Disney Trip 2013 - Day 5

Epcot today, and surprisingly few photos.  We spent the morning and early afternoon riding a few rides with Brian, Holly and the kids, then Todd and I split off around 3pm to explore the World Showcase.  One of the things I'd always regretted from past trips was not spending time really exploring the different national pavilions of the area, so we made it a priority this trip.

Plants and flowers near Spaceship Earth

Better like this...

Or better like this?

Father Christmas in the United Kingdom.  There is a waist-high hedge maze to the left that we had never known was there before.

After touring the United Kingdom and France, we had to take a short detour.  The weather had changed and the temperature dropped significantly.  A cold wind was blowing, and the temperature would eventually dip down to 57 degrees which was a big change from the high 70s/80 degree weather we had been having.  We needed warmer clothes!

We had jeans and sweatshirts/hoodies/pullovers back at the hotel, but since we had dinner reservations coming up we decided to shop in the park.  We headed back to the front area of Epcot and went to the MouseGear store where it looked like everyone in the park was there doing the same thing.  Todd picked up a cool retro design gray hoodie, and I got a nice blue pullover.  We were still in shorts, but the new tops would keep us warm enough.

We headed back to the World Showcase and picked up where we left off.

Tile work and fountain down a side alley in Morocco.  Deeper in the Morocco pavilion we found narrow passageways lined with shops, an indoor meet-and-greet with Jasmine from Aladdin, and a new restaurant that will be opening soon.

The rotunda of The American Adventure pavilion.  Inside the rotunda is a museum exhibit called the American Heritage Gallery.  The American Adventure attraction is a brief history of American as presented by Benjamin Franklin and Mark Twain.  The 30-minute presentation features 35 animatronic figures in scenes that rise from below the stage.  Interesting to note:  while all the other "lands" in the World Showcase are just called by the name of their country (Mexico, Norway, France, etc.), the United States area is labelled The American Adventure.  Also interesting to note:  a couple of trips back Todd and I took a backstage tour of WDW.  As part of the tour we got to go under the theater here and see the huge "war wagon" that houses all the mechanics and animatronics that make up the show.  Wow, this is a really long caption.

China Moon

We had a 7:20pm reservation at the Le Cellier steakhouse in Canada.  This is one of the top dining spots at the Walt Disney World resort, and I can now see why.  I completely forgot to take pictures, so I've borrowed a few from the internet below.

For my meal I ordered an appetizer of an Assortment of Artisanal Cheeses.  There was a soft gooey brie served with a fig crisp, a sheep's milk something served with cranberry-apple chutney, an aged Canadian cheddar paired with honeycomb, and some sort of blue cheese paired with pear jam.  The pairings may be mixed up; I can't remember.  They were all good, but the hard cheddar was the best.  I accidentally ate some of the rind on the brie, which was disgusting, the rind not the brie, but I learned later that some connoisseurs prefer to eat the rind.  I felt slightly less stupid after reading that.

For my entree I had the Angus New York Strip - a 12oz strip steak with potato pave (think: small square made of au gratin potatoes) and a red wine reduction.  It was the tenderest steak I have ever had, and almost the most flavorful (sorry Le Cellier; nothing yet has beat Del Frisco's!).  For a side dish I ordered prosciutto ham oreccheitte and cheese, which was like a gourmet macaroni and cheese in a very light cream sauce with thin shavings of prosciutto on top.  Very good.  With my steak I had a glass of a very good red wine that I didn't write down.  :(

For dessert I tried the blueberry ginger sorbet with lemon snow and candied ginger - it was amazing!  I could have easily ordered a second serving.

Blueberry ginger sorbet.  Photo from disneyfoodblog.com.

Closeup featuring the lemon "snow".  Photo from disneyfoodblog.com

With dessert I also tried the Domaine Pinnacle Apple ice wine/cider.  For an ice wine, the grapes are harvested during the winter when they have frozen on the vine.  For an apple ice "wine", I believe the fruit is harvested in the fall and pressed, then the juice is placed outside during the freezing winter where the syrup separates during crystallization.  Either way, this concentrates and intensifies the sweetness of the fruit.  The apple ice wine was delicious - maybe not the best pairing with a tangy fruit sorbet, but still delicious.

Todd's dinner started off with a whiskey flight featuring three whiskeys:  Tap 357 Maple Rye, Pendleton, and Forty Creek.  He liked the Maple Rye the best (I got to taste all 3 also, and all were good, but the Maple Rye was the most unique and tasty).

For an appetizer Todd had the Canadian cheddar cheese soup.  For his entree he ordered the Le Cellier Mushroom Filet Mignon.  It was served with wild mushroom risotto, pickled pearl onions, and white truffle-butter sauce.  As a side dish he ordered a signature Canadian Poutine which would normally be french fries covered with a light brown gravy and cheese curds - sounds icky, I know.  Of course Le Cellier's was a little fancier than that.

Todd chose the Farmhouse Poutine, which contained fries covered with heirloom tomato jam, Nueske's bacon "snow", micro arugula, and was topped with a soft-poached egg.  It still sounds icky, I know, but oh my God it was delicious and kind of spicy.  I'd be happy just to go back and order that again.  Todd opted to skip dessert as he was understandably stuffed.

All things considered, it was great "adult" dinner, and well worth the expense.

The Le Cellier dining room is very intimate.  Photo from disneyinyourday.com.

One side of the Canada pavilion - Le Cellier is in the left-center of the picture.  Photo by Scott A. Dommin.

After dinner we met with Brian on the bridge between France and the UK and watched the Illuminations: Reflections of Earth fireworks show which takes place over the World Showcase Lagoon.  It's a great show with lights, music, narration, video, lasers, fire and fireworks.  In addition, for the holidays they added a special ending to the show where the fireworks were so fast and copious that they blanketed the entire sky over the World Showcase like I've never seen before.