Holiday Foodie Guide for Walt Disney World

Posted on by Mathew Corn Animal Kingdom, Disney Dining, Disney Parks, Epcot, Hollywood Studios, Magic Kingdom

We may have not celebrated Halloween yet, but Disney is already looking ahead to the 2021 holiday season. We’ve got details on some of the fantastic holiday treats you’ll be able to find at the theme parks and Disney Springs.

Season’s Greetings!

I know, I know, we haven’t even finished trick-or-treating, but our chefs and mixologists can’t wait to join in the reindeer games and share all the holiday deliciousness at Walt Disney World Resort and Disneyland Resort. To cover it all, we need multiple Foodie Guides this holiday season!

We are kicking off with the Foodie Guide to all the yummy holiday sips and bites offered in Disney’s Animal Kingdom Theme Park, Disney’s Hollywood Studios, Magic Kingdom Park, and Disney Springs to get you in the holiday spirit. (Don’t worry, I didn’t forget about EPCOT – I will have the annual Foodie Guide to EPCOT International Festival of the Holidays presented by AdventHealth posted soon.)

Be sure to check back for the various holiday Foodie Guides so you can find all the places at Disney to eat, drink, and be merry!

Disney’s Animal Kingdom Theme Park

Restaurantosaurus

    • Open-Faced Thanksgiving Turkey Sandwich – Grilled multigrain bread with roasted garlic mayonnaise, cornbread stuffing waffle, sliced smoked turkey breast, herb gravy, cranberry sauce, and a fried sage leaf (available Nov. 25)

Satu’li Canteen

    • Thanksgiving Bowl – Cornbread stuffing, sliced roasted turkey, cranberry boba pearls, gravy, and slaw (available Nov. 25)
    • Pumpkin Cheesecake Mousse – Pumpkin cheesecake, chocolate “dirt,” and cranberry boba pearls (available Nov. 25-28)
    • Peppermint Cream Cheese Mousse – Peppermint cream cheese mousse, peppermint sauce, peppermint candy pieces, and chocolate “dirt” (available Dec. 1-30)

Tiffins Restaurant

    • Thanksgiving Plate – Turkey roulade, fine-herbs whipped potatoes, maple-glazed carrots, sweet potato pave, wild mushrooms, green bean casserole, cornbread dressing, cranberry gel, and turkey gravy (available Nov. 25)
    • Roasted Squash Soup – Ginger-pear chutney, pickled jalapeño, chai-spiced and candied pistachios (available Nov. 25)
    • Apple Pie Cheesecake – Whipped caramel cheesecake, apple pie compote, white chocolate streusel, and cranberry sauce (available Nov. 25)
    • Horchata Mousse Snow Globe – Golden coffee crémeux, gingerbread sable cookie, coriander chantilly, elderflower meringue, bourbon caramel, and candied pecans (available Dec. 25)
    • Pork T-Bone – Apple-brined pork, sweet potato variations, boniato mash, and ginger-pear butter (available Dec. 25)

Tusker House Restaurant

    • Thanksgiving Dinner – Spit-roasted turkey, turkey gravy, mashed red potatoes, and focaccia bread dressing along with seasonal vegetables, pork loin, flank steak, and an assortment of desserts (available Nov. 25)

Disney’s Hollywood Studios

ABC Commissary

    • Sugar Cookie Snowman – A tasty snowman made of white chocolate sugar cookie mousse, whipped lemon curd, and a holiday sugar cookie (available Nov. 8-Jan. 3)

ABC Commissary and Catalina Eddie’s

    • Santa’s Belt Cookie – White chocolate-covered chocolate shortbread cookie (available Nov. 8-Jan. 3)

Backlot Express and Trolley Car Café

    • Red Velvet Whoopie Pie – Moist red velvet cake filled with classic cream cheese filling and festive sprinkles (available Nov. 8-Jan. 3)

