food IS a theme park
We stumbled upon something new over at Disney’s Beach Club Resort…
Beach Club Marketplace
We noticed THREE new to us Disney Vacation Club Dooney & Bourke pieces over at Beach Club Marketplace!
We took a trip to one of our favorite spots around Disney World to see what is new over at Disney’s BoardWalk. Come along with us!
Boardwalk Sign
We checked out all newest food offerings on the BoardWalk like the Star Wars Galaxy eclair, new merchandise including the trendy Arendelle Aqua goodies, and even some cool new flowers we spotted hanging around!
This year is going to be BIG for the Disney Parks. Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge
is opening at Walt Disney World on August 29 and at Disneyland on May 31. Plus the all-new Skyliner transportation system will begin operating at Walt Disney World in the summer or fall! But that’s not all…
Oga’s Cantina © Disney
Disney continues its quest to become a destination for fine dining as much as attractions!
Recently, Disney Vacation Club announced that it will begin offering “Magical Dining Experiences” exclusively for DVC members and their guests. (This sounds a LOT like the Tables in Wonderland events, for those who are members of that discount program.)
Dinners will take place at popular signature restaurants throughout Walt Disney World. The prix-fixe menus are crafted by Disney chefs, and will feature accompanying wine and/or beer pairings. In addition, a culinary specialist will offer a live presentation throughout the dinner.
The events, which can be booked exclusively by DVC Members for themselves and their guests, promise to be intimate, with limited spots available for each dinner.
Flying Fish, is a DFB Favorite!
The first three dinners have been announced, and details are as follows:
February 27, 2014
Location: Flying Fish
Number of Guests: 40
Hosted by: Renowned Wine Expert
Time: 6:00 PM to 9:30 PM
Price: $165
Menu [Read more…]
Welcome Ryan P. Wilson from one of my favorite blogs — Main Street Gazette — with a guest review from Disney’s Hilton Head Island Resort. Let’s head to South Carolina – thanks, Ryan!
It may come as a shock to frequent Walt Disney World or Disneyland guests out there, but there is a Disney Vacation Club (DVC) resort that does not come complete with its own table service restaurant!
Disney’s Hilton Head Island Resort, located not surprisingly on Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, actually spans two separate locations: the Beach House, which caters to the daily needs of beach-goers, and the main resort, which is outfitted with an assortment of guest rooms. Both of these areas have quick service locations, but today let’s stick to the resort itself.
Tide Me Over
is the resort’s quick service stop, located in the Broad Creek Mercantile in the hub of the resort’s activity zone. Rentals of bicycles and fishing poles, the marsh-surrounded dock, campfire, swimming pool, and shop are all located in the same hub as the restaurant.
Unlike most dining establishments, however, all of Tide Me Over’s seating is outdoors. While some of the picnic tables are covered, the Mickey-posted stools offer up my favorite view!
Outdoor Seating
Of course, you always have the option of taking your food back to the room, or wherever your adventures are taking you that day. Guests even have the option to [Read more…]
Happy Thanksgiving!
My family is considering having Thanksgiving in Disney World next year, and I wanted to hear some opinions about that! So we asked our Facebook Page Fans:
Would you rather have Thanksgiving Dinner at home, or at a Disney restaurant?.
Our readers chimed in with their holiday preferences! While dining at home was a strong contender due to family traditions, leftovers, cost-savings, aversion to holiday crowds, and a palate for a real home-cooked meal, ordering Thanksgiving dinner at a Disney restaurant was the clear winner!
And these voters didn’t care where they ate at Disney — they just wanted to be in the middle of the magic for the holiday. In fact, we think some of you might be happy with one of these!:
Disney Turkey Leg
Here are some of the other suggestions we received!: [Read more…]
We’re jetting off to Disneyland later this week for the D23 Expo, and we’ll be sharing all the updates and details! Follow along here on the Disney Food Blog, on Facebook, and twitter as we bring you news from California!
We’re eagerly anticipating our brand new Disney Food Blog Mini-Guide to the 2011 Epcot Food & Wine Festival e-Book — now topping out at over 125 pages — which will be available within the next day or two!
