food IS a theme park
If you’re anything like us, just about any vacation is better with Mickey Mouse. And now that the 2020 Disney Cruise Line itineraries have been released, there’s no better time to explore ports all over the world!
Disney Cruise Line’s Disney Dream
We are counting down to the start of the 2017 Epcot Food and Wine Festival, which starts this year on August 31!
As part of our on-going countdown, we’re making a list (and checking it twice!) of all the things we MUST eat this year, and we’re definitely including items from today’s featured booths: Thailand and Hawai’i!
This year the Festival is celebrating Epcot’s 35th anniversary with 35 Marketplace Booths – featuring five new booths and some returning booths, including Thailand!
Let’s check out what you’ll find on the menus at Thailand and Hawai’i… .
The Kalua Pork Slider is a fan-favorite at the Hawai’i booth.
New Marketplace Booth for Hawaii!
Food:
Beverages:
If you can’t wait until the Festival starts, here’s a recipe for the Kalua Pork Sliders! [Read more…]
I’m back from my first visit to Hawaii with, of course, a visit to Aulani, Disney’s outpost in the Aloha state. Since it was my first visit, I was particularly excited to explore Hawaii’s unique culture.
Aulani View
During our initial morning on site, we chose to have breakfast at Ama Ama, the more upscale of the resort’s table service restaurants.
Ama Ama breakfast menu.
The rest of the family chose to eat traditional American style food: pancakes, scrambled eggs, and French toast (can I call French toast American? :-)). But I chatted with the server, a native Hawaiian, and asked what the most traditional local dish was. She responded, “Loco Moco,” and told me that the Ama Ama version was excellent. So Loco Moco it was!
For those of you not in the know, a Loco Moco consists of rice, topped by a hamburger patty, topped by a fried egg, topped by a brown, usually onion or mushroom based, gravy.
Here’s the Ama Ama Loco Moco. (Try saying that five times fast.)
I loved the way the semi-cooked yolk and gravy oozed into [Read more…]
I’m back from a recent trip to Aulani, Disney’s vacation outpost in Hawaii. I am already itching to return – that place was magnifico!
Part of what made it even more over-the-top great was that we had access to a private poolside cabana. Score!
Our cabana!
We had comfy reserved chairs, a fan, a stereo, a TV (’cause hubby wanted to check in on the football games between swims), water bottles, a constant supply of fresh towels, a mini fridge, and of course, an ever-attentive attendant to keep us supplied with drinks and snacks. Naturally, it’s that drinks and snacks part I want to talk about.
We arrived at the cabana at about 9:30, after a big character buffet breakfast, so we weren’t immediately ready to eat. And then magically, as if Mickey himself knew the peckishness was imminent, a complimentary fruit plate arrived.
Check out all the tropically goodness: orange, mango, grapes, papaya, dragon fruit, starfruit, raspberries, blackberries, blueberries, strawberries, passion fruit, pineapple, edible orchids, and some other green fruit that we never figured out what it was.
Here’s the platter from another angle. You can see that my kids couldn’t even wait three seconds while I took a photo. There were mango pieces missing during the time it took me to turn the plate around. You know it’s a fabulous presentation when you can’t hold kids back from devouring the healthy eats.
After breakfast and all that fruit, we really weren’t hungry for while. There’s a lunch menu and full bar, but we ended up just noshing a bit.
I ended up trying the Cucumber Lychee Fizz because it sounded so refreshing. And indeed it was a perfectly light way to take the edge off (not that I had much of an edge when I was lying around poolside.)
Cucumber lychee fizz.
The kiddos wanted some real food for lunch (how dare they :-)), so we ended up with the kid classic chicken nuggets and a PB&J, plus a shrimp Caesar salad.
The nuggets and sandwich were exactly as they should be, and the fries were terrific, but we were a bit underwhelmed by the salad. Despite those nice grill marks, the shrimp themselves were undercooked and cold. Not that this stopped me from eating them.
In a similar fashion to the fruit plate, a complimentary tray of desserts spontaneously appeared at around 3:00.
That’s a dense chocolate cake, chocolate truffles, and a pineapple upside down cake. Cute and yum! I’d say that’s the perfect way to end a Hawaiian afternoon. Oh wait, then we headed off to dinner …
So folks, what do you think of that fruit? What would you have ordered? Let us know in the comments below.
Erin Foster is the Disney Food for Families columnist and a behind-the-scenes guru here at Disney Food Blog! Check out more of her posts here.
Ah… couldn’t you use a trip to Hawai’i right about now?? Yeah. Me, too.
Well, today we’re gonna come pretty close by venturing virtually to Hawai’i courtesy of my awesome friend Eric! It’s time to talk shave ice at Disney’s Aulani Resort!
Eric recently spent a vacation at Aulani on Oahu, and indulged in this yummo shaved ice with condensed milk and ice cream! The syrups are pineapple and cherry flavored…
Shaved ice.
He also sent over a pic of a fun Disney food-themed shirt found at Aulani! [Read more…]
Many a wish came true when the 2012 Epcot Food and Wine Festival booth menus were announced this year with the popular Kalua Pork Slider back at the Hawaii kiosk!
