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EPCOT Food & Wine Festival

Category: Animal Kingdom Lodge

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

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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…]

Upcoming Disney World Menu Changes: Rose & Crown, Beaches & Cream, and Sanaa

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We’ve had a couple of menu update reports from friends of the Food Blog over the past couple of days! Here’s what we’re finding out…

Rose & Crown Restaurant

A new lunch menu started September 14th at the Rose & Crown in Epcot’s United Kingdom.

New Rose and Crown Menu - click for larger version

Thanks to @scarlettashley1 for the breaking-news tweet!

Sanaa

Over at Animal Kingdom Lodge’s Kidani Village, Sanaa will update its menu slightly this Fall. Our source isn’t sure of all the new details, but Sanaa will likely add [Read more…]

Top 10 Disney World Bars and Lounges

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South African Wine at Jiko

When it comes to a happy hour beverage, a night out with your spouse or some friends, or — let’s face it — a margarita at the stroke of noon…there are a few spots in Walt Disney World that get the job done better than others!

FYI — The Disney Food Blog offers a full list of bars and lounges — complete with descriptions of each place — in our DFB Guide to Walt Disney World Dining e-Book.

Now, let’s take a tour of our Top Ten Disney World bars and lounges — these are the places that really make us want to get up and dance. 😉

Don’t forget to check out our list of Honorable Mentions at the end! Many of these spots offer the standard Disney Parks bar and lounge menu should you be interested.

Top Ten WDW Bars and Lounges

Top Ten Walt Disney World Bars and Lounges

1. Trader Sam’s Grog Grotto and Tiki Terrace

We were so excited when Trader Sam’s came to the east coast, and it has proved itself to be every bit as fun and exciting as its Disneyland counterpart. Located at Polynesian Village Resort, Trader Sam’s transports you to the tropics and slings some funky attitude along with its awesome drinks. Step into the whacky Grog Grotto, where some of the drinks come with a show.
[Read more…]

Disney Food Post Round-Up: August 14, 2011

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We’re jetting off to Disneyland later this week for the D23 Expo, and we’ll be sharing all the updates and details! Follow along here on the Disney Food Blog, on Facebook, and twitter as we bring you news from California!

Latest Disney Food News

DFB Guide and Mini-Guides

We’re eagerly anticipating our brand new Disney Food Blog Mini-Guide to the 2011 Epcot Food & Wine Festival e-Book — now topping out at over 125 pages — which will be available within the next day or two!

In the meantime, check out our 250-page DFB Guide to Walt Disney World Dining e-Book and our new 85-page Disney Food Blog Mini-Guide to Magic Kingdom Snacks e-Book! They can both be downloaded to your computer and loaded onto your iPad or smartphone for easy transport and access in the parks!

On to the Round-Up!

WDW for Grown-ups

highlights a brand new event at the Epcot International Food & Wine Festival — the “Best of Bocuse” dinner!

Disney by Mark shows us a Disneyland automated food service, the StratoSnak, that never happened. Reminds me of my much-desired automat…

Gorillas Don’t Blog spots alcohol at the Golden Horseshoe in the Magic Kingdom. Or does he? Take a look!

Main Street Gazette takes us to my one of my favorite breakfast locations — Boma!

WESH.com featured a story by yours truly showcasing our top five new additions to the Epcot International Food and Wine Festival.

Magical Kingdoms shows us how one very creative mom made a Cinderella Coach cake for her daughter’s birthday. Impressive!

Review: Sanaa at Animal Kingdom Lodge

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Learn About:Sanaa
Animal Kingdom Lodge
Disney World Restaurants

Found at Disney World’s Animal Kingdom Lodge, Sanaa is a full-service restaurant offering fantastic meals with Indian and African influences.

From the floor-to-ceiling windows of the restaurant, guests have a fantastic view of the safari animals on the Sunset Savanna, meaning you’ll have a stellar show of zebra, giraffe, African birds, and several other breathtaking animals.

And while the animal viewing is a great draw for Sanaa’s guests, the interesting menu, food quality, and great service will surely bring them back time and time again. And the new test-phase of the Dine with an Animal Specialist program is surely going to bring plenty of folks to Sanaa!

Atmosphere

Sanaa is located in Kidani Village, which is the Disney Vacation Club Villas section of Animal Kingdom Lodge. It sits next door to Jambo House, the main and original part of the Lodge.

Outside of Sanaa

A major complaint about Sanaa is its distance from the parks and other resort hotels in Disney World — you will have to use a Disney Transport bus, your own car, or a taxi to get here — but with all of the great [Read more…]

Disney Food Post Round-Up: July 31, 2011

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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!

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!

Guest Review: Coronado Springs Resort’s Pepper Market

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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 Post Round-Up: July 24, 2011

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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!

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!

WDW Foodie Fest “Snack Attack” Special Event Tickets On Sale Now

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THIS EVENT IS NOW SOLD OUT. We hope you’ll come see us at other WDW Foodie Fest events the first week of October — check out our schedule of events here! Thank you!

