Mickeyphile Podcast Episode 184 - Ale & Compass and Easter Egg Displays
Spring is in the air at Walt Disney World, and the newest sign is the arrival of the Easter Egg displays at select resorts. There’s a new My Disney Experience update regarding Advance Dining Reservations. New ticket packages are announced for Spring and Summer, and we will review our recent lunch at Ale & Compass. All this and more on episode 184 of The Mickeyphile Podcast.
Highlights include:
o New 3 & 4 day ticket prices for all guests
o New ticket offerings for Florida residents
o Projection mapped topiary at Flower and Garden Festival (Dante!)
o Easter Eggs at Grand Floridian, Contemporary, Yacht Club and Beach Club
o Ale and Compass Review
Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/946434275769168/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mickeyphile_podcast/
Music: “Cân thema (Mickeyphile Podcast Theme)” copyright Scott Daves 2023
Mickeyphile Podcast Episode 184 - Ale & Compass and Easter Egg Displays
Spring is in the air at Walt Disney World, and the newest sign is the arrival of the Easter Egg displays at select resorts. There’s a new My Disney Experience update regarding Advance Dining Reservations. New ticket packages are announced for Spring and Summer, and we will review our recent lunch at Ale & Compass. All this and more on episode 184 of The Mickeyphile Podcast.
Highlights include:
o New 3 & 4 day ticket prices for all guests
o New ticket offerings for Florida residents
o Projection mapped topiary at Flower and Garden Festival (Dante!)
o Easter Eggs at Grand Floridian, Contemporary, Yacht Club and Beach Club
o Ale and Compass Review
Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/946434275769168/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mickeyphile_podcast/
Music: “Cân thema (Mickeyphile Podcast Theme)” copyright Scott Daves 2023
Spring is in the air at Walt Disney World and the newest sign is the arrival of the Easter Egg displays at Select Resorts. There's a new my Disney Experience update regarding advanced dining reservations, new ticket packages are announced for Spring and Summer and we'll review our recent lunch at Ale Compass. All this and more on Episode 184 of the Mickey File Podcast.
Speaker 2:Welcome back everyone for Episode 184 of the Mickey File Podcast. I'm Scott, and with me is my lovely wife Karen.
Speaker 1:Hello everybody.
Speaker 2:Today is March 12th already. Yes, I know People are still very, very confused about what blackout dates mean on their annual passes.
Speaker 1:Apparently.
Speaker 2:It's like every third post on Facebook right now. I know why are all the parks sold out the next two weeks? It's not. You're blocked out with your pixie pass at spring break. Disney needs to have like videos, like, seriously, like a ten minute.
Speaker 1:Watch the video and click it to be able to get your pass Right.
Speaker 2:Like seriously like a ten minute video Right like we were talking about this the other day. So my class this month it's audio post production right for like film and TV. So all of our lectures are actually like 20 minute videos 20 to 25 minutes that the instructor has already done and edited and thrown in title cards and music and video clips and whole thing because, he's an actual.
Speaker 2:I looked him up he's got, like I don't know, a whole bunch of credits as a Foley artist. Oh, okay, cool, including a movie called Walt Before Mickey, really, yeah, so like the students the students legit, right. Like he's not a teacher, Right? Yeah, not those who can do and those who can't teach those who can teach, right. Yeah, like this dude's like got film credits as a Foley artist on IMDB, right, which is pretty cool. Yeah, because I've had a couple other teachers that had like a couple credits, you know, right, but no, this guy's got stuff. That's how he does his lectures for an online university, right.
Speaker 2:Like Disney can't make like a whole bunch of like 10 minute videos on here. Here's how you make an ADR. Here's how you make a virtual cue. Here's how you know which pass you want to buy. You know, right, like like a little AI driven questionnaire before you order the pass, right, okay, right. Like the other day I was like trying to open a bank account and the first thing was like let's find the account that's best for you. How many transactions are you going to have? How much money are you going to keep in it? Right, most of those were a lot and not a lot, just saying.
Speaker 1:I'm not going to tell you what order that was in.
Speaker 2:Yeah, A lot was how many transactions and not a lot was how much money is going to be in it. But like it's like totally typical, right. I know we're asking a lot for Disney IT, which is why I'm thinking, maybe you just do videos like instructional videos, because they do make film and TV shows, you know, like they ought to have the ability to do that kind of stuff, right. But it's honestly a little embarrassing going on Facebook and seeing some of these posts and going, oh my God, you spent $1,000 on a pass and you don't know what you bought.
Speaker 1:Right.
Speaker 2:I just don't understand. Or they just, or just four, or $5,000 because they got kids, you know Right.
Speaker 1:But the ones I don't get. Is you wait until you get here to book your park reservation?
