Eating my way through Disney's California Adventure's Food and Wine Festival 2017

Ready to Eat and Drink!

Bring on the Food!

Food & Wine Festival Passport

So I'll preface this post by stating that I did go last year to the Food & Wine Festival, but that I felt this year's was more popular and more delicious.  If you have a chance to check it out, I highly recommend it!  I will start with the booths I tried, and what I tried from each booth.  I may go back later into the month to try more, so stay tuned, as there may be more reviews to come.

Also, if you are going and planning on trying out the food and drinks from the various booths, I highly recommend picking up one of these handy dandy Food & Wine Festival Tasting Passports. It has a bit more information that the pamphlets they are handing out, such as the various specialty drinks that are served at each kiosk in addition to the food and the map of the different kiosk locations. The Passport also denotes which of the food items are gluten-friendly and/or vegetarian. You can get the passport from a kiosk and they are FREE! 

Note:  My friend and I arrived at the park at 11am. The Festival begain at 10:30. Even between 10:30-11:30 they had already ran out of quite a bit of food, so you may need to check back for what you really want to try.

Our Method:

We walked all the way to the last koisk towards the boardwalk and then worked our way back towards Carthay Circle and around to Hollywood land to hit the LA Styles Booth. 

Off the Cob

JackFruit Carnia Banh Mi Nachos

This was our first stop and it was delicious! It was less crowded as it was all the way at the end of the boardwalk.  We picked up two of the savory food items here.  The JackFruit Carnita Banh Mi Nachos with Cilantro Crema and "Pickled" de Gallo and Sweet Corn Nuggets with Beef Chili, Spring Onions & Sour Cream. 

The Nachos: I have always been a fan of JackFruit but had never had it cooked into carnitas before. I am so glad I got these! They were very good. The flavors all worked well together. It was both a bit savory and sweet and was a great way to start the day.  If you are not a fan of more asian influenced flavors, you may not like these that much, but for me, I love it, and I was happy. 

Sweet Corn Nuggets with Chili
(Photo Credit: DB)

The Corn Nuggets: These were the perfect combination of savory! The bean chili topped with green onions and sour cream really paired well with the sweet taste of the corn.  The chili was very good, and even the corn nuggets eaten without being covered in chili were very good alone. 

Both of the items at this booth were great. 

Lemon Grove

Lemon Macaron and Mule

This is one of the more popular booths. We wanted to try both the Cauliflower and the Duck Confit, but they were sold out at the time.  I did order the Meyer Lemon Macaron with Blueberry Marmalade, Meyer Lemon Cream & Blueberry Dust as well as the Meyer Lemon Ginger Mule. Both were pretty good. 

The Macaron was so good at first bite. I really enjoyed the blueberry dust with the Lemon Cream and Lemon Macaron, however I was not a huge fan of the blueberry marmalade. I think the macaron would have been perfect without the change in texture in the center. 

The Mule was great! It was a perfect first drink at the Festival. It was a bit spicy and the flavors really worked perfectly together. 

Pork Belly Bao

Garlic Kissed 

This was one of the best dishes I tried on this day.  It was so delicious. I will start with the fact that I am a huge Bao fan.  I love it. So when I tried the Black Garlic & Soy-Braised Pork Belly Bao with Pickled Vegetables, I was already sold, really.  It was very flavorful. I would say that they only negatives to this item is the line.  Also, it is really a hit or miss on how fatty the pork is that you get. Mine was a bit fattier than my friends, but it was still delicious.  If this sounds like something you would be interested in trying, do it.

LA Style

After we did most of the booths on the main drag, we headed to the LA Style booth that is tucked away near Stage 17 and the Monster's Inc. ride.  When we got there, the line for this tucked away booth wasn't very long. SCORE!  By this time, my friend and I were a bit full, so we decided to split the Korean Barbecue Beef Short Rib Tacos with Kimchi Slaw.  The flavors in this item were very similar to the Bao, but was still delicious in its own right. If you are more a fan of beef than pork, then this would be a great option for you to get those classic flavors without the pork. 

Overall, these were pretty delicious, but did have a similar flavor to the Bao.

Sweet & Sourdough

After we walked around for a bit longer, we swung back around and headed to Sweet & Sourdough. We both wanted to try the White Cheddar Lager Soup in the Mini Boudin Sourdough Boule.  I am glad we did wind up back here. This soup was amazing. The flavors were solid.  This is a bit of a heavier item, so this is what we finished with. The Bread bowl was great without being chewy, and really made the soup that much better. 

Overall

Overall, I would recommend spending some time at this year's Food and Wine Festival. I feel that it was much better than the attempts made in previous years.  Go venture around and pick up a map and a passport and find things to expand your taste buds. Many of the things we tried were delcious, and I know you can find one, or many, things that you will love just as much as I/we did.  

