a huge added bonus for us too. Here is everything remaining closed at Hollywood Studios:

• ABC Commissary
• Catalina Eddie’s
• Dockside Diner
• Epic Eats
• Fairfax Fare
• Hollywood Scoops
• Hollywood & Vine
• Kat Saka’s Kettle
• KRNR The Rock Station
• Market
• Neighborhood Bakery
• Tune-In Lounge
• Woody’s Lunch Box

Hopefully this helps everyone plan out their time at the parks! I will continue sharing information as I learn it, and as always am happy to answer any questions you may have.

Don’t forget to follow us on Instagram and we are constantly updating our stories!

This morning Walt Disney World rolled out their new parks pass reservation system for resort guests only. To say that the morning was not smooth sailing would probably be putting it lightly, but even though the system has its flaws, no one should be panicking, yet.

Even though we are annual Passholders, we have a reservation booked for the end of August at Fort Wilderness. While we originally booked this for Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party (now cancelled), we decided to keep the reservation and do a little staycation. In theory, if you are staying on a resort you should be able to book one park for each day of your stay, up to 14 days. I was able to book 4 days as we have a 4 day stay. So why were some people not able to book their whole stay? Simple, Disney technology sucks. My Disney Experience crashes constantly, shop Disney crashes every time there is a new release. We knew that this would not be any different.

At this point a lot of you are probably saying, what on earth is the good news then? The good news is the availability calendar. Yes, the system is crashing, but at this point every day for the next year is still showing available. The only ones that are yellow which means “not all parks available” are the days right after open and the only reason not all parks are available is because two of the parks will not even be open. I think once the rush settles down, we will see it become a lot easier to get your days, similar to Sea World and Universal. With all the cancellations and people choosing not to renew their passes, I do not think annual Passholders will have any issues getting days.

For now, all I can is be patient. As time goes on this will get easier. People are booking right now for the entire YEAR. That is a lot of people trying to get on to the system all at once. If I can be of any help to anyone, or answer any questions, please let me know!

If you have been following my page for a minute, you will probably have heard me say that I thought masks and Disney were not a good combo, that it would ruin the magic and that it would be way too hot. I got a lot of feedback on those comments, encouraging me to give it a try before I was so quick to cast judgement, so that is exactly what I did. Yesterday I ventured to Disney Springs to see what it was really like and to share my experiences with other people who may have precious life experiences who make masks wearing hard. As someone with some not so nice precious life experiences, the masks are actually a big trigger for me, so I had a lot of mixed emotions going into the day. Luckily I had a Disney friend who was willing to brave the Springs with me.

The first thing I noticed was that the parking situation was quite a bit different than I anticipated. I thought they would be parking cars every other spot to allow for social distancing, but that was not the case. They had the orange and grapefruit garages open to park in and I have to say they were pretty busy. You do not have to wear your mask in the parking garage, but are expected to put it on when you get to the temperature check. The temperature check was actually done by Advent Health, not Disney cast members, and for some reason I did like that. It doesn’t bother me when Legoland employees do it either, but something about it being a medical professional felt a little bit better.

I was expecting Disney to be SUPER strict about mask wearing, but they actually were more relaxed. They do have cast members who will ask you to put your mask back on, but if you are drinking something or eating something you can take it down. However you do have to have it on inside the stores, even if you have a snack or beverage. I did not have an issue keeping my mask on for majority of the day. With Disney springs you can go in and out of stores pretty easily and although it was busy, we at no point had to wait in a line to get into a store.

When we needed a break from mask wearing, we decided it was a good time to sit down and have some lunch. When you sit down to eat you do not have to wear a mask, so we popped into Paradiso 37. They are operating on a limited menu, but the food was delicious, the staff was super friendly, and most importantly, the restaurant was clean. I definitely recommend giving them a try if you are heading to Disney Springs for the day. According to Aubrey, the churros were out of this world and the best she has ever had!

Here is the main thing I gathered from being at Disney Springs yesterday: Disney has to require the masks because social distancing at Disney is not always possible. Unlike Legoland, where it is incredibly easy to spread out, Disney Springs was still pretty busy and even outside I would say the times were few and far between when we managed to stay six feet away from people. However it is unrealistic that people will keep their masks on all day, which is why they offer some exceptions. While we saw them enforcing the mask rule with adults, in a super polite way I might add, they do not seem to be enforcing it with children. We spoke with several families who had been multiple times and had never had a cast member try and force a mask on their tiny children. This tells me that Disney really just wants us all to try our best. I did not have an issue wearing a mask, but I know lots of tiny children would, so I am just going to leave that bit of info there.