Speaker 2:Again, a five minute video would be instructional. The article they put out about hey, you don't need park reservations anymore unless you're an annual pass holder, and then you only need it at this case. You don't need it in this case and you only need it this day at this park. So what everybody heard was I don't need park reservations anymore, right. And then people who aren't annual pass holders, right. Maybe this is what we should do. We'll make the videos, okay, but, like, people who aren't annual pass holders don't know, this was their first trip ever. Oh, they came once when they were eight with grandma and grandpa, and now they want to bring their three and five year old with them and don't know until today that they need to have reservations for lunch for everywhere they want to go next week.
Speaker 1:And you know.
Speaker 2:Yeah, or you get a travel advisor, but people don't know that. So there's my two cents on how Disney can make the whole park process better.
Speaker 1:I know, but I just I don't understand.
Speaker 2:And it would make Facebook a lot less annoying.
Speaker 1:That is true, that is true.
Speaker 2:Can we get off of the? What are my blackout dates and how do I make reservations and get back to the misconnections? That's what I want. That's what I want.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that one about the single writer line is pretty funny.
Speaker 2:It's I know like I just want misconnections.
Speaker 1:They're entertaining, that's for sure they are, they are very entertaining.
Speaker 2:You know my entire life like you see the misconnection things on sitcoms Right, right Like the funniest one ever. One of my favorite shows rules of engagement when Adam, played by Oliver Hudson, put the misconnections add in, looking for the bunch of young boys to play with, because he wanted to play in a drum circle with the guys that were at the subway stop the day before.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so dumb Right Just like you saw those on TV, Like I have never I have never, ever known anyone who did it legitimately put an ad in the paper for misconnections.
Speaker 1:But they're doing it out there, doing it in Disney.
Speaker 2:I just put it on Facebook.
Speaker 1:I just don't get it.
Speaker 2:The odds. Yeah, there's a hundred thousand people every day in Magic Kingdom. Yeah, what exactly are the odds that the guy that stood in front of you in line at Millennium Falcon is actually in the group and interested, because maybe the world changed a lot? But I know that back in the day, like at some point, I had told the girl hey, let me get your number Right. Right, I wouldn't have waited for it to show up on Facebook.
Speaker 1:Right or hey? What's your user ID on Facebook, or something?
Speaker 2:People used to talk to each other.
Speaker 1:At least get some information as far as like a name.
Speaker 2:Well, that's the other thing, right? Hey, you get the guy. Hey, guy from Jacksonville, Right, that was in a single writer line five time, whatever. I'm sure he wants to hook up with you by the fact that you didn't even get his name. Oh wait, not even you, your sister. Yeah, that's the other part. I forgot, Not even. Hey, let's hook up. It's hey, I want to hook you up with my sister.
Speaker 1:Exactly, it's not that hard.
Speaker 2:Okay, there's our intro quality, the quality programming all of our listeners who've come to expect yeah.
Speaker 1:Well, you know, let's kind of how we, let's kind of how we roll.
Speaker 2:All right, let's go to news. All right, get on track here.
Speaker 1:New multi-day dining reservation search feature rolled out for Walt Disney World, effective Monday, march 11th. Now guests can select a window of one to 10 days to see all open reservations for a specific restaurant. The link now reads quote check availability for multiple days unquote, and it lists the days and times available on one screen for booking.
Speaker 2:So that's like I want to go to Storybook Dining, right, let's see what it's available to me and it'll give me, like, everything available in the next 10 days. Yep, that's awesome. I know Finally something helpful on this app.
Speaker 1:Exactly Because you're like all right, I want to go to Storybook Dining, but I don't, you know I.
Speaker 2:But I have to check every available window for every day. Ugh Right, finally something useful on this thing, right.
Speaker 1:Now, when I was messing with it yesterday because I was actually having to make reservations yesterday. It doesn't work for some specialty things like fireworks cruises. I couldn't get it to work for things like that.
Speaker 2:But those aren't actually. But those aren't. Those are enchanting extras, those aren't dining reservations.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yes, so I thought it was actually really neat.
Speaker 2:Okay, all right. So I'm going to try this right now, right? Storybook Dining? Yep, because we're going this weekend. So I searched for Storybook Dining. First of all, I get Storybook Treats Acura Shus Make Dining Reservations, victorian Alberts, rose and Crime, spice Road Table, phantasmic Dining Packages, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Finally, okay, phantasmic Dining Packages Private Dining at Disney's Grand Floridian Resort and Spa, rose and Crown Fireworks Dining Package and finally, storybook Dining Right.
Speaker 1:And if you click.
Speaker 2:I know, but I put in Storybook Dining and it's the 10th option it gave me.
Speaker 1:So way to go Disney yeah.
Speaker 2:All right. So hi-ho, hi-ho, blah, blah, blah. Nothing here about making a reservation.
Speaker 1:Yes, there is Reserve Dining.
Speaker 2:Okay.
Speaker 1:Reserve Dining Okay.
Speaker 2:So now I hit.
