I’ll get more time this week to describe our night, but I wanted to start this post while I have a laptop, and I’ll hack at it more from my phone. Simply, it was phenomenal
Warning: wall of text ahead… What was going to be descriptions of each course transformed into a trip report…oops
Looks great!
I’m not sure what the deal is with the 100 yr old balsamic, but you can but that stuff new for like $3. Just sayin’… 
We went last August. Such an amazing meal!
Brings back great memories.
Alright, here’s the start of our trip report…
This was the first adults only trip that my wife and I have taken since children, so we wanted to check off a few things that we don’t get to do with children. Also, whenever I plan trips, I feel the need to keep everyone happy/make sure they get to do things they want, which often comes at the price of long days trying to fit everything in. My friends and family have joked that they’ll get me a little flag to carry so that I can make sure the “tour group” is following me. This trip was planned to be different: we weren’t seeing everything; we were going to slow down; we were going to relax.
Day one:
We landed at MCO and went to the rental car garage, thank goodness we have joined every rental car club so we could skip the line at the counter. Granted this doesn’t apply to every airport, but at bigger ones like MCO, for the sake of your time and family, sign up for the club of your rental agency… it’s free and you’ll skip what could be an hour or more wait just to decline insurance and tell the counter person that you won’t upgrade today.
We drove straight to Shades of Green (don’t forget cash for the two tolls at $2.50 apiece!) This was our first time staying here, and will definitely stay here again in the future. The rooms are spacious, the grounds are pretty, and the location is pretty good. For value resort prices, the monorail is easily accessible.
After dropping our bags at our room, we walked to the Polynesian with intentions to ride the monorail to MK. But, we’re sans children and on vacation, so we need a drink! Detour to Trader Sam’s. We’d never had luck in the past without it having a wait or being crowded, but middle of the afternoon we were able to walk right in and share a table with some strangers. I figured the purpose of drinking there vs my room is the show, so I ordered an Uh Oa. The waitress cautioned me that it was large… but I’m on vacation! We enjoyed the drinks, got a quick buzz, paid and headed to the Magic Kingdom. Because I’m normally the ‘go, go, go!’ type, slowing down right away was a pleasant change for my wife.
At the Magic Kingdom we stopped to wish Mickey and Minnie a happy birthday, and I really liked their outfits. We then proceeded to ride Space, Pan, pirates, big thunder, UTS and meet Ariel before heading to check-in for the dessert party. By this time it was about 15 minutes before the start of the fireworks, and it was awesome getting walked right into the viewing area where we easily grabbed two spots on the back railing. I set up my trips and took some photos, which aren’t the best since the view is a little obstructed, but we could easily reach out and grab our happily ever after.
After fireworks, we went to the desserts and filled ourselves on egg rolls, ooey gooey toffee cake, and a whole slew of other treats. We were pleased and really liked it. Some of the desserts were okay, and I probably wouldn’t pay for the greasy egg rolls separately, but getting to ride rides up until the last moment and easily watch the fireworks was a great end to our first day.
Day 2:
Flower and Garden is our favorite time of year in EPCOT. Seeing the whole park in bloom is awesome, and the food was also good. I think food and wine is over rated with all the other festivals having food booths. Sure there are more options at F&W, but who (outside of bloggers) will really eat at all of them?
Because we were relaxing this trip, we slept in a bit and drove to the Poly for a breakfast reservation at Kona. The restaurant wasn’t crowded, but our waiter still managed to be hard to track down, especially when it was time to pay. I had the Tonga Toast, and it was tasty as usual.
While the walk from SoG isn’t far, we drove because of the reservation and parked close to the TTC to make it easy to get to EPCOT. We arrived after rope drop, and the lines for the bag check moved quickly. After thanking the Phoenicians, we rode Soarin’. The British father and daughter in front of us were finishing a rider swap where the daughter already went once, and it was to be the father’s first ride… Well she wasn’t having it. We were able to strike up a conversation and distract her, but as soon as it was time to buckle in, she wanted out. We felt bad for the dad, but they left the theater without riding. Poor guy, but good father.
Another first for me was going by the DVC lounge, it wasn’t hot yet, and our legs weren’t tired, but free soft drinks! We grabbed a couple, but declined any snacks since we were about to start our journey around the world eating to our hearts’ content.
We watched shows and snacked, enjoying the topiaries along the way. We made sure to watch Voices of Liberty, but other than that, we ate things that looked interesting and explored the pavilions. The only thing on our schedule was to get to the Frozen Ever After dessert party by 8p. I consulted the reviews from EasyWDW, so we figured we had a better chance of getting good dishes, and Josh steered us in the right direction.
