Sarah Norris and I are working on a new webinar series for Disney vacation planners and Disney guests on a special diet. It will be all about helping you get the most from your dining experiences at the Walt Disney World Resort. We’re kicking it off with a trial run this Thursday, 2/27 at 7:30 pm EST. Sarah will be giving a brief presentation – but the bulk of this session will be for us to listen to the agents. We want to find out what sort of information they need most and how they would like for us to package that information for them. We want to help them work smarter and not harder – in addition to helping their guests with special diets have the most magical vacation possible. This session will last no longer than 1 hour. Any travel agents or guests who would like to attend should fill outthis form.
Please check out this facebook Postfor a link to our latest Disney Parks Podcast Episode featuring Sarah Norris.
New Star Wars Weekends 2014 Details Revealed! First, a fireworks show will be displayed every night of the event featuring Star Wars music, similar to the “Symphony in the Stars” Disney displayed for Limited Time Magic last year on May the Fourth. Disney has also revealed that a “new evening experience” on Hollywood Blvd will be part of the weekends, but didn’t specify what exactly that will be.
James Arnold Taylor will once again host the weekend, wrapping up his intergalactic adventure as the voice of Obi-Wan Kenobi on “Star Wars: The Clone Wars.”
More great news came in today from Gary Buchanan, Social Media Managing Editor at the Disney Parks Blog! Here’s what Gary had to say:
“As the Rebel Alliance continues its fight for freedom and democracy in the Star Wars galaxy, the phantom puppetmaster himself, Darth Sidious (aka Emperor Palpatine), has issued a new galactic decree about Star Wars Weekends 2014 at Disney’s Hollywood Studios.
While some of his blue-hued holographic transmission was garbled, the Emperor has ordered his Galactic Empire to create a demonstration of force and power that can be seen high above Disney’s Hollywood Studios during Star Wars Weekends 2014. This has caused much talk in the galaxy that a gala fireworks show featuringStar Wars music will be presented each evening this year.
When consulted, several protocol droids further translated the Emperor’s message. These translations reinforced the conclusions that there will be a new evening experience for Star Wars Weekends guests on Hollywood Blvd. in the Walt Disney World Resort theme park.
However, that’s not the end of this story.
When the Rebel Alliance secretly learned of the Emperor’s plans from a hidden message decoded from an astromech droid, they decided to extend the galactic gala one more weekend in 2014.
In order to convince more guests to join the Rebellion, a 5th weekend is now being added to Star WarsWeekends 2014. The new event dates are every Friday, Saturday and Sunday from May 16-June 15, 2014. The theme for this year’s event is, appropriately, “Join the Rebellion.”
Weekend I: May 16 – 18, 2014
Weekend II: May 23 – 25, 2014
Weekend III: May 30 – June 1, 2014
Weekend IV: June 6 – 8, 2014
Weekend V: June 13 – 15, 201
In addition to offering a first-look at this year’s event logo above, we’re pleased to announce James Arnold Taylor will return to Star Wars Weekends 2014 as the event’s official celebrity host. Taylor, a Star Wars Weekends fan favorite, is the voice of hundreds of animated characters, including Obi-Wan Kenobi on “Star Wars: The Clone Wars.”
What a fun way to feel like a local at Disney! It has just been announced that Tables in WonderlandMembers can salute Florida Strawberry Season with a Discovery Dinner at the Wave! As a reminder The Wave… of American Flavors is located in the Contemporary Resort. It is THE place to delight in fresh, American cuisine and healthful dishes infused with an international flair year round. For maximum freshness, many of the ingredients featured on the menu are sourced locally and regionally. As mentioned, this month’s Discovery Dinner will be celebrating the Central Florida Strawberry Season, so it is not surprising that it will feature strawberries direct from Lott Farms, located just west of Plant City, Florida. Lott Farms is owned by Mike and Sandy Lott, who have have lived on and farmed this land with their children and grandchildren ever since 1983. The website will go live and begin taking reservationson February 24, 2014 at 10:00am.
