Everybody Neat And Pretty? Then On With The Show!

Guess what phrase from a classic TV show is printed on all the little bars of soap and shampoo left in the rooms of all Disney Resorts?

Anyhow, I am back. So here is my spy report!

Friday I checked in at the Pop Century Resort. I was in the 70's area. The stairwells were hidden by giant 8-track tapes. There were mood rings and platform shoes and all kinds of crap all over the place. On top of the building were phrases from the 70s such as "polyester" and stuff. The pool is called "The Hippy Dippy Pool". Of all the value resorts, I like Pop Century the best. They are all pretty much the same as far as the room goes, but the decoration vary. Pop Century has a 50s area, 60s area, 70s area, 80s area, and a 90s area. With room to expand.

From there it was off to Downtown Disney to see the Cirque du Soleil show La Nouba. It is a good show, worth seeing if you are ever in that area.

That was it for Friday night.

Saturday was Wine And Food Festival time!! So after all the people with kids had already vacated the place I decided to get up and start moving around. You can tell when the families with kids get up because the kids are all running in the halls. And making "excited" noises. The trick is letting them do their thing, then you get up. That way the food places are not as busy and lines are shorter.

Upon arrival at Epcot, I went to the new "Soarin" thing at The Land. It is a movie where you "hang glide" over California. You sit in this thing, strap in, and take off. If you are in row 1 (I was) you are about 30 or so feet off the ground. Once airborne, you do not really move - it just seems like you are because of the movie screen. And your hanging thing can tilt forwards (when you climb) backwards (when you loose altitude) and to the left and right (when you turn). It is pretty cool. The ride is in "smell-o-vision" so when you go through the orange groves and forest take a whiff! The line was 1 hour so I got a fast pass and left.

Then it was off to Test Track. This is the General Motors sponsored ride where you get to experience a vehicle test track. There is the hill climb, , cornering, suspension test, heat and cold test, and so on. Oh and the crash test. And then the high speed loop where you hit close to 70 mph - making Test Track the fastest ride at Disney. And the longest ride.

After that it was off to get loaded. First stop....

ARGENTINA! This is not a usual place in Epcot. It will only be there for the festival. I did not get any food but I did get some Bodegas Salentein Malbec wine. It was very good. Red, and semi-dry.

Next stop - MEXICO! Mexico is a regular part of the World Showcase, but it has some extras for the festival. I had some Dos Equis Beer. I should have had some wine, Dos Equis is not that great. It is a lager style beer, while I am into ales. But still - it was cold and it was fizzy.

Next stop - FLORIDA! Yes, Florida has its own little booth for the festival. It makes sense, because if you ask a resident not all of Florida is actually part of the United States. I am kind of like Puerto Rico. I have a US passport and am counted as a citizen - but I live in South Florida. More like a commonwealth than part of a state. Anyhow, I had some garlic and ginger shrimp (GREAT!!!) and some mango wine (BETTER!!!!!). The Florida Riesling wine sucks. Avoid it.

From there I hit Soarin with my fast pass. Then off to.......

NEW ZEALAND! I had a "lamb slider" (little hamburger thing with lamb instead of ground beef) and a Nobilo Merlot. Excellent all around. The wine was dry, but it retained just enough sweetness to make it extra yummy.

Next - GREECE! No food there just some Greek wine. Now the Greeks have been making wine for 4,000 years OR MORE, so I was not going to settle for any second rate crap here! I went for the Ampelou Gis Red, mostly because I could pronounce it. It was good stuff. I could drink more of it.

Then it was CANADA! Canada is a regular part of Epcot. Of course I had to have the Ice Wine. No brainer there. I got the Mission Hill Reserve Riesling Ice Wine. Very very good. Possibly the best of all wines at the festival. Really - if you EVER get a chance to sample some Ice Wine do it. Do not think about it, just get it.

Next stop - POLAND! I had to have some Polish Beer, so I got the Okocim Beer. My friend got the Raspberry Wine. The wine was better than the beer. The Polish need to get some beer lessons from their neighbors the Czech Republic or their near neighbors Austria. But it was ok. Once again, it was a lager style beer where I am more of an ale kind of person.