Speaker 1:Reserve Dining Right. And now you see, it says Party Size, including, yeah, two of those. And then it says Dates Select one to 10 days on the calendar.
Speaker 2:Okay, so you can pick anywhere from the 15th to the 24th.
Speaker 1:Right, so you could see how the line shows goes up to 10 days. It physically changes color.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's dark blue now, Right. And then you click Next and then I can hit All Day, or I can hit Before Noon 12 to 4, after 4.
Speaker 1:It defaults to All Day.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's fine. I want the restaurant out of time Now in this particular case. Right, I know that it only opens at 4 o'clock, but Right, so we can get 8.40. That's interesting. So Friday, March 15th, there's 8.40 pm. Saturday there's nothing. Sunday nothing there's nothing. For the rest of the night Between that and the rest of the week there is nothing. Right, but we actually could get it Friday.
Speaker 1:Yes, huh, okay.
Speaker 2:Well, that's kind of cool. It's a nice feature, if you're. I want a specific restaurant while I'm on my trip. Right, yeah, gotcha.
Speaker 1:If you're just trying to find a regular dining reservation, it's not. It doesn't work that way.
Speaker 2:Yeah right, if you're just trying to find something to eat, it didn't. Yeah Right, it didn't do that at all.
Speaker 1:So, but I think it's a really nice. It's like that If you're trying to find Ohana, if you're trying to find Storybook the ones that you know all right, when can we fit it in?
Speaker 2:Right.
Speaker 1:To our trip.
Speaker 2:Right, cool, okay, well, I like it Anyway again. Finally something helpful on the MD app.
Speaker 1:Yes, and that's available on the app and on the On the line.
Speaker 2:On the line. Yeah, it's available on the line.
Speaker 1:If you know, you know.
Speaker 2:Because of mine. You're taking the photo instantaneously. You're putting the photo out there on the line. Is it online? Yeah, in exchange. Yeah, that's Instagram, but mine's more of a social sharing on the line. That's happening.
Speaker 1:On line Quick interjection. When you keep saying on the line, you do mean online. Stewart, I'm sorry, that's the funniest thing. I love that part of the movie.
Speaker 2:Just watch that movie this weekend, I know.
Speaker 1:I don't care how many times I watch that movie. I laugh my head off.
Speaker 2:I will watch anything with Vince Vaughn in it, and then you throw Owen Wilson in and it's just another Okay, back to Okay.
Speaker 1:I'm going to start with a question New Walt Disney World ticket offers for spring and summer of 2024. Beginning today, march 12th, guests may book special ticket offers for spring and summer at Walt Disney World, their date-based tickets with start dates from April 2nd through September 22nd of 2024. The tickets must be used within seven days of the selected start date.
Speaker 2:But these are not Florida resident passes. These are everybody passes.
Speaker 1:Correct, there is Florida resident package.
Speaker 2:No, I understand, but these all right. So here's a four-day four-park magic ticket starting from $99 a day. Mm-hmm, you want admission to each of the four Walt Disney World theme parks? For those who don't know Magic Kingdom, animal Kingdom, epcot and Hollywood Studios, for a total of four admissions on four separate days. Limit one admission per theme park. One theme park per day.
Speaker 1:Right.
Speaker 2:We already said start dates and have to be used. So you have seven days to use four. Right, there's a three-day three-park. This makes no sense. Like it all.
Speaker 1:Why.
Speaker 2:Oh yeah, it does. Ha-ha, no magic, yeah. So there's a three-day three-park ticket for $89 per day Plus tax. That one is valid for admission to Hollywood Studios, Epcot and Animal Kingdom.
Speaker 1:Right, no magic.
Speaker 2:So they get you. Then there are the Florida resident discovered Disney tickets. A four-day discovered Disney ticket is just $59 per day plus tax. There's also a three-day ticket for $73 per day, so that's what I was expecting, right? It's also valid April 2nd to September 28th, with an advanced park reservation required. Yes, so it's basically a really short annual pass. Season pass $40 more per ticket. You get park hopper. That's pretty good though. Yeah, right, park hopper for three days or four days. Yeah, waterpark and sports option $35 more. What is there to do? All right. So the sports option does that include public golf or just get to go out to?
Speaker 1:Yeah, you visit a water park golf course or miniature golf course, based on the length of your ticket.
Speaker 2:Okay.
Speaker 1:So the park hopper one is really nice, especially if you're going let's say you're going for a week, okay, and you buy the three-day one, for example, you also get three days of water. You get three separate days of water park, golf course or miniature golf, so you can do it three different days and then have three days in the park.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and there's also. Well, here you go. So that's 75 bucks for park hopper plus water park and sports, or for $55 you get the park hopper plus, which gives you park hopper and water park and sports Right. So when it says you get a visit to a golf course, that is clearly the walking. What's it called Oak trail? Yeah, so, that's that one.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so but still Right. No, that's cool. It still gives you an option for six days worth, you know, three in the park. So you do a park, do a water park, do another park, do the golf course and other things, and then park, and then miniature golf.