After walking around the world, we went by the Disney Visa photo spot and got a picture with Mickey and Goofy and then with Joy and Sadness. There was only one other family in front of us for Joy and Sadness, and the characters were having great interactions with the family. The child had light up shoes, so he kept jumping to show them off, which Joy kept trying to jump to make her feet light up. We could’ve watched them play for a while. We weren’t in a rush, so we had fun watching the interactions. That moment was followed by riding Soarin’, and the gal next to me was riding for her first time. Listening to her giggles, oohs, and aahhs, was fantastic. Having ridden everything, it’s easy to get complacent and things are the same old same old. Getting to vicariously experience Soarin’for the first time was incredible. Hearing her excitement along the way was a highlight for my trip and a good reminder of how magical WDW can be.
We meandered to the fireworks check in, but there was some disorganization as people kept cutting past the line of people waiting to check in; I guess they had to beat us to the broccoli line.
We were seated at a table with a mother and her two adult daughters, and had pleasant conversation while enjoying the evening. The desserts were delicious, and the cheese sauce made the broccoli with eating. I think I liked the spread here better than for HEA, plus the addition of booze was nice. Our table was off to the side, so we didn’t have a good view of the lagoon due to the boat launch blocking part of it, but there was a more centralized table that wasn’t being used because a large party squished around fewer tables, so they let us watch from there. I must admit, the globe scene goes a lot faster when sitting with a drink in hand!
We enjoyed the ride on FEA and not having to use a fast pass for it. And after the ride it was back to the room.
Day 3
While our first day and a half was already great, today was the one I was looking forward to the most.
It started with breakfast at BoG after a ride in a main Street vehicle (something I had only done once before due to strollers or weather or trolley shows getting in the way). We were still full from the night before, so we just split a meal, but I wish we hadn’t since moldy fruit and a quick talk with a manager resulted in our meal being refunded (too bad we didn’t get more food!)
After a few rides, we headed back down main Street for the Keys to the Kingdom tour. We grabbed water, selected our choice of lunch from Pecos Bills, and then gathered up. While 96% of the information was stuff I already knew, this was another great chance to slow down and look at the details. It rained on our tour of and on, but our guide kept us out of it for the most part. The guide pointed out a few of the windows like Walt’s being above the ice cream parlor facing the park and the Pseudonym Real Estate Development Company run by Roy Davis(Roy Disney), Bob Price, & Bob Foster, as a nod to the acquisition of land under the Florida Project.
We rode Jungle Cruise and Haunted Mansion, both by entering through the exit, and I wasn’t aware of the animatronic Safari guy on the bottom of the pole also being the grave keeper. Our guide controlled the mic on Jungle Cruise giving us various facts about the ride along the way, though the skipper did end the ride with a few jokes (please, Get Out!) I had avoided learning how the ballroom scene is done, and was surprised at the trick (I won’t give it away, as it’s easy to find). It was also neat seeing the parade float storage and floats being worked on just ahead of the parade that afternoon. Lunch was good and waiting for us with a private room and our own fixin’s bar.
The highlight of the tour was going down to the first floor into the Utilidoors (what you normally walk on is technically the second floor since the backstage/below stage area was built on ground level and everything else was built above it). While much of it is non-descript with gray walls and conduit, it was fun seeing the underbelly and watching CMs coming and going. There was a party happening and a meet and greet with Hades, but unfortunately we couldn’t stop. We also saw various characters in full makeup and wigs wearing sweats and t-shirts as they headed off to get ready for the parade.
Then back up stairs to see where Tinkerbell lands and the tour was over. All in all it was fun and worth the price. The parade was just stepping off, so we rushed to Frontierland to catch the start. Low and behold, some of the characters we saw getting ready were now in full costume smiling and waving.
After watching the parade, we headed back to the room to get ready for our dinner at Victoria and Albert’s. As we were approaching our room, we received a notice of a bomb threat two blocks from our son’s school. Well, that changed our mood and messed with our getting ready time. While trying to figure out what was going on and trying to relay everything to Grandma (who was watching our children and needing to pick up our son), we were a bit distracted. Fortunately it was all a fake threat, but now we were a bit rushed.
We hopped in the car and drove to the Grand Floridian… Sure, we could’ve walked to Poly and caught the monorail, but valet parking is complimentary when eating at V&A.
Before we even got to the outside of the Citricos/V&A entrance, we were greeted by one of our servers who escorted us in to meet Boris, the maitre d’, and we were walked through the kitchen back to the chef’s table.
