Thanksgiving | the disney food blog

Reader Poll: Rather Eat Thanksgiving Dinner at Home or at a Disney Restaurant?

Happy Thanksgiving!

My family is considering having Thanksgiving in Disney World next year, and I wanted to hear some opinions about that! So we asked our Facebook Page Fans:

Would you rather have Thanksgiving Dinner at home, or at a Disney restaurant?.

Our readers chimed in with their holiday preferences! While dining at home was a strong contender due to family traditions, leftovers, cost-savings, aversion to holiday crowds, and a palate for a real home-cooked meal, ordering Thanksgiving dinner at a Disney restaurant was the clear winner!

And these voters didn’t care where they ate at Disney — they just wanted to be in the middle of the magic for the holiday. In fact, we think some of you might be happy with one of these!:

Disney Turkey Leg

Here are some of the other suggestions we received!: [Read more…]

WDW Swan and Dolphin Restaurants Offer Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve, and Christmas Dining

By Kim LaPaglia 2 Comments

Il Mulino in the Swan Resort

The fabulous restaurants at the WDW Swan and Dolphin have released Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve, and Christmas dining options. From buffets, to regular menus to specialized offerings, the holidays are sure to be delicious at any of these restaurants!

Thanksgiving, November 24

Il Mulino 5-11:00 p.m. Regular and Holiday Menu

Specialty menu option will include: Braised Stuffed Turkey Breast, “Italian” Turkey Sausage, Sweet Potato Parsnip Puree, Brussel Sprout Leaves, and Warm Cranberry Sauce.

Garden Grove 1-9:00 p.m. Thanksgiving Buffet
Adults $35.95, Kids 3-9 $15.95
Roasted Butternut Squash Soup, Roasted Turkey, Herb Crusted Grouper, Mashed Potatoes, Sweet Potato with Marshmallow Brulee, Green Apple and Chestnut Stuffing, and more! There will also be salads, and of course, an assortment of pastries. Kids can dine on familiar foods – nuggets, corn dog, mac & cheese – too!

Fresh Mediterranean Market 12-6:00 p.m. Thanksgiving Buffet
Stations will include Salads, deli meats and cheeses, soup and more! The griddle will serve up Seared Salmon. Traditional food will include Cider Glazed Virginia Ham, Roasted Organic Tom Turkey, Buttermilk Mashed Potatoes, Rolls, and Bread Stuffing. A selection of desserts will be offered.

bluezoo 5-11:00 p.m. Regular and Holiday Menu
Specialty menu option will include: [Read more…]

Thanksgiving Meals at Fort Wilderness and Magic Kingdom’s Diamond Horseshoe

By Kim LaPaglia 2 Comments

Fort Wilderness Restaurants

Howdy! Round up your crew for the annual Thanksgiving at the Fort! Fort Wilderness Resort and Campground will host countrified meals on Thursday November 24, 2011. And the Diamond Horseshoe will open its doors for table-service and counter-service meals on Turkey Day as well! Yee-haw!

Thanksgiving at the Fort

Mickey & Minnie (and some of their favorite friends) invite you to dine with them at the ranch. Look for Minnie, Pluto, Goofy, Donald, Pocahontas, Meeko, Country Bears, and Chip & Dale. (Characters are subject to change.) At this hoe-down you’ll hoot ‘n holler with the live entertainment including a country band and Trevor the Trick Roper.

This outdoor event rolls out an all-you-can eat buffet of comfort foods in an outdoor, covered pavilion where you’ll be seated family-style with other guests. After you wrangle up some good grub, kick up your heels and dance away those calories!

Location
Fort Wilderness Pavilion (Home of Mickey’s Backyard BBQ)

Seating Times [Read more…]

Holiday Food and Fun at Waldorf Astoria Orlando and Hilton Orlando Bonnet Creek

By Kim LaPaglia Leave a Comment

Spend your holidays at the Waldorf Astoria Orlando or Hilton Bonnet Creek. There are special menus and events that food-lovers and their families are sure to appreciate!

A Toast to the Holidays

Thanksgiving at Hilton Orlando Bonnet Creek

Thanksgiving Dinner at La Luce restaurant

Thursday Nov. 24 5-11pm
Savor the ala carte menu at this award-winning restaurant, with features from Chef Donna Scala We’ve got a review of La Luce’s menu here!

