WDW Odds & Ends…

Once again, a few random things from some recent visits to Walt Disney World… let’s dive in!

Recently Disney began enforcing the prescribed return times on Fastpass tickets…

as noted on the signs posted on the Fastpass machines (shown here in Hollywood Studios).

The tickets now note “Not able to accommodate late arrivals.”

Most assume this change in the enforcement of return times is due to the expected up-coming “X-Pass” system of Fastpasses (check out this blog post at touringplans.com for some more info)… we’ll see in time…

At the Studios there was a cute addition to the Stage 1 Company Store (aka the “Sorta-Muppet-Stuff-in-Part-of-the-Store-Store”)…

Dr Teeth & the Electric Mayhem are now playing above one of the tee-shirts displays inside the store.

And speaking of shirts, a few new Muppet shirts have been hitting the shelves (or the hangers) in the past months – here’s one of the coolest:

Gotta love Beaker!

And speaking of the new Fastpass system, it looks like there was some testing at Magic Kingdom, with the ticket swiping posts (like what was tested at Epcot for the entry tickets earlier this year) showing up – here is one at the Winnie the Pooh ride (along with a sour look on the castmembers face…)…

Smells like Pooh???

Let’s check out some other things while we’re at the Magic Kingdom…

On Main Street we found Mickey hanging out in a stroller…

and doing some pin trading – a fun and creative alternative to the usual pin board!

A new poster at the fire station touts the Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom game:

The popular Rapunzel meet-and-greet has been moved to the front of the park (where Snow White had previously held court)…

to make room for Merida from the upcoming Pixar film “Brave”.

At the time of this photo, construction walls hid the new Merida meet-and-greet, but by the time you read this it should be open with the raven-tressed Pixar-Princess in full view.

And of course, there are some food-related items…

As you likely know by now, the Florida Orange Bird has made his nostalgic return to the Magic Kingdom, and more specifically, the Sunshine Tree Terrace.

Orange Bird juice containers are back…

and the iconic Citrus Swirl is poised to challenge the Dole Whip as the #1 icy fruit-flavored snack in the Magic Kingdom.

Citrus Swirl

And the Orange Bird himself surveys the scene.

Sunshine Tree Terrace Menu

And of course, the little Orange Bird is now adorning a variety of merchandise.

And on another food-related note…

over at the Liberty Square Market, in addition to the healthier options of fresh fruit and regular baked potatoes,  you can now order up a baked sweet spud.

Back in Fantasyland the construction continues at a rapid pace.

Just who the heck is that darn monkey???

Far in the distance (Can you say “forced perspective”? I knew you could…) looms the Beast’s Castle…

which looks fantastic…

The Beast’s Castle

I’m really looking forward to seeing the complete landscape of the new Fantasyland!

Two parks down, two to go… we’ll hit some odds & ends from Animal Kingdom and Epcot next time…

See you soon!

A glass to hold your drinks…

plates and bowls for your food, a shirt for your chest and a place to rest your head…

Yes, dear Dedicated Readers, Disney has more ways to part the faithful with their hard-earned cash… as Miss Bonnie and I were exiting the Magic Kingdom this past weekend, we made our way through the cooler environs of the air-conditioned stores, and actually found several new (or at least relatively new) items that we really liked.

There’s a set of plastic glassware with a swirly indentation around the base of each piece and a colorful design with a panicked looking Mickey…

Could there be a Juggalo on the Disney design team???

These lightweight glasses have “Summer” all over them – perfect for the beach, lake or poolside.

There is also a new line of kitchenware featuring a classic, old-school Mickey.

Even though it’s most defiantly “Disney”, I think the overall design is nice and a bit understated.

Salt & Pepper Set

Measuring Cups – how cute are these?

Spoon Rests & Metal Trivets

Of course you have to wear something while you’re in the kitchen (or do you?), so how about a Disney-food related shirt?

The original Turkey Leg shirt (on the bottom right) has been around for a while now, and yes, I’ve made quite a bit of fun of it, but it seems to be selling… go figure…  Also on the bottom row are the new shirts celebrating the return of the classic Orange Bird to the park – cute if you’re the nostalgic type…

The newer food-related shirts (on the top row) I think are all very well done – even the Turkey Leg one! I can see many Dole Whip and Churro fans sporting these in the coming months. Now if only we can get a margarita shirt at La Cava…

But we agreed that our favorite find of the day was a new set of small pillows…

there are several styles, most featuring an iconic Disney phrase or saying with other related words or design on the back.

Tomb Sweet Tomb… do you have to buy 999 of these?

Was there a proofreading issue between the front and the back?

According to one castmember, these had been out for about a month and had been selling well. At $19.99 each (with the larger Mary Poppins themed one just above at $29.99), the price is reasonable (but I’d love it if the price point was more like $14.95, or if they offered a “3 for” price…) and I can see more than one of these gracing my sofa soon.

So there you have it friends, a quick look at some new merch of note… pull out the Disney VISA…

Back to the kitchen – see you soon!

Thanks for the heads up…

Recently Miss Bonnie and I checked out the first part of the massive Fantasyland expansion in the Magic Kingdom to open – the Storybook Circus – or at least the first part of that part to open…

I’m not going to try and give you a complete rundown or photo essay of our visits (once during the day and once at night), but just a few quick notes. Anyway the bit that’s opened is already all over the web, so if you’re behind the curve, take a look at the initial coverage by our friends at AllEars and the DIS.

At this time, all that is open is the newest (of the soon to be dueling duo) Dumbo ride, the re-themed Barnstormer roller coaster and the Fantasyland train station (and associated restroom facilities).

The new Dumbo is colorful, and with it’s new water features around the base is especially appealing after dark (the Orlando Theme Park News blog and Inside the Magic both have nice videos online).

