FOODIE FRIDAY!! Day Three. Dining For My Birthday!

Yes.......Happy Birthday to me was the theme of the day on Tuesday March 3rd.  The day I turned 62.  Yes, I said 62.  When I was a kid, I used to think that was ancient.  Older than dirt.  Over the hill.  And yes, even elderly.  Well, if you have ever seen me do 14 miles at Walt Disney World in a day, you would never have the nerve to call me elderly ever again!  HA!

This was our EPCOT day, and we really had a great time.  We started out early enough for a first thing in the morning Fast Pass at Spaceship Earth.  Now, in retrospect, I am so happy we did this since the parks are now closed due to COVID-19, and I had to delay my next trip.  Spaceship Earth will be going down for a MAJOR refurbishment at the end of May.  This is expected to be close to two years for completion.  It's one of my very favorite EPCOT attractions and I am so thankful we did not miss it on this trip.

After that Fast Pass, we headed to Sunshine Seasons for a quick breakfast.  We had sweet rolls and orange juice, then we headed right over to our Fast Passes for SOARIN'.  Perfect timing too.  We finished, and we were there one minute early and got right in.   SOARIN' is Paul's favorite attraction at EPCOT.  

We then had quite a bit of time to kill before our noon lunch reservation at Garden Grill, so we headed over to The Seas With Nemo and Friends.  It said 25 minute wait, but unbelievably it was more like 40 minutes by the time we got in our clam mobile.  
It's a short attraction really, so we headed back to the Land pavilion and we got to our reservation time 5 minutes ahead.

This was Paul's first experience at Garden Grill and he loved it as much as I do!  He really enjoyed how the character interactions were.




Above photo credits: My Disney Experience


One of my very favorite salads at WDW anywhere is the salad here at Garden Grill.  I love the fact that all the greens and vegetables in the salad come from the Living With the Land attraction just downstairs.

              Hanging with Pluto again!

                    Dale is just goofy!

                     Chip thinks Dale is NUTS!  (GET IT?)

                     Last trip I was with Mickey on his birthday, this time he is with me                 on mine!

I got a special birthday treat dessert!  Chocolate Mousse!  YUM!

And a card signed by the gang!

                     Mickey sat down and had a conversation with us over dessert!

                      Regular dessert!  This was also delicious!

After lunch, we had another Fast Pass for Journey Into Imagination with Figment.  Love it!!!  When we were done with Figment, we went into the character greeting area for Vanellope and Wreck it Ralph, and Joy from Inside Out!  

After that we headed to the Disney and Pixar Shorts theater to see the films, and meet up with Mickey there too!  I can never get enough of Mickey Mouse!  Can you??

We then headed over to spend the rest of the day at World Showcase.  We began our journey over at the Mexico side as we had dinner reservations that would take us to Japan.  We started out on the Grand Fiesta Tour with Donald, Panchito and Jose!  We then met up with Donald in his sombrero!

We then made our way around World Showcase to the American Pavilion and the smell of the BBQ coming from the new Regal Eagle Smokehouse was too over powering to resist!  We were a little hungry by then so we got a meal to split so we could taste something from here.  We got the Memphis Dry-Rub Pork Ribs!  Totally delicious!!    The Mac & Cheese with it........REALLY YUMMY!!

That was a perfect amount for us to share!

We walked around and about in World Showcase until right around 6pm and shopped in the store at Japan, and then headed over for our reservation at 7pm.  We had a reservation at Takumi-Tei.  If you remember, I dined here on my solo trip in November and I loved it so much I made the decision that was where I wanted to have my birthday dinner.  

My last visit I sat in the Stone Room.  This time we were seated in the beautiful washi paper room.  I'm happy I got to experience a different room this time. 

The complimentary sample "bite" they present to you is always different.  You never know what you are going to get.  

Both Paul and I ordered the salmon, and we were so very pleased with the preparation.  It was totally delicious! Misoyaki Salmon, Citrus Curry, Asparagus, Baby Shiitake Mushroom, Black Sesame Tofu, Ikura. Service here is stellar.  I love all the sweet young ladies who work in this location.  The manager is also amazing.  I spoke to her on both of my visits.

A surprise birthday cocktail for me from the manager!

Dessert was also special and very delicious!!  This was the 

Shizuku Water Cake, Yuzu Crumble, Black Grape, Blackberry Sake.  

That just about ended our evening.  We had plans to stay for extra Magic Hours, but after two glasses of wine and by special birthday drink from the manager, I had to throw in the towel and call it a night.  

Join me again next week as we talk about our next day celebrating my birthday!