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Special Disney Holiday Eats and Experiences Page on the DFB

Gingerbread Mickeys

Disney food-lovers have lots to be excited about during the holiday season at Walt Disney World and Disneyland!

From life-size Gingerbread houses to Candy Cane Fudge, the parks and resorts celebrate with sweet treats and special dining experiences!

You may have noticed a new little holiday icon on our sidebar!

That links to a page where we’ll be compiling all of our Disney World and Disneyland Holiday information, so if there’s anything you need to know — check there!

For the third year in a row, we’re sharing the yummy offerings found only at the holidays, including some awesome reader suggestions for seasonal dining.

Boardwalk Gingerbread Display

We’re covering all the news about holiday-themed eats and we’ve already seen some fun and decorative treats this year. They almost look too pretty to eat! 😉

The Gingerbread Displays are beginning to appear, too. All our favorites have returned at the Contemporary, Boardwalk Beach Club, and Grand Floridian resorts. We’ll tour them in the coming weeks!

In Disneyland, the annual Candy Cane frenzy has begun. Dates can be found here! Also, sign up now to work on your holiday construction skills. Ralph Brennan’s Jazz Kitchen will be holding gingerbread house workshops!

From gift ideas to information on Holiday events, we’ll keep you up-to-date on our 2011 Holiday Dining Page.

What’s your favorite WDW or Disneyland holiday experience? Let us know in the comments section!

And if you’re in a Disney park or resort this holiday season and find something yummy, let us know and send over a pic!

Disney Food Post Round-Up: November 20, 2011

By AJ 2 Comments

Holiday Ice Cube Cupcakes at Disney's Hollywood Studios

With the holidays underway at the Disney parks and resorts, we’re gathering lots of goodies to share with you.

From Snowman cupcakes to Ice Cube cupcakes (wow!) to seasonal beverages, we’re getting in the spirit of the season!

Latest Disney Food News

Busy week? Let’s catch up on the news!

Disney World’s Gingerbread displays are emerging this week!
New Thanksgiving meals announced in Walt Disney World!
Disney’s partnering with charity to help end Child Hunger, and they’re doing it in some very interesting ways!
Disney Dining Plan credits now being accepted at the Disney World Boardwalk Pizza Window.
New recipe request form at Disneyland!
Sleepy Hollow in Disney World’s Magic Kingdom has changed its menu, and added some delicious new waffle sandwiches!

Do you crave more news? Check out our Disney News Pin Board, where Disney Food News is updated on a regular basis!

Coming Soon! Give the Gift of Delicious Planning This Year with DFB Guide Gift Certificates!

Our popular Disney Food Blog Guide to Walt Disney World Dining, DFB Mini-Guide to Magic Kingdom Snacks, and upcoming DFB Dining Adventures e-Books make great gifts for friends or family members planning a trip to Walt Disney World!

Very soon, you’ll be able to purchase gift certificates to share the books with your friends and relatives this holiday season! Stay tuned this week to find out how!

The best part? You’ll be able to take advantage of our individual e-Book Holiday Discounts, or purchase all of our e-Books and receive our e-Book Bundle Discount!

Friends don’t let friends go to Disney World unprepared. These e-books will ensure that your loved ones will get the biggest bang for their dining buck in Walt Disney World! More info on this great gift idea will be available later this week!

On to the Round-Up!

PopCenturySite.com

takes a refreshing break at the Petals Pool Bar.

WESH.com reveals the top 5 WDW foodie fantasies provided by yours truly!

Walt Disney World for Grown-Ups takes us to the Territory Lounge at the Wilderness Lounge. And don’t forget that WDW for Grownups has an awesome Muppets Giveaway this week!

Orange Bird

Progress City, U.S.A. reminisces about the adorable Little Orange Bird. His citrus-y presence is missed in Adventureland!

All Ears reviews the Best of Bocuse Dinner at the Epcot Food and Wine Festival.

Main Street Gazette reviews the White Chocolate Elephant Cupcake at Kusafari Coffee Shop & Bakery in the Animal Kingdom. It’s a cupcake and lollipop in one!

The Sweet Adventures of Sugarbelle masters the Jedi Art of baking Star Wars cookies.

All Fare’s Food Blog shows us how to make Mickey Mouse cake pops. Adorable-ness!

