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After all the whirlwind announcements we heard at D23: The Ultimate Disney Fan Event, we had been waiting for Disney to make a move on the transformation of DinoLand, U.S.A. at Animal Kingdom to the Tropical Americas. DinoLand U.S.A. We learned that an Indiana Jones ride is poised to take over DINOSAUR, while an Encanto attraction will also be part of this new land. We had seen some initial permits filed a while back, but now it looks like things are really kicking into gear! Disney has filed three new permits all related to the Tropical Americas retheme at Animal Kingdom! Each permit’s description is listed as, “Provide labor, material and/or electrical for construction,” which as you might have guessed could really mean anything. DinoLand, U.S.A. It’s probably an intentional move on Disney’s part to keep these permits as vague as possible so they don’t reveal too much information about what’s going on here. We do know that Buena Vista Construction Company is listed as the contractor on all three permits — which is a construction company that Disney itself owns and operates from Disney World property. @Disney The addresses listed on the permits match up with three separate buildings in an area that is currently backstage at DinoLand — so we’re not sure if these permits are related to new construction or are instead potentially related to preparing the area for construction just yet. The fact that the expiration dates on the permits are the standard one year likely means that more will be on the way soon. Map of planned construction areas Based on the model of the Tropical Americas land we saw at D23, it does look like the Encanto ride will have a large show building, so it’s possible that Disney might need to revamp some of the backstage space into usable space for the ride. Ultimately, though, these permits are an exciting sign that means this retheme is gaining some actual momentum. Puebla Esperanza model The land, which Disney announced will officially be named Pueblo Esperanza, is slated to open in 2027 and will highlight the Tropical Americas through the stories of Encanto and Indiana Jones. Pueblo Esperanza will become home to two signature attractions — an Encanto ride featuring the Madrigal family and a new Indiana Jones adventure ride! Pueblo Esperanza Model The new land will feature classic Spanish-style architecture with a large hacienda that will also serve as one of the largest quick-service restaurants at Disney World. The rich and lush color and biodiversity of the Tropical Rainforest will be on full display and at the center of Pueblo Esperanza will be a large fountain where stories will be told by gathering villagers. We can’t wait! We’ll be on the lookout for more updates about this massive transformation, so stay tuned to Disney Food Blog for everything you need to know! EVERYTHING We Know About the Tropical Americas Transformation at Animal Kingdom Join the DFB Newsletter to get all the breaking news right in your inbox! Click here to Subscribe! WE KNOW DISNEY. YOU CAN, TOO. Oh boy, planning a Disney trip can be quite the adventure, and we totally get it! But fear not, dear friends, we compiled EVERYTHING you need (and the things to avoid!) to plan the ULTIMATE Disney vacation. Whether you're a rookie or a seasoned pro, our insider tips and tricks will have you exploring the parks like never before. So come along with us, and get planning your most magical vacation ever! GET YOUR GUIDE NOW What do you think about the Tropical Americas transformation? Tell us in the comments. The post Disney World Files 3 NEW Permits for Transformation of DinoLand, U.S.A. to Tropical Americas first appeared on the disney food blog. View the full article

We would like to think that Disney is receptive to some of the things us fans come up with or request. Sleepy Hollow For example, when Disney World removed the hush puppies from the menu at Columbia Harbour House, there was a LOT of chatter from folks who were upset that this favorite snack disappeared. Then Disney brought that snack back. We’ve seen instances of where Disney has also taken some of our ideas for snack hacks and made them permanent additions to the menu. Well, y’all, it’s happened again! Disney has taken one of our snack hacks and added it to the menu! So speaking of questionable Disney decisions, Disney recently took one of our favorite snacks off the menu at Sleepy Hollow Refreshments. This was the the Fresh Fruit Waffle Sandwich that came with bananas, berries, and chocolate-hazelnut spread (we’re just not going to talk about the tragedy of how the waffles changed right now, okay?). Fresh Fruit and Nutella Waffle So we had to do what we had to do and hack the new menu at Sleepy Hollow to at least TRY to get our favorite snack back. So here’s the thing, the Fresh Fruit Waffle Sandwich was replaced by a Mickey Waffle topped with EITHER chocolate-hazelnut spread and bananas, OR berries and powdered sugar. You couldn’t get one with all the stuff together. Chocolate-Hazelnut Banana Mickey Waffle However, we recently were browsing the Mobile Order menu at Sleepy Hollow and noticed a new option. For just $1, you could add berries to the Mickey Waffle with Chocolate-Hazelnut Spread and Bananas, therefore creating as close of a recreation of the old snack (minus the better waffle) as possible. Our hack So, a new DFB snack hack was created! But wait, because now, there’s been a new development. You can now actually order this on the menu without doing any kind of hacking. The Mobile Order menu now includes a Mickey Waffle with Chocolate-Hazelnut Spread, Bananas, Berries, and Whipped Cream. And the good news? It’s the same price as what our hacked waffle ended up costing! So, it seems like Disney was paying attention when we said we wanted the old waffle snack back…sort of. ©Disney Now, you can sort of get the old favorite snack, save for the superior waffle. So, what’s our problem with the Mickey waffles? Don’t get us wrong — we love Mickey-shaped snacks, but this one just doesn’t hold up very well with heavy toppings like that. It gets soggy, and it reminds us more of a pancake than the previous waffles, which had crisper edges and were tastier. So just in case you’re paying attention, Disney, could you bring back the old waffles, please? Stay tuned to DFB for more. REVIEW: Should Disney RETIRE These Old Snacks? Join the DFB Newsletter to get all the breaking news right in your inbox! Click here to Subscribe! WE KNOW DISNEY. YOU CAN, TOO. Oh boy, planning a Disney trip can be quite the adventure, and we totally get it! But fear not, dear friends, we compiled EVERYTHING you need (and the things to avoid!) to plan the ULTIMATE Disney vacation. Whether you're a rookie or a seasoned pro, our insider tips and tricks will have you exploring the parks like never before. So come along with us, and get planning your most magical vacation ever! GET YOUR GUIDE NOW What do you think? Have you tried the new waffles yet? Let us know in the comments! The post I LOVE IT When Disney Actually LISTENS first appeared on the disney food blog. View the full article

Ah, it’s fall. The weather is getting cooler, the leaves are changing color, and everyone is back to school. Bring on the pumpkin spice lattes and cozy sweaters! Magic Kingdom Speaking of fall…now is a GREAT time to go to Disney World! From the fun seasonal events to the exclusive fall treats, we love spending September through November at Disney World. And if you’re planning a trip to Disney World this fall, check out these trending items for your trip! DISCLOSURE: This post may contain affiliate links, meaning when you click the links and make a purchase, we receive a commission. Simple, cute sweatshirts are trending this season! We love the Mickey Mouse Crewneck on BoxLunch ©Disney This simple crewneck will match ANYTHING! We love the iconic Mickey Mouse graphic and bold lettering. This is a great staple wardrobe piece for fall. View on BoxLunch Check out the Winnie the Pooh Pullover Sweatshirt! Pooh sweatshirt Speaking of trendy sweatshirts, we HAVE to point out this Winnie the Pooh top by Disney! We love that rich, deep green color and the adorable embroidered detail. View on Disney Store Shop this Halloween Pumpkin Sweatshirt on Amazon! ©Amazon Visiting Disney World for Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party? What better sweatshirt to wear than this trendy vintage-style pullover! View on Amazon Disney Adults have been LOVING their tote bags, like this Magic Kingdom Canvas Tote Bag ©Amazon Tote bags are such a great way to bring your park essentials to Disney World! We love the icons on this canvas bag. It’s SO cute! View on Amazon We’re also LOVING this “I’m Here For The Snacks” Tote Bag ©Amazon DUH — this is Disney Food Blog. Of course we’re here for the snacks! If you’re like us, you will appreciate this tote bag on Amazon. It’s such a fun addition to your theme park outfit. View on Amazon Vera Bradley’s new Mickey Mouse Crossbody is SUPER trending right now! ©Vera Bradley This new Vera Bradley X Disney collection is MEGA popular right now, and for good reason! The colorful patterns and unique styles are perfect for Disney fashion lovers. View Online The matching Disney Mickey Mouse Ear Headband is shockingly affordable! ©Vera Bradley We were impressed by the price, considering these are a POPULAR new designer item! These Minnie ears are so chic — they’ll make the perfect statement with a simple theme park outfit. View Online Baublebar’s Minnie Mouse Disney Pumpkin Ears are ADORABLE! ©Baublebar These ears are perfect for fall. Imagine wearing them as you relax on the Hub grass in Magic Kingdom with a pumpkin spice latte in hand. Now, that is the dream! Baublebar has so many cute pairs of Minnie ears; be sure to check them out! View Online Check out our Amazon Storefront for more Disney items! The post Everyone Will Be Wearing These Souvenirs in Disney World This Fall — Get Them Online Now! first appeared on the disney food blog. View the full article

