Epcot Food and Wine Festival Food Pictures: Ireland and France Booths

It’s time for more 2011 Epcot Food and Wine Festival booth food pictures! Today we’re headed to two more popular booths: France and Ireland!

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.

Ireland
Ireland has long been one of the most beloved booths at the festival. This year, the Kerrygold Cheeses return, along with the famed Fisherman’s Pie and the Lava Cake!

Kerrygold® Cheese Selection (Aged-Irish Cheddar, Dubliner and Ivernia Cheese) with apple chutney and brown bread -– $3.50

Everytime I passed by this booth I could smell this buttery, delicious pie! Don’t forget — you can get it with a snack credit on the Disney Dining Plan!

Lobster and Scallop Fisherman’s Pie–$5.75

This Lava Cake was a true winner again this year! It was my first “bite” after running the [Read more…]

New Boneless Chicken Wings at Mr. Kamal’s and Frozen Drinks at the Animal Kingdom

By AJ 11 Comments

As I was slogging through the rain at the Animal Kingdom in Disney World last Saturday, I was starving.

Let me say — I’m rarely starving in Disney World. I usually book two or three meals per day, so my stomach doesn’t get much of a break. But last Saturday I hadn’t eaten a thing, it was going on 2pm, and I was on a mission to get pics of a new cupcake (post coming soon!), so didn’t have time to stop into a counter-service joint and battle the lines.

Introducing…the Animal Kingdom “Boneless Chicken Wings!”

So just when I was resigned to having zero sustenance, I came upon Mr. Kamal’s:

Boneless Wings Ahoy!

If you voted in our Corn Dog Nuggets VS. Spring Rolls post last year, you know that this little shack on the route between Africa and Asia in Disney’s Animal Kingdom used to serve Corn Dog Nuggets.

These days, however, it’s purely a new menu of “boneless chicken wings,” which are pretty much chicken nuggets as far as I can tell!

Chicken Nuggets Take Over for Corn Dog Nuggets

I chose to sample the Teriyaki “wings” on this very rainy day, and let me tell you — they were [Read more…]

New Credit Card Guarantee Requirements and Technology Affect Disney Dining Reservations

By AJ 53 Comments

Chef Mickey's Cracking Down on Skipping Reservations

UPDATE: See bottom of post for some FAQs and answers via a Disney Dining Phone representative.

In the past several weeks, Disney has instituted a few new technologies and requirements to better regulate the Disney World Dining Reservations Systems. These are largely being put into place to deter the ever-increasing practices of double-booking dining reservations, or simply skipping reservations without canceling them.

Double-booking and skipping reservations in restaurants that fill up six months in advance means that a large percentage of dining reservations are not being used, which, in turn, means that fewer guests are able to dine at these locations, and less money is made in each restaurant.

To improve this process, Disney has (or will be) instituting three new practices:

Mandatory Credit Card Guarantees on Signature and Character Dining Location Reservations
Reservation Reminder Emails
Disallowing Double-Bookings

Credit Card Guarantees Required for Signature and Character Dining Locations Starting October 26th

In order to deter skipped reservations at Disney’s most expensive and popular properties, Disney will begin requiring credit card guarantees on many restaurants beginning October 26th, 2011.

What does this mean for us as guests? Basically, you’ll be required to give a valid credit card number in order to make your reservation for these popular dining spots. No money will be charged to your card at the time of booking (unless the location is a pre-pay meal). However, should you neglect to cancel a credit card guarantee reservation within the allotted timeline (usually 24 hours prior to the meal), a $10 surcharge — per person — will be charged to the card.

California Grill Cancellation Policy Warning

Starting October 26, 2011, the following restaurants will require the credit card guarantee: [Read more…]

Review: Epcot Food and Wine Festival Beer and Pizza Tasting Event

By AJ 11 Comments

Beer lovers beware! Beer and Pizza Tastings at Via Napoli in Epcot’s Italy is a new event being offered at this year’s 2011 Epcot Food and Wine Festival!

