Disney World is Open

by John Animal Kingdom, Commentary, Epcot, Featured, Magic Kingdom, The Studios

Disney World began the re-opening of its theme parks just over two weeks ago. The process has been a long one, with the original announcement taking place back in June. It involved many enhancements to the cleaning at the resorts and the parks, but—for least two weeks—Disney seems like it has succeeded. Disney World is open.

Disney World has been a significant part of Elyssa’s and my life. From our engagement, honeymoon, and, of course, the discovery of her brain tumor, quite a few of our major milestones have either involved or taken place at Disney World. After the parks were closed for four-months as a result of the pandemic, I had hoped that Disney World’s reopening would again be a milestone. Specifically, I hoped that the opening of Disney World would signify that things were a little more “normal.” After these two weeks, I am not yet sure if I feel that way.

With any luck, Elyssa and I will visit Disney World in the next month or so. I know there are differing opinions about whether or not the parks should have opened. I do not intend to get into that debate. Disney World is open, and we may visit in the semi-near future. To prepare for that visit, I have been reading a lot (all?) of the coverage of the reopening. Here are some highlights of that coverage, along with some of my thoughts about them and the reopening.

Safety Measures

Disney has been making a lot of posts about safety.  Both CEO Bob Chapek and Chairman of Disney Parks, Josh D’Amaro have given interviews explaining the safety-related changes and justifying Disney’s decision to reopen its largest and most important theme park resort. Even before people saw how these changes were implemented, the commentary about Disney’s steps was positive, including from the local hospital community.

The first set of announced changes addressed specific risks associated with COVID-19, such as allowing payment via Apple Pay and Disney Gift Cards when placing heavily encouraged mobile orders,  and adding plexiglass to cashier stations where mobile ordering is not possible. The next announcements were that certain seasonal entertainment would not take place, that there would be no character meet and greets or nighttime spectaculars,, and that certain attractions and restaurants would not be part of the initial reopening. Disney also eliminated Fastpass+ to permit ride queues to be re-configured to allow for social distancing between parties on all attractions.

The biggest change, however, was the announcement of the new Disney World Park Pass system. This system requires Disney World guests to pre-select a single park for each day of their visit (no park hopping is allowed during this phase of the reopening) in order to ensure that the parks do not exceed their limited capacity on a given day. Each park gets a limited number of Park Passes per day, and the passes are broken up between resort guests, regular guests, and AP holders.

Initial Reopening Reports

Originally, Elyssa and I had a trip booked that would have put us at Disney World for reopening weekend. After some discussion, we decided we were going to wait and watch how things played out from afar. Though we have only been following other people’s coverage, it looks like the reopening experience went pretty smoothly

Here is a sample of the reopening reports that I read and found interesting:

Guides for Planning a Trip this Summer

Planning a Disney World trip this year will be a very different process from the process that has evolved over the past few years. This new process involves planning a trip based on visiting only one park per day, with no Fastpass+, and with limited capacity at restaurants. After only a couple of weeks, the recommendations for putting together the best version of this type of plan appear to be still in flux. Thankfully, the usual suspects have been putting together resources to help figure things out, including Disney World itself:

After selecting your lodging, the first major step in planning your trip is to secure your Park Pass reservations. Josh over at easyWDW has a comprehensive guide on how to use the Park Pass system. You should pay attention to all the details in the guide, but the main thing to keep in mind is that reservations for Disney’s Hollywood Studios seem to go the quickest (in fact, AP holders cannot get a reservation through all of August). There are different theories about why this is true, but I believe it is likely a combination of The Studios having two of the newest, headliner attractions (Rise of the Resistance and Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway), along with  The Studios having a limited possible capacity due to the inability to run live shows (Indiana Jones, Beauty and the Beast, etc…) that are normally places to “hold” people when they are not in line for other attractions. Whatever the reason, though, Hollywood Studios is the toughest park reservation to get and you should factor that into your planning.

If you are someone who wants to simply be at Disney World, and is less concerned about any particular attractions, Disney’s decision to—essentially—start Food & Wine now has made EPCOT a particularly interesting option. EPCOT gives guests a chance to walk around, in the open air, and enjoy something that is normally reserved for the fall season. Of course, being at EPCOT also does involve being outside in the Florida sun during July and August, but—if your main goal is to be in Disney World, while staying outside and generally away from people—Epcot might be worth a look.

