Review: Il Mulino New York Trattoria

For years, I’ve been hearing from various sources that the Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin’s Il Mulino New York Trattoria is the best Italian food on Disney World property, hands down, and I finally got the chance to try the restaurant on my recent trip to Orlando!

Atmosphere

For those who haven’t been there, the Swan and Dolphin is located right between Disney’s Boardwalk Resort and Disney’s Yacht Club Resort, and is within walking distance of Epcot and Disney’s Hollywood Studios Theme Park. Open only for dinner, the higher-end restaurant’s prices range between [Read more…]

Corn Dog Nuggets VS. Egg Rolls: What’s Your Favorite Snack in Animal Kingdom?

By AJ 15 Comments

UPDATE:Bradley Falls Kiosk has updated its menu

While walking through the Animal Kingdom in October I came across a couple of new (to me!) snack spots on the path between Asia and Africa!

With one snack spot serving corn dog nuggets and chicken nuggets (well call this “The Nugget Shack”) and the other — directly across the way — countering with a menu of shrimp and pork egg rolls and vegetable egg rolls (I’ve deemed this “The Roll Shack,”) it’s almost like a Food Wars set-up! Corn Dog Nuggets are legendary in WDW; egg rolls are the snack of the future. Which menu will you pick…?

Vote in our nuggets vs. rolls poll below and check out the new menus at the end of the post!

The Nugget Shack

The Roll Shack

Nuggets VS. Rolls!

Loading ...

Nugget Shack Menu

Roll Shack Menu

Disney Food for Families: Choosing the Right Character Meal for Your Family

By AJ 12 Comments

Goofy's about to hang ten at Cape May Cafe

I’m excited to announce that we have two new Disney Food Blog columnists coming on board this week, but they’re not actually new to you! You’ve seen them guest blogging for Disney Food Blog for quite some time… First up, Ms. Erin Foster will be writing the Disney Food for Families Column. She’ll be giving us a unique perspective on dining with kids on Disney vacations, starting today with some great tools that will help you choose the best character meal for your needs! Welcome, Erin!

I recently helped my neighbor Stephanie plan her restaurant selections for an upcoming trip to Walt Disney World. Among her many questions was one that I hear often, “Which character meal should we go to?”

What’s a Character Meal, and How Do I Decide On One?

Character Meals

are an iconic part of the Disney experience when traveling with children, or children at heart. There are ten different character meal venues at WDW proper, plus a few others in satellite locations.

For those of you new to Disney travel, character meals are dining experiences in which Disney characters are present in the restaurant. They generally travel from table to table, stopping to interact with each party for a hug, photo, autograph, or possibly a conversation. Your group gets guaranteed quality time with characters in [Read more…]

Epcot Food and Wine Festival Food Pictures: China, Ireland, and New Zealand Booths

By AJ 8 Comments

It’s time for more 2010 Epcot Food and Wine Festival booth food pictures! 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.

China
A perpetual favorite of mine, the China booth always offers generous portions of both food and alcohol. This year, a visit to the booth will easily get you enough food for a full meal!

The pork pot stickers are a fantastic appetizer for the barbecue chicken stick, which actually has a lot of flavor (sometimes it seems like flavor is hard to come by when it comes to chicken). The black pepper shrimp and noodles is a massive portion, and could easily be a snack for two. And while we weren’t sold on the ginger ice cream (a last minute addition to the menu!) — the flavor was a bit too strong for our palates — the portion is certainly large enough to split among the whole family.

After absolutely loving the Green Tea Plum Wine Cooler last year, we decided to try the Happy Lychee this year…and boy was it happy. The amount of vodka in this thing was atrocious! If your goal at the festival is to get tipsy as quickly as possible — head to the China booth first.

As always, service here was impeccable.

You can see more pictures, the full menu, and prices on our China Booth Page!

Pot Stickers

Ginger Ice Cream

Xinjiang Barbecue Chicken Stick

Black Pepper Shrimp with Sichuan Noodles

happy lychee

Green Tea Plum Wine Cooler

Ireland
The Ireland booth is another one with looooooooong lines and happy customers! The Fisherman’s Pie is usually the reason behind both! While the booth is selling other items (including a Kerrygold selection of cheeses and a chocolate lava cake), it’s the Fisherman’s Pie that brought ’em in last year, and it’s the Fisherman’s Pie that’s bringing ’em in this year! Hit this booth either very early or very late. Scratch that. Forget about late. Hit it early!

You can find the full menu, prices, and more pictures on our Ireland Booth Page.

Ireland Kerrygold Cheese Selection

Lava Cake, Fisherman's Pie, and Meade

New Zealand
There are two reasons why the line at the New Zealand booth might be long this year: 1. It’s right at the entrance to the World Showcase, so it’s the first booth a lot of hungry folks will hit; and 2. The lamb slider and the scallop dishes are getting top marks from a lot of hungry folks. 😉 Check out more photos, the full menu, and pricing on our New Zealand Booth Page.