Visiting Disney Springs did make me optimistic about the future. Seeing the mask rule in person basically just solidified what I already knew: it will not be here to stay. Disney just needs the mask rule in place as a temporary precaution. Is it the most fun in the world to wear a mask? No, but it is a small price to pay to get a little Disney Magic back.

If you are missing Disney, the masks really are doable as long as you are drinking lots of water and making sure you take some cool off time too. Would i take a trip from out of state and pay for a Disney vacation while the mask requirement is in place? No, probably not, but this is temporary and I think soon enough we will see everything back to normal. As of now, I don’t see this being a continuing thing into 2021 and I’m looking forward to Disney slowly transitioning to normalcy! Let me know if you have any questions 🙂

This last week, the Magic Kingdom Morins decided to add another annual pass into our lives: Legoland! I had not been to Legoland since I was a child and the one I went to was in California, so I really had no idea what we were getting into here. All I really knew was that it was super kid friendly, didn’t require masks, and that the season pass was SUPER cheap (only $10 per month for the awesomer pass with a $50 deposit). It just seemed like a great way to get us out of the house and have some fun.

Obviously I can assume the thing that is on everyone’s mind: what about covid? The first thing I need to do is praise Legoland. At no point did I feel unsafe or feel like they were not taking precautions. I felt like they were beyond responsible. So let’s start with what those precautions look like. The very first thing you do before even getting to security is that a Legoland team member will take your temperature. I was kind of worried about this because my kids hate getting their temperature taken, but they don’t even touch you and it was over before my kids knew what was happening. They also ask you a few questions and then you get to go through security. Every team member in the park wears a mask.

Upon entering the park, you will notice hand sanitizer stations at the entrance at exit of every ride. Team members were also sanitizing the rides constantly. While character meet and greets are not happening to keep in rule with social distancing, there were still so many things to do. It was also incredibly easy to social distance in the park. Lines are marked with where to stand and at no point did I feel like anyone was getting too close to us. After hearing how poorly things went at Seaworld, it makes me appreciate Legoland that much more.

Legoland also made a point in offering free masks at the entrance, so if you want to wear one but are struggling to find some, Legoland does provide them at the entrance, FOR FREE I might add. There are signs around the park encouraging mask wearing and social distancing, but mask wearing is not required.

This blog will be the first of many on Legoland because I am still learning so much about the parks and there is truly so much to experience. My first tip is to buy the refillable mug. It cost us $14.99 each if we bought 2 and it was worth the money. It gets you free refills all day up to every 10 minutes. We more than got our money’s worth. After the first day, you can continue to bring it back and pay $7.50 for the day, which is what we did on our second day at Legoland. With how hot it is getting, having those mugs was really a Godsend.

Now obviously my kids are little, so I was a little worried about height requirements, but if you have been following along on Instagram, we still have not gotten through everything. I am going to keep this post to general information and thoughts and next post I will get more into rides. One thing that was really cool about Legoland was the wrist bands they provide the kiddos. To avoid having to check height at every ride, you can get your child’s height checked towards the front of the park and your child will be given a wristband with a color that indicates your child’s height. Height requirements start at 30, then 34, 36, and up. Amelia is still only 33 inches, but Grayson is 34, so he was able to get a wristband and go on rides that Amelia couldn’t.

If you are debating which pass to get, I got the awesomer pass, which is $169.99 per year. This is one of the more expensive passes, but includes a discount on food, drink, and merchandise. It also includes entrance to the water park, but the one below mine does as well. The water park is well worth the money and with it being heated year round, I felt like I was getting a lot of bang for my buck.

Here are a couple more pieces of advice for Legoland: always bring swimsuits for you and your tiny ones. There is another splash pad in the duplo area my kids loved and if you have waterpark entrance it is located within the park, so it’s nice to be able to just head back there if we get hot. Also bring sunscreen! The waterpark is all in the sun and you will definitely be rocking a nice sunburn upon leaving if you don’t lather up. Right now Legoland is operating at reduced hours. The legoland part is open from 10am-5pm and the waterpark is open from 12-4. The day goes very quick and we at no point felt like we ran out of things to do, so I recommend getting there at opening.

Next post I will go into details on the rides we experienced and my tips for them! Please let me know any questions you have!

