Sue's October Food & Wine Trip

Bar Riva is our favorite. I like the chicken sandwich with tomato basil soup!

That sounds delicious!


DAY 1 – Sunday 10/22/23

Who: Sue (64), DVC Member

SB (66), my husband



Plan: Drive to WDW, Big River Grill



Actual: We left at noon, and it felt strange going down on a Sunday! Traffic was heavier than we’re used to, pretty much on every highway. However, we made it without incident and as expected the villa was not ready. I dropped off SB and most of our stuff outside the lobby, then parked the car and joined him inside with the rest of the stuff. A very nice cast member checked on the status of our villa and offered to look for one that was already ready. She found one, but it was halfway down the hallway and had a solid wall balcony. That means sitting down my view would be a wall of wood! She said housekeeping was inside my assigned villa right now, and it was closer to the elevators and had an open wall balcony, so I decided to wait for that.



I walked down to Big River Grill to request our table be outside. It’s so much nicer sitting out on the Boardwalk vs inside the very ordinary/boring restaurant. With that taken care of I returned to the lobby and took pictures of the cast members’ pumpkin decorating contest entries – they were all great! I joined SB on his sofa and soon Chip & Dale came into the lobby. Later Daisy Duck arrived as well. SB got some one-on-one time with Chip and then once people realized the characters were here the families w/kids started pouring in. The characters stayed for quite a while, with lots of good interaction for those interested.



The nice cast member came back over when she saw my villa was ready, before I’d gotten the text. She said I should be able to see it on the app, and she was right. We moved our stuff to the villa, and I quickly unpacked while SB watched the end of a football game. The timing worked out well – it ended just before 4 so then we walked down to Big River Grill for our early dinner.



We were seated outside, with a lovely view of people strolling the Boardwalk, friendship boats coming and going, and Yacht Club across the lake. Our waiter was Yassine and he did a terrific job. For drinks I tried a pineapple mojito since the glasses of wine were the same price as the cocktails. Although I love the cucumber mojito in Tamarind on HAL ships, I realize now I’m not a mojito fan overall. This one was just ok. SB got strawberry lemonade and Yassine kept him refills plus another “for the road”.



I stuck with a bowl of the cheese soup, which was excellent! It’s also a pretty big portion and very filling because it’s so thick. SB got the brew burger but subbed a small Caesar salad instead of the chips. He also wanted a hot dog, which he’d seen on the kids’ menu, so Yassine brought him a hot dog and chips as well (for $2.99). Everything was excellent – even the hot dog tasted really good.



We were too full for dessert, or so I thought. He spotted the candy case inside the Screen Door as we were passing by so we went inside. We agreed on a caramel apple w/nuts. I left him there to see if they sold any adult sneakers (he didn’t wear or pack a pair) and when I returned, he was standing outside holding TWO of the caramel apples (so he wouldn’t have to share).



Back in the villa he settled down with the next football game while I cut one of the apples. I kept a few small slices for myself and gave the rest to him. Of course, he wasn’t able to finish it all so I’m really glad I ignored that second apple for today! I was able to catch HAL’s Rotterdam sailing away from Ft Lauderdale for the first time this season – I’m so glad cruising is back (I realize other cruise lines never left, but I’m only interested in the HAL ships).



Once the ship sailed away, I decided I was finding the nearest Target to get him a pair of sneakers. He was saying he’d be fine in his flip flops but we tried that once before and as expected, his feet & legs ended up hurting and he was unable to do much of anything in the park. I thought there was a new Target in the Flamingo Crossing area but when I got close and turned on the Maps app it had me getting back on highway 429 heading south to exit 6. I ended up on 192 in Kissimmee!



When I pulled into the parking lot across from Target there were several other options – TJ Maxx, Ross, and Famous Footwear. Ross was the first one so I went in there. They’ve got a huge men’s shoe department and I found 3 possibilities. I sent him the 3 pictures and asked what he thought. His reply was “ok”. Ummm, which one? I asked again but got no answer so I made the decision.