Well, we have certainly talked a LOT about food in Disney World this week. Well, we ALWAYS talk about food, but this week, we attended the EPCOT Food & Wine Festival, and ate, well, a LOT of food. One of our favorite festival eats! Yes, we visited every single booth at the festival and got reviews up for every single one. But we’re never NOT done talking about food in Disney World, so let’s talk about restaurants…or more specifically, restaurant changes. We take a look at Disney World restaurant menus every week and keep you updated on changes, so let’s see what updates we have for THIS week. EPCOT La Cantina de San Angel The entrees have changed at La Cantina de San Angel: REMOVED: Arroz con Pollo Bowl Tacos de Barbacoa changed from $16 to $16.50 Tacos de Pollo changed from $15.25 to $15.75 Tacos de Camarón changed from $14.75 to $16 Taco Trio changed from $15.50 to $16 Empanadas con Queso changed from $14 to $14.75 Nachos option to add guacamole changed from $2 to $3 and price changed from $14.75 to $15.50 Guacamole with Totopos changed from $11 to $12 ADDED: Arroz Bowl with Marinated Grilled Chicken — Rice bowl topped with grilled chicken, corn, spicy tomato salsa, pickled onions, queso fresco, and cilantro for $15 ADDED: Arroz Bowl with Barbacoa Beef or Shrimp — Rice bowl topped with barbacoa beef, corn, spicy tomato salsa, pickled onions, queso fresco, and cilantro or Rice bowl topped with Mexican corn breaded shrimp, corn, shredded cabbage, salsa verde, and a mango relish for $15.75 Guacamole with Totopos Alcoholic beverages also changed: “Top Shelf” Clásica on the Rocks description changed from “Centinela Reposado Tequila, Orange Liqueur, Fresh Lime Juice, Agave, Black Ant Salt rim” to “Centinela Reposado Tequila, Alma Finca Orange Liqueur, Fresh Lime Juice, Agave, Dried Chile Salt rim” and price changed from $18 to $18.50 Frozen Mango Margarita changed from $13.50 to $14.25 Frozen Lime Margarita changed from $13.50 to $14.25 Hercules Draft Beer changed from $12 to $13 Seasonal Mexican Craft changed from $12.50 to $13.50 Dos Equis Lager Draft Beer changed from $11 to $12 REVIEW: We Tried Our FAVORITE New DOLE Whip Combo in Disney World Choza de Margarita We also saw cocktail changes at Choza de Margarita: Top Shelf Clásica changed from $18 to $18.50 El Diablo changed from $17 to $18 The Cucumber changed from $17 to $18 Here’s how Frozen Margaritas changed: Classic Lime changed from $13.50 to $14.25 Mango Loco changed from $13.50 to $14.25 Strawberry changed from $14 to $14.75 Fiesta changed from $14.50 to $15 Fiesta Cerveza was also updated: Hercules Lágermaiz changed from $12 to $13 Dos Equis Lager changed from $11 to $12 Michelada changed from $13 to $14 The food menu also saw some updates: Tacos de Cochinita changed from $12.25 to $12.75 Empanada de Barbacoa changed from $13 to $13.50 Pastor Quesadilla changed from $12.50 to $13.25 Tostada de Pollo changed from $11 to $11.50 REVIEW: This NEW EPCOT Snack Left Us DIVIDED La Hacienda de San Angel Here’s how Starters have changed: Totopos changed from $8.25 to $9 Tlayuda description changed from “Oaxacan tostada, shaved Ribeye, chipotle black beans, Ranchera salsa, queso fresco, spring onions and cilantro” to “Oaxacan tostada, guacamole, salsa macha, marinated tuna, jicama, pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds and chipotle aioli” REMOVED: Sope de Cochinita and Crema de Elote Ensalada Hacienda description changed from “Chopped Romaine with jicama, queso fresco and cilantro-lime vinaigrette” to “Arugula, watermelon, pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds and queso fresco with a lime oregano vinaigrette” and price changed from $13 to $14 ADDED: Tlacoyo con Carnitas — Fried masa topped with beans, pork carnitas, salsa verde, cotija cheese and pickled onions for $15 Tlayuda Here’s how the Entrees menu was updated: REMOVED: Chile Relleno, Cochinita Pibil, and Tacos de Carnitas de Pato ADDED: Tacos de Langosta — Fried lobster in flour tortillas, shredded cabbage, chipotle aioli, salsa verde and mango relish. Served with rice for $38 ADDED: Enchiladas de Chorizo — Corn tortillas filled with plant-based chorizo, atop beans, covered with Ranchera salsa, Monterey Jack cheese, crema Mexicana, cotija cheese, and crispy onions. Served with plantains with crema Mexicana and cotija cheese for $30 ADDED: Tacos al Pastor — Marinated and seared pork topped with grilled pineapple, onions, and cilantro. Served with plantains with crema Mexicana and cotija cheese. Sides of guacamole, rice, and corn tortillas for $34 Chile Relleno Here’s how the Margaritas menu changed: La Cava Avocado changed from $17.50 to $18.50 El Diablo changed from $17.50 to $18 The Cucumber changed from $17 to $18 Clásica changed from $16 to $17 REVIEW: Queso, Tacos, and Amazing Service? Our REVIEW of La Hacienda de San Angel in EPCOT San Angel Inn These menu changes seem to be happening all over the Mexico Pavilion. At San Angel Inn, we’ve got some changes with Appetizers: REMOVED: Tamal de Rajas and Costillas de Puerco Tostadas de Pollo description changed from “Crispy Corn Tortillas topped with Beans, Chipotle Chicken, Cilantro, Queso Fresco and Crema Mexicana” to “Crispy corn tortillas topped with beans, chilled shredded chicken, romaine lettuce, salsa verde, pico de gallo, and queso fresco” Totopos changed from $8.25 to $9 ADDED: Chilaquiles Con Pato — Tortilla chips tossed in Ranchera salsa, topped with crispy duck carnitas, cotija cheese, crema Mexicana, and onions for $15 ADDED: Quesadilla del Mercado — Handmade corn masa tortilla filled with Monterey Jack cheese, chorizo, and potatoes for $16 San Angel Inn Here’s how Entrees changed: Camarones a la Diabla changed from $31 to $32 Enchiladas de Pollo changed from $29.50 to $31 Baja Tacos de Pescado changed from $31 to $32 Here’s how the Margaritas menu changed: La Cava Avocado changed from $17.50 to $18.50 El Diablo changed from $17.50 to $18 The Cucumber changed from $17 to $18 Clásica changed from $16 to $17 Come Eat $30 Tacos in EPCOT With Us and See If They’re Worth It Disney’s BoardWalk Inn Flying Fish The Organic Chicken with Peas has been changed to just Organic Chicken. Flying Fish Cafe It’s served with Butternut Squash Agnolotti, Chestnuts, and Maple-Brown Butter Jus for $39. The 5 BEST Things To Get at Flying Fish Restaurant in Disney World Disney’s Coronado Springs Resort Maya Grill The Mexican Mocha Lava Cake has been removed from the dessert menu. Maya Grill It’s been replaced by Mexican Chocoflan Cake for $14. We Tried the NEW MENU at a Disney World Mexican Restaurant. Is It a Hit or a Miss? Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort Kona Cafe Breakfast Sides have changed: Bacon, Pork Sausage, Ham, or Spiced Ham has been removed, while Bacon or Pork Sausage was added for $5.50. Under Kids’ Create-Your-Own Entrées, Mickey-shaped Pancakes changed from $9.25 to $9.50. Specialty Beverages also changed: Liliko’i Mimosa changed from $14.50 to $15. Under Non-Alcoholic Specialty Beverages, Stitch Smoothie changed from $6.49 to $6.75. Kona Cafe Under Lunch, the Allergy-Friendly Kona Stir-fry with Chicken changed from $24.50 to $28. Under Sides for lunch and dinner, Grilled Asparagus changed from $8 to $8.50. REVIEW: Is This Disney World Hotel Restaurant Worth Leaving the Parks for Lunch? Disney’s Yacht Club Resort Yachtsman Steakhouse Under Sides, the Paprika Fries have been replaced with Truffle Fries. Yachtsman Steakhouse The fries are $10.50. REVIEW: Is The CHEESIEST Soup in Disney World Hiding at This Forgotten Restaurant? Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa Narcoossee’s A new cocktail has been added to the menu and it sounds divine: Pumpkin Butter Cocktail. Narcoossee’s It’s made with Los Siete Misterios mezcal, Amaro Nonino, house-made pumpkin butter, vanilla, and a torched spiced marshmallow for $17. REVIEW: This Disney World Hotel Restaurant Is Close to Perfection. Yes, Really. Disney’s Saratoga Springs Resort The Artist’s Palette Apple Cobbler Danish has been removed from the bakery menu. The Artist’s Palette That’s the only change here. REVIEW: We Found Table-Service Quality on a Fast Food Budget at This Disney World Hotel Disney’s All-Star Music Resort Intermission Food Court The menu here has changed: Ham and Cheese Sandwich has been removed. Intermission Food Court Greek Salad with Roasted Red Pepper Hummus has also been removed from the menu. REVIEW: I Abandoned My Disney World Park Day and Went Straight to the All-Star Music Hotel. Here’s Why. Disney’s Art of Animation Resort Landscape of Flavors The Greek Salad with Roasted Red Pepper Hummus has been removed from the menu. Landscape of Flavors That’s the only update here. The Deterioration of Landscape of Flavors Food Court From Awesome To Awful Disney Springs D-Luxe Burger The Citrus Burger has been added to the menu. Citrus Burger It’s made with a pressed signature blend patty, citrus-braised pork belly, grapefruit paloma aioli, pickled and fried fennel, and lettuce for $14.49. REVIEW: We Tried 14 (!!) Brand New Disney World Snacks Homecomin’ The lunch and dinner menus have changed. Here’s how Starters got updated: Thigh High Chicken Biscuits changed from $19 to $20 Bunch of Puppies changed from $14 to $15 Jasper Board description changed from “An array of Southern charcuterie. Shaved honey ham, smoked sausage, country ham, pimento cheese, chicken salad, tomato-bacon jam, B&B pickles, candied pecans, crostini, and house made crackers” to “An array of Southern charcuterie. Shaved honey ham, smoked sausage, country ham, pimento cheese, tomato-bacon jam, B&B pickles, candied pecans, crostini, and crackers REMOVED: Fried Chicken Tenders Jasper Board Salads and Such also changed: Addie Mae’s Chicken & Dumpling Soup changed from $15 to $16 ADDED: 1981 Salad — Honey ham, roasted artichoke, tomato, Swiss cheese, and Spanish olives with chopped romaine, and spring lettuce mix with a sauce made with Worcestershire, lemon juice, olive oil, garlic, and vinegar for $20 Under Buns and Such, the following items were updated: REMOVED: Britton’s Chicken Salad Sandwich Catfish Sandwich changed from $19 to $20 ADDED: Meatloaf Sandwich — House-made meatloaf topped with melted white cheddar, chunky ketchup, lettuce, and B&B pickles on a ciabatta bun for $20 Main Plates also changed: REMOVED: Braised Short Ribs, Baby Back Ribs, Chopped Pork Barbecue, and Tampa-style Cuban Sandwich Skillet-fried Chicken Paillard changed from $29 to $30 Country Fried Steak changed from $30 to $32 Kitchen Plate changed from $22 to $24 ADDED: Meatloaf Main Plate — House-made meatloaf served with creamy mashed potatoes, Southern green beans, and a cheddar drop biscuit for $30 ADDED: Smothered Chicken — Chef Art’s famous fried chicken thigh atop creamy mashed potatoes and sauteed broccolini, smothered in house-made onion gravy and topped with crispy bacon for $32 Country Fried Steak Here’s how Sides changed: Momma’s Mac and Cheese changed from $9 to $10 REMOVED: Sweet Potato Mash Skillet Shine On Tap was also changed: all drinks changed from $15 to $16. The Cold Cans menu also changed: Rotating Craft removed Hidden Springs Orange Crush, Golden Road Brewing Mango Cart, and Hidden Springs ZFG. It now features: Lost Coast Tangerine Wheat, Eureka, CA | Wheat Ale Fruited Stone Delicious Hazy, Escondido, CA | Hazy IPA Crooked Can Florida Sunshine, Orlando, FL | Pilsen Malt Lager Homecomin’ Here’s how Craft Cocktails got updated: Let’s start with the changes on the brunch menu at Homecomin’. First, the Rise n’ Shine cocktails have changed: REMOVED: The Local, Memphis Belle, Cranberry Gin Fizz, Apple Pie A La Mode, and The Hummingbird ADDED: Dragon Fruit Mojito — Siesta Key silver rum with prickly pear puree, purple dragon fruit, fresh mint, and lime for $17 The Honeybee — Tom Cat gin, honey syrup, and fresh squeezed lemon topped with house-made honey foam for $16 ADDED: Cowboy Colada — Old Forester rye with pineapple, Coco Lopez, and maraschino cherry juice for $16 I Ate Lunch With Homecomin’ Chef Art Smith in Disney World…and He Had Some Secrets to Share! Disney World menus are constantly changing, and if you want to keep up with them, you can check the Disney World website or My Disney Experience app. However, we’ll let you know when menus change, so you can just keep checking with us! Disney dining changes are a lot to keep up with! We’ve done all the research for you in writing our DFB Guide to Walt Disney World Dining! We’ve got details on EVERY dining location at Walt Disney World inside our eBook – and it’s easy to download to your tablet or smartphone to take with you on your next trip. OL’ RELIABLES — The 3 Disney World Restaurants AJ Recommends Every Time Join the DFB Newsletter to get all the breaking news right in your inbox! Click here to Subscribe! WE KNOW DISNEY. YOU CAN, TOO. Oh boy, planning a Disney trip can be quite the adventure, and we totally get it! But fear not, dear friends, we compiled EVERYTHING you need (and the things to avoid!) to plan the ULTIMATE Disney vacation. Whether you're a rookie or a seasoned pro, our insider tips and tricks will have you exploring the parks like never before. So come along with us, and get planning your most magical vacation ever! GET YOUR GUIDE NOW What’s your favorite restaurant in Disney World? Let us know what you love about it in the comments! The post Homecomin’, San Angel Inn, and 12 More Restaurants CHANGED in Disney World This Week first appeared on the disney food blog. View the full article

The EPCOT Food & Wine Festival has officially kicked off! EPCOT Food & Wine Festival We’ve spent the entire weekend eating ALL the things (so much food, y’all), and checking out everything the festival has to offer this year, including the food, merchandise, entertainment, and more. The festival runs through November 23rd, so you have plenty of time to catch it. While you’re at it, though, you may want to get in line for one of EPCOT’s most underrated rides because it recently got a Food & Wine update! Stay tuned to DFB for more. Check Out Spaceship Earth’s LIMITED-TIME Look for the 2024 EPCOT Food and Wine Festival IT'S WINE & DINE TIME! Food & Wine Festival can be a bummer. You stand in line waiting for what looks like the perfect treat, and it's a bust. But fear not, dear friends, we compiled EVERYTHING you need (and the things to avoid!) to plan the ULTIMATE EPCOT Food & Wine Festival experience. If you're planning a day or a week at the festival, we've got every performance, activity, and tasty nosh detailed out so you can make the most of your time and money. Listen, it's a tough job eating and documenting the nearly 200 bites and sips, but we do it all for YOU! GET YOUR GUIDE NOW Learn More About the EPCOT Food and Wine Festival! Food and Wine Festival 101 Eat to the Beat Concert Updates EPCOT Food and Wine Festival - Fans Facebook Page Wine and Dine Half Marathon Details Get More Updates, Tips, and Tricks to Help You Conquer the Food & Wine Festival Join the DFB Newsletter to get all the breaking news right in your inbox! Click here to Subscribe! What do you think? Is Living with the Land a must when you visit EPCOT? Let us know in the comments! The post SURPRISE! See How a Popular Ride Has CHANGED for the EPCOT Food & Wine Festival first appeared on the disney food blog. View the full article

The 2024 EPCOT Food & Wine Festival is now open and we’re eating our way around World Showcase! Tangierine Café You’ll find lots of food booths with delicious eats and drinks, merchandise you can’t wait to get your hands on, and concerts to catch. Luckily, we’re here to take you through it all so you know what’s worth a stop. And now we’re heading to one spot — Tangierine Café: Flavor of the Medina — to check it out! Menu Over at Tangierine Café: Flavor of the Medina, you’ll find savory and sweet dishes — and they’re all returning. That doesn’t mean you won’t find something delicious here though, and there are some new hard ciders! 2024 Menu Now that we’ve taken a look at the menu, it’s time to try some food. Eats We started off with a festival staple at this booth — Grilled Kebabs with carrot-chickpea salad and garlic aïoli. As usual, you can choose from chicken or lamb, so naturally, we tried BOTH! These are $6.25 each. ⁠Grilled Kebabs with carrot-chickpea salad and garlic aïoli — Chermoula Chicken Of the two meats, the chicken was our favorite. We were happy with the portion sizes of both options, but we preferred the flavors of the chicken. The lamb wasn’t screaming lamb to us; it tasted more like a sausage or chorizo without any spice. However, we still liked both options enough. ⁠Grilled Kebabs with carrot-chickpea salad and garlic aïoli — Moroccan-spiced Lamb The fresh vegetables had a medley of chickpeas, carrots, and what seemed to be raisins, and it was super good! We would recommend either of these items. The Fried Falafel Pita with Tahini Sauce for $5.50 has been a delicious vegetarian option when we’ve had this before. ⁠Fried Falafel Pita with tomato-cucumber relish and tahini sauce Our falafel was also yummy! The pita was soft and the falafel wasn’t too crispy, so it’s easy to bite or cut into. It was filled full with falafel, relish, and sauce which was great. Overall, there’s good flavor, a good portion size, and a good consistency. It’s easy to cut into Next, we tried the Stone-baked Moroccan Bread with Hummus, Chermoula, and Zhoug Dips for $5. Y’all, this bread is so light and fluffy — it doesn’t even NEED any dips. But, we tried them anyway, of course! ⁠Stone-baked Moroccan Bread with assorted dips As usual, this bread was tasty! We found that it held its form better this year than it did last year, so we filled it with dip and totally enjoyed it. All of the dipping sauces were fantastic, as well. The chermoula reminded us of a chipotle salsa (which was our favorite), one was a plain hummus, and the green zhoug dip is a spicy cilantro sauce which was also really good. This bread is a fun appetizer to share with the rest of your items here! The bread and dips were great! For dessert, we had the Pistachio Cake with Cinnamon Pastry Cream and Candied Walnuts for $4.75. We’ve liked this cake at past festivals and it usually does not disappoint. ⁠Pistachio Cake with cinnamon pastry cream and candied walnuts Luckily, the same can be said this year! It’s a cute, moist cake with good flavors that complement each other. The filling tastes like spiced fig which helps tone down the pistachio flavor of the cake itself. The walnuts and chocolate are great additions as well for textural elements, plus the walnut adds a nice sweet, nuttiness. This cake never lets us down. Well, now that we’ve tried some food, let’s wash it all down with some cider! Drinks Once again, a Cider Flight is on the menu and it features two NEW hard ciders and one returning. You can get the flight for $10.25 or purchase each cider individually for $5.75 for 6 oz. or $9.75 for 12 oz. New for this year is the Keel Farms Blackberry Pear Hard Cider and the Coppertail Brewing Fallen Fruit Tamarind Mint Hard Cider. The 3 Daughters Brewing Fig Hard Cider is returning. Hard Cider Flight The lightest of these three beers is the fig cider which was a good cider with the fig flavor hitting on the back end of your sip. This was also a bit sour. 3 Daughters Brewing Fig Hard Cider The middle beer is the tamarind mint cider which was our favorite of the three. It didn’t have a strong mint flavor, instead, it was more of a sour tamarind flavor. It’s really enjoyable if you like sour ciders. Coppertail Brewing Fallen Fruit Tamarind Mint Hard Cider The darkest cider in the flight is the blackberry pear cider which was our least favorite. It was very sweet, and we wish it would have had more of a bite from the blackberry. It’s a weird combination of blackberry and pear that just makes the drink super sweet. So in this flight of ciders, you’ll get a sour cider, sour cider, then sweet cider. Keel Farms Blackberry Pear Hard Cider The Fig Cocktail with white cranberry juice and fig vodka is returning yet again this year. In previous years, we thought it seemed a little sweeter than we’ve experienced at past festivals. If you don’t like cranberry or fig flavors, you’ll want to skip it. Try it for yourself for $11.50. Fig Cocktail You can also grab the CORKCICLE Stemless Flute here for $24. Overall Overall, we thought Tangierine Cafe: Flavors of the Medina was a great stop! While all of the food items are returning this year, they lived up to our expectations. We would recommend stopping for some delicious Moroccan food and ciders on your trip through the festival. Full Spread That’s it for this booth, but there’s a LOT more where that came from! Click here to see FULL reviews of EVERY. SINGLE. BOOTH. at the Food & Wine Festival! Trying to plan the PERFECT trip to the 2024 EPCOT Food & Wine Festival? We’ll be keeping you updated on all of the latest. Click our links below for the information you need to know: Learn about the Eat to the Beat Concert Series and Dining Packages Check out ALL of the 2024 Food & Wine Booth Menus One HUGE Change Is Coming to the 2024 EPCOT Food & Wine Festival! And don’t forget to pick up our 2024 EPCOT Food & Wine Festival e-book! See more details about the book below. IT'S WINE & DINE TIME! Food & Wine Festival can be a bummer. You stand in line waiting for what looks like the perfect treat, and it's a bust. But fear not, dear friends, we compiled EVERYTHING you need (and the things to avoid!) to plan the ULTIMATE EPCOT Food & Wine Festival experience. If you're planning a day or a week at the festival, we've got every performance, activity, and tasty nosh detailed out so you can make the most of your time and money. Listen, it's a tough job eating and documenting the nearly 200 bites and sips, but we do it all for YOU! GET YOUR GUIDE NOW Learn More About the EPCOT Food and Wine Festival! Food and Wine Festival 101 Eat to the Beat Concert Updates EPCOT Food and Wine Festival - Fans Facebook Page Wine and Dine Half Marathon Details Get More Updates, Tips, and Tricks to Help You Conquer the Food & Wine Festival Join the DFB Newsletter to get all the breaking news right in your inbox! Click here to Subscribe! What items from this booth would you most want to try? Tell us in the comments! The post The HIDDEN Festival Booth You Don't Want To Miss in EPCOT first appeared on the disney food blog. View the full article

KA-CHOW! Get ready for CARS to zoom into Disney World’s Magic Kingdom! Magic Kingdom Entrance In August 2024, Disney Experiences Chairman Josh D’Amaro made a surprising announcement at D23 2024: The Ultimate Disney Fan Event. Okay… he actually dropped a TON of surprising announcements, and one of them is that Magic Kingdom’s Frontierland is going to be expanded with a brand new area themed to Cars! And that, of course, begs the question: When will this new Cars section open? Well, before the Cars land can open, there is obviously a LOT of work that needs to be done. And that work will begin SOON… You see, the area of the park that is now occupied by Tom Sawyer Island and the Rivers of America (down which the Liberty Square Riverboats sails) has been designated for the Cars expansion. ©Disney So, let’s cut to the (CAR) chase… No timeline has yet been presented for when the Cars expansion will open in Magic Kingdom. BUT, Disney has confirmed that work on the area will begin in early 2025. And, in fact, the first permits were filed in August 2024 to start the process. Tom Sawyer Island So, you’ll want to take that last raft ride over to Tom Sawyer Island or ride the Liberty Square Riverboat during this calendar year, if you can, to enjoy them while they’re still here. (Please be aware that an exact date has yet to be announced for the closure of these areas, but we’ll absolutely keep you posted.) Now, you may be wondering HOW, exactly, does Cars thematically fit into Frontierland? Disney has shared that those lovable Cars — Lightning McQueen, Tow Mater, and more — are leaving Radiator Springs to explore the West and into new frontiers and that the new area will “put our guests in the driver’s seat as we—quite literally—explore a new frontier in Frontierland.” Cars Area Concept Art ©Disney D’Amaro further shared that “The American West has always been about keeping your eyes on the horizon … believing in yourself, carving your own path, and striving toward success. That goes for miners in the mountains, bears from the country, a princess from the bayou … or a racecar from the big city.” So, after the construction is completed, what will we as guests experience? The new area will deliver two NEW Cars attractions to the park! Get ready to race on a major attraction through the mountains on wild terrain along mountain trails as you dodge geysers and splash through mud holes. Here’s a closer look at some of the concept art for the new ride. ©Disney Disney shared that the second ride will be geared toward “smaller racers” and will be fun for the whole family! ©Disney But until then, you know what that means… prepare yourselves for PLENTY of construction walls in Magic Kingdom. But while construction walls may indeed be unsightly, something beautiful is also coming to Magic Kingdom in the meantime. The summer of 2025 will see the debut of a NEW nighttime parade for the park: Disney Starlight! Disney Starlight — which was also announced at the 2024 D23 event — will be “using the latest technology to tell new stories about the characters you love.” “Disney Starlight” ©Disney Disney Starlight follows in the footsteps of previous iconic nighttime spectaculars like the Main Street Electrical Parade and SpectroMagic. In the announcement, Disney Experiences Chairman Josh D’Amaro shared that, “Disney Starlight will add to that legacy” of these beloved nighttime parades. And nope, that’s not all the news that came out of D23 2024: The Ultimate Disney Fan Event… it’s not even close. (I mean, have you heard about VILLAINS LAND?!?) So if you’d love to hear the rest of it, please check out our DFBGuide YouTube video below! Join the DFB Newsletter to get all the breaking news right in your inbox! Click here to Subscribe! WE KNOW DISNEY. YOU CAN, TOO. Oh boy, planning a Disney trip can be quite the adventure, and we totally get it! But fear not, dear friends, we compiled EVERYTHING you need (and the things to avoid!) to plan the ULTIMATE Disney vacation. Whether you're a rookie or a seasoned pro, our insider tips and tricks will have you exploring the parks like never before. So come along with us, and get planning your most magical vacation ever! GET YOUR GUIDE NOW Are you excited about Cars coming to Magic Kingdom? Please let us know with a comment! The post When Is Cars Land Opening in Disney World? first appeared on the disney food blog. View the full article

One of the most fun things you can do in a Disney park is meet the characters! Whether that’s through a meet and greet or you see a character wandering around or you see characters during a character dining experience, it’s always a real TREAT when you come across them. Mirabel from ‘Encanto’ in Disney California Adventure Now, when it comes to characters, we don’t think you can beat the interactions in Disneyland because the resort is adding new characters ALL the time. Well, now, two NEW characters are coming to Disneyland and we think you’ll want to book a flight to the West Coast to meet them. You’ll be able to meet Luisa as of TODAY, September 1st. ©Disney Isabela will be making her first appearance in Disneyland to meet guests on September 3rd. ©Disney The two will be joined by Mirabel at El Zocalo Park in Disneyland’s Frontierland (it’s near Rancho del Zocalo Restaurant). There are no details yet if all three will be meeting at the same time or if they’ll rotate out, but the addition of these two new characters is really exciting! However, Disney has revealed that the two new characters will only be available for a limited time, so if you want to meet them, you’ll want to get to Disneyland quickly! We’ll keep an eye out for more characters in the parks, so stay tuned to DFB for more. I Am Shocked (and Grateful) That Disney Let These 2 Characters Into a Park Want to Learn More About Disneyland? Check Out the Links Below! DFB Disneyland Restaurants Guide Disney Genie and How to Use it in Disneyland What You Need to Know About the Theme Park Reservation System for Disneyland and Disney California Adventure Closures and Construction at Disneyland Learn All About Disneyland Park See What Marvelous Stuff You’ll Find at Avengers Campus in Disney California Adventure Learn About Pixar Pier in Disney California Adventure Get All the Details About the Disneyland Mobile App Everything You Need to Know About Mobile Order in Disneyland Learn More About Disneyland’s Magic Key Program Full Details About the Holiday Season in Disneyland Full Details About Halloween Time at Disneyland Get Some STRANGE Tips for Disneyland Click HERE to Check Out Lots of Other DFB Posts About Disneyland Join the DFB Newsletter To Get All the Latest Disney News Delivered Right to Your Inbox! Click here to Subscribe What do you think? Would you like to meet these characters? Let us know in the comments! The post BREAKING: Disney Announces 2 NEW Characters Are Coming SOON first appeared on the disney food blog. View the full article

