22. Quick Service Awards at EPCOT

[00:00:00] Coming up, we're talking food in EPCOT and now we're all starving because the food in EPCOT is all so delicious. But we have a fun new take today. It's an award ceremony. We have seven awards to give but 10 quick service restaurants in the running, which means that three restaurants are not going to be awarded by the end of today's episode, which is sad for them and difficult for us as we do argue about who deserves which award. Straight ahead on Quick Service Meals for EPCOT.

[00:00:26] If you have someone who's like, oh, I need to eat fresh and have a light meal, you know, they're dieting or whatever. This is the, this is their better. They're definitely going to connections. Necessarily, not necessarily. No. Hey everyone. Welcome to another episode of the Moms Behind the Magic Podcast. I'm your host, Allie. I'm here today with Katie and with Stacey. I'm going to be real honest, all of you M&M's

[00:00:53] listening. We had a bit of a frustrating morning with some sound quality. So we are diving in now, leaving our frustration behind and we're going to have a blast today because this episode is an award ceremony and I love an award ceremony and I cannot wait to go back and forth with you both, Stacey and Katie and award some honors here to some, but not all of the Quick Service locations

[00:01:18] in EPCOT. Before we do, how are y'all doing this morning? Besides already how I know you're doing this morning. Besides wanting to throw a computer out the window. Yeah, please don't do that. Everything's great. My grandbaby's here. So that puts me in a good mood. He's a sweetie. I know. And he's how old now he's, he's just one. Uh, he'll be two in August. So back up however many months that is. That is wild. Yeah. It's fast, isn't it? Goodness. Katie, your babe just turned five

[00:01:45] yesterday. Yes. As, as of when we're recording this, she turned five yesterday. We had a little like family party just with my husband and our girls at Chuck E. Cheese. And she's very excited because this weekend we're going to Bibbidi-Bobbidi Boutique and she decided that she wants to dress up as Ariel. And I got her this little like cross body purse that is a flounder. So she's excited about that.

[00:02:13] I'm excited to do it with her too. That's the best part about living close is y'all get to do that for literally every birthday. Yeah. I wanted to talk to you guys about something funny because we're talking about quick service food today. And a lot of times, I mean, let me ask you this first. Let me back up. When you're thinking about quick service, which meal of the day comes to mind first? Because obviously you can have quick service for breakfast, lunch, and or dinner. But when I say, oh, we're talking about quick service, which meal of the day is the one that pops into your head? Lunch. Is that what you're asking?

[00:02:42] Yeah. For me, it's immediately breakfast. See, and for me, it's lunch. Interesting. That's why like funny when you said that, Stacey. Like to me, obviously quick service can be anything. And these restaurants serve a variety of food and mealtimes. But in my head, it pops in lunch. And it's funny because we're talking about quick service today, which routes in my brain to lunchtime. And as of recording today, my wife and I are chaperoning a second grade field trip tomorrow. And of all the field trips that my twins do, I've already gone on once with my oldest daughter.

[00:03:12] And this particular one, I actually didn't go on with her. And it would be of the ones I get to do, you know, I'm not trying to dampen the experience here. But of the ones we get to do with our kids, this would be on the lower end of things that I like really get excited about. Like next year, we get to go to the Cincinnati Red Stadium. That's amazing. That's not what we're doing tomorrow. Right. Very cool. So anyway, we got our chaperone information. And as always with every field trip,

[00:03:37] part of our instructions are to pack a brown bag lunch. And I laugh every single time because it's like, I am at a point in my life where I don't eat lunch out of a brown sack. I don't even know what to put in a sack lunch for myself. I don't eat foods that typically would stay good all day in a brown paper bag. And so I'm just like, what am I going to pack? And then when it's time to sit down and open it, I'm just like, oh, here I am with my brown bag and my lunch and my sandwich, I guess, that I don't eat. I don't know.

[00:04:05] If it is a brown paper bag with your lunch in it, it's going to have a butter and jelly sandwich on a field trip. That's what you do. I don't eat PB&J. I don't eat PB&J. I mean, I take them. When you're taking on a field trip, you do your PB&J the night before you put it in the fridge. So it's cold. Sometimes now back in my day, I would pre-plan all my PB&Js. I would actually put them in the freezer. And then that way, by the time they were at lunchtime, they were just nice and normal. And it was great, but especially on a field trip when you're going to be

[00:04:35] driving and I don't know what kind of temperature you're in, but down here, it's always hot. And so having a cold sandwich started out, then by the time you get it to lunch, anyway, it's a PB&J because meats are not, that's too risky. That sounds soggy. You're a super mom at a level I have yet to reach. Let me tell you this. A lot of people in my life will tell my wife and I, oh, you guys are super moms. Like you do, you know, whatever. I'll tell you what, that is your, that's like Facebook versus reality sometimes. And I'll speak

[00:05:03] for myself. My wife really is super. I'll speak just for myself here. When we had our first baby and she was, she was a baby. I would save to my Facebook reels, whatever they were called at the time. I don't even think reels were a thing yet, but whatever they were at the time, I would save all of these videos that were focused on childhood school lunch. Like bento boxes. Oh yeah. Bento boxes. And the way you were going to turn the school lunch into an animal every day

[00:05:29] and homemade lunch, like all this. And I would tell people all the time, I cannot wait until my kids are in school because I'm going to pack these elaborate lunches and make these sandwich sushi rolls and everything's going to be decorated and so pretty. You guys, my kids buy lunch every single day. And if they ask me to pack, I literally want to run away screaming. I am not, that's just, I'm not that mom. I just, I do. Do schools tell what they're going to serve? Do y'all get menus?

[00:05:57] Yeah. But we don't even look at them because there's usually three, like two options. And then there's always PB and J if you don't want one of those. So back in my day, I mean, I went to elementary school was like 19. I'm going to tell you all these years. They're going to sound ridiculous. I was, I started school in 1980 and our school lunch rooms were just, it was a big part of your day, a very big deal. And they would send home your menus once a month and they would have the whole menu for the whole month. And I would circle which days, Oh, this one sounds good. I want to eat this. I want to eat this. And then I'll put an X

[00:06:27] on it. Like, I don't want this. And my mom would make my PB and J for the month based on that and put them in the freezer. And so I'd know if it was a circle day, I didn't pick something out of the freezer. If it was an X day, I would get it from the freezer and make my lunch and take it. Wow. And yeah, it was a very big deal. And it cost, y'all don't know how much lunch costs. How much does lunch cost for you, for your kids? You know, like per meal? No, because let me tell you, this is why it's even worse. Now I'm like even more embarrassed. I had to auto set my school lunch accounts for my kids because they kept coming to me saying,

[00:06:55] I don't have any lunch money because now you don't bring lunch money. And so I had to turn on the automated trigger that was like, Hey, if these lunch accounts reach $5, add 10. So I don't, I don't know. You don't know how much it is per day at all? No, I don't either. You want to guess what my, you want to guess what my lunches were? How much they cost to buy a lunch at school? 25 cents a quarter. Not that low. I'm not in 1940. $1.75. Nope. $1.10. It was $1.10. $1.10.

[00:07:22] Yes. So $5.50 to pay for the week. Whenever I was in high school, it was like $2.10. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I feel like that's close. I'm going to tell you because I can, lunch accounts are all online now, Stace. I don't know if you know this. We'll see. And I even, you know, The kids have a little online account. I've got the experience of homeschooling too. So I really do feel very disconnected from that whole process. Yeah. Well, lunch accounts, lunch accounts are all online and you can even break it. This is how I found out my kids were buying chocolate milk every day.