Several posters around the area show Goofy’s many  exploits as the daredevil The Great Goofini: from being shot out of a cannon, to entering the squared circle with a huge Ursidae, to strapping a saddle onto a rocket…

Being the Rocket Boy that I am, it should go without saying that I loved the still-smoking remnants of Goofy’s ill-fated rocket ride in the Barnstormer queue…

More than one of my launches have ended this way...

But the best themed area is the train station (paying homage to Walt’s Carolwood Pacific backyard train)…

and the nearby restrooms themed to the Casey Jr. Circus Train.

While we were there, I felt the need to visit the restroom facilities – and inside I noticed this sign:

Now I’ve seen such notices around neighborhoods where non-potable water is used for sprinklers and so forth, but this is the first time I’ve seen it in a men’s room… and especially where it was placed:

So thanks Disney-Legal! Yes, I was thirsty, and if I hadn’t been warned I would have seriously considered going in for a quick watery respite… phewww… potential non-potable catastrophe averted!

We now await further openings in the Fantasyland area, and hopefully even more interesting signage!

Now back to the kitchen – see you soon!

WDW Odds & Ends…

A few random things from the last couple of visits to the word, and as usual, a few are food and beverage related…

In the Magic Kingdom, the new Sorcerer’s of the Magic Kingdom game has launched – Miss Bonnie & I got to try it out during the Beta test phase.

The main check-in area is in the Fire Station on Main Street.

Training area inside the Fire Station

One of the game "portals" in the Main Street area

The cards that are part of the game have various Disney characters on them, each displaying a specific power that helps you defend the Magic Kingdom from those evil characters wishing to take it over…  Miss Bonnie got a card that must have been intended for me…

Has to be the BEST super-power ever!

Our first thoughts on the game were quite positive, but we’ve got a long way to go to see how it finally pans out – I won’t go into any great description of the Sorcerer’s game here, as it’s already been discussed in detail elsewhere on the web… the official Disney blog has made several posts, so for a quick overview if you’re not familiar with the Sorcerer’s of the Magic Kingdom go there… I also added some of my comments on the subject at the Main Street Gazette.

While on Main Street, we (not surprisingly) made our way into the Confectionery…

here we found some cute Mickey-shaped cookies.

I always enjoy watching the Castmembers as they create some of the goodies that make their way into the counter…

Mickey Crispy Pops were being created this day…

In the not-edible-category we found a few cool items for sale here as well.

In the tea category is yet another Alice-themed teapot available…

I loves me some Alice, so I’m not going to complain about there being too much Alice/tea merch… Too bad I’m not a big tea drinker…

But we did find some new java holders:

Por favor...

Miss Bonnie and I do both down us some coffee, and we both thought the new coffee go mugs were quite nice.

There looks to be six new designs, four of which have clever sayings and/or images on two sides.

These retail for $14.99 – I think a little pricey, but most are very clever…

Now let’s make our way over to World Showcase at Epcot.

Country-specific-Epcot-branded merchandise (primarily glassware and clothing) continues to show up around the World Showcase – I really love that there is merchandise that you can find that is specific to one locale!

Not Epcot-specific/branded, but there is an interesting selection of glasses in Germany…

they feature the name and skyline of a Germany city, but the most interesting thing is that the graphic on the outside of the glass is, well, fuzzy… kind of like felt… weird.

The Italy pavilion has really expanded their selection of oils and seasonings…

there are some very interesting olive oils, Italian seasonings and spice grinders, but be prepared for some sticker-shock… nothing here is cheap, even by Disney-standards!

At the Enoteca in Italy, a couple of new wine flights have been added…

Hopefully a preview of great things to come at the new under-construction wine bar!

Speaking of which, we took a peek over the construction walls at Tutto Italia…

looks pretty gutted now, but we have high hopes for the wine bar that will be ensconced within… time will tell..

While Tutto Italia is undergoing the refurb, the Food & Wine booth has been set up with an ambitious quick-service menu.

Over in Great Britain, there have been some changes in the Toy Soldier store…

The rear section of the building has long been devoted to a Winnie-the-Pooh character meet-and-greet…

but the area was recently re-themed to look like Christopher Robin’s bedroom – genius! What took so long???

Thanks to our good friends over at WDW Today, we got the chance to check out the backstage (well, really the upstairs) at Norway.

Matt, Mike, Mike, Len and the Fabulous Annette hosted an event in a space above Maelstrom in Norway (congrats guys on 1,000 shows!).

The inner nerd in us took hold and we took pictures of most everything…

And yes, being the nerds we are, we had to check out the restrooms…

The other room is labeled "MENN"

Over in China we had a fun find in the gift store…

nothing says “family-friendly” like a grab-and-go ice chest of Coke, specialty teas, and Tsing Tao… nice…

Outside the parks we had a nice animal viewing opportunity…

while staying at our “Welcome Home”-away-from home of Kidani Village, we were lucky enough to have a room that overlooked the Pembe Savannah (this is the one you can see from the pool area). This savannah has quite a different variety of animals from the others at Kidani and the Jambo House – we were treated to lots of Tommys, Nyalas, and Impalas… but best of all this savannah has (well had) a pair of the beautiful, fascinating, and rarely seen Okapi… I say “had” a pair, because there are now three… a female calf was born last October, and just in the past couple of weeks she (along with mama) was being released into the Pembe Savannah for very limited times…

We felt very fortunate to have seen one of the first public appearances by this gorgeous young lady!

So there you have it – some recent Odds & Ends from around the World – hope you enjoyed!

Now, back to the kitchen… we’ll have new recipes for you soon!

WDW Weekend Eats

We haven’t done a “Weekend Eats” in a while, so since Miss Bonnie and I spent our pre-Valentine’s weekend at Disney and had a nice variety of edibles while there, I figured it was time…

We were staying at the Wilderness Lodge and began our culinary adventures on Friday evening there at the Territory Lounge.

