Changes to Disney World's Online Dining Reservation System

Changes to Disney World’s Online Dining Reservation System

Disney World recently announced a few changes to the online dining reservations system launched last Spring. To book, head over to the DisneyWorld.com website.

Most Noticeable Changes

The front page is now segmented into different dining experiences, including Signature Dining (which cost 2 dining credits on the Disney Dining Plan and are more costly than other restaurants), Character Dining, Most Popular Restaurants, Dinner Shows, and Special Experiences (like the Fantasmic Dinner Package).
The top of the front page now offers you the chance to search for restaurants based on cuisine type, dining experience, location, or restaurant name.
The front page is now a quick-search where you can input dates and times needed without going to the actual reservation page for the individual restaurants. (This is probably the best and most useful improvement, IMHO.)

Here’s a screen shot of the new quick-search system:

Head over and test out the new system! Like? Don’t Like? We’d love to hear your thoughts! 🙂

Guest Review: 1st Anniversary Dinner at California Grill

By AJ 11 Comments

This blog has allowed me to meet so many talented and dynamic individuals, one of whom was kind enough to put together this guest blog about one of my favorite spots, California Grill! Kristen Heptinstall, of Southern Web Girl, visited the Contemporary Resort’s top floor with her husband a while back. Take it away, Kristen!

Hi! I’m Kristen. My husband Brian and I live in Birmingham, Ala., where I work as a Web editor and he works as a chef.

Brian and I returned to Disney World the last week of April 2010 to celebrate our 1st anniversary. On our anniversary, April 25th, we celebrated by going to the Magic Kingdom for the day — a bonus was that MK was on Extra Magic Hours that day and open until 2 a.m.!

We decided to have our anniversary dinner at our favorite signature restaurant from our honeymoon in 2009, California Grill at the Contemporary Resort.

(Note: We have been to 2-credit signatures Jiko, Narcoossee’s, Citrico’s, California Grill, and Hollywood Brown Derby, but have yet to go to Artist Point, Yachtsman Steakhouse, Flying Fish or Victoria & Albert’s. So we’re about halfway there. Whoaaaa livin’ on a prayer!).

We left MK in the evening, changed at our resort, then returned to the Contemporary. Storms were threatening, and it had been overcast all day, so I was checking my iPhone constantly for radar [Read more…]

Goofing Around in Goofy’s Kitchen

By AJ 14 Comments

We’ve reached our last Mirror Image Post Day with our good friend, Ryan from Main Street Gazette. Just in case you haven’t been following our Wednesday posts, our two blogs have been showcasing “mirror-image” food topics in Disneyland and Disney World throughout the month of May (if you’ve missed ’em, check out the last paragraph of this blog to see all the links!). Today, we’re exploring two of our favorite character breakfasts — Chef Mickey’s and Goofy’s Kitchen!

Disneyland Hotel

Ladies and gentlemen, may I present — Disneyland’s premier (IMHO) character breakfast — Goofy’s Kitchen! For those of you who love Chef Mickey’s, Crystal Palace, and Disney World’s other character breakfasts, you’ll feel right at home at Goofy’s Kitchen in the Disneyland Hotel. While the setting might not be quite as dramatic, the characters are an incredible mish-mosh of rarely-seen folks and the food is an amazing spread.

Atmosphere
Goofy’s Kitchen seems like a bit of an [Read more…]

Tables in Wonderland Lunch With Cat Cora

By AJ 9 Comments

Tables in Wonderland

brings us another awesome event in June! Here are the details, and, as always, click on the image for the larger version — complete with menu and details!

Lunch with Cat Cora

Wednesday, June 30, 2010
12:30 p.m. – 2:30 p.m.
Location: Kouzzina by Cat Cora® at Disney’s BoardWalk
Dress is Casual

$150 per person, plus tax, gratuity included

Join celebrity Chef Cat Cora at Kouzzina for a special lunch that features her time-honored Mediterranean family recipes and personal favorites that celebrate her Greek heritage. The menu will be paired with wine that is from Cat’s private label.

All of Cat’s cookbooks, including her latest cookbook, Cat Cora’s Classics with a Twist (release date June 1), may be purchased at this lunch. Cat will be available to sign the cookbooks and chat about the creation of her wonderful recipes.

For reservations, e-mail [email protected] with the following information: your interest to book, your name, daytime phone number, home address, and the number of people in your party. You will be notified on a “first-come, first-served” basis. Your credit card will be taken over the phone once your reservation is confirmed. The event is limited to 100 Guests.

2010 Epcot Food and Wine Festival Update

By AJ Leave a Comment

Some new info was released by Disney today in a press release, including the names of a few of the chefs who will be in attendance at the 2010 Epcot International Food and Wine Festival!

Check it out on our 2010 Epcot Food and Wine Festival Page!

5 Best Quick-Service Dining Plan Values

By AJ 39 Comments

Wolfgang Puck Express

You heard about our Five Best “One-Credit” Table-Service Values last week, so I wanted to share what I believe to be the five best quick-service values today! These are my picks based on what you get for one quick-service credit on the Disney Dining Plan; they may not stand up as the best when we consider paying out of pocket.