In the meantime, check out our 250-page DFB Guide to Walt Disney World Dining e-Book and our new 85-page Disney Food Blog Mini-Guide to Magic Kingdom Snacks e-Book! They can both be downloaded to your computer and loaded onto your iPad or smartphone for easy transport and access in the parks!
WDW for Grown-ups
highlights a brand new event at the Epcot International Food & Wine Festival — the “Best of Bocuse” dinner!
Disney by Mark shows us a Disneyland automated food service, the StratoSnak, that never happened. Reminds me of my much-desired automat…
Gorillas Don’t Blog spots alcohol at the Golden Horseshoe in the Magic Kingdom. Or does he? Take a look!
Main Street Gazette takes us to my one of my favorite breakfast locations — Boma!
WESH.com featured a story by yours truly showcasing our top five new additions to the Epcot International Food and Wine Festival.
Magical Kingdoms shows us how one very creative mom made a Cinderella Coach cake for her daughter’s birthday. Impressive!
Disney Food for Families columnist Erin Foster is back with the third segment in her series about making and enjoying food in the Disney Vacation Club villa kitchens. See post #1 here and post #2 here!
Save Some Dough By Buying or Bringing Groceries
In my previous post, I identified the grocery items that are sold in the Disney Vacation Club resort shops and that are available to order from your DVC resort in advance. But what I didn’t tell you was what the convenience of on-site resort grocery shopping will cost and what your alternatives might be.
In addition to buying groceries at or through your DVC resort hotel you can:
Erin Foster, our Disney Food for Families columnist, is back with another useful post about making food when staying in the Disney Vacation Club villas!
In part one of The DVC Villa Kitchens series, I showed you the tools you’ll have to work with if you’re cooking in a Walt Disney World Vacation Club villa kitchen. Here in part two, I’m going to show you what foods you’ll have ready access to cook.
Beach Club one-bedroom villa kitchen and dining area
If you have a car, your own or a rental, you can easily make a stop at a local supermarket to get any of your favorite food items. There are also a number of local Orlando area services that will deliver grocery items to your hotel. Among the most popular of these is Garden Grocer at gardengrocer.com. I’ll get to exploring those options in my next post. For now, I’m going to go over what types of foods you’ll typically find for sale at your WDW resort hotel.
The good news for guests wanting to do some bare bones cooking during their vacation is that the resorts that house the villa-style rooms all have a mini convenience store section in their gift shops and all DVC resorts also offer guests the chance to order groceries ahead of time to be in the room when they arrive.
The foods and supplies listed below can be found at [Read more…]
Disney Food for Families columnist Erin Foster begins this DVC Villas Kitchens series with a look at what you’ll find in your villa kitchen!
My family has been a member of the Disney Vacation Club since 2001. Because of this, we often stay in DVC villa-style rooms when visiting Walt Disney World, which we pay for using our DVC points. While villa rooms are most often used by DVC members, anyone may rent them. And one of the best parts about a villa is the inclusion of a kitchenette in studio villas and a full kitchen in one-bedroom and larger villas!
Over the next few posts, I’m going to discuss the villa kitchens. What do they include? What is easily available to cook in the kitchens? Is is possible to save money by cooking in your villa? Will the villa kitchen save you any time?
A statue of Ariel greets guests at the Beach Club Villas
Here are a few more details about DVC Villas: There are villa rooms at seven Walt Disney World resort hotels — Animal Kingdom Lodge, Bay Lake Tower (Contemporary), Beach Club, Boardwalk, Old Key West, Saratoga Springs, and Wilderness Lodge.
Bay Lake Tower (Contemporary) two-bedroom villa kitchen
The villas are a terrific option for guests with larger families or larger traveling parties, multi-generational families, families where the parents don’t want to sleep in the same room as the children, or for families who want, or need, a kitchen.
The larger space and multiple bathrooms make vacationing with my mirror-loving daughters a breeze — that alone makes the villas worth it for my family. But I must confess that I have a real love/hate relationship with the villa kitchens. Obviously, having a kitchen can be a godsend for guests who need to prepare food for an allergic or special needs family member. But what is the value of the kitchen for the average family? What is the value of the kitchen for the average mom, like me, who finds that one of the best aspects of vacation time is not having to cook?
As a first step in the Villa Kitchen series, I’ll show you what exactly you can expect to find in a Disney Vacation Club Villa kitchen at [Read more…]
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