Last week we super fortunate to have a fastpass to ride Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway. I will say even without the fastpass, by day 2 of it being open I didn’t see the wait get over 95 minites, which doesn’t seem too bad for a brand new ride. I will admit I had some apprehension going into this ride. For starters I was a HUGE fan of Great Movie Ride, so its closure was definitely a hard pill for me to swallow. On top of that this new ride is animated in the same style as the show on Disney Channel. I don’t let my kids watch it just because the Mickey on the show I would describe as a meaner Mickey. We stick to Roadster Racers, Clubhouse, and Mixed-Up Adventures. So yes, I was nervous about this ride.

I want to write this in a way that doesn’t give away too many spoilers while also giving you an idea what the ride is, so if I seem like I am not giving too much away, it’s because I know lots of people want to simply experience the ride but have an idea of what it will be. The first thing I will say is that if you love to find hidden Mickeys like we do, they are EVERYWHERE. Honestly I lost count and a lot of them are so well done, so keep your eyes peeled. The inside line is still similar to that of Great Movie Ride, but instead of everyone going into one big theater you go into several smaller ones. In that theater you watch a little cartoon and at the end there is a very nice nod to the Great Movie Ride, that I very much appreciated.

The ride holds a lot of people and boards quickly, something that I believe will help keep this line from getting too crazy. The actual ride I would say is as immersive as Rise of the Resistance, but in a family-friendly cartoon way. The colors absolutely blew me away and both of my kids were in awe. This ride is very family oriented. My kids were able to lap sit and there is no height requirement, something that was definitely needed at Hollywood Studios.

The only warning I want to give is at one seen towards the end it gets kind of dark and tense and Grayson started to get scared, but as soon as he started getting scared the ride was right back to bright happy color and he was asking to go on “Mickey Choo Choo” again, so it was not even a big deal.

The imagineers did a beautiful job on this ride and if anyone deserves their own ride, I think we can all agree that it’s Mickey Mouse. Any videos you find online simply cannot do the ride justice and it truly needs to be experienced in person. Did you guys like the new ride? Let me know your thoughts!!

Flower and Garden is back and I could not be happier! Out of all the Epcot festivals, this one is absolutely my favorite. From the food to the florals, I feel like this festival just gets me and this year it started on my birthday which made it that much more special. This will be the first of a few posts about Flower & Garden, but for now I am going to start with how opening day went, what was great, and what was not.

After eating at Riviera for breakfast, we took the Skyliner to Epcot. I was shocked by how dead the park was, but with the opening of Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway at Hollywood Studios, I just figured most of the park traffic was over there. As excited as we were to see that the crowds were low, we immediately ran into some issues with the festival that were somewhat disappointing. The festival merchandise is BEAUTIFUL this year. I would say it consists of two collections: an orange bird collection and a pastel collection. I went to purchase some things using a gift card I had gotten for my birthday only to find out that all of the merchandise booths were unable to run gift cards, credit cards, or debit cards due to technical issues. I had to go and take out cash to purchase everything. The second issue was that several of the food booths were not open because, according to a cast member, “Tinkerbell didn’t drop off the pixie dust in time.” In other words, they didn’t have the supplies necessary to open.

Yes the park was beautiful and we were so happy to be there, but at least three of the booths we wanted to try were closed the whole time we were there. They are now open, but as far as a first day goes, I don’t know that it was a swinging success.

I will say all of the food and drinks we tried at the festival were fantastic and I was excited to see the added Remy topiary this year. Another big plus? There are TWO playgrounds for kids to run around. One by Test Track and one off the walkway to World Showcase by Journey into your imagination.

I think the first day was maybe just an off day and I am excited to see more of what the festival has to offer. To see all the food and drinks we tried, make sure you check out our Instagram highlights for Flower and Garden!

So I wanted to wait until I had watched a little bit of content before I wrote about Disney +. I wanted to make sure I really had a feel for it before reviewing.

So let’s start with the obvious: obviously there were a couple snags the first day, and I know I wasn’t the only one who experienced this. It took me a couple hours to get on, but honestly I am not surprised. It seems like every time a major platform launches, it seems to break the internet. Disney + is a massive platform and MILLIONS of people were trying to get on at once. It’s a new platform. It worked out the kinks within one day. I would say that’s not too shabby.

I was really excited to see so many classics on there. The first day we watched Aladdin and Beauty and the Beast. We also obviously turned on Frozen because my kids are obsessed, but what I really want to talk about is the original content. We have now watched 5 of the Disney + originals and I have to say we have loved them all. Here is what we watched and what we thought about them.