Speaker 2:Now granted, this is Florida residents, but you know people go to people from Florida to go from morning to day.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so I think it's a really nice, I think the Florida one is a really nice option and I think the pricing for the four day tickets is a really good option.
Speaker 2:And this is April 2nd, september 28th. I do not see anywhere here that says you have to use it within seven days of buying or starting it, or whatever.
Speaker 1:Oh, the Florida one.
Speaker 2:Oh, I don't. So here's you know, here's your weekends during May. Right, right, like you live in Miami, you come up Friday night, you do park Saturday, go play miniature golf Sunday morning and then drive back to Miami. You know, be cool, yeah, okay Next. Yeah, I'm making sure on it or we say anything wrong about what the seven day deal or the one.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I'm just making sure I don't want to say wrong. Especially being a TA doesn't say anything. Nope, that one does not have to be used in a seven-tay period, so good Okay.
Speaker 2:Right.
Speaker 1:I just wanted to make sure.
Speaker 2:President of Walt Disney Imagineering, barbara I'm going to say Booza Bousa. I don't know BA, however, you say her name. Maybe it's Boucher, no, it's probably not that. She probably, done like foosball has announced that she will be stepping down from the position. Booza joined Disney in June of 2020 and was named Walt Disney Imagineering President in November of 2021, taking over the position from longtime Imagineer Bob Weiss. Apparently, she is being replaced by the current Chief Creative Officer of Walt Disney Company, bruce Vaughn, so, citing many tensions in her department, she has decided to leave. Oh, okay.
Speaker 1:Well, at least they kept it with somebody internal.
Speaker 2:Yes.
Speaker 1:Which is good, all right. Well, walt Disney World hasn't introduced its first ever projection mapping topiary for with the 2024 Epcot Flower Garden Festival, while it wasn't quite ready in time for the start of the festival which is why we didn't get to see it. Right. It was recently installed and activated for nightly projection effects on the all new Dante topiary.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so I had heard nothing about this, like nothing Right About this, until we saw this article, I believe on my blog. Mickey is where I saw it, and now it's all I want to do.
Speaker 1:I know Well, because I thought it was really weird that Dante and Miguel were so dark right there. Well, okay, so it does make sense, right Because?
Speaker 2:we talked about the fact that there wasn't even a spotlight on them and it was pretty stupid. Right Now, if it's going to be projected, that's cool, right, yeah.
Speaker 1:Because all four of us said why isn't there a spotlight? Yeah, so now we'll get to see it on Friday.
Speaker 2:Maybe? Yeah, britney Smith, production designer for senior specialty design with Walt Disney Imagineering, explained once we decided to create Dante, I immediately began testing glowing materials like solar charge paint and various effects to portray his ethereal glow. During the day, dante looks like the rest of the topiary family. As the sun begins to set, guests should start to see hints of the solar charge paint beginning to glow. At night, dante's glow will shine even brighter through the use of projection mapping technology. Pushing contrast between day and night allows us to incorporate more lifelike elements into these characters, providing guests with an unexpected element of surprise in the evening. Right, I was going to say that's like good Disney, right? Yeah, you know, not everything right now is good Disney, but that sounds like good Disney, like that's the Disney that we grew up with, doing cool stuff like that.
Speaker 1:Exactly Because you want.
Speaker 2:I hope it works.
Speaker 1:I hope it works. I do too. I hope it works too.
Speaker 2:Listen, if there's one thing that they're doing lately, it's projection mapping, so I'm sure it'll be cool yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so be excited to see it. So this is a good one.
Speaker 2:This is ups.
Speaker 1:Yep, yeah. After publishing an update to the Sobby's workshop workshop webpage last month that said that Disney Visa card members could receive a 10% discount for the experience, disney World has removed the mention of the discount. It's possible that Walt Disney World published the discount in error. This was blog Mickey also Right. They stopped by Disney's Hollywood Studios and spoke with cast members at the location, who confirmed that there is no discount currently available at Sobby's workshop.
Speaker 2:So it doesn't really matter because we have a Disney Visa too. But you know the whole thing the whole time has been you don't get a discount on custom Right AP, dvc, d23, none of that Right Right Wow.
Speaker 1:Yeah, oops, oops, and it was actually made a big deal on the Disney page.
Speaker 2:Yeah, oh, there's going to be complaining about that.
Speaker 1:Oh, yes, there is.
Speaker 2:Anyway, oops, oops, there's our, there's our new part. Good Disney, bad Disney, that's the bad Disney.
Speaker 1:That's the bad Disney.
Speaker 2:It does not surprise me that there is not a discount available. I also don't really understand why, because it's not like they're putting their name on it or something. It's a bunch of parts that screw together and if, for whatever reason, I don't know they can take you back apart and throw the stuff in a bin and settle again, right. So I don't. I don't really get why there's not a discount there. It's not like super customized, right, but there's not a discount and so whatever. No.