The Hollywood Brown Derby Lounge and Tune-In Lounge

    • Holiday Bliss – Vanilla vodka, sour apple liqueur, caramel beverage syrup, and vanilla ice-cream mix (available Nov. 8-Jan. 3)

ABC Commissary, Backlot Express, Rosie’s All-American Café, and PizzeRizzo

    • Frozen Salted Caramel Hot Chocolate – Salted caramel beverage syrup and frozen hot chocolate mix topped with marshmallows and chocolate syrup (available Nov. 8-Jan. 3)
    • Frozen Salted Caramel Hot Chocolate with Black Cherry Bourbon – Salted caramel beverage syrup, frozen hot chocolate mix, marshmallows, chocolate syrup, and black cherry bourbon (available Nov. 8-Jan. 3)

Oasis Canteen, Animation Arch Bar, and Sunshine Day Bar

    • Christmas on the Beach – Coconut rum, blue curaçao, cranberry juice, and pineapple juice served with a souvenir glow cube (available Nov. 8-Jan. 3)

Outdoor Carts

    • Holiday Brownie – Chocolate Mickey brownie with holiday sprinkles (available Nov. 8-Jan. 3)

PizzeRizzo

    • Butterscotch Caramel Cannoli – Holiday cannoli filled with caramel cheesecake, butterscotch chips, and chocolate flakes (available Nov. 8-Jan. 3)

Rosie’s All-American Café and Trolley Car Cafe

    • Reindeer Mousse – Spiced caramel cheesecake over peanut butter mousse atop a salty pretzel shortbread cookie (available Nov. 8-Jan. 3)

Woody’s Lunch Box

    • Holiday Lunch Box Tart – Apple pie filled tart frosted with cinnamon icing, sugar snowflake, and holiday sprinkles (available Nov. 8-Jan. 3)

Magic Kingdom Park

Auntie Gravity’s Galactic Goodies

    • Christmas Cookie Sundae – Christmas Cookie soft-serve topped with whipped cream, hot fudge, and holiday sprinkles (available Nov. 8-Dec. 31)
    • Christmas Cookie Milkshake – Christmas cookie milkshake topped with whipped cream and holiday sprinkles (available Nov. 8-Dec. 31)

Golden Oak Outpost

    • Gingerbread Almond Cake Pop – Gingerbread almond cake pop dipped in white chocolate (available Nov. 8-Dec. 31)

Main Street Bakery

    • Mickey Cinnamon Roll – Mickey-shaped cinnamon roll drizzled with red and green icing (available Nov. 8-Dec. 31)

Sleepy Hollow

    • Ginger Apple Funnel Cake – Gingerbread funnel cake topped with apple pie filling, vanilla ice cream, and caramel sauce (available Nov. 8-Dec. 31)

Disney Springs

Amorette’s Patisserie

    • White Chocolate Peppermint Éclair with White Chocolate and Peppermint Mousse (available Nov. 5- Dec. 30)
    • Santa Mickey Dome Cake (available Nov. 5-Dec. 30)
    • Holiday Mickey Mousse Mini Dome Cake (available Nov. 5- Dec. 30)
    • Holiday Parfait – Bourbon white chocolate mousse, cranberry cherry panna cotta, maple chocolate ganache, and chocolate chiffon cake (available Nov. 5- Dec. 30)
    • NYE Petite Cake (available Dec. 31)

AristoCrêpes

    • Cherry Jubilee Bubble Waffle – Bubble waffle filled with scoops of vanilla ice cream, cherries jubilee fillings, and whipped cream (available Nov. 5- Dec. 30)
    • Santa Hot Crêpe – Sweet crêpe filled with eggnog custard topped with chocolate sauce and whipped cream (available Nov. 26- Dec. 30)

D-Luxe Burger

    • Holiday Turkey Burger – Turkey patty, butternut squash risotto cake, bacon-cranberry jam, lettuce, and tomato (available Nov. 5-Dec. 1)
    • “Oh Deer” Cookie Shake – Hazelnut liqueur, vanilla gelato, cinnamon beverage syrup, whipped cream, cinnamon, and sugar dusting with ginger deer garnish (available Nov. 5- Dec. 30)