1. The Mandalorian

This was obviously going to be the first thing we watched. We are a big Star Wars family, so we couldn’t wait to watch it. I love the feel of it. Even though it’s a Star Wars series, it really does almost feel like a Western. It’s visually beautiful and the plot is continuously moving. The one thing that surprised me was the length of the episodes. I was expecting hour long episodes, similar to Netflix or HBO, but to my surprise both episodes were around 30 minutes. Other than that, we are definitely hooked.

2. Noelle

I am a sucker for a Christmas flick. Give me the hallmark channel all day every day. This movie was an absolute delight! It reminded me quite a bit of the Santa Claus. Anna Kendrick is so much fun and her character definitely makes you feel the Christmas spirit. It’s a feel-good Christmas movie that will definitely be one we revisit for years to come.

3. The Imagineering Story

To all my die hard Disney fans out there: watch this. The first episode moved me to tears. Seeing how hard the original cast members and Walt worked to bring Disneyland to life is nothing short of inspiring. This show gives you a glimpse at how much heart and energy go into the attractions we love today. If you don’t already love Walt Disney, you will after watching this. His vision for Disneyland brought a whole new form of entertainment to the world. So like I said before, watch this. Oh, and have some Kleenex on hand.

4. Lady and the Tramp

Lady and the Tramp has a soft spot in my heart. I walked down the aisle to Bella Note at our wedding. Tony’s is one of our favorite places to eat at Magic Kingdom, so I was really excited to watch this. Honestly, I adored it. I hear people complain quite a bit about how the live action remakes don’t have heart. This one does. The actors did a beautiful job bringing their characters to life. Honestly it may be one of my new favorites!

5. The World According to Jeff Goldblum

Look, if there is one thing you should know about me, it’s that I love Jeff Goldblum. Jurassic Park and Independence days are some of the movies quoted most in our house, so obviously we were pretty excited for this one. Watching him nerd out over mundane things like sneakers and ice cream finds a way to make those mundane things seem pretty exciting. His enthusiasm and personality carries the show and keeps you coming back for more. Another one we will continue to watch!

Obviously, this is just me beginning to scratch the surface with Disney +. Things will be added as we go and there is even more original content to watch. I definitely think it is an investment worth making, especially if you have kids. Having so many Disney movies at the click of a button is a super cool thing!

Sorry I haven’t posted to the blog in a bit! Between a trip to Atlanta and a staycation at the happiest place on earth, we have been super busy, but I wanted to make sure I went through the other dishes we tried at Food & Wine!

Before we get to food though, I want to talk about some other Epcot fun you can currently find in the park. If you haven’t already, make sure you check out the Epcot Experience, located in what used to be called the Odyssey building. It is a super fun experience that walks you through some of the amazing new attractions coming to Epcot in the next few years. Epcot is currently going through a major face lift and the growing pains are definitely going to be worth it in the end! The building also has four fun photopass opportunities that are all based around the exciting things coming to Epcot!

But now let’s get to the really good stuff: the food! Located near Test Track, you will find the Donut Box. I was really nervous to try this one because I have heard a lot of mixed things. We chose to order the strawberry-dusted yeast donut holes. It is a really large order, so it can’t definitely feed multiple people! Flavor wise, they tasted more like a beignets than a donut and I honestly didn’t taste much strawberry. They were decent, but I wouldn’t say they made my top 5 by any mean.

We FINALLY managed to find the chocolate experience last visit, which I was very happy about. In previous years it was located in the festival building, but with the addition of Guardians of the Galaxy, it has now been moved inside the Land. The Chocolate Experience is hosted by Ghirardelli, so you can pick up squares of all of your favorite flavors inside the shop. We got the drinking chocolate and it’s AMAZING. It kind of sounds like it will be hot chocolate, but it’s not. It’s basically warm, melted chocolate that you drink. Feel free to share this one because it is SUPER rich.

I finally got back to Japan to try the Teriyaki Chicken Bun and I was not disappointed! This was one of the things I was really looking forward to. If you have eaten at Pandora in Animal Kingdom, it is essentially the same at the cheeseburger pods, but instead of cheeseburger it’s filled with teriyaki chicken and vegetables. I would absolutely get it again!

In Morocco I should have trusted my gut and just gone with the chocolate baklava, but I decided I wanted to branch out so I tried the Spicy Hummus Fries. I was not into them at all. Maybe it was just the batch we had, but they almost tasted burnt and didn’t have enough sauce to counteract that flavor. I would say that dish is probably safe to skip as no one in our party particularly cared for them.

Usually every year I get the chocolate waffle from Belgium, but this year I decided to get the Golden Malted Belgian Waffle with Berry Compote and Whipped Cream. It was SO GOOD! This dish makes my top 5 for sure. It’s so much better than the chocolate and has so much flavor. If you are in the mood for something sweet, make sure you check this one out!