Thanksgiving Family Dinner Buffet at Harvest Bistro
Thursday Nov. 24, 4-10pm
$39 for adults (excluding tax and gratuity)
Children under age 12 eat free (up to two children per paid adult)

This all-you-can-eat Thanksgiving feast includes hand-carved roasted turkey, and other traditional holiday fare. View menu here. For your memorable ending, enjoy the homemade dessert finale. Reservations are recommended at 407-597-3600.

Bonnet Creek Activities

Football Fun

What’s Thanksgiving without football? Enjoy the weekend’s NFL and college football action at Zeta Bar, where feature drink and food specials will win big points!

Celebrate Fall Festival
Nov. 24 – Nov. 26 12:30-5pm
Poolside
Even the kids will be thankful after spending time at the [Read more…]

Downtown Disney Restaurants Announce Thanksgiving Feasts

By Kim LaPaglia Leave a Comment

Portobello

We are thrilled to announce Thanksgiving meals being offered at the Levy Restaurants in Downtown Disney. Wolfgang Puck Grand Cafe, Portobello, and Fulton’s Crab House will debut prix fixe menus for the holiday.

Also, don’t forget to check out our reader-voted favorites for Best Places for Thanksgiving in Disney World and the fun Raglan Road Thanksgiving menu!

Let’s look at the Downtown Disney menus!

Wolfgang Puck Grand Café Dining Room

Start your meal with Sweet Potato and Duck Confit Tart with melted onions, bitter greens, roasted grapes and pumpkin oil. For the main course, savor Whole Roasted Poussin with butternut puree, charred brussels sprouts and red currant chutney. For dessert, [Read more…]

Recipe: Baked Pumpkin Cheesecake

By AJ 3 Comments

Learn About:Raglan Road Irish Pub

Disney Springs
Disney World Restaurants

OK, you have only two weeks to think up a fabulously new Thanksgiving-y dessert that isn’t the same ol’ same ol’, but brings a fresh new flair to an old-fashioned favorite?

Let me help you with that. 😉

Raglan Road (one of our favorite Downtown Disney Orlando restaurants) featured this awesome Baked Pumpkin Cheesecake recipe in their October newsletter.

The recipe was created by Raglan Road Master Chef Kevin Dundon for his Great Family Food cookbook.

Chef Dundon's Baked Pumpkin Cheesecake

Now, don’t forget to save a piece for me!

Baked Pumpkin Cheesecake

The perfect recipe to mix things up a bit this holiday season!! Pumpkie Pie + Cheesecake — two great tastes that taste great together!

Ingredients: Serves 12
Crust: [Read more…]

Review: Liberty Tree Tavern Dinner

By AJ 26 Comments

Learn About:Liberty Tree Tavern

Magic Kingdom
Disney World Restaurants

If you’ve been following our blog for a while, you’ll know how much I love Liberty Tree Tavern in the Magic Kingdom. This is one of my veeeeeeery favorite restaurants to visit for lunch, because it’s simple, good food; usually great service; quick; easy; and relatively inexpensive. It’s consistently in our top 5 Disney restaurants at our house!

But I hadn’t been for dinner in a long time. A really long time. Like, “not in over three years” kind of a long time. So one night during our recent trip to Disney World, we decided on a whim to cancel our current dinner reservation and go to Liberty Tree Tavern. My husband had never been, and I was craving some mac and cheese, so… off to Liberty Square!

Liberty Tree Tavern

Atmosphere

When you walk into Liberty Tree Tavern, you can immediately tell that it’s meant to represent colonial days. The wood paneling, candlestick sconces and chandeliers, and thick glass windows along with the absolutely massive cooking fireplace in the lobby make you feel as though you might be in Colonial Williamsburg!

Liberty Tree Tavern Lobby

Table Setting at Liberty Tree Tavern

What you don’t immediately see is some of the best restaurant Imagineering in Disney World as far as I’m concerned. I’ve done an entire post previously about this, but I’ll [Read more…]

Friday Happy Hour: Craft Beers and Seasonal Ale at Raglan Road

By Kim LaPaglia 4 Comments

Learn About:Raglan Road Irish Pub

Disney Springs
Disney World Restaurants

Raglan Road in Disney World’s Downtown Disney area wants to share their passion for beer!

This restaurant and pub offers over 50 types of beer, many of which are imported from Ireland due to an increase in craft beer production. And with the popularity of Craft Beers increasing, Raglan Road is proud to offer new and exciting brews.

