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EPCOT Food & Wine Festival

News! Tables in Wonderland Membership Price Increase

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Tables in Wonderland

, the Walt Disney World discount dining program, just got costlier! Prices were raised by $25 this week to $125 for Florida Residents and $100 for Annual/Seasonal Passholders and Disney Vacation Club Members.

Tables in Wonderland Membership Card

The membership provides a 20% discount on food and beverages (including alcohol) at most restaurants and lounges in Walt Disney World parks and hotels.

Worth The Price?

Even with the price increase, I still think this is a great deal. With 20% off of most of your dining costs in Disney World, the card quickly pays for itself if you dine table-service often, and if you visit Disney World regularly.

Also, the card can be used at several counter service locations as well; check TablesinWonderland.com for an updated list of participating locations.

Note the addition of new restaurants such as Landscape of Flavors Food Court at the Art of Animation Resort and Be Our Guest Restaurant at the Magic Kingdom. Be Our Guest Restaurant, however, only [Read more…]

Guest Review: Packaged Snacks at Mitsukoshi in Epcot’s Japan Pavilion

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Welcome guest author Eric (aka Galloping Gourmand) with a review of traditional snacks from the Japan Pavilion in Disney World’s Epcot! And let’s give him a round of applause for going beyond our favorite Pocky sticks and trying the more unique eats too!

Tucked way in the back of the Japanese pavilion at Epcot, through the heavy doors, over the bridge, and beyond the display of toys… in the left hand wing of the back of Mitsukoshi Department Store lies a little food shop.

Mitsukoshi - Exterior of Store

Atmosphere

Most Epcot pavilions have these areas. They are often dedicated to regional foods and candies.

Most of the Japanese store is like this. You can find tea and many different candies; but tucked in the very back of the store is some of the more unusual fare.

The shelves are usually surrounded by gawkers walking by and saying “I don’t think I would eat that,” or, as one person said while I was browsing… “ewwwwwwwww.”

They said that after picking up these little guys:

Dried Crabs

Eats

But more about them later. My goal was to buy and sample some of the interesting foods and candies. A young woman who had spent some time in Japan and was browsing the food became my helpful guide. She suggested I try these:

Rice Crackers

The package calls them Iso Maki, although I couldn’t tell you if that was the actual Japanese name.

Maki is a type of sushi roll that includes seaweed nori rolled around rice. Here, it’s a rice cracker rolled with a small piece of seaweed.

The ingredient list is very short and healthy: rice, soy sauce, seaweed, sugar, and tapioca starch. With such a simple list it has to live and die by how well its flavors work together and the quality of the cracker.

You can taste each and every ingredient. The cracker is hearty and quite substantial for a rice cracker. The seaweed wrap gives it a nice light fishy flavor. When you take a bite, the fishy flavor is what you get first, then a light hint of soy sauce, followed by the slightly sweet cracker. Note: This picture was difficult to take because my cat kept trying to lick the cracker! 😉

Rice Cracker

They were very good, but you have to like the fishy seaweed flavor, which lingers a little on your palate. And I do. In fact I liked them so much they almost derailed my taste test because I couldn’t stop snacking!

Next up was this Rice Candy. Again, a very simple ingredient list: glucose syrup, sugar, sweet rice, lemon flavor, orange flavor, and red no. 40. I’m surprised how few artificial ingredients there are in these foods compared to American ones.

It’s very mushy and sticky; to eat it you unwrap the outer wrapper and eat the inner wrapper.

Botan Rice Candy

At first the cellophane-y feel of the internal wrapper was strange, and I wondered if I had eaten it wrong; but as it dissolved it was very [Read more…]

Disney Gift Guide: Save an Additional 15% on Fun Disney Food Gifts!

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Ho Ho Ho, everyone! Do you have all of your Christmas shopping finished yet? What about your decorating?

If the answer is NO, I have some great news. We bumped our regular Friday gift guide to Monday this week because The Disney Store online is having a terrific sale, TODAY ONLY! You’ll receive 15% off your total order — store-wide — plus free shipping on $75 or more with promo code MAGICAL.