Hopefully this will be useful to those of you heading down to the World for free dining this fall!

Wolfgang Puck Express in Downtown Disney (West Side and Marketplace)

With the famous (and delicious) rotisserie chicken ringing up at over $14 plus tax, it costs more than some table service meals. Some of the salads and sandwiches alone will cost [Read more…]

Party in the Magic Kingdom!

By AJ 5 Comments

One of our favorite bloggers, Leigh Caldwell of ThemeParkMom.com, was lucky enough to attend the Orlando International Pow Wow last week, which launched with a party at Disney World’s Magic Kingdom on Sunday evening! She’s put together a little review and shared with us some awesome pics of the delectable goodies available to attendees. Thanks, Leigh!

Have you ever wondered what it’s like inside the Magic Kingdom during one of those “The park will close early for a special event” nights? Now I can say that I know. I attended the International Pow Wow (a travel industry convention) in Orlando last week, and the opening night party was at the Magic Kingdom. I snapped plenty of pictures to try to show you the kinds of food available.

The first thing to note is the first thing I saw – beer! on Main Street U.S.A.! When we walked into the party, we were greeted by servers offering trays of beer and wine right on Main Street. And the usually forbidden alcohol continued to flow after that, with bar set-ups in Fantasyland and Tomorrowland, where most of the party was centered.

But enough talk, you guys came here to see food pictures, right? It was quite dark throughout the park, so these aren’t the greatest, but I did my best:

First up was this cup of smoked tomato soup, accompanied by two tiny sandwiches — one smoked salmon, the other prosciutto. The sandwiches were threaded on a skewer.

Tomato Soup with Skewered Sandwiches

Shrimp gyros served cone style. I’m [Read more…]

Akershus Review: Princess Storybook Breakfast

By AJ 26 Comments

You are cordially invited to join your favorite Disney Princesses for a breakfast straight out of your favorite storybook at Akershus Royal Banquet Hall!

Atmosphere

Located in Epcot‘s Norway Pavilion, Akershus Royal Banquet Hall offers a magical escape from the heat and the crowds of the World Showcase.

A Princess character meal, you could encounter any combination of the following at your meal: Ariel, Belle, Jasmine, Snow White, Princess Aurora (Sleeping Beauty), Mulan, Cinderella, and/or Mary Poppins. Many Disney World guests consider Akershus’ Princess Storybook Breakfast a preferable [Read more…]

Disney Food Post Round-Up: May 23, 2010

By AJ 3 Comments

More Disney Food News than you can shake a stick at this week, folks. Here’s our weekly news round-up to start off:

Belgium, Singapore, and South Korea join the 2010 Epcot Food and Wine Festival Marketplaces
Disney adds new events to the 2010 Epcot Food and Wine Festival schedule, including a 3D Dessert Party…

Hacienda de San Angel (the new name of Cantina de San Angel) and Via Napoli come out with exciting news, new cast member costumes, photos, and tastings this week!
Disney’s Newest Patent: Does This Mean the End of Refillable Mugs in Disney World?

Whew! Are you all news-ed up? Me, too. Now on to the Disney Food stories of the week from around the web. Sit back, relax, and enjoy…

DF 82 shares the trip of a lifetime, to Club 33, in a two-part post: Part I, Part II

Parkeology has a very cool look at an outdoor cafe in Epcot’s France, which isn’t quite as outdoor as it used to be…

Designing Disney shows us the imagineering behind Victoria’s Home Style Restaurant in Disneyland Resort Paris.

At About.com: Theme Parks, my good friend and theme park guru Arthur Levine showcases his video about some great Disney World restaurants.

The DVC Life hashes out the fair/unfair conundrum regarding DVC members and free dining.

Kati’s Kupcakes showcases her newest Disney-themed sweet treat: Princess Cupcakes. But if Tinkerbell is your favorite, check out…

Disney Everyday, where you’ll find the creation of a Tinkerbell cake and cupcakes!

disUnplugged shares a trip to Disneyland’s Downtown Disney restaurant, Catal, for breakfast.

Chip and Co discusses grocery delivery to WDW resort hotels, while the Disney Parks Blog gives details on grocery delivery offered for DVC members.

Also, Disney Parks Blog shares the secret to making their Minnie Mouse caramel apples:

Finally — don’t forget, this is your last full week to enjoy Disney’s California Food and Wine Festival! You can see our ever-evolving coverage along with a full schedule of events on our Disney’s California Food and Wine Festival Info Page.

The End of Refillable Mugs in Disney World?

By AJ 36 Comments

Beach Club Marketplace Refillable Mug Station

StitchKingdom is reporting that Disney has applied for a patent that could mean the end of the beloved refillable mugs in Disney Parks and Resorts…or at least the end of the free refills…

The new “Self-Service Beverage and Snack Dispensing Using Identity-Based Access Control” system would mean that your Key to the World card — or even potentially your fingerprint — could do more than just get you into the parks; it could determine your fate as to how many refills of that Orange Fanta you can get next time you’re at Pop Century’s Food Court!

That’s right, Disney’s proposing using RFID technology to put an end to endless refills — unless you’re [Read more…]

Looking for something?

STAY CONNECTED