Tuesday, March 24, 2015

Weekend Wear-abouts: Drinking Around the World in Epcot + A Disneyland Native Comes to Visit

It's been a few weeks since I wrote a Weekly Wear-about, so it's nice to get back in the groove. Even though this particular weekend was not this past one, but the one before that. Anyway...

John and I headed to Epcot to meet up with our friends Keith and Victoria. Keith grew up going to Disneyland, and Victoria goes all the time. They live in San Fransisco and she had never been to Walt Disney World, so Keith was eager to show her around and hoped she loved it as much as he did. 

What better place to start than Epcot? 

The Photopass photographers have these cute frames to celebrate the special events in the parks. 



Our friends were having dinner at Coral Reef, so John and I had a roving dinner around the World Showcase and munched on food from the Flower & Garden booths. 

Our first stop was Mexico, where we had a pork taco and a Mexican beer with a shot of tequila. Both were good; the taco was delicious, but pretty dang small and a crummy value at $5.75. Too bad because the flavors were really on point. 


Sunset over the Stave church in Norway. 


One of my favorite booths is the Florida Fresh. We shared an order of shrimp and grits, and arugula salad with feta and watermelon. Both so, so good. We also split a beer flight. I liked the Blonde Ale and the Jai Alai.



Next was the Smokehouse booth in America, where we split a pulled pork slider. This is a great value (I don't remember the cost exactly, but the sandwich was large and in charge). We also split the Billy's Chili's beer, which was strange but good. It had hints of green bell pepper and a bit of spice-- oddly refreshing, and I imagine would be nice on a warm day. 


Pablo Cruise was playing that night, and though I consider myself somewhat of a music aficionado, I had never heard of these guys. They jammed it out, though! I was impressed. They also put on a heck of a light show, which reminded of my beloved Phish. 



Finally Keith and Victoria finished dinner, and we all met up at the Rose & Crown pub with just enough time to hoof it back to Italy to watch Illuminations. 

It was an Extra Magic Hour night, and since we weren't doing any attractions, John and I stuck around. (You only need to scan your Magic Band to prove you're staying at a Disney resort if you want to ride attractions during EMH; pretty much anyone is welcome to stay and walk around the park.)

We went into Tutto Gusto for a drink. 


We made our way to other countries as I was on a mission (to be revealed in a blog post in the near future) and stopped in Norway for Keith and Victoria to try the infamous Glacier shot. Keith has just recently started imbibing, and he was eager to try the many unique drinks Epcot has to offer. Little did he know what he was in for...

Everything's always fine and good before the Glacier shot...


It's after that life becomes miserable. 


But then you feel like this. 


Whew! The next day was Dapper Day, and even though I had every intention of getting gussied up and going, we ended up sleeping in a bit and headed again to Epcot to meet our pals. 


The Veggie platter from Tangierine Cafe in Morocco is so wonderful. Light and fresh and filling, and perfect for a hot Florida day. 


While I didn't dress 'dapper' per se, I did wear a light sundress that was a bit dapper, I suppose. 

Tucker for Target sundress (there's lots of these listed on eBay, and I freaking *love* this dress. Wear it all the time. For size, I'm a 4/6 and wear a medium)

We met up with our Disfam and introduced them to Keith and Victoria. Everyone got along swimmingly and planned to reconvene later in the evening for a monorail bar crawl. 


Fast forward a few hours. Keith and Vic ended up having a late dinner at Be Our Guest, so Thomas and I passed the time at the Tambu Lounge. Thomas even had his first Lapu Lapu! 


Where the entrance to Trader Sam's will be!!


Where the directional signage to Trader Sam's will be (next to Captain Cook's)!!


Ends up, we're old and can't hang, and decided to call it a night before Keith and Victoria finished dinner. They're champs and managed a monorail bar crawl, and it pained me to miss out, but what can ya do?

I met back up with them on Sunday morning at Animal Kingdom. Keith is not a fan of this park (*gasp*) and I was determined to try to persuade him a little. First up, Kilimanjaro Safaris. 

This giraffe walked along the road, in front of our vehicle, for a good five minutes. 