Diners will get welcome…(Click HERE to continue to the full article on Chip and Co.com)
Breaking News! Flower and Garden Festival menus are here! For those who don’t know, this is the Outdoor Kitchens’ second appearance at the Flower and Food…I mean Food and Garden…I mean FLOWER AND GARDEN FESTIVAL! 🙂
The Outdoor Kitchens were introduced last year under the name, “Garden Marketplace Kiosks.” These Kitchens serve up delicious, fresh food and beverages that gather their inspiration from springtime flavors. This year there are some fantastic new dishes, mixed in with some previous favorites. New this year is Urban Farm Eats , and it appears that the Intermission Cafe in the Festival Center is officially included in the fun. It will offer up quite a few tasty treats, too!
Here are the full menus for each of the Outdoor Kitchens:
Jardin de Fiestas (Mexico Pavilion) – this booth offers tapas that are spring light and cooked just right.
Tacos al pastor – Corn tortilla filled with achiote-marinated pork, garnished with grilled diced pineapple, onions and cilantro
Quesadilla de hongos con queso – Flour tortilla filled with mushrooms and cheese
Flan de chocolate Abuelita – Mexican chocolate custard
Tecate draft beer
White Mexican sangria
Franbuesa (raspberry) margarita on the rocks
Tequila flight – blanco, reposado and añejo
Dasani bottled water
Lotus House (China Pavilion) – try a garden-fresh take on spring-influenced flavors.
Beijing-style candied strawberries
Spring pancake with grilled chicken and green apple
Vegetable spring rolls
Popping bubble tea
Kung Fu Punch – Vodka and triple sec with mango and orange juice
South Sea Storm – Guava juice with light and dark rum
Plum wine
Tsing-Tao beer
Lychee aerated water
Florida Fresh (Germany Pavilion) – Savor fresh Florida ingredients that are grown and produced locally
Watermelon salad with pickled onions, BW Farm baby arugula, feta cheese and balsamic reduction
Shrimp and stone ground grits with andouille sausage, sweet corn, tomatoes and cilantro
Florida kumquat pie
Watermelon passion fruit slush featuring Simply Lemonade®
Hurricane Class 5 White Sangria featuring Simply Lemonade, Florida Orange Groves
Garda Italian Wine Blend, Quantum Leap Winery
Rogue Valley Pinot Noir, Quantum Leap Winery
Blonde Ale, Orlando Brewing Company
Cotton Mouth Belgian Style Witbier, Swamp Head Brewery
Feast of Flowers Farmhouse Ale, Florida Beer Company
Beer Flight – Blonde Ale, Cotton Mouth Belgian Style Witbier, Feast of Flowers Farmhouse Ale and Florida Avenue Blueberry
Simply Orange
Primavera Kitchen (Italy Pavilion) – Sample some of this country’s many flavors.
Caprese – Fior di latte mozzarella, roasted peppers and olio verde
Three cheese manicotti – Egg pasta stuffed with ricotta, mozzarella, parmesan, tomato sauce and béchamel
Torta di ricotta – Lemon cheesecake with limoncello-marinated strawberries
Placido Pinot Grigio
Placido Chianti
Bosco del Merlo Prosecco
White peach bellini – Prosecco and white peach puree
Strawberry rossini – Prosecco and marinated strawberries
Frozen Italian primavera – Assorted fruit slushy with limoncello and vodka
Moretti Lager
Moretti La Rossa
The Smokehouse: Barbecue and Brews (American Adventure Pavilion) – Celebrate the truly American tradition of barbeque, paired with craft brews from across the country.
Pulled pig slider with cole slaw
Smoked beef brisket with collard greens and jalapeño corn bread
Smoked turkey “rib”
“Piggylicous” bacon cupcake with maple frosting and pretzel crunch featuring Nueske’s Applewood Smoked Bacon
Magic Hat #9, Magic Hat Brewing
Maduro, Cigar City Brewing
Fat Tire, New Belgium Brewing Company
Billy’s Chilies, Twisted Pine Brewing Company
Beer Flight – Magic Hat #9, Maduro, Fat Tire and Billy’s Chilies
The Original Rib Shack Red Wine
Hanami (Japan Pavilion) – enjoying delicate bites and refreshing beverages.
Frushi – Fresh pineapple, strawberries and melon, rolled with coconut rice, topped with raspberry sauce, sprinkled with toasted coconut and served with whipped cream on the side
Temaki hand roll – Sliced Panko fried chicken, curry sauce, rice and pickled julienne carrots wrapped with Nori
Hanami sushi – A flavorful combination of salmon, scallop and beef-topped rice balls served atop a shiso violet sauce
Japanese puffed rice cakes with green tea whipped cream and azuki
Kirin draft beer
Pinepple Paradise with Yuzu Slushie – Frozen blend of sweet sake, pineapple juice and crème, flavored with a hint of Yuzu citrus juice
Orange Mango Slushie – Frozen blend of Nigori sake, mango and orange juice
Taste of Marrakesh (Morocco Pavilion) – Discover the tastes on North African spices.
