Counter-Service | the disney food blog

The Great “Duffy Head Cup” Poll

Our fearless Disney Food for Families columnist, Erin Foster, has uncovered an entirely new way to eat ice cream in Epcot. Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below…

Slowly but surely, Duffy the Disney bear is creeping into every corner of Epcot.

Duffy, ready to welcome you to Epcot.

On a recent trip, I found Duffy-shaped souvenir mugs available with the purchase of an ice cream at the two kiosks nearest the entrance to World Showcase. Not coincidentally, these are also the food service locations closest to the Duffy meet-and-greet area.

Refreshment Port, where cups are available. Near the entrance to World Showcase from Future World.

Ordering window

The offer is [Read more…]

Treats From The Mini-Guide: Banana Bread Pudding

By AJ 6 Comments

The brand new Disney Food Blog Mini-Guide to Magic Kingdom Snacks has so many tempting goodies to share, including over 70 snacks available in the Magic Kingdom.

I recommend putting this dose of southern sweetness at the top of your list. It’s Banana Bread Pudding from the Main Street Bakery, and it’s definitely worth a try. 😉

The muffin-like top has the consistency of coffee-cake or strudel, and is encrusted with sugar crystals. Inside, the fresh taste of banana sweetens each bite. When it’s fresh out of the oven, the [Read more…]

Dining in Disneyland: Snacks and More in Disneyland Paris

By Heather 14 Comments

Heather Sievers, our Dining in Disneyland columnist, shares her recent adventure to Disneyland Paris with a whole slew-o-pics of food in the park!

This summer has been absolutely amazing. I’ve been on the go for 3 weeks all over Europe, which included an 11-day Disney Mediterranean Cruise followed by 3 days in London and 3 days in Paris. I begged and pleaded for a trip to Disneyland Paris and guess what? I got my way!

My cruise dining photos are amazing, over 1,000 of them if you can believe it, but I just couldn’t wait to share some super fun pics of the snacks and special treats that we found in Disneyland Paris.

Disneyland Paris Entrance

Only there for one short day, we really made the most of it. We spent half of the day at Walt Disney Studios and the latter half at Disneyland. Both parks were beautiful as well as FULL of amazingly yummy snacks. Unfortunately, while I did not try most of them, I did drool over the sights and smells. Enjoy!

Disneyland Paris Walt Disney Studios Park Eats

The first thing I noticed when we entered the Toy Story Playland at the Studios was an adorable [Read more…]

Disney Food Post Round-Up: July 31, 2011

By AJ Leave a Comment

The Belgium Booth is back for the 2011 Epcot Food and Wine Festival

The Disney Food Blog enjoyed an exciting week chock full of all the things we love — menus from the Epcot Food and Wine Festival’s World Showcase booths were announced, we released of our very first Mini-Guide, and the sale of Epcot’s Candlelight processional dinner/lunch packages began!

We’ve got so many fun articles in the round-up and great foodie news to share, so “Come on, everybody! Here we go!”!!

Latest Disney Food News

Great news from this week! We’ll start with the Epcot Food and Wine Festival, then move on to the rest!

The 2011 Epcot Food and Wine Festival Booth Menus and map are now available!
Visiting Chefs and Presenters were announced for the 2011 Epcot Food and Wine Festival.
The dates for the 2012 Epcot Food and Wine Festival were announced!
Epcot’s Candlelight dinner (and lunch) packages are now on sale!
Mark your calendars for the debut of BBQ weekends at Hilton Orlando Bonnet Creek!

Explore in-depth coverage of the 2011 Epcot Food and Wine Festival here!

The Disney Food Blog Mini-Guide to Magic Kingdom Snacks e-Book Launch

The DFB Mini-Guide to Magic Kingdom Snacks e-Book

is our first Mini-Guide in what we hope will be a very useful series of informational e-Books.

We couldn’t fit this detailed information into our overview book, The DFB Guide to Walt Disney World Dining, so we’ve created an entire guide detailing over 70 Magic Kingdom snacks!

You’ll see photos, reviews, costs, and Disney Dining Plan snack credit information about each featured snack! Be sure to check out http://DFBMiniGuides.com for details about the e-Book, sample pages, and even a list of the bonus items in the book!

And the best news is that for our Grand Launch week, you can get the book for 20% off its original purchase price using code MAGIC at the check-out!! We hope you enjoy!

Come Listen!

Yours truly is the guest this evening on WDW Today‘s Live Show, starting at 8pm ET! Come listen — or call in and talk food with us! You can join the chat room and listen in here. See ya there!