[00:07:52] Cause you can break it down. You can see what they're buying. And I was like, wait a minute, you guys can't do that. So this is where I, chocolate milk is not just an option. I mean, like that was, if you paid a dollar 10, you could either pick white milk or chocolate milk. Well, no, I think it is. I do. I think you're saying they may have bought it either or they're buying it. No, I just, it shows me the choices. Like it'll show me also what they bought for lunch. You're saying health wise, they can't do that every day. I mean, yeah, I'm like, guys don't do this

[00:08:17] every day. Oh my gosh. Well, they didn't stop. If it makes you feel better. I absolutely, I had chocolate milk every single day, every like for 13 years. Okay. Well, so are they, so are they, uh, trust me. Well, I just think it's funny because I was thinking about this brown bag lunch and then I was thinking about the, the quick service meals we're going to talk about today. And it was just a whole spiral of, of thinking in my, in my, as I was preparing for

[00:08:43] to accept that probably we've took you way off course here. Didn't we? No, not at all. But I do want to look at what this costs. I was going to say, thankfully the food that we're talking about today is not school cafeteria lunch quality. So no, no, we're going to, I'm going to, well, you guys are talking about two of the awards. I'm going to figure this out. This is a TB to be continued to the TBC. I'm definitely going to get to it before the episodes over and make sure that I tell Stacy, cause I feel like this is the information she deserves to know, but we are going to take a quick

[00:09:13] break. When we come back, we have awards to award. We have quick service locations to discuss and it's at Epcot of all places, the best place to eat in all of Disney world. Is that true? Or is it animal kingdom? I'm not sure. I still go back and forth, but it's up there when we come back. This episode of moms behind the magic is brought to you by baby clip, babyquip.com use code magic to get $30 off of any order of $150 or more baby clip has grown. It's not just about babies anymore. Baby clip offers a

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[00:11:08] support wherever you need it. So head to babyquip.com. Use code magic to get $30 off of any order of $150 or more. That's babyquip.com, code magic. Pack light, travel happy. All right, we are back and we are diving into quick service at Epcot. And we wanted to have some fun with this because the reality is we've done a lot of episodes centered around Epcot. We've done a lot of episodes centered around Epcot food in our

[00:11:34] history together. And a lot of times when we try to shine a light on every single thing that there is to offer in World Showcase, it can be very long, it can be very drawn out. And while it is important a lot of times to make sure that you M&Ms know what's going on, I don't think it's important every time we talk about Epcot to hit every single thing. And so what we did was pull forward what we consider the best as a podcast team options for quick service in Epcot. And then we have some awards to

[00:12:03] offer. So we are dealing seven awards and 10 quick service options. Of the 10 locations, we will give out seven awards and three will just get honorable mentions. So we will talk about all these locations. We put all of our awards in a random spinner. We're going to spin when we land on an award, we have to give it out to a restaurant. But once the award has been given and the restaurant has received an award, we cannot go back and change it. So we have to be very thorough here as we're doing it.

[00:12:30] We're going to talk through it, maybe have a little bit of arguments because I have some strong feelings about where I think some things should land. Before I go through what the awards and the restaurants are, I just want to reiterate that at Epcot, more often than not, you're also going to be experiencing a festival of some kind. And if that is the case, you're going to be getting lots of food booths. And if there are food booths, the chances of you also getting a quick

[00:12:56] service meal may or may not go down. So this episode is going to be really good, especially if you're going during a rare time where there is not a festival and you are seeking quick meal options. This is going to be great. And then if you are at a festival and the booths just aren't doing it or the lines are long or you want something with a little bit more substance, that's when you're going to be turning to these places as well. Quick service, of course, the locations centered around World Showcase and outside of World Showcase where you can mobile

[00:13:22] order food and just grab a bite quickly, have a quick spot to eat either inside or outside, depending on where you are. These are not reservation spots, right? You're not making advanced dining reservations. So the awards we are going to be given today that have been placed in our random spinner are best quick service for fresh food, best international flavors, best meal that feels like a snack, the meal worth the wait, the best overall quick service, the best

[00:13:52] place to sit and eat and the best value for your meal. I am nervous because I have a couple of ideas of where I think some of these restaurants should land. And I feel like you guys might argue the restaurants that we have to work with today. Katie and Stacey arguing? No. No. What I've learned is that you guys see eye to eye on everything. Okay. You just 100%. Yeah. 100% of the time you guys are eye level. This is true. Right.

[00:14:21] Connections Eatery, Sunshine Seasons, La Cantina de Salingal, Summerfest, The Regal Eagle Smokehouse, Ketsura Grill, Tangerine Cafe, Le All. I'm not even going to try to say Boulangerie. There I tried. Not bad. Boulangerie. Boulangerie Petit Seri and Yorkshire County Fish

[00:14:45] Country. Yorkshire Country Fish Shop. You missed Lotus Blossom Cafe. I did miss Lotus Blossom Cafe. It's on the list. Was that intentional or not? I guess we'll find out. So those are the restaurants we're dealing with. We have seven awards to award to each of these restaurants. Does everybody, is everybody clear on the rules? Yes. Yes. Are you? For once in my life, for once in my life, I am clear on the rules. I appreciate, you know, and I want to just assume that you were trying to

[00:15:15] be nice right then and be like, are you sure you're on the same page, Alec? Can we help you? But I think you're kind of being sideways about that. I was really just being, I was just really recollecting the past experiences. That's all. You were being, you were, you were being sideways. All right. Are we ready? Do we need to share, do I need to share the screen to see what award comes up or can I just tell y'all? We're good. You can just tell us. You're good. This doesn't, it's not that big a deal. Yeah. All right. Spinning and we're going to get our first award. It's like the Oscars of quick

[00:15:42] service. All right. The first award we are giving today is going to be international flavors. Hmm. Best international flavors. Now remember, if there is something on this list that you want to give a different award to, you may want to fight for it to not get the award for best international flavors. Does anybody have a nominee they would like to give out of the quick service

[00:16:06] options? I do. What immediately comes to mind for me for best international flavors is going to be Katsura Grill over in Morocco. That's something that isn't maybe not your everyday typical palette, right? But it's something that you can explore and enjoy while at Epcot. You meant Tangerine Cafe. Katsura is in Japan. Oh my gosh. Yes, I did. Yeah. No, but I'm glad you just said that. I'm glad you said that because when you said Katsura,

[00:16:34] we'll leave this as is because you meant Tangerine, right? Over in Morocco. I did mean Tangerine. I'm so sorry. They're listed right by each other. They're by each other. I'm the wrong one. Yeah. Yeah. I'm so I'm glad you said that because when you said Katsura, I was like, oh no, Tangerine Cafe. Yes. Tangerine Cafe is also what I was leaning towards. Stacey, did you have a strong opinion here? Because if not, let's just dive in and talk about why. No, I actually think that's a great way to spread these out is go ahead and do that. And I do agree.