Once the 2012 Epcot Food and Wine Festival begins on September 28th, you’ll be able to down as many of these as your wristlet gift card can handle!
Hawaii Booth at the Epcot International Food and Wine Festival
But in the meantime — and while we’re counting down to this year’s festival — we’ve got the recipe for what’s officially called “Kalua Pork Sliders with Sweet and Sour Dole Pineapple Chutney and Spicy Mayonnaise!” Who’s ready for dinner? 😉
Kalua Pork Slider with Sweet and Sour Dole Pineapple Chutney and Spicy Mayonnaise
The 2012 Epcot Food and Wine Festival starts soon, and you know our advice: plan, plan, plan. Check out our preview of the Festival, including World Showcase booth menus food photos here!
Want to get even more information? Take advantage of our Grand Launch sale on the DFB Mini-Guide to the 2012 Epcot International Food and Wine Festival! Details here!
Makes approximately 15 SlidersINGREDIENTS:
Kalua Pork Ingredients:
1 (4-pound) boneless pork shoulder (also called boneless pork butt)
1 large organic banana leaf, cut in half widthwise (optional)
Coarse salt and freshly ground [Read more…]
As we all gear up for the 2012 Food and Wine Festival, welcome Heather Jones with a fun exploration through last year’s events!
I was so excited to experience the Epcot Food and Wine Festival for the first time. But I was thinking that Disney might be doing the festival a disservice by calling it “Food and Wine,” because there are so many more drink choices than just wine.
Don’t get me wrong I love a nice chilled Chardonnay or a spicy Shiraz. But there’s also a huge variety of beer, cocktails, and sake to be had as well. I guess they can’t call it the “Food and Booze Festival.” That wouldn’t sound very Disney!
Epcot Food and Wine Festival Signage
Let’s start with some beer, shall we? Our first stop was the brand new Hawaii booth for the Kalua Pork Slider and the Tuna Poke along with a Kona Longboard and a Pipeline beer.
Kalua Pork Slider
Tuna Poke
The Pipeline is dark and flavorful porter (I just love a dark beer!) and the Longboard is a tasty, light lager that paired well with the Poke.
Kona Long board and Pipeline Beer
Another favorite beer for me was the [Read more…]
Aloha to guest author Anderson Dun! A native of Hawai’i currently living in Arizona, he brings us a delicious review of ‘Ama ‘Ama at Disney’s Aulani Resort in Hawai’i. Let’s hear it from an expert!
While I didn’t have a chance to stay there, I just knew that I had to visit the Disney resort and have a meal there during my trip home to Hawai’i. I thought about eating at Makahiki buffet, but after reading some good reviews of lunch at ‘Ama ‘Ama, I decided to try it out.
Sign
When we first arrived at 11:10 AM, my mom and I were told that they were closed and didn’t have any openings until 12:45 PM. I was a bit surprised, but we took the time to wander about the resort.
in front of the Lava Shack
Join us in welcoming guest author Beth Osborn with a tour of Eats at Disney’s Aulani Resort and Spa in Oahu. We’ve also got some great tips about eating at non-Disney spots around the resort! Brace yourselves — there’s Dole Whip, Shave Ice, Plate Lunch, and more — ahead! Don’t forget to check out Aulani restaurant info and menus here.
Arriving to Aulani on October 15, my husband Kev and I selected familiar WDW items — refillable mugs! We purchased purple and blue refillable mugs, which have an Aulani design that matches the beige wallpaper in the halls of the hotel. Red and green options were also available.
Even though the mugs are more expensive at Aulani, we felt we got our money’s worth at $18.99 each over the week we were there.
We had dinner at Ama Ama — Kev’s salt crusted fish was like nothing we’d ever seen before, with a completely removable crust. He said it was very moist.
Salt Encrusted Fish from Ama Ama
I had the French Maui onion soup and a tomato and cheese salad (two appetizers instead of an entree). Both were excellent.
French Onion Soup and the Tomato Salad from Ama Ama
We had a character breakfast at Makahiki with Mickey, Minnie, and Goofy. I wasn’t as excited about the buffet as some at Disney World, but I did enjoy the [Read more…]
Great news on the Epcot Food and Wine Festival front!
We’re thrilled to see the Marketplace booth menus (with prices!) being posted on the actual booths! Not all of the menus are posted, yet, but we found a few to share with you today! Here’s an example of what the menus look like when they’re posted on the booths.
2011 Hawaii booth menu
Hawaii World Showcase Booth Menu 2011
These menus fill in the gaps about prices for the booth items, what’s vegetarian, and what items you’ll be able to purchase with snack credits this year! Now, you’ll know how much to budget for sipping and eating around World Showcase.
The following booth menus have been posted in the World Showcase so far this year. Click on the links to see the full menu with pricing, vegetarian items, and snack credit listings.
To see all of the marketplace booths being offered at this year’s festival, go to our Epcot Food and Wine Festival Booths and Menus Page.
Watch for more updates this week as we track down the latest Food and Wine news, and see our 2011 Epcot Food and Wine Festival pages for all of the details and latest news!
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