Lee and I are back at WDW for the All Ears December to Remember events. 15 years – congratulations Deb Wills and Deb Koma and all of my other fellow All Ears team mates! And thank you to YOU, all of our readers – All Ears wouldn’t be what it is without you!

I’m not planning to do my usual descriptive blog about this trip, but will share a few photos as I have the time.

The new Katsura Grill opened at Epcot today, in the former Yakitori House restaurant. Lee and I had dinner there. The menu has most (if not all) of the items from Yakitori House – teriyaki chicken bowls, beef curry, and noodles, but also has some new items, like the Okonomiyaki, which is a Japanese pancake, a chicken katsu sandwich, and the Tsukemen Salad, a cold ramen noodle salad. Unfortunately, we didn’t try any of those – it was a very chilly evening at Epcot (cold front going through, and very breezy), so we had the Udon Noodles – with tempura shrimp for me and with beef for Lee. Both really good. My only complaint is that the bowls they use do not insulate well at all, and my soup cooled off much faster than I would have liked on a chilly evening.

Katsura Grill Menu

They didn’t make the restaurant any larger, but they moved the ordering counter back and added a queue and another register or two so it’s not quite as chaotic and crowded inside. They also lightened the color of the decor inside so it seems larger.

I’m sure you’ll be reading a much more detailed review from Jack Spence soon – we talked to a manger who saw Lee’s AllEars hat and said that he had talked to Jack earlier today. 🙂

Something I had NOT heard about at all – there’s a new sake bar/drink stand – it’s on the same side of Japan as the Katsura Grill, approximately across from the steps leading up to Tokyo Dining. (It used to be a merchandise cart). They offer several kinds of sake, sake cocktails, frozen sake beverages, beer, a seasonal smoothie, green tea, and soft drinks. I don’t know the name, though. It was chilly so we didn’t try anything, but I want to return to try one of the sake cocktails – or even the Amasake frozen beverage if it warms up enough.

We treated ourselves to a Pumpkin Spice Funnel Cake from the stand next to the American Adventure. It was really good!

I thought these projected snowflakes were really pretty.

From our balcony at the Boardwalk we could see the Illuminations fireworks – this is part of the holiday finale. While I love seeing it up close, I think it looks a little better from a distance.