food IS a theme park
“Who’s the leader of the club that’s made for you and me?”
Mickey Mouse Refillable Resort Mug
It’s M-I-C-K-E-Y M-O-U-S-E!!! And here in his 90th Anniversary celebration year, Mickey is being honored on a new Refillable Resort Mug! [Read more…]
It’s finally time!!!
The new mug!
The Disney World refillable mugs have changed design after years of the old version! You can read all about it — and see more pics! — here.
Also, Spring is in the air! For starters, we dug up the menus for this year’s Epcot Flower and Garden Festival. We can’t wait to taste our way around Epcot’s Outdoor Kitchens.
On the festival front, we also learned that Disney is expanding the 2014 Epcot Food and Wine Festival to include an extra week!
There’s even more fun food news from Disney; click on the links below!
Of course, there’s more! Check out all the latest Disney Food News — even the stuff we don’t mention in posts on the blog! — on our Disney Food News Pin Board, including restaurant closures, and more!
If you find a fun new food — or other edible awesomeness — in or from Disney, share a photo with us on facebook or twitter so we can add it to our DFB Reader Finds each Sunday!
How about some great cupcakes?!! Facebook friend Kristie sent us some Valentine love — a Red Velvet Cupcake from Pizza Planet. Take a look!
Red Velvet Cupcake
These homemade Frozen-themed cupcakes are fantastic! Jerry shared this picture of his daughter’s amazing creations, including Olaf the Snowman!!
Frozen Themed Cupcakes
As always, we can’t get enough of your Disney food finds. We can’t wait to see what our readers share with us next!
The fully updated DFB Guide to Walt Disney World® Dining 2014 e-Book is an instantly downloadable PDF guide, featuring over 450 full-color pages of photographs, information, and advice about our favorite subjects — food and dining in Walt Disney World.
It’s guaranteed to help you navigate your way to delicious dining on your next trip! And if you’re ready to get yours now, head on over to DFBGuide.com to pick it up!!
For our Grand Launch Sale, use code: 2014 to get a $4 discount for a limited time! And at the end of this post, we have details on even more savings!
But, of course we’re offering a discount for our Grand Launch week!! Again, to celebrate the launch and to thank you for your support of the blog, we’ll be offering the Guide for $4 off its standard rate for a limited time! Order your copy now at DFBGuide.com and use code: [Read more…]
RFID is here to stay! Your favorite refillable mugs in Disney World have gotten a brand new design!
The new mug!
OK — here’s a little background. Many of you know that Disney has a refillable mug system at it’s resort hotels: buy a mug for a certain price, refill it as many times as you want while you’re staying at the hotel.
A lot of news last August revolved around the arrival of the new Rapid Fill refillable mugs across Disney World Resorts. When they hit the shelves, the mugs had the same design as the previous non-RFID version of the mugs, with only some variation in the colors of the lids and handles.
So we’re especially excited to show you the newly redesigned mugs that have started to pop up at Disney World Resorts! The Fab Five are all there… plus Clarabelle! ;-D
Pluto joins in the fun
They’re really fun — the gang is checking into a Disney hotel! And, of course, Donald is experiencing a few “hang-ups.” ;-D
Goofy and Donald on the opposite side
There are four colors available to choose from (as opposed to three in the previous line): [Read more…]
Welcome back DFB author Wendy with an informative report on the new Rapid Fill Resort Mugs in Walt Disney Word. 
At the time of this writing, the mugs are in use at Disney’s All-Star Music Intermission Food Court and All-Star Movies World Premiere Food Court. (Disney’s All-Star Sports End Zone Food Court is currently closed for refurbishment). They will be rolled out at the rest of the Disney World resorts shortly.
As you may recall from a previous post on Rapid Fill Refillable Mugs, Rapid Fill allows Disney Resort guests to buy (or receive as part of the Disney Dining Plan) a Resort mug which can be refilled for a certain period of time as designated at time of purchase. These mugs are enhanced by an RFID bar code which enables the mug to deactivate when the designated time is complete.
Perhaps you have some questions… I know I did! So, let’s get started!
