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DFB Top Tips for Epcot Food and Wine Festival Event Booking

UPDATE: To book online, go to http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/reservations/dining/ and click the “dining event” button.

I don’t know about you, but I’m still scrambling to figure out what events I’d like to sign up for during the 2012 Epcot Food and Wine Festival! Cheese seminar? Discovery of Chocolate? Wine School? Italian Regional Lunch?

But no matter what, I’ll have it all sorted out by 7am EST tomorrow morning, Tuesday, August 14th, because that’s when booking opens for ALL guests to snag their chosen 2012 Epcot Food and Wine Festival events!

It’s easy to book: just call 407-WDW-FEST to book all events. Some events will be available for booking online at http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/reservations/dining/ — click the “dining event” button.

So here’s your reminder to get planning! And I wanted to share a few of my top tips for Food and Wine Festival Booking with you as well!

DFB Top Tips for Epcot Food and Wine Festival Event Booking

Get Started Early

A few minutes here or there might not matter in most things, but when it comes to booking Food and Wine Festival events, a few minutes can really make a difference.

Many of the most popular Food and Wine Festival Events sell out quickly — and by “quickly,” we mean in mere minutes — so the earlier you’re on the phone or on your computer, the better.

Additionally, wait times on the phone can be brutal if you call after 7AM, so try to dial right when that number flips on your digital clock.

Plan Ahead

There’s no better way to have a great time at one of the biggest Food and Wine Festivals in the world than to plan ahead. Know what’s happening when you’re there, and know what events are must-dos for you. We’ve got comprehensive event information on [Read more…]

The “DFB Mini-Guide to the 2012 Epcot Food & Wine Festival” Grand Launch (and Discount)!

By AJ 10 Comments

We’re thrilled to announce the grand launch of the DFB Mini-Guide to the 2012 Epcot International Food & Wine Festival e-Book! And, honestly, it’s not so “mini.” With over 160 pages and multiple bonus items, it’s pretty substantial! And just in time to make your plans — booking begins August 14th!

In honor of our grand launch, we have a discount option for DFB readers (as always!). You can get the new mini-guide for $3 off the regular purchase price for the next 7 days — just use code CHEFS at the check-out!

The DFB Mini-Guide to the 2012 Epcot Food & Wine Festival e-Book

The DFB Mini-Guide to the 2012 Epcot Food & Wine Festival e-Book

features all the info you need to know before you attend the Food and Wine Festival this year, from what’s NEW this year to touring strategies and a brand new FAQ section.

And with the Epcot Food & Wine festival rapidly approaching, the time is now! Booking for festival events opens August 14th at 7am EST, and our exclusive daily schedule of events is the most efficient way to plan your festival strategy.

With a detailed schedule of seminars and events for every single day of the festival, it’s a quick, easy way to decide what activities events you want to book! Don’t waste time flipping between web pages, PDFs, and websites — just find the date you need and we’ve got it all right there in front of you. Just like that!

As always, we’ve made this mini-guide instantly downloadable for your convenience, and easily installed on your mobile devices. It’s a PDF guide with [Read more…]

Guest Review: Breakfast at Disney’s Pop Century Resort

By AJ 28 Comments

Learn About:Everything Pop Food Court

Disney World Restaurants

Let’s welcome back Melissa Sue Sorrells Galley with a review of breakfast at the Everything Pop Food Court in Disney’s Pop Century Resort!

In late February, I traveled down to Walt Disney World to celebrate One More Disney Day; and because it was a last-minute trip, I was traveling on a tight budget and without my husband. So I decided to stay at Disney’s Pop Century Resort.

Pop Century celebrates the 20th century.

I’d visited the resort and shopped in Everything Pop Shopping and Dining on a previous trip, but I’d never ordered food from the Food Court portion of the massive retail location before. I’m excited to share my findings with you.

Atmosphere

My first impression: Everything Pop is loud and overwhelming. There are lots of kids, lots of Disney resort mugs, and lots of folks wandering around without looking where they’re going. It took me a moment to get my bearings.

