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During our epic trip to both Canada where we visited Canada's Wonderland Haunt and Orlando where we visited Halloween Horror Nights Orlando for the first time ever and Universal Orlando Resort for the first time since 2006, we also took the time out to visit Epcot for the first time since 2007. We will be doing a more comprehensive WDW visit next may before our cruise (first time at new Fantasyland, Pandora, Toy Story Land and much more) but for this trip we decided to just have a day at Epcot to hopefully ride Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind and spend a day with some Orlando friends at the Food and Wine Festival. We had an amazing day and we can't wait to get back in a few short months. Written by Gregg Condon  Hello gorgeous, it's been a long time! 
 We're tired, almost ready to go home, but not before an amazing day at one of our favorite theme parks ever!   While we were waiting for the rest of our crew to arrive (and our Guardians time) we had some fun in Future World (is it still called that?). I think we missed 2 versions of this, but we loved the current version.   For two special people! You know who you are.  I still freaking love this ride. Orange FTW!   Also, will make no apologies for loving this too!  Granted, our first trip to Epcot was in 2006 so we don't know any better. =)  Despite a lot of walls everywhere, the park still looks amazing!  Good Nemo! I will be taking no questions.  OMG it's happening!  Thought the queue was just ... ok.   Loved the model though! The pre-shows were fun although I will say it was obvious Rocket wasn't Bradley Cooper and it was a bit distracting. Anybody else feel that way?  This coaster currently sits at #5 on my list (out of 336 coasters). It's THAT good.  Only 50th statue we saw all day, granted, we weren't really looking. Lol.  Saturday + late October + Food and Wine = Crowds. But they were manageable and most of the lines moved very quickly.  This means you!!
 This was empty when we boarded Gran Fiesta, and was packed when we got off.  I freaking love this ride  Alright, let's get some food in our belly's!!
 I absolutely loved this!  Potatoes and Cheese and Bread, what's not to like?
 Wonder what we could find in here?
 We did Lightning Lane+ for the day, it definitely wasn't worth it. We essentially paid $22 to ride Frozen. We enjoyed it, but not THAT much.  Yes, we're the nerds who come from CA and buy hats and ears.  Really should have been called Olaf's Adventure, not that we have a problem with that.  Those barges aren't THAT bad
 This is why you wear a colorful shirt to Food and Wine, I didn't spill though!
 Story Time ... there was some "influencer" type person trying to get the perfect phone booth pose for about 10 minutes, and yelling at either her BF or "Friendzone Friend" (most likely). Steve and I walked up and got this in 1 take.  At your service!  This was fantastic!  I thought the shrimp was just ok, the couscous was actually my favorite part  Oh Canada, why are you so yummy?  The most beautiful pavilion IMO  Lots of apple treats inside!  Wanted to see the show but this was ok too!  Some frozen vegan thing, not too shabby  Living with the Land!  Our crew, a lot of FL Team Park Journey!  You either love this ride, or you don't love awesome rides   Epcot's Mullet  Epcot NFT's > HHN NFT's  Time for some more food, the Mac and Cheese was just "ok"  The Fry Flight was a hit. I'm not usually a fan of sweet potato fries but I enjoyed these.  First time on Test Track 2.0!!  Or not. We got walked off right at the seatbelt check. Too bad, our vehicle was amazing!
 Time to start saying our goodbye's to dear friends and to an amazing park
 Until next May Epcot. We love you! Related Videos
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 This past weekend we headed out to The Disneyland Resort for a day of fun at the 2018 Disney Food and Wine Festival. We hadn't actually attended this event since it came back after the DCA re-do so we were quite excited to check it out. Needless to say we had an amazing time. Written by Gregg Condon I want to start off with saying what an absolutely fabulous time we had on Saturday. The rain must have kept some people away because the parks never really got busy. We got the MaxPass as we did on our last visit, and it was amazing and worth every penny. But more than that, it was just a totally stress free day in the parks. It really made us remember why we love Disney so much. We arrived early enough for rope drop, but couldn't head to the parks without a quick look at Star Wars Land. Wow!!    The new parking structure is being built, so there is a new temporary tram loading area. It was kind of fun going the opposite direction on the tram. It's the little things  Do we look excited? =)  Hi there California Adventure, we'll be back to you in a bit.  Can't even remember the last time we "rope dropped" Disneyland. It's just as amazing as we remembered it.  It was a beautiful morning  We hadn't done "non holiday" Haunted Mansion since probably 2011. So this was our first chance to see the Hatbox Ghost in his natural habitat. And it was amazing. Thanks to the MaxPass we rode this a few times throughout the day.  After doing a few more rides we decided to head over to DCA, but not before checking out some of the amazing music on Main Street.  It's food and wine time!!!  Well, turns out we were a bit early, so we decided to use our MaxPass for Radiator Springs Racers we had secured while we were still at Disneyland. Love how that works. =) Love the decorations for Food and Wine    We also hadn't done Soarin' Over The World, we absolutely LOVED it. Don't understand at all why some people don't like this.  Our first stop   Both were delicious, think we both preferred the slider though  Not even sure where to start with the Brie Toast with Fig, Mint and Almond Crumble. On the surface, it wasn't anything we were particularly gung-ho about. But we are always ready to try new things. And just like all of the Toast Surprises on this season of Top Chef, we loved it. It was one of our favorite things. (Our top 5's are posted below)  Next up was the White Cheddar Lager Soup, Jalapeno Popper Mac & Cheese with Bacon, Watermelon Lemonade (so good) and the Light and Refreshing flight.  How about some "Frushi", Strawbery Pie, Strawberry Fros'e, Avocado and Pepper Guacamole Burger and Spiced Oumph!! Note: We had no idea what Oumph! was and had even less of an idea it was vegan ... we actually enjoyed it. So yay for our Vegetarian/Vegan friends. Good food for you too! =) But back to the burger, can we get this full sized and on a permanent menu? It was that good.  Meyer Lemon Macaron was heavenly as was the Crispy Orange Chicken and Rice with a Garlic Cracker.  Both paired very nicely with the Meyer Lemon Ginger Mule. Very refreshing even on a not warm and sometimes rainy day.  And then there was the Popcorn Lemonade Cocktail with Tequila. It was "interesting" to say the least. It wasn't awful, we are glad we tried it. But it essentially is just as advertised, it tasted like popcorn.  Here are our top Five favorites, and more importantly, what booth you can find them at!!