Speaker 1:Those are droids, it is right. I just it is weird that, yeah, that there isn't a discount.
Speaker 2:Well, it's like when they accidentally put, you know, passes for sale or you know they do stuff like that.
Speaker 1:Yes.
Speaker 2:DVC news. Storm Along Bay refurbishment estimate grows longer. So last August, while Disney World revealed that the Storm Along Bay feature pool at the Yachton Beach Club resorts would close for refurbishment from January to May 2025. It now is projected to be January to June 2025. So I don't know. If it's some emergency, you'd be doing it now, so I don't know.
Speaker 1:Right, there is one more DVC news that came out like 20 minutes ago and DV Disney Vacation Club has suspended direct sales of ownership of Disney's Polynesian Villas and bungalows as they approach the opening of the new timeshare of the new tower, the on the shores of the seven seas. They're now making it so you cannot buy Polly right now. It's considered sold out until the resort is, until that tower is opened, and then they will go on sale again.
Speaker 2:Okay.
Speaker 1:They did the same thing at Grand Floridian when they were doing the expansion. Okay, they were converting the big pine key building.
Speaker 2:I guess they don't want to sell more points, because they're not going to open that whole resort up. Right, they're going to do Riviera and Grand Floridian and make more units available in stages for DVC, I believe. So they're probably doing that. So there's not a mad rush at the lower price, because you can bet that it's going to be higher than what Polly sells for right now, right, so they stopped selling it, so you forget how much it was. Pretty sure it's $2.25 right now, because that's like what everything is Okay.
Speaker 1:Well, yeah.
Speaker 2:So by the cabins, I guess.
Speaker 1:I'm not kidding, yeah, by Elani, by the cabins, so that's all the news.
Speaker 2:We did a little day trip last Friday. Went to the Yacht and Beach Club first and we looked at the Easter eggs that were out. They had a very cool display of Easter eggs. Let me find my pictures.
Speaker 1:Yeah, we started at Yacht.
Speaker 2:Yeah, we started off because we, on the way over, we were able to book Aylan Compass for lunch, right, so one of the few places at a resort that are open for lunch.
Speaker 1:Correct.
Speaker 2:That's the, you know, sit down anyway. So Yacht and Beach Club is, or Yacht Club is like a table, like maybe an eight foot round table, right, but it was all Moana. It was really cool. There are some really cool eggs there. Yeah, there's one of the pig, whatever his name, is her name, I don't even know. There you go they kind of generic Moana logo one. I mean I say generic because it's just the logo, but it's pretty cool. There's the little people.
Speaker 1:What are they called? I can't remember what they are the coconut people.
Speaker 2:I've only seen the movie once. Yeah, the coconut people. I've only seen the movie once, so I don't remember a lot of names and several people would be yelling through their headphones at us, but just yeah, there was like a boat one, you know, the raft one which is cool. So there's an egg for tomato. No, tomatoha, ha ha ha. Tomato, tomatoha, tomatoa. Yeah, there's one for him. It's pretty cool, it's very shiny, it is very shiny.
Speaker 2:It's like all gold on top. There's kind of a beach scene with some palm trees, a bunch of little neat little things you know, little turtle, that kind of stuff on the sitting around the table.
Speaker 1:So I think they had a hey hey, didn't they? Nope, so you only have my pictures.
Speaker 2:Oh, you know, I don't have your pictures, so maybe there was a hey, he's not in my pictures, but I don't see one.
Speaker 1:He must, there must not be one.
Speaker 2:No, no, hey, hey, Unless there was like a little, I don't see even like a little bitty, you know something either. So, hmm, hey, hey, he's already dead to them.
Speaker 1:But the display was very cool. The detail on them were amazing. Oh, very cool.
Speaker 2:It's unbelievable what these pastry chefs do with chocolate. I know. Like unbelievable, it's just amazing what they do. So that's what we did while we waited for our Aelin Compass reservation.
Speaker 1:And then we went to Aelin campus. Ooh.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so we'd only been to Aelin Compass to eat one time prior, and that was G3, like years ago, just when everything reopened after the unpleasantness Because we had to sit all up with yeah, yes, it was.
Speaker 1:You know, our tables couldn't be put together. It was so weird.
Speaker 2:Well, what I remember was that it was kind of the typical big group thing where one group was already done and the other group was just getting their food. Yes, but I remember it being, you know, good, so we did lunch. We did lunch this time just the two of us. They had us in a dining room. It was just the two of us. Now, our reservation was like 12, 15, 12, 20, something like that on Friday afternoon, so the restaurant was not crowded, but we did have like our own dining room. Yeah, and that room was really cool.
Speaker 1:It actually had doors, like sliding doors, to close it, to make it its own little private room.