I’m not on a Disney Dining Plan, so I’ll be purchasing my mug separately. How much do they cost?
$8.99 for 1 Day
$11.99 for 2 Days
$14.99 for 3 Days
$17.99 for Length of Stay (If you’re staying longer, “Add-1-Day” or “Add-2-Day” options can be added.)
Rapid Fill Prices
What do the new mugs look like?
For now, just like the previous mugs. You’ll still see Mickey and a few of his pals enjoying some poolside fun. You’ll notice a few differences, however…
Guests can now choose from orange, purple, and green lids for the mugs (previous choices included blue, black, and bright pink).
Green, purple, and orange mugs
The Rapid Fill logo has been added to the mugs.
Rapid Fill Logo
You may notice a tiny bit of text to the right of the handle. It reads: “Refills available at no additional charge at [Read more…]
We’ve mentioned this news previously on our Disney Food News Pin Board, but we’ve just gotten a bit more detail!
If Boardwalk Bakery at Disney’s Boardwalk Inn is one of your favorite stops for breakfast, lunch, or sweet treats, you’ll want to plan accordingly for the spot’s upcoming renovation. The Bakery will be closed beginning Sunday, January 6, through Friday, April 26, for renovations.
Boardwalk Bakery
What’s being added? Lots!!
Fans of the old-fashioned bakery can expect a new entrance, queue area, and refillable mug station when the space reopens in the spring. More menu items will also be added, like soups and even more sandwiches.
Will the Peanut Butter Cake Make the Move to the Temporary Location? We Hope So!
But don’t panic! Due to the spot’s overwhelming popularity, there will be a temporary location set up during the closure. You’ll find the tent located [Read more…]
at Disney’s Polynesian Resort has long been one of my favorite counter service locations.
The yummo Grown-Up Grilled Cheese Sandwich and Cook’s delicious cupcakes are a great reason to visit!
UPDATE: Dole Whip is no longer being served at Captain Cook’s, is no longer self-serve, and is no longer available 24 hours a day. You’ll now find Dole Whip at the Pineapple Lanai in Disney’s Polynesian Village in addition to Aloha Isle at the Magic Kingdom. You can also find Dole Whip available intermittently at Animal Kingdom’s Tamu Tamu Refreshments, and at Epcot during some special events. On the upside, you can also get a Dole Whip Float at Pineapple Lanai!
But the best part? The 24-hour access to Dole Whips is truly epic. (Note, they DO clean the Dole Whip machine for a few hours in the middle of the night once a week, so Avoid. That. Night.)
On a recent Disney World visit, I headed back to Captain Cook’s to try another fan favorite – the Pork Sandwich. That day I found a few more surprises waiting for me, and I can’t wait to tell you about them…
Hidden toward the back of the resort on the first floor, it can be difficult to find Captain Cook’s. But forge ahead, my friends. It’s worth it. 😉
Outside View
The restaurant is small, but well-organized. There are several different seating areas, so if the first one is full, just head to the next one to find a table.
Indoor Seating
Seating is both indoors and outdoors here, and you’ll find plenty of four-top square tables with padded chairs. Huge banana leaves and a woven motif dress the standard restaurant tables up a bit.
Along the wall, you’ll also find mixed seating with a couple of booth options. Windows along one wall let in plenty of light and also give you a view of the outdoor seating area.
Indoor Seating with a View
Outdoor tables and chairs are in close proximity to both the restaurant and the pool. With the big umbrellas and lush landscape, this is a terrific place to sit on those [Read more…]
I’ve fallen into a bit of a habit when it comes to walking the Boardwalk in Walt Disney World, and it always includes heading into the Boardwalk Bakery to check out what’s new!
This big bakery with a teensy-tiny little sales area for purchasing goodies is a hidden gem and hot-spot when it comes to unique, can’t-get-em-anywhere-else sweets and savories like the Cheesecake Brownie and Mickey Face Cake.
As I said, while the bakery itself is large (they create baked goods and wedding cakes for the area), the area where guests can actually purchase things is very small. Almost an afterthought.