So, to celebrate saving money, we’ve put together some fun Disney food finds for your favorite friends! (Remember, the discount is store-wide, so these are just our suggestions. ;-D)

Delicious Disney Cookbook

When your attention turns away from decking the halls and back to the kitchen, we have a few gifts that will be perfect for your favorite Disney food fan who’d like to bring the magic home.

For the gourmet, check out Delicious Disney Cookbook. Perfect for your friend who likes to try their hand at the yummy restaurant recipes found throughout Disney.

Delicious Disney Cookbook

Personalizable Mickey Mouse Kitchen Towel

If you’re looking for something that friends can use year-round, check out the Mickey Mouse Kitchen Towel. And it’s personalizable — perfect for the friends who just moved into that new house, or just got married!

Red Mickey Mouse Kitchen Towel -- Personalizable -- Available in Red

Light Up Disney Village “Mickey’s Ice Cream Shop” by Dept. 56

Here’s a fun, unique Disney touch for your coffee table or under the tree. Check out this Light Up Disney Village “Mickey’s Ice Cream Shop” by Dept. 56. A perfect addition to your holiday village.

Vinylmation Jingle Smells 2 Series Ornaments

Some serious cute — and cool! That’s what I think of the [Read more…]

Review: New Menu at Beaches and Cream in Disney’s Beach Club Resort

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Recently, we told you about about a new menu at one of my very favorite spots in all of Disney World: Beaches and Cream at Disney’s Beach Club Resort.

Learn About:Beaches and Cream
Disney World Restaurants

With so many loyal fans, many of you expressed concern for the changes and wondered if the new options would measure up. I was right there with you! So does Beaches and Cream still rate as THE place to go for burgers and sundaes at Walt Disney World?

Time to find out! We headed over ASAP to try out the new menu…

Atmosphere

Walk into Beaches and Cream, and you’ll feel that you just traveled back in time to that beach side soda fountain of family vacations gone by. From the tall and frosty Orange Sunshine to the flavored cokes, this place will definitely bring back memories.

Don’t you love the beach balls decorating the booths? They’re a completely awesome pop of color and immediately make me smile every time I see them.

Seating and Beach Balls!

Seating is comfortable (snag one of the three booths if you can!). And don’t forget to check out the ice cream cone-shaped lights…

Seating -- Up Close

Pastel musical notes and beach towels romp alongside some of the fun dishes served at the restaurant in this colorful mural.

Mirrored glass shelves host a collection of Coca Cola in glass bottles, as well as an impressive array of glassware. This is a great reminder that you can still get your “soda pop” as a fountain drink, or in a cool “nostalgia bottle.”

Murals and Vintage Coca Cola Bottles

It’s always fun to [Read more…]

Disney Food Post Round-Up: December 2, 2012

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Tis the season for holiday treats and this week, we shared some goodies from Disney’s Hollywood Studios!

Disney Dining News

Here’s some of the big Disney Dining news this week…

  • Try out some of the new holiday treats at Disney’s Hollywood Studios in Walt Disney World this year!
  • Two new, temporary kiosks have opened up in Downtown Disney in Walt Disney World to feed hungry guests during the busy holiday season. These feature some bestselling items from the 2012 Epcot Food and Wine Festival!
  • Disney is rolling out The Mickey Check on menus at counter service and table service restaurants at Walt Disney World and Disneyland Resort in an effort to help parents and children make smart decisions at meal time!

We’ve got additional food news, including Gingerbread Creations at Disney California Adventure, Sushi Chef Yoshie Cabral at California Grill, New Epcot Snack Kiosk, New Name for Bistro de Paris, New Menu Item at Studios Catering Company, Refillable Mug Price Increase at Walt Disney World Resorts, and LOTS more, on our Disney Food News Pin Board! Head over and check it out!

DFB Reader Finds

If you find a fun new food in or from Disney, share a photo with us so we can add it to our DFB Reader Finds each Sunday!

Reader @Beccaaa_Ellis shared a cinnamon roll from Gaston’s Tavern with the remark “it’s totally worth it”!

Gaston's Tavern Cinnamon Roll

We love this photo collage from Disneyland’s Thanksgiving Feast courtesy of Charina Rubin on facebook! (Check out our review of the Disneyland Thanksgiving Feast here!)