Speaker 2:Yeah, right, okay. So we started off with the Parker House rolls and spread. Okay, that had a bacon jam, pub cheese and citrus butter, so it was like bread service, but it was like really good rolls. They're really good rolls and it was delicious. Mm-hmm, the citrus butter was maybe a little more citrus than I would like, but it was still good. Right, the bacon jam made everything better.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and even our server Leanne. She said I would suggest doing the cheese and bacon together.
Speaker 2:She goes because it's always good with bacon, the bacon was good on its own, but it was very good with the cheese. Yes, actually it wasn't bad with the citrus butter, because I did that too.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:It was $14.00. It had five rolls, which was definitely not as good Definitely not Atkins friendly, Keto friendly, no but really good for $14.00. It was very good With the spread. I'm becoming a big bread service fan. Just in general.
Speaker 1:Mm-hmm.
Speaker 2:You got the. Why is it not there? Seasonal market chicken sandwich.
Speaker 1:Right, and it was kind of a BLT-ish.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and I think it had the garlic, aioli, herb panes, whatever Right, it was a really big sandwich. Yeah, I mean for what it was. Yeah, that was $16.00. Mm-hmm, I got the bacon in Vermont Cheddar Burger. Now that was 23,. But man, burgers at Disney have gotten expensive. They have Like there are no $18.00 burgers anymore, unless you're like counter service.
Speaker 1:Right.
Speaker 2:But that had caramelized onion on a Parker house bun with applewood, smoked bacon, lettuce, tomato and herb and mayonnaise. Mm-hmm, that burger. I'm gonna say it's better than the steakhouse 71 burger.
Speaker 1:Oh, wow.
Speaker 2:It's still not brown derby, curse them.
Speaker 1:It was really good.
Speaker 2:So if you want a good burger, yeah, and your DVC or you're at Epcot, you just don't mind a little walk to get over there. Yeah, 23 bucks came with fries. Fries were good. We got tons of ketchup. They brought us a bunch of ketchup more than we needed. Mike would have been very happy yeah, for sure, the burger was delicious.
Speaker 1:And the chicken sandwich was delicious.
Speaker 2:And, by the way, leanne was really good. She was very good. Our server just attentive enough and I know, look, we were not her only table, we were the only table in that room, so she did a really good job of keeping an eye on us, all things considered that the other tables she was working were not where she could easily see us.
Speaker 1:Right, because we were tucked like in back behind the door. Yeah, she had to go out of her way to keep an eye on us.
Speaker 2:Right. I also had a Manhattan $16 Manhattan, knob Creek, straight Rye Whiskey, carpano, antica, sweet Vermouth and Angostura Bitters. I asked them to make it a perfect Manhattan so they actually split it with Sweet and Driver Mouth. For me it was still 16 bucks and it was a very good Manhattan. It was a whoever the bartender was. Well done, good pour.
Speaker 1:Good, I had a seaworthy breeze which was $15.
Speaker 2:Right? I don't know that this description is right. What does? The description say Yacht Club vodka with juices of grapefruit and cranberry. So the seaworthy breeze was a sea breeze. Yeah, you know wasn't anything special, but I didn't think it was Yacht Club vodka. It sounds to me like almost like a well, and I don't think it was.
Speaker 1:No, it wasn't a well.
Speaker 2:I thought it was T-dose, but maybe not. It was T-dose, so all in all, really good lunch. We'll go there when we're going to Epcot.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and it was in with DVC or if we stay at Beach Club again.
Speaker 2:We can never get a reservation there again. I don't know the last time we tried.
Speaker 1:I look for everything when I'm looking.
Speaker 2:I know it's one of those places I don't like to stay, because it feels like our room is always a million miles from the entrance.
Speaker 1:I know.
Speaker 2:And then we have a view of the parking lot.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:So, all in all, I just don't care.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Too much about it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and then we have to take everything in and go find our room when, right yeah.
Speaker 2:So I don't know, it's not my favorite. Yeah, location's good. Location's great, but it just seems like every time we stay there we have a view of the parking lot. It's on the end of a building, as far as you can be from the lobby.
Speaker 1:Right. Well, speaking of Beach Club, we went and looked at those Easter eggs. Them eggs and their Easter eggs are hold on, were flour and garden.
Speaker 2:Okay, that's what it was. I couldn't remember, that's what it was.
Speaker 1:So it's flour and garden Easter egg display.
Speaker 2:So I actually only took two pictures there. I took most of them. Yeah, they had a very cool one of Mickey and Minnie, kind of kind of a copy of Mickey and Minnie Topiary at the festival, right. Yeah, that's what I took and it was pretty cool because they did make Mickey and Minnie look like topiaries, like they're two-tone green and it looks like a bunch of little leaves, right. So it is very cool, very pretty egg.
Speaker 1:And then they did the same thing for Chip and Dale, because Chip and Dale are in that with the topiary, with the carrots and stuff, so it's like their topiaries are.
Speaker 2:They did and it was cool, except it looked more like rabbits than Chip and Dale.
