food IS a theme park
The walls have been up around the Plaza Pavilion for a few months now in preparation for the new Jolly Holiday Bakery, featuring a Mary Poppins theme, on Main Street USA in Disneyland.
Make Way for a Jolly Holiday
Both Carnation Cafe and Blue Ribbon Bakery are scheduled to close on [Read more…]
EDITOR’S NOTE: Please note that High Octane Refreshments closed in early April 2016 to make way for construction of Toy Story Land and Star Wars Land in Disney’s Hollywood Studios.
When I was a kid, my dad and I always celebrated that Thursday was the “day before the day before the weekend!”
I don’t know about you, but this week has taken its sweet time, so I thought we should celebrate this “day before the day before the weekend” with a little happy hour… whaddya think? 😀 So, we’re headed over to Disney’s Hollywood Studios for a visit to a place that a lot of people don’t even know is there — High Octane Refreshments!
High Octane Refreshments
This spot is next to the Studio Catering Company (where you can get your eats), and pretty much blends into the background unless you’re looking for it.
There’s plenty of seating between the two restaurants as well. Unless you’re visiting on a truly busy day, you shouldn’t have to search too hard for a place to plop down. We advise that you take your refreshment to the shaded seating closer to the restaurant. It’s all hot sunshine in front of the bar!
Seating
The Signature drinks here — Stoplight Margarita, Long Island Iced Tea, Grand Margarita, Pina Colada, Rum Runner, and Frozen Golden Margaritas — aren’t necessarily mind-boggling in their creativity, but I can speak from experience that they’re highly enjoyable. Especially the Stoplight Margarita; but more about that later.
First, let’s look through the menu and options… [Read more…]
It’s time for more 2011 Epcot Food and Wine Festival booth food pictures! Today, we’ve got a little “Southern Exposure” as we visit South Korea and South Africa!
As always, if you want to see full coverage of each booth, check out our Epcot Food and Wine Festival Booth Pages! Click on any booth or country name for detailed information, menus, photos, and prices.
South Africa is back in the World Showcase with it’s well-known filet of beef! This year, it’s accompanied by some delicious smashed sweet potatoes and a Braai sauce that’s excellent. I thought this dish was a winner!
Seared Filet of Beef with Smashed Sweet Potatoes and Braai Sauce -- $5.00
New this year is South Africa’s “Bunny Chow,” a veggie curry served in a bread bowl of sorts. This was tops on my list, but it was a fun addition to the booth!
Bunny Chow (Vegetable Curry served in a Bread Loaf) -- $3.25
You can see more pictures, the full menu, and prices on our South Africa Booth Page!
South Korea returns to the festival for its second year, bringing back elements of popular dishes from [Read more…]
While I was researching in Walt Disney World for our DFB Mini-Guide to Magic Kingdom Snacks e-Book last May, I came across…this:
Mickey Gummy
My thoughts on it? Slightly disturbing. And with that milky-fleshy color on Mickey’s face, not very appetizing. It’s along the lines of those [Read more…]
Welcome back Werner Weiss from Yesterland with a review of the Food and Wine Pairing at Tutto Italia that he attended on October 19th! This is one of the Epcot Food & Wine Festival’s popular returning events.
One of the returning premium events for the 2011 Epcot Food & Wine Festival is the Italy Food & Wine Pairing at Tutto Italia. This event is held each Wednesday and Saturday for the six weeks of the Festival from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m. The cost is $65 per person, which includes the gratuity, plus sales tax. Theme park admission is required.
Menu for the Italy Food & Wine Pairing at Tutto Italia on Wednesday October 19, 2011 - click image for larger version
Here’s how Disney’s official Food & Wine Festival website describes the event: “A wine expert joins a manager from Tutto Italia Ristorante to discuss 4 Italian food courses, each paired with a different wine.”
Wine presenter Vincenzo Protti of Paladin Vigne e Vigne
Over the years, the Italy Food & Wine Pairings have developed a reputation as worthwhile premium events and decent values — especially after the Patina Group’s Tutto Italia replaced the previous restaurant at the Italy pavilion, L’ Originale Alfredo di Roma Ristorante.
The event on October 19, 2011, showed that this reputation is well-earned. A [Read more…]
It’s time for more 2011 Epcot Food and Wine Festival booth food pictures! Today we’re headed to two of what I consider to be the “most improved” booths at the festival this year!