Feel free to comment or reach out to me if you have any questions!  @engrbrianne_fit on Instagram :)

My Review on the Aladdin's Oasis Main Street Electrical Parade Dining Package

In short: WORTH IT.

Shhhh!!! It is Starting!

Get Excited!

Such a Classic.

Planning!

with a Disney Duck (not Donald)

So I had made the decision to use Disney Holiday Tickets that my Cast Member other half had received to go to Disneyland with my mom, my best friend, and her mother. Since the Main Street Electrical Parade is back for a limited time, my mom wanted to see it, as she remembers it from her time as kid.  

Now we were planning on attending the weekend after the parade returned, so it was going to be crowded and people would most likely line up hours before the parade start to ensure they got a spot. Since we knew this would be the case, we starting looking for dining packages (similar to what they had with the Paint the Night parade and Fantasmic and what they continue to do in California Adventure with World of Color).  My mom took to the internet and came across the two dining/viewing packages that they offer.  The Aladdin's Oasis package and the Blue Bayou package. As we have done Blue Bayou in the past, and weren't really looking for that level of dining, we discussed with our Disney partners, and decided on Aladdin's Oasis. 

We chose 4:30pm for our reservation as this guaranteed us the early parade viewing. Since we were braving the park with my seven month pregnant best friend, this was the best option.  

Disney Day!

Relaxing on a bench at the Hub

We started our day at California Adventure because we knew we would be spending all evening at Disneyland.  We went ahead and headed to get a fastpass for the new Soaring Over the World then headed to Carsland. Our mothers wanted to ride Racers, so we waited and ate delicious things from the Cozy Cones.  My friend had their pretzel bites and I have pizza flavored popcorn (SO.GOOD.). After we ate we went to Little Mermaid and then to Soaring.  The new soaring is awesome. There just happens to be a lot of things that jump in your face, so if that tends to bother you, you have been warned. 

After soaring we headed to Disneyland. I know we did a few rides here, but I honestly cant remember the order. I know in the day we did Pirates, Haunted Mansion, and Small World- Disneyland is fun like that. 

When was almost time to eat so we headed to Aladdin's Oasis to order our food. More about that below:

Same menu is used for MSEP

Aladdin's Oasis and the Parade Viewing Dining Package: 

So we went to get in line at the kiosk where you order the To-Go packages (if you didnt know that they are to-go meals, now you are aware).  The only downfall to this was the wait. I think we must have waited at least 20 minutes to order our food, as the individuals in front of us must have been ordering for small armies. 

When it was time to order, I actually wasn't too impressed with the menu options, I believe they have herb-marinated chicken breast, a meat lasagna and a vegetarian lasagna for adults, and they had a grilled chicken breast, spaghetti with marinara and macaroni and cheese for the kids. I believe the prices shown might be slightly less than the new charges ( I used a discount, so I am unsure what they were).  

I ended up ordering off of the kids menu (with no issues- some kept saying that Disney wouldn't allow this, but I had no issues). I got the macaroni and cheese. It was actually super delicious.  Included with the kids plate (which is in a super convenient carry container since it was to-go) is macaroni and cheese- a ton of it, mixed fruit, a roll and butter, steamed green beans and a delicious Mickey cookie.  If you are actually feeding a child with this meal, it is definitely enough food for two of them, as it was enough for me, and I was quite full.  

Instead of just grabbing and going with our meal, we asked to dine at the oasis and was given a table number.  We had no problems finding a large table in the shade under the patio.  We sat our numbers on the table and a server came and brought us our beverages, utensils and after just enough time to sing the chours from "A Whole New World" our food was out!

It was a nice little sit down "grab and go".

Mickey and the Magical Map

After our little dining excursion we headed to watch Mickey and the Magical Map. The three ladies I was with had never seen it, and as I was toting around a very pregnant best friend, sitting down was a good option nearing the end of the day.  We walked to Fantasyland and I got hot chocolate and sat down and we all watched Mickey chase a spot around a Map. They all really enjoyed it, and I completely recommend this little show if you haven't seen it. The music is fantastic and it is super cute. 

After the Map, I am pretty sure this is when we rode Small World, as we needed to kill some time before we could enter the preferred viewing area for the dining package.

Parade Viewing with the Dining Package

So there are two dining packages that are offered for the Main Street Electrical Parade viewing. One is where we were, and the other (honestly I don't even know where the other is- but its included with the Blue Bayou dining package).  The viewing location for the Aladdin Dining Package is the large terrace right next to It's a Small World.  If you are staring directly at the Small World clock, the terrace is to your immediate right.  The large gates between the two are where the parade begins, so you are the first group to see it step down.  Honestly our view was great, and we were able to sit and rest on the steps before it started (we got there about an hour early).  We watched it, were mesmerized, and it was overall a fantastic day. 