Speaker 1:But the fact that they made it like the topiary actually is, it's really cool.
Speaker 2:Yeah, they also did one of the group, topiary, which is awesome.
Speaker 1:It was really awesome.
Speaker 2:We took a picture, we took several pictures. We didn't really get a good picture because it's right when you walk in and so you have the big doors going out to the lake, to the lake behind it, and it's dark in color. It's all brown because it's green. So it just was hard. Even with the naked eye it was a little hard to see, but it did not photograph very well.
Speaker 1:At night it probably would have photographed better, because you wouldn't have the light coming in from behind it.
Speaker 2:Yeah, because even with a flashlight on or the flash on the camera, they didn't photograph particularly well on a phone anyway.
Speaker 1:Not on our phone, no. But it's cool, you just hold the tape and yeah, it's just, it's the topiary that's there, it's the topiary that's in the park is what they made it out of, which is very cool, so then they also had. For me, the coolest one is they have the Japan topiary, so it has the dragon topiary. That they have with the structure behind it and in the pot. It's just really amazing looking Right. The fact that this is chocolate is amazing. That's the thing.
Speaker 2:It's such cool artwork, sculptures, whatever, yeah, and then, by the way, it's all chocolate.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so it's sitting on a piece of wood, which is chocolate, in a vase that's chocolate. And then it's the topiary on an egg the topiary, which is chocolate, on an egg, which is chocolate. It's just crazy. The detail on that one is insane. Then they had like a cute it's just a chocolate Easter egg with flowers around it, so for flower and garden flowers and butterfly roses and butterfly. Yeah, and the one they had, that was really cute. It was a teapot over on the side which is part of the topiaries, laying on its side with a door and little mushrooms, little mushrooms walking into the door.
Speaker 2:A little bit generic, but super cool looking, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:I mean when I say generic it wasn't Mickey and Minnie or Groot or Chippendale or, but super cool looking.
Speaker 1:But it's all the topiaries that are around. So that was like over by the UK. And then they had an Easter egg that's open with flowers all around it. See, what else did they have? Sorry, I'm scrolling here. And then there was another one that looks like a birdhouse. It's the brown stick, it's all sticks. It looks like an Easter egg built made of sticks. And then it had a little spindle of thread with buttons around it, sitting out front and rocks walking up to the door. It was just like little mice were going in and made this house it was. I mean, the detail on it was insane.
Speaker 2:Yeah, absolutely yeah.
Speaker 1:Very cool, so a lot of that was from I know the UK. One has a lot of those around it, along with the in the garden over in the UK. That's that area. Yes.
Speaker 2:From there we decided to use Disney Transportation. We did so. We actually, when we went back and got our car, we went up to the UK. Well, we went back and got our car, we went up to the front of Epcot and we got on the monorail. So we literally walked in through security, got on the monorail Right, went to the TTC and went to I guess, went to Grand Floridian first.
Speaker 1:Right, we got on the resort monorail.
Speaker 2:Yes, right. So we went to Grand Floridian and they always do it so well. They have a lot of eggs. They had last year.
Speaker 1:Yes, yes, right they were, they were.
Speaker 2:So specifically the one that they paint, they had one they were working on. They also had the one they did last year.
Speaker 1:That has like every character on it.
Speaker 2:Kakamora is the coconut people. Thank you.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's driving me crazy, but, like one of the ones I know that they had last year was the main street electrical parade.
Speaker 2:And the Allison Wonderland clock yes, one which is a working clock and that's insanely cool. Yes, they had a Disney parks popcorn bucket I did, which was cool. The James and the giant peach egg Well, peach peach because it's a peach Right. Yeah, that was really cool. The Kakamora that's the one we were looking for the coconut men from yeah, but that one was just Moana.
Speaker 2:Well, because it's got, let me look at it. One, two, three, four, five, six. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight Little coconut dudes on it. So yeah, it was very big. Let's see they had Bambi. I don't know what that is. Oh, they've got a dinosaur coming out of an egg. I don't know if that's.
Speaker 1:That one was there last year. I remember that one too. So the I guess the one question I I'm trying to figure out is where do they store these?
Speaker 2:I don't know, but they must Because, like we said, some of them are.
Speaker 1:I know that some of them were like onward was from last year. Right, remember onward Cause that was a really cool one on our day on ward.
Speaker 2:So there was one that's a cat that is inspired by Isba from emperors new groove. Really cute, yes, like really cute, really cute. There was an onward egg. That's the one that you seem to remember from last year.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it was big because it had, like, the van in front of it and then had the dragon.
Speaker 2:Yeah, right, that's that one. Okay, the elementals, so they had a fire and water. Whatever their character names. That was really cool.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that one was neat. Yeah, the Jasmine. The really cool centerpiece one was the beauty in the B-Stake. That was the rotating one.
