Trip Report: Roaring Fork and Typhoon Lagoon

Typically, I like to start my trips to Walt Disney World with some form of snack.  On this particular trip, I was meeting up with some friends in the afternoon to spend some time at Typhoon Lagoon, but arrived a bit early with my girlfriend Tabby, as well as another friend and my brother and sister.  Originally we had planned to take in some libations and appetizers at the Territory Lounge at Wilderness Lodge, but realized after our arrival that the lounge didn't open until 4:30 in the afternoon (I'm only a relative Disney expert, folks - I still make mistakes, and you can learn from them! Huzzah for learning!)

Instead, we headed to the Lodge's counter service spot, Roaring Fork.  Surrounded by a fishing lodge motif, we placed our various orders (Mostly burgers and sandwiches - the majority of which were nothing out of the ordinary to warrant much in the way of attention).  Something, however, did catch my eye, that I had heard about previously, but had not had the opportunity to try...

You're killing me, Smalls.

Yes, that is precisely what it looks like - a S'Mores cupcake.  A graham cracker cupcake topped with lightly toasted marshmallow fluff with a single piece of Hershey's chocolate shoved in the top to cap it all off.  Being more than just a little bit of a fan of the campfire treat, I had no choice but to pick this item up.  As I headed to the checkout, I also noted that the sandwich special of the day was a ham and Tilamook cheddar panini (not too interesting yet there...) with cranberry mustard (bingo).  In recent years, I've become something of an aficionado of mustard, and never pass up an opportunity for a new experience, so despite not being terribly hungry, I decided to order the sandwich, forgoing the side of fries that it came with in favor of a nice, hot bowl of chicken noodle soup.

A nice, hearty "snack" - or "meal" as most sane people would call it.

The sandwich and soup were both fair representations of their respective species - nothing interesting to note about the chicken soup, and the only factor that elevated the panini was the slightly sweet, tart cranberry mustard.  Definitely an item to check out if you're not looking for something unique and wild for every meal (and I always highly recommend having some comfort food on a trip to Disney.)

Of course, I doubt the majority of you in the reading audience were terribly interested in the soup and sandwich combo - you were reading to hear about that cupcake.  I'm pleased to say that it was quite a treat.  The graham cracker cake was a bit different than what I'm used to in a cupcake.  It was somewhat crumbly, as you'd expect from a graham cracker, but still pleasantly moist.  The marshmallow fluff "icing" was fantastic, if you enjoy toasted marshmallows, of course - and if you don't, what are you doing reading my blog?  We don't like your kind here!  Also, minor spoiler alert: there are a couple of additional Hershey's pieces secreted away in the depths of the cupcake - so you actually do get "s'more" as you enjoy your treat!

After our snack, we popped over to the Mercantile, Wilderness Lodge's gift shop, to peruse.  Wilderness Lodge is fairly high on my list of favorite resorts, as I have something of an affinity for the Pacific Northwest, and the resort's exclusive items bring out a bit of the kid in me, as a considerable amount of it features one of my favorite (though often forgotten) classic Disney cartoon characters: Humphrey the Bear.  That said, I decided that I needed to expand my Disney drinkware collection...

Perfect for hot cocoa!

After making that purchase, my group headed over to Typhoon Lagoon for our evening of fun.  I won't launch into full details here, as just listing the attractions wouldn't translate into extremely compelling reading, and water parks are somewhat difficult to photograph, as water and camera phones don't mesh well.  I will point out, if you decide to brave Humunga Kowabunga, be sure you keep your ankles firmly crossed all the way down, otherwise the 30 MPH you're traveling on your butt will certainly to give you one heck of a wedgie.  We wrapped up our day by spending some time in the Surf Pool (America's largest wave pool), horsing around with the waves, testing our ability to stand our ground against the six foot tall waves.  I will inform you that we absolutely could not, and had that much more fun for it.

I do hope you enjoyed this little bit of a vicarious peek into my experience of trying a few new things at the parks, and continue coming back to check out MyWDW as I try to update more frequently with more Disney fun for you.  Over the next couple of weeks, I have a few Disney trips already planned, including Star Wars weekends (including Mark Hamill, Billy Dee Williams, and a Star Wars character meal) and, at long last, the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train!  Until then, everyone, stay magical!

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