I headed to the front of the store to check out and there was a huge line snaked back and forth around 3 times, even though they had 4 cashiers working. Why is Ross so popular in tourist land?? I waited and waited, trying to ignore the hordes of screeching kids and the loud adults chattering in foreign languages. This was turning into quite the adventure. I forgot to mention – coming here I hit every single red light, too! Going back, I only hit most of them. Finally, it was my turn to pay and I got the heck out of there. By now it was getting dark, and I only had my prescription sunglasses with me, so it was a really dark ride, lol! This time Maps took me further down 192 and I think it would have taken me out to I-4 but I had the sense to abort this route and turn left onto Sherberth to enter over by Animal Kingdom!



He liked the sneakers. I said, “never again”. I decided to take a walk around Crescent Lake since it was a beautiful night. Before going outside I stopped at the dvc kiosk to see if the DVC coin would be the same as the one I got at Jambo House last trip. They confirmed it was – there are 3 different coins. One for Florida, one for California and one for Aulani. But, they asked if I wanted a magnet – it’s the same DVC Member magnet but this one has gold lettering and image vs the blue last time. They gave me a couple magnets, I thanked them and then headed outside.



The boardwalk was pretty busy and a large crowd was gathered watching a pair of juggling entertainers. I stopped to watch briefly and then continued on my walk. When I got back to the villa SB was eating some pork rinds I’d brought (for him) and drinking one of the Kronenbourgs (beer – from France) I’d bought him for the trip. The room with the ice machine is just a few doors away so I walked over to fill up the ice bucket. I’ve got a tray of ice cubes in the freezer but wasn’t sure they were fully frozen yet. Someone staying around the corner from the ice machine has their door decorated with “Trick or Treat” and they’ve got a pumpkin with a bunch of small candy bars set on the floor for other guests to enjoy. What a nice thing to do!



Back in the villa I got changed and fixed the bed – I’d ordered some extra blankets from housekeeping earlier so we can keep it nice and cool in here. I left SB with his football games in the living room and took a glass of wine & my laptop into the bedroom to finish up online while watching that train wreck called 90 Day Fiance. I swear, this show gets more stupid with every season, and every couple is just so dysfunctional.



I got a text from Tiana saying they weren’t going to be able to join us tomorrow. Evidently their dog is sick. He’s the reason they don’t go anywhere anymore – they won’t board him and don’t trust anyone to take care of him. If I’m not mistaken, he has never set foot on grass, because that would get him dirty – he takes any walks on the pavement and pees on a pee pad in the house. It’s very strange to me.



Today was a pretty nice start to the trip, except for the damn sneaker fiasco. I’m very happy with the villa and the resort, although it feels strange to be here without Pete & Judy. Big River Grill was excellent. The last time we were there was with Pete & Judy and Bonnie, probably before covid, and Pete left his glasses on the table but was able to get them back the next day. So many memories.



Tomorrow we’ll most likely head to Soarin’ before it gets busy and will enjoy Food & Wine as soon as the countries open. Being on our own hopefully I’ll get some pool time in the afternoon before going back for Food & Wine for dinner – oh, and Billy Ocean too!

I love Billy Ocean but we have never been fortunate enough to see him at WDW.  Someday maybe.  Enjoy!

DAY 2 – Monday 10/23/23
Who: Sue (64), DVC Member
SB (66), my husband

Plan: Food & Wine Festival w/Tiana & Jonell, Billy Ocean concert

Actual: Last night the bed was extremely comfortable, but I’d forgotten about the noise from the front entrance outside. It continued until 2am – people talking & laughing as if the rest of their party were deaf! Some idiot was tapping their car horn (I guess to tell someone waiting inside “hey I’m here – come out”) around 1:30. Next time I’ll need to remember to NOT request near the elevator and be put further down the hall. I was able to see some of the fireworks when they started at 9 last night, but with a big tree in front of the balcony a lot of the fireworks were obscured.