For example, stop in to sample the “Home-Grown Organic Beer Flight,” which is made locally by the Orlando Brewing Co. Or try the seasonal Shipyard Pumpkinhead Ale, a refreshing brew with a hint of spice flavor.

Pumpkinhead’s awards include a 2008 European Beer Star Silver Medal and 1st Place at the 2007 California Brewers Festival. And since this beer pairs well with fall food, be sure to order one at Raglan Road’s specialty Thanksgiving meal!

You can see the full list of Raglan Roads available brews on their beer menu.

According to Raglan Road, [Read more…]

Disney Food Post Round-Up: September 11, 2011

By AJ Leave a Comment

Donald Duck announces new lunch!

It was an exciting week with the announcement of a new character meal hosted by Donald Duck that will be offered at Tusker House in the Animal Kingdom.

And we’re getting so close to the 2011 Epcot Food and Wine Festival now that we’re already planning our touring strategy. You can too — just check out the information in our mini-guide below! We got some great reviews this week!

Latest Disney Food News

Starting December 4th, a Tusker House character lunch will be offered in addition to Donald’s Safari Breakfast!
Disney Parks exclusive wines will be debuting at the Food and Wine Festival!
Downtown Disney’s Raglan Road announced a Thanksgiving meal in addition to its regular lunch and dinner menu.
‘AMA’AMA at Disney’s new Aulani Resort in Hawai’i is now serving guests! Check out this dinner review.

The DFB Mini-Guide to the 2011 Epcot Food & Wine Festival e-Book Review

We’re honored that our newest Mini-Guide is getting such positive reviews! One of the most recent is from Kristin Ford with the Orlando Sentinel’s A Mom and A Mouse! Here’s some of what she has to say about the Mini-Guide…

Like her other projects, AJ Wolfe’s new e-book is thorough. She, of course, explains the many components of the festival, such as seminars, celebrity chef meet-and-greets, signature tastings and concerts. It’s all valuable information laid out in an easy-to-find and easy-to-read format. …I especially like the “With the Kids Strategy” in The Disney Food Blog Mini-Guide to the 2011 Epcot International Food & Wine Festival. Wolfe offers ideas to engage the kids throughout the park so that the family is moving around World Showcase, allowing parents to sample much of the food.

Read the rest of the review here. Thanks to Kristin and the Orlando Sentinel!!

The Disney Food Blog Mini-Guide to the 2011 Epcot International Food & Wine Festival e-Book has over 125 pages of information you need to dive right into the festival. Start YOUR planning with the purchase of your guide.

On to the Round-Up!

Meet the World in Progressland

Has a compilation of photos of Tokyo Disney Resort’s popcorn stands! This is from 2009, but it’s awesome! Love the Roastie-Toasties!

The Disney Blog tells us how to eat cheap at Disneyland!

Main Street Gazette takes us to the River Roost Lounge for evening entertainment and eats! Yee-Haa!!

Eating (and Drinking) Around The World shows us how to make Tuna Poke, Aulani Style!

All Ears Net‘s Jack Spence talks restaurants at Epcot’s France Pavilion. We love it when he does that.

DisMarks has released their 29th Disney Blog Carnival! Lots of great articles on your favorite topics over there.

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We’re thinking today of the men and women who lost their lives on 9/11/01 and of the friends and family they left behind, many of whom are still fighting fear and loss with strength and resilience.

Disney World’s Raglan Road Offers Special Thanksgiving Meal

By Kim LaPaglia 2 Comments

Downtown Disney’s Raglan Road Irish Pub and Restaurant has announced a Thanksgiving dinner with lots of trimmings.

Gather your family and friends for a memorable meal in this authentic pub built in Ireland and imported to Orlando! The warm hospitality and traditional music is an inviting atmosphere for a holiday dinner.

Raglan Road’s Master Chef Kevin Dundon has created a gorgeous meal for the evening. Savor Bunratty Mead glazed turkey; butter whipped potatoes; apple, sage, & sweet onion stuffing; braised Brussels sprouts; cranberry & plum chutney; and traditional gravy; all for $26.95 plus tax.

If you’d like to skip the feast, Raglan Road will also serve [Read more…]

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Reader Poll: Rather Eat Thanksgiving Dinner at Home or at a Disney Restaurant?