In this comfortable setting next to the  Artist Point restaurant they have a selection of appetizers available to go along with the featured wines of the the American Northwest (or the usual cocktail or beers of your choice if you prefer).

One of the appetizers is the same cheese plate as served next door at Artist Point, and that was our choice to start the weekend.

Smokey Blue Cheese, Reypenaer VSOP and Humboldt Fog

The aged Gouda and the Blue were pretty much tied as our favorite… cheese… yummm…

I’ve heard from semi-reliable sources that you can order from the complete restaurant menu in the bar, and we did see a couple of ladies enjoying the mushroom soup (which was not on the app menu for the lounge), so I imagine if you ask real nice…

We made our way to the Magic Kingdom for a while and enjoyed the “romance version” of the great castle show (if you haven’t seen the projection show on the castle that precedes the fireworks, you’re really missing something…) and the fireworks. Following Wishes we hightailed it to the resort monorail and got off at the Poly.

Next to Kona Cafe they set up a sushi bar starting at 5 PM (before this it’s a coffee/pastry venue) and here you can get some really great Polynesian-style sushi and/or order from the full Kona menu if you so desire.

We ordered a couple of items from the sushi menu as well as the potstickers from the Kona appetizer menu.

Pork and Vegetable Potstickers

I was a bit disappointment that the duck potstickers that had been on the menu had been replaced with a more mainstream pork and veggie version, but they were quite good nonetheless.

From the sushi side we tried the Citrus Hamachi Roll (which I think is a new addition to the selection there since my last visit) and one of my favorites, the Tuna Poke.

Citrus Hamachi Roll

The Hamachi roll featured marinated raw Yellow Tail with crunchy tempura bits and was quite good.

Tuna Poke... can you served me up a bucket of this stuff please???

Dedicated Readers may recall how much I enjoyed chopped-up-and-seasoned-raw-tuna dishes (and I’ve given you a couple of recipes for Tuna Poke in the posts “Let’s Cook! Tuna Poke” and “Let’s Cook! Tuna Poke, a la Aulani”), and the Tuna Poke served here is not only one of my favorite examples of this dish, but truly one of my favorite things served anywhere on Disney property. Very fresh seasoned tuna with a spicy mayoish topping on a crispy base… I could eat a huge amount of this stuff!

Miss Bonnie has been somewhat squeamish about raw fish before (but I give her lots of credit for at least trying most anything), but she bravely gave this a taste… and went back for more… it’s that flipping good…

The next day we again found ourselves in the Magic Kingdom, and around lunchtime we made our way to the Columbia Harbour House. This is probably my favorite quick service location in the Magic Kingdom – it’s menu is quite different from any other on property (believe it or not, you can’t get a burger there), and the seating areas, especially upstairs, are well themed and generally much less hectic than most other quick service eateries.

We had been meaning to get there for quite a while after a menu makeover a few months ago (making broccoli, of all things, a featured element), but this was the first time we’d actually made it there. Broccoli (which I actually quite like) is now offered as a side option to many of the menu items, and is featured in a salad, which we decided to try (along with and order of the fried fish so that Miss Bonnie could get here french-fry-fix for the day).

Broccoli Peppercorn Salad

The Broccoli Peppercorn Salad has “mixed greens (mostly iceberg), garden vegetables (corn and green peas), chicken, broccoli, parmesan cheese, tossed with a creamy peppercorn dressing”. This salad is huge with a very large amount of (I assume) poached chicken. The meat is tender and not dry at all, but fairly bland. The dressing is tasty and the ingredients really need the flavor boost. The peas and corn tend to wiggle there way down, so you see most of them at the bottom of the bowl as you finish. The salad is certainly big enough to share, and we both liked it and agreed we’d gladly have it again (even though my usual choice here is the hummus sandwich). Even though the ingredients are healthy, I can’t imagine the dressing is anywhere near a low (or even moderate) fat selection, so even though it’s a “salad”, it’s probably not really a great dietary choice, especially if you eat the whole thing… of course it’s probably still much better than a burger…

Later in the afternoon we found ourselves in Downtown Disney to take part in the the 5th Anniversary celebration for Lou Mongello’s WDW Radio podcast (congrats on five great years Lou!) being held outside of the Pollo Campero/Fresh A-Peel/babycakesNYC building with goodies being provided by the babycakesNYC bakery.

We were meeting up with Momma Ginny there, and she gave us the heads up on a tasty beverage to sample: Watermelon Sangria.

Watermelon Sangria

There is a small beverage area there with several Latin favorites (alcoholic and non… as if anyone should bother with the latter) and other usual beers and wine. On this day they had a very refreshing and yummy Watermelon Sangria, so we ordered one of those (primarily) for Miss Bonnie along with a Stella draft for myself. They do now offer discounts (20%) here for DVC members, Annual Passholders, etc., so our two drinks (before tip) were less than $10.00 – quite the adult beverage deal for being on Disney property!

Attendees were treated to small cupcakes with your choice of frosting (we selected a very assertive mint).

Cupcakes with Mint Frosting

And later a very moist and delicious Blondie cake with vanilla frosting was sliced and gladly devoured by the crowd.

babycakes manager Emily handing out slices of cake

Babycakes is known as the “healthy” dessert location – vegan, gluten-free, yadda, yadda, yadda… this equals taste-free to many… this cake converted any doubters…

Tasty, tasty vegan Blondie Cake with Vanilla Frosting... only thing that could have made it better would be some bacon!

That evening was our pre-Valentine’s dinner at Artist Point in the Wilderness Lodge resort.