I was surprised at how far back the kitchen was, it seemed like the hallways wound around before getting to the table.i always assumed the table was just off the main dining area, but it was on the far side of the kitchen.
Chef Aimee came out to greet us and we had a champagne toast. I didn’t note what it was, and I’m not a wine drinker so I can’t give a whole lot of details, but it was good and definitely not Cooks or Andre’s. Our glasses were filled (and they even refilled them for us), but I noticed that the Chef’s glass was half full, but hey, I guess she was working!
Can’t wait to hear about the rest of the trip. Sounds great so far!
And you leave us off before dinner started??? 
They cooked, we ate, it was great
This is definitely taking more time than I thought, so sorry for the slow additions…
Tonight Chef Aimee as well as Sous Chefs Matt and Pascal were working… Though Cheff Matt was doing some conceptual work on a new dish, so he looked like he was splitting his time between trying techniques himself and teaching the other cooks what he wanted done/prepped. They were working on an artichoke dish, that involved peeling them down to just the heart. When asking him about it, he admitted that the work involved wouldn’t be worth the reward long term, so they’ll use the batch they ordered, but will have to majorly change the concept going forward. This was fun watching them work, prep, teach, and figure things out throughout the evening. The chefs would take a break from their work to come present each dish, and wait while we asked questions, without any hesitation or appearance of wanting us to shut up.
So the first dish, it doesn’t look like much because of the wafer on top, but the amuse bouche was oysters with caviar for me and crispy salsify with a leek sauce for my wife. She doesn’t touch seafood, so any seafood courses were adjusted for her. I’ve never had Oestra caviar before, and this was a delightful introduction. When we asked the chefs about moving from the multiple choice option of the main dining room to the homogenized menu, we were told it was to allow for more seasonal menus, which contributed to the restaurant getting Forbes 5 star rating (one of 68 worldwide). But even by getting rid of multiple menus, it still isn’t a simple production because they may have a guest that will eat seafood but not shellfish, or a vegetarian that might eat fish on Tuesdays, or gluten free for one person but gluten for their dining companion, and by the time you go through all dining preferences, it can still create lots of variation and complication.
I passed on the $300 caviar tasting, because I only have so many kidneys to sell, so the next course was a cold lobster dish with the tail on the left and claw underneath a lobster gelatin on the right. The saffron sauce was delicate and tasty, but I wasn’t expecting the cold presentation, so it caught me off guard and impacted my opinion of the dish. While everything was nicely done, I wasn’t digging the temp, so this was my least favorite. My wife got a cold bison dish, bordering on a carpaccio, but with a light sear and equally thin slices. She doesn’t enjoy lightly cooked meat, and said while it tasted great, it was hard to get past the rareness. She also doesn’t like celery, which there were little curls and dollops of celery root. I thought it complimented the meat nicely, but you can’t please everyone. But this is the nice thing about a tasting menu, you might not like it all, but there are more dishes to come!
What method did you use to get the Chef’s Table reservation? I have never had any luck with this one, and have read conflicting tips on how to get it.
Using the most unscrupulous of means, I created a dummy reservation that extended well before my trip actually started and called each day, as early as possible, as it entered the +10 window. My first choice of days was booked, luckily I got my second choice. This was the first time I was able to book it after trying on other trips.
Next up for me was Glacier 51 tooth fish (Chilean sea bass) with King crab and white asparagus. I love white asparagus, and this did not disappoint. The fish was cooked perfectly, but the star was the delicious white asparagus sauce on the plate. The saucier was busy tempering butter to pour into molds during much of the first few courses, so we were able to talk to him frequently. He said the sauce was made by poaching asparagus in cream, then pureeing it and adding sugar and salt. Gosh it was heavenly and my favorite thing that I put in my mouth up to this point. The black line across the top of the bowl was a crispy squid ink wafer that was great dipped in the sauce, but really anything in the sauce was great. I will be trying to replicate it at home. My wife had the same sauce, but had a little piece of chicken instead and a non-seafood wafer (maybe parmesan?) and instead of crab in the little rolled up bite at the top, hers was made from chicken. But there could have been a handful of jellybeans on the plate, that sauce was incredible with anything.
We thought we found the best sauce of the night with the asparagus, but that was proved wrong when Chef Aimee brought out a course not on the menu, English peas with pea agnolotti, surrounded by bacon foam. I don’t care if you think the bacon fad has run its course. This could probably convince you otherwise, and regardless I’ll eat bacon with anything and most definitely in this bacon foam form. Thankfully the saucier was still within earshot, so we could sing praises to him once again. I didn’t need another course to be completely satisfied with pawning away those family heirlooms.