The lack of any Fastpass+ system give the potential for spontaneity on the day you are actually visiting a park, especially with the overall lower wait times. Personally, I thought Disney would implement a broader virtual queue system, but—to date—the only virtual queue is for Rise of the Resistance. The lack of any virtual queuing allows you to roam the parks more freely and otherwise evaluate wait times dynamically throughout the day. One thing to keep in mind, Disney shuts down its attractions about every 2 hours to clean them thoroughly. This cleaning-related delay does cause a longer wait (and may result in a visibly longer line), but reports are that things move pretty quickly once the ride re-opens.

There is a lot new about planning a Disney World vacation during 2020, and I anticipate the advice will continue to evolve over the next couple of weeks. If you want singular resources right now about planning your trip, I suggest you check out these guides from easyWDW and Blog Mickey

Predictions for how the Summer will Play Out

Early predictions are that there might not be a lot of demand at Disney World this summer. I agree with these predictions. For me, the most significant indicator of continuing low crowds is that Disney is offering large merchandise and hotel discounts through at least Mid-August and sometimes into September. Discounts of this kind are an indicator that Disney has looked at its upcoming bookings and determined that it needs to do something to try and convince people to book a vacation. With the nature of this pandemic, however, I am not sure if there is any financial incentive that will persuade some people to travel to Central Florida in 2020.

Summary and Final Thoughts

A lot has changed since mid-March, when Elyssa and I sat in an auditorium with Bob Iger and Bob Chapek. Mr. Iger explained that Disney had weathered uncertainty before, but I am confident that he did not anticipate that Disney’s crown jewel theme park would be closed for four months (and that its original theme park would have no re-opening date even announced for that same period.) Now that the parks are open, I am starting to feel the pull to get back down there and visit. My expectations are tempered due to the necessary limitations that Disney has put on visits as a result of COVID-19. However, I am hopeful that there is still enough “Disney” left in the experience that I will be able to enjoy being back at Disney World, even while everything else goes on. Ultimately, I think I am just going to have to see for myself whether the Disney magic really is back.

News Nuggets from Around Disney World

by John Epcot, Magic Kingdom, News Nuggets, The Studios, Walt Disney World

If we’re doing our non-comeback, comeback, we have got to post a new edition of News Nuggets. As I mentioned before, there’s a an “in progress” set of News Nuggets that will be lost to the Patreon-only support realm forever (posting news from early September doesn’t seem particularly helpful now.) That means, these News Nugget are much more cutting edge, including: Dates from next year’s Flower and Garden Festival (scheduled to run Feb. 28 – May 28)..

I kid (mostly), the biggest news relates to some of the upcoming changes to The Studios, including learning that Galaxy Edge is located on the planet Batuu and bunch of news / rumors concerning Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway, including:

It’s about that time of year...

That said, there were still plently of other News Nuggets over the past few day, so let’s get to it:

That’s it for this helping of News Nuggets. It feels good to be back. Let’s end this with a little transformation into Christmas from the folks at Inside the Magic:

Epcot’s Flower and Garden Festival – 2017 Coverage and Reviews

by John Commentary, Epcot, Events, Featured

From March 1 to May 29 this year, Epcot is hosting my favorite festival: the Flower & Garden Festival. Below is a collection of some my favorite coverage of this year’s event. Elyssa and I plan to be done there in April to see some of this stuff first hand, but–for now–we’ll point you to some other sources to show you what is going on.

Outdoor Kitchens

Over the years, Flower & Garden has expanded its “Outdoor Kitchens” (i.e., Flower & Garden’s answer to Food & Wine’s country kiosks.) You can tell Disney is really serious about these kitchens, since it released a special, scratch-and-sniff, wrist band gift card for people to use at them.

As with Food & Wine, the best coverage of the individual items available at these these Kitchens comes from Josh over at easyWDW. Here are the link to his various reviews: (the NEW indicator means a new Kitchen this year, not a new review from Josh)

If you’re more concerned about just the new items for this year’s Festival, than TouringPlans has a post covering just those and Tom from WDW News Today has his list of the top 7 new dishes.

For more food coverage, Tessa Koten at TouringPlans has a list of her favorite items (which she labels as “family friendly”, though I don’t understand what about those items makes them such), and Robert Niles, over at Theme Park Insider has a brief write-up of some of the items he sampled.

Topiaries

Even though there is a growing emphasis on the Outdoor Kitchens, the original draw of the Flower & Garden Festival (and what really makes it special for me) is the wide array of topiaries that Disney puts out . As you would imagine, there is a lot of photography.