Speaker 2:That was crazy, yes, and it rotated. It had like a whole diorama inside it. Yeah, my favorite, of course, was sorting the stone which had a sword sticking out the top of the egg.
Speaker 1:Yes.
Speaker 2:And Merlin on it. All that they had an Owls toy bar in one.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I know that one was really pretty cool. The cow on top of the.
Speaker 2:Mickey and Minnie's runaway railway. Mm-hmm, that lit up. Egg, that lit up.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I mean we'll post some of these pictures, but you need to just go on one of the blog things and go look at them, because they're just. If you can't get there before Easter, they just need to go look at them. They're just amazing. Yeah, for sure, yeah. And then we left there and went to contemporary.
Speaker 2:Contemporary by way of.
Speaker 1:Monorail.
Speaker 2:Yes, oh, this was the one. I'm sorry, you know what, the one that Grand Floridian did not have the lanyard. It was the one of the contemporary and this was in the store BVG Right.
Speaker 1:It was upstairs in the contemporary, it was the.
Speaker 2:Mickey ear popcorn bucket Right With a lanyard attached to it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, Super cute, Because I think there was two in the windows up in BVG, right yeah there were the other one, I don't know it was.
Speaker 2:Oh, fantasia, it's got a crocodile holding up a hippo.
Speaker 1:Oh yeah, but it was a little. It was very artistic. That's why it was hard to realize it right at first.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, yeah. And then the back of it just had like musical notes and stars, right, it was really neat. So those two were in the window, then down in the lobby.
Speaker 1:Next to Stakehouse 71.
Speaker 2:Yeah, were the rest of them, the.
Speaker 1:And they said that seven of them on that table were from last year. I know Seven new eggs. Oh, seven new eggs. Sorry, okay, so the old eggs.
Speaker 2:The returning eggs include the contemporary basic bakery cast egg, the Mary Blair egg that's inspired by Small World, and the 25-inch 50-pound dark chocolate egg covered in edible 23-carat gold leaf. Thing is monstrous, it's huge. It weighs 50 pounds, 25 inches tall. Oh, the seven new ones were included Vanellope Von Sweets Fantasia, mr Potato Head, that is the obvious one, by the way.
Speaker 1:Yeah Right, because he's shaped like an egg.
Speaker 2:Right, there was a little mermaid, Minnie's Cookie Jar, Mickey's Popcorn Bucket and Eve from Wally. That one was cute, oh yeah. And they had 10 hidden Mickey's and a hidden five-legged goat.
Speaker 1:And the five-legged goat I found immediately.
Speaker 2:It was not all that hidden. I mean, if we're being honest, no, it really Right. It wasn't all that hidden, but the family that was there trying to find it was just hilarious, it was really funny because people in their group kept going oh, I found it and I'm, like you know, even at the right table. There it is.
Speaker 1:Nope, Nope. And then the lady looked over and she goes what I said? It looks exactly like the five-legged goat up on the wall upstairs. Exactly Like it, Same color and everything she went. Oh okay, now I see it.
Speaker 2:There was an up egg too, by the way.
Speaker 1:Oh yeah, they did a nice job on those.
Speaker 2:They did.
Speaker 1:So it made it kind of just a fun day, just going to different.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and getting to see, oh, and there was a jack-and-sally or a sally egg, sally egg.
Speaker 1:Yeah, Something else in the.
Speaker 2:Lion King egg.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:And a partner statue egg, kind of. Yeah, that's the one I was thinking of. It was a fun day and we had a good lunch at somewhere we hadn't been In four years.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Basically three years probably. G3 was probably February 2021. Probably so. It was fun and I found a restaurant I want to go back to. Yeah, that's all I have for this week.
Speaker 1:I think that's all I have too.
Speaker 2:We're going again this weekend and actually staying a couple days.
Speaker 1:Yes.
Speaker 2:Oh, be doing some fun stuff there.
Speaker 1:Yeah, at least staying Friday or Saturday.
Speaker 2:Right, right.
Speaker 1:Scheduled to go on Luminous Fireworks Cruise, which I'm excited about.
Speaker 2:Go bowling.
Speaker 1:And we are going bowling, going to Splitsville.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so it'll be fun. It'll be a fun weekend, looking forward to it, yes, seeing some of our friends. I think that's all I got. I think so. I think so, okay, well, that is going to do it for this week. Thanks again, everyone for listening to the episode.
Speaker 2:Like we always say, we're on Instagram, at MickeyFile underscore podcast On Facebook. Come join us at the MickeyFile improvement district, which is what we're looking for. Podcast is available everywhere. You find podcasts, including on YouTube. I guess YouTube music now, or whatever it is. Youtube is a big pod catcher now, so we're on YouTube. However, that happens Cool. All I know is I gave them our RSS link and it shows up every month. Oh, and we actually are getting quite a few people listening to it on YouTube. So welcome and cool, yes, welcome.
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Speaker 1:Good night everybody, Thank you.