Boardwalk Bakery Sign
And as much as I love Boardwalk Bakery, the big detractor is the lack of indoor seating. Rain or shine, sweltering or less sweltering, you have to take your purchase outside to eat it. Sure there’s a bit of an overhang, but that hardly constitutes indoor seating.
Bakery Seating
Still, it can be very nice — should the weather cooperate — to sit outside and enjoy the view of Crescent Lake. There’s also great people watching to be had here! (If you see me say Hi — I’ll be the one with the camera who’s super sweaty and probably running late for something…and I’ll likely still have chocolate on my face from something or other.)
Still, this is a terrific spot to have in your back pocket as you head off to a busy day in the parks. They have a variety of [Read more…]
We’ve packed tons of great Disney Dining info into our The DFB Guide to Walt Disney World® Dining 2013! Today, let’s check out another great tip from the Guide!
With another price hike last year, Disney refillable resort mugs at Disney World resorts now cost $15.49 plus tax.
Those with the Disney Dining Plan get theirs for free, but the rest of us would need to pay out of pocket for the mugs, which are infinitely refillable at certain locations within your resort during your length of stay.
Worth it? Well… yes and no. We’ve got both arguments represented below, so take a look to see which camp you fit into!
If you spend the majority of your time at the parks, the refillable mug may not be worth the out-of-pocket cost for your family. Consider these circumstances before you buy:
Use Times
If your family is full of park commandos, you’re probably racing out to each theme park opening in the early morning and returning to your resort shortly before the food court closes. Your refillable mug will spend more time sitting in your resort room than actually in use, since you can’t refill in the theme parks.
Distance to refill station can be far
After traipsing with the kids in the parks all day, it may be a lot of extra steps from your room to the mug refill station.
And remember, many resorts don’t have an option for refills after the counter-service spots close around 11pm or midnight. That means no refills after evening Extra Magic Hours in most parks.
Current Refillable Mug Information (BoardWalk)
Could save cash by buying offsite
If you’ve driven to the Mouse’s House from your hometown, or rented a vehicle once you landed in Orlando, you may want to stop at a nearby offsite store to pick up [Read more…]
in front of the Lava Shack
Join us in welcoming guest author Beth Osborn with a tour of Eats at Disney’s Aulani Resort and Spa in Oahu. We’ve also got some great tips about eating at non-Disney spots around the resort! Brace yourselves — there’s Dole Whip, Shave Ice, Plate Lunch, and more — ahead! Don’t forget to check out Aulani restaurant info and menus here.
Arriving to Aulani on October 15, my husband Kev and I selected familiar WDW items — refillable mugs! We purchased purple and blue refillable mugs, which have an Aulani design that matches the beige wallpaper in the halls of the hotel. Red and green options were also available.
Even though the mugs are more expensive at Aulani, we felt we got our money’s worth at $18.99 each over the week we were there.
We had dinner at Ama Ama — Kev’s salt crusted fish was like nothing we’d ever seen before, with a completely removable crust. He said it was very moist.
Salt Encrusted Fish from Ama Ama
I had the French Maui onion soup and a tomato and cheese salad (two appetizers instead of an entree). Both were excellent.
French Onion Soup and the Tomato Salad from Ama Ama
We had a character breakfast at Makahiki with Mickey, Minnie, and Goofy. I wasn’t as excited about the buffet as some at Disney World, but I did enjoy the [Read more…]
Along with the counter service price hikes noted in the parks this past week, we’ll also be paying more for our soda pop fix as well.
Pop Varieties
We heard via twitter from Epcyclopedia today that soda pop prices have risen by $.40 per cup. Old Fountain Drink Prices: $2.19 and $2.49. New Fountain Drink Prices: $2.59 and $2.89.
Studios Central reported that soda pop was $2.79 at Disney’s Hollywood Studios’ Backlot Express (which has refill stations that guests are able to access).
While price hikes aren’t necessarily “news” in Walt Disney World (they’re pretty much an expected standard at least once per year, right?), your family might drink enough soda pop over a week-long visit to have this make a difference. If your family of four purchases five drinks per person, per day, for seven days, that’s [Read more…]
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