Cory Disbrow has some coverage in his signature style at the end of this post and

WDW Magic has a whole photo gallery.

Josh over at easyWDW has a walk around Future World as well a detailed look at the Festival Center (which is only open from 10am to 5pm on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday). The only “issue” with Josh’s review is that it might be comprehensive enough for you to just skip the Festival Center all together.

Other Media

If you’re someone who prefers to listen to your Flower & Garden coverage, then Lou has got you covered over at WDW Radio. On the other hand, if you’re someone who wants to watch some video coverage, then check out these videos from the DIS covering overall highlights:

and the more general “exploring” of the Festival:

The Disney Food Blog also has a video covering (you guessed it) the food:

Finishing Up

If, after all that, you still need coverage of the Flower & Garden Festival, then Tom Bricker has an overview post with some more photography over at Disney Tourist Blog, as does JeniLynn Knopp over at Inside the Magic. Finally, Denise at Mouse Steps has a list of 13 tips to help you enjoy your time there and a review of one of the new “Tea Tours” that’s available in the England pavilion.

That’s it for coverage this year! Enjoy the festival!

Still my Role Model (even if he's not there)
Still my Role Model (even if he’s not there)

News Nuggets from Around Disney World

by John Disney Springs, Epcot, Events, Magic Kingdom, Planning, Touring, Walt Disney World

Even the holidys don’t slow down the amount of news that comes out about Disney World, so it’s time for another edition of the Rope Drop [dot] News Nuggets!

Obviously, the biggest item of news is the upcoming transformation of Spaceship Earth into the frakin’ Death Star at the upcoming Rogue One premiere event (which, of course, is already at capacity.) I’m probably in the minority on this, but I wish they’d do this more than just the one night.

The other big items are related to various festivals that occur at Epcot over the course of the year:

Lotso is already a favorite
Lotso is already a favorite

Now, on to the rest of the Nuggets:

We’ll close this edition of the News Nuggets with this video walkthrough of the famous Royal Asanta Presdiental Suite at Animal Kingdom Lodge. This might be the closest I’ll ever get to actually being in that:

News Nuggets from Around Disney World

by John Animal Kingdom, Dining, Epcot, Magic Kingdom, Planning, Resorts, Walt Disney World

We talked yesterday about the changes coming to Wine & Dine Half Marathon weekend at Disney World, but what are we to do with the news of menu changes, new dessert parties, and (sadly) more price increases? Sounds like it’s time for another edition of the Rope Drop [dot] Net News Nuggets! Before we get to the majority of the Nuggets, we should need to point out one huge item:

With that out of the way, let’s get to the rest of the News Nuggets:

Though not a traditional “news nugget”, I would also like to point out that Disney plans to launch “Frozen” and “Tangled” themed wedding packages!. Yes, they’re only available in Tokyo now, but, if you ever need photography for Disney wedding (Frozen themed or not), feel free to contact Elyssa at Kivus & Camera. I bet there would be a discount for involved for getting to photograph that.

Shower Time!
Shower Time!

Born to run(Disney)

by John Featured, Resorts, Touring

Okay, that description may apply to some people, but it surely doesn’t apply to Elyssa and I (unless a “runner’s high” means lots of wheezing and wanting to collapse). People who knows us, however, know that this time of year and this upcoming race are very important to us. (See also our Mickey Miles Podcast appearance, Part 1 and Part 2.)

So, if you want to follow us as we head down to Disney World to attempt the Glass Slipper Challenge (a 10K on Saturday morning, followed by a half marathon on Sunday), you can follow us on:

And, if you’re looking for some good Disney-related posts to read over the next couple of days, here are a few that you might want to check out:

Lastly, don’t forget to check out Harrison Ford announcing some of the plans for Star Wars Land on The Wonderful World of Disney special on February 21st!

Thank you to everyone who’s supported the site over the past few months. We’ll be back to talk more Disney with you soon!

Finish line photo
Finish line photo

The easy guide to your first Walt Disney World Visit (2016 Edition) Review

by John Dining, Featured, Planning, Resorts, Touring

the easy guide to your first Walt Disney World Visit
the easy guide to your first Walt Disney World Visit

With the holidays quickly approaching, it seems appropriate to review a book that you may want to consider putting under the tree of your favorite Disney World fan (or, in your own stocking): the easy guide to your first Walt Disney World Visit

Though have I have been fans of both Josh’s work at easyWDW and Dave’s work at yourfirstvisit.net for some time, I initially avoided a book that (by its title) appeared targeted to people who were not Disney World veterans. After getting getting asked “I’m going to Disney World, what should I know?” for the thirty-eighth time, however, I decided I should check and see if the easy guide might be my default answer to that question going forward.