[00:17:02] And even with it not being probably my my palate that we say that all the time on here. I would say that this is not going to be my favorite for myself. However, to have that unique, really international taste, that's exactly what this is. If you want something that's a little more on taking a step outside of the old American box, this is it. Yeah. I so I had a couple of places I wanted to put Tangerine, but as I was looking through the

[00:17:32] list and it was really this is one that was stressing me out because depending on there is another award and I'm going to talk about it when we get there. Then I was like, oh, I might want to give that to Tangerine Cafe. But I also thought it could fit well here. So I'm glad this came up first. I'm glad we all kind of agree. The reason I love it here is because this is, as you both said, Moroccan, you're getting garlic sauces and cucumber relishes and falafel or lamb and spices and curates. You know, this is a lot of boldness. It's a lot of things that,

[00:18:00] you know, you're not probably experiencing regularly where you live. Most of us, this is such a unique type of dining. I think it gets overlooked. And if you are somebody that is trying to enjoy the international flair of World Showcase, it's a great pick for international flavor. Yeah, I love that. I think that's a good choice. Yeah. Wow. Look at us. You can get the non bread with the dips. You can get the orange blossom saffron cake. Like where else can you

[00:18:27] get that? Right. Yeah. I'm thrilled. I'm thrilled. That's you guys, we all agree. First award out of the gate. We all agree. Perfect. Tangerine Cafe. Great for international flavor. Great for bold flavor. Great for different. I want to point out too, that as I'm pulling this up while it's flower and garden festival, and it does change a little bit there. Everything that's on the menu there that you can go get. We're looking at like $6.29, $5.29. Like it's kind of more in the snack realm, but it's good

[00:18:56] eats. I agree. You know, you said it changes and it can change with the festivals. And that's true with a lot of spots for Epcot. The thing I love the most is that even if the menu changes, you're not going to lack that, like I said, boldness, international flair. No matter what they sneak into the menu or change up, you're still getting what we're celebrating here. Yeah. Okay. Great. So we feel good about that. And we're going to go on with our second award here. And don't forget

[00:19:25] Tangerine Cafe is off the board. All right. You good? Spinning? It's not done. It's done. Yep. All right. You guys don't see it on my end. You can't hear it, can you? No. Because it goes, it goes real fast and then it goes slow, slow, slow, slow. And then it gets there. And that's why I put in fake, by the way, behind the scenes, a little secret behind the scenes. When you're hearing the little wheel turning, it's fake.

[00:19:48] Yeah. So, okay. We have meal that feels like a snack. Now remember not everything on our list needs something. And Stacey, you brought up a good point. Do you want to talk about this? What was my good point? So my question was, do we, I mean, my question was, do we want to change this category? So it's an interesting, it's interesting that if we're saying it's the best meal that feels like a snack, that's as if it's an award that this meal is small and feels like a snack.

[00:20:18] Yeah. To me, is that a little bit of a losing point? You know, like if you're, you're getting a meal, you just need to know that it's going to be a little smaller. So I don't know. It's, it's an interesting category. What tell me, you were the one who seemed to have the most clear how you wanted this to go. So what were you thinking? Explain that to me. Yeah. So you said what you, yeah, you just reiterated your point. And I said, so is it almost like the winner of this category is a loser? And then I said, no, this category is great. And

[00:20:45] here's why. If you are somebody that is, I need a meal, but I'm not that hungry. Or tonight we have dinner reservations at space 220 and I don't want to fill up, but I need something with more substance than a snack. So what is a quick service meal that could feel more like a snack? Fill me up and get me to that quality dinner reservation later at Epcot. Right. I think it is important to know, or you could look at this as the flip and you could say, okay, wait, that's going to be more like a snack.

[00:21:12] So I'm going to avoid that one. I do know which of these I would put in this category. I I'm between two. Can I nominate two? And then if you guys. Yeah. And I'm curious if they're the same two I'm thinking. Okay. Yeah, me too. All right. I'm going to nominate Lotus Blossom Cafe because I feel like fried rice, like walking around with the thing of fried rice can easily be snacky. Is rice a full meal? You can get other meals there though. That's where, where my drawback

[00:21:41] is. Like you can get full meals at the Lotus Blossom Cafe in the China Pavilion, but you could also just get some fried rice or an order of egg rolls and just move on about your day. And that's very snacky. And the only other one I was going to maybe nominate would be the Yorkshire Country Fish Shop because that feels more like a stand and they only have that option there. It's just the fish and chips. And while fish and chips is a full meal, the restaurant itself really does give snack stand

[00:22:07] with singular options more than anything else. Yeah. So I was considering the Yorkshire Fish Shop as well, even though it is very hearty. It's not that small. That's the only thing. It's really not that small. Yeah. The portion. The portion is a good size portion. It's a large piece of fish and it's French fries. And, but I do feel like it feels a little snack stand-ish because of the way that it's

[00:22:33] not an interior building. You know, you're, you're at an outdoor stand. It's more like a food truck, but a building, you know, like it's, it's right there, but it does have seating next to it. So it has a feel of a restaurant, but it's certainly a shareable. And pro tip, pro tip that you all taught me. Yes. Fireworks. It is. It really is a great place for that. Goodness gracious. I'm on an Epcot episode with Stacey and Allie. I'm outnumbered here, Eminem's. Yeah. So yeah, you are. I see, I see

[00:23:03] your point about, so let me preface this with, I don't like fish at all. I don't like fish. So I'm not somebody who's going to go order something from Yorkshire County Fish Shop. Okay. But I know that a lot of people love that. And I know that the portion is very generous, right? Yeah. So I struggled to put that in this category because it feels like a slight to how generous that portion is. I would actually feel more comfortable putting Lotus Blossom Cafe in this category. First of all,

[00:23:33] because of what you have pointed out, Allie, that you can, you know, walk around and eat rice and it's fine. But the other thing about Lotus Blossom Cafe, in my opinion, is it is like the okay-est place to eat around World Showcase. Like there are a lot better places that you can go get rice and a good meal. I can think of three immediately right now. And so Lotus Blossom Cafe is always kind of at the bottom of my list. That's why I'm hesitant to award it. We have seven awards for 10 restaurants.

[00:24:02] I'm like, do we give it one of the seven? I mean, it has, I'm pulling up menus as we go just to make sure I touch everything. And you know, they have full orange chicken combo, Mongolian beef and noodles, stir fry veggie noodle combo. They have big meals. I know. And so I'm, it's hard for me to, I mean, yes, I made the point to nominate it. And I said, yes, you can grab rice and carry it around World Showcase and snack. And I know Becky has talked about, I think it was Laker, one of her kids.

[00:24:32] That's what they love to do. And that's their preference in World Showcase. So that is a great, it really is a great snack option. It's filling and it's quick and it's portable. It's easy, I think, eat rice if you're holding the thing to yourself and you're walking. The fact that Yorkshire is just the snack standy thing with the one option to split and enjoy together. It's why it's pulling a little bit in the lead for me. Okay. I feel like that's fair. Okay. Yeah. We want to make sure you all know that's a great

[00:25:00] portion for what you're getting. Well, and that's why it's an award. Yeah. I think that you're right, Stacey. There you go. I think you answered your own question. That's why it's an award. It's an award because it kind of feels like a snack and it's a very shareable snack, but it's a huge portion for a snack, right? Yeah. And it can be a sit down meal if you want to do that during the fireworks. Yeah. It would make your fireworks experience like that much better. That's right. Okay. I feel pretty good about that. I think that was,

[00:25:27] we knew going in that was going to be kind of a difficult award to offer. And I feel like we kind of did a good job there. All right. I'm spinning again. Please give me five to 10 business seconds. Okay. It's still going. Just updating you. So I can totally make this sound legit when it's being played back. Or you can just leave my commentary. All right, here we go. This is a really tough one. Place to sit and eat. Now, I do know what I think I want to nominate.