Disneyland Thanksgiving Buffet

DFB Guide to the Walt Disney World® Holidays 2012 e-Book

Don’t forget to grab your the DFB Guide to the Walt Disney World® Holidays 2012 e-Book before heading to Disney World this holiday season!

The DFB Guide to the Walt Disney World Holidays 2012 e-Book features 230 pages of information, including NEW events and holiday happenings; over 200 photos; and an informative FAQ section. It includes:

  • Detailed descriptions and photos of all holiday events and activities happening at the parks and resorts this year!
  • A fully comprehensive holiday dining section with listings of holiday snacks, treats, meals, and menu items offered this year.
  • A clickable 3-Month Schedule of Holiday Events so you can see at-a-glance what looks interesting to you.
  • Our recommendations on ways to SAVE while you’re in Disney World this holiday season.
  • And more!

As always, we’ve made this guide instantly downloadable for your convenience. It’s easily installed on your mobile devices like smartphones and tablets.

We want to celebrate the holidays with a bargain – get $3 off the purchase price for the e-Book TODAY! Order your copy now for only $11.95 (regularly $14.95). To secure the discount, use code HOLIDAY at the check-out. Click here to get your copy.

Still wondering if the guide is for you? Check out this review by Running at Disney which exclaims “Looking for your favorite holiday treats in the parks? Need that egg nog fix after a long day of touring? This is your go to source to find them!” DFB thanks Running At Disney for the glowing review!

And if you want another GREAT deal, snap up our DFB Holiday Bundle! This includes the DFB Guide to the Walt Disney World Holidays AND our original DFB Guide to Walt Disney World Dining 2012! With a 100% 30-day, money-back guarantee on all of our guides, you have nothing to lose! 🙂

On to the Round-Up

Walt Disney World for Grown Ups

stops by the Gurgling Suitcase bar at Old Key West in Walt Disney World.

Mouse on the Mind heads to the new Big Top Treats at Storybook Circus in the New Fantasyland.

PopCenturySite.com goes over the bridge to the Art of Animation Resort’s Landscape of Flavors food court.

Changing Latitudes reviews Storyteller’s Cafe, and Carthay Circle, Cozy Cones, and Paradise Garden Grill at Disneyland.

Disney History shares a letter written by Walt with a photo of Walt and Lily peeling peaches.

Main Street Gazette enjoys the sips and tastes at Tutto Gusto in Epcot’s Italy pavilion. Love the cheese plates!

Yesterland shares his thoughts on culinary demos at Epcot’s Food and Wine Festival.

See ya real soon!

Money-Saving Tip: The “No Kids Meal Challenge”

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Let’s welcome back guest author Katie Drake with an interesting food challenge: saving cash by NOT ordering kids’ meals! Sounds counter-intuitive? Read on…

The Kids’ Meal Dilemma

Tell me I’m not the only parent this has happened to: you sit down for lunch, and instead of eating their chicken nuggets and apple sauce, your child is eager to get moving to the next ride.

So you and your spouse pick at the nuggets, eventually throwing most of the meal away. And 30 minutes after lunch is done, you hear the dreaded whine: “I’m hungry.”

No Kids Meal Challenge

The No Kids Meal Challenge at Walt Disney World

I’m not a plate cleaner myself, but I do hate seeing so much food – and money – go to waste. So on our recent trip to Disneyland and Disney California Adventure, our group of three families agreed to a challenge: no kids meals.

Instead, the three sets of parents would share their meals with the five kids in the group, supplementing with snacks if we were still hungry.

We figured this would save us some cash, result in less food being thrown away, and leave more room in our tummies for the Mickey-shaped pretzels and Dole Whips we always seem to buy anyway.

No Kids Meals Group

We figured this would work:

  1. because Disney’s portions are generally pretty big,
  2. our kids are still fairly small (ranging in age from one to five years old),
  3. we’re never actually hungry in the parks anyway since there is so much good stuff to eat by way of snacks.

Always prepared, the moms did supplement our meals a bit. String cheese, juice boxes, crackers, apple sauce, and fruit snacks all made their way into the parks with us, and they were available whenever any child showed the slightest hint of hunger away from a meal or other snack. [Read more…]

Snack Series: Vegetable Barley Soup at Sunshine Seasons in Epcot

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Well, it’s no secret around here that I love soup in Disney World!