This morning I got up at 5. After making my cappuccino I took it back to bed and did online stuff while watching the local news. SB was up around 6-6:30, having also slept well. I don’t think he heard any of the outside noise, since he didn’t say anything about it.

Sometime after 7 he took a shower, and I made my egg and slice of bacon for breakfast. It’s so much better doing it on a real stove rather than a microwave! Before the trip I’d asked him if he wanted eggs and stuff for breakfast during the trip and he was adamant that he did not – don’t bring anything for him, etc. I ended up bringing 6 eggs, some of his sausage, etc – not trusting him to not change his mind. Sure enough, as he’s getting in the shower he says, “on second thought I would like an egg and some of the ham”. When I was cooking mind, I asked him if he wanted me to cook him an egg and he’d declined.

Once I ate, I cooked his egg and heated up some ham in the microwave. We have a partial loaf of bread, so he had a breakfast sandwich, along with some of the cherry (sugar free) punch I’d made him last night. We were all dressed & ready by 8, but since early entry doesn’t begin until 8:30 we had some time to kill waiting.

We left by 8:15 and walked over to Epcot. I ducked into Boardwalk Deli to see the breakfast sandwich options but none have any appeal for me. There was a line at International Gateway (thanks to the skyliner) but it moved quickly. Near the top of the ramp, they check to ensure you’re a Disney resort guest, but that moved very quickly as well – no wait at all. As we approached Canada, we could see the crowd was being held there but the rope dropped just before we arrived. It was perfect timing!

We headed over to the Land and walked onto Soarin’ over California. I’d forgotten they brought the CA version back for a while and we both enjoyed seeing it again. I like both versions in different ways for different reasons so there’s not one clear winner for me. We were on one of the sides so it was nice to not have all the distortion we would have had with the world version.

From there we rode Living with the Land, where it seems they’re recently planted most of the stuff in the greenhouses. Upstairs the doors were open for the Awesome Planet movie, so we went in there to watch it again. I think there was a solo woman and one other couple in the theater besides us! We enjoyed the movie again.

By now it was 9:15 and SB didn’t want to do Nemo. The new Moana Water Adventures thing was right there so we did that without any wait. I think SB was disappointed it wasn’t a ride, but rather a WALKING (oh, horrors) thing. However, he ended up loving it! We stayed on the dry trail, not wanting to get wet. He was posing for silly pictures and then we were going to try to do a selfie until a nice lady offered to take our picture. I returned the favor for her family.

After Moana we were going to ride Spaceship Earth, but the line looked pretty long and it was not moving at all. We bailed on that idea and instead browsed in a few shops. At the Creations shop we picked up our passholder magnets with no wait. We sat on a bench here & there, then headed out to World Showcase to get SB a margarita from the cantina in Mexico. We took it with us and sat on a bench somewhere watching people passing by. I think we were across from the Donald Duck meet & greet.

By now we knew the food booths would be opening up soon, so we started walking back towards Canada. I stopped in First Aid to pick up some bandaids since I’d left mine in the villa and the bandage on my latest bruise needed changing.

At the Noodle Exchange SB got the sesame beef ramen bowl. It was excellent, but he said the red peppers were the hottest thing he’d ever eaten, lol! The beef was very tender and delicious.

The next stop was Canada, where we shared the filet mignon. This was outstanding – even SB said this was so excellent it can’t possibly be topped. The meat was tender, the mashed potatoes were delicious, and he loved the mushrooms.

We continued around to America, where he got the Cioppino (seafood stew) and the hot Italian beef sandwich. I don’t eat seafood but have to admit it looked like a nice item. He said it was great – maybe not at the level of the filet mignon in Canada but very close. I tried a bite of the sandwich and wasn’t impressed. He said it was ok. I don’t see us ordering that again.

By now he was full, so we continued walking with one more stop in mind – India for chicken tikka masala for me. I also got a glass of the Sula chenin blanc. The tikka masala portion was huge – even SB commented on it. He asked what it cost and was surprised by only $6.25. It was delicious, but way too much. Eventually I just stopped and covered it as best I could with napkins to carry half of it back to the villa.