The Disney Food Blog and WDW Foodie Fest are not affiliated with the Walt Disney Company.

________________________________________________

Great news!! Tickets now on sale for the Disney Food Blog’s Snack Attack, Featuring DFB Favorites!

Join me on October 4th at 8:30pm for Snack Attack, a new WDW Foodie Fest event combining some of your favorite Disney World snacks and an incredible view of IllumiNations: Reflections of Earth in Epcot!

And when I say “favorites,” I mean it! No boring, bite-sized desserts here! You’ve never seen a dessert party like this!

What’s the Snack Attack?

The Snack Attack, Featuring DFB Favorites is a dessert and fireworks party that will be held on a private terrace at the United Kingdom pavilion, and DFB has worked with Disney to provide a unique menu for our readers. Savor all of your favorite Disney snacks brought together in the same spot for one magical night! The dessert buffet will include our favorites:

Starring Rolls’ Butterfinger Cupcakes
Classic Disney Popcorn
Animal Kingdom Lodge Zebra Domes
Mickey Ice Cream Bars
Norway’s School Bread
Writer’s Stop’s Carrot Cake Cookies
Boardwalk Bakery’s Cheesecake Brownies
Starring Rolls’ Red Velvet Cheesecake Cupcakes
And MORE!

While our DFB readers will certainly appreciate the one-of-a-kind menu, you’ll also be able to relax and enjoy an awe-inspiring view of IllumiNations: Reflections of Earth, Epcot’s outstanding fireworks spectacular! No worries about where to locate your seat around World Showcase Lagoon. We’ll be sipping and noshing in our own private space!

IllumiNations: Reflections of Earth

Tickets are $40 per person (kids and adults) and include:
*Entrance to the event
*Access to the specialized menu dessert buffet
*Access to the private IllumiNations: Reflections of Earth viewing area
Families are welcome! Each member of your party will need a ticket for entry, regardless of age.

Add to Cart

Only ticketed guests with their full names on our roster will be admitted to the event, so please pay attention to the instructions you receive after purchasing your tickets. Tickets are limited to 100 and will be sold first-come, first-served. Should the event be sold out, you can join our waiting list by emailing us at Support @ DFBGuide.com.

About WDW Foodie Fest

WDW Foodie Fest is a gathering of Disney Food fans in Walt Disney World during the opening week of the Epcot Food and Wine Festival. Currently there are four events scheduled during WDW Foodie Fest, and there may be more to come! You can see the WDW Foodie Fest schedule of events here! In addition to the October 4th event, we’d love to see you at the WDW Foodie Fest Main Event on October 2nd!

Special thanks to our 2011 Foodie Fest Sponsors!

MEI Mousefan Travel

Raglan Road Restaurant and Pub and Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin Food and Wine Classic

Please note that the event ticket price goes toward paying the costs for the event: space rental, specialty food and beverage costs, event staffing, etc.

Disney Food Post Round-Up: July 3, 2011

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Happy July 4th weekend! We hope everyone is enjoying a wonderful weekend no matter where you are! Be safe, and if you’re in a Disney park or resort and eating something wonderful, let us know!

Also, here’s a fun tip for this weekend: Disney Food Blog t-shirts are 17.76% off through Monday over at the Disney Food Blog Store! Just use code: LANDOFTHETEE at check-out! 🙂

One of our personal favorites is that I <3 Mickey Bars shirt to the right, but there are plenty of styles that will fit everyone’s taste, including Disney Food Blog logo shirts.

Latest Disney Food News

Check out the latest!

I also want to let you know that our very first Disney Food Blog Mini-Guide is right around the corner! It should be available very soon, so stay tuned!

Until then, if you don’t already have a copy of our 250-page Disney Food Blog Guide to Walt Disney World Dining e-Book, you can get yours right here! Click the link for reviews, testimonials, sample pages, Bonus gifts, and more!

2011 Epcot Food and Wine Festival News

We have continuously updated, in-depth coverage of the 2011 Epcot Food and Wine Festival here!

This week, Raglan Road announced its Signature Dinner, which will take place on October 18th!

Now, On to the Round-Up!

WDW for Grown-Ups

discusses healthy eating options at WDW.

Stuff From the Park shows us Mickey next to a Pepsi machine!

AKL Resort has recommendations for Animal Kingdom Lodge drinks.

Main Street Gazette takes us to Pleasure Island and reviews Raglan Road.

It’s A Dramaful Life gives us a personal look at the Dine With An Imagineer program including the menu and keepsake gifts.

Disney Parks Blog highlights an exclusive bottle of Cognac delivered to the Disney Dream via limo!

DisneyTouristBlog offers a glimpse of Club 33, complete with his outstanding brand of photography.

Touring Plans demonstrates how you can stop for breakfast and still stick to a good touring plan!

Have a safe and happy 4th of July, all!

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