On to the Round-Up!

Walt Disney World For Grown Ups

congratulates Jiko in Disney World’s Animal Kingdom Lodge on being named one of the nation’s best wine restaurants!

Bournemouth Echo shares the Walt Disney World Company’s chocolate-themed team-building events.

An AllEars.net guest blogger reviews Paradiso 37 in Disney World’s Downtown Disney!

PR Newswire featured a press release announcing that WDW and Chiquita have moved forward with their alliance! Watch for Chiquita to sponsor runDisney events, Living with the Land, and Crush ‘n’ Gusher.

Main Street Gazette sticks with barbecue this week and features Flame Tree Barbecue’s gorgeous St. Louis ribs.

Around Disney reports that Disneyland’s bakeries churn out the best macaroons in Orange County.

Finally, check out this video featuring All Star Sports Resort’s new fountain drink machines, equipped with an RFID card reader, during Disney’s new refillable mug system tests. Read the full story here.

Have a great week!

Disney Food Pics of the Week: A Twist On Bread

By Kim LaPaglia 4 Comments

We appreciate your photo submissions to the Disney Food Blog Photo Extravaganza! The pictures are so appetizing! This week, the Disney Food Pics of the Week feature a food staple – bread!

Boudin Bakery Bread Cart at Disney California Adventure. We love that they make Mickey-shaped bread here!
Photographer: shnewell

Fresh bread!

Kona Café in Disney’s Polynesian Resort serves Sweet Bread & Macadamia Honey Butter! Heavenly!
Photographer: Scott Sanders/ssander79

Sweet!

Multigrain Bread is served at [Read more…]

Guest Review: Coronado Springs Resort’s Pepper Market

By AJ 15 Comments

Learn About:Pepper Market Food Court

Disney World Restaurants

Bill Iadonisi returns with a colorful and impressive review of the Pepper Market at the Coronado Springs Resort. Take it away, Bill!

When guests vacation to Walt Disney World, they are looking forward to going on their favorite attractions, seeing World-Class shows and entertainment, and of course meeting the Disney Characters. A trip to Disney is an exciting adventure for all. But for many, the rides and attractions are just the tip of the iceberg.

I know that for myself, dining at Disney is a whole world of fun! With menu options from around the world and a huge diversity of food choices, the dining scene is a theme park unto itself.

Welcome!

While most guests hanker to dine in the parks, the resort venues are just as impressive. We know the classic restaurants such as Citricos, the California Grill and Jiko, but the resorts are also home to some of Walt Disney World’s “sleeper” restaurants.

These eateries are hidden gems with mostly low crowds, fantastic menus and easy access. Many times when the parks are booked, you can usually walk right in or have just a short wait before dining. Some of my favorites are the Kona Café and the Captain’s Grille. And here we will review; Coronado Springs Resort’s Pepper Market restaurant.

Atmosphere and Ordering Process

Pepper Market is an open food court located in the main building area of Coronado Springs Resort, called “El Centro.” It is a counter-service restaurant, although your drinks are brought to the table by a server.

But what makes this eatery special is its extensive menu and expansive dining area. Even during crowded times, you can usually find a table. It is themed after a south of the border-feel marketplace. Huge and airy, it is also very colorful, bright and gives the feeling of space versus claustrophobia — something we love in Disney restaurants.

Dining Area

As you make your way to the entrance, (next to Coronado’s table-service restaurant, the Maya Grill) you walk on terracotta tiles and past wrought iron fences adorned with green plants. Everything is vibrant and very colorful. It puts a smile on your face before you are even seated. At the entrance is a [Read more…]

Disney Food for Families: Counter Service Dining with the Adventurous Child

By Erin 11 Comments

Disney Food for Families columnist Erin Foster has a very adventurous eater in her family — her daughter, Josie! Here are some great suggestions for kids who want something a bit different than the standard kids’ meal fare!

I’ve written before about my finicky, fearful daughter Louisa who never met a chicken nugget she didn’t like.

As it turns out, her twin sister Josie has a completely opposite dining profile. Josie will try anything, loves exploring new foods, and craves variety to spice up her meals. An endless stream of pizza bores her. If you have an adventurous eater in your life, you’ll want to find options beyond the ubiquitous pizza, pasta, hot dogs, and nuggets.

