food IS a theme park
If you were watching The Wonderful World of Disney Magic Holiday Special that was filmed at both Disney World and Disneyland Resort earlier this month, you got an early Christmas present — a special look INSIDE Disney’s newest headliner attraction, Rise of the Resistance!
©Disney
But in case you were dozing (or too stuffed with turkey to remember!), we’ve got all the of the info AND PHOTOS for you RIGHT HERE!
It’s finally time to step inside Gran Destino Tower, the newest addition to Disney’s Coronado Springs Resort! We’ve been anticipating the opening of this massive tower since the project was announced over two years ago!
Gran Destino Tower
In this post, we’ll take you on a photo tour through the lobby and main public areas as well as through the tower resort rooms! Note that we’ll be doing full photo tours and reviews of all the restaurants and other public spaces as well, so stay tuned! You can always return to our “LIVE” post to see more photos and get links to the other full photo tours! OK, here we go!
The Disney Parks are always changing, and that means loads of Disney news! Every single day, we’re tracking Disney news (food and otherwise!) so we can bring you the latest. (If you join our DFB Newsletter, you’ll get all the newsy details FIRST!)
From price increases and ticket changes to transportation updates and new restaurants, the BIGGEST news stories from 2018 are going to seriously affect your upcoming trip in 2019! Read through to see what you NEED to know to make sure your visit next year goes smoothly!
Count Down Disney’s Biggest News Stories With Us!
When the announcement was made that Disney World’s tickets would go to a date-based pricing model, our readers had a lot of mixed reactions. On the positive side, readers said they were looking forward to seeing which dates would be lower and using that information to plan their trips. And if you’re a person who enjoys the growing complexity of planning a trip to WDW, we totally feel you on this!
Date-based ticket pricing announced
If you should find yourself in Disney World later this month for a little something like… oh, I don’t know… say the 2015 Epcot Food and Wine Festival beginning September 25th, then you may want to mark one more date on your trip calendar: Jock Lindsey’s Hangar Bar will be opening in Downtown Disney on September 22nd!
©WDWDowntown Twitter
Be sure to check out the backstory on this hangout for the Society of Explorers and Adventurers set up by Jock (a frequent pilot for Indiana Jones himself). [Read more…]
Living in Texas, I don’t have the opportunity to attend the openings of Disney’s restaurants; but boy did I get lucky on this one! Thank you to the WDW Today Podcast for allowing me to publish pics from their coverage. Check out their twitter stream to see more great pics from the Grand Opening at Epcot’s La Hacienda de San Angel!
Restaurant Info
The backstory behind La Hacienda de San Angel is that a Mexican family restored an old hacienda and wanted to open it to guests and serve food. The beautiful artwork and pottery throughout the hacienda are meant to be created by the house’s artistic owner. La Cantina de San Angel, the counter-service restaurant outside of the Hacienda, is part of the story as well — it was supposedly created to serve the overflow from the hacienda!
La Hacienda will be serving dinner from 4pm each night and will offer an incredible view of the Illuminations fireworks. During the day, it will serve as indoor seating for La Cantina de San Angel, which will serve lunch and dinner daily.
Main dining room
Just a reminder, La Hacienda de San Angel is now open for business for walk-in guests. You can also make reservations for dates after October 15th via Disney’s reservations system! You can see the the La Hacienda de San Angel Menu here. You can see La Cantina de San Angel’s menu here!
Grand Opening Celebration
Here are some incredible pictures from the Grand Opening Celebration:
Mickey and Donald Helped with the Ribbon Cutting
Margarita Bar
Tequila Scorpion
Shrimp Taco
More photos after the jump! [Read more…]
Disneyland's Naples Pepperoni Pizza -- Sister Restaurant to Via Napoli
Update: This restaurant is now in soft opening! See full Via Napoli menu here.
Thanks to Pam Brandon and the Disney Parks Blog, we now know that Via Napoli will be opening early — next month! — and we have a good idea of the menu for the upcoming Via Napoli in Epcot’s Italy pavilion!
Appetizers will include:
Main course salads
will include:
Pasta dishes
will include:
The Wood-fired pizzas, which is what Disney is hoping the restaurant is known for, will be made with caputo flour imported from Southern Italy, San Marzano tomatoes, handmade mozzarella, and water from a local spring just like in Italy’s Campania region. The 10-inch, 20-inch or 1/2 meter-sized pies will come in a dozen choices, from a simple pizza Margherita with tomato, mozzarella and basil to carciofi with artichoke, potato, pecorino cheese, prosciutto and cantaloupe.
Also available will be Piatti alla Parmigiana, which are dishes topped with Parmesan and mozzarella gratinée. These will include veal, chicken, and eggplant.
Finally, the desserts! These will include:
The pictures I’ve linked to in this post are what we sampled at Naples in Disneyland, a restaurant also run by The Patina Group. You can see the full review of Naples here.
To see more of our coverage of Via Napoli, along with specifics about the restaurant’s interior decor, three massive pizza ovens, and more, check out this page for links.
As always, check out the Disney Parks Blog for further info on Via Napoli.
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