Lamb brewat roll with prunes and sesame
Harissa chicken kebab with couscous salad
Baghrir – Moroccan pancake with honey, almonds and argan oil
Mint iced tea
White sangria
Guerrouane red
Casa Beer
Desert Rose – Sparkling wine with pomegranate liqueur
Fleur de Lys (France Pavilion) – Indulge your senses in France’s most magnificent culinary masterpieces.
Gnocchi Parisien à la Provençal – Parisian-style dumplings with vegetables and mushrooms
Confit de canard, pommes de terre Sarladaise – Pulled duck confit with garlic and parsley potatoes
Macaron à la fleur d’ Oranger – Orange blossom macaron with white chocolate ganache
La Vie en Rose frozen slush – Vodka, Grey Goose Orange, St. Germain Liquor, and white and red cranberry juice
Kir Imperial – Sparkling wine, Chambord and black raspberry liquor
Check out this video of “Let It Go” from ‘Frozen‘ in 25 Languages! The Walt Disney Studios recently released the brand-new sequence. A fun thing to do is just listen closely to see if you recognize any of the languages. Then you can watch the video to see what each language is while Elsa sings the song.
Spoiler alert! We’ve got the inside scoop on Disney’s next Princess. While I am sure none of what you read here has been formally announced by Disney, I feel that my sources are pretty reliable, namely the Huffington Post and some others. The movie is not estimated to release until 2018, and a lot can change between now and then… but I think this is fun information that was too good not to share, and I hope you’ll agree.
First let’s talk story. This highly anticipated Disney princess movie is set to be an epic, or even mythic, adventure set around 2000 years ago. The setting will be across a series of islands in the South Pacific. The lead character, our princess, Moana Waialiki, is the only daughter of a Chief, and she comes from a long line of navigators. She’s a nerd about sea voyaging – so when her family needs her help, she sets off on an epic journey. “Moana” has been described as a “Polynesian musical” and it is said that the animation and music will go along with that theme. Mark Mancina will reportedly serve as the project’s musical composer. Typical of many of Disney’s “magical” movies, some of the other characters supporting Princess Moana are demi-gods and spirits drawn from real mythology.
While the studio doesn’t seem to have settled entirely on the overall look of the animation, Moana is expected to use some new, ambitious techniques. John Musker and Ron Clements, who were the directors of Treasure Planet and The Little Mermaid, are expected to have some pretty cool tricks up their sleeves for this movie. Remember how Paperman tried a new blend of the hand-drawn and the digital?
Here is a refresher in case you’ve forgotten:
Beautiful, isn’t it? I hope we get to see something like that again. The good news is that artists behind Moana have been playing around with similar, yet different, cutting edge software and systems. They are testing how much is ready for application to a full-length feature. Musker has said that “it’s far too early to apply the Paperman hybrid technique to a feature,” stating that the technique still has many complications (including color use) to sort out before it can be used for a full-length film. I think with all this time on their side, they can make it happen though – don’t you?
There’s no evidence of the technique here in the concept art (see below) but it’s still an interesting tease of some of the style, even if it is only in an early development phase. Disney has denied that this concept art is for Moana, however that may not be the case. If you remember, Disney denied that many leaked Frozen concept art pieces were real, but in the end they were released as official. In their defense, it is possible that what Disney meant was that the concept art no longer reflects what the film will look like, as the creators may have overhauled it. Such a situation is common in movie development, especially for movies that will not be out for half a decade. The concept art for Moana that you see below was found on an official Disney artist’s website, under a section where she talks about Moana. Additionally, notice that the concept art has the artist’s signature on it.
Below is a painting by Paul Gauguin that is said to be serving as an inspiration for Moana.
We can end here by saying we’re a long way out from Moana, with its release unlikely to happen before 2018. We have lots of time to speculate and dream about what will come of it. The look of the film could change quite a bit in the meantime, and that’s always worth bearing in mind. Regardless, I think Moana is a wonderful concept, and shaping up to be really quite tremendous. Only the next 5 years will tell! In the meantime I am perfectly happy to play my Frozen soundtrack over and over and relish in my new favorite character of all time, Queen Elsa.