Finally, the moment I had been waiting for. We headed to Dawa Bar and ordered a round. Here we're taking 'drunkies' for proof that 1. Keith was at Animal Kingdom, 2. he's drinking and 3. for our friend DrunkAtDisney on Twitter, king of taking 'drunkies.' 


Besides sundresses, my go-to outfit for the parks during the warmer months is a pair of printed Lilly shorts and a soft, flowy loose fitting tshirt. Sometimes I'll stick on a pretty necklace to jazz it up a bit. 

Lilly Pulitzer Callahan shorts // J.Crew tunic tee (on sale-- get one!! Love this top. For fit, I'm a 4/6 and wear a XS- it runs large) // Stella & Dot Rebel Pendant necklace // Rainbow flip flops

After riding Everest, I headed home to take a nap before getting cleaned up for dinner. John and I met our friends at Animal Kingdom Lodge for a nice dinner at Jiko. 


John humored me yet again by posing for a mirror selfie. I forgot to have someone take a group shot of all of us at dinner, so this would have to suffice. 

Jack Rogers sandals (on sale today only- Wednesday, 3/25!)

On Monday, I met Keith and Victoria at the Magic Kingdom. Among the many attractions we did was Keith's very favorite, the Carousel of Progress. This guy knows everything there is to know about it (and pretty much anything about Disney history in general). 

Here he is in his element. On Twitter, front of the line for CoP.


We made our way to Mizner's for a late afternoon drink and snack. I'm pleased to say that Victoria loved this Resort as much as I do. Cheers to that!



If you're at Mizner's, get this. It's the mushroom and arugula flatbread, and it's damn delicious. 


Once again, we were Epcot bound. Again wearing my Lilly shorts and soft tee combo. 


Since Keith was learnin' the ropes of Epcot drankin', we headed straight to La Cava del Tequila. 


We emerged from our tequila haze to this spectacular sunset. There's something magical about sunsets around the World Showcase. 


Whelp, whaddya know. We ended up back at Tutto Gusto for limoncello. 


Many hours later, after dinner at Tutto Italia, we found ourselves back in Mizner's. Bonnie and Emily (of bibbidibonnie and chacosandtacos fame, respectively) met up and Keith bought Bonnie a 21st birthday shot. 

We all headed to the Magic Kingdom and slid in line for the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train just minutes before the 12 midnight closing. After a ride through the mine, we headed out and parted ways. 


I ended up meeting up with Keith and Vic the next day (third wheel much?), and Keith actually helped me buy my domain name and get it synced with my blog. So now, I'm official! DressingForDisney.com is legit. 

I drove them to the airport as a way of saying thanks. 

You can find Keith in various places on the inter webs, most notably at his site and podcast at The Disney Project. He also volunteers and contributes to the Walt Disney Family Museum, and hosts their podcasts among other things. He's also on Instagram and Twitter

Victoria is on the IG as well. (I'm sure she's elsewhere as well, but I only know her Instagram.)

It was a wonderful time, and I think Keith succeeded in getting his lady to enjoy Walt Disney World as much as we do. 

8 comments:

  1. Sounds like so much fun! You certainly know all the good spots- I'm learning so many from you!!

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  2. What a weekend! Way to make me miss R&C even more, if that's even possible. Must. Visit. Mizner's. It's the first thing on my to do list.

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    1. Yes, it was a busy one. Let me know when you plan to visit Mizner's-- I'd love to meet for a cocktail!

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  3. I just discovered Jack Rogers sandals thru someone's IG account....must.get.a.pair. Too cute! I will be watching your site since you have the most awesome scoop on Sales! Hugs, Kari

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    1. Jacks are super cute, but I'll be completely honest and say they aren't the most comfortable. The footbed is a bit-- odd. I wouldn't wear them for a lot of walking. But they are adorable. I even got a monogrammed pair with my soon-to-be initials to wear on my wedding day.
      As far as sales, go, I find that by following the brands I love on Twitter and Instagram, I get the most up to the minute sales and specials. ;)

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  4. It was a wonderful time, and I think Keith succeeded in getting his lady to enjoy Walt Disney World as much as we do.
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    ReplyDelete