Learn About:Sunshine Seasons
Epcot Restaurants
Disney World Restaurants

It’s a filling treat, relatively healthy (well, compared to a cupcake or Mickey Bar, anyway), and pretty cheap most of the time!

And on a recent visit to Sunshine Seasons in Epcot’s The Land pavilion, I found another great option for those of us who are Disney soup-lovers. Here, you’ll often find two kinds of soup: one will always be the Vegetable Barley Soup (vegetarian), and the other will be a seasonal soup!

I decided to try the Vegetable Barley Soup…

Soups of the Day

Since Sunshine Seasons is a cafeteria-style restaurant, simply ask the cast member to dish up a bowl for you at the soup station!

Vegetable Soup

As you can see, it’s served with a crisp bread accompaniment — just enough for dipping! The soup is chock full of veggies, and the broth (unlike some vegetable broth) was very flavorful.

While you might not expect soup to be a #1 Disney snack, sometimes it’s really nice to [Read more…]

Guest Review: Crystal Palace Restaurant in Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom

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Join us in welcoming guest author Katie McFarland with a guest review of the Crystal Palace in Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom!

Learn About:The Crystal Palace
Magic Kingdom
Disney World Restaurants

The Crystal Palace is a restaurant that holds a special place in many Disney fans’ hearts.

For me, it was where I discovered Breakfast Lasagna, had dinner with my husband right before he proposed, and where we ate the very first night of our honeymoon.

For many people this is where they first met Pooh, Eeyore, Tigger, and Piglet.

Atmosphere

The décor is Victorian elegance with a 1904 World’s Fair-feel. It’s “old fashioned” without feeling stuffy, which is probably in direct relation to the enormous amount of windows in this restaurant.

Crystal Palace Signage

They offer wonderful views of Cinderella Castle, Main Street USA, and the entrance to Adventureland (and also lots of ducks if that’s your thing).

Outstanding view from our seat of Cinderella Castle

In addition to the soaring windows, there are stained glass windows all around the restaurant, most notably in the buffet area. And be sure to check out the bathroom – it’s very [Read more…]

News! ‘The Mickey Check’ Introduced at Walt Disney World and Disneyland

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The ability to provide more nutritious meals for your children while on vacation just became a little easier!

Disney has started rolling out The Mickey Check on counter service menus across both Disney World and Disneyland resorts.

The Mickey Check will give parents a recognizable shortcut to identifying meals that meet the Disney Nutrition Guidelines, and expands upon the Disney Magic of Healthy Living initiative. This aims to provide nutritious options and kid-appropriate portions.

The first menu to feature The Mickey Check is the brand new Be Our Guest Restaurant lunch menu, which will feature a counter service format.

Kid's Menu at Be Our Guest will Feature the New Mickey Check

Following the U.S. Dietary Guidelines for Americans, the Disney Nutrition Guidelines also encourage the limitation of sodium, sugar, and saturated and trans fats.

Turkey Meatloaf at Be Our Guest Restaurant Earns the Mickey Check

To meet these guidelines, meals carrying The Mickey Check must contain at least [Read more…]

Dining in Disneyland: Breakfast at Flo’s V-8 Cafe

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Since it’s one of my new favorite places to grab a quick lunch/dinner at Disney California Adventure, I figured I should probably head over to Flo’s V-8 Cafe to try out some breakfast options as well. I am happy to report that it didn’t disappoint!

Flo's V8 Cafe

Atmosphere

As you walk into Flo’s, you are handed a breakfast menu that includes photos. I actually love that fact that they include pictures of the meals. It makes it so easy to order, especially when you’ve got little ones with you.

I had no problem “selling” the waffles to my boys.  My whole family was with me on this visit, so we made sure to order just about everything on the breakfast menu!

Flo's V8 Picture Menu

When you get up to the counter to order, there’s also a large menu board.

Flo's Breakfast Menu Stand

And I love the juke box and diner style clock that sits there as well…

Jukebox with Diner Style Clock (and me in the chrome - HA!)

This is all of the [Read more…]

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