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Guest Review: Planet Hollywood

Bill Iadonisi returns with a star-studded review of a Downtown Disney restaurant – Planet Hollywood. Take it away, Bill!

No one can mistake the iconic “Planet Hollywood” restaurant. With its girded blue starred globe and flying saucer overhang over the entrance, it’s like nothing else around.

This Hollywood themed restaurant was the brainchild of Robert Earl, a prominent figure in the food and beverage industries, specializing in themed based eateries. His financial backers at the start were stars Sylvester Stallone, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Bruce Willis, Demi Moore, and Baron Montague.

At its peak there were over one hundred restaurants worldwide, now only 20 remain.

View from Upper Level

Hanging Props

Planet Hollywood is a themed restaurant in the style of Rainforest Café and T-Rex, other Downtown Disney watering holes. If you love anything about Hollywood, blockbuster movies and film stars, this is the place to dine.

It’s three floors of [Read more…]

Disney Food Post Round-Up: October 2, 2011

By AJ Leave a Comment

Hooray! Today begins WDW Foodie Fest 2011, our annual Disney Food Blog meet-up!

For those of you in Walt Disney World, we hope to see you at Ariel’s Restaurant at Disney’s Beach Club Resort today between 11am-1pm. Our meet-up is free and we can’t wait to meet you.

For more details about WDW Foodie Fest, check out www.WDWFoodieFest.com.

Disney Food News

Here’s the latest in the Disney Food World this week…

The Epcot Food and Wine Festival has begun! We have photos of all of the food available in the World Showcase booths as well as breaking news and a peek at new festival merchandise. Check out our 2011 Epcot Food and Wine Festival pages for details.
Sanaa’s Dine With An Animal Specialist lunch has been expanded and is now offered on Wednesdays and Saturdays.
Beaches and Cream has two brand new desserts! We review them here.
We’ve reviewed Sci-Fi Dine In Theater’s new menu as well!

The DFB Mini-Guide to the 2011 Epcot Food & Wine Festival e-Book Reviews

More great reviews for our newest DFB Mini-Guide! We hope this book is helping lots of folks who are visiting the festival this weekend! Pick up your copy of the DFB Mini-Guide to the 2011 Epcot Food and Wine Festival e-Book today!

Samland Disney recently reviewed the guide; here’s an excerpt:
Bottom line. If you are going to the Food and Wine Festival in 2011 then you should have already purchased this e-book. If not, but are a big fan of the event, you may want to consider buying it as it is one of the most comprehensive summaries of the festival with lots of photos.

Read the full review here! You can also see Sam’s review on MiceChat.com!

Here’s what Walt Disney World for Grown-Ups has to say:
I missed a lot of the festival last year trying to tackle it without a plan. Not this year though; I’ve downloaded the Disney Food Blog Mini-Guide to the 2011 Epcot International Food & Wine Festival to my iPhone and all the information I need will be right at my fingertips throughout vacation.

Read the full review here!

On to the Round-Up!

A Wedding Cake Blog

features a Mickey and Minnie pumpkin cake topper. Fall cuteness!

Yesterland.com has his first Food & Wine Festival overview up!

Main Street Gazette reviews the new Columbia Harbour House menu!

AllEars.net Has gathered photos of Festival Merchandise as well! A cute Chef Goofy big fig is in the mix!

Karen and Mike Westfall posted a pic of their new little girl’s very first Dole Whip! I couldn’t help but post that!

First Dole Whip

News! Walt Disney World 40th Anniversary Cupcake!

By Melissa 4 Comments

Happy 40th Birthday to Walt Disney World!

Lines were long for the special 40th Anniversary Cupcake available in the Magic Kingdom! Flavor choices were the classic chocolate or vanilla.

WDW 40th Anniversary Cupcake

Did you get to try one?

What’s New For 2011 at the WDW Swan and Dolphin Food & Wine Classic

By AJ 2 Comments

Just one more week until the Second Annual Swan and Dolphin Food & Wine Classic, which will take place Friday, October 7, and Saturday, October 8, 2011.

Check out loads of new menu photos and information here!

We’ve interviewed one of the head honchos (and Riesling Rendevous seminar teacher!) to give you a sneak peek into this year’s event — which has tripled in size!

Event Details From Luciano Sperduto, Assistant Director of Food & Beverage

As Assistant Director of Food & Beverage for the Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin, Luciano is part of the leadership team responsible for planning and overseeing the execution of the Food & Wine Classic.

More Food and Beverage Booths Will Appear This Year

This year, look for 26 beverage booths and more than 11 food booths, including a new addition from the Garden Grove!

garden grove jumbo lump crab cake slider

The pastry booth alone will have eight to ten items to nosh on!

Cocktail 101 Seminars Introduced

When guests requested more spirits, Cocktail 101 seminars were devised.

In these 15-minute seminars, you’ll learn how [Read more…]

First Look! 2011 Epcot Food & Wine Festival Merchandise

By AJ 16 Comments

We gave you a sneak peek of some of the Epcot Food and Wine Festival Merchandise here, but, as usual, there are a few more pieces added in once you arrive at the Festival Shop in the World Showcase!

As always, read all about the 2011 Epcot Food and Wine Festival, see booth menus and photos, and more, on our Epcot Food and Wine Festival pages!

Food & Wine Festival Coffee Mugs

The Food and Wine Festival Cookbook is extremely popular every year, and they only sell it for a limited time! Check out the UPC code below and order one! To order, call 407-363-6200 or email [email protected] to place an order.

2011 Food & Wine Festival Cookbook

Price and Code for Cookbook

And are we surprised to see [Read more…]

5 Things I’m Looking Forward To at the Epcot Food & Wine Festival

By AJ 9 Comments

Welcome to the opening day of the 2011 Epcot International Food & Wine Festival!

If you’ve been following along, you know that we already have World Showcase booth menus and prices (and tons of brand new food photos!), special event information, low-cost event information, details about visiting chefs, Eat to the Beat concert specs, breaking news, and more, here on our 2011 Epcot Food and Wine Festival Overview Page!

I’m excited to continue to bring you coverage of the Festival; but today, I wanted to give you a little peek at what I’m looking forward to over the next 45 days…

New Food! New Drinks!

While Disney often brings back old favorites to the Food & Wine Festival, they also like to surprise us with new indulgences! A few of our favorite new food items at the Festival this year include:

Rib-eye Tacos ($5.50 at the Mexico Booth)

Rib Eye Tacos in Mexico

Linguica Sausage with Onions, Peppers, and [Read more…]

Sanaa’s “Dine with an Animal Specialist” Lunch Now Available Two Days Per Week

By Kim LaPaglia 2 Comments

Learn About:Sanaa

Animal Kingdom Lodge
Disney World Restaurants

Thanks again to Vallen Tucker at Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge concierge office for providing us with more exciting news about the Dine with an Animal Specialist experience and the Jiko Wine Tasting experience.

We have some great news to share about two brand new experiences at Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge.

Dine With An Animal Specialist Adds Extra Availability

The Dine with an Animal Specialist program has been so successful that it will now be offered twice per week!

During the “untamed” lunch at Sanaa, your family will be immersed in African culture while posing questions to an animal expert regarding the animals on the beautiful savanna. Take a look at the delicious menu here.

Parts of the First Course Offerings

This dining experience has been in such high demand that it will be continued as an official offering that can be booked on Saturdays at Noon or Wednesdays at 11:30 am.

Cost
$49 adults
$29 children
Payment required in full at time of booking.

Reservations
The Saturday program begins October 1st and can be reserved now. Call 407-WDW-DINE (939-3463) to reserve!

Jiko Wine Tasting Now Available Through 407-WDW-DINE

In addition, the Wine Tastings at Jiko can now be reserved via Disney Dining. Read a guest review of a wine tasting here. [Read more…]

Review: New and Old Beaches and Cream Desserts

By AJ 19 Comments

Learn About:Beaches and Cream

Disney World Restaurants

Beaches and Cream is a hidden gem at Disney’s Beach Club resort. With it’s 1950’s ambiance and comfortable diner atmosphere, dining here is a lot like coming home for some guests!

We rarely make a trip to Disney World without going to Beaches and Cream. Even though the food is pretty basic, it’s the most wonderful kind of basic I know!

I stopped into Beaches and Cream on a whim with friends last week and was delighted to see a couple of brand new desserts on the menu: the chocolate cake, and the apple and craisin pie. We had to try them…and order a couple of old favorites, too!

Apple and Craisin Pie

I love apples. I love pie. And I love Craisins. So this order just made sense!

The pie comes cold, which I was surprised at, and there’s no ice cream accompaniment, so if you’re a pie-and-ice-cream kind of person, be sure to order a scoop on the side.

Apple and Craisin Pie

The filling was very gooey, which made me think it was [Read more…]

Disney Launches Food & Wine Festival App

By Kim LaPaglia 7 Comments

Bring your smartphones to the 2011 Epcot Food and Wine Festival! There’s a new Food and Wine App! Just scan the QR code (looks like Spaceship Earth!) found on any of the booth menus at the festival.

2011 Caribbean Menu -- see the QR Code at the upper right

This app will give menus and prices for each booth, the videos we highlighted here, and recipes. Find out what events are being offered and if the event that interests you is still available or sold out. Look for concert schedules, food locations, and social media sharing tools.

QR code for Food and Wine App

Of course, we just have to mention that the Disney Food Blog is STILL your resource for World Showcase booth food photos — these are not yet available on the Disney app as far as we can tell! 😉 We’ve updated our individual booth pages with this year’s menu photos and pricing, too!

We’ll see you at the Festival!

Dining in Disneyland: Pumpkin Treats Crawl

By Heather 15 Comments

Dining in Disneyland columnist Heather Sievers has a new crawl for those of you headed to Disneyland soon — all about the pumpkin!!

Not THAT Kind of Pumpkin...

Before I even start, I must apologize for the quality of these photos. I was having a very bad camera day; both my camera battery AND my spare were dead (oops) so I ended up using my phone to take photos. I knew I would not have another chance to work on this “Pumpkin Treats Crawl” before Halloween gets into full swing and I wanted to be sure you could hit the park for all of the pumpkin-y goodness!

Halloween time at Disneyland is most definitely my favorite time of the year. I love the spooky-but-sweet decor that seems to appear overnight. The Haunted Mansion’s transformation into Jack Skellington’s ominous world is always exciting, and Space Mountain Ghost Galaxy adds its resident monster, Bob, to the ride as an added bonus. My absolute most favorite thing though? Pumpkin flavored treats.

Familiar Pumpkin Faces Line Disneyland's Main Gate

I’ve always been a pumpkin lover, and if there is something “pumpkin flavored” on any type of menu, I’m always game to give it a whirl. Every year at Disneyland I try and eat my way through their holiday specialties. This year, I’ve decided to compile them and create a “Pumpkin Treats Crawl” for you. Why should I be having all the fun, right?

Pumpkin Crawl Stop #1: Jamba Juice in Downtown Disney

Our crawl is going to start in Downtown Disney at Jamba Juice. This is actually one of my most favorite stops along our little trip. It gets you right in the mood for pumpkin yumminess.

Jamba Juice in Downtown Disney

Here, you’re going to pick up a Pumpkin Smash Smoothie. Consider this a “warm up” for the next leg of the trip, which takes place on Main Street USA. The Pumpkin Smash is [Read more…]

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Guest Review: Planet Hollywood