After all that food and wine you'd think we were done with our day, but it was just getting started!! Oh yeah, they are doing work on Pixar Pier!! We are very excited for it and hope we can make it back after it opens.     Still one of my absolute favorite spots in any Disney park. It's just perfect.  We also got to do Guardians of the Galaxy: Mission Breakout for the first time. LOVED IT!!
  After another spin on Racers, Soarin' and a few more snacks it was time to head back over to Disneyland for the evening. First stop, a trip on the Railroad. A must do every trip!! Oh, and to get some Star Wars pics!!  Star Wars Land pics aside, we absolutely LOVE the changes to the railroad.  While we were hanging out in Critter Country getting some pics we met a friend 
We spent the late afternoon riding Mansion again, Jungle Cruise, Tiki Room (another must see every visit), as well as Buzz, a yummy dinner and then of course, Space Mountain!!    We joined the dark side  Selfies in front of the castle (we kept forgetting that we have Photopass with the MaxPass)  And of course, the awesome nighttime balloons!!  Thanks for reading, we hope you enjoyed our little report. Be sure to check out the Food and Wine Festival this year, it's amazing. You can find out more information about this years event here. If you've visited be sure to share your favorite foods in the comments below. We'd love to hear about the things we missed, because lets be honest, you need at least 3 days to try everything. Oh hey, there are 3 days on the Southern California Resident Ticket Offer. =) Related Updates:  What's the best part of living in Central Florida or Southern California in the Theme Park "offseason"? That's right, our theme parks don't close. While some go to weekend only operation those of us in CA and FL can literally visit a theme park every day of the year. And when you're incredibly local that means you can visit a few times over the span of a couple of weeks and experience a plethora of different experiences. And that's just what Renée has been doing over the past few weeks, so we have great stuff from so many of the great Holiday happenings at Walt Disney World that we couldn't dream of fitting it into one update. And we still have a few weeks until the Holidays are over so who knows where our adventure is going to take us next. Written by Renée Girard Cast previews for Disney's Rivers of Light begins tonight. No photos or video allowed but we'll be there! Hoping for a great show!  Getting ready for Rivers of Light to start in 30 minutes!  Got our seats and beer, let's do this.   No photos tonight. Excited to see this much anticipated show! 10 minutes till it starts.  We loved Rivers of Light! Beautiful show, amazing technology, and a million times better than Jungle Book. This week we're spending some time at the Epcot area resorts. The Boardwalk is great all year round but it's perfect for the holidays!   Right next door at the Boardwalk, the Flying Fish restaurant has recently been renovated. It looks beautiful!  Everything was delicious! I enjoyed the frittata with a caffe latte. Everyone else had egg dishes as well, and pancakes, all equally yummy. 
One of Disney's newest themed bars, Abracadabar, on the Boardwalk. It's a small space packed with lots of unique detail. Open 4pm-midnight. 
 It wouldn't be Disney without a hidden Mickey! The one in Abracadabar isn't so hidden but still very cool.  Looking around at some of the holiday decorations at the Epcot resorts too. Over at the Beach Club, there is the gingerbread carousel.   Christmas tree in the lobby of Disney's Yacht Club resort.  Having some drinks at the Crew's Cup Lounge at Disney's Yacht Club resort. What a cool, cozy little bar this place is!   Dinner tonight is at the Yachtsman Steakhouse at Disney's Yacht Club Resort  
Had an amazing meal at Yachtsman Steakhouse! Definitely highly recommended by everyone in our party!
 And of course, any dinner near EPCOT would be incomplete without the "Peace on Earth" finale of IllumiNations   Goodnight from Disney's Yacht Club resort!  We are starting our day with breakfast at the Captain's Grille at Disney's Yacht Club resort.   You can order regular breakfast menu items at Captain's Grille but we're going with the buffet.  New this year, Captain's Grille is offering the Candlelight Processional dining package. It's a great deal and guaranteed seat for the show!  Tonight we will be celebrating the Holidays Around the World at Epcot!  One of the best ways to get in the holiday spirit is to see the Voices of Liberty sing.   There are a lot more Food & Wine-ish offerings for the holidays at Epcot. Looking forward to trying some later! 
 But first we will be attending the Candlelight Processional narrated by   Some of us are attending the show, with one performing in it. Nerves are starting to set in, even tho this is my third year doing it! Eek!!  Showtime in 30 minutes! Always a joy to share the stage with the legend....ary Neil Patrick Harris!  And we'll leave you waiting for part two to see what happens at the Candlelight processional. Did Renée fall off the stage? Run off with Neil Patrick Harris to raise babies in the Haunted Mansion? You may never know ... or you know, just find out on Thursday in part II of our epic adventure. =) Related Updates:
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