Dockside Margaritas

    • Snowman on the Beach Margarita – Silver tequila, key lime juice, crème de coconut, sweet and sour, graham cracker rim, chocolate pearls, and carrot sugar piece (available Nov. 5- Dec. 30)

The Daily Poutine

    • Gobbler Poutine – Turkey, brown gravy, cranberry chutney, and cheese curds (available Nov. 5- Dec. 30)

The Ganachery

    • Olaf Hot Cocoa Surprise (available Nov.12- Dec. 30)
    • Santa Mickey Piñata (available Nov. 5- Dec. 30)
    • Gingerbread Ganache Square (available Nov. 5- Dec. 30)
    • Peppermint Bark (available Nov. 5- Dec. 30)
    • Chocolate Christmas Cottage (available Dec. 22- Dec. 30)

Jock Lindsey’s Hangar Bar

    • Venison Slider – Sliders with venison sausage patties, arugula, tomato, and cranberry aïoli on house made buns (available Nov. 5- Dec. 30)
    • Fried Brussel Sprouts – Fried Brussel sprouts with bacon vinaigrette (available Nov. 5- Dec. 30)
    • Holiday Lights Deviled Eggs – Colored deviled eggs with tobiko, and shrimp (available Nov. 5- Dec. 30)
    • Ham and Brie Flatbread – Shaved ham and brie cheese, pomegranate seeds, granny smith apples, apple vinaigrette, and watercress (available Nov. 5- Dec. 30)
    • Cookies and Milk – Assorted Christmas cookies and coquito (available Nov. 5- Dec. 30)
    • Lump of Coal Dessert – Cookies and cream ganache “coal” (available Nov. 5- Dec. 30)
    • Elf Elixir –Tequila, crème de menthe, and half & half with cookie crumb and holly leaf sugar garnishes (available Nov. 5- Dec. 30)
    • Claus Mo – Traditional cosmopolitan with a shimmery twist garnished with red and white sugar and a candy cane (available Nov. 5- Dec. 30)
    • Yule Mule – Gin, ginger beer, cranberry juice, and rosemary simple syrup with a holly leaf sugar garnish (available Nov. 5- Dec. 30)

Outdoor Carts and Kiosks

    • Mistletoe – Coconut rum, melon liqueur, blue curaçao, orange juice, pineapple juice, and Sprite (available Nov. 5- Dec. 30)
    • Fireside Cider – Cinnamon whiskey, vanilla vodka, white cranberry juice, grenadine, and Ginger Ale (available Nov. 5- Dec. 30)
    • Merry Margarita – Tequila, ginger liqueur, cinnamon beverage syrup, white cranberry juice, sweet and sour, and grenadine (available Nov. 5- Dec. 30)

 (Note: All offerings subject to change.)

Guest ‘hacks’ Lightning Lane system to avoid paying fees to ride one of Disney’s most popular attractions

Posted on by Mathew Corn Animal Kingdom, Disney Parks, Epcot, Hollywood Studios, Magic Kingdom

Walt Disney World has just introduced and implemented its completely revamped ride reservation system, and not everyone is feeling the love for it.

That’s because the new services replace the old FastPass and FastPass+ systems at Disney World, both of which were free to Guests and only required making a reservation for a time to enjoy a particular attraction, and then returning to experience the attraction.

Now, Guests will pay for the once-free option of making a reservation to ride. Guests don’t have to use the service; they can, instead, wait in the stand-by queue instead of paying to walk through the Lightning Lane. Guests can opt for the Genie+ option, which will cost them $15 per person in their traveling parties, per day. But there are 2 attractions at each theme park that aren’t included in the $15 per person, per day fee.