Walt Disney World Gingerbread Holiday Displays for 2011

By AJ 12 Comments

Holiday Chef at the Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin Resorts

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas…in Disney World, anyway! And it will be looking even more so very soon!

As we look forward to the holidays in our favorite Disney parks, let’s take a look at when to expect the artful decor to go on display this year. And we’ll look back to the gingerbread displays from past holidays to warm our spirits (and appetites) for now!

These displays will be created by the WDW Food and Beverage team. Sometimes you can even watch the chefs put on the finishing touches! And don’t forget to check out the limited edition Gingerbread Display pins coming out this year!

Please note that information is subject to change.

Grand Floridian Gingerbread House

(Gingerbread House was scheduled to open on November 14th)

As your eyes try to take in the enormous Christmas tree in the lobby, your sense of smell will lead you toward the 16 foot tall Gingerbread House located in the lobby of the Grand Floridian Resort.

Grand Floridian 2010 Gingerbread House

It takes over 400 hours to bake the 10,000+ pieces of gingerbread! Last year’s house was amazing, and one of our colleagues snapped some pics of the construction this year! Thanks to Carla at Hoperatives for these!

Grand Floridian Gingerbread House Construction 2011

Don’t forget that you can purchase a treat made from a classic Austrian gingerbread recipe right inside the Gingerbread House!! Freshly baked items will include [Read more…]

Disney Food History: Vintage Donald Duck Eats n’ Treats

By Heather 28 Comments

Sometimes Disney food pops up in the strangest places.

This past Saturday, I took the D23 Disney Studios Tour. And the highlight of the tour was definitely walking into the archives room to see Disney historian Dave Smith himself standing there waiting to give us a personal tour of the room.

The Walt Disney Studios in Burbank, CA

Highlights of the archives included holding the very first Disneyland entrance ticket, being among the first to look up close at the original story book for Steamboat Willie, and holding one of Walt Disney’s Oscars. WOW, what a treat.

Holding Disneyland's Very 1st Entrance Ticket #000001

Disney Archivist, Dave Smith, shows us the original Steamboat Willie Script

After being in awe of all the amazing things in this room, I spotted something definitely worth sharing here on the DFB: Donald Duck food and drink items!

Donald Duck Food Line History

I couldn’t believe all of food this duck used to hawk! Apparently, Donald was one of the most licensed Disney characters of his time.

Sadly, the only official “Donald Duck” items that remain on the market today are Donald Duck Orange Juice and Donald Duck Grapefruit Juice, both of which can be purchased on Amazon.com.

Donald Duck Orange Juice

I couldn’t believe the range of products that Donald used to represent. Everything from [Read more…]

New! Ice Cube Cupcakes and Other Holiday Treats at Disney’s Hollywood Studios

By AJ 13 Comments

Disney’s Hollywood Studios is decking the halls with holiday treats!!

Thanks to Sue Van Vleet for sending over a pic of this awesome new cupcake, created to celebrate the holidays in Disney’s Hollywood Studios!

Holiday Ice Cube Cupcakes at Disney's Hollywood Studios

According to Sue, it seems to be a regular chocolate cupcake. From the look of it, it seems to be “dusted” with snow and features a twinkly light-up ice cube in the middle! Kind of like a snowy iceberg floating out at sea!

Other Holiday Treats

This treat is offered as part of a larger menu of holiday goodies that seems to get bigger and bigger at the Studios every year! I’m a little disturbed that it’s [Read more…]

Guest Review: Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party Treats

By AJ 18 Comments

I’m excited to welcome Guest Reviewer Holly Burtchaell from Random Cravings Blog with a fun review of treats found at this year’s Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party at Walt Disney World! Warning: This read is sugar-sweet!

Party signage

Although Mr. Random and I have clocked too many trips to Disney World to count, somehow, neither of us has ever experienced Christmas at the Happiest Place on Earth. Luckily, that all changed last week, when we spent an entire week immersed in Disney Christmas happiness. In fact, this year’s very first Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party (MVMCP) was also our very first time at that event!

I quickly learned that in addition to being about the Christmas parade, the special fireworks, and the rare character appearances, Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party is also filled with yummy holiday treats!

Free Eats at MVMCP

Included with your ticket to Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party are complimentary cookies and hot cocoa, along with healthier options of apple slices and apple juice. These treats were handed out at several locations around the Magic Kingdom…just follow the signs!