We ordered a couple of glasses of Kung Fu Girl Riesling (a nice choice) and perused the menu. While we looked we nibbled on some nice Sourdough Bread served with soft butter sprinkled with Black Sea Salt.

Bread & Butter

We were tempted by several new appetizer offerings (including Roasted Oysters with Crab Ceviche and an Asian-inspired Beef Noodle Bowl), but settled on the Roasted Heirloom Beets.

Salt Roasted Heirloom Beets with Truffled Goat Cheese, Cider Poached Pink Lady Apples, Spiced Walnuts and Mulled Wine Vinaigrette

This was not only a beautiful dish, but an absolutely delicious one as well!  Of course it’s hard to go too wrong when you start with a base of truffled goat cheese… I would have gladly eaten a larger portion of this as a vegetarian entree.

For her main course Miss Bonnie chose the Sweet Potato Gnocchi (another new addition to the menu replacing another gnocchi dish) while I selected the Prawn and Crab “Hot Pot”.

House-made Sweet Potato Gnocchi with Wild Mushrooms, Spinach, Caper Butter and Drunken Goat Cheese

The gnocchi arrived on a slender plate along with mushrooms, spinach and (yet more) goat cheese. Bonnie was ecstatic about the dish and keep talking about it for days.

With the large number of people of Asian descent on the West Coast, it’s not surprising that Artist Point usually features several Asian-inspired dishes, and my entree was one of these…

Wild Caught Jumbo Prawn and Crab "Hot-Pot" with Mussels, Crispy Pork (yeah baby!, Jasmine Rice, and Spiced Thai Coconut Broth

the “Hot-Pot” is in quotes as you don’t actually cook the dish yourself as in a traditional hot pot, but this is an “inspired” dish from the flavors of a seafood hot pot… a flavorful broth was on the bottom of the dish, topped with the slightly sticky rice along with some mussels, a few cubes of pork belly, some pieces of crab and two large prawns. Overall the dish had very good flavor and was quite filling as well – the mussels were on the small side (which disappointed me as, like Janet Weiss, I’m a mussel fan…), but other than that I was quite satisfied.

We very both so stuffed that we passed on dessert, but just to be on the safe side we stopped in at the Wilderness Lodge quick-service venue, the Roaring Fork, to pick up a Magic Cookie Bar (which did make it unscathed until the next morning).

Magic Cookie Bar

On Sunday we went to Epcot (which will not shock Dedicated Readers in the least) and started wandering around World Showcase. After considering the new temporary Italian quick service (which is open while the Tutto Italia restaurant is closed for a refurbishment), we decided on my new/old favorite, the Katsura Grill for lunch.

Katsura Grill

The former Yakatori House, which was one of my favorite places in all the World, recently re-opened as the Katsura Grill (yes, we will give you more details on this venue sometime, soon I hope…), and I have been very pleased with the results. Most of the old menu is still intact, and several new items have been added. It was a very cool weekend, so on this visit Miss Bonnie was in the mood for soup and she went for the Miso Soup along with a California Roll.Both items hit the spot for her, especially the soup.

Miso Soup and California Roll

I picked one of the older dishes to see how it was now faring – the Shogun Combo of teriyaki chicken and beef served with steamed veggies and rice. The boneless chicken thighs were juicy and took well to the sauce. The thinly sliced beef was much better than the last time I’d had it, even though I still wish they’d bring back the sukiyaki beef. The vegetables and the rice were both cooked well. This was a very generous portion and a quality dish. Of course, a Kirin washed down a good lunch.

Shogun Teriyaki Combination

So there you have it, a culinary overview of our most recent weekend in the World – I hope you enjoyed it and were able to eat a bit vicariously…

We also came across several interesting things in the parks that weekend, so we’ll try and give you an “Odds & Ends” from the weekend soon…

Now, back to the kitchen! See you soon!

Magic Kingdom Odds & Ends

A recent visit to the Magic Kingdom uncovered some interesting tidbits, including a few celebrity sightings and of course, several food-related items… so let’s take a look shall we?

The Confectionery on Main Street is, not surprisingly, filled with holiday-inspired goodies.

In addition to the holiday sweets, the infamous Turkey Leg makes an appearance in Rice Krispie Treat form.

Turkey Leg Rice Krispie Treat

Just down the way in the Main Street Gallery is a slew of new railroad themed merchandise, all of it looks to be very nice, so if you’re a train-nut, be sure to check these items out.

I really liked these (there is one for Land and one for World), printed on heavy wooden slats.

We were there on one of the days of the Christmas parade taping (yes kids, sorry to burst your bubble, but the Christmas Day parade is taped ahead of time…).

Cameras, lights and so forth were in place around Main Street to tape the musical acts (a big name that day… we’ll see more on that shortly…), the host bits (the boyishly handsome Mario Lopez replaced Kelly and the recently retired Regis this year), and the parade itself (and we have a few interesting bits for that to show you later as well).

Before eyeing some of the TV taping, we took advantage of the sparse crowds away from Main Street to take one last spin on Dumbo before it gets moved to it’s new home in the Storybook Circus section of the Fantasyland expansion.

The flying-elephant-eye-view provided Miss Bonnie and I with a few peeks over the construction walls where the massive Fantasyland expansion project is going on.

Sitting along the aforementioned construction wall is the fancy-dancy popcorn cart that was unveiled several months ago.

Recently added was a sign telling us that this unique popcorn-making-machine is yet another creation of Belle’s inventor father, the clever Maurice.

We took up a location behind the castle stage to get a view of the goings on. There had been much chatter around the park as to who the main musical guest was to be that day…

Santa Goofy showed up, but he wasn’t the name that was being uttered… crowds were gathering…

even one of the step-sisters was taken in by the excitement…

things were at, well, a fever-pitch… yes… Beiber-Fever was rampant at the Magic Kingdom!

Bieber's Back!

Mega-pre-teen idol Justin Beiber was awaiting his performance, and the (mostly) young ladies around us were screaming like, well, little girls… especially when the Beiber would turn around.

He must be waving just at me!

Apparently the Beiber-Fever causes strange marking to appear on parts of young ladies appendages…

I'd see a doctor about that rash...

Also in attendance on the forecourt stage was Jaden Smith, the offspring of Will.

Jaden Smith taking a picture of me taking a picture of him... wow... trippy...

We tore ourselves away from that excitement for a much more important issue… trying new food!

Sleepy Hollow Refreshments recently added waffle sandwiches to the menu, so we just had to try them… we’ll always take the bullet for you, dear Dedicated Readers!

We tried the Sweet and Spicy Chicken and Nutella and Fresh Fruit Waffle offerings…

Sweet and Spicy Chicken and Nutella and Fresh Fruit Waffle Sandwiches

The waffles are big and freshly-made.The Nutella version was a big hit with Miss Bonnie – a generous amount of the hazelnut spread was topped with seasonal fresh fruit. This could easily serve as a breakfast or dessert item.

Nutella and Fresh Fruit Waffle Sandwich

The “spicy” chicken version was a bit on the bland side, but has potential…

Sweet and Spicy Chicken Waffle Sandwich

The chicken is a big, juicy piece, and the peppery greens are a nice touch, but the sauce defiantly needs a bit more bite (and I’ve had several people agree with me, not all of them being chilie-heads…) – so for the time being, bring along a bottle of hot sauce or your handy stash of ghost pepper salt…

During breakfast hours they are also currently offering an Omelet Waffle Sandwich (as well as some holiday special items all day).

These sandwiches are a nice addition (even if some of the seasonings need to be tweaked a bit), and are a pretty good value – the waffles are big and the toppings generous.

We moved on to explore Adventureland and Frontierland, checking out some of the locations in place for the upcoming Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom interactive game.

SMK location near Pirates

SMK location near Frontierland Shooting Gallery

Closer view of SMK location near Frontierland Shooting Gallery

While in Frontierland we noticed that the Golden Horseshoe was open for dining during lunch hours… and it wasn’t just regular dining…

it was fancy dining!

Ohhh... fancy...

Castmembers at the Golden Horseshoe fighting off the massive lunch rush...

We then observed some of the filming of the Christmas day parade. Mario Lopez did the hosting duties on the stage set up near the train station.

Mario emerging from a visit to the men's room near City Hall.

Not sure what the sword is for... maybe to fend off the camera-toting stalkers outside the bathroom...

Up near the hub, we watched a few of the floats emerge for the parade taping.

Tow Mater and Lightening McQueen from the Cars franchise were accompanied by several young ladies in “Rust-Eze” garb.

Their outfits featured nicely embroidered logos on the caps and back.

Something's not just quite right about that logo...

Following the autos was the Pirates float.

The alluring Angelica

Accompanying the float were several not-so-sober pirates and some comely wenches who displaying quite a bit more cleavage than you’d expect to see in the Magic Kindom (not that I’m complaining, mind you).

Best parade ever!

Now I think I need some alone time, so we’ll end our visit to the Magic Kingdom here… see you soon!

WDW Weekend Eats…

We haven’t done a wrap-up  of a weekends dining at Walt Disney World lately, so since we had some good and different items this past weekend, let’s dig in!

Our first on-property food foray wasn’t until Saturday lunch…

Miss Bonnie and I were at the Magic Kingdom early in the AM, and after randomly running into a few friends (you know who you are…) we met up with Scientist Len (aka Leonard), an old friend of mine from grad school, and his offspring, Dizzy Lizzy… it had been many years since either had been in the Kingdom, so we played Tour Guide and knocked out plenty of attractions in the morning.

As we wanted a break from the park, we hopped the monorail over to the Polynesian and went to Captain Cook’s for a quick bit of lunch. As we had a fairly early reservation for dinner, Miss Bonnie & I decided to share a meal.. we thought about one of the flatbreads, then what seems to be a new item on the menu caught ours respective eyes: pork nachos…

Okay, here I’ll admit I don’t recall the exact name and listed details of the item, and yes I could have taken a pic of the menu items, but I was more concerned with heading to the pool bar for a better beer selection while I had Miss Bonnie wait in line for the food… yes, I suck…

So to digress a bit… they have cool touch screen ordering here which worked well, once I figured out you had to use it instead of talking to a real-live person… for pics of this and a full review, go over to our friends at the Disney Food Blog here.

Anyway… we sat outside with our pork nachos… and Miss Bonnie deemed them good enough to come back specifically for them!

Instead of tortilla chips, crispy fried wontons (with a random potato chip…) served as the base… tender Hawaiian-style pulled pork (not sure but I’m thinking maybe a Kahlua pork?) is the protein, a mild cheese (likely mozzarella?) glues things together and the whole thing is topped with tomatoes, onions and, of course to complete the island theme, pineapple…

It was tasty, different, and a nice sized portion for the price – easily enough for two… thinking I may have to work up a version in the Eating (and Drinking) around the World kitchens some day…

So we headed back to the park for a while, and then took a boat over to the Wilderness Lodge (where Bonnie & I were laying our heads for the weekend) for dinner at Artist Point.

I’ve had a few really good meals there over the past couple of years, so I was looking forward to our meal that night (in fact, at Miss Bonnie’s suggestion, I took a photo of the menu on my phone that morning so I’d have plenty of time to peruse same during the day… still I didn’t make up my mind until we were there…)… to cut to the chase, we weren’t disappointed…

Leonard and Lizzy shared a cheese plate, as did Bonnie & I… well, Miss Bonnie allowed me to taste a bit of the cheeses, threatening me with her silverware if I tried to take too much… Bonnie has become quite the aficionado of all things fromage since her cheese epiphany earlier this year at Jiko’s.

Clockwise from bottom left: "Drunken" Goat cheese with figs, aged Reypenaer VSOP Gouda with raisins, Walnut Toast, and Smokey Blue Cheese with honeycomb.

The cheese plate here has a bit less variety than some others around property (Jiko’s and Flying Fish usually have five choices), but the portions were generous and the selections were good… none was left on the plate. The real find here was the aged Gouda – very much like a good aged cheddar with the little crunch of crystallization here and there – I’ll search this one out to have again.

I (being the pig I am) also tried an additional appetizer, the Rainbow Asparagus Salad with Slow Poached Farm Fresh Egg, Truffle Chips, Frisee Lettuce, Black Truffles, and Champagne Vinaigrette… phew, that was a keyboard-full…

Asparagus Salad

The truffle aroma was wonderful, in fact I passed the dish around the table just for everyone to sniff, and the egg was perfectly cooked – the yolk making a rich addition to the dressing when cut into…

Good, but to my tastes, not great… perhaps the full day of desiring this item had me expecting too much…

For the rest of our meal, the ladies chose to go the “Appetizer as Dinner” route (which I’m becoming a big fan of…) while the manly men chose the full entree route…

Pan-seared Alaskan Halibut

Leonard chose the halibut with asparagus, morels and peas… tender and flavorful.

Kettle-steamed Mussels with Sourdough Panzanella

Dizzy Lizzy’s selection of mussels with basically a bread salad atop was a good portion and met with much delight.

I chose to go with some of Donald’s relatives…

"Duo of Duck" Seared Crispy Breast of Duck with Brown Butter Chard, Huckleberry Chili Glaze and Smoked Duck Soufflé

The perfectly cooked duck breast was a delight… the soufflé was more of a side… almost like a corn pudding with some duck pieces at the bottom.

But the winner of the night was Miss Bonnie…

Spring Pea Risotto with Crispy Snake River Farms Pork Belly, Radish Salad & Goat Cheese Crisp

The rich and fatty pork belly was combined with a flavorful spring pea risotto – the radish provided a bit of contrast in texture – wow, this was really something… only complaint is that I’d like a little more of the radish salad, but that’s just a little bit of whining…

If this is on the menu when you are there, order it… even if you’re Kosher or vegetarian, order it…

Being fully sated after some great food, good wine, and even better company, we sadly passed on dessert (and Lizzy really had her heart set on some simple ice cream in the Kingdom), so we made our way back to the park for the rest of the evening.

On Sunday ours friends made their way back up I-75 early, so Miss Bonnie and I were on our own for lunch…

We took the nice walk from Wilderness Lodge over to Fort Wilderness (encountering Bambi on the way…) and did a bit of exploring… maybe we’ll soon look at a few things we found at the Outpost…

but back to the food…

We chose to dine at Trail’s End, which promises “Frontier Fixin’s & Friendly Folk”…

Until fairly recently, Trail’s End was all-buffet, all-the-time, but now lunch is served a la carte (while the buffet is still in effect for breakfast and dinner).

Despite the “down home” feel of the place, the lunch menu has some really interesting choices.

Now (as we’ll see soon), this part could easily be titled “Three potato, four…”… (if you haven’t read “One potato, two potato”, you may go back and do so now…).

House-made Potato Chips

We started with a new appetizer: House-made Potato Chips served with onion dip. The chips come plain (“Natural”), Barbecue or Peppercorn & Vinegar – we chose the latter – the flavoring wasn’t over-powering, but was there.

Freshly-made chips are showing up a lot over property now (again, see “One potato, two potato”), and it’s a good thing… these were delicious…

For our mains, Bonnie went with the Pulled Pork Sandwich while I (after consultation with our pleasant server) opted for the Fried Green Tomatoes.

The pork sandwich was topped with Corn-Bacon Coleslaw (a bit skimpy portion of this in my opinion…) and pickled Green Tomatoes.

This item is normally served with the Potato Chips, but since we had those to start, Miss Bonnie asked for the Sweet Potato Fries as a sub and she was easily accommodated in her request.

Mmmm... pig....

When I asked our server about her opinion on the Fried green Tomatoes, she admitted she hadn’t tried them, but noted that they were the favorite item of the chef, so I took that as a good omen…

Fried Green Tomatoes with Marinated Portobello Mushrooms, Roasted Red Peppers, Smoked Gouda Cheese, and Fried Green Beans served with Sweet Potato Fries

The Fried Green Tomatoes are served atop marinated Portobello Mushrooms, which provides a nice counterpoint.

The Fried Green Beans are good, and loved the Fried Sweet Potatoes, but overall this plate is Too Much Fried… yes you heard me, Too Much Fried food…

I’d certainly order this again, but I’d ask to sub either the beans or sweet potato fires with another (non-fried) side next time…

The food here was really good, and the portions more than generous (two could easily spilt a meal, especially if you were having an appetizer or adding one of the sides that sound appealing) – we’ll be back soon to try Spicy Grilled Shrimp, or maybe the (seemingly now soon-to-be ubiquitous) Fried Chicken and Waffles, or just for the sides of Cheese Grits or Hopp’n John…

If you’ve been to any of the places we visited this weekend, we’d love to hear your comments!

Now back to the kitchen…

Let the birdies sing…

the way they were supposed to…

And yes, rumors sometimes are true…

So it appears that one unfortunate accident, and an idiots comments about a grave tragedy, have combined to give us back an original version (or at least something that will be close) of a classic Disney attraction.

The Tropical Serenade, as the Tiki Room was called, was an original attraction at Disneyworld in 1971. It was a recreation of the classic Disneyland attraction – historic as the birds in the show are considered to be the first  Audio-Animatronics created by Disney.