Rather, if Guests want to enjoy Seven Dwarfs Mine Train or Space Mountain at Magic Kingdom, Frozen Ever After or Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure at EPCOT, Tower of Terror or Rise of the Resistance at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, or Avatar: Flight of Passage or Expedition Everest at Disney’s Animal Kingdom, they will have to pay an additional per person, per attraction fee if they don’t want to use the standby queue.

But one Disney fan has apparently been very observant since the system first debuted, and she, like other fans, has noticed, that there are times when the Lightning Lane option is counter-productive: Guests pay to access the attraction without a huge wait, but then the Lightning Lane wait time is longer than the expected wait time in the standby queue, or, in other cases, the posted times in the stand-by queue are much longer than actual wait times. It has happened with the Rise of the Resistance attraction at Disney’s Hollywood Studios.

At least she has some humor about it.

So, she’s found a “hack” to use in response to this issue, and it’s probably the easiest hack you’ll ever employ: simply wait till the end of the evening to enjoy the Rise of the Resistance attraction at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, but don’t pay for Lightning Lane. She doesn’t think you’ll need it.

Disney fans have taken to social media to air their opinions about the new Genie+ and Lightning Lane systems, and the majority of those opinions are not of the positive persuasion.

@BlozzS says the new system is the “end of the world.”

In this tweet, a user responds to a tweet by @DisneyParksNews, touting the new Disney Genie as a magical itinerary-making phenomenon.

Some Disney fans, like @JulieaMankin, simply entreat Disney World to bring back their beloved FastPasses.

Disney Genie’s Lightning Lane Prices Climb for the Weekend

Posted on by Mathew Corn Animal Kingdom, Disney Parks, Epcot, Hollywood Studios, Magic Kingdom

The new Disney Genie program has officially launched at Walt Disney World and will soon be arriving at Disneyland Resort. With the Disney World launch on October 19, we’ve been able to see and experience the three-part program that has arrived at the Disney Parks. The complimentary Disney Genie upgrade in the My Disney Experience App is rather impressive with the ability to help guide your day through the Parks. The second component is the Disney Genie+ which is $15 per person, per day. You can use Disney Genie+ to skip the lines (much like a paid FastPass) on select attractions. Thirdly, there are the Lightning Lane attractions which consist of eight a-la-carte attractions that you can buy the ability to skip the line. While the $15 Disney Genie+ price remains the same whether it’s the weekday or weekend, Lightning Lane pass pricing does increase on the weekend due to the crowd increase. We’re now seeing the Disney Park first weekend pricing settle in with Lightning Lane attractions.

Weekend Lightning Lane Pricing

As the first Disney Genie weekend arrives, pricing for Lightning Lane access is on the climb! More people equals a higher upcharge for the following Lightning Lane attraction. Here is pricing for the Lightning Lane attractions as of Friday, October 22:

Magic Kingdom

  • Seven Dwarfs Mine Train: was $10, now $12
  • Space Mountain: was $7, now $9

EPCOT

  • Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure: was $9, now $11
  • Frozen Ever After: was $9, now $11

Disney’s Hollywood Studios

  • Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway: was $8, now $10
  • Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance: was $15 – remains $15

Disney’s Animal Kingdom

  • Expedition Everst: was $7 – remains $7
  • Avatar Flight of Passage: was $11, now $14

Interestingly enough, Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance at Disney’s Hollywood Studios is the one Lightning Lane attraction to regularly sell out almost immediately with Park opening. If this is a ride you want to pay to Lightning Lane, you’ll want to buy your pass as a Disney Resort Guest at 7:00 am. If you aren’t a Disney Resort Guest, you can try to snag a Lightning Lane as soon as the Park opens, but don’t wait as it is selling out within minutes!

Disney World has new procedures for handling ride breakdowns

Posted on by Mathew Corn Animal Kingdom, Disney Parks, Epcot, Hollywood Studios, Magic Kingdom

Around every corner, you’ll find more surprises, magic, and pixie dust than you what to do with.

But even the most magical of trips to the parks can have their hiccups, especially when it comes to the technical side of the aforementioned magic.