Then it was....IRELAND! YEA! Now we are talking! Me roots are in Ireland. Well some of them at least. I went right for the Bunratty Meade Honey Wine. Meade could be the oldest fermented beverage in the world. Older than beer or wine. My friend had already guessed I would order the meade. She knows me too well it seems. I am VERY predictable. I wept when the meade was gone, for there was no more to drink. It was THAT good.

I skipped the "Great Beers Of The World" booth because none of the beers were that great. Labatt Blue a "great beer of the world"??!?!?!? I THINK NOT! Sorry Canada, but Labatt sucks. Stick to your awesome wines please. The closest to a "great" beer the booth had was Bass, and that is not so great. Plus I have drank gallons of Bass over the years - so I do not need more.

FRANCE was next. France is a regular part of Epcot. I had some French Beer. Kronenbourg 1664. It was ok. I have to wonder if the beer they had was the same stuff I could get in real France or if it was some export crap made for American taste. It was not so good beer. But I did try some Escargots! The snails were good, the beer not so good. I sampled some wine my friend got, that was some good stuff! She got some Sparkling Pomegranate Kir. I recommend that stuff over the beer.

Next time I go to Epcot, I am going to skip all the wine and beer in France in favor of a brand new booth they have! You can now get a Grand Mariner slushie! Holy crap! How cool is that!!!!??!?! Very cool.

I skipped Turkey, because I got a spy report that the wine there is not very good. Same for Morocco. Morocco is always at Epcot, so next time I go I may try some. But my wine spy reports are from a good source.

But SPAIN! I had to stop there! And I got some Condesa de Leganza Crianza red. Excellent. The Spanish rock.

INDIA was up next. No wine there, I was still savoring the Spanish Wine. But I did have some Curried Butternut Squash Soup with Naan. Awesome. Indian food could very well be the BEST FOOD in the world.

JAPAN was just around the corner at this point. Japan is always at Epcot. And this is good, because I can always get some sake and sushi. Usually I get hot sake, but this time I had the Ozeki Dry Sake, which was cold. And some spicy tuna rolls. The sake was good, but I like hot sake better than the ones served cold. Still, not bad!

Next, off to the HOPS AND BARLEY MARKET! There was a USA booth, but I skipped that. It was just American Wines. While they are not bad, there was a Samuel Adams booth right next to it! I could not decide what to get, so I had the Samuel Adams Pale Ale and the Samuel Adams 11th Year Anniversary Festival Beer - which was brewed special for the Epcot Food and Wine Festival. The special beer was a "porter" style. It was great. So was the Pale Ale.

My friend got me some mystery champagne while I got a seat for The Contours show. Who are The Contours?!?! Do You Love Me (Now That I Can Dance). That was their one and only hit, but now you know who they are.

That was it for the festival. I skipped Italy (always there, I have had the wine tour of Italy aready), Oktoberfest, Australia, South Africa, Thailand, China, Scandinavia, and Chile. I ran out of time. Between the show, the pit stop my friend had to make at the doll shop in Germany, and the fact that we had dinner reservations at The Land we simply ran out of time. I could have made it to all the booths had we not stopped. But there is ALWAYS next year!

Sunday I hit Animal Kingdom to check out the Everest ride. It is cool. You start off with a very mild train ride - no big deal. Not too fast, but not slow and boring either. Then you go up. Way up. There is some more not so fast stuff, then the train stops. The tracks ahead are all twisted and broken and stuff. You hear something roar, then the train shoots BACKWARDS! You have to escape the Yeti at this point. The tracks switch and you go into the darkness where the train starts to do some wild stuff. Then you stop and go forward again. The Yeti is pissed off because you invaded his home. There are some drops. There are tight turns. You see the Yeti and he tries to swat the train off the tracks. Then you are safe back at the train station.

That is about it really. I plan to go back seeing as how I got the Florida resident seasonal pass.