Structure and Organization

NOTE: If you want a complete, super-detailed breakdown of the book, I will refer you to this post by Josh. If you’ve ever read his work on easyWDW you can probably guess what level of detail he goes into.

The easy guide is set up to walk a first time Disney World Vistor through the key decisions that any Disney World Vistor (first time or otherwise) would have to make when planning a Disney vacations, including: when to go, how long to visit, where to stay, how to tour, etc… Each one of those decisions is receives a dedicated chapter that contains a combination of reviews, recommendations, and tips on how to make the decision, and how to execute on that decision once it has been made. For example, Chapter 5, “Where to Stay”, starts by giving criteria you may wish to evaluate when making a decision about which restort to stay in, follows that up with recommendations by Josh and Dave on where they think you should stay, and then provides detailed reviews of all of the Disney World resorts. This structure means the book can be used in two different ways: as a step-by-step “how-to” for first time or inexperienced Disney World guests, or as reference for more experienced people who just want to look up certain information.

The easy guide as a Tool for First Time or Inexperienced Disney World Guests

The easy guide excels as a step-by-step guide for how to visit Disney World. It walks potential guests through the entire sequence of decisions that they will have to make as they are planning their trip, including key decisions such as when to visit Disney World and how long they should stay. The format of the book is great for first time visitors, since each chapter starts with either specific recommendations from authors Dave and Josh about their preferred choices and why they made those choices, or with an explanation of how one should evaluate various options in order to make her own decisions. (For example, Chapter 5, “Where to Stay” features a section entitled “How to Pick Your Disney Resort Hotel” that walks you through how to evaluate the various hotel options against your available budget.) Basically, it allows a first time Disney World guest to start a chapter, make the decision that chapter discusses, and then move on to the next chapter / decision, all in the order that Josh and Dave recommend.

Though first time Disney World visitors might not need to read all of the reference material available near the end of each chapter, the “cheat sheets” found in Chapter 6, “How to Spend Your Time”, are a must read. Anyone who’s ever used Josh’s easyWDW cheat sheets knows that they offer high quality advice on how to plan your day at a given Disney World park. By providing them in a book designed for first time Disney World guests, Dave and Josh have put their readers in a great position to efficiently and enjoyably see all the attractions and other entertainment available at Disney World, even if it’s their first visit.

My biggest complaint with the easy guide as a complete, go-to resource for first time Disney World guests is the sparse explanation on how to setup and use the various functionality found in Disney’s websites and mobile apps. For example, the section on making ADRs (Chapter 7, Where to Eat – Advance Dining Reservations) is only about a page and half of explanation, and does not fully convey the stressful,  6am, mad rush that takes place when trying to secure reservations at certain restaurants. Instead, that information is relegated to a “Disney World To-Do List” at the end of the book (where it could easily be missed by the book’s readers.) Relatedly, the second-to-last chapter of the book (Chapter 9, “How to Setup Everything Up and Get Everything Done”) dedicates only 3 pages to setting up a My Disney Experience account and booking Fastpass+ in advance of a trip. Though there are some very detailed descriptions of how to complete that process, some more in-depth discussion of how to use these systems (e.g., explaining that your My Disney Experience account needs to have reservations and tickets added in order to make Fastpass+ reservations) might be necessary for Disney World novices.

In summary, the easy guide is almost the perfect book to hand to someone who says “I’m thinking about going to Disney World, what should I know?” It will walk her through all the of the decisions she has to make in order to plan and enjoy her vacation. That said, if you are recommending this book to a first time Disney World vistor, you still might want to point out the importance of certain 180-day and 60-day deadlines, and don’t be surprised if you get a call or two asking for a little help when it comes time to the setup and use some of the My Disney Experience-related stuff.

The easy guide for Experienced Disney Veterans

I made a joke once when friend of the site Dutch Lombrowski was on the WDW 4 Families podcast: “Too much discussion about how various attractions matter to families, 1 star.” If you listen to a podcast named “WDW 4 Families,” you can’t really knock it when it focuses on planning a vacation for families. Here, we have a book entitled the easy guide to your first visit to Walt Disney World. You can’t really knock the book if it’s strength is in helping people plan their first Disney World vacation.