What are your thoughts on all this? Please leave me your comments below!
Spoiler alert! The nice folks at DisneyLifestylers, DisneyParksBlog, and InsideTheMagic.net have posted backstage photos of some of the magical floats that will debut this spring in the brand new Festival of Fantasy Parade. As a refresher: the new Magic Kingdom parade titled Disney Festival of Fantasy Parade, will feature new parade floats, costumes and theme music. We are expecting floats that will include themes such as “Tangled” “The Little Mermaid,” “Sleeping Beauty,” “Dumbo,” “Pinocchio,” “Peter Pan,” “Brave,” and a Princess unit.
Over the past year The Disney Parks Blog has released concept art and photos of the floats that we know for sure are coming, so let’s start with those:
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Check out the backstage photos that the DisneyLifestylers postedHERE.
InsideMagic.net has a couple of additional ones that you can check out HERE.
Despite no official date being announced by Disney, The Disney Parks Podcast team is betting on March 16th 2014 as the first day of the parade. In fact, we have built a meetup around it! We would love to have you join us, and you can get the details HERE. This is subject to change – so be sure to check our facebook page and website for all the latest on the meetup.
In honor of the University of Central Florida football team’s historic 52-42 win over Baylor at the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl, members of the team will appear in a special mini-parade at Magic Kingdom Park. The event is planned for Sunday, January 12, at 2 p.m., stepping off from Frontierland and heading toward Main Street, U.S.A.
Due to this event, several Entertainment offerings have been updated as follows:
My friend John over at BigFatPanda.com published a really cool video update of the progress of construction on the 7 Dwarfs Mine Train Coaster that is located right in the middle of New Fantasyland in Walt Disney World.
Seemingly overnight, there has been an addition of a few scenic elements that we will encounter at the top of the mine train’s first lift. When mine cars pull out of the load area, they will go up the track to the top of the mountain, where a crane sits – with two familiar vultures perched on top! These vultures originally appeared in Orlando’s original Snow White’s Scary Adventures attraction. This is the last stop before the mine train’s cars plunge into a mine shaft. Weeee!!
Official word from Disney:
“The lovable world of Sleepy, Doc, Grumpy, Bashful, Sneezy, Happy and Dopey comes to life in spring 2014 when the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train takes New Fantasyland guests on a rollicking, musical ride into the mine “where a million diamonds shine.” Inspired by the 1937 Disney animated film classic “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs,” the fun starts as guests cross a stone bridge and walk through a beautiful forest with the Dwarfs’ cottage in the distance, leading to the entrance to the attraction — and immersion into the endearing story of the radiant and kindhearted Snow White and her forest friends led by the lovable Dwarfs.
After passing through an interactive pre-show area with fun activities themed to mining, guests will proceed to the mine train. Just like the iconic movie, surprises are in store! The family-style coaster will feature first-of-its-kind ride vehicles mounted in cradle-like pivots that allow the vehicles to swing back and forth during the ride. Adding to the fun, the journey will be accompanied by beloved music from the film classic and there’s a cast of animated figures of Snow White, the Seven Dwarfs and playful forest critters.”
The Orlando Water Hole podcast is a local favorite. You can always count on the podcast’s wonderful host, Ben, to keep you up to date on what’s going on here in the town where Mickey Mouse lives. I was super excited to be included along with Maureen from AutismAtTheParks.com and Kellie from SeaWorldMommy.com to come on to the show and talk about holiday highlights at all of your favorite Orlando theme parks. It was such an honor to be included in this esteemed panel!
Ben was a terrific host, as always and he kept the show at right around 30 minutes. As a podcaster this is no easy task, especially with 4 guests on the show at once! I hope you’ll tune in and find the show helpful if you are a local or a tourist who wants to come spend some time in the parks this holiday season! You can catch the show by clicking HERE.
Highlights include:
Who is selling Hot Toddies… Mmmmm
Where you can find a giant hippo as a holiday icon!
New enhancements to classic Disney attractions.
The connection beagles have to polar bears.
Where in Orlando you can find Baby Sinclair.
Where you can hear the festive sounds of Mannheim Steamroller live!
Disneyways 