But after taking a quick walk around the perimeter of the food court, I regained my confidence, and I didn’t run into any problems. In fact, I found myself looking forward to my morning visit to the food court. It has a fun, festive atmosphere. It’s a very Disney way to start the day!

Everything Pop Shopping and Dining is huge.

My only actual complaint about the food court is that it’s really cold in there in late February and early March! Especially if you’re traveling with small kids, I’d bring a sweater.

The food court itself is set up in sort of a half-moon, with six different service stations and a prepared food area. At breakfast, only three of the stations and the grab-and-go area in the back were open. But there were plenty of options, from POP waffles and chocolate croissants to omelets and breakfast platters.

Each food station in the food court serves something different.

Once you’ve loaded up your tray, the checkout counters stand [Read more…]

Tip from the DFB Guide: Are Disney Refillable Mugs Worth the Cost?

By Kim LaPaglia 37 Comments

We’ve packed tons of great Disney Dining info into our The DFB Guide to Walt Disney World® Dining 2013! Today, let’s check out another great tip from the Guide!

Disney Refillable Mugs: Worth the Cost?

With another price hike last year, Disney refillable resort mugs at Disney World resorts now cost $15.49 plus tax.

Those with the Disney Dining Plan get theirs for free, but the rest of us would need to pay out of pocket for the mugs, which are infinitely refillable at certain locations within your resort during your length of stay.

Worth it? Well… yes and no. We’ve got both arguments represented below, so take a look to see which camp you fit into!

Refillable Mugs And Park Commandos

If you spend the majority of your time at the parks, the refillable mug may not be worth the out-of-pocket cost for your family. Consider these circumstances before you buy:

Use Times

If your family is full of park commandos, you’re probably racing out to each theme park opening in the early morning and returning to your resort shortly before the food court closes. Your refillable mug will spend more time sitting in your resort room than actually in use, since you can’t refill in the theme parks.

Distance to refill station can be far

After traipsing with the kids in the parks all day, it may be a lot of extra steps from your room to the mug refill station.

And remember, many resorts don’t have an option for refills after the counter-service spots close around 11pm or midnight. That means no refills after evening Extra Magic Hours in most parks.

Current Refillable Mug Information (BoardWalk)

Could save cash by buying offsite

If you’ve driven to the Mouse’s House from your hometown, or rented a vehicle once you landed in Orlando, you may want to stop at a nearby offsite store to pick up [Read more…]

The Most Expensive Meals in the “World”

By Erin 41 Comments

On the Walt Disney World Moms Panel, we field several questions every day from guests looking for ways to economize on their Disney food budget. These are meaningful and important questions, and we’re happy to help.

But every once in a while I find myself wishing that someone would send in a question like, “My rich uncle has died and left me a gazillion dollars. What’s the most expensive meal I can buy at Walt Disney World?” (Or maybe I’m just wishing that I had rich uncle in poor health :-).)

V&A's caviar. Yummy (and expensive).

The quick answer to the expensive meal question is Victoria & Albert’s at the Grand Floridian. This posh-beyond-posh restaurant will set you back at least $125 in the main dining room, or at least $200 in the even-more-posh-beyond-posh Queen Victoria Room or Chef’s Table.

And that’s not including tax, tip, booze, and supplementary extra caviar. I’m sure Uncle Moneybags would approve.

Disney World’s Priciest Meals

But I found myself wondering if there were any “regular” restaurant meals that would inflict nearly this much damage to my shiny red Disney Visa. I decided to figure out the most expensive non-V&A’s meal you could find at Walt Disney World (not counting special event or private event meals).

And as an added bonus, I realized that this would be a good tool for a guest on the Disney Dining Plan who was REEEEALLY looking to get his money’s worth.

So in order to compare apples to apples, or more accurately steak to steak, I decided to construct the most expensive standard three course meal at each Disney World signature restaurant: one appetizer/starter course, one single-serving entree, and one dessert.