Josie enjoying the meat of a giant bird

In recent years, Disney has done a somewhat better job of providing a range of healthy and innovative foods on their childrens’ menus. Here I’m going to focus on some of the out-of-the-pizza-box Walt Disney World children’s counter service meal and snack options for those looking to avoid the kid food basics while on the go.

Magic Kingdom

Columbia Harbor House

and Cosmic Ray’s offer mixed greens with chicken for [Read more…]

Review: Gasparilla Grill at Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort

By AJ 23 Comments

Learn About:Gasparilla Island Grill

Grand Floridian
Disney World Restaurants

Tucked into one of Disney World’s most iconic resort hotels — The Grand Floridian Resort and Spa — Gasparilla Grill is one of the only restaurants open 24 hours in Walt Disney World!

Atmosphere

Gasparilla Grill is the the counter service location at the Grand Floridian and is sandwiched between the Grand Floridian Cafe and the Grand Floridian Kids’ Club.

It offers both hot and cold (grab-and-go) items as well as bakery items and soft-serve ice cream.

Gasparilla Entrance

Gasparilla Food Area

You’ll find plenty of seating inside and outside. Outdoor seating has a fantastic view of [Read more…]

Disney Food Post Round-Up: July 24, 2011

By AJ 1 Comment

Strawberry Lemonade at Enchanted Grove in Magic Kingdom

It’s been a sizzling hot week, so we hope you’re keeping cool! Maybe you have access to some delicious strawberry lemonade like the one to the right (in the Magic Kingdom). We’re counting down the days until we get our next fix of that stuff!

There’s lot of fun Disney food news this week as well as some awesome articles in the round-up, so let’s get started…

Disney Food News

Let’s review the latest news from this past week!

Epcot’s Kabuki Cafe will open soon, and you can get a first look at the menu here!
Disney Running released transportation info and more for the upcoming half-marathon weekend. Check out our Wine and Dine Half-Marathon Weekend step by step guide for a successful race weekend!
WDW Dolphin offers a special room rate and complimentary upgrade to WDW Foodie Fest attendees!
We’ve got the details on Orlando’s Magical Dining month of September!

New Disney Food Blog Mini-Guide Just Around the Corner…

Just eeking out the final updates to the brand new Mini-Guide e-Book! (Thankfully, one of our fabulous columnists is in Disney World this week and has agreed to do a little extra recon for us!)

As you know, our DFB Guide to Walt Disney World Dining e-Book covers a wealth of information about Disney World food. But after hitting 250 pages, we reserved some of the more detailed info for our upcoming series of Mini-Guides.

The first in the series will be the Disney Food Blog Mini-Guide to Magic Kingdom Snacks, and it will be debuting very soon.

Detailed reviews, photos, prices, and snack-credit-worthiness of over 70 snacks in the Magic Kingdom are packed into this Mini-Guide, but, as always, we’ve included a few extras and bonus items as well!

We’ll have more information for you very soon; we can’t wait to hear what you think!

Here we go…On to the Round-Up!

Meet the World in Progressland

shares the fabulous views seen only from Club 33!

Disney Contemporary Fan Site compares the Grand Floridian’s Citricos with the Contemporary Resort’s California Grill. Which would you choose?

DisneyTouristBlog reviews Disneyland’s Big Thunder Ranch BBQ. Yee-Haw!

Main Street Gazette shares with us a canyon skillet at Whispering Canyon Cafe.

Kokocooks takes us along on their cupcake crawl in Disney World — inspired by our DFB challenge!

Disney Contests and Sweepstakes gives us the scoop on the Rainforest Cafe Orlando’s summer photo contest. Good luck!

New Soundsational Cupcake in Disneyland

By AJ 7 Comments

The new Soundsational Parade has debuted in Disneyland and there’s a specialty cupcake to commemorate it!

The cupcake has marbled vanilla cake (yellow, blue, and red) with marbled pineapple raspberry frosting. The whole thing is covered in a light dusting of edible glitter and topped off with a white chocolate Soundsational Mickey icon.

The folks at Magical Days With Mouse found this one at Blue Ribbon Bakery and had positive reviews!

Soundsational Cupcake in Disneyland

[I’m] not normally a fan of fruity cupcakes, but I thought this one was good (so did my husband). Inside is rainbow marble and the frosting has edible glitter on it. The cake itself is [Read more…]

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The Great “Duffy Head Cup” Poll

Treats From The Mini-Guide: Banana Bread Pudding

Dining in Disneyland: Snacks and More in Disneyland Paris

Disneyland Paris Walt Disney Studios Park Eats