Happy Halloween, DFB readers! It’s time to buy Halloween stuff! We’ve been in the parks, both Disney World and Disneyland, kicking off the Halloween season with decor, parties, and LOADS of snacks. This is also the BEST time to stock up on Disney Halloween souvenirs so you can give your home the proper Disney Halloween treatment. Well, now might be a good time to stock up on MORE Disney Halloween souvenirs because you can grab a cool Halloween tote on sale online right now! DISCLOSURE: This post may contain affiliate links, meaning when you click the links and make a purchase, we receive a commission. There are tons of cute Halloween decorations, costumes, clothes, and accessories available at The Disney Store online right now. So you’ll want to stock up so you can grab a good deal on this tote, too! Get The Mickey Mouse Halloween Glow-In-The-Dark Tote ©Disney Okay, we are in LOVE with this adorable tote that features a Mickey pumpkin on it along with “Halloween” (like we didn’t know it was spooky season). This orange and black tote, though, GLOWS in the dark, so it looks cool during the day OR night. ©Disney This tote could also make a great candy bag for Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party (because you know those tiny little bags they give you during the party are WAY too small for all the candy you get). You can grab it now for $20 with ANY purchase, so there’s your excuse to buy more Disney Halloween stuff. Get at The Disney Store We’ll keep an eye out for more deals on Disney Halloween souvenirs, so stay tuned to DFB for more. Check out our Amazon Shop!The post How to Get a New Disney Halloween Tote Bag on Sale Today! first appeared on the disney food blog. View the full article

This booth is a battle between the sweet and the savory. Is it all too much of a good thing? Will one prevail? Or is this the culinary case of a win-win situation? 2024 Belgium Booth The 2024 EPCOT Food & Wine Festival has officially begun, and there is a lot to offer. There are plenty of food booths with tasty items, merchandise items to grab (of course), and even concerts to watch. But don’t let it overwhelm you. We’ve got you covered with everything you need to know. And now we’re heading to one spot in particular — now it’s time for the Belgium booth! Are the Belgian waffles worth the trip? Or will the smoked gouda mashed potatoes steal the spotlight? Let’s find out. Menu Over at the Belgium booth, you’ll find a couple of different Belgian waffles along with a savory dish — the Beer-Braised Beef (served with mashed potatoes). There are also a couple of new beers this year! 2024 Menu Now that we’ve taken a look at the menu, let’s dive into the food itself! Eats Alright, now we’re adults here, so we’re going to follow the rules (no matter how badly we want to dive into those desserts!). You have to have dinner before your dessert, so we grabbed the Beer-Braised Beef served with Smoked Gouda Mashed Potatoes for $6.25. Last year, we thought this dish was well-balanced with strong, tasty flavors. So, how does it hold up in 2024? Beer-braised Beef served with smoked gouda mashed potatoes This is the only item you really need; it was SO good. The mashed potatoes are so cheesy and would be totally delicious on their own. But they were tasty with the beer-braised beef! The beef was very tender and easy to cut with a plastic fork. They were very flavorful again this year. The portion size was also really good for this dish. It’s a solid, hearty dish that could easily count as a small meal for one person. Beer-braised Beef served with smoked gouda mashed potatoes Next up, we got the Belgian Waffle with Warm Chocolate Ganache for $5.50. In years past, we’ve really enjoyed these waffles. They’re usually light and fluffy, with pretty solid (if somewhat basic) chocolate ganache on top. Belgian Waffle with warm chocolate ganache The chocolate ganache had the consistency of Hershey’s chocolate syrup; it was very thin. It is better quality than Hershey’s syrup though, for sure! However, there was a lot of it poured right on the small waffle which instantly made the waffle soggy. We would have preferred a thicker ganache or less of it. Our waffle ended up soggy Finally, we got the Belgian Waffle with Berry Compote and Whipped Cream for $5.50. In the past, we preferred the chocolate ganache version to this one. But can the same be said this year? Belgian Waffle with berry compote and whipped cream This year, we preferred the berry waffle! While there are better dessert options at the festival, this is a good waffle if you love waffles. The waffle was soft and had a nice sweet batter. The berry compote was made with blueberries, strawberries, and blackberries. The whipped cream melted pretty fast on both waffles, so you’ll want to eat them quickly to get the fluffy whipped cream. This was a pretty good waffle Drinks In terms of drinks on this menu, we have a returning favorite, the Belgian Chilled Coffee, and some new and returning beer options, which you can get individually or as a beer flight. The Belgian Chilled Coffee (non-alcoholic) for $5 or the Belgian Chilled Coffee featuring ChocoLat Deluxe Salted Caramel Chocolate Liqueur for $12. Both of these are returning options from previous years. Belgian Chilled Coffee The Belgian Chilled Coffee is simply a cold coffee with cream and sugar in it. There was nothing special about it. We would prefer to grab one of the festival offerings at Joffrey’s. However, if you’re simply looking for a basic coffee with cream, this is it! The alcoholic version may have more to offer in terms of flavor. This year, the new beers on the block are the Brouwerij St Bernardus Dragòn Wit and the Brouwerij Verhaeghe Vichte Duchesse Red Sweet & Tart Cherry Ale. The third beer offering is the Brouwerij Van Steenberge Gulden Draak Tripel Ale. The first beer on the flight is the Brouwerij St Bernardus Dragòn Wit which was a very clean European pure-tasting beer. It has a taste you don’t usually get with beers here in the U.S. It is the lightest beer in the flight. Beer Flight The second beer is the triple ale. Last year, we didn’t really enjoy the Brewery Van Steenberge Gulden Draak Tripel Ale. It reminded us of a fresh espresso shot in coffee. It’s strong but not something we personally enjoyed. That said, you may enjoy it if you don’t mind a good kick in your drink. This year, we found it to be very full-bodied and a bit bread-y! The third beer was by far our favorite of the three. It is a sweet and tart cherry ale that was delicious. It’s not overly sweet but has a nice cherry flavor without the bitterness you might expect. Overall, this flight is great because it gives you great variety with light, heavy, and sweeter beer options. It’s a great beer flight! Remember, you can get these beers a flight for $10.25, or if only one is calling your name, you can pick up a 6 oz. pour for $5.75 or a 12 oz. pour for $9.75. OVERALL You gotta get the braised beef with smoked gouda mashed potatoes! That is the shining star at this booth. The beer flight is fun with good variety, and the berry compote waffle was our favorite of the two options. Don’t miss this booth! Full Spread 2024 That’s it for this booth, but there’s a LOT more where that came from! Click here to see FULL reviews of EVERY. SINGLE. BOOTH. at the Food & Wine Festival! Trying to plan the PERFECT trip to the 2024 EPCOT Food & Wine Festival? We’ll be keeping you updated on all of the latest. Click our links below for the information you need to know: Learn about the Eat to the Beat Concert Series and Dining Packages Check out ALL of the 2024 Food & Wine Booth Menus One HUGE Change Is Coming to the 2024 EPCOT Food & Wine Festival! And don’t forget to pick up our 2024 EPCOT Food & Wine Festival e-book! See more details about the book below. IT'S WINE & DINE TIME! Food & Wine Festival can be a bummer. You stand in line waiting for what looks like the perfect treat, and it's a bust. But fear not, dear friends, we compiled EVERYTHING you need (and the things to avoid!) to plan the ULTIMATE EPCOT Food & Wine Festival experience. If you're planning a day or a week at the festival, we've got every performance, activity, and tasty nosh detailed out so you can make the most of your time and money. Listen, it's a tough job eating and documenting the nearly 200 bites and sips, but we do it all for YOU! GET YOUR GUIDE NOW Learn More About the EPCOT Food and Wine Festival! Food and Wine Festival 101 Eat to the Beat Concert Updates EPCOT Food and Wine Festival - Fans Facebook Page Wine and Dine Half Marathon Details Get More Updates, Tips, and Tricks to Help You Conquer the Food & Wine Festival Join the DFB Newsletter to get all the breaking news right in your inbox! Click here to Subscribe! What items from this booth would you most want to try? Tell us in the comments! The post My New Favorite Lunch Is in EPCOT, and It's Only .25 first appeared on the disney food blog. View the full article

We know that a trip to Disney World is not cheap. Magic Kingdom The cost of travel, hotel, park tickets, food, and, of course, souvenirs can add up. We are all about saving you money during your trip to Disney World and giving you all the tips and tricks for setting you up for a magical vacation. But trust us, this $25 upgrade could totally change your Disney World vacation! There are a lot of great benefits to staying at a Disney World Resort. At all three hotel tiers there are different room types that range from Standard Rooms, Preferred Rooms, Park View Rooms, Pool View Rooms, and the list goes on and on. While room prices fluctuate based on the time of year and depending on if you are staying in a Value, Moderate, or Deluxe Resort, there is a $25 upgrade at Value Resorts that we think is so worth it! All-Star Music Resort Value Resorts may be the lowest tier of hotels at Disney World, but they are not to be slept on! The biggest perk is that these resorts are the cheapest resorts on the property, meaning you get to stay at a hotel in Disney World for a fraction of the cost compared to a Deluxe Resort. Disney’s All-Star Movies Resort Value Resorts also have super colorful and fun theming that make you feel immersed. They also share perks that both Moderate and Deluxe Resorts have. I’m on a Mission to Stay in a Moderate Hotel With My Value Resort Budget in Disney World All-Star Music Those staying at Value Resorts can partake in Early Theme Park Entry, which allows you to enter one of the four theme parks each morning 30 minutes before non-hotel guests. Early Entry into Disney’s Hollywood Studios Regardless of what hotel tier you stay in, you also can take advantage of free transportation around Disney World which includes buses, monorails, the Skyliner, and watercraft. Disney Bus One of the newest hotel perks is that those staying at a Disney World hotel can book their Lightning Lane reservations seven days in advance! Lightning Lane While rooms can be upgraded at all the resorts, it is significantly cheaper to upgrade your room at Value Resorts, especially at the three All-Star Resorts. You can choose between a Standard and a Preferred Room. All-Star Music Prices do fluctuate based on season and day of the week, but on average, it is about an additional $25 a night to upgrade your Standard Room to a Preferred Room. So what does this mean? This means that your room would be in a more desirable location, like being closer to the main lobby where the shopping and food court is, as well as bus transportation. 11 Tricks To Get A Hotel Room Upgrade No Matter Where You’re Staying World Premiere Food Court Value Resorts are very spread out, and the All-Star Resorts are very big, which means you could potentially have a very long walk to the main lobby. This $25 upgrade could save you so much time and can be a nice treat when you return from the park since you don’t have to make the trek to your room. All-Star Sports We totally think that it is worth the little extra cash to upgrade your room to a preferred room when you stay at one of the three All-Star Resorts! We’ve Stayed at Every Disney World Hotel. These Are the BEST. Planning a Trip to Disney World? We’ve Got Everything You Need to Know The Ultimate Guide to Planning a Disney World Vacation A Month-by-Month Guide to Planning Your Disney World Trip Tips, Hints, Lists, and Videos for Planning the BEST Disney World Trip Learn About the Disney Park Pass System The Ultimate Disney World Packing List Everything You Need to Know About Lightning Lanes Insider SECRETS for Your First Trip to Disney World A Complete Look at the Current Disney Discounts and Deals The ONLY Disney Dining Planning Tool You’ll Need Is Here – Get the DFB Guide to Walt Disney World Dining! Join the DFB Newsletter to Get All the Latest Disney News Delivered Right to Your Inbox! Click Here to Subscribe Have you ever upgraded your room at Disney World? Let us know in the comments?The post This Upgrade is a Disney World Game Changer! first appeared on the disney food blog. View the full article