Final Thoughts

I have told numerous people that if they really want to watch the parade, and don't want to worry about setting up camp 3 hours before the parade begins for a great spot to do this dining package. My food was delicious and the view is great.  As always, feel free to comment if you have an questions!

My RunDisney Inaugural Avengers 5k at Disneyland Resort

Avengers Assemble! 

November 14, 2014- The Expo

I attended the Expo on Friday, the day before I was set to run the 5k. They had a lot of really cool booths (which I did a great job of avoiding and spending gobs amount of money), as well as the official merchandise. On the topic of official merchandise, if you do not go early on the first day, chances are you will be subject to slim pickings of what is remaining. This may or may not be a bad thing for you, but I know many were not happy that most of the things they wanted were gone by the time they could attend the expo. 

After walking around the expo for a bit, I decided to take a photo at the photo booth areas that they aways have set up for the races. See! 

I guess I should also mention that I picked up this bad boy: 

Yeeaaahhh... guess who was about to run a 5k with only about 2 weeks of training.. Yeah that was me. Whoops. I guess I should really get back on the training wagon...  

Well after the expo I decided to walk around with friends at Disney the day before the race, and that is what I did.  Next stop: Race day!

November 15, 2014- Race Day!

Well here I was... in Corral A no less (which I will most likely never see again, as I am very much a turtle running through peanut butter type of runner. Here is my classic selfie. 

I keep running most of these things alone, so selfies seem to be the easiest method to document. Sorry if it bothers you!  Anyway, back to what was going on. Here I was waiting for the party to get started. It was a bit chilly on this day. I ran the 5k in a jacket and my favorite Lululemon running crops.  After waiting for what seemed like forever, we were off!

The race started through Disney's California Adventure. There were four Avengers throughout the race with photo ops (Hawkeye, Black Widow, Thor, Captain America), but their lines had switchbacks they were so long! Instead, I decided to get some of the standby characters I didn't have a chance to stop for at the Disneyland Half Marathon. Here is me being a cheeseball with those characters: 

Also, the great thing about the 5k is that almost the entire course is through the parks. I totally creeped on all the mile marker signs because I didn't want to wait in line, but here are those photos also, along with the Castle, because that is also a large marker (just without a mile sign :D )

This is where I knew I was almost done. 3.1 miles to go for a 5k. But before the finish I got to creep with a cardboard Captain. Ha!

 And then.....

I FINSIHED!!! I received my medal (which is made of plastic for the 5k) and called it a day. I went home, took a shower and got back in bed for another 3 hours. It was glorious. 

My Thoughts

I am looking forward to running the next couple races (Star Wars Inaugural 10k and Tinkerbell 10k) with friends and family. As much as I enjoy doing this races, and will continue to do them either way, I would like to experience the event with a partner in crime. I might even sign my boyfriend up for the Disneyland Half Marathon races with me, even though he refuses to run. hehe.  Until next time!

Because Everyone Should Have a Peter Pan Flute

Peter Pan's Flute

So, weird things happen when you take your crafty, idea-laden, power-tool skilled boyfriend to Michael's Crafts. He buys two witch brooms (as Halloween is around the corner), and won't tell you what they are for. That is, until you get outside and he takes off all of twigs that make up the actual broom and throws them in the trash. Yeah. That happened. He really just wanted the worn bamboo handle. Then, because you are both on the same level of weird, crafty, and imaginative, you guess that he wants to make a flute. You guess right.

So as he wanted to make two flutes, (as I was Peter Pan and he was my shadow for our Halloween Disney Cruise), we got underway. Here I will describe what we did to accomplish creating these easy to make flutes.

It took a total of about an hour.

What you will need:

A Bamboo stick (or something long and rod like, preferably hollow?)
A saw of some type (we used a scroll saw, but I think a handsaw would also work)
A ruler
Something to mark the stick with using the ruler
Sandpaper (we used a grinder)
Super glue (we used Cyanoacrylate, but a hot glue gun with sticks would also work)
Twine

Step 1:  Measure

Measure how long you want your largest piece to be. For ours, we measured to 6 inches and reduced the length by about an inch for each piece. The shortest piece was about 2.5 inches. Just decide what you'd like and go from there. Initially, I started with a 7" piece but didn't like that length so I cut it down.

Step 2: Cut

Cut the pieces at the marked interval. We used a scroll saw, but a hand saw would probably work as well.

Step 3: Lay out pieces and check the lengths

Double check you like the lengths. If not, shorten or adjust accordingly.

Step 4: Sand or Grind down the edges

We did this purely for aesthetics, and because the bamboo splintered a bit. You could probably skip this if you really don't mind the way the fresh cut pieces look. 

Step 5: Glue the pieces together

Glue the pieces together. You can use any type of adhesive you think will work. We used cyanoacrylate here, but I think a hot glue gun, or some extreme super glue would work equally well. 

Step 6: Add the twine

We added twine, again for looks. so here it is... TADAAAAA. My peter pan flute.