We got a chance to head to the very first one last week, and we really enjoyed ourselves! Here are the specs on these new-this-year events:

When: Tuesdays from 2-4pm
Where: Via Napoli, Italy, Epcot
Pricing: $50, plus tax. Gratuity included.

All beers

Atmosphere

We checked in for this event at the regular podium at Via Napoli and were then escorted into the side room at the restaurant (the side room had recently been enclosed — it was all open to the elements last year when the [Read more…]

Disney Fall Food Pins Preview: Food & Wine, Gingerbread Houses, and More

By Kim LaPaglia 3 Comments

We’re always happy to see new food pins! Thanks to Cody Smith at Global Disney Pinvestigation for sharing this great preview with us from the Florida Project Pin Previews!

This first group of pins was introduced at the 2011 Epcot Food and Wine Festival:

Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, and Donald with menus. $44.95

Food and Wine Pins

Food and Wine pins

Disney Parks will offer these pins as online exclusive merchandise. Check out the Disney characters eating favorite Disney food for a fun mini-set!

Disney Parks food pins

Characters put the finishing touches on holiday Gingerbread decorations and chocolate displays for the Disney Cruise Line ships (Magic, Wonder, Dream), Grand Floridian, Contemporary, Beach Club, Yacht Club, and Boardwalk! Can’t wait to see these in just a couple of [Read more…]

Disney Food Trend: Popcorn on the Menu!

By AJ 16 Comments

Sure, you expect to see Popcorn in Walt Disney World! It’s all over the place, from Main Street to Dinoland and back again!

BUT, you don’t often expect to see popcorn hitting the menu at some of Disney’s signature restaurants and lounges. I’m kind of excited to note that’s exactly what’s happening!

Three of my favorite dining locations in Disney World are featuring popcorn on their menus, and I’m sure they’re not the only ones! Let’s check it out…

Flying Fish Cafe

Over at Flying Fish on Disney’s Boardwalk, popcorn takes center stage on a new dessert trio called “Out on the Boardwalk,” featuring a twist on treats you might find ocean-side.

From the Flying Fish Dessert Menu

This dessert comes to the table like this:

Out on the Boardwalk Dessert Trio at Flying Fish Cafe

And the popcorn mousse is delicious. It doesn’t have a strong “popcorn jelly belly” kind of taste; instead, it’s more caramel-like in flavor, with rich, buttery undertones.

Popcorn Mousse and Caramel Corn

This dessert is extremely fun, but I’ll warn you [Read more…]

Epcot Food and Wine Festival Food Pictures: Canada and Australia Booths

By AJ 9 Comments

It’s time for more 2011 Epcot Food and Wine Festival booth food pictures! Today we’re headed to two of the most popular booths at the Festival — Canada and Australia!

Australia

Australia brings back the favored lamb chop for the third year in a row, pairing it this time with a potato-goat cheese salad, which is quite good! A fun flavor and great texture. Again, the lamb deserves all of the accolades it’s getting.

Grilled Lamb Chop with Potato-Goat Cheese Salad and Shiraz Reduction -– $5.75

A surprise winner for me at the festival this year was the Shrimp on the Barbie with Pepper Berry Citrus Glaze. The shrimp were very well-cooked and I really enjoyed the (more spicy than I expected) glaze!! Great flavor on these.

Shrimp on the Barbie with Pepper Berry Citrus Glaze -– $4.50

And, again, the Lamington is a fantastic dessert. Offering three different textures and flavors — moist sponge cake, rich chocolate ganache, and coconut — it’s like eating a [Read more…]

Review: Le Cellier’s New Lunch Menu

By AJ 28 Comments

Learn About:Le Cellier Steakhouse

Epcot Restaurants
Disney World Restaurants

We stopped by Le Cellier in Canada last week to sample the lunch menu, which has been tweaked yet again!

But more than just the menu, there were a few other surprises in store for us at Le Cellier as well! There’s a new martini flight, the desserts have been changed up a bit, and…believe it or not…the bread has changed!!

Let’s take a look…