Sadly (to some “purists” at least, and to yours truly as well), the attraction underwent a refurb in the late 90′s, reopening as the Enchanted Tiki Room (Under New Management). This version inserted Zazu from the Lion King and Iago from Aladdin (voiced by the ever-irritating Gilbert Gottfried, more on this moron later) as the new owners of the Tiki Room.

Zazu

Iago

The addition of the characters was an attempt to make the “quaint” attraction into something more relevant to the newer generations reared on the more recent Disney films. I’ll editorialize a bit on this as we get to the end (I’m sure you can’t wait…).

So the aforementioned unfortunate accident was a small fire that damaged the Tiki Room in January of 2011 causing it to be closed for repairs.

Ironically (as we shall see) the figure of Iago was reported to have suffered the most severe damage during the fire.

Now let’s move ahead to March of the same year – there was a severe earthquake and resulting tsunami in Japan tragically causing the loss of many, many lives and the disruption of life in general there – the results will be felt for years to come…

So what does the idiot Gilbert Gottfried do in the days after? He decides it’s the time to make some less-than-tasteless jokes on Twitter referencing the tragedy… now I’m generally considered less than “politically correct”, and I can understand a comedian trying to be “edgy” or whatever, but give me a freaking break…

I’ll leave it to you to look up the comments if you so desire… but this wasn’t the first time Gottfried has pulled something like this, as he decided that just three weeks after the attacks on the Twin Towers it was the proper time to make 9/11 jokes…

Probably best known as the voice of the Aflac Duck, the idiot Gottfried got himself fired from probably the easiest gig in the world due to his Japan comments… I’m now searching the Thesaurus for a synonym for moron…

So now what does all this have to do with the return of an original version of an attraction? After the “Gottfried Incident” (as I have now decided to call it), the refurb time for the Tiki Room was quietly extended… rumors began swirling around that the characters from the “New Management” version would exit the attraction, and thus the voice of Gottfried would disappear from the park and Disney could distance themselves from him without the attention that was paid to his Aflac firing.

And so the rumors were verified… at the D23 Destination D event in May of 2011 (and concurrently on the Disney Parks Blog) it was officially announced that the attraction would be turned into “a version reminiscent of the original show” (to quote the blog).

As the logo was flashed on the screen, much cheering and rejoicing ensued…

Now to comment and editorialize… I know the parks are supposed to change and develop, I’m not the purist that says things should stay the same (“as Walt intended” some may say…)… but the changes should be for the good… like the refurb a few years ago to my beloved Haunted Mansion (as well as the more recent additions there) – the changes were superb! But don’t get me started on Stitch replacing the ExtraTERRORestrial Alien Encounter…

But the original Tiki Room is so iconic and important (or at least as important as a theme park attraction can be) that a version that’s at least similar to what Walt envisioned really should be in the parks. I experienced the original in the Anaheim park as a child (and that was before the parks in Florida existed – yes I’m old…) and I have vivid memories of the Tiki Room to this day – I can’t imagine that this attraction, even an attraction without high-tech 3D computer graphics or turn-me-upside-down thrills, won’t still have the same effect on todays seven-year-olds – when the thunder started and the rain on the windows started falling I truly believed there was a storm going on outside – and when the Tiki Gods on the poles start their reverie I was truly terrified… I hope the youth of today aren’t already too sophisticated in grade school that they can’t be enraptured by the same effects that mesmerized me oh so many years ago… and that their parents and grandparents as well can appreciate Walt’s Enchanted Tiki Room along with me… see you at the opening…

One potato, two potato…

French fries and bagged potato chips have long been staples of theme park cuisine, and just about any type of fast-food eatery for that matter, for about as long as most can remember.  This is true of course for Disney World as it has been for anyplace else.

Recently however, a couple of spud options have surfaced in the World…

A couple of places in the Magic Kingdom are now featuring freshly made potato chips… and they are dang tasty!

As we noted in April, they are available at the Tomorrowland Terrace (no longer known as the Noodle Station).  But as we found recently, they are also in Fantasyland at the Friar’s Nook (formerly known as the Village Fry Shoppe).

The menu here had gone under a change not long ago, and I went there to try a new entree that was served with the aforementioned chips…

the menu item in question was the Teriyaki Chicken Nuggets…

When ordered, the normal chicken nuggets are dunked in a teriyaki sauce, put in a serving bowl along with the chips, and topped with (of all things) fried wasabi peas (which I dearly love).

The nuggets are actually pretty good, and the serving size is generous – but like at Tomorrowland Terrace, the real star here is the potato chips (which are also on the menu as a side item).

This Asian-styled item seems sorta out of place in Fantasyland, but I’ll take a new, and good, dining option wherever I can find it…

Across the World in Animal Kingdom another  tuber was likewise a recent pleasant surprise…

After this year’s Expedition Everest Challenge race I was in search of sustenance and with much of The Harem in tow I made my way to one of the few dining establiments that was open: Restaurantosaurus.

I think the last time I was there was after the last Everest event (Flame Tree being my usual quick-service choice in AK). Now our good friend AJ of the Disney Food Blog loves this place (see her review here), and now I have a reason to like it as well…

Yes Dear Readers, we have Sweet Potato Fries…

In my attempt to be semi-healthy, I selected the “Vegetable Subosaurus” which happened to come with a side of the Sweet Potato Fries.

Vegetable Subosaurus

The sandwich was good (not sure if it was as good as the grilled veggie sandwich served at a couple of places in the Studios or not, but pretty dang good in any case…), but the real winner again was the side of sweet fried tubers. They don’t list them on the menu, but if you ask they’ll serve you a side order (for a not-too-bad price of $2.49).

These were good enough that I’d now make a point of going to Restaurantosaurus for a snack of these tasty starchy sticks next time I’m in Animal Kingdom.