[00:25:53] And I've been doing a lot of nominations. So I'd love to hear if you all have nominations. I do. Before you offer up your nominations, I would love to say Tangerine Cafe was the other thing I had as a contender here with the thing I'm actually going to nominate just because, and I want to make sure to mention this because I didn't want to spoil it earlier. So we didn't touch on it. But the tables down at Tangerine Cafe, there are tables in Morocco that are on the water that are really beautiful. So I just, you know, are you guys frozen? Okay. I thought you were really thinking

[00:26:22] about what I was saying. And it was just like so off in your mind. And I was like, you guys, really? You're that? You disagreed that much, but you were, you were friends. Yeah. I was like, dang. I'm like, well, let me hear what you had to say. I mean, Tangerine's kind of back and Spice Table Road. I don't consider those seats as part of Tangerine. No, you're right. I don't, I don't either. No, that's fair. I just, I was thinking Morocco as a place to sit, but you are right. Tangerine is back farther. What I would like to nominate for the best place to sit

[00:26:49] and eat category is Connections Eatery because they have plentiful tables and chairs. There are a lot of places around Disney world that if you are getting quick service, it's hard to find a table and you can always find a table in Connections Eatery. And that's not to say that it's not a busy place. There's still a lot of people there, but it's a very large venue that has tons of seating. So I think that's the best place to sit and eat. That was exactly mine as well. Look at us, Katie,

[00:27:17] you and I are agreeing. And I think that- But I'm bursting. No, no. Well, let me say my argument as well. I'm willing to hear you can sway me, but my argument is because we do, I mean, like this is a legitimate choice for us all the time. It's great for plugging in your phone to charge. There's, there's wall sockets around all the little seating. There is a bathroom within eye shot of a lot of the seats. So it's so good for us and

[00:27:45] our family. It's like, Hey, sit down and eat. And here, we're going to go run to the bathroom and watch my food. And you know, like it's just, it's so close and convenient and it's interior and it's very good food. I love that bistro burger so much. Like I really don't need to be recording this time of day and think about that bistro burger because now I want that for lunch. It's also a great place to time while you're waiting for your guardian's time to come up for your lightning lane that you've

[00:28:13] purchased. All right. Sit and hang out. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay. Wait here. You guys have to hear me out. I will. All right. You have willing, you have to hear me out. Okay. I have another award that I think connections deserves. So that's part of this. Okay. I don't the other. I absolutely, I absolutely do like 100%. And obviously I'm not going to give it away or talk about, but I do have something in mind that I would really love to discuss later with, for that one. I think of our list, the best

[00:28:39] place to sit and eat is actually the Regal Eagle smokehouse. And let me tell you why. Number one, there is interior and exterior seating and there's a lot of it. So if you need that breakout of the sun, there is interior. And if you want, hold on, not only other outdoor picnic tables right there on that huge terrace in the American pavilion, but they are directly situated across from the stage where the Garden Rock series is, where the Broadway performers are, where all of the shows that are

[00:29:07] coming to Epcot go, where Barbie was. And you can sit at these cooking tables and you can just hear this live music without having to go sit in the rows, without having to have a dining. There's also a bathroom within eyeshot right there. And it's right by character Allie. And there are all kinds of super unique characters that come there. You never know who you're going to get. It's kind of a mixed bag of characters in the wild. You see randos down there all the time. And I just think with the

[00:29:36] indoor outdoor component and the entertainment component and the bathroom, this is top notch for, I need to sit and eat something. So here's why you made this wonderful argument for indoor and outdoor seating. And here's why I think it's disqualified from that. Because Regal Eagle is the indoor seating portion. Fife and Drum is the outdoor seating portion. Yes, but that's fair. But a Disney expert would tell you that you can take your food from Regal Eagle

[00:30:05] and go sit on the Fife and Drum tables, which I've done and I'm sure you've done as well. And so it's kind of like a little protest. I haven't. It's like a little protest. I actually, I want to sit in the air conditioning. Well, the beautiful thing is that you have that option, right? Like you can sit indoor, you can sit outdoor, you can have the music, meet some cool characters. I just, and it's central. The other thing is it's, it's central to World Showcase. And so you probably are needing a bit of a break by the time you've gotten here. And- Like indoors in the air conditioning?

[00:30:34] Where? Yes. And that isn't, like I said, like I said, that is an option. Oh. So I'm going to say for, for my vote, you have not convinced me and I'm still going to say Connections Eatery is the best for this, but that's just me. I see. And here's where I would want to be like, let's cheat. And I want to hear what you, where you want it somewhere else. And that's, that's what's hard because otherwise I just- You can't cheat. I know. I, I still think it's Connections as well because I have had a hard time finding

[00:31:01] seating inside and not wanted to sit outside. I don't even know what you guys are going to put in the other category that I want. Well, I mean, that's where, I guess we're going to have some drama down the road, aren't we? I don't know. Guess so? All right. So we're going with best place to sit, even though you can get live entertainment. I do like that. That's a good argument. That is a good argument. We're going to go with the, we're going to go with the cafeteria. Is that what I hear? With the loud, noisy, claustrophobic cafeteria? I mean, to me, there's nothing-

[00:31:30] Yeah, that's, that's not it. That's, it's not a loud cafeteria. You, you drag things so hard and so unfairly. I mean, if I'm outnumbered, I'm outnumbered. I will happily give the, the award for Connections Eatery to sit. Okay. Okay. If we're going to say that outdoor seating is, is everywhere, then I'm going to say, well, at Connections Eatery, you can sit in that breezeway between there and Club Cool. And you can also take your food. Are there tables? There's benches. You can also take your food. Oh yes, that sounds great. Wait, that sounds great. No, no, no, no, no. Take my big old train to a bench. Hold the phone.

[00:31:59] How many, how many times have we all been together in Epcot and there's that little kind of courtyard area that's new, kind of like down below where Walt is. Right. And we've all said, oh, this is such a cool place. It would be great if we sat here and just like took a break. And I've done that with Carla before we've just sat there and kind of vibe for a little bit. Okay. But here's the thing. That's not by, that's not even that close to Connections. We're not saying you could take your food. Just as close. No. Just as close as the table. I disagree with that argument. Yes.

[00:32:28] It's literally right outside the door. No. No. It's right outside the door. That feels like a separate area. Whereas these outdoor tables that are directly across from the stage. Starbucks in between even. Like that's not even. Yeah. Starbucks is in the same building as the cafeteria. Which is also why it's so loud and so crowded. But yeah. Restful. Sure. Just from experience. It is my personal favorite place to sit for a while. Okay.

[00:32:55] But when you guys get to this award later, you're going to be like, Allie, I'm so sorry. I feel great about this. I said, show me your paper. I can't. Show me your paper. No. I can't. I mean. You can't be cheating. And you don't. So. I can't. I'm not going to. Sorry. I mean, I may be like, oh, darn. We made a mistake. You should have told me. And you didn't. That's fine. I feel great about this. M&M's hear it now. And that's fine. We're giving the award. So the award for best place to sit and eat is going to Connections Eatery.

[00:33:22] It's a large indoor space with bathroom access and outlet access. If you get a table near a wall, it is very close to Guardians. That side of the park where Mission Spaces. So you're going to have quick access to your lightning lane. It actually is where we stop and go to the bathroom a lot before that lightning lane. Because the process to ride Guardians can be quite long with the pre-shows. So line it up with that. And if that's your choice, that's great. It got an award from the Moms Behind the Magic podcast.

[00:33:51] I would just personally love to be on the record for saying I think that a better place to sit and eat would be over in America. Halfway through World Showcase. Live entertainment. But that's all right. That's neither here nor there. Let's see what our next award category is. All right. The next one we are giving is difficult. This is where this whole episode is getting. Because in my mind, I have all these awards laid out, right? Like I know where I want them. But I'm so curious what you guys are going to say.

[00:34:20] The next award we are giving is best overall quick service meal. This is a real, real tough one. Is this where you wanted Connections? It is not where I wanted Connections. No. I was afraid that this is also where you wanted Connections. No. So it's not where I wanted Connections. But does anybody have a nominee that they would love to bring forward? I do have one. Almost all of them. I know. I know. I'm torn between two. My assumption is you might be on the same page as me. I don't know.

[00:34:47] But it's definitely got to be La Cantina de San Agal in Mexico. It is the best. It's got the best food. It's so yummy. It has a great location where it's kind of centralized to the whole park, which is a little difficult to say. I mean, there's nothing that's truly a centralized. It is more on the, obviously, the World Showcase side. But it's in the side of World Showcase that's closest to the rest of the park. And it's just festive and fun.

