After a very long day the day before, we decided to just sleep in today. Our original plans didn't have us in the parks until later in the day because this should have been our arrival day, so there was nothing we needed to rush out and do. I didn't bring in a lot of our stuff since we were switching rooms but we got ready and packed up what we did bring in and loaded it back in the car and left for Epcot for the day.
We got to Epcot around 10:30am and were greeted by this fabulous sight!
Ahhhh!!!! It was so cute! Today was the first day of
Festival of the Arts 2018. And since it was the first day I hadn't seen what everything looked like already as is usually the case when I come for the different festivals. It was fun to be surprised by what the front of the park looked like.
And I have to tell you guys, bag check was unbearable this trip. The lines were insane every day at every park. It's the worst I have ever seen it. I lost patience petty quickly and for the rest of the trip I went bagless most days, which is something I have never done. Because of this I only had my iPhone on me, so most of my food pics were on the phone this trip, but for the most part turned out pretty well. So, I apologize if my pics aren't quite as good as usual, but like I said, they still turned out pretty good. And it was kinda nice to not carry a bag around. Very freeing.
We made our way back to WS to see if the booths were open yet and they were not, so we walked around WS a bit.
I just love all of the artwork that is at the different character meet and greet areas.
We also started scoping out the different paintings from Figment's Brush with the Masters, which was pretty much exactly like last year's hunt as far as what the paintings were and their locations.
Once WS was fully open at 11am we rode Gran Fiesta which I love. I made Rob watch Three Caballeros three or four times the week before we left. It's one of my favorite Disney movies ever.
Then we stopped at Mexico's Festival of the Arts Booth called The Hungry Artist and finally got some food for the first time this day.
Rob got the Mixiote de Cordero. Wrapped Slow Braised Lamb marinated in Tres Chiles Paste and Spices.
They had him this paper bag and he looked and me like, ummmm I think I made a mistake. But then he opened it and this was inside.
It smelled heavenly and tasted amazing! It was super flavorful and tender. I was actually feeling like I was the one who made the bad decision, but fortunately he let me have some of his. It was phenomenal.
I never met a taco I didn't like so I got the Tacos de Puerco. Two Corn Tortillas with Slow-roasted Pork Shoulder marinated in Ancho Paste, served with Sweet Plantain Purée and garnished with Pea Tendrils.
OMG! These were so good! The pork was melt in your mouth tender and the ancho paste had a ton of flavor. I was skeptical of the sweet plantain puree, but it went perfectly with the pork. I could have eaten 10 of these.
After this we circled around WS again and ended up deciding on Nine Dragons for lunch after they opened at noon.
We ate here for the first time last January and really liked it a lot! I feel like this place gets no love from people on here, but we really really enjoyed it. We were hoping to have another great experience.
We were seated immediately and had the sweetest server who came and took our drink orders. I got a raspberry iced tea which was sweetened and it was so good. I got like, four refills on this tea. Rob wanted hot tea and was hoping for green tea, but they had jasmine tea, so he got that.
He loved this and it seemed like there were infinity cups of tea in this tea pot.
This was seriously a ton of tea.
The appetizers all sound good here, so we both started with appetizers. Rob got the Sichuan Dumplings. Classical Sichuan chicken dumplings in a spicy chili oil sauce with a bouquet of fresh vegetable toppings.
This looked a little prettier before Rob mixed it all up. We both dropped the ball a few times this trip and started eating before I snapped a picture. However it looks, it was delicious according to him. He really enjoyed the sauce it came in.
I got the Potstickers. Pan-fried chicken and vegetable dumplings served with Soy dipping sauce.
I am suddenly a total sucker for potstickers. I love them. Can't get enough of them. And these were very good. I wish the sauce was a little more interesting, but it was good.
For his entree Rob got the Kung Pao Shrimp with peanuts and dried chili peppers.
This was so much shrimp! Such a huge portion for the price I thought. He really enjoyed this and ate every bite that was on the plate.
I was really torn and ended up getting what he got last time.
Peppery Shrimp with Lightly Spiced Spinach Noodles.
This was so good! And it was so much food! I ate and ate and ate and it didn't even look like I put a dent in those noodles. I loved how they flavored the noodles. Last time the shrimp were not fried, which I would prefer, but the breading on these were very light. I was just not feeling fried food in that moment very much, but it was still very good.
We were both stuffed, but loved our dessert here last time and wanted to have it again. We split the Banana Cheesecake Eggrolls. It comes with a choice of ice cream and we went with the Caramel Ginger.
This is so delicious! The ice cream flavor was not my favorite, but it was interesting. I preferred the strawberry red bean one that we got last time.
This was such a good meal! We loved all three courses and our drinks and the service was excellent. Not sure why this place gets all the hate, but we love it. This is quickly becoming a must-do for us.
After lunch we used our Fastpasses to ride Soarin', Living with the Land and Spaceship Earth. By 2:30 we decided to head out for the day.