Greetings from Walt Disney World!

Mary and I rescheduled our trip to WDW and arrived yesterday afternoon. We typically take an early morning flight but opted for an early afternoon flight instead. Was a different feel arriving later in the day but such a welcome change weatherwise to what we left behind in Western PA. The past few weeks have been below zero temps, snow and ice and watching the forecast last weekend for FL, couldn't help but wonder if we weren't going to arrive greeted by much the same weather as we were having. Thankfully the cold snap has seemed to move through and temps yesterday afternoon felt so good and last night was perfect for a stroll before and after dinner in Epcot.

As you may recall from past blog entries when at WDW, food is a major planning part of the trip and we decided for our first meal to eat at Tutto Italia. This was our first time eating here since the changeover from Alfredo's. Other than the name change on the building and the large canoli no longer inside, everything looked much the same as how we remembered when we ate there right before Alfredo's closed.

Our BFF's Bob & Toni from Syracuse, NY surprised us and coincided their trip with ours and met us at Magical Express when we arrived and joined us for dinner. We initially planned to take the boat from Boardwalk to Epcot but due to Disney's Hollywood Studios just closing and Epcot having Extra Magic Hours, the boat was full and we were going to have to wait for another. We decided since it was such a beautiful evening, we would walk to Epcot instead.

Once inside Epcot, we headed straight to the Italian Pavillion. We decided to start the meal with an Italian Margarita, made with limoncello and grappa. Was a perfect start to the meal!

In our planning and making our ADR's, we used Deb's website, AllEars.net to check out the menus and reviews. Decided for an appetizer, being such a fan of eggplant to try the Melanzana alla Parmigiana, a baked eggplant (thinly sliced as I like it), mozzarella and parmesan cheese in a red sauce. Typically prefer a 'sweeter' sauce but this sauce had more of a 'sour' taste for lack of a better word which was out of this world. As any true Italian knows, when you get your bread and soak up the remaining sauce, that's a good sign it was perfect! :)

The appetizer was a great compliment to my entree choice, Tortellini di Zucca, a pumpkin tortellini filled with cheese. The sauce was quite similar to the sauce used in the eggplant appetizer.

I'm known as not too adventurous of an eater, usually sticking with those options I'm most familiar with, so me ordering this dish was quite a surprise to everyone. I'm a fan of both pumpkin and tortellini, so was curious enough to try this and enjoyed each and every bite :) Our next time in Epcot this trip, I will get a more accurate description.

It seemed fitting to close the meal with a nice cup of coffee and dessert. Looking over the menu, one dessert caught my eye, a lemon flavored ricotto cheesecake with strawberries marinated in limoncello. It ended up being a perfect choice, light and very flavorfull.

We had an excellent waiter, Cesare who was assisted by Fabio. They were both very attentive, personable and made for a first great evening of our trip! Have read both good and not so good reviews for Tutto Italia but from my first experience, I highly recommend. Looking forward to a return visit!