Since I am trying to try every pavilion, I also made a stop at Brazil. The Seafood Stew looked amazing, but due to my fish allergy I couldn’t partake in that one, so I ordered the Pao de Queijo instead, which is Brazilian Cheese Bread. I was very impressed that it had a decent amount of flavor! I wouldn’t say I’m running for this pavilion, but I don’t regret trying it either.

In Ireland we tried the Warm Chocolate Pudding with Irish Cream Liqueur Custard. It is exactly what it sounds like and also delicious. Probably not my favorite dessert of the festival, but if you are feeling some chocolate I would definitely make this a stop on your list!

I’ve been wanting to try the Cheddar and Bacon Soup from Canada for a while, but with the weather being so hot I haven’t had a moment. Luckily for us on our last visit it was cooler and rainy, making it a perfect day for Soup! This soup is FULL of flavor! The pretzel roll it comes with is perfect for dipping in the soup. This one I did not want to share, so make sure you try it!

The Remy Passholder magnet is now available, so make sure you grab yours! I got my Remy magnet and my Minnie coasters so I was a happy lady! We were also super excited to see that Mouse Gear already has their Christmas merchandise out and we went a *little* crazy. I am sure they will be getting more out, but Christmas at Disney is my favorite, so seeing it out was exciting! I hope I didn’t forget any dishes we tried, but in case I did please feel free to message me with any questions!

Food and Wine part 2 is here!! While this time I didn’t try quite as many pavilions, we did have a lot of food and wine fun and I wanted to share with you our experiences. The day of course started with a bubblegum wall photo, but then it was back to World Showcase!!

The first pavilion we stopped at was Flavors from the Fire. I specifically saved this pavilion for when my husband was there because I know it had a lot of foods that were right up his alley. This pavilion is not actually in World Showcase and is located closer to Journey Into Your Imagination with Figment and the Land. We tried the Steakhouse Blended Burger and the Smoked Corn Beef. Both were amazing!! I definitely would get the burger again. That tiny little slider is PACKED with flavor.

The next pavilion we tried I spaced and forgot to get a picture of, but it needs to be mentioned because it was SO GOOD. We stopped at the Wine & Dine Studio and decided to try their take on Seared Scallops. As Florida locals, we are super picky about our seafood. These scallops were cooked to PERFECTION. If you are looking for a dish with scallops I would go with this one over the option at Coastal Eats. The one at Coastal Eats is great, but it is a dip.

I decided to stop back at Shimmering Sips because it’s Florida so it’s hotter than the surface of the sun. I finally tried this strawberry beauty everyone has been posting on Instagram and I am happy to report it is as tasty as it is pretty. Another must at this pavilion? The frozen mimosa. It is made with White Claw and SUPER refreshing. I’m officially declaring it my favorite frozen drink of the festival.

The only other new dish I tried from last time was the potstickers in China. They are potstickers. I can’t really write anything else about them. They are exactly what you would expect them to be, but I am trying to make an effort to try every pavilion this year. They honestly didn’t compare to the other dishes I have tried thus far and if I could go back in time I probably wouldn’t waste the calories on them.

But let’s get into the fun stuff! Aside from food and alcohol, Food and Wine also offers concert featuring tons of different artists during the run of the festival. Some of these shows can get ridiculously crowded, so we decided to do the Eat to the Best dining package at Chef de France. Sugar Ray was the band performing and we wanted to make sure we got good seats. In previous years we have gone their shows have been PACKED, so we thought doing the Eat to the Beat package was a good idea, but honestly I have mixed feelings this year.

First off, for two adult meals it was $177 before tip. The meal included an appetizer, entree, and dessert. The food was fantastic and we will definitely eat there again, but I do feel like half the fun of Food & Wine is getting to experience food options that are not normally available. Our seats for the show were amazing and the show was incredible, but our tickets were for the 8pm show on a Tuesday, so it wasn’t as crowded as when we have been previous years. Honestly I think if you want to do an earlier show it is worth the price, but the last show seems to be the least popular.

The night ended with us watching Epcot’s temporary firework show: Epcot Forever. I will be unpopular for saying this, but Illuminations was never my favorite, so I was really excited to see the new show. The new show really pulled my heart strings. The whole thing feels like a tribute to Walt, with music from the past that takes you right back to childhood. It is worth the watch, especially for my die-hard fans out there.

Watching Epcot Forever made me beyond excited for where Epcot is going in the future. It’s already a spectacular park and it is only going to get better!!