So after a good run of character interactions, it was finally time for our very much anticipated lunch at Via Napoli. This was a first for us, and since we’d heard nothing but excellent reviews, we couldn’t wait to sink our teeth into some pizza!
The first thing I noticed after checking in was this beautiful chandelier that was hanging overhead! I adore most anything colorful, so this was right up my alley!
In the past couple days, I’ve read lots of complaints about the small waiting space, and thinking back I do agree that it was small. But thankfully we didn’t have to wait long at all as we were being led to our table about 5 minutes later!
Of course we did what every good DIS’er does on their first visit—we took lots of pics!
We were on the dining plan, but knew that we’d have to pay OOP for a couple of meals, and since this one was one of the cheaper ones, we decided that this was one we’d pay for. And since we were doing so, we decided to give a try to an appetizer and went for the Arancini (for those of you who are like me and had no idea what that is, it’s actually fried risotto balls filled with mozzarella and meat ragu). And this is what they look like:
They were pretty good. I expected them to be a little cheesier, but they still weren’t bad. I was surprised at how light they were as I’d worried that they’d be too heavy and fill us up too quickly, but they weren’t at all.
It took Mike and I a minute or two to decide on what we wanted for our entrée. Since he likes to be adventurous and try lots of different things and I tend to be pretty boring I had imagined that we’d go with the personal pizzas. But when we saw how much cheaper ordering 1 large was versus two individuals, we decided to go that route. And fortunately for me, Mike happened to be eyeing the very same one that I was…the Quattro Formaggi. We asked if we could add mushrooms and our waiter said we certainly could...
I think there’s only one way to convey to you how we felt about this pizza:
Yep, we LOVED it! It was quite amazing, actually! I happen to LOVE, LOVE, LOVE cheese, so this was perfect for me. Mike was infatuated...he couldn’t stop eating it. I was full and had to make myself stop. He was full, too, but there was still one piece left and there was no way he was leaving that restaurant with anything left on that pizza pan (except the crust, as you can see). So he somehow made room and devoured that last piece! I totally understand the love for Via Napoli now—it definitely earned its spot as our #1 favorite Epcot restaurant! I should also add that the service was great, too. The food came out at a perfect pace and our server was quite attentive.
In a state of euphoria and nearly in a food coma, we finally rolled ourselves outta there and made our way to the World Showcase boat dock. Our next destination was in Future World and we were just too full to walk our lazy selves over there, so we opted for a boat ride instead.
Our intended destination was the Land, but not before we came across a PP opportunity and stopped.
Pictures done, we then made our way to the Land for our flight over California!
Does anyone else still duck when the golf ball flies at you, even though you know it’s coming?
After Soarin’ we had a bit of time to kill before our 3rd and final FP of the day, so we decided to take a little ride on Living with the Land. I’m sure some may find this attraction to be boring, but I find it fascinating! The line was actually longer than I’ve ever seen it, but only ended up being a 10 minute wait, at the very most! And I managed to not take a single pic, so you’ll just have to take my word on this one.
Since our final FP was for Turtle Talk with Crush, we decided to head on over to the Seas to see what we could get into there. As we were browsing, we came upon a diver demonstration that turned out to be kind of cool, so we stuck around and took that in for a few minutes.
After passing a few more minutes, it was time to head on for some fun with Crush. I did notice that Mike and I seemed to be the only adults without kids, but I didn’t care—I absolutely love this attraction. We always come out laughing and this time was no different!
Now that our last FP of the day had been used, we had no real plans from here on out, so we decided to do a little shopping…
Next up, the spending begins!