[00:35:16] And it's on the water. It's a nice spot. It's negative. Or it is sometimes difficult to find a place to sit there. But overall, who doesn't want to go there? I think you can ask anybody for quick service. And you say, hey, let's go eat in Mexico. And everybody's like, yes, let's go. Yep. Yep. I'm in. I love La Cantina. It is my personal. I want to say this for sure before we talk about anything else. It is my personal favorite quick service meal in Epcot. If I am eating and Stacey, you're like, let's go eat there.

[00:35:46] I'm like, yep, let's go. So good indoor outdoor seating. Sort of. Sort of. Okay. The outdoor seating is breezy. And great view of the water. It's a great place to rest and get shade. It's not like air conditioned under there, right? But it is breezy. And we have been able to pull tables up together. And we've eaten here together multiple, multiple times. I think the food is very good. Here's my dilemma. And because I like to have strategy, it is my favorite.

[00:36:14] But would I crown it overall best? Maybe. Maybe. I'm not sure. There's another category I would put this in. There is a category I would put this in. The other restaurant on our list, and let me just, for M&M's following along, the ones that do not have an award yet are Sunshine Seasons, La Cantina de San Angel, Lotus Blossom Cafe, Summerfest, Regal Eagle Smokehouse, Ketsura Grill, and Layal.

[00:36:40] The other restaurant I'm going to pull forward as a nominee for best overall quick service out of those is going to be Layal. And the reason is because I think it is a little bit more broadly friendly. It has more options, whereas like with La Cantina, it is a little bit isolating too. You have to like Mexican food, right? Whereas this one has sandwiches, pastries, ice cream things. It has a very large variety.

[00:37:09] The menu is extensive. And you can get sweet or savory. You know, everybody loves a whole meal that's sweet at Disney. That's like, where else are you eating like a chocolate croissant and calling it lunch, right? This restaurant could have even gone in the feels like a snack category, I guess. That actually was my second one. I thought one of y'all were going to say. Yeah, it actually could have. Yeah. I like Layal better in a different category, being someone who goes often and I don't want to elaborate further.

[00:37:34] But I feel like it fits better in another category, but I also think it could just as well be overall best because my family loves Layal. My kids were begging me to go to Layal last time and I was like, guys, we actually made reservations today. Yeah, I will say this. I have another category I like for Layal as well. And because La Cantina is my personal favorite by a lot. Like I personally like La Cantina more than Layal and especially for a meal.

[00:37:59] So I am 100% in, I am in to put La Cantina in best overall quick service. I just wanted to make sure to fight the other side because, you know, everybody knows I love to fight my side. I also like to fight the other side and know that not everybody does love Mexican food and things like that. But if you do, and I think majority of people do, this is a great spot. Here's what I'll say to my kids. Like I don't make tacos at home. We don't have burrito night. Like I love that. But my kids don't really go out of their way for that.

[00:38:26] But at La Cantina de Senegal, they want that. They want to go. They want to get rice. They want to get queso. They want chips. They like the empanadas. I am better at introducing them to Mexican food in the Epcot Pavilion than anywhere else because they like it there. Yeah. Okay. So are we good to put it there? I feel like it's safe. I feel like Mexican food is so widely enjoyed that it is safe. Even though I know it's obviously not every single person is going to say they like Mexican food.

[00:38:56] I think it's safe for us to say it's the best overall. Even knowing there will be some people who there's not going to be any place every single 100% of people are going to like. I think a lot of people are going to like this. It's safe. Okay. I feel good about that. I feel okay with this too. I just I wanted to put a disclaimer in but I didn't want to seem like it was just too biased. Like we all love it so we call it the best. Like I want to make sure we're checking the boxes and it really is the best for other reasons other than we just all like it the most.

[00:39:23] Um, but I think as long as we feel good about that, then I feel really great about it. We have three awards left to give. And what does that mean? One, two, three, four, five, six. Yeah. Six restaurants left. Three awards and six restaurants. All right. Here we go. The wheel is spinning. All right. The next award we are going to be giving out is meal worth the weight. Perfect. I know. Yeah.

[00:39:49] I so and I think we are in agreeance here, Katie, if you want to go with your argument first, because I know this is your jam. But this is the other. I think we're agreeing. We are in agreement. Yes, we're in agreement. And I agree. Did I say agree? Did I not? Did I say agree? You did say agree. Agreement. Agreement. Agreement. Stacey and I are both chuckling at that. Yeah. I think this is actually the best one for lay all.

[00:40:10] So what I find is my family almost always wants lay all, whether we're just picking up macarons or we're getting croissants with the ham and the cheese, right? Like no matter, however we're doing it, we're almost always at lay all. So I find myself waiting in that line for the boulangerie there. And oftentimes that line is outside the building. Yeah. It is outside the building. Hear me now. That feels like a long line. You're probably going to wait like 15 minutes.

[00:40:39] It really goes faster than you imagine because they have two checkouts and they're constantly moving people through. They're really pretty quick about it. So even if the line is long, I don't want you to feel like, ah, crap, we can't do it because the line's long. If you hang tight the way that we do it, our strategy, I usually stand in line and order the food. And my husband, Matt, takes our girls over to the kid cot section there where they can color on the postcards and they're entertained while I'm ordering the food. I think this is the one that's worth the wait.

[00:41:09] It always does have a long wait. You're not going to walk up any time of day that it doesn't have a line, but the food that you're getting is really good food, high quality food, going to please the whole family no matter what you order. It's good eats. So I'm going to say that this is the meal worth the wait in my opinion. Yeah. And before I say anything, Stacey, do you have another meal you want to nominate or pull forward? No, I think this is the right answer for this one as well. It's such a laid out version of things you kind of walk by and see.

[00:41:38] And I think that's what makes it slow for people a little bit is people, there's a lot to look at as you're going through the line and it slows some people down. But that's not necessarily them ordering. It just makes the line not move. Yeah. If that makes sense. So you're going through it. It's totally worth it. It's totally worth it because it is a huge selection of food, delicious food. And yeah, let's award it. Yeah. Do you disagree any, Allie? No, I don't disagree at all. I don't disagree at all. I'm very in on lay all. This is the other category. I was comfortable with it.

[00:42:07] And the line is going to be out the door. That is what is true. And I think it would be worth it. And like I said, in my previous conversation about it, you're going to hit the sweet or the savory, whichever one is kind of best for your family. And there are snacky things. So this actually could have fallen in so many categories, which is why I was considering it for best overall. But I like it for worth the wait. All right. Two awards remain. This is it. Final two. All right. And the award we are giving next is best value.

[00:42:38] Best value is interesting because you can really look at it from multiple points of view. Yeah. This one's going to be a little tougher. Interesting. I'm going to nominate one. I don't really like this restaurant, which is interesting about these awards. But I did do a little bit of comparing and the types of food that are currently offered here and the offerings here do change. But as the menu looks today, the offerings that are here, you can find at other quick service spots, but they look less expensive here. Interesting.

[00:43:07] And I can't say that I think that the quality is going to be like way different. I mean, maybe, maybe, but maybe not. For that reason, I would like to pull forward and nominate Sunshine Seasons. I kind of feel like it's a catch all of different flavors and different spots that you can find in World Showcase specifically. And you can get them for maybe a dollar or so cheaper. And so you're going to get a better value for a meal that you may be able to get elsewhere. That's crazy if the prices are different. That's interesting.

[00:43:35] Well, like just for example, I was looking at there's a Mongolian beef and rice dish and it Lotus Blossom right now. It's pricing close to $15. And at Sunshine Seasons, it's in the 13 range. So I mean, it's a huge savings. But if you're looking for any type of value, it might be worth price comparing. Yeah, that's interesting. Okay. Yeah. This is not my favorite place. It is a very suitable place. It is a suitable if you're hungry when you're there.