All aboard the Hogwarts Express! It’s time to head back to Hogwarts. Welcome back to Hogwarts! Today, September 1st, is “Back to Hogwarts” day — the day Harry Potter heads back to Hogwarts for school each year. This marks a special day every year for Harry as he gets to return to the only place that has ever felt like home to him. The magnificent castle is a special place for Harry and all of us Harry Potter fans. While we can visit Hogwarts at the Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Orlando, we’ll also soon be able to visit the awe-inspiring Ministry of Magic, and Universal just released brand-new details about the new Wizarding World of Harry Potter on this special day! An all-new Wizarding World of Harry Potter will be opening in 2025 at Epic Universe in Orlando. The new theme park will take us to Wizarding Paris as well as the Ministry of Magic! ©Universal You’ll begin your journey in 1920s Wizarding Paris where you’ll find new shops and restaurants. You’ll be able to search for a wand at the new store Cosme Acajor. ©Universal And you can enjoy the first ever live stage show in the Wizarding World — Le Cirque Arcanus. While these details were known before, Universal did share a new look inside the streets of Paris as we’ll get to walk them! ©Universal Universal also released NEW details about the Ministry of Magic! We’ll enter the 1990s British Ministry through Floo passageways that will take us right into the atrium where the restored Fountain of Magical Brethren will be standing tall. There will be flying memos throughout the atrium and the beautiful enchanted weather ceiling above us. ©Universal Through the atrium, you’ll enter the new attraction Harry Potter and the Battle at the Ministry. It’s Delores Umbridge’s trial day, and we’ll be taken on an epic journey through the Ministry. There will be scenes we’ve seen in the films as well as some we’ve never seen before. You’ll get to explore many locations of the Ministry as you walk through the queue including the locker room where there’s evidence that Harry, Ron, and Neville are in training to become Aurors. ©Universal You’ll get to see past Ministers in the Hall of Ministers. The ministers from the 1700s to the 1980s will be seen interacting with one another. ©Universal There’s also a map room, where a magical moving map of the Ministry can be seen! ©Universal Plus, we’ll get to walk through the Aurors’ headquarters! How cool is that?! Universal shared that we’ll find plenty of Easter eggs in this room including tributes to fallen Aurors. ©Universal And, we’ll even get to walk through Umbridge’s small pink and gold office where we’ll meet her former house elf who is packing it all up. Of course, there will be plenty of cat plates to be seen! ©Universal Past Umbridge’s office, you’ll enter the lift station where you’ll board the lifts that will take you to the courtroom for the trial. According to Universal, this ride will be incredibly thrilling as it’s so “technologically advanced.” ©Universal The lifts will start in the lift shafts but then careen off course and wind up moving through different parts of the ministry. You’ll be face-to-face with different creatures and Death Eaters in this wild thrill ride. ©Universal We’ll even explore many never-before-seen locations like the Ministry Archives and Department of Magical Creatures! Several characters from the books and movies will be featured for the first time in any Harry Potter attraction like Yaxley, Macnair, the Carrows, and Kingsley Shacklebolt. ©Universal One of the neatest details about this ride is that Imelda Staunton, the actress who played Delores Umbridge in the films, has reprised her role as Umbridge for the ride! ©Universal After hearing all these new magical details, we CANNOT wait to experience the Ministry of Magic and this brand new ride! The Wizarding World of Harry Potter — Ministry of Magic is one of five new lands coming to Epic Universe. The other lands include Super Nintendo World, Celestial Park, Dark Universe, and How to Train Your Dragon — Isle of Berk. Epic Universe will open sometime in 2025. ©Universal The world of Harry Potter is getting bigger as this new land opens, but even more is yet to come including new gaming options, a new Harry Potter baking show on Food Network, new LEGO collections, and more! If you’re a Harry Potter fan, you don’t want to miss out on all the exciting happenings coming soon. Happy Back to Hogwarts Day! Keep following DFB for more Epic Universe news. We’re GIDDY Looking at These New Aerial Photos of Epic Universe Read more: DFB's complete guide to Universal’s Epic Universe >> Are you excited for the new Harry Potter ride? Let us know in the comments! The post NEWS: Universal Shares CLOSER LOOK Inside Its NEW Harry Potter Ride at Epic Universe first appeared on the disney food blog. View the full article

Connections Cafe and Eatery is part of this year’s EPCOT Food & Wine Festival with a couple of special items! Connections Eatery Connections is another one of the of the permanent snack locations that also join in on the festival fun with exclusive, limited-time snacks, and since they’re in EPCOT year-round, you might not know about those special eats! Come with us to check out this year’s TWO offerings! Menu Over at Connections Cafe and Eatery, you’ll find TWO new Food & Wine Festival items! A Korean BBQ Chicken Sandwich with pickled cucumbers on a brioche bun, and one drink that is ONLY at the Eatery, a Blackberry Caipiroska made with Tito’s Handmade Vodka, Minute Maid Lemonade, strawberries blackberry syrup, and frosted mint syrup. Eats We picked up the Korean BBQ Chicken Sandwich with pickled cucumbers on a brioche bun for $12.49. This was INCREDIBLE! It’s got a great glazed flavor that the chicken is totally coated in, and we love that it’s sitting on a total bed of pickles that have a great snap to them. Korean BBQ Chicken Sandwich The textures of the chicken and pickles together were fantastic, and the way the glaze matched with them? Amazing. We do need to mention, though, that the sauce has a low heat to it, so keep that in mind if you’re totally spice-averse. It’s nothing crazy, and it’s not going to make you need to reach for water or feel like your mouth is burning, but it is there! Drinks We also checked out the Blackberry Caipiroska, which is made with Tito’s Handmade Vodka, Minute Maid Lemonade, strawberries, blackberry syrup, and frosted mint syrup for $15. This one was so good that we would LOVE to see it return for EPCOT’s Flower and Garden Festival, too! Blackberry Caipiroska It’s very subtle and very floral — it reminds us of a drink you’d get together with your girlfriends to make for your afternoon get-together! You can’t really taste any of the alcohol in it since the floral and fruity flavors are stronger, so beware of that while drinking. We loved it so much that we think it deserves an honorable mention on our Best of the Fest list! OVERALL Overall, this is an extremely strong location for Food and Wine, and we encourage you to stop by and give both offerings a try if they’re something you would enjoy! We know the actual festival booths are often more of the main event at festivals, but this is a perfect example of why it may be a mistake to totally bypass these permanent locations with festival offerings — we definitely will be coming back to grab both the sandwich and the drink at LEAST once throughout the rest of the festival. They both were SO good! That’s it for this booth, but there’s a LOT more where that came from! Trying to plan the PERFECT trip to the 2024 EPCOT Food & Wine Festival? We’ll be keeping you updated on all of the latest. Click our links below for the information you need to know: Learn about the Eat to the Beat Concert Series and Dining Packages Check out ALL of the 2024 Food & Wine Booth Menus One HUGE Change Is Coming to the 2024 EPCOT Food & Wine Festival! Click here to see FULL reviews of EVERY. SINGLE. BOOTH. at the Food & Wine Festival! And don’t forget to pick up our 2024 EPCOT Food & Wine Festival e-book! See more details about the book below. IT'S WINE & DINE TIME! Food & Wine Festival can be a bummer. You stand in line waiting for what looks like the perfect treat, and it's a bust. But fear not, dear friends, we compiled EVERYTHING you need (and the things to avoid!) to plan the ULTIMATE EPCOT Food & Wine Festival experience. If you're planning a day or a week at the festival, we've got every performance, activity, and tasty nosh detailed out so you can make the most of your time and money. Listen, it's a tough job eating and documenting the nearly 200 bites and sips, but we do it all for YOU! GET YOUR GUIDE NOW Learn More About the EPCOT Food and Wine Festival! Food and Wine Festival 101 Eat to the Beat Concert Updates EPCOT Food and Wine Festival - Fans Facebook Page Wine and Dine Half Marathon Details Get More Updates, Tips, and Tricks to Help You Conquer the Food & Wine Festival Join the DFB Newsletter to get all the breaking news right in your inbox! Click here to Subscribe! Would you try this festival treat? Tell us in the comments! The post You Seriously Do NOT Want To Miss the NEW Snack at Connections Eatery in EPCOT first appeared on the disney food blog. View the full article

We’re making our way AROUND THE WORLD… EPCOT’s World Showcase, that is! 2024 Booth And if you’re planning your own tasty trip “around the world” during the 2024 EPCOT Food and Wine Festival, we recommend having a plan in place for everything you’d like to try at the Festival’s Marketplace Food Booths. That’s why we’re reviewing every single Food Booth and trying every menu item for you, and we hope you’re ready to join us at the Brazil Booth to see if it should earn a spot on your list! Menu The menu at the Brazil Booth is short but sweet. Well… it’s pretty sweet if pork belly and cheese bread sound as good to you as they do to us! 2024 Menu That’s right! Brazil is once again delivering its famous Pão de Queijo (Brazilian cheese bread) to the Festival! It’s joined on the menu by Feijoada, a popular returning Pork Belly dish. These dishes are joined by two drinks: the Frozen Caipirinha with Cachaça and Xingu Black Beer. These sips are also returning items, which begs the question… Can the Brazil Booth rest on its laurels with a menu entirely based on returning items? Let’s find out! Eats We’re digging first into the Feijoada. This savory dish features pork belly over black beans with Brazil nut pesto, and BEN’S ORIGINAL Long Grain White Rice, and it’s available for $6.50. Feijoada: Black beans with pork belly, Brazil nut pesto, and BEN’S ORIGINAL Long Grain White Rice All truths told, the Feijoada has a history of mixed reviews. For instance, in 2022, it was one of the most flavorful dishes we tried at the Festival. In 2023, we couldn’t wait to try it again, but, alas…the pork belly was dry and a bit tough. Simply put, it didn’t deliver. This year has redeemed this dish, though. It’s so flavorful, thanks to the chimichurri sauce, and the black beans were seasoned perfectly. The rice is perfectly cooked. The pork belly has a hint of spicy heat, but it’s not overwhelming. Feijoada: Black beans with pork belly, Brazil nut pesto, and BEN’S ORIGINAL Long Grain White Rice The Pão de Queijo (which, by the way, is one of the eligible items for those who plan to partake in Emile’s Fromage Montage Cheese Crawl) typically earns rave reviews. It’s up for grabs for $5. Pão de Queijo: Brazilian cheese bread After all, what could go wrong with Brazilian cheese bread when it’s served warm and packed with cheese? As always, the cheese bread did not disappoint. It’s super chewy, cheesy, and just the right amount of greasy. Everything about this is SO good, and we’ll continue to order this year after year as long as it’s available. Pão de Queijo: Brazilian cheese bread Drinks You can wash down either dish (or both) with a Frozen Caipirinha with Cachaça once again this year! Frozen Caipirinha featuring LeBlon Cachaça This frozen refresher is consistently a hit, especially on an inevitably hot day at the Festival. If you love the tart burst of lime that comes from a traditional margarita, give this Brazilian drink a try! You can raise a glass for $12. You can also opt for Xingu Black Beer for 6 ounces for $5.75 or 12 ounces for $9.75. OVERALL Oh, Brazil booth, how do we love you? Let us count the ways. This booth was a true winner for us this year, and we’re happy that the Feijoada has been returned to its former glory. Of course, we’ll always come here for the cheesy bread, but this is one booth you don’t want to skip at the EPCOT Food & Wine Festival. Trying to plan the PERFECT trip to the 2024 EPCOT Food & Wine Festival? We’ll be keeping you updated on all of the latest. Click our links below for the information you need to know: Learn about the Eat to the Beat Concert Series and Dining Packages Check out ALL of the 2024 Food & Wine Booth Menus Find ALL of our EPCOT Food and Wine Festival REVIEWS right here! And don’t forget to pick up our 2024 EPCOT Food & Wine Festival e-book! See more details about the book below. IT'S WINE & DINE TIME! Food & Wine Festival can be a bummer. You stand in line waiting for what looks like the perfect treat, and it's a bust. But fear not, dear friends, we compiled EVERYTHING you need (and the things to avoid!) to plan the ULTIMATE EPCOT Food & Wine Festival experience. If you're planning a day or a week at the festival, we've got every performance, activity, and tasty nosh detailed out so you can make the most of your time and money. Listen, it's a tough job eating and documenting the nearly 200 bites and sips, but we do it all for YOU! GET YOUR GUIDE NOW Learn More About the EPCOT Food and Wine Festival! Food and Wine Festival 101 Eat to the Beat Concert Updates EPCOT Food and Wine Festival - Fans Facebook Page Wine and Dine Half Marathon Details Get More Updates, Tips, and Tricks to Help You Conquer the Food & Wine Festival Join the DFB Newsletter to get all the breaking news right in your inbox! Click here to Subscribe! What items from this booth would you most want to try? Tell us in the comments! The post Disney Didn’t Have To Go THIS HARD on This EPCOT Food & Wine Festival Booth, but We’re Glad They Did first appeared on the disney food blog. View the full article

