The Legend of Artist Point at Disney's Wilderness Lodge

The Legend of Artist Point at Disney’s Wilderness Lodge

Welcome guest author Kevin Carpenter who brings us the back-story of the Wilderness Lodge Resort’s Artist Point. Kevin works in professional soccer and has contributed to Celebrations Magazine and ESPN Cleveland. You can follow him on twitter at @kejcarpenter. Thanks, Kevin, for taking us back in time…

Artist Point at Wilderness Lodge remains one of the most popular destinations for a fine dining experience on Disney property. Whether it is the restaurant’s ambience or famous berry cobbler, guests have flocked to Artist Point since its opening.

Yet few know Disney’s “official” backstory for the resort’s flagship dining establishment. The stories that WDW creates around its restaurants, hotels, and attractions help establish the extraordinary attention to detail that is the foundation of these well-known areas of Disney World.

Disney's Wilderness Lodge

During Wilderness Lodge’s first few years, all guests would receive a copy of the Silver Creek Star newspaper upon check-in. While this newspaper included information on the resort and various guest amenities, a closer read reveals its true treasure: the Disney-created mythology behind the Wilderness Lodge and, for our purposes, Artist Point.

Wilderness Lodge and Artist Point both officially opened in 1994, but that is not how the Silver Creek Star remembers it…

The Silver Creek Star

The History of Artist Point

Filled with inspiration by the stories of Lewis and Clark, Colonel Ezekiel Moreland set out for the American West in 1822. On his travels, the Colonel made a discovery that would change his life forever: Silver Creek Springs. His prize, a valley full of unrivaled natural splendor, would eventually house the Wilderness Lodge.

The Colonel quickly sent for his daughter to join him at the new settlement. Genevieve Moreland, known to her friends as Jenny, worked back east as an art curator before receiving her father’s summons into the wilderness. Prior to her departure, though, Jenny met Frederich Alonzo Gustaf, the man for whom Artist Point would one day be named. A young Austrian artist, Gustaf dreamed of capturing the majesty of America’s West on his canvas and so joined [Read more…]

News: Tusker House Announces New Character Lunch Starting December 4

By Kim LaPaglia 25 Comments

Jambo! I just love when a new character meal is added to our Disney World dining options! Tusker House Restaurant in the Animal Kingdom’s Harambe area will begin offering character lunches on December 4th!

Donald and Daisy Duck are taking on extra hours as Donald’s Safari Breakfast will still be offered daily!

Donald Duck announces new lunch!

Donald’s Dining Safari Lunch will be hosted by Donald and Daisy Duck while guests sample delicious all-you-can-eat spit-roasted meats, unique salads, vegetarian options, hearty stews and [Read more…]

Top 10 Disney World Bars and Lounges

By AJ 68 Comments

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

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 Pics of the Week: Restaurant Atmosphere

By Kim LaPaglia 3 Comments

The pictures that we’ve received at the Disney Food Blog Photo Extravaganza are decadent! We love looking at your foodie photos — thanks for submitting them to the group!

The Disney Food Pics of the Week this week feature restaurant atmosphere. It’s more than their real estate that makes these places special. Sometimes the atmosphere even outshines the food!

It’s always a starry night inside Epcot’s Mexico pavilion where San Angel Inn serves delicious cuisine. Ask for a water-side table for extra romance or to allow kids to wave to the boats floating by!
Photographer: Mi-Wu / Malima Wolf

: San Angel Inn

Via Napoli is located in Epcot’s World Showcase. Stroll the Italy pavilion before making your way to Via Napoli for a [Read more…]

Review: Disneyland’s Club 33 (Part 2 of 2)

By AJ 21 Comments

After touring the history, mystery, and myth of Disneyland’s Club 33 in Part 1 yesterday, I hope you’ve worked up an appetite!

Join us at Club 33

Let’s dive into the food at Club 33 lunch! (Heather will be around with a Club 33 Dinner Review in a few weeks!)

Eats

We left you in our post yesterday as we were taking our seats at the table in the Main Dining Room. After we sat down, we were [Read more…]

Recipe: Breakfast Risotto from Oscar’s at the Waldorf Astoria Orlando

By AJ Leave a Comment

Oscar’s Restaurant in the Waldorf Astoria Orlando — a truly incredible luxury resort located within the gates of Walt Disney World (The beds! You have to see the beds!) — serves this amazing Breakfast Risotto each morning!

As one of the most requested items on the menu, the Breakfast Risotto requires hours to make and ingredients that aren’t easy to locate. While this recipe will require patience, the tasty risotto is worth the effort (trust me; I’ve tried it). So, let’s get cookin’!

