Stop Throwing Tissues on Me! – September 2023 Food and Wine Fest Trip Report! (Updated 2/12!)

[Wood Nymph]

Our next stop was Japan, where we finally got the food booth item we were both the most excited about trying, the beef wagyu!

It looks like a decent amount of beef in this dish. I'll keep it in mind for next time.

 

[Stacybaeasm]

I have never been to Abracadbar. On the list to try at some point.

 

[VAtink]

There's never enough time at Disney!

Right? I feel like last year spoiled me, we got to go three times! This year is kinda sad, we're only going once!

Nice to get a table so easily!

We've been oddly lucky with getting a table here, and even more odd, it's always the same table that opens up just as we arrive! Must be some of that Abracadabar magic!

Agreed!

Haha, that extra strong drink really helped with the packing!

The advantage of being at an Epcot area resort!

Yes! One of many reasons we love that area. We're starting our trip this year up at the MK area, which will be so weird for us, we haven't stayed in that area since 2000!

Gorgeous!!

Thank you!

Definitely the perfect way to spend your last Disney evening. Love it!!

Yeah, I really hope we get a view like this again in September once we move over to the YC. We actually booked a water view room this time around, so fingers crossed it'll be in this area!

 

[VAtink]

It’s the exact opposite for me! I’ve never gotten One Way or Another and I seem to bounce between Disco Inferno and Conga. I’ve gotten September twice, and Everybody Wants to Rule the World and I Ran once.

I'm jealous, I just want to get Disco Inferno once! Although I can't really complain, September is my favorite song to get (well, I assume....once I get Disco Inferno I'll know for sure).

Side note I often lurk on your reports, love reading the trips with your Mom! I’m also a Penn Stater! Class of ‘04

Oh no way! I should have been class of '04 as well, but I stayed for 5 years so didn't graduate until '05. Such a small world!

 

[VAtink]

It looks like a decent amount of beef in this dish. I'll keep it in mind for next time.

This was so good, I really hope they bring it back this year, we will definitely be getting it again!

 

[VAtink]

I have never been to Abracadbar. On the list to try at some point.

It's such a cool little bar, but it is very little! I don't know how we keep lucking out and getting seats. I'm glad we do since we really like their drinks!

 

[VAtink]

Day 6, Part 1: See Ya Real Soon!​

We got up pretty early this morning, unlike myself, my mom likes to get to the airport like four hours before the flight, so we headed off super super early. Since we were both flying Jetblue I tried to convince her that terminal C wasn’t anything like A and B and we didn’t need to get there so early, but since she had not experienced it herself, she still insisted we get there super early. Oh well, I tried!

I called for an uber and one arrived pretty quick, and by about 7:45 we were in the airport. Since we weren’t checking bags, we headed straight to security and breezed through in seconds. We now had about three hours before we boarded our flights.

Oh well, at least I had company to keep me entertained!

We did a bit of shopping, then finally went to find our gates, which only had one gate between them which was fantastic.

I did discover the chairs here had wireless charging on their armrests, so I charged my phone while we waited, and waited, and waited.

Finally, it was time for mom to board her flight, so we hugged goodbye and off she went. I then made my way to my gate to wait a few more minutes to board mine.

Per usually, Jetblue boarded those needing assistance then their mosaic level first, and then since I was group A, I boarded next. The first two groups had only like 3 people in them, so it was only a matter of like 2 minutes from when they boarded until I did.

Well, I get to my seat, and find that one of the three people who boarded early is sitting in the aisle seat of my row, and already has his laptop open and is working frantically on it. When I approach and ask him to move so I can get to my seat he looks absolutely shocked, and a bit pissed, that I would interrupt his work. He made this big production about having to put his laptop away and having to get up, it was so ridiculous it became hilarious, I was holding my breath to keep from laughing!

Finally he moved so I could get to my seat, but as he settled back in he kept grumbling about people sitting next to him. Ummmmmm, when I booked this flight 90% of the seats were empty, and even when I checked in the previous day the seat next to me was still empty, did this idiot think booking a flight less than 24 hours from departure he’d get a row to himself!?!?!

Other than that guy, the flight was uneventful, and less than two hours later we were back in DC!

When we landed the pilot came on the intercom to say “We’re running early today, so next time we’re running late, cut us some slack.” I don’t know what it is with Jetblue, but when I fly with them I keep getting pilots who love to make jokes!

Once home I said hello to my cat, Ham, then ran off to collect my other pets, Dug and Binx. I was pleasantly surprised when I went to pick them up I didn’t owe anything since I was accidentally charged the entire stay when I dropped them off!