Your trip to Disney World is almost here, right?! Disney World merch Are you all ready? You’ve got your bags packed? Flight and hotel reservations set? You have your plan of action for once you hit the resort and the parks? And maybe the most important, how’s the budget looking? Speaking of the budget, to try and help you stay on track, we thought we’d go over some of the dumbest things people overspend on at Disney World! Buying Bottled Water Now before we go and get offended or think we don’t want you to drink water, hear us out. We LOVE hydration. We’re in the parks every single day of the year, rain or shine, and if there’s one thing we can tell you is that Disney World is one hot and humid place almost all year around. So, we want you to be hydrated, but buying a bottle of water is just not the move, especially since there are free refilling stations all over the parks. Water fountain and refill station All of that being said, what we HIGHLY recommend you doing is to get your own reusable water bottle. Our signed water bottle! They will come in so handy, keep you from getting overheated, and could even make for a creative souvenir like ours (we got ours signed by some of our favorite characters). View on Amazon Buying FuelRods at the Parks Now, you’re going to burn straight through your device’s power when you’re at Disney World. At this point because so much happens in the My Disney Experience app, it’s not if your phone will die but when. So, if you’re about to run out of juice and you don’t already have a portable power bank, the next best thing is to get yourself a FuelRod. Fuel Rod machine The system is great because it allows you charge your phone up and then when the rod is dead, you can swap it out for a fresh, fully charged one and keep on trucking. But here’s the thing, we’d recommend you not purchasing them at the parks, but rather get your FuelRods straight from Amazon. FuelRod This is because you can typically get a set of 2 FuelRods for the price you’d pay for 1 in the parks. They’re the same FuelRods too and can still be swapped out for fresh ones from the kiosks. View on Amazon Buying Ponchos at Disney World In addition to being a very hot and humid place, Florida is also extremely rainy (during the long rainy season), which is why you always want to come prepared. Rainy Day at EPCOT Umbrellas are nice and all but they’re not typically very portable, so your next best bet is to use rain ponchos. Now if you’re going to buy them at Disney World, just be prepared to pay quite a markup for them. FROGG TOGGS Poncho What we recommend you doing instead is to grab some those ponchos right from Amazon because they’re typically much cheaper and of a higher quality than you’ll find at the parks. Packing bag We love our FROGG TOGGS ponchos and can’t recommend them enough as they’re lightweight, sturdy, and can fold down in their own bag which helps bringing them with you incredibly easy. View on Amazon Buying MagicBands Now this one could be a bit controversial, but buying MagicBands could be a rather quick way to overspend at Disney World. Wish MagicBand+ This is mainly because you already have to do basically everything from the My Disney Experience app at Disney World, and let’s be honest, you always have your phone with you. ©Disney Also, a lot of people already wear a watch which then makes wearing a MagicBand too a bit tricky and bulky. The last thing we’d want for you is for your brand-new MagicBand to just become a novelty that collects dust on your shelf. MagicBand+ All of that being said, we’ll be the first to recognize that even though they aren’t strictly necessary, they can be a lot of fun to collect. Star Wars Resistance Magicband+ Those are just a couple of the things we see people overspending on when they’re at Disney World, but now we’d love to hear from you! Until then, we’re always keeping our eyes and ears open for all the latest Disney news, so keep following DFB for more! Disney World Has a MAJOR Breakfast Problem, and We Need to Talk About It. Join the DFB Newsletter to get all the breaking news right in your inbox! Click here to Subscribe! WE KNOW DISNEY. YOU CAN, TOO. Oh boy, planning a Disney trip can be quite the adventure, and we totally get it! But fear not, dear friends, we compiled EVERYTHING you need (and the things to avoid!) to plan the ULTIMATE Disney vacation. Whether you're a rookie or a seasoned pro, our insider tips and tricks will have you exploring the parks like never before. So come along with us, and get planning your most magical vacation ever! GET YOUR GUIDE NOW What things do you see people overspend on at Disney World? Let us know in the comments! The post 4 Dumbest Things People Overspend on at Disney World first appeared on the disney food blog. View the full article

Is it just us or are more shows getting canceled on TV and streaming services now after just one season? ©Netflix We recently saw Amazon cancel its My Lady Jane series after one season. Disney+ just canceled the Star Wars show The Acolyte after just one season. Disney+ also canceled Renegade Nell, again after just one season. Even The Muppets Mayhem didn’t survive the one-season cancelation curse on Disney+. Well, we’ve got some bad news about a new show on Netflix, too: Dead Boy Detectives has been canceled after one season. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Dead Boy Detectives has been canceled by Netflix after just one season. The series followed a duo of ghosts and a medium who joined forces to become detectives for the supernatural. The characters originated in the Sandman comics and were created by Neil Gaiman, Matt Wagner, and Malcolm Jones III and went on to star in their own comic book series before being adapted to live-action for the Netflix show. ©Netflix In the live-action adaptation, the characters were initially introduced in an episode of the Max series Doom Patrol. Interestingly enough, the Dead Boy Detectives series was originally slated for Max, but then moved over to Netflix for its first season. On Netflix, it spent three weeks on its top 10 for English-language series with about 9.6 million views at the time. It was also among Nielsen’s top 10 original streaming shows twice shortly after its premiere. So, needless to say, this cancelation is a big surprising. ©Netflix Dead Boy Detectives was set in the same universe as another Netflix show (also based on a comic book series), Sandman. The Sandman series, however, is receiving a second season. It’s unclear why Netflix made its decision to cancel Dead Boy Detectives, given its popularity, but many of these cancelations often leave us scratching our heads, leaving viewers less likely to start other new shows if they haven’t yet been renewed for additional seasons. Stay tuned to DFB for more. Everything NEW Coming to Disney+ This September Join the DFB Newsletter to get all the breaking news right in your inbox! Click here to Subscribe! WE KNOW DISNEY. YOU CAN, TOO. Oh boy, planning a Disney trip can be quite the adventure, and we totally get it! But fear not, dear friends, we compiled EVERYTHING you need (and the things to avoid!) to plan the ULTIMATE Disney vacation. Whether you're a rookie or a seasoned pro, our insider tips and tricks will have you exploring the parks like never before. So come along with us, and get planning your most magical vacation ever! GET YOUR GUIDE NOW What do you think? Why do so many shows get canceled just after their first seasons? Let us know in the comments! The post NEWS: A New Netflix Show Has Been CANCELED After Only One Season first appeared on the disney food blog. View the full article

As you’re enjoying the EPCOT Food & Wine Festival this year, you can stop by the UK Beer Cart for a festival-only drink! UK Beer Cart The UK Beer Cart, located at Rose & Crown, is one of the of the permanent EPCOT locations that also join in on the festival fun with exclusive, limited-time drinks and snacks. Come with us to check out this year’s special item! Menu Over at UK Beer Cart, you’ll find a special festival-edition drink — a Strawberry Basil Cocktail for $17 made with Beefeater Pink Strawberry Gin, St-Germain Elderflower Liqueur, Seagram’s Ginger Ale, with strawberry and basil syrups. We have seen something similar at the EPCOT Flower & Garden Festival, but this is new for the Food & Wine Festival! Drinks We stopped by the Rose & Crown beer cart for the Strawberry Basil Cocktail, and WOW, we were surprised when we got it. Not in a good way, though — according to the photo, the drink is supposed to be frozen, like a slushy. However, ours was not frozen at all when we got it. When we spoke to a Cast Member, we were told that it was too hot outside for the drink to freeze, so it was served as just liquid without any ice. Strawberry Basil Cocktail sign The drink, therefore, wasn’t very cold at all, and we thought this story we were given was very interesting because there are many other places you can go in EPCOT where the drinks are frozen just fine, no matter the temperature. We were wondering if a new batch had just been put in and hadn’t had a chance to freeze yet, but regardless, we do think this drink would be made better by being frozen (or at least cold). Juuuust liquid The taste itself was very sweet and strawberry-forward, although we didn’t taste the ginger in the ginger ale. We do warn you, too — we didn’t taste the alcohol at all, which means it could very easily sneak up on you! OVERALL For right now, we wouldn’t recommend this drink until Disney can work out the issues with having it frozen like it’s pictured to be. If you happen to walk by, though, and you see that it is successfully frozen and you’re a fan of strawberries, we highly recommend grabbing it! If you see it frozen, grab it! That’s it for this booth, but there’s a LOT more where that came from! Trying to plan the PERFECT trip to the 2024 EPCOT Food & Wine Festival? We’ll be keeping you updated on all of the latest. Click our links below for the information you need to know: Learn about the Eat to the Beat Concert Series and Dining Packages Check out ALL of the 2024 Food & Wine Booth Menus One HUGE Change Is Coming to the 2024 EPCOT Food & Wine Festival! Click here to see FULL reviews of EVERY. SINGLE. BOOTH. at the Food & Wine Festival! And don’t forget to pick up our 2024 EPCOT Food & Wine Festival e-book! See more details about the book below. IT'S WINE & DINE TIME! Food & Wine Festival can be a bummer. You stand in line waiting for what looks like the perfect treat, and it's a bust. But fear not, dear friends, we compiled EVERYTHING you need (and the things to avoid!) to plan the ULTIMATE EPCOT Food & Wine Festival experience. If you're planning a day or a week at the festival, we've got every performance, activity, and tasty nosh detailed out so you can make the most of your time and money. Listen, it's a tough job eating and documenting the nearly 200 bites and sips, but we do it all for YOU! GET YOUR GUIDE NOW Learn More About the EPCOT Food and Wine Festival! Food and Wine Festival 101 Eat to the Beat Concert Updates EPCOT Food and Wine Festival - Fans Facebook Page Wine and Dine Half Marathon Details Get More Updates, Tips, and Tricks to Help You Conquer the Food & Wine Festival Join the DFB Newsletter to get all the breaking news right in your inbox! Click here to Subscribe! Would you try this festival treat? Tell us in the comments! The post We Can’t Recommend This EPCOT Food and Wine Festival Item Until Disney Fixes a BIG Problem first appeared on the disney food blog. View the full article

