Welcome to Disney's California Food & Wine Festival! | the disney food blog

Welcome to Disney’s California Food & Wine Festival!

The time is finally upon us! We arrived in Disneyland this morning and had a great time wandering around Disney’s California Adventure for an introduction to the California Food & Wine Festival.

We’ve got a good game plan for sampling all of this food — and more — in the coming days, but for now, I wanted to introduce you as well to Disney’s California Food & Wine Festival!

This Festival Center is the backbone of the festival. It houses temporary shops for wine and merchandise, seminar rooms, a kitchen for some of the signature dishes, and more!

Here are several items that you’ll see “in person” via my blog very soon! Click image for larger photo)

Festival Center Menu

I love the idea of this schedule — very easy to see who/what/when/where your [Read more…]

Magic Kingdom’s Plaza Ice Cream Parlor

By AJ 4 Comments

One of the shops you can find on just about every “Main Street USA” in the world is an ice cream parlor, and the Plaza Ice Cream Parlor in the Magic Kingdom is one of the best.

Atmosphere
Many of us have a magical memory that begins with being lured into the parlor by that delicious (and occasionally piped in) smell of fresh waffle cones! Located at the end of Main Street, just before the castle hub and right next to the Plaza Restaurant, the Ice Cream Parlor is the perfect place to get dessert after a hot dog at Casey’s Corner!

Plaza Ice Cream Parlor

Offering ice cream cones (Vanilla, Chocolate, Strawberry, Cookies and Cream, Mint Chocolate Chip, and [Read more…]

Disney Food Post Round-Up: April 25, 2010

By AJ 2 Comments

New truffles in WDW

As you know, I’m reporting from Disney World this weekend, and from Disneyland next week! Here are some of the latest news items:

Rumors are flying about Free Dining in Disney World this Fall
Eat to the Beat Concerts were announced for the 2010 Epcot Food & Wine Festival!
Dine With an Imagineer is now being offered at Flying Fish Cafe on Disney’s Boardwalk.
Here are some fun pics of new food products and other highlights from the trip in Disney World so far.

Now — on to the round-up!

OC Register preps me for the best dishes to sample at Disney’s California Food and Wine Festival next week!

Main Street Gazette shares a love of Frozen Sunshine at Beaches and Cream!

DisneyGeek has some great shots from the Food and Wine Festival in Disneyland in his Disneyland photo round-up this week.

The LA Times Travel Blog features videos of John and Nancy Lasseter talking wine and the Lasseter Winery at this past weekend’s California Food & Wine Festival opening. Here’s one to whet your appetite:

The Disney Chick makes Fettucini Alfredo from Epcot’s Tutto Italia!

Babes in Disneyland posts about special dietary needs in Disneyland.

Disunplugged visits Napa Rose and chats with Guy Fieri at the California Food & Wine Festival.

Disney Parks spots Tina Fey at the Sci-Fi Dine-In!

Free Dining in Disney World: Rumors!

By AJ 4 Comments

Our friends over at Touring Plans are hearing wacky rumors about Disney World Discounts, which include dining plans, coming round the bend!

We know that Disney has offered “free dining” in the Fall for a couple of years now, and this might be 2010’s version:

We’ve heard it will appear for Disney Visa cardholders around April 29, and the general public May 2. Travel dates should begin around August 15 …

We’re hearing conflicting details about the dining offer itself. Two sources says the offer will be scaled back (one says “drastically”) from last year. … However, one other source thinks the free dining offer will be the same as last year’s

Reports are coming in that some Disney Visa Cardholders are getting emails and pin codes for free Quick Service dining plan with Magic Your Way packages between March 14th and October 2nd. Others are saying they’ve been able to book free Quick Service dining plan with travel dates starting in June.

Go to Touring Plans to read the full post and get more info…

Update From the World — Disney Food News and Pics

By AJ 10 Comments

Just wanted to take you with me on this food-filled event in Walt Disney World! I’m posting photos and updates continuously to twitter and facebook, but I also wanted to do a quick post here with a few of the recent highlights:

I thought this was great! For those of you addicted to 100-calorie packs of your favorite treats, Disney’s got you covered!

100 calorie packs of Minnie's cookies

New triangular truffles are being sold at candy counters throughout the World.

New truffles in WDW

A fruit basket, along with chocolates, wine, cheese, and other goodies, were delivered to the rooms of each of the event attendees. Just goes to show — there really IS a “Disney Difference.”

Gorgeous Disney Gift Basket

I enjoyed a delicious steak at Flying Fish Cafe — stay tuned in coming blog posts to read about the full meal!

Steak at Flying Fish Cafe

A new kind of Mickeyroni and Cheese!

New Mickeyroni and Cheese

Good to know you can still get a citrus swirl!

Aloha Isle Serves Citrus Swirl

Unsure as to why our Pineapple Soft Serve Dole Whip Floats were different colors… Hmm… (I promise they were both pineapple — no vanilla here!)

Dole Whips

Saw the scratch and sniff popcorn Mickey Ears for the first time! They also have a “Mickey Bar” version!