We all made it home and I got to my favorite task, laundry. (yeah no, I hate this part)

This was such a great trip, albeit such a short one! I’m glad we made it to F&W this year, even though they still haven’t brought back the special events. I am still holding out hope they will one of these years, but if not, we may start to focus on other festivals instead. While we love F&W, so much of the food is repeats from year to year, and with no special events it’s not really as special for us anymore. I’m pushing for more FARTs trips, I absolutely love that fest, and I’d also like to do another December trip since I feel like we barely scratched the surface of Festival of the Holidays on our December trip this year. So who knows, maybe we’ll shift from September to other times of the year in the future!

I hope you all enjoyed the TR! If you missed my new one, you can find it here! (and thank goodness I'm back to only writing one at a time, having two going is hard! )​

 

[Wood Nymph]

We got up pretty early this morning, unlike myself, my mom likes to get to the airport like four hours before the flight, so we headed off super super early.

My husband always has to be super early for everything. It gets annoying but I just have to go with it.

Well, I get to my seat, and find that one of the three people who boarded early is sitting in the aisle seat of my row, and already has his laptop open and is working frantically on it.

What an idiot! How could he assume that no one would want to sit in "his" row.

I’m glad we made it to F&W this year, even though they still haven’t brought back the special events.

I miss the special events, too. But I do like that some of my favorites are back every year.

 

[2xcited2sleep]

I'm with you ... feverishly hoping that the special events can return to F&W. It seems like Disney Food Blog is too. I don't think they have any inside info and are prone to some exaggeration (click bait) but on this one I'm hoping they're right. If it stays as is (just food booths), I would also prioritize Arts or Holidays over it.

 

[Stacybaeasm]

See - I'm with your mom. They say be at the airport at least 2 hours prior to your departure. I hear be at the airport at least 2 hours prior to boarding (so already at 2.5 hours). And then, the stage manager in me says 15-30 minutes early is on time, on time is late. So I pad in at least another half hour because...what if?? So, yep, usually 3 hours early for me. And it has paid off (ok, once). Traveling to Minnesota from Charlotte at Christmas...I was in the TSA line for 1.5 hours at 4:30 AM!!! I was one of the only ones in the line not panicking about missing my flight because I knew I had left 3 hours to get through the line and get to the gate. So yeah...sorry...on this one, my vote is for your mom!

 

[VAtink]

My husband always has to be super early for everything. It gets annoying but I just have to go with it.

Haha, exactly like my mom!

What an idiot! How could he assume that no one would want to sit in "his" row.

Right? So ridiculous.

I miss the special events, too. But I do like that some of my favorites are back every year.

I really hope they come back this year, the festival seems so lacking without them!

 

[VAtink]

I'm with you ... feverishly hoping that the special events can return to F&W. It seems like Disney Food Blog is too. I don't think they have any inside info and are prone to some exaggeration (click bait) but on this one I'm hoping they're right. If it stays as is (just food booths), I would also prioritize Arts or Holidays over it.

Interesting! I figured when they announced the shorter run for Flower and Garden, that it meant that Food and Wine would also go back to it's shorter length from pre-pandemic, never thought they could increase the length like they speculate on DFB. Although I also thought that shorter festivals meant that there is a greater chance of events coming back...no idea why, but I guess I figured if the length of the festival is going back to what it was in the before times, then maybe other aspects from that time would also return? Maybe wishful thinking

 

[VAtink]

See - I'm with your mom. They say be at the airport at least 2 hours prior to your departure. I hear be at the airport at least 2 hours prior to boarding (so already at 2.5 hours). And then, the stage manager in me says 15-30 minutes early is on time, on time is late. So I pad in at least another half hour because...what if?? So, yep, usually 3 hours early for me. And it has paid off (ok, once). Traveling to Minnesota from Charlotte at Christmas...I was in the TSA line for 1.5 hours at 4:30 AM!!! I was one of the only ones in the line not panicking about missing my flight because I knew I had left 3 hours to get through the line and get to the gate. So yeah...sorry...on this one, my vote is for your mom!

I completely understand where you're coming from, if we were flying out of terminal A or B, I would 100% be with you, or even other airports (SFO is another one I'd want to get there hours in advance). Even times we've arrived 3 hours early there we've almost missed our flights, but with terminal C being so empty in the morning I'm not a fan of getting there super early. I'm sure as more airlines move in we'll need to get there earlier, but for the time being that terminal is gloriously empty and is so fast to get through, and I really really hate being in airports.