¡Bienvenidas #Disneyland! #DisneyParks #Encanto #ShortsView the full article

The EPCOT Food & Wine Festival has kicked off, and we’ve been trying ALL the food, and checking out the entertainment, and just enjoying the whole vibe of festival time. EPCOT However, this year’s festival is drastically different from previous years in one way. Over the past several years, the EPCOT Food & Wine festival has started earlier, generally in July, but this year, the festival was pushed back to begin in August (like it was before 2020). You might not think that would have a huge impact on the festival itself, but we’ve noticed a HUGE difference that this one month has made. Okay, let’s take a look at the EPCOT Food & Wine Festival in 2023. This festival began on July 27th and ran through November 18th, 2023. One of the things that you’ll notice is that EPCOT was SUPER crowded on opening day. Food and Wine Festival Crowds (2023) By comparison, this year’s EPCOT Food & Wine Festival, which started a month later this year, was shockingly devoid of crowds. In fact, it was probably one of the easiest festival experiences we’ve had in YEARS. Look at the difference! It’s WILD. Relatively not crowded In previous years, we also had to deal with some seriously long lines at the food booths on opening day. LONG food booth line in 2023 But this year, walking up to the food booths and ordering our food was a breeze compared to last year. We could get used to this! The lines were relatively short. Shorter food booth lines in 2024 We will also say that in previous years, shops were SO crowded with everyone trying to get their hands on exclusive festival merchandise. That also meant long lines at shops, too. This year, the shops were pretty relaxed and chill. We also didn’t see merchandise selling out so quickly. Merchandise in CommuniCore Hall It seems like opening the festival later in the year means fewer people attending on opening day. It makes sense, though. When the festival opened in July, it was during prime vacation season, when kids were generally out of school. With the festival being pushed back to late August, kids are back in school, and far fewer people are taking vacations. One of our favorite festival eats! All we can say is we think we prefer the festival being later in the year. We think this will probably be the new normal again in EPCOT, but we’ll have to see what Disney plans for next year. The Alps Booth Don’t want to go through all of the stress of booking your Disney World trip alone? Reach out to our friends at Small World Vacations! Their experienced agents monitor your reservation for possible future savings, compare discounts and figure out which one works best for your travel party, dates, resort, and touring plans. And, they share expert tips and first-hand advice with you about your magical vacation. Small World Vacations Stay tuned to DFB for more. EVERYTHING You Need to Eat and Drink at the 2024 EPCOT Food and Wine Festival IT'S WINE & DINE TIME! Food & Wine Festival can be a bummer. You stand in line waiting for what looks like the perfect treat, and it's a bust. But fear not, dear friends, we compiled EVERYTHING you need (and the things to avoid!) to plan the ULTIMATE EPCOT Food & Wine Festival experience. If you're planning a day or a week at the festival, we've got every performance, activity, and tasty nosh detailed out so you can make the most of your time and money. Listen, it's a tough job eating and documenting the nearly 200 bites and sips, but we do it all for YOU! GET YOUR GUIDE NOW Learn More About the EPCOT Food and Wine Festival! Food and Wine Festival 101 Eat to the Beat Concert Updates EPCOT Food and Wine Festival - Fans Facebook Page Wine and Dine Half Marathon Details Get More Updates, Tips, and Tricks to Help You Conquer the Food & Wine Festival Join the DFB Newsletter to get all the breaking news right in your inbox! Click here to Subscribe! Will you be attending the EPCOT Food & Wine Festival this year? Let us know in the comments! The post WOW. One Month Makes a HUGE Difference in EPCOT. first appeared on the disney food blog. View the full article

No matter when you go to Disney World, we can predict at least one of three things will happen: 1.) You will sweat. 2.) You will get rained on. 3.) You will hunt down some water (preferably a FREE cup of it) during your day in the theme parks. It’s inevitable! Partner’s Statue But what if we told you that there is ONE handy product available on Amazon that takes care of ALL THREE problems? In fact, it solves a TON of theme park-related struggles we face on a daily basis, and it’s only $60! Prepare to be amazed. DISCLOSURE: This post may contain affiliate links, meaning when you click the links and make a purchase, we receive a commission. This Maxie & Nova Theme Park Essentials Fanny Pack is a Disney World GAME CHANGER! It comes with so many items! OK, seriously, this thing has it ALL! The fanny pack comes in multiple colors and includes everything you see in the photo! In total, this is a 10-piece set with tons of handy accessories! Items include a personal fan equipped with a USB charger, a cooling towel, a collapsible silicone water bottle, a silicone reusable straw with a case keychain and cleaner, an emergency poncho, two refill ponchos, AND a sphere keychain to hold them. WOW! Theme park essentials fanny pack We tested this out in Disney World and can confirm it is 100% worth the money. It’s so convenient, and the accessories are thoughtful and easy to pack. Fan From the reusable straw to the cooling towel, we have recommended each of these items for YEARS, so it’s amazing to see it all included in one product. Straw Whether you’re planning a trip to the Magic Kingdom or taking a Disney Cruise, these items should come with you wherever you go. Cooling towel The fanny pack holds a LOT, so you’ve got plenty of room for your phone and other travel essentials. Collapsible water bottle Oh, and this poncho case is GENIUS! It’s a great way to keep your poncho safe before (or after) a rainstorm. Just pack it away Make sure to check it out on Amazon now! There’s even a coupon — make sure to apply it before you check out. View on Amazon In the meantime, we’re always on the lookout for the latest Disney deals, so stay tuned for more. Check out our Amazon Storefront for more Disney items!! The post The Item That Will Make Your Disney Trip 10x Easier first appeared on the disney food blog. View the full article

Can you believe it’s already September? The first week of September will continue bringing us closures around Disney World, but now we know when a popular spot will reopen! Blizzard Beach Water Park Disney recently announced that Blizzard Beach will once again be reopening this winter! It does seem appropriate that a water park named “Blizzard Beach” will be open in the coolest months of the year but don’t worry, you can still have a fun time in the warm water. Find out when Blizzard Beach will officially open along with what other closures will affect Disney World this week below! Blizzard Beach Blizzard Beach closed for refurbishment on March 17th. Blizzard Beach While Blizzard Beach is closed, Typhoon Lagoon is currently open. The two water parks often rotate off and on for being open. And recently Disney announced that Blizzard Beach will be reopening on November 4th when Typhoon Lagoon will close! Click here to learn all about Blizzard Beach While we’re looking forward to the reopening of Blizzard Beach, we have a few months to wait yet. This week, there are still a few other closures affecting Disney World. Keep reading to find out what will be closed the week of August 31st through September 7th. Magic Kingdom Jungle Cruise The wild river ride closed on August 26th, and no this is not some joke the Skippers just came up with! Walls are up at Jungle Cruise The punny ride will be closed for refurbishment, but will luckily reopen on October 18th, if everything goes to plan. If you’re visiting Magic Kingdom over the next month and a half, we’re sorry to report that you will not get to see the eighth wonder of the world — the backside of water. Hopefully, the next time you visit you’ll get to “ooo” and “ahhh” and this marvel! Frontierland Shootin’ Arcade We had to say goodbye to an opening day attraction on June 23rd. Frontierland Shootin’ Arcade with construction walls around it The Frontierland Shootin’ Arcade was around for generations and provided simple fun to all who played. Now, the attraction has closed to make room for a new Disney Vacation Club lounge. This lounge will be the third in Disney World, joining one in EPCOT and one at Disney’s Contemporary Resort. Disney has not yet announced when the new lounge will open. Magic Kingdom Just Announced HUGE Fireworks NEWS! Tomorrowland Terrace Tomorrowland Terrace is a quick-service restaurant that has been closed since the 2020 pandemic-related closures, but even before that, this spot was only occasionally open. Tomorrowland Terrace Once in a while, you’ll see the dining room open as a rest area (and it’s still being used for the Magic Kingdom Fireworks Dessert Parties), but it’s usually all roped off and empty. Tomorrowland Terrace Disney hasn’t announced when this spot could finally reopen, but we’ll be watching for updates. If you’re looking for a nice spot to hang out in Disney World and sit down for a rest, this could be it! EPCOT Test Track Test Track closed on June 17th, and Disney is giving this ride a BIG makeover! Test Track Disney has shared that the new version of Test Track will take inspiration from the old ride, World of Motion, that was originally there when the park opened in 1982. Disney recently shared more details at D23: The Ultimate Disney Fan Experience including an opening timeline! We’ll be able to ride Test Trace once again in 2025. Restaurant Marrakesh Restaurant Marrakesh is currently closed as a dining location in the Morocco pavilion of EPCOT’s World Showcase, and there’s no word yet on when the restaurant could fully reopen. Florida Blue Lounge However, it is currently open as the Florida Blue Lounge during the EPCOT Food and Wine Festival. So if you’re in the Morocco Pavilion, check it out to see if it’s open. We’re watching for updates on when the full restaurant could reopen! Check Out Spaceship Earth’s LIMITED-TIME Look for the 2024 EPCOT Food and Wine Festival Disney’s Hollywood Studios Voyage of the Little Mermaid Voyage of the Little Mermaid is currently closed in Disney World. We recently spotted some construction walls up at the show! Construction walls are up at Voyage of the Little Mermaid Disney is going to introduce a new, updated show in this spot, though it will still be themed to the animated movie The Little Mermaid! The new show will be called “The Little Mermaid — A Musical Adventure” and is coming to Disney’s Hollywood Studios in Fall 2024. ©Disney It will be a “fully reimagined theatrical production inspired by the Walt Disney Animation Studios classic.” Lies About Disney’s Hollywood Studios You Thought Were True Disney World Hotels World Premiere Food Court — Disney’s All-Star Movies Resort The World Premiere Food Court at Disney’s All-Star Movies Resort has been undergoing refurbishment since July. World Premiere Food Court This food court closed for refurbishment on July 1st and was set to reopen on July 31st. However, a change on the Disney World website and speaking with Cast Members has indicated that did not happen. Disney has recently updated the website to say it won’t open until mid-October. While it has been getting a face-lift, guests have been able to mobile order from a limited menu on the Disney World app, and seating in the food court is still available. Everything POP Shopping & Dining — Disney’s Pop Century Resort Everything Pop is amid its own refurbishment. Everything Pop Food Court Since July 29th Everything Pop has been getting some work done. The refurbishment is set to last until September 29th. However, while the work is being done, guests can still use the Disney World app to mobile order food. You may need to use alternate entrances to access the food court and seating may be limited. Barbados Leisure Pool The Barbados leisure pool will be closed at Disney’s Caribbean Beach Resort from July 29th through the end of September 2024. Barbados Pool This resort is organized into villages and each area has its own leisure pool. While the Barbados leisure pool is closed, check out one of the other several options around the resort! Something NEW Is Coming to Disney’s Swan and Dolphin Hotel, and You’re Gonna LOVE It! Looking for more resources to help you get ready for your upcoming trip? Check out these posts to learn all about Disney World’s rides: 10 Rides to AVOID in Disney World if You Struggle with Motion Sickness What It Takes to CHANGE a Disney World Ride 9 of the SCARIEST Rides in Disney World, According to YOU! A FULL LIST of the Thrill Rides in Disney World! The Ultimate Guide to the BEST and WORST Seats On EVERY Magic Kingdom Ride We’ll keep you updated with all the latest news, so stay tuned to DFB. Check out more upcoming closures and current construction projects at Disney World here. Planning a Trip to Disney World? We’ve Got Everything You Need to Know The Ultimate Guide to Planning a Disney World Vacation A Month-by-Month Guide to Planning Your Disney World Trip Tips, Hints, Lists, and Videos for Planning the BEST Disney World Trip Learn About the Disney Park Pass System The Ultimate Disney World Packing List Everything You Need to Know About Lightning Lanes Insider SECRETS for Your First Trip to Disney World A Complete Look at the Current Disney Discounts and Deals The ONLY Disney Dining Planning Tool You’ll Need Is Here – Get the DFB Guide to Walt Disney World Dining! Join the DFB Newsletter to Get All the Latest Disney News Delivered Right to Your Inbox! Click Here to Subscribe Are you visiting Disney World this week? Let us know in the comments! The post CONFIRMED: Disney World’s Blizzard Beach Has Reopening Date first appeared on the disney food blog. View the full article

If you’re looking for a Halloween experience that’s a bit different from Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party in Disney World, you may be considering Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Orlando. It’s time! Halloween Horror Nights runs on Wednesday through Sunday nights from now through November 3rd, 2024. The event is quite different from Disney’s event in that you’re not encouraged to wear costumes, there’s no parade or special fireworks, and there’s no trick-or-treating. However, you get a lot more scary stuff, including ten haunted houses and five scare zones that are sure to get your blood pumping. However, if you just have one night to visit Halloween Horror Nights, you might have to pay extra to walk through all those haunted houses with little to no wait. If you plan on visiting Halloween Horror Nights, a regular ticket starts at $83 and goes up to $123, depending on the night (Saturdays in October are the most expensive). That’s significantly cheaper than Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party, which can run up to $200. However, Halloween Horror Nights brings serious crowds and long lines to each haunted house, so if you’re lucky, you MAY get to visit about half of the houses in one night, and that’s without doing anything else, skipping things like entertainment, shopping, and food. Halloweed Horror Nights line However, you can purchase additional add-ons (on top of the ticket price) to give yourself more of an opportunity to visit more houses. The Halloween Horror Nights Express Pass allows you to skip the line at every haunted house once during the night. It starts at $149.99 per person (the price can be even more, depending on the date). You can also purchase a Scream Early ticket (in addition to the ticket for the event) that lets you get into Halloween Horror Nights early and then allows you to wait in the “Stay & Scream” area until the event begins, which will give you a headstart to get to the haunted houses. That one starts at $55 per person. However, you’ll still have to wait in the long lines that will form later on for the houses. Signs for the houses So if you’re serious about getting to visit all ten houses in one night, the pricier option at almost $150 (or more) for the Express Pass may be your best bet (and that puts the price of Halloween Horror Nights slightly higher the price of a Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party ticket). But is it worth it? Scare Zone We attended the first night of Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Orlando, and we think that, yes, it is worth it to pay extra to skip the long lines at the houses. This also frees you up to spend time in the scare zones, check out the tribute store, do some shopping, eat some fun spooky snacks, and check out the live entertainment. Inside this year’s Tribute Store We know it’s pricey, but if you seriously want to do everything at Halloween Horror Nights in one evening, the additional cost of the Express Pass is well worth it. We managed to get through all ten houses and still had time to check out the Tribute store, see some entertainment, and eat some fun snacks. Considering how much there is to see and do, we felt like we got our money’s worth. Gotta make time to eat In the end, though, you’ll have to determine if the additional cost of the Express Pass is worth it for you and your group. But if you’re wanting to get the most out of your evening, you’ll get even more by paying more (if that makes sense). We recommend giving Halloween Horror Nights a go if you’re looking for something a little scarier than Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party or you just want a different kind of Halloween experience. Stay tuned to DFB for more. EVERYTHING You Need to Know About Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Orlando in 2024! Join the DFB Newsletter to get all the breaking news right in your inbox! Click here to Subscribe! What do you think? Will you be going to Halloween Horror Nights this year? The post Would You Pay an Additional 0+ to WALK Onto 10 Universal Orlando Halloween Horror Nights Attractions? first appeared on the disney food blog. View the full article