Flying Fish, Boardwalk (DDP = Yes)

Chardonnay-steamed Mussels, $18
Black Angus New York Strip Steak, $42
Trio of Concession Sweets, $9

TOTAL: $69

Bistro de Paris, Epcot (DDP = Yes)

Smoked Salmon Pastrami, $16
Maine Lobster, [Read more…]

Reader Favorites: Best Walt Disney World Counter Service Restaurants

By AJ 52 Comments

Whelp, it’s time to re-visit one of our favorite topics around here: Best Disney World Counter Service Restaurants!

We polled our readers back in 2009 for their favorites, and things are looking slightly different these days… 😉

We recently asked our Disney Food Blog Facebook Fans via the Disney Food Blog Facebook page for the best counter service restaurants inside the theme parks at Walt Disney World. Let’s find out where everyone is eating…

Best Magic Kingdom Counter Service Restaurants

Winner: Columbia Harbour House

In a quiet corner of the Magic Kingdom’s Liberty Square, the Columbia Harbour House sets the scene for traditional Americana in a colonial village — and steals our Best Magic Kingdom Counter Service title away from Pecos Bill’s this year!

Columbia Harbour House

The decor of the restaurant emphasizes a nautical theme with plank flooring and hurricane lamps. Downstairs, seating is divided into small dining rooms giving the space a colonial charm.

Here’s a Favorite DFB Tip: The upstairs seating area is usually the quietest and offers some tables with quaint views. Brick hearths add even more “warmth” to the dark-wooded rooms.

Grilled Salmon… this meal belongs on a real plate.

Serving popular soups (awesome clam chowder!), salads, and sandwiches such as the Lighthouse (hummus with tomato and broccoli slaw) and Anchors Aweigh (white tuna with lettuce and tomato) served on toasted multigrain bread; and recently adding a Lobster Roll and Grilled Salmon to the menu, Columbia Harbour House offers selections beyond the usual chicken nugget fare. (Although, there are those too!)

Lobster Roll with real chunks of lobster at Columbia Harbour House

Runners Up: Pecos Bill Tall Tale Inn and Cafe, Cosmic Ray’s Starlight Cafe, Be Our Guest Restaurant (lunch only), and Casey’s Corner.

Best Epcot Counter Service Restaurants

Winner: Sunshine Seasons

Soarin’ isn’t the only main attraction in The Land pavilion! According to our readers, Sunshine Seasons gets a lot of traffic too.

Epcot’s Sunshine Seasons

With five food stations including a [Read more…]

Disney Food for Families: Getting Kids to Try New Foods at Walt Disney World

By Erin 19 Comments

It’s no secret that my daughter Louisa is more than a little produce averse. There was a period of about four years when NO fruit or vegetable crossed her lips, and even now at age 12 she still has to be cajoled into having more than a bite or two of something as innocuous as sweet potato or banana.

Frozen bananas, a gateway fruit.

So you can imagine my surprise when, on a recent trip to the Animal Kingdom’s Yak & Yeti restaurant, she consumed nearly the entire plate of wok-fried green beans we had ordered for the table. It was one of those parenting moments where you hold your breath and move slowly so as to avoid breaking the spell.

Yak & Yeti wok-fried green beans. My hero!

Those Yak & Yeti yummies didn’t turn Louisa into an inveterate bean eater, but she is now occasionally willing to nibble on a tempura string bean if we’re out for Japanese. Based on our prior track record with legumes, I’m going to count that solidly in the win column.

The Theme Park Food Effect

What was it about the Yak & Yeti beans that made Louisa such a fan? Yes, they were quite tasty, and yes, the green part was handily obfuscated by a crunchy, yumtastic fried breading coating; but we had tried similar ploys in the past to no avail. My theory is that the Yak & Yeti beans were flavored by the spice of (cue the orchestra) The Theme Park Food Effect.

