food IS a theme park
It’s the holiday season, and magic is in the area!
Disneyland Resort
If you’re a Disneyland Annual Passholder, Disney is bringing a little EXTRA magic to your season, offering after-hours access at one of their most CLASSIC attractions!
After Hours events often give guests the opportunity to hang out at the parks with smaller crowds and lower wait times, which makes them pretty popular sometimes.
Disney Villains After Hours
Annnd now a newer After Hours event is making its villainous return to Magic Kingdom. That’s right, Disney Villains After Hours is coming back to Magic Kingdom in early 2020! If you missed the run of Villains earlier this year, now’s your chance to be bad to the bone as you party-it-up with some of the most iconic Disney villains.
There has been a developing trend in recent years at the Disney theme parks…and it’s all about $$$. Magical upgrades and special separate-ticket events are becoming more and more prevalent.
Many of these offerings fall under Disney’s “Enchanting Extras Collection,” a growing array of unique dining options, dessert parties, and Disney VIP experiences, to name a few.
Fireworks Dessert Party
We totally get it — Disney World is WAY expensive no matter how you shake it, so it’s hard to try and justify shelling out your hard-earned cash for something ELSE on top of the oodles of money you’re already spending. But at least one of these options MAY make sense for you…and we’re going to take you through a few potential options that could make your trip that much more magical.
Recently we shared a deep discount on Walt Disney World Annual Passes for Sam’s Club members, and dozens of readers and followers commented that they were able to save $260+ per AP with that money-saving tip. It now appears the discounted APs from Sam’s are no longer available — but the savings aren’t entirely over!
Sam’s Club Discount
In fact, the DFB team has uncovered not one but TWO paths to discounted tickets — and one is a little-known employment perk you might already have access to! [Read more…]
This Thursday, June 6th, is Walt Disney World’s first Villains After Hours at Magic Kingdom, and we’ll be sharing all the wicked details about this new offering! In the meantime, Disney Parks Blog has just unveiled some party-exclusive merchandise!
Villains After Hours ©Disney
Much of the merchandise features the distinctive, villainous hair and eyes of Hades. [Read more…]
Disney After Hours events offer guests the chance to enjoy the parks after closing hours at three Disney World Parks: Animal Kingdom, Magic Kingdom, and Disney’s Hollywood Studios. Limited guest capacity for these events allows guests to enjoy popular park attractions with little-to-no wait.
Slinky Dog Dash Wait Time at Hollywood Studios After Hours
Another highlight of these extra-ticket events is complimentary ice cream, popcorn and select beverages included in your admission. [Read more…]
Have you ever wanted to just be able to walk onto popular Hollywood Studios attractions like Slinky Dog Dash, Tower of Terror, and Rock ‘n’ Rollercoaster with no wait? How about being able to do that while eating all of the popcorn, soda, and Mickey bars you can possibly hold?
Hollywood Boulevard
Sounds like a dream, right? Well, guess what: it’s actually exactly what happens at After Hours at Disney’s Hollywood Studios! We’re here to tell you all about it, including our thoughts and how to determine if these events are a good investment for you. Ready? As Slinky Dog says, “hold on!”
Welcome to Disney’s Animal Kingdom… AFTER HOURS!
Animal Kingdom’s Tree of Life at night
Disney After Hours is an extra ticket event offered currently at three Disney World Parks: Magic Kingdom, Hollywood Studios, and Animal Kingdom.
For three hours after park close on select nights, Disney offers limited guest access to the park (meaning little-to-no-wait for popular attractions). The event’s cost also includes snacks like ice cream novelties, popcorn, and select beverages to keep you fueled in the nighttime hours. [Read more…]
Welcome to Epcot, After Hours! The Epcot After Hours Wind Down event kicked off on Thursday, April 17, at 9:20 pm (immediately following “IllumiNations”).
Illuminations Torch
This 21-and-over event features small plates and drinks at the guest’s choice of four restaurants on select evenings: Rose & Crown Pub & Dining Room, Spice Road Table, Tutto Gusto, and La Cava del Tequila.
When we announced this event a couple of weeks ago, we got a LOT of diverse points of view in the comments from our readers. Many were concerned that the price for the event ($35) was too high. Others were excited for the opportunity to stay in Epcot after hours, enjoying one of their favorite — often crowded — hot spots!
I attended the Wind Down at La Cava del Tequila in Epcot’s Mexico Pavilion. Let’s see how it went!
Mexico Pavilion After Hours
I’ll start with a rundown of my food and beverage experience specific to La Cava, and then we’ll talk about the event itself — what’s good and what could use some improvement. There’s a lot to share, so let’s dive in.
La Cava del Tequila
A group of about 10-12 guests gathered for the evening. Walking into an adults-only situation was a refreshing experience — granted, that’s something you typically have at La Cava, but there was a bit of a different feel.
Some of that had to do with the settings in front of us: a tequila flight, a small vodka shot (to “open” our senses, as we learned later), and a Mezcal tequila shot, along with a small bottle of water.
Tequila Flight
The lights were up a bit, too, for what we were about to experience. With the covers over our glasses, we all knew to wait to begin (which gave us a nice opportunity to meet the folks around us).
Covered Glass of Tequila Blanco
We soon found out that we were going to experience something truly unique: a tequila tasting led by Hilda Castillo. This is similar to what was done during the first Food and Wine Festival tequila tasting events, for those of you who have been.
Hilda combines knowledge, passion, and fun to help you feel comfortable and appreciate more of what you’re tasting.
Hilda, Tequila Ambassador
The walls of La Cava are a classroom of sorts, and Hilda showed us how the wall mural displays the tequila process.
La Cava Wall Mural
La Cava Wall Mural
La Cava Wall Mural
With her guidance, we experienced the characteristics of each tequila through color, aroma, and taste: an incredibly strong (I mean, WOW!) Blanco (White tequila), a Reposado (Rested tequila), and an Anejo (Aged tequila).
Because I am no Hilda (though I would like to be when I grow up!), I’ll offer these descriptions below that were provided at our settings.
Tequila Blanco description
Tequila Reposado description
Tequila Anejo description
With every visit to La Cava, I feel a little more comfortable with the world of tequila, because someone is always willing to share their knowledge with you. But I am [Read more…]
Remember when we told you that the Disney Magic cruise ship was about to get a full makeover?? Well, today we have an awesome photo tour for you!!
The Disney Magic – The original cruise ship of the Disney Cruise Line – first set sail in 1998. Fifteen years later, she has just launched again after a lengthy stay in dry-dock where she spent her time being “re-imagined.”
Re-imagining is more than simply being refurbished or refreshed. Some spaces around the ship were entirely redesigned while others were enhanced. She sure is a beauty!
Disney Magic
Since the re-imagined areas are primarily public spaces, this, of course, means that some of the dining areas and adult lounges were re-imagined or refreshed as well! Though some spaces, already timeless, remained unchanged or just refreshed.
Let’s have a look inside this amazing vessel and see what’s new!
The biggest update to the dining scene on the Disney Magic is the addition of Carioca’s.
Carioca's Entrance
What was previously Parrot Cay now pays homage to one of Donald Duck’s [Read more…]
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