Every week, we report the average Disney World wait times in every park so that you can be prepared for your next trip to Orlando! Magic Kingdom Disney World saw an unprecedented week of wait time decreases in the final full week of August. Every ride in the resort – – including Flight of Passage – – saw times decrease. Was this due to summer vacation ending, the new Lighting Lane Multi Pass system, or something else? Take a look at this week’s average wait times! Magic Kingdom Wait Times The Magic Kingdom saw dips in wait time across the board this week. Pretty much every ride at the park saw a drop of at least several minutes this week. (REMINDER: TRON Lightcycle / Run does not currently use a standby queue; it’s not included here, and Tiana’s Bayou Adventure does not have a standby queue yet.) Mine Train Seven Dwarfs Mine Train — 49 minutes Peter Pan’s Flight — 41 minutes Space Mountain — 31 minutes Jungle Cruise — 31 minutes Big Thunder Mountain Railroad — 26 minutes Haunted Mansion — 26 minutes Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh — 24 minutes Pirates of the Caribbean Astro Orbiter — 20 minutes Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin — 19 minutes Enchanted Tales with Belle — 19 minutes Tomorrowland Speedway — 13 minutes Pirates of the Caribbean — 12 minutes “it’s a small world” — 11 minutes Barnstormer featuring the Great Goofini — 11 minutes Tiki Room Mickey’s PhilharMagic — 15 minutes Liberty Square Riverboat — 15 minutes Country Bear Musical Jamboree — 14 minutes Enchanted Tiki Room — 12 minutes Tomorrowland Transit Authority PeopleMover — 9 minutes Dumbo the Flying Elephant — 8 minutes Magic Carpets of Aladdin — 8 minutes Carousel of Progress Prince Charming Regal Carrousel — 6 minutes Mad Tea Party — 6 minutes Carousel of Progress — 5 minutes Tom Sawyer Island — 5 minutes Swiss Family Robinson Treehouse — 5 minutes Hall of Presidents — 4 minutes Magic Kingdom Just Announced HUGE Fireworks NEWS! EPCOT Wait Times EPCOT’s also saw some dips this week, with both Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure and Frozen ever after dipping below 46 minutes. (NOTE: Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind does not currently use a standby queue, so it’s not included here.) Soarin’ Around the World Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure — 45 minutes Frozen Ever After — 42 minutes Soarin’ — 20 minutes Turtle Talk with Crush — 15 minutes Mission: SPACE — 13 minutes The Seas with Nemo and Friends Spaceship Earth — 10 minutes The Seas with Nemo and Friends — 8 minutes Journey into Imagination — 7 minutes Living with the Land — 7 minutes Gran Fiesta Tour — 6 minutes Test Track, Awesome Planet, Beauty and the Beast Sing-Along, Disney and Pixar Short Film Festival, Impressions de France, and Reflections of China had no wait times this week. EVERYTHING You Need to Eat and Drink at the 2024 EPCOT Food and Wine Festival Animal Kingdom Wait Times Even Animal Kingdom’s Flight of Passage, Disney’s near undisputed champion of average weekly wait times in recent years, saw a huge drop this week, falling to just 61 minutes. Animal Kingdom Avatar Flight of Passage — 61 minutes Na’vi River Journey — 43 minutes Kali River Rapids — 32 minutes Expedition Everest — 22 minutes Kilimanjaro Safaris Kilimanjaro Safaris — 22 minutes Dinosaur — 17 minutes It’s Tough to Be a Bug — 10 minutes TriceraTop Spin — 6 minutes The Boneyard — 0 minutes 50 AMAZING Things You Never Knew Were in Disney’s Animal Kingdom Hollywood Studios Wait Times Hollywood Studios joined its fellow parks in seeing wait times dip this week, though to a slightly lesser extent than Magic Kingdom, EPCOT, and Animal Kingdom. Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Slinky Dog Dash — 54 minutes Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster — 46 minutes Rise of the Resistance — 39 minutes Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway — 36 minutes Toy Story Mania Toy Story Mania — 33 minutes Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run — 31 minutes Tower of Terror — 30 minutes Alien Swirling Saucers — 18 minutes Lightning McQueen’s Racing Academy Lightning McQueen’s Racing Academy — 14 minutes Star Tours — 8 minutes Muppet Vision 3D — 10 minutes Walt Disney Presents — 5 minutes 50 AMAZING Things You Never Knew Were in Disney’s Hollywood Studios Stay tuned to DFB for more updates from Disney World! The Disney World SECRET We Shouldn’t Be Telling You Join the DFB Newsletter to get all the breaking news right in your inbox! Click here to Subscribe! WE KNOW DISNEY. YOU CAN, TOO. Oh boy, planning a Disney trip can be quite the adventure, and we totally get it! But fear not, dear friends, we compiled EVERYTHING you need (and the things to avoid!) to plan the ULTIMATE Disney vacation. Whether you're a rookie or a seasoned pro, our insider tips and tricks will have you exploring the parks like never before. So come along with us, and get planning your most magical vacation ever! GET YOUR GUIDE NOW How long would you wait for your favorite ride? Let us know in the comments below! The post We Found SHORTER LINES All Over Disney World this Week! first appeared on the disney food blog. View the full article

Getting Disney merch in Florida is about to get even easier! Primark is here! We’re always keeping an eye out for the latest Disney souvenir news — both at the Disney Parks and online. If you’re in the Orlando area and looking for Disney essentials outside of the parks, then you’re in luck — a new store with many Disney offerings is HERE at The Florida Mall! We were invited to check out the brand-new Primark store located at The Florida Mall — including its special Disney merchandise offerings! Now, if you’re not familiar with Primark, you should know that the best thing about this store is that everything is generally VERY inexpensive. The location at The Florida Mall is the first Primark Orlando location EVER. The Ireland-based fashion, home, and body store even features an entire floor dedicated to Disney merch! If you’re not familiar with Primark, let’s just say it’s sort of like Target, but the prices are even lower! See that shirt? See the price tag on it? Just $7! You can also find accessories like backpacks, purses, totes, and more. Yes, you can even get Minnie ears here, too! ALL the Disney stuff We absolutely loved this Bambi bag collection we discovered. Lug Bag, what? Loungefly, who? We’ll take one of each of these bags! Bambi bag collection We even spotted a super fun Stitch collection. If you love Stitch, you’ll definitely have to stop by for a visit. Stitch collection Marvel fans will probably want to visit the store, too — we spotted an entire section dedicated to Marvel. Marvle merchandise Check out these super fun Mickey shoes. Mickey shoes The Disney part of the store alone is MASSIVE. SO much stuff How cute is this Mickey and Friends luggage? Luggage The store officially opened on August 29th, and the two-story Primark store can be found at the mall across from the American Girl store. The Florida Mall’s location will mark Primark’s second Florida location and 26th in the United States. The Disney collection is on the top floor, while the bottom floor has travel, beauty, accessories, kids, and adults collections. The fitting rooms are also downstairs. There’s a set of elevators, as well as multiple entrances into the store from the parking lot. The Orlando location is truly unique in that it plays to the Disney World vibes of the city. The entire floor stocked with Disney merchandise is Primark’s first of its kind. Disney x Primark Accompanying the store’s opening will be some weekend events including food trucks, illustrators, and performances between August 31st and September 1st. Primark For all the latest Disney news, stay tuned right here at DFB! Shh! A SECRET Disney Halloween Store Just Opened on Amazon Join the DFB Newsletter to get all the breaking news right in your inbox! Click here to Subscribe! WE KNOW DISNEY. YOU CAN, TOO. Oh boy, planning a Disney trip can be quite the adventure, and we totally get it! But fear not, dear friends, we compiled EVERYTHING you need (and the things to avoid!) to plan the ULTIMATE Disney vacation. Whether you're a rookie or a seasoned pro, our insider tips and tricks will have you exploring the parks like never before. So come along with us, and get planning your most magical vacation ever! GET YOUR GUIDE NOW Are you planning on visiting Primark for its grand opening? Let us know in the comments! Disclosure: In nearly all circumstances, Disney Food Blog writers and photographers pay full price for their own travel, hotel, food, beverage, and event tickets. We do this because it’s important to us as journalists to ensure not only that we give you unbiased opinions, but also that you can trust us to do so since we’re paying our own way. On rare occasions, when we are invited by a company to attend a preview as media, and when we choose to accept that invitation, we will always make you, our readers, aware of that situation. Today, we were invited by Primark to attend their media preview of The Florida Mall location. Note that when we attend events as media we are 1) Not required to review that event/food on any of our channels, and 2) Not required to review that event/food favorably. You can always count on DFB to give you a 100% unbiased and honest review of any event that we attend, food that we eat, or beverage that we drink. You can see more in our Disclosure Policy. Thank you for reading. — AJ The post The Florida Mall Just Opened a NEW Primark Store, and It’s Got a WHOLE FLOOR of Disney Souvenirs! first appeared on the disney food blog. View the full article

Disney Loungefly bags are SUPER popular — and for good reason! These bags are the perfect size to take to Disney World, and they hold a LOT. Plus, with literally thousands of unique designs, there’s something for everyone. Loungefly bags But here at Disney Food Blog, we don’t like to pay full price for our park bags. That’s why we track the latest deals on Amazon! Come with us to see what’s on SALE right now. DISCLOSURE: This post may contain affiliate links, meaning when you click the links and make a purchase, we receive a commission. Save 14% on this Loungefly Fab 5 Bag! ©Amazon GREAT news! This adorable Loungefly bag (with tons of great reviews) is on sale right now. It features some of our FAVORITE Disney characters, yet has a simple color palette that will complement any outfit. View on Amazon This Loungefly Jessie Bag is 13% off NOW! ©Amazon Yeehaw! We rounded up a GREAT deal for you! This bag is perfect for a trip to Disney’s Hollywood Studios or Magic Kingdom. Make sure to stop by and say hello to Jessie if you wear this bag to Disney World! It will TOTALLY get you some compliments. View on Amazon Loungefly’s Snow White Evil Queen Bag is 40% off! ©Amazon Attention, Disney villain fans! This bag is available for a GREAT deal right now, and it’s perfect for the upcoming Villains Land coming to Magic Kingdom. For under $50, this is a no-brainer. Add it to your cart now! View on Amazon We found a Loungefly Spider-Man Mini-Backpack on sale for 25% off! ©Amazon DEAL ALERT! This bag is an Amazon-exclusive, so it’s a little rarer than your average backpack. Plus, it’s got a fun checkered print that perfectly complements the Spider-Man design. View on Amazon Loungefly’s Yzma Mini Backpack is 44% off! ©Amazon This backpack was inspired by a SERIOUSLY underrated Disney movie: The Emperor’s New Groove. Not only does it depict one of our FAVORITE scenes, but it’s also got the iconic villain of the film — Yzma! View on Amazon In the meantime, we’re always on the lookout for the latest Disney deals, so stay tuned for more. Check out our Amazon Storefront for more Disney items!! The post 5 Disney Loungefly Bags Are on SALE up to 44% Off on Amazon Now first appeared on the disney food blog. View the full article