Attractions at Disney World hinge on some of the most advanced, state-of-the-art ride technology, but as anyone will tell you, even the best technology can have its snafus. The same is true at Disney World, regardless of the pixie dust that abounds.

Have you ever been on a ride when it has malfunctioned and stopped? (Hint: if you’ve ever experienced the Haunted Mansion attraction, there’s about an 80% chance you’ve been on a ride when it glitches.) If so, you know that most of the time, the glitches are more of a “pause” on the attraction, rather than a full meltdown, leading to the need for technical engineers to visit and assess the scenario.

But when a ride does stop for an extended time, Disney usually gives Guests the option of staying in the queue for the ride so they can enjoy it once it’s up and running or exiting the queue and returning later to experience the attraction again. If Guests choose to exit, they are guided to a Cast Member who grants them a “recovery pass,” which functions like a FastPass, once the ride is fully functional again. The pass usually says “Anytime Experience” on the My Disney Experience app.

But thanks to Disney’s new Lightning Lane, FastPass is no more, and, it would seem, that the Anytime Experience passes are a thing of the past as well.

Now, according to reports, when a ride malfunctions and Guests have to disembark from the ride, they will still have the option to stay in the queue and wait or exit. But Guests who choose to exit will have an altogether different experience in the parks.

That’s because Disney World is reportedly not offering a recovery pass for Guests who choose to exit and come back. The only recovery passes granted now will be to those Guests who were forced to evacuate the attraction or queue completely. So if there’s not a directive to evacuate completely from a Cast Member, but a Guest chooses to exit and return, he or she will have to wait in the queue as though there had never been an issue.

Some Guests feel like this protocol is another example of inconsistency in procedures on the part of Disney, while others feel it is an example of what they see as Disney’s greed and its apathy toward the very people who are paying to be in the parks in the first place.

Disney Magic at Home: Recipe for Grilled Three-Cheese Sandwich from Woody’s Lunch Box

Posted on by Mathew Corn Disney Dining, Hollywood Studios

There’s nothing like a grilled cheese sandwich to raise your spirits. The unique three-cheese sandwich from Woody’s Lunch Box is a favorite of many and now we can enjoy this sandwich at home.

From a Disney Cast Member;

In [honor of] National Grilled Cheese Day, we’re sharing a delicious grilled three-cheese sandwich recipe. This yummy recipe comes from Woody’s Lunch Box at Disney’s Hollywood Studios.

Grilled Three-Cheese Sandwich from Woody’s Lunch Box at Disney’s Hollywood Studios
Serves 4

Click here for a print-at-home version of this recipe!

Ingredients:

Cream Cheese Spread

  • 1/2 cup cream cheese
  • 1/2 cup shredded Double Gloucester or cheddar
  • 2 tablespoons heavy cream
  • 1/4 teaspoon coarse salt

Garlic Spread

  • 1 cup mayonnaise
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons minced garlic
  • 1/2 teaspoon coarse salt

Grilled Three-Cheese Sandwich

  • 8 slices of artisan bread
  • 8 cheddar cheese slices
  • 8 provolone slices

Instructions:

For Cream Cheese Spread:

  1. Combine cream cheese, Double Gloucester or cheddar, heavy cream, and salt in food processor. Blend until smooth. Set aside.

For Garlic Spread:

  1. Combine mayonnaise, garlic, and salt in small bowl and stir until blended. Set aside.

For Grilled Three-Cheese Sandwich:

  1. Lay out artisan bread slices on parchment paper or large cutting board.
  2. Place 2 slices of cheddar on 4 of the bread slices. Place 2 slices of provolone on remaining bread slices.
  3. Equally spoon cream cheese spread on slices with provolone. Gently smooth cream cheese spread over each slice.
  4. Press cheddar side and provolone side together.
  5. Heat a large skillet over medium heat for 5 minutes, until hot.
  6. Brush both sides of the sandwiches with garlic spread.
  7. Grill sandwiches for 2 minutes on each side, until cheese is melted and bread is golden brown.