Oscar's Breakfast Risotto

Ingredients: [Read more…]

Review: Disneyland’s Club 33 (Part 1 of 2)

By AJ 25 Comments

As one who writes about Disney food, I’m so pleased to finally bring you my own personal review of what many consider to be the Mecca for Disney food-lovers — Club 33 in Disneyland Park.

Club 33 Sign

Seeing as I had over 100 photos to share with you (taken by myself and Ms. Heather Sievers), and that the history and atmosphere of Club 33 are almost as important as the actual food served here, I wanted to split this post up into two separate parts. Today, we’ll walk through the Club from the mysterious doorbell to the Trophy Room, and all the way to the main Dining Room and balconies. And of course we’ll take a side trip to the restroom…

In tomorrow’s post, we’ll focus on the food, beverages, and even a special birthday surprise!

History of Club 33

You’ve all heard the myths and stories about this exclusive restaurant tucked into an unassuming address on 33 Royal Street in Disneyland’s New Orleans Square. Walt himself describes his vision for New Orleans Square in this video…

It was designed by Walt and a shortlist of hand-picked experts to be a quiet and tranquil location for important business meetings and meals, and a place for Walt to entertain friends and visiting VIPs without leaving the park.

Club 33 Bar Area

The restaurant was outfitted in the finest period antiques, lush fabrics and decor, original artwork and concept art created by Disney Imagineers, and authentic props from Disney films. And, of course, there were a few Disney touches that you wouldn’t expect to find anywhere else — like microphones hidden in the chandeliers and an audio-animatronic vulture who was meant to interact with guests!

What many people don’t realize is that Walt passed away before he was able to use Club 33 for its intended purpose. You can see the full history of the Club, including a few special secrets, in this history sheet… .

History of Club 33 - click image for larger version

But the secrets don’t stop here! We actually had the opportunity to speak with a few cast members at Club 33 who shared a more interesting facts with us…read on! [Read more…]

80% Discount on Disney World Restaurant Gift Certificates — Limited Time

By AJ 2 Comments

Great news! Restaurant.com is offering an 80% discount on many Disney World and Orlando Restaurant gift certificates purchased through September 7th. This means you can get $25 gift certificates for $2 each! Simply use code RDCSale in the discount code box at check-out.

You can see details about Restaurant.com and check out which Disney World-area restaurants are included in the program on our Restaurant.com gift certificate program page.

Here’s how it works:

Step 1: [Read more…]

Guest Review: ‘AMA ‘AMA Beachside Restaurant at Disney’s Aulani Resort

By AJ 14 Comments

We’re so excited to have a review of Disney’s Aulani Resort’s premier restaurant just a few days after its opening! Mark Hickson is a Disney fan, a former Disney Imagineer, and a Hawai’i resident and food blogger (among many other things). We’re honored to share this article with our readers. Thanks, Mark!

'Ama 'Ama Beachside Restaurant

So the resort has been open for five days now and I thought it would be the perfect time to dine in the resort’s signature restaurant, ‘AMA ‘AMA. The restaurant is named after the tasty mullet fish ʻamaʻama that us locals enjoy.

Atmosphere

The setting is an open air thatched roof fishing shack and a minimalist fishing factory with concrete pillars and a large fish holding tanks complete with pipeline and spigot. Of all the beautiful facilities at Aulani Resort this place’s theme is the only one that doesn’t work.

Our reservations were for 5:30pm and my wife and I were seated directly. Unfortunately since it is an open air dining area (no walls), the sun was low enough to shine in so it was very bright and hot at our table. In retrospect I would wait until sunset to be seated.

Eats

Take a look at the official ‘AMA ‘AMA menus below:

click image for larger version

For drinks I ordered a Pineapple Papaya Cosmo. It was fun, tropical and fresh with a light foam on top. Good enough to order a second, which I did! My wife’s coffee was [Read more…]

Jim Korkis on Walt’s Favorite Foods

By AJ 2 Comments

Bread Pudding from Main Street Bakery

Jim Korkis has a great article over on MousePlanet about Walt Disney’s favorite foods, including some great recipes.

The Disney’s family cook prepared a dessert every night. Walt’s other favorites included Apple Brown Betty, custards, bread pudding, baked apples, red Jell-O with fruit, lemon snow pudding, and lemon chiffon with a graham cracker crust. He liked Gingerbread and another type of cookie made with chow mein noodles and melted butterscotch.

This article should be on your must read list!

Read it in its entirety here.

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