[00:44:02] You know, that's, that's what I, we don't ever really take a trip there to get it because I think I've mentioned this on an episode at some place. You can't take strollers in. So for little kids, it can be a little hard to keep your kids wrangled, like sit here and stay here when you can't strap them into a stroller. So that's been one thing we've kind of avoided it at times, but there is a huge variety for sure. And, you know, I mean, I feel like it's, it's a good option. It is a really suitable, good option.

[00:44:32] And I feel like a value award is a suitable and good award. So they go together. Yeah. I hear what you're saying about Sunshine Seasons. And I want to go on the record saying I actually kind of do sometimes go out of my way for Sunshine Seasons because I, I like the offerings there. They do change them out seasonally. So you're not like always going for, you know, the same thing. But this past weekend, we did have the Mongolian beef. It was delicious. And my kids had like flatbread pizzas. And I mean, huge portions and everything there as well.

[00:45:02] So I do think it is worthy for the value category. The bee in my bonnet about Sunshine Seasons is that like, if I look it up right now, it says it's open from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. I have within the last two years, I have scarcely seen Sunshine Seasons open past like 4, 435. Oh, wow. Like it closes way too early in my opinion.

[00:45:27] So a lot of times, like if you prioritize in your day, we're going to go around World Showcase first. And then we're going to explore the front of the park towards the end of the day. You may get here and it may not be open. Or what they have might be like the prepackaged like tray of cheese or like an Uncrustable, right? So my whole beef with Sunshine Seasons is the hours, basically. Which is why I'm almost keen to punish it for that reason.

[00:45:55] Well, and I'll be honest, in fairness, when you look at the menu, it only listed as breakfast, lunch and snack. So it may be that after their lunch hours, they're not serving their hot food anymore and it's only snacks available. So that could be even why it's officially open. Whereas like there's a cashier there to take your money. It says that lunch is from 1030 to 4. So and there is no dinner option. So it has from 4 to 8, it says it's open for snacks.

[00:46:23] I just have a little bit of a hard time not giving it an award for value. And again, I don't even like this restaurant that much. But I have a hard time not giving it an award for value based on its hours. Because like we're giving awards for singular factors. Like these are not awards that are all encompassing. But can I pitch what I think is actually a better choice for value? Of course. A better choice for value is actually Regal Eagle Smokehouse. Because the portions of the meal that you get are huge.

[00:46:51] My kids pig out on the macaroni and cheese, the watermelon. My husband and I are always happy to go get barbecue, right? They have corn, right? They have something that makes everybody happy there. And the portions are so good there. And I actually feel if we're thinking about what categories are left and which ones deserve an award

[00:47:13] and which ones deserve an honorable mention, we would be very amiss not to award Regal Eagle Smokehouse with an award. And I think this is actually the perfect one for it is the value. I already tried. I already tried to give this an award. And I could easily be swayed because it was my other option in my head as well as Regal Eagle. Because it does feel, to me, it feels big, hearty meal. Barbecue is a great, filling, value-friendly meal.

[00:47:42] And so I can easily be swayed this time. It's expensive though, you guys. I mean, the barbecue platter is $18.50 almost. The burger is nearly $16. The brisket. I mean, everything here. I want you to think about this in terms of dining credits. If you were using a quick service credit for that meal, that's a fantastic use of a quick service credit. Okay, so that's a great point, actually. So are we looking at this as value for the dining plan or value for your wallet? Both are true. You know, both are value. Either way.

[00:48:12] Well, not either way. I mean, value for your dining credit, Regal Eagle, actually, you know, that barbecue platter is a huge value. I mean, a $20 quick service meal on a quick service credit for the dining plan is actually besting the dining plan in a really great way. So I can see it for value there for sure. But out of pocket, this is, it can be on the more expensive side. If you were doing it out of pocket, you could easily share that platter, even though it's an $18 platter.

[00:48:39] But that's how big the portion of it is, right? Yeah. All of these stack up to best value. No, I don't disagree with you. I nominated Sunshine Seasons. I don't feel as passionately between these two. I can see the argument for both. I don't feel as passionately here as I did on some other ones. But I am, I'm okay to pull this forward as the value winner. Especially if we look at it from the use of the dining credit. That's a great new point, yeah.

[00:49:06] I am a big supporter of the dining plan. I personally like the prepaideness. Is that a word? And I also like the, I also like trying to best it. You know, when we're together and I'm looking, this is something I would do. I would say, hold on, I've got a quick service credit. Let me get this $20 platter. You know? And so that, I'm all about scouting the value for that. So I can see a very good argument for this. For sure. Yeah. All right. So we're going to give it to Regal Eagle for best value.

[00:49:36] Yeah, I'm great with that. Yeah, I'm great with that. All right. So that leaves one final category. And I cannot wait to see what you all want to put here. Yeah. In best fresh food, instead of Connections Eatery, where you can get some of the most delicious salads and healthy food options that you can find in literally any quick service restaurant across any park. Please tell me which of these has better fresh food than Connections Eatery.

[00:50:03] Because we are left now with Sunshine Seasons, Summerfest over in Germany, Lotus Blossom Cafe in China, or Ketsura Grill in Japan. I only think that Connections Eatery is by far the freshest of those options. Like, not even an argument. So then this is not my argument to fight. You all tell me. You guys. I think this is a great one for Sunshine Seasons. They've got salads too.

[00:50:30] They've also got things that you can grab your fruits and stuff and your snack options later in the day. And it's got stir fry. Stir fry has to be made right then and there. It's fresh, hot. Right off the griddle. I do think Sunshine Seasons is a good one for fresh food. I mean, it's literally in the land pavilion. Okay. Right. So we're going to give fresh food to pepperoni flatbreads. I was not finished. I think that it could be a good option.

[00:50:57] But I actually think that Ketsura Grill could be a good option for this as well. There's a lot of vegetables and stuff. You're going to go, you're going to get the noodle bowls. Like, that feels to me like a really good fit for fresh food. Yeah. But I'm willing to hear your thoughts. No. I mean, my thoughts are that Connections is the freshest of them all. Well, you can't pick it and you can't cheat, Allie Thomas. M&M's, Allie is so salty about this. Can you taste the salt?

[00:51:26] That's, well, you would taste less salt at Connections where the food is fresher. Cheese and rice. Cheese and rice. But on this list, I mean, Sunshine Seasons does have grab-and-go salads and wraps and like a caprese. Like, there are some healthier, fresher options. And like Katie said, it is literally in the land pavilion. So, I mean, I'm looking at edamame, garden salad, miso soup. Those are some of the offerings at Ketsura. Ketsura.

[00:51:53] I just think that Ketsura is a very isolating menu. I don't know that you're going to find the majority of your family is happy there. You think that noodles is an isolating menu? I know. I know that noodles are an isolating menu. And I'll tell you why. I went to hibachi with my family on Monday night. Sorry, Sunday night. And we were all so excited. We love when we go out for hibachi. And my son ate great. You know what he ate? Scrambled eggs that they make for the rice. They scrambled them on the hibachi grill.

[00:52:22] And I got him just some plain noodles with like a little bit of the sauce and no veggies in it, no meat in it, just a plate of noodles because he loves noodles. And he was, I don't want to embarrass him, but he did not love them. Okay. So, yes. I think a lot of mothers of picky eaters and evidence listening would agree with you that noodles can absolutely, if they are the wrong shape with the wrong sauce. Yes. Okay. I hear you on that. But I also want to point out that in a prior episode, you said your kids won't eat grilled cheese either. So they won't.

[00:52:52] They literally will not. That's very kid friendly. My kids can be picky eaters. We, I mean, we door dash way more often than we should. I fully admit it. But my kids literally go out of their way for the noodles. They're like, yeah, let's do it. And my kids love veggies too. It's, I am lucky that my, my kids like these foods, I guess. But I don't know. I mean, I'm good with either one. Really? You could, you could give me either one.