As always, if you want to see full coverage of each booth, check out our Epcot Food and Wine Festival Booth Pages! Click on any booth or country name for detailed information, menus, photos, and prices.
The Desserts and Champagne booth was moved from it’s former “booth” location to one of the World Showcase Promenade food kiosks this year, giving it a larger space and a fun new facade!
Desserts and Champagne?
Don’t forget to check out hidden Mickey in the giant champagne glass…
Hidden Mickey
We tasted all three desserts available here at the booth, and they were fabulous! While serving sizes weren’t huge, I enjoyed having three different tastes that made up a good sized “dessert.”
The Lemon Chiffon and Tres Leches Verrine were both very good, but the White Chocolate Macadamia Mousse stole the show here! LOVED it.
Lemon Chiffon, Tres Leches Verrine and White Chocolate Macadamia Mousse with Dark Chocolate Pearls -- $1.50 each
You can see more pictures, the full menu, and prices on our Desserts & Champagne Booth Page!
Last year’s Cheese booth was [Read more…]
One of the newest additions to my home library is Menu Design in America, a lavishly illustrated history of, you guessed it, menu design in America.
This book is a fabulous resource for any student of food history or graphic design, but as a Disney foodie my favorite page is the one dedicated to the commissary breakfast menu at Walt Disney Studios in Burbank, circa 1942.
The grumpy Donald on the cover is a nice comic touch, giving a sense that Disney was a fun place to work right from the start. “Good Morning!,” shouts an unseen lark. “What’s good about it?,” replies Donald. Maybe they were only serving Nescafe 🙂
The menu items are both educational and amusing. Buttermilk as a standard beverage! Coffee for a nickel! Pound cake as a breakfast item! Stewed prunes, my grandma’s favorite!
And I was left with some questions: [Read more…]
My family has been going to Mickey’s Halloween Party at Disneyland every year since it first debuted at California Adventure six years ago for $15 a ticket.
Sleeping Beauty's Castle Glows Orange at Mickey's Halloween Party
The party has evolved over the past several years including a move over to Disneyland two years ago. It’s become bigger, better and more expensive! An amazing fireworks show, Halloween Screams, has been added, more dance areas have been added and even more trick or treat candy stops have been added. Even Space Mountain gets in on the event, transforming the ride to “Ghost Galaxy.”
Space Mountain Ghost Galaxy: Hold on to your hats!
Special events during Mickey’s Halloween Party include two showings of [Read more…]
The 2011 Epcot Food and Wine Festival features more than just eats and sips!
We always love when the Germany miniature train town gets into the spirit of the Festival! This year, the miniature Food and Wine Festival Booths are back in action! See mini versions of the World Showcase Australia, Hops and Barley, Greece, Ireland, and Mexico booths!
Overall View of Train Town
The German train town residents are getting into the swing of things with some pitchers of beer and glasses of wine!
Enjoying Ireland and Mexico Booths
And it wouldn’t be the 2011 Food and Wine Festival without an Ocean Spray Cranberry Bog!
Greece Booth and Cranberry Bog
Over by the Australia booth, folks have gathered for [Read more…]
If you’ve been following our blog for a while, you’ll know how much I love Liberty Tree Tavern in the Magic Kingdom. This is one of my veeeeeeery favorite restaurants to visit for lunch, because it’s simple, good food; usually great service; quick; easy; and relatively inexpensive. It’s consistently in our top 5 Disney restaurants at our house!
But I hadn’t been for dinner in a long time. A really long time. Like, “not in over three years” kind of a long time. So one night during our recent trip to Disney World, we decided on a whim to cancel our current dinner reservation and go to Liberty Tree Tavern. My husband had never been, and I was craving some mac and cheese, so… off to Liberty Square!
Liberty Tree Tavern
When you walk into Liberty Tree Tavern, you can immediately tell that it’s meant to represent colonial days. The wood paneling, candlestick sconces and chandeliers, and thick glass windows along with the absolutely massive cooking fireplace in the lobby make you feel as though you might be in Colonial Williamsburg!
Liberty Tree Tavern Lobby
Table Setting at Liberty Tree Tavern
What you don’t immediately see is some of the best restaurant Imagineering in Disney World as far as I’m concerned. I’ve done an entire post previously about this, but I’ll [Read more…]
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