Scratch and Sniff Popcorn Mickey Ears

There’s lots more on my Facebook and Twitter pages! Stay tuned!

Dine With an Imagineer Now Offered at Flying Fish Cafe

By AJ 4 Comments

While dining at Flying Fish this evening, moms panelist Kathie F. and I noticed this sign (click for larger image):

Dine With an Imagineer is available at Flying Fish, and though the price has gone up, it still sounds like a wonderful experience!

Upcoming dates are: May 4th and 18th; and June 1st, 15th, and 29th. Cost is $85/person plus tax and gratuity. Call 407-WDW-Dine for reservations — seating is limited to 10 people.

Reporting Live From Disney World

By AJ 13 Comments

Reporting LIVE

Hi all! As you might know, I’m in Walt Disney World this weekend attending a Disney Media Culinary Event called:

“From 5 Stars to Mickey Bars!”

I didn’t think I’d be back in Orlando until the Epcot Food & Wine Festival, so this is very exciting! Big thanks to those at Disney who extended such a gracious invitation to us to dine with them throughout the World!

I’ll be reporting here on the blog about the gourmet (and not-so-gourmet!) adventures of our little group — I know we’re headed to Flying Fish Cafe, Hoop Dee Doo Revue, Cape May Cafe, and Kouzzina, to name just a few!

If you want to follow along, be sure to find me on twitter and facebook to see the latest updates there as well! Also, those of us attending the event will be tweeting with the hashtag #DisneyMedia, so you can see updates from the whole group by following that tag!

Looking forward to sharing with you even more from the wonderful world of Disney food as we go through the event this weekend!

Also, don’t forget that I’ll be reporting live from Disney’s California Food & Wine Festival next week, so stay tuned for those updates as well!

In accordance with FTC guidelines, please note that my transportation, lodging, and food have been provided by the Walt Disney Company for this Media event.

Gluten Free Snacks at Main Street Bakery

By AJ 11 Comments

Update: Disney is no longer offering Divvies. They are currently offering bakery items from the Enjoy Life and OMG Manufacturers along with Rocky Mountain Popcorn, and Surf Sweets Jelly Beans throughout the Parks and Resorts.

Just came across this display of specialty diet items in the Main Street Bakery today! It’s new to me, so I thought I’d share. For more great info and resources for dining gluten-free in Disney World and Disneyland, check out our Gluten-Free Resources pages!

Gluten Free Items at Main Street Bakery

Main Street Bakery Gluten-Free and Specialty Diet Items
The first thing to catch my eye was the caramel popcorn! It looked deeeeelicious! All of these products seem to be from the same brands — French Meadow Bakery and Divvies. Has anyone sampled these brands? How are they? Any preference?

Gluten Free Jelly Beans at Main Street Bakery

[Read more…]

Eat to the Beat Concerts Announced!

By AJ 3 Comments

Great news! The Eat to the Beat concert series for the 2010 Epcot Food & Wine Festival has been released! I hope I can stick around long enough for Air Supply!!

Performances will be nightly at 5:15 p.m. 6:30 p.m. and 7:45 p.m. This year’s schedule (subject to change) includes:
10/1-10/3 — Taylor Dayne, “Tell It to My Heart”
10/4-10/5 — Kool & The Gang, “Celebration”
10/6-10/8 — Sugar Ray, “Fly”
10/9-10/10 — Taylor Hicks, “Do I Make You Proud ”
10/11-10/12 — Air Supply, “Lost in Love”
10/13-10/15 — Sister Hazel, “All For You”
10/16-10/17 — Howard Jones, “No One Is To Blame”
10/18-10/19 — Exposé, “Seasons Change”
10/20-10/21 — 38 Special, “Hold on Loosely ”
10/22-10/24 — Night Ranger, “Sister Christian”
10/25-10/27 — Billy Ocean, “Caribbean Queen”
10/28-10/31 — Starship starring Mickey Thomas, “We Built This City”
11/1 – 11/3 — Boyz II Men, “End of the Road”
11/4-11/5 — Roger Hodgson formerly of Supertramp, “Give A Little Bit”
11/6-11/7 — Jon Secada, “Just Another Day”
11/8-11/9 — Hanson, “MMMBop”
11/10-11/11 — Rick Springfield, “Jessie’s Girl”
11/12-11/14 — Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, “Go Daddy-O”

Stay tuned for more info on the festival, and be sure to keep an eye on the Disney Parks Blog!

Thanks to Corey for the tip!

“You Won’t Believe This!” Snack: Brownie-Frosting Sandwich

By AJ 24 Comments

This one is going to be hard to top. It might be my favorite “You Won’t Believe This!” Snack to date.

I was knocked off my rocker when I tried this Brownie-Frosting Sandwich today. There’s no other name for it. Earl of Sandwich calls it “The Earl’s Brownie Creme,” but, in my book, it’s a big ol’ Brownie-Frosting Sandwich.

Here’s the basic construction: a huge, circular, rich brownie was cut in half and filled with the most delicious frosting imaginable. First, let’s discuss the brownie: This was the closest thing to home made I’ve ever seen in a Disney baked good. It looked, smelled, and tasted [Read more…]

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