[00:53:19] I'm more inclined here to pick Sunshine Seasons mostly because it's in the land pavilion and it has such a vast menu that includes multiple healthy options. And I get it like the veggies and things like that. I get it. But I think Sunshine Seasons is the appropriate answer here. Okay. What do you think, Stace? Yeah, that's, that's where I would go as well. If you have someone who's like, oh, I need to eat fresh and have a light meal, you know, they're dieting or whatever. This is the, this is your route. They're definitely, they're definitely going to Connections. Not necessarily.

[00:53:50] No. Sunshine Seasons is a good option. It is. It is. It's a fine option. I don't love the menu and Connections eatery. I feel like it's not great. I actually think this shook out pretty well. These awards were really fun. I love doing this and I actually want to do this for every single park. I believe that we will. And it's, it is really fun to duke it out. And I know that I like to argue my points. Ha ha. Everybody knows it. But I actually do think that this shook out really well. Before we talk about the winners here, let's talk about the losers.

[00:54:20] The nominees that didn't win. They're not losers. They're not winners either. They just didn't. They're honorable mentions. They're just honorable mentions. They're honorable mentions. They don't have a, they don't have a trophy. They're getting in a participation trophy. They're not losers. For any, for any M&Ms out there today looking for it and tracking it, the magic word will be trophy because apparently everybody got one. Shots fired. Shots fired. Okay. The participation award trophies go to Lotus Blossom Cafe, which we actually discussed quite a bit here.

[00:54:50] Katie called it the okayest. We talked about it potentially being in the running for a meal that kind of double as a snack. And we kind of talked about it in another category as well. Which one was that? Value maybe? I don't know. Was it value? I don't know. But it's good. I don't remember. I don't remember, but it came up a few times. I like it. I'm kind of with Katie here. I think it's just okay. Only the biggest problem with me is that it's right after when you're walking, it's right after Mexico and I've already eaten in Mexico. Nobody's stopping there. Yeah. Nobody. Yeah. Nobody's stopping there.

[00:55:19] It really is dirty for the China pavilion because everybody is stopping eating and drinking in Mexico. Then you're blowing through Norway and going to frozen. And then, yeah, you're probably not stopping again to eat in China. So it didn't get an award today. Summerfest, we didn't even touch on at all. Which is a travesty, really. Well, you say why you think that. Because I think it's okay. So Summerfest is like, you're going to walk up and you're going to get a bratwurst, right? So, I mean, I'm a yinzer.

[00:55:47] I grew up in a region where German foods and Polish foods were the staples of what we ate every day. So Summerfest and beer garden there in the Germany pavilion feel very at home for me, right? I love the foods there. That said, I feel like maybe because of its positioning around World Showcase, I don't stop there as often as I would like to. But I feel like it's worth its honorable mention, for sure. I think it's worth an honorable mention as well. I'm glad it's on here. But I do think it's a forgettable pass through.

[00:56:18] I don't think it was worthy of an award today. Ugh. Sean's fired. Sorry. I just don't. Okay, we're going to review our awards unless... Oh, and Katsura... Sorry, did we say all? Sorry. Also got an honorable mention. No. Yeah, Katsura. But, you know, we talked a lot about Katsura. And I think it's a great... Here's the thing about Epcot and the reason we did it like this to only talk about some and to only award seven is because there are so many. You could say so many good things about all of them.

[00:56:44] If you're offended because the Japanese menu is much more in your palate than anything else, like, please don't be. We support you. I think it's great, delicious, and a wonderful option. I just don't think it prevails above any of these in any of our award categories. So that's kind of where I'm at with all the food in Epcot is you can find something great anywhere, but it doesn't mean that it's award worthy. You know, my favorite thing is about Katsura Grill. What's that? The little outdoor seating. I love it right there. It's really pretty. It's so pretty there. Yeah. And, you know, I've never done...

[00:57:13] I've never really taken the time to sit there. Yeah, I really haven't. So... It's nice. Go get your violet sake and your udon noodles and just relax. For the record, my son may not like noodles, but that is a yes for me every dang time. Yeah. All right. We're going to take a quick break. Head to our Friend Like Me segment, and you're going to scroll your phone. I know you're already scrolling, probably, unless you're listening while you're driving, in which case you better not be scrolling, and you better go back to this segment to make sure that you don't miss out on following anybody or joining anyone's community where you

[00:57:42] may find common interest, common ground. A place you want to hang out online is all that I think most of us are seeking when we're online. We follow people that are interesting. We join communities where the conversation is something we want to add to. And that's what these next ladies in our segment are going to be offering. So find somebody you connect with, follow and join, and then find us on the other side for an awards recap and a lightning lane. M&Ms, if you are from Canada, we have a group for you on Facebook.

[00:58:09] You have to join our friend Kim at Canadians Talk Disney World Vacations. They talk about things that maybe people here in the States don't have to think about, like exchange rates and how to fly from Canadian airports or make that decision to drive across the border. This is not a generic Disney group. It's a Canadian sharing real life experience group from flight routes to travel hacks and more. You can make the trip to Disney World happen from Canada. And Kim and her group, Canadians Talk Disney World Vacations, can make it happen. You can join by clicking the link in today's show notes.

[00:58:39] Calling all Oklahoma moms. If you live in or near Oklahoma, join our friend Lindsay with her group, Oklahoma Moms Planning Disney on Facebook. Lindsay is a mom of three kiddos, but she gets to Florida five times a year or more. She's experienced in finding the sweet spot for air travel, navigating which airlines and nearby airports right in Oklahoma might be best for your family. She knows kids and she knows travel from this state. If you want to get advice from other Oklahoma moms, then Lindsay's group, Oklahoma Moms Planning

[00:59:09] Disney is for you. Join Lindsay at Oklahoma Moms Planning Disney on Facebook. Calling all adults for this next Instagram follow, Be The Magic Travels with Brie on Instagram. She is highlighting adult only travel to Disney, Universal, cruising from adult trips to companion trips, highlighting all of the best adult beverages, bars, lounges, and hidden secrets that adults may not know are available at these kid-forward travel destinations.

[00:59:38] Traveling as adults to these destinations is not only worth it, but can be exceptionally fun. That's at BeTheMagic Travels with Brie on Instagram. All right, our awards recap. Connections Eatery earned the award for best place to sit and eat. We debated it. You can decide who you thought won. You can let us know in our Facebook community. Here's the thing. It is a great place to sit. It is cool in there with lots to offer. I think we've all made good arguments.

[01:00:08] I think it's okay that it earned this award. Sunshine Seasons, then that meant, took the Fresh Food Award. It does have a vast menu. It's not my favorite place to eat by far. But if you are looking for a healthier option, you definitely are going to be able to find it here in the Land Pavilion. La Cantina de San Angol earned the title of Best Overall Quick Service, which I loved because it is all of our favorite. And we did come up with enough arguments that it won Best Overall for not just being our favorite, but for multiple reasons.

[01:00:35] Regal Eagle Smokehouse took home the award for best value based on how you could use a dining credit to your best advantage by eating here or using the large portions to split with other members of your party, which I have done. Tangerine Cafe earned Best International Flavors for its uniqueness and boldness and flair. Layal Boulangeret Petisserie earned Meal Worth the Wait. That line is going to be out the door and you're going to want to turn and run the other direction, but we are going to recommend that you don't do that.

[01:01:03] You stop and you wait in that line and get something great from Layal. And then Yorkshire County Fish Shop earned the award for Meal That Feels Like a Snack, not because it's not going to be big. It's absolutely shareable with a large portion size, but it does give snack cart or food truck vibes with the quickness, the location, and it's a great little munchie to share with others. Honorable mentions that did not earn an award. Going to Lotus Blossom Cafe, the okayest of them all.