You’d think we’d be done, but you’d be wrong <g>. SB wanted a soft serve ice cream! Fortunately, the Swirled Showcase booth was coming up – where the temporary Starbucks used to be. We were sweating like pigs now, as the sun had gotten pretty hot all of a sudden. I stood in the shade while he ordered a vanilla cone. He offered me a taste and I was shocked how good it was. He said he’d thought the same thing! He ate most of it as we walked, then gave the rest to me to finish while he carried the chicken tikka masala. It really hit the spot!

We were back in the villa a few minutes after noon, having walked over 12,000 steps thus far. Amazingly his feet & legs were doing fine. He did comment as we entered the Land that there’s no way he could have worn the flipflops today. We got out of our sweaty clothes – he laid down watching tv in the air conditioning while I changed into a swimsuit and went down to the quiet pool.

It was wonderful at the pool – no kids so no noise! There were quite a few adult couples, but everyone was so peaceful. The worst was the pressure washing going on for a while, lol – it never fails. There was a slight breeze, and I thoroughly enjoyed my 2 hours out there! I look forward to doing this again!

I came back up to the villa just after 2 and updated the report while watching General Hospital. When we were in Epcot earlier, I noticed they completely rope off the America Gardens Theater, so nobody can get inside to get a seat until they drop the rope (I’m assuming 30 minutes before the show). There was already one couple at the front of the standby line – at barely 11:30. We’ll see how it goes when we go back over.

After General Hospital I sat on the balcony for a short time and then took my shower. We left for Epcot a little after 4. The sun was lower now, and the temperature was fabulous – plus there was a really nice breeze! This is how Epcot festivals are supposed to be – not the sweating to death crap! We walked over to America and found a huge line for the first Billy Ocean show. The area between America and Italy was completely filled in with a snaking queue and then the line extended back into Italy. I think maybe that’s the reason they dropped the rope early – the line was entering the theater by 4:45 for the 5:30 show.

We ended up getting really great seats – almost perfectly center stage, and just a few rows back in the second section. Best of all, the row in front of us ended to make room the base of a tree so we didn’t have anyone directly in front of us (they were 2 rows ahead). With the breeze it was very comfortable waiting – it wasn’t warm at all.

The show was very good, as usual. I didn’t realize he’s still releasing albums (he did a song from the new album). The audience loved the show, and he ended up with a standing ovation. He seems like a genuinely nice guy and seems very appreciative of his fans who come to see his shows. After the show we continued around and stopped in Germany for the Alps booth. The dark chocolate fondue had been highly recommended, so SB secured a table while I got the fondue. It’s a nice presentation, with a pot of hot dark chocolate and then assorted things (2 mini pound cakes, 2 meringues, 3 strawberries and some unknown fruit). The chocolate was excellent, but I wasn’t really wowed by any of the assorted things. I’m glad I tried it but won’t bother again. It’s also a lot to eat when your partner isn’t eating his share! Showing absolutely no shame I drank the rest of the chocolate – yum!

I asked SB what he wanted for dinner, and he was set on the half chicken dinner from Beach Club Marketplace (he loves that). I tried to mobile order it as we started walking in that direction, but it was not appearing on the menu. I hoped they still carried it, and once we got there and asked about it the cast member seemed a bit confused because I was asking about something that was clearly posted on the menu just above his head. We ordered the dinner, and it was ready in a few minutes.

We walked back to Boardwalk and got SB situated with his meal while I poured a glass of wine and heated up the leftover chicken tikka masala. After drinking all that chocolate, I wasn’t as hungry as I’d been before, so I ate what I could and tossed the rest. SB enjoyed his dinner. Monday is the other night I have shows that I watch (more 90 Day Fiance garbage) so I got set up in the bedroom since he’ll be watching a football game out in the living room.

