The One About How the Hurricane Rudely Interrupted My Birthday

I had everything set for my birthday. I was planning on working and heading over to Epcot to celebrate my big day. But Hurricane Milton had other ideas, and he came along and shitted up my day.

Well, it took almost a week and half later before I finally got around to Epcot.

Along with my birthday, we were also on the hunt for Pluto’s Pumpkin Pursuit and Remy’s Ratatouille Hide and Squeak.

More on the Pluto and Remy hunts.

Next up was grabbing a birthday button. I was a little taken back when the Cast Member asked how old I am. You never ask a lady about her age.

I’m celebrating 42 Ears of Magic.

First stop was a little snack at Flavors from Fire. The Smoked Corned Beef was a little disappointing this year. I’m going with the Steakhouse Blended Burger. It’s a Beef and Wild Mushroom Slider with Truffle Brie Cheese Fondue, Arugula, and Truffle Potato Chips on a Sesame Seed Bun. Very flavorful and delicious. This was a definite winner.

Looks like the “A” in Hall is a little damaged from the hurricane. Or is it normal poor maintenance from Disney?

Manatee time! Lou was moved a few weeks ago, and that left Lil’ Joe by himself. But a new manatee moved into town: Inigo.

Inigo was in the corner, but Lil’ Joe looked happier. Maybe Lou was an old curmudgeon in the tank.

And the dolphins are still here! This was their second to last day at Epcot. They’re being moved to another facility for better care. But I’m leaning towards this is another cost-cutting measure by Disney. Dolphin care is expensive.

And this was under construction the last time I was here.

Everything is all spruced up.

I can finally grab a shot without a ton of people around these guys.

Next on the snack list is the Lemon Poppy Seed Cake with Lemon Icing. This is my favorite of the festival. It has a hint of lemon but a little sweetness from the icing. Plus, it’s really a moist cake too. Yum!

The Harvest Hollow is a trail of three booths: Bramblewood Bites, Milled & Mulled, and Forest & Field.

I heard good things about the pumpkin ravioli, and I threw in the Autumn Chili for good measure.

The Autumn Chili had Bison, Lamb, and Pork Belly, Root Vegetables, Jalapeño Cornbread, Smoked Cheddar, and Crème Fraîche.

The Pumpkin Mascarpone Ravioli features Sage-Brown Butter, Pecorino Cheese, and Hazelnut Praline

This that a hidden Mickey?

The pumpkin ravioli was great and you are hit with an overwhelming taste of pumpkin. It’s very subtle. On the other hand, the autumn chili have a very strong taste of cinnamon. I liked it, but it was a no-go for my Mom.

So what was it like the first weekend after a hurricane and blackout for the lower level Passholders? Absolutely packed from Mexico to Canada. It was horrible. And trashy, drunk people too. Ugh! At this point all the lines at the food booths were at least 35 people deep.

Even Morocco was crowded!

I did manage to go to the second entrance of Canada and grabbed a cup of Cheddar Beer soup…mmm.

We did go into the Odyssey for a little break. The Muppets Labs was sorta back…in a reduced format. If you don’t know, here’s the story on that.

I wanted to do more snackin’ but the crowds made that pretty much impossible. So it was time to leave to get a proper meal off property.

Btw, I did finished both hunts. Pluto’s prize was a Pluto-shaped pumpkin and Remy’s was a bowl.
I wanted the one with Remy, but they were all gone. I had to settle for Chef Mickey.

So it was nice to get out, but the park was super crowded. It seemed like all of Central Florida was in the park.

That’s a wrap for now. Until next time…