Now I want to try it.
Wonder if it was as simple as described or if there is a secret trick to it.
Out of a packet, I imagine.
Next to the freeze dried Kobe beef
I don’t know about you, but one of my favorite dishes at Thanksgiving is the sweet potato casserole/dessert masquerading as a side dish. Well, the next course has my new favorite bite of silky smooth sweet potatoes as they accompanied honey lacquered duck with crunchy walnuts for texture. While I don’t normally seek out duck, I’ll eat it here any day of the week.
V&A doesn’t focus on pigeonholing themselves into a certain country or region of food, the next course was a bit of a surprise as it was a nod to middle Eastern food. It’s lamb with dates and a croquette of chick peas to be a fancy version of falafel. There are some micro greens and compressed cucumber to brighten it up a bit. A surprise dish and a winner.
When I saw I could get Miyazaki beef for an upcharge, I told my wife that I’d get it and we could compare the Australian Wagyu to the Japanese beef. Most people familiar with beer drinking Japanese cows think of Kobe. But those aren’t the best cows from Japan. The reigning beef champions (2x!) are from the Miyazaki Prefecture. Think of it like Champagne is sparkling wine that comes from the Champagne region of France or that Scotch is whiskey from Scotland. Wagyu means Japanese beef, so all Kobe beef is Wagyu, but not the converse. Every five years there are beef championships, and beef from Miyazaki has beaten Kobe, so they can claim the best beef for the past 10 years.
But I digress, my wife drinks wine, so her splurge of the evening was the wine pairing. I can expertly tell you that wine tastes just like wine and that’s it. So, my upcharge was meat. I was even more excited when they told me I got the Aussie beef, too. Relatively, it was like the difference between Ruth’s Chris and Outback only slid much higher up the beef scale. The Aussie Wagyu was great, but Jiminy Cricket the Miyazaki was like beef butter in my mouth. I apologize that it’s out of focus, but I was trying to take a quick picture before shoving everything into my food hole. Each little strip is ~3 inches long and about 1/4" wide (I don’t do metric so maybe 12 celsiuses by 9 radians?). So not a lot for 55 bucks, but the meat is pricey and I’m glad I did it. Plus, it was so rich, I doubt I could eat much more than what was served. The upper left is pain perdu, translated as lost bread and normally what we think of as French toast, but this was mostly a savory custard with bread crumbs for texture. Upper right is morels, which I could’ve done without as morels rank pretty far down on my list of favorite mushrooms. What you need to look closely at, however, is the little drop above the Miyazaki. That was literally served with an eye dropper from a bottle of 100 year old balsamic vinegar, and it tasted like a dusty old attic, No! It was marvelous. It was thick and sweet and I wanted more. Bottles of it go for hundreds of dollars. When they make it, they age it for 20 years in one barrel, then move it to another for 20 more and repeat the process until it hits 100. I can’t imagine starting the process and thinking that I’d never enjoy the fruits of my labor and knowing that only some distant consumer in the future would get to revel in its glory. Thank you dead vinegar dude, it was worth it.
At this time, we were maybe 40 minutes away from Happily Ever After from starting. We asked our servers if we could pause the clock and take a break to go to the dock. They were more than accommodating, so I got another beer and they walked is to the front of the house. Which, as an aside was one of the weird, almost annoying, but mildly amusing things about being in the kitchen: if we wanted to go to the restroom, we needed an escort through the kitchen and into the dining room. I wished they would walk us more slowly to get a better view of the different sections and fully appreciate all the moving parts, but alas it was a work area and it was better not to be in the way. This kitchen definitely puts your local Waffle House to shame when it comes to being immaculately spotless and the walls of the hallways were adorned with articles and accolades.
We enjoyed a slow stroll down to the boats and got seats on a bench. Some families were playing in the nearby pool, others were at tables talking, but slowly as it got nearer to the start time, people began gathering to watch the distant show. Sure, main Street provides the best view, but WDW knows how to put on a show, so I’ll gladly enjoy the view from the Grand Floridian. A few misty eyes and several minutes of pyrotechnics later, we were headed back upstairs where we were presented with the cheese course.
Couldn’t agree more. The Miyazaki completely redefined what beef could be. But you’re right; it’s so rich that the 2 oz serving was practically perfect; I couldn’t imagine eating a 6 oz. portion…
Great report! DH and I are doing lots of tours on upcoming trip and I look forward to not being a drill sergeant
HAHAHA
This was the great sadness for me of my V&A experience. I absolutely hated it. And I got the big portion. For $110.