Since working down at Disney I learned that the best way to go down there is around a specific event, the last few trips I’ve taken have revolved around the Tower of Terror Ten Miler race and the Wine and Dine Half Marathon. I like doing Disney this way as an adult because I can pick and choose what I want to do and have a different experience than if I were to go down and spend the entire trip in the parks. The Wine and Dine Half coincided with the Food and Wine Festival at Epcot as well as the beginnings .
We made a quick trip to the Magic Kingdom to see the beginnings of the Christmas decorations.
The park has started to completely transform into Santa’s workshop. It’s amazing, giant wreaths and garland everywhere, twinkly lights on all of the trees, and at night they even make it snow on Main Street.
How cute are these life size nut crackers? What better way to get in the mood for Christmas than wandering around a Christmas wonderland in jean shorts!
The day after the race I was in some serious need of something to refuel. So naturally we opted for the Kitchen Sink at Beaches & Cream Soda Shop. This is the mother load of all sundaes, it feeds 4-6 so naturally the two of us decided to give it a go.
It has 8 scoops of ice cream — including vanilla, chocolate, strawberry, coffee, and mint chocolate chip; Angel Food Cake, Bundt Cake, Brownies, Oreos, Milky Way Candy bar pieces; Peanut Butter, Hot Fudge, Strawberry, Butterscotch, and Caramel sauces; Bananas, Cherries, and Sprinkles; and a whole can of whipped cream!
We made it almost 3/4 of the way through before admitting defeat,
I’ve heard amazing things about The Osborne Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights at Hollywood Studios so decided to check it out the first night. It definitely lived up to it’s expectations, the video I took unfortunately didn’t come out all that great but you can see a clip of last years here!
runDisney seriously puts on the best expos. They have amazing vendors and it’s a lot of fun to spend a couple of hours wandering around seeing all the different booths!
Epcot for Food & Wine Festival, it was a gorgeous day when we got there. Unfortunately as we were about half way through the world showcase it started to rain and seriously cooled off.
If you haven’t done the Food & Wine festival yet you’ve got to give it a try, it’s such a fun way to see Epcot. Any excuse to wander around and try amazing food and drink from all over the world works for me. The festival is especially nice because everything is tapas style so you get to experience a lot of different foods from all over!
This trip happened to fall perfectly, the weekend before my birthday means special dinners at the top of the Contemporary Hotel at The California Grille with an absolutely incredible view of the Magic Kingdom and the fireworks.
Between the Food & Wine Festival and all the decadent meals we had I feel like all I did was eat all weekend, I guess it’s a good thing there was a half marathon thrown in the mix!
Fairytale Champagne, because we were in Disney after all, we opted for the bison tenderloin with brussel sprouts and potatoes (melt in your mouth, gloriously amazing meal) and delicious halibut served over a really yummy salad.
We sat down and the table was littered with confetti, someone let slip it was a birthday celebration, at the end of the meal they brought over a creme brûlée for me as well! I love that about Disney, they work really hard to make any celebration special and I’d say they most definitely do more often than not.
Have you been to Disney this time of year? What’s your favorite part?