[01:01:33] Summerfest, which, you know, Katie has an affinity for based on her childhood, but is very passable to me. And Katsura Grill, which we all agree is delicious and we love it. And it's a wonderful option, but maybe just couldn't edge out any of the awards. What is it, Katie? I was just going to point out that you say that Summerfest is from my childhood. There's an entire region of people in Western Pennsylvania who will agree with me. All right.

[01:01:59] So the moral of the story is you're going to eat well in Epcot, no matter which of these you choose. Hopefully these awards offer some insight as to where you want to place your attention when it comes to eating, what you're looking for, and what's going to be the best option in those thought categories. But there are about 100 locations we didn't discuss today. So make sure you're joining us in our Facebook community so that you can learn about all of the options, ask questions surrounding these options, and never miss out on an option that

[01:02:26] might be the actual best for your family because no two families, of course, are the same. Lightning Lane is going to go Stacey, then Katie. All right, here we go. These are all dining related in Epcot. Where are you going if you came in the front gate and you're looking for breakfast? I will be headed to Sunshine Seasons? Yeah, they're the only one that we mentioned today that offers breakfast. Yeah, breakfast can be tough in the parks, which we've talked about. There's a Starbucks there. You know what you could do? You could make a reservation for Garden Grill.

[01:02:57] That's actually what I was going to comment on. Yeah, honestly, that's what I do. Oh, good. That's smart. Yeah, I know. It's a great option. Or Akershu, which is a great value for your dining plan and princesses. So yeah. But quick service, it's going to be sunshine. Yeah. But make a table service is actually our answer. You have 20 minutes to grab lunch. Where are you going? A 20 minute stop is going to be at, I might do Lotus for 20 minutes. That's a quick lunch. No, it's going to be Mexican. I'm going to go to San Aguil. La Cantina.

[01:03:26] Yeah, I think I would also go to La Cantina de San Aguil. I think that's probably the best option for, hey, I need a quick meal. And a lot of the reason for that is its position in the park. It's very central. Yeah, exactly. You know what my answer is? If I'm in a hurry and I have 20 minutes, wherever I'm standing. Because all of the food and anywhere you turn is going to be something good. So honestly, if you have 20 minutes, you're not going to sweat it. You're going to turn around and grab whatever is right there. And it's going to be great. Yep.

[01:03:54] What are you grabbing if you're waiting for a show in the US Pavilion? Definitely Regal Eagle Bend. It's delicious. It's a great option. And I do think your argument for if you want to sit and eat and not actually go into the show and want to listen to it. But it's amazing how well you can listen to the show from there. It's like if you have an outdoor concert venue in your city, like we have an outdoor amphitheater and there's lawn seating. I think most cities have that, right? It's like you're basically in the lawn seating.

[01:04:21] Where I find myself, like if we're waiting for a show in the American Pavilion. And by that, I mean waiting for the show in the building because my kids like it. If I'm waiting for a show, we're usually grabbing funnel cakes. And my kids lately are really into the khaki gori. That's right beside it in Japan. That's what I'm grabbing. Okay. Interesting. Where are you going if you want to share a meal and you're a parent and a child? See, that's Regal Eagle. Yeah. And both of my girls love barbecue.

[01:04:51] My son probably wouldn't, but my daughters would both split this with me and we would house it. Yeah. I mean, and I think La Cantina as well is just as good because you can get your little nachos or you can to share with kid and empanadas. I mean, it's, oh, it's yummy. Yeah. I got to go eat lunch guys. I'm starving. I'm like literally growling. It's crazy. Yes. Okay. We're almost, we're almost through something that leaves you full for hours. That's La Cantina. Sure can. It sure can. But so can Regal Eagle for sure.

[01:05:20] So can that Burger Connections. Sunshine Seasons too. All of these are such good options. I mean, you can get something really big and filling at most places. That's fair. Okay. And you entered the international gate and you are hungry. Lay all baby. If I'm back there, I'm going to get the fish. Oh yeah. I love when I'm finally in that area. I'm like, oh yeah. Fish time. You'll never catch me getting the fish, but I am happy to go over to lay all. I love lay all. Well, you know, I'll get fish and you know who I'm going to go sit and listen to when I'm over there.

[01:05:50] Right. Command performance. Yes. Command performance. Commandments. Ooh, you know, actually more than lay all. You know what I would actually get if I entered the international gate and I was hungry. I would go to the creperie in France. I love, I love a crepe and you can get sweet or savory. There's a window. Oh my gosh. I would definitely go to the crepe. Stacey making a face. You like crepe? Yeah. I was, I know they're very popular.

[01:06:18] I was, it took me a long time to try them and I was not impressed, but I think it's the buckwheat. You know, they're like, it's not really a crepe. It's a galette. And it's, it's that buckwheat. And I was like, I don't think I like this. I don't think I like this. Now they were the savory. I have not tried the sweets back there, but I'm just not a big sweets person. And certainly not. If I'm like wanting a meal, if I'm wanting a meal, I need protein. Yes. No sugar. You can get protein in it. Yeah. But that's what I didn't like. Oh, okay. All right. That's fair. I think we did a great job. I can't wait to do this for every park.

[01:06:47] I feel really good about it. And I'm just going to remind you to join us in our Facebook community at Moms Behind the Magic Podcast and make sure you have your automatic downloads turned on so that you're never missing any pointers that you need to successfully plan your trips so that you can spend your Tuesdays with us so you can contribute to the conversations happening in our Facebook community. We want it all. We love connecting with you, M&Ms. And that's going to do it for us on another episode of the Moms Behind the Magic Podcast. And until next time, we're sending you tons of fun, love, and joy.

[01:07:16] We'll see you real soon. I bit my tongue as I was doing that so that everything felt numb. I really pulled those out of my ass. Why is Ketsura not clickable? Are you having trouble with clickable? We do call it that still, right? I didn't forget something, right? Okay. And Stacey is flagging me down. So I've either done something terribly wrong or she wants to add something. So what is it, Stacey? It just dawned on me. I was like, something did not sound right every time we said Yorkshire. It is not supposed to say country fish shop. It's county.

[01:07:46] I just said at the beginning of the episode, I said county and then our outline says country. So I changed it. That's right. I know. And I remember stumbling over it when I was doing it. And I was like, why am I stumbling over it? Because it's not supposed to say country. So I'm going to place it and we'll put this in the bloopers because I'm going to try to plug in where we say Yorkshire County fish shop. The Yorkshire County fish shop. The Yorkshire County fish shop. I'm going to try taking this and plugging it in where I said it right before because it was wrong. My turn then.

[01:08:16] Yorkshire. Yeah. Yorkshire County fish shop. Yorkshire County fish shop. Yorkshire County fish shop. Yorkshire County fish shop. All right. There you go. There's a fun little tag for you. I think you need to say, I think you just need to leave that in. She actually said County when she did it. I, I, I read, I read in the app that it was County. And so I changed it here. I think you should just leave all this in. I think that's quite entertaining. I think M&Ms are going to love it.

[01:08:41] But also this is coming from a woman who eats chili on her spaghetti and calls that good eats. So cinnamon spaghetti. I honestly cannot. I honestly can't believe they don't serve this. Oh my gosh. Oh, good. I need to just pop a skyline right up in Epcot. That'd be great. Skyline chili. Just FYI. You are discussed behind the scenes with our podcast. All the time. Literally all the time. If you would like to sponsor us. Yeah. Like I just. I might, I might even eat it if it. Yeah.

[01:09:11] If you sponsor us. Yeah. Yeah. Let's sponsor. Sponsor. Goodness gracious. You Romantic brothers. Come save me. Skip, skip everything in eat skyline. That's going to do it for us. On and up and up. Unh. Let's take together. Bye. Thank you.