Much like campers will say that meals eaten on the trail are the BEST, you know that their experience is colored by the fact that their senses are overwhelmed and they’re starving from an [Read more…]

Guest Review: Tutto Gusto in Epcot’s Italy Pavilion

By AJ 19 Comments

Let’s raise a glass to Lisa Davis for this fabulous review of Tutto Gusto’s wines, cheeses, and more! Tutto Gusto is a new wine bar serving small plates and meals in Epcot’s Italy pavilion.Tutto Gusto

Wine Cellar in Epcot’s Italy Pavilion is the second venue of its kind in Epcot. Having experienced the joys of drinking and dining in Mexico’s La Cava del Tequila, my husband and I anxiously awaited the opening of Tutto Gusto.

We were finally able to visit in early June, one month after it officially opened.

Tutto Gusto Entrance

Tutto Gusto is much larger than La Cava del Tequila, but still retains a small/intimate atmosphere. The decor and lighting help to make you feel as if you just walked into the wine tasting room of a winery in Italy. (Editor’s Note: See a photo tour of Tutto Gusto here!)

You can sit at a table in the main area by the food case and wine display, or in a more intimate setting by the fireplace. There are several table sizes to accommodate different sized groups.

Fireplace Room at Gusto

Gusto Seating

On our visit, we were able to walk right in and be seated, which was a pleasant surprise considering the wait times we typically have at La Cava del Tequila. There were two greeters at the entry — whom we initially walked right by on our way in — to provide us seating options.

Since it was just the two of us, we chose a loveseat by the fireplace. On a side note, we believe we came at a great time, having arrived at 7 p.m. on a Friday, just after a severe late-afternoon thunderstorm that cleared the park.

The fireplace area is separated from the [Read more…]

Guest Review: Thanksgiving at Mickey’s Backyard BBQ, Fort Wilderness

By AJ 4 Comments

Welcome to Guest Author Ann Bennett with a fun photo tour of the Thanksgiving at the Fort event held at Fort Wilderness this past November. See if this is something you’d like to try this year!

Our family had thanksgiving at Disney World’s Fort Wilderness in the Pavilion dedicated to Mickey’s Backyard BBQ. The event title for reservations is Mickey’s Thanksgiving Feast at the Fort. It cost us 2 Disney Dining Plan dining credits per person.

I was worried after we booked this event and I was unable to find reviews and/or pictures, but it turned out to be wonderful!

Atmosphere

You can get to Fort Wilderness by bus from any Disney World theme park or Downtown Disney, or by boat from the Magic Kingdom, the Contemporary Resort, or Wilderness Lodge.

Fort Wilderness Mickey's Backyard BBQ Pavilion Entrance

A rustic and outdoors setting, the pavilion usually serves meals when the weather cooperates! At this particular meal, you’ll find plenty of Disney characters and entertainers to celebrate Thanksgiving with!

Pavilion Dining Area

Eats

The food was wonderful! The Turkey breast, which was sliced, was moist and juicy.

Turkey

And for those who didn’t want the traditional turkey, there was also [Read more…]

News! 2012 Candlelight Processional Lunch and Dinner Packages On Sale Now

By Kim LaPaglia 16 Comments

It’s time!! The Candlelight Processional Dinner Packages are finally on sale!

This coveted ticket provides guests with a lunch or dinner meal at select Epcot restaurants and guaranteed seating to the popular Candlelight Processional holiday spectacular.

At the event, the Christmas story is told by a celebrity narrator while a 50-piece orchestra and choir accompany the re-telling. The event is held on select nights from November 23 – December 30, 2012, in the American Gardens Theatre at Disney World’s Epcot.

Package Details

The package includes your choice of an appetizer, entree, dessert, and non-alcoholic beverage or 1 full buffet from the restaurant’s menu. Guests also have access to an special Illuminations Fireworks viewing area.

Prices [Read more…]

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DFB Top Tips for Epcot Food and Wine Festival Event Booking