Drinking Through Disney: Hollywood Studios Edition
In our last installment of Drinking Through Disney, we stopped in one of the countries of Epcot's World Showcase. This week, we head to a park that has almost become an afterthought in Hollywood Studios.
A lot of attractions closed since we were last here. No more Phineas & Ferb. The Lights! Motors! Action! Extreme Stunt Show is gone. The Honey, I Shrunk The Kids Playground disappeared, too. There was maintenance going on in other portions of the park, too. Thank goodness for the resurgence of Star Wars!
I'm not sure what it is about this typeface, but it always makes me want to drink something old-school.
That being said, there is still something about this park that is still fun for us. The Star Wars attractions are a lot of fun and Indiana Jones is still prominent. We also always make sure we get ourselves to Toy Story Midway Mania, the most fun shoot-'em-up moving arcade game ever. I also love the art deco classic movie fonts on signs throughout the park...it makes me feel like I should be having a six-Martini lunch. So before heading off to Jedi training with the little ones, what better place to stop than the Hollywood Brown Derby?
The Brown Derby's elegant, classic look with movie star caricatures hung all over the walls is the sort of place where The Greatest Wife In The World and I wondered if we should be eating here with three young children. After remembering that it is Disney World and that kids are everywhere, of course it's fine to have a fancy lunch...and booze, to boot!
A very cool place to grab a bite to eat in Hollywood Studios. It's as if you stepped back in time.
With this being Flight School and all, The Greatest Wife In The World and I each chose to go with a flight of wines. The two we requested had to be edited as the restaurant was in the midst of changing over some wines in their inventory. She went with the Sparkling Wine flight (I am not calling it a "Champagne flight" for reasons I have outlined in the past), while I went with the Belle of Hollywood Pinot Noir flight. With Taittinger Champagne and Belle Glos Clark & Telephone Vineyard no longer in the inventory, they were replaced with Moët & Chandon Brut Impérial and Skywalker Marin County Pinot Noir. No complaints from us.
The Cabernet flight was intriguing, but with duck breast and duck confit on my plate, the Pinot Noir flight was going to be a better food and wine experience.
To sum up the flight experiences on the wines' own merits, let's start with the Pinot Noir. Las Alturas was the lightest and freshest of the group. Skywalker was deep and earthy in comparison to Las Alturas. Dairyman had the deep, dark fruit of the Skywalker, but with additional layers of complexity that I was having a difficult time pinpointing. Once my duck with farro risotto came out, Las Alturas became very fruity with the duck breast and the risotto. Skywalker tasted outstanding with the duck leg confit. A whole range of baking spices (cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, cardamom) came out in the Dairyman with the duck breast.
The Belle of Hollywood Pinot Noir flight. From left to right: Belle Glos Las Alturas Vineyard, Skywalker, and Belle Glos Dairyman Vineyard.
As for the sparkling wine flight, Iron Horse has always been reliable with sparkling wines coming from the cool pocket of the Russian River Valley known as Green Valley. The Celebration Cuvée is fresh, vibrant and citrusy. Rosa Regale from Banfi is one we have always liked. Its sweet strawberry flavors are great with desserts, chocolate-covered strawberries in particular, but it is also a nice way to close a meal. The Moët & Chandon Champagne has bright white peach and pear flavors with a touch of fresh-baked brioche bread.
Luke...I am your Pinot (I know...lame joke)
We have never eaten here in our many years of coming to Disney World, and this really hit the spot when we needed to get out of the heat and refuel. I encourage you to go here for either lunch or dinner and explore their extensive wine and cocktails list. We could have spent the day here, but Jedi training waits for no one.