Seared Sea Scallop with Vegetable Slaw and Lemon Oil

Lamb Slider

Let us know what YOU’RE loving at the Epcot Food and Wine Festival! Until then, feel free to check out more food pictures on our booth pages!

Fisherman’s Pie and Lava Cake photo, and Lamb Slider photo from Kelly Tressler via the Disney Food Blog Photo Extravaganza Group on flickr.

Scallop photo by Karen Westfall (who just had the most adorable little baby Westfall, ever).

The Red Velvet Cheesecake Cupcake

By AJ 32 Comments

There really is no cupcake like a red velvet cupcake. Rich, red velvet cake, smooth, tangy-sweet cheesecake…

And it’s like Christmas came early this year at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, because Starring Rolls Cafe has taken the perfection of the Red Velvet Cupcake and made it just a little bit better.

The Red Velvet Cheesecake Cupcake.

Red Velvet Cheesecake Cupcake

That’s right. They’ve added cheesecake to the mix, and it’s pretty outstanding. I first heard about this cupcake from Ryan at Main Street Gazette and I happened to be in Orlando at the time. You can bet I high-tailed it over to [Read more…]

Review: Mickey’s Halloween Party in Disneyland

By AJ 9 Comments

Heather Sievers, the multi-talented inventor of Time Out Spots AND our Disneyland correspondent and food expert (we’ll be announcing her on Thursday as our Disneyland Columnist!!!), reports on Mickey’s Halloween Party in Disneyland!

Atmosphere and Info

My family has attended Mickey’s Halloween Trick or Treat Party (as it used to be called) since it first started at Disney’s California Adventure in 2005. A few years back it was changed to “Mickey’s Halloween Party,” and this year it was moved to Disneyland.

The event is limited to a certain number of guests and [Read more…]

Disney Food Post Round-Up: October 31, 2010

By AJ 2 Comments

Disney Halloween Decor...Featuring Caramel Apples

Happy Halloween! Don’t forget to check out some of the many spooky and fun treats found in Disney Parks:
Halloween Cupcakes in Disney Parks
Disneyland Halloween treats
Disney World Halloween Treats
Even MORE Halloween Treats in Disney Parks

And here are some of our favorite Disney food posts from around the web:

Watch Me Eat heads to WDW’s House of Blues for the Gospel Brunch!

Disney Parks Blog showcases an incredible Halloween Wedding Cake!

Main Street Gazette tempts us with a trip to Karamell Kuche!

Eating (and Drinking) Around the World makes Sweet Potato Puree with Mango BBQ sauce from the Epcot Food and Wine Festival.

Theme Park Mom comments on La Hacienda de San Angel’s decor!

Wine-Girl.net reviews the Disney World Downtown Disney Portobello Meatball Bar.

Scott Joseph Orlando Scott Joseph also takes us to La Hacienda de San Angel with his expert review.

Everything WDW reveals the 2011 date for the Wine and Dine run!

Guest Review: Epcot Food and Wine Festival Seafood Dishes

By AJ 7 Comments

Thanks to Disney Food Blog reader Galloping Gourmand for relaying his reviews about a few seafood dishes featured in this year’s Epcot Food and Wine Festival!

This was my first trip to the Epcot Food and Wine Festival, and while I couldn’t go to any events I was determined to make the most of it. I arrived early so I could ride all the rides I wanted (first load on Soarin’!) and maximize my eating time. I saw it as an opportunity to try things I have never tried before and ignore the myriad of health problems one could get from eating them all in a 10 hour period. Some of these are international foods that are hard to get where I live (near NYC, so not many of those) and others are things that I’ve simply never tried before.

Here are a few reviews of seafood dishes around the [Read more…]

12th Edition: DisMarks Disney Blog Carnival

By AJ Leave a Comment

DisMarks.com Logo

The Twelfth Edition of the Disney Blog Carnival was published on Tuesday! It’s a compendium of dozens of articles about my favorite subject: Disney, so head over to the site, support your favorite (and some new!) Disney bloggers, and get updated on the latest Disney news.

Topics this week include opinions about The Disney World Attraction You Always Skip, a peek into Animal Kingdom Lodge’s Victoria Falls Lounge, an answer to the question “What would we DO at Disney World without kids?”, a look at tips on How Not to Lose Your Kids in a Theme Park, and lots more!

The Disney Blog Carnival has dozens of articles about Disney from your favorite new and veteran Disney bloggers — can’t wait to hear what you think!

While you’re at DisMarks, stick around and vote for your favorite promoted and upcoming stories and links! Found a great Disney website or blog post? Submit it to DisMarks and share it with other Disney fans!

Now, just in case you weren’t sure… [Read more…]

Holiday Menus, Dining Events, and Discounts at the Disney World Swan and Dolphin

By AJ 4 Comments

Headed to Disney World during November or December? The Disney World Swan and Dolphin have some great menus and events planned — and even some spectacular discounts and free gifts!

Specialty Menus for Thanksgiving and Christmas

Thanksgiving and Christmas bring the holiday spirit to some of our favorite restaurants in [Read more…]

Looking for something?

STAY CONNECTED