Signage at Cosmic Ray's

Signage at Columbia Harbor House

This year’s cookies were big, soft, delicious snickerdoodles. The apple slices were [Read more…]

Dining in Disneyland: New Recipe Request Forms Pop Up in Disneyland

By Heather 14 Comments

Thanks to our friend Lynnette Johnson, we were alerted to a new way of requesting recipes at Disneyland! On a recent trip to the Carnation Cafe, Lynnette asked for a recipe and was handed one of these from Chef Oscar himself!

Food & Beverage Recipe Request Form

This is the first form we have seen and it is specific to the Carnation Cafe. It does say “Walt Disney Parks & Resorts” so, it leads me to believe that they are available throughout all of Disney’s parks.

From the looks of the form, there seems to be no guarantee that you will get the recipe that you ask for, and they add a disclaimer that the recipes have been converted from large batches to small ones for home kitchen use. So basically if the dish doesn’t come out the exact way it tasted at Disney, that’s your problem, not theirs!

Personally, I liked when Chef Oscar wrote down the recipe by hand and gave it to you on the spot, but I do see how these could come in handy. Have you filled out a Food & Beverage Recipe Request Form yet? If so, I’m wondering what [Read more…]

Dining in Disneyland: Carnation Cafe, the Matterhorn Sundae, and a Chat With Chef Oscar

By Heather 10 Comments

For my son’s 10th birthday, he really wanted to tackle the famous Matterhorn Sundae from the Carnation Cafe located on Main Street in Disneyland. Always up for a challenge like this, I booked a lunchtime reservation with some friends of ours and we fueled up with lunch before the challenge of finishing this wondrous mountain of goodness.

Atmosphere

I always recommend making a reservation in advance for the Carnation Cafe. Although the menu is small, the food here is really fantastic and the prices are reasonable for a table service restaurant.

Carnation cafe view of street

Seating is also limited to a pretty small area (though the Cafe will be refurbished in 2012 to create a larger indoor seating area). You can see more photos of the seating area here. So, with a party of eight, on one of the last weekends of the summer, it made perfect sense to [Read more…]

Snack Series: Disneyland’s Chili Lime Corn on the Cob

By AJ 12 Comments

Dallas is pretty warm today, so I thought we’d check out one of the fun, summer-y Disneyland treats I sampled last August in Disneyland Resort!

The Chili Lime Corn on the Cob can be found in several locations around Disney California Adventure (usually accompanied by chimichangas or Turkey Legs)…

Menu and Food Items - click image for larger version

Heather and I grabbed one of these while doing our own little food tour of DCA during the D23 Expo, and we were pleasantly surprised. Despite the [Read more…]

New! Waffle Sandwiches at Magic Kingdom’s Sleepy Hollow

By AJ 50 Comments

Learn About:Sleepy Hollow

Magic Kingdom
Disney World Restaurants

You heard me right! Waffle sandwiches!!!

But before we go off on a tangent, let’s start at the beginning…

Sleepy Hollow, the small counter-service location in Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom Liberty Square, has long offered some of our favorite snacks, including the large Mickey-shaped waffles (one of the last places you could get these!), and the filling and delicious chicken and wild rice soup.

We’ve heard through the grapevine (Thanks, Laurie!) that the menu has changed significantly and asked one of our colleagues, Brooke Fehr from DisZine.com, to investigate during her recent WDW visit!

New Waffle Sandwiches

The new menu at Sleepy Hollow has introduced what we think will be a new Disney food classic — waffle sandwiches. And these are true waffle sandwiches — as in a giant waffle with stuff crammed into it, then folded over!

There are three new offerings: A sweet and spicy chicken waffle and a ham, prosciutto, and Swiss cheese waffle, both for $6.99; and a Nutella and fresh fruit waffle for $5.59. None of these are currently listed for a snack credit.

Here’s Brooke’s report:
“The waffles were huge. Both sandwiches were full-sized, round waffles, folded in half with the filling in the middle. Think ‘waffle taco.’ While neither sandwich came with any sides, they were more than enough food for a heavy snack or meal. They were served in those tiny baskets, so they were [Read more…]

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Special Disney Holiday Eats and Experiences Page on the DFB