Still, I assume people who visit a site dedicated to Disney World might have some experience visiting the resort, and I want to assure those readers that they will still probably find value in the easy guide. First, as mentioned above, this book makes a great resource to hand to people who ask you what they should know when planning their first Disney World vacation, and, if you’re a Disney World veteran, you probably get that question every so often. Second, the book provides a nice collection of reviews of resorts and dining that you can reference when you need to make decisions in your trip planning. If you like Dave’s and Josh’s work on their respective sites, it’s pretty likely that you are going to like their work in the book. (You might also like the little insights from Disney historian Jim Korkis that are sprinkled throughout the book.)

Lastly, even the most veteran Disney World guest may benefit from seeing how two experts in Disney World vacations recommend planning a trip. After years and years of Disney World visits, us veteran guests might be so set in our ways that we never stop to see if someone has come up with a better way to do certain things. For example, take a look at Dave’s recommendations about which weeks to visit Disney World, or at Josh’s most recent theme park cheat sheets, and see if there’s something new you might want to integrate into your next Disney World trip.

The 864-Page Gorilla

Any review of a Disney World guide book must deal (at least to some degree) with how that book compares to the massive Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World. As readers of this site are probably aware, the Unofficial Guide is an almost 900 page (three times the size of the easy guide) book that gives its readers a ton of information about Disney World and its surrounding area. Much like the easy guide, it contains reviews of hotels, restaurants, and strategies for touring the Disney World theme parks. It also adds in tons of information about off-site options, transportation (including airport and rental car information), and other Orlando area theme parks (e.g., Universal Studios Florida, SeaWorld, etc…) that you will not find in the easy guide.

After spending time with both books, I think there is room on a Disney Fan’s bookshelf (on in her Kindle) for both of them. They both contain valuable information (though Josh might have an opinion as to which set of touring tips is better) and I have used both of them as a reference at various points since I purchased them. That said, the easy guide is much more focused on presenting the author’s recommendations than providing the huge dump of information that the Unofficial Guide does. Depending on how knowledgable about Disney World you are, you might see that as a benefit or a negative.

If I was picking a book to give to someone who has never visited Disney World before, I’d probably pick the easy guide. If I was picking a book for a Disney veteran, I’d have to know a little bit more about what kind of Disney guest the person was before making a recommendation.

Don’t These Guys Already Have Websites with this Information?

Yes. Dave runs yourfirstvisit.net, and Josh runs easyWDW.com You could almost certainly get all of the information in the book by digging through these sites and putting together your own “guide to a first Disney World visit.” My question is: Why would you? Dave and Josh have put together the information from both of their sites in a convenient, easy to follow structure, that allows first time Disney World guests to walk through all the important decisions necessary to plan their vacations. Why wouldn’t you take advantage of that?

For people like me who read Dave’s and Josh’s sites on a regular basis, I partially look at my purchase of the book as a way to support people who do good work that I find helpful. I’m not saying I would have bought the book if it was literally cow feces, but knowing that I’m supporting these guys doesn’t hurt.

Summary

The easy guide is a great book for first time (or inexperienced) Disney World guests, since it walks those guests through all of the important decisions they will have to make as they plan their Disney World vacation. Disney World veterans, though not explicitly targeted by the book, will probably also benefit from the information found in the easy guide. In the end, if you’re looking for a Disney World guide book, I recommend giving the the easy guide to your first Walt Disney World Visit a shot.

The the easy guide to your first Walt Disney World Visit is available from Amazon in:
* Paperback (which actually includes a free Kindle version); and
* Kindle
formats. You can also purchase a PDF version of the book directly from Dave and Josh.

The Start of the Studio’s Star Wars Invasion

by John The Studios, Touring

Last week, Disney started rolling out some of its previously announced Star Wars related attractions and food items. Though Elyssa and I probably won’t get to see any of it with our own eyes for a couple of months (unless we decide to just head down some other random weekend…), there has been a ton of coverage online about what is available.

If you want to get the most in-depth summary of everything (especially in the context of overall Studios touring strategies), I recommend that you check out this post by Josh over at easyWDW. In addition to covering all new entertainment and new food items, he also explains how to best fit a visit to the Launch Bay into your day:

If you do want to do the meet and greets [available at the Launch Bay], I suggest visiting as late in the evening as possible and ideally 90 to 120 minutes before close. … The benefit of going late is that we know for a fact how morning touring goes, so we can stick to the tried and true strategy there and enjoy short waits at Toy Story, Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster, Tower of Terror, and other Meet and Greets.