Today was a really great day! We were talking about it on the way home from Epcot and agreed that the food was all excellent, lines weren’t bad, the concert was great, and except for that brief period of hot weather it was a beautiful weather day. This is how it’s supposed to go!

Tomorrow we’re going to relax and go into Epcot as it’s time for the Food & Wine booths to be opening up. We’ll do a Food & Wine lunch again, then retreat to the resort for pool time. Later we’ll meet up with cruise buddy Fran over at Riviera (where she’s staying for the night).

Yes Bar Riva is a great restaurant. It doesn't matter which resort we are staying at we always go there at least once. You should try the tomato basil soup, its wonderful . By the way its fun reading about SB and his food exploits.

Glad you are enjoying and the weather is cooperating. Looking forward to the rest of your trip.

DAY 5 – Thursday 10/26/23
Who: Sue (64), DVC Member
SB (66), my husband

Plan: Epcot, Pool, Epcot

Actual: Another blissful night of sleeping well in a comfortable and quiet Disney room! I was up around 5 again, but SB was up before then. We did our usual stuff. He decided to skip breakfast and wait for Food & Wine lunch. He might want the chicken dinner from Beach Club Marketplace again tonight. I made my egg and slice of bacon around 8.

There was one egg left so I hard-boiled it to make it easier to transport back home but then SB ended up eating it. I asked (again) if he wanted me to make a breakfast reservation for before we left tomorrow, and he said yes after I shot down his Waffle House suggestion. We’re going to Disney Springs to be at Gideon’s before they open, so we won’t be getting on the road until after 10. Waffle House just doesn’t fit the timing – plus we have one a couple miles away in Gainesville we can visit any time (and have done so exactly once so far, lol).

I booked Trattoria al Forno here at the Boardwalk, with a 7:30 timeslot. After breakfast we’ll have time to finish packing up the villa before leaving for Disney Springs. With that done we lounged around the villa this morning. I got dressed and sat out on the balcony around 9:15, doing some reading on the kindle. He stuck with ESPN inside.

Robin texted just before 10 saying she was running about 15 minutes late. With that update SB & I decided he’s just meet me on the ramp inside International Gateway at 10:45-11 rather than having me come back up to the villa to get him. Robin texted 5 minutes later saying she was pulling in so I went down to meet her outside the lobby. We’ve only met in person once before, and that was when I was staying at Bay Lake Tower. We sat outside on the balcony drinking wine if I remember correctly.

We did a walk around Crescent Lake and then sat on a bench across from the Boardwalk boat dock. I felt something land on the back of my shoulder and Robin confirmed it was bird poop! Luckily I had some cocktail napkins from Bellevue Lounge in my bag, and it hadn’t landed on my shirt, so Robin wiped it up and we moved to a bench away from birds.

I’d been keeping an eye out for SB but never saw him so just after 10:45 Robin & I said our goodbyes and I walked over to Epcot. After a delay by a clueless family using the passholder entry line I found SB sitting on a bench halfway up the ramp. He said he’d seen us sitting on the bench and had waved a couple times, then got on the boat to ride over to Epcot. He knew if he’d walked over, I would have said “let’s walk” and he didn’t want that, lol!

We made one loop around the countries, and it was very warm (hot) when in the sun. In the shade it was nice. We stopped at the Noodle Exchange where he got the sliced beef noodle bowl again. This time he didn’t touch the red pepper thing in there! In Greece I had the lamb gyro, which seemed quite a bit smaller from the last time (year or 2 ago). That wasn’t necessarily a bad thing, as I wasn’t overly hungry.

Coming up to International Gateway I mobile ordered him the foot long chili cheese dog from Beach Club Marketplace and as we approached the path, I hit the “I am here now” button. We parted ways – I walked back to Boardwalk and was down at the quiet pool by noon. The only other people there were the same couple that have been in the same corner spot all week. SB’s chili dog was ready when he got there, and he said it was good. He ate it there and then walked back to the Boardwalk. Originally, he’d planned to come to the pool today but ended up doing online horse racing instead.

I went back up to the villa right before 2 to watch General Hospital and update the report. I also had an investigation report from work to review/edit, so I worked on that once the trip report was updated. Eventually I took my shower and got dressed. We headed out for Epcot a little before 5. On the way over we ran into another Magic Owner (formerly Mouse Owner – a dvc member website) and stopped to chat. We’d run into each other in the lobby last Sunday, and then again this afternoon.

At Epcot we went to the right this time. Being Thursday night things were busier than the previous nights. SB was not planning to eat anything here and I was undecided between a couple of options. His plan was to do one loop with me then sit and wait while I did another. He was practically speed walking – it was ridiculous.

I was planning to get the rose sangria in Spain and when we passed by there were only a couple people in the queue. But, I decided to wait for my next loop when I could walk at a more leisurely pace. As we got to Norway, he mentions he’s getting a margarita. With that news I went back to Spain but found the queue was full of people now! I went back to meet him in Norway, and we continued on to Mexico. The margarita stand had a long line, so we went into the Cantina, and he ordered a mango margarita with no wait.

Outside one of the shops at the entrance to World Showcase there was an empty bench in the shade, but some big guy got there ahead of SB. We continued on and he decided to grab an empty bench that wasn’t fully shaded. He would sit there while I did another loop. One of my ideas for dinner was the soup in Canada but the line was much longer than I wanted to deal with so I passed on by.

When I got to Spain the queue was very short, so I jumped in and got a glass of the rose sangria. My other dinner idea was the chicken tikka masala from India, but as I got there the line was extended outside of the queue. Plus, I had a full glass of sangria and couldn’t have managed both without a table (which were all occupied). I kept walking and retrieved SB from his bench. He liked the looks of the sangria and especially the cheap plastic cup.

We continued into Canada, where the food booth was still too busy. He sat on a shady bench next to the stage where the band performs and suggested I do another loop and bring him a sangria, so we’ll have 2 cheap plastic glasses. I was fine with walking around again, so gave him the nearly full glass of sangria and headed off for another loop.

Many booths had no line at all, but the few I would have been interested in had long lines. Maybe that means I have good taste, or maybe I’m just unlucky <g>. When I passed Morocco the belly dancer had a pretty young mom up there dancing with her. Mom was wearing a pouch thing with her infant facing outwards. Eventually the baby started waving his arms to the beat – it was so cute!

Coming up to Spain again the line was short, and I ordered another rose sangria. I sipped it a little as I continued walking into Canada to meet SB. The food booth line was better, but at this point I’d already moved on to plan B in my mind, so I didn’t stop. I poured half of the sangria into SB’s plastic glass, and we listed to the band (they started their set as I arrived) for their first song.

We left Epcot and walked over to Beach Club Marketplace. One of the glitches in the app is the half chicken dinner doesn’t appear in the menu for mobile ordering, so we just waited to order in person. I was interested in trying the macaroni & cheese but knew I wouldn’t want to eat a whole portion, but SB said he’d eat it with me. We ordered his chicken and the mac/cheese, and it was ready very quickly. We took it back to Boardwalk.

The mac & cheese has extra shredded cheese on top and also goldfish crackers to give it some crunch. That sounded odd to me, and the cast member said it actually was very good and she was right. It’s still odd though. I gave half of it to SB, and we did need to microwave everything to get it hot again after walking it home.

I did some packing up after dinner and took a few things out to the car – also let me check to see the car looks ok (no flat tires or other issues). We’re most likely in for the night – him for sure since there’s a basketball game on his tv.

Today was a nice last day – it was fun getting to see Robin again and I loved my time at the pool. Going back to Epcot tonight was great in terms of comfortable weather and at this point not getting more of the Food & Wine food wasn’t a big deal. It’ll be there when we’re back in 2 weeks!

Tomorrow we’ll have breakfast at the resort, get cookies at Gideon’s (including for Holli since she’s feeing our feral cats) and then hit the road for Gainesville.