Have you seen either of these items other places in the World? Or if you’ve tried these, we’d love to hear your thoughts on them…

Magic Kingdom Odds & Ends…

Some random things from a few visits to the Magic Kingdom over the past several weeks…

Probably the biggest MK news of recent months is the ongoing make-over in Fantasyland, and the resulting destruction of Toontown…

The former entrance to Toontown Fair is now closed and adorned with “posters” promoting the upcoming Storybook Circus…

A true carny if ever I've seen one... and I've seen carnys...

He's not just amazing...

Mmmm... they look delicious...

The construction walls around Fantasyland have been adorned for a while with paintings showing some of the upcoming additions and changes. Recently they have had some “3D” aspects superimposed on the original artwork.

The recently announced Mine Train ride is also prominently featured…

 

There are also several overall concept views of the new Fantasyland…

Also in the Fantasyland area is a “high-concept” popcorn cart…

Hummm... is that a still I see???

Gauging your popcorn...

Our good friends at the Main Street Gazette did a nice post on this cart… take a look here…

Popcorn now gives us a segue into some food talk…

One day mid-morning I was feeling a bit peckish, and craving something savory rather than sweet, I tried the Chicken and Wild Rice Soup at Sleepy Hollow Refreshments…

This eatery at the entrance to Liberty Square emphasizes sweets, but serves one savory items earlier than most other venues, and it’s a nice choice…

Creamy and flavorful, this bowl of soup is just right if you’re looking for a “not-quite-a-full-meal” option, but want something more substantial than chips or popcorn – a shot of Tabasco would really set this off… is Tiana nearby???

Also in the Liberty Square area there are some interesting things going on with the favorite attraction of us here at Eating (and Drinking) around the World (well, favorite after LaCava del Tequila of course)…

For many weeks they have been working on a new interactive queue area for the Haunted Mansion.

An "aerial" view of the initial construction in January

And here are some shots from March...

And yes, in case you were wondering, the “classic” headstones are still (thankfully) in place…

There are other more details pics running around on the interwebs, and I’ll let you search for them yourselves if you’re so inclined – me I hope to see the new queue for myself finally opened in the next few weeks, so I really don’t want to spoil it too much for myself… and of course, it is always all about me, isn’t it?

But the outside isn’t all – something (or rather things) is also going on inside the Mansion…

As you leave the Stretching Room, you now see an open space below an Exit sign with costumed castmembers waving you to go past…

and after you exit the ride, you’re presented with the other end…

there has been lots of speculation online about what’s going on here, but we’re just going to take a wait-and-see attitude…

And also inside there is something going on with the Hitchhiking Ghosts – the scene where they have always joined you in your Doom Buggy has been replaced with an animated screen of them flying by – the consensus seems to be that this will wind up being where a ride photo will be taken with you and the ghosts.

Now on to more food…

A couple of the on-and-off eateries have been on (as in open) lately during the busy Spring Break season… and both have taken on new guises…

Across from the Pirates of the Caribbean is the restaurant formerly known as El Pirata y el Perico – now it’s been renamed (and slightly, and nicely, re-themed) as Tortuga Tavern (and a tavern that doesn’t serve adult beverages… damn…).

The menu is still Mexican themed…

Recently it has been opened mostly for lunch – if you’re passing by it’s worth a look to wander thru even if not open to check out the new theming…

Fixins' bar area

Miss Bonnie discovered this Hidden Mickey made of candles

Across the park the Tomorrowland Terrace (don’t call it the Noodle Station…) has also resurfaced with a revamped menu.

The former semi-Asian styled food has been replaced with a nicely varied selection – yes there are burgers and chicken sandwiches and nuggets…

but there are also a couple of pasta choices to which you can add either chicken or shrimp if you so desire…

and a couple of interesting-sounding salads, and, of all things, a lobster roll…

desserts, kids selections and beverages round things out.

Mistress Sandra, Miss Bonnie and myself gave this a try one evening. The Pasta Primivera (with a chicken breast added) was the choice of the Mistress:

Pasta Primavera with Chicken

The chicken was very tender and juicy with a nice balsamic drizzle – there could have been more veggies in the pasta for my taste, but Sandra approved of the dish.

Miss Bonnie made the gutsy choice of the Lobster Roll:

Lobster Roll with homemade Potato Chips

The lobster salad was tasty enough, but the real winner were the homemade potato chips – not as good as the hot ones at the Rose and Crown Pub, but they were actually the best thing on the table that night.

I chose the Beef and Blue Cheese Salad:

Beef and Blue Cheese Salad

The thick beef slices were next to impossible to cut with the supplied plastic cutlery, but once in the mouth the meat was fairly tender. I’d have liked even more blue cheese and a bit more dressing, but overall it wasn’t bad.

Bottom line we all thought the choices at the Tomorrowland Terrace were pretty good, not great, but a nice change-of-pace from the usual offerings in the Magic Kingdom. This is certainly not destination dining, but worth a try as a quick-service option with enough selection to satisfy most everyone.

It has been open mostly in the evenings, but I did see it open once fairly recently during lunch, and it’s been pretty packed every time I’ve seen it open.

It will be interesting to see how often both these restaurants will be open in the coming months.

Another big change in the Magic Kingdom is the transformation of the former Exposition Hall into Town Square Theater which is the new meet-and-greet home for Mickey, Minnie and (at least for the time being) the Princesses.

When we were last there, it hadn’t quite opened, but it’s now in full swing and by all accounts Disney did a great job with it…

By now there are plenty of sites with info on it – again I’m avoiding the details until I see it for myself, but feel free to indulge yourselves if you like… here’s a link to a write-up on AllEars.

Well, that’s just a bit of what’s going on around the World from our view… we need to head back to the kitchen…