Based on recent treads in crowd levels, Josh’s strategy makes a ton of sense. Take advantage of the lower crowd levels associated with rope drop to get the most popular attractions out of the way and then visit the Launch Bay when most people probably already have. It will also be interesting to see what the crowd levels are like in the Launch Bay after it has been open for a few months.

If you’re mainly interested in seeing photos of the new Launch Bay, then you can check out the companion photo post from easyWDW, or these posts onWDW News Today and WDW Magic. Both Inside the Magic and The DIS also have video walk throughs of what you can see in the Launch Bay. For those of you more interested in pictures of the new food items, I suggest checking out WDW News Today and Disney Food Blog.

On a semi-related note, various sources are also saying the new Symphony in the Stars fireworks show is rumored to start on December 18. (You can also now start booking reservations for a new dessert party associated with the show for dates starting January 5, 2016.) This is a little surprising to me, since I feel like the Osborne Lights are enough to draw people to the Studios over the holidays. I have always assumed they would wait until after the Osborne Lights are taken down to start showing Symphony in the Stars.

Star Wars toys lose all their value if you take them out of the box.
Star Wars toys lose all their value if you take them out of the box.

News Nuggets from Around Disney World

by John Epcot, Events, Magic Kingdom, The Studios, Walt Disney World

So many nuggets, they don't even fit in the cup.
So many nuggets, they don’t even fit in the cup.

It’s about time for a hearty helping of news nuggets. As you are probably aware, new Star Wars offerings opened at The Studios this week, but since Star Wars is so important (both to Disney, and to Elyssa and me), I will be saving a recap of that coverage for another post.

On to the nuggets!

We’ll close out with some links to the various Christmas decorations that are up around Disney World, including gingerbread sculptures at Contemporary, Mickey’s Village at the Yacht Club, and the famous gingerbread house at the Floridian.

Items We Tried at the 2015 Epcot International Food & Wine Festival

by John Commentary, Epcot, Events, Featured

Following the trend established by the Mighty Men of Mouse podcast, I figured now (when the festival has ended?) is the perfect time to recap some of the items Elyssa and I had at this year’s Epcot International Food & Wine Festival.

As I have mentioned before, I made my list of “to try” items based on Josh’s reviews over at easyWDW. If you want a more comprehensive list of all the items that were available at this year’s festival (or a more detailed review of flavor profile of each individual item), I suggest giving that a shot.

With that out of the way, here’s what I tried:

Farm Fresh

Loaded Mac n’ Cheese with Nueske’s pepper bacon, cheddar cheese, peppers and green onions
Loaded Mac n’ Cheese with Nueske’s pepper bacon, cheddar cheese, peppers and green onions

Loaded Mac n’ Cheese with Nueske’s pepper bacon, cheddar cheese, peppers and green onions: Elyssa got a serving of this, and I had a bite. I found it to be okay in its overall flavor (but I’m not the big macaroni and cheese fan that Elyssa is.) I think I agree with Josh’s take that there were way too many onions for a portion this size.

Griddled “yard bird” with braised greens and house-made habanero sauce
Griddled “yard bird” with braised greens
and house-made habanero sauce

Griddled “yard bird” with braised greens
and house-made habanero sauce: While Elyssa went with the above listed macaroni and cheese, I chose the griddled “yard bird.” The habanero sauce did end up giving the chicken a nice bit of spice (standard disclaimer that I’m the type to order “medium” hot wings instead of “atomic”), and that size of the portion was okay. I assume the braised greens were intended to be a garnish, so I didn’t eat them.

New Zealand

Lamb meatball with spicy tomato chutney
Lamb meatball with spicy tomato chutney

Lamb meatball with spicy tomato chutney: This was a pretty straightforward dish: a big meatball in a bread bowl. It was right up my alley and it was quite good (even if I ended up spilling some of it on myself.) I’m not sure I noticed anything particularly “spicy”, but that didn’t really impact my enjoyment of this.

Africa

Beef tenderloin tips berbere-style with okra, jalapeños, tomato and papit
Beef tenderloin tips berbere-style with okra, jalapeños, tomato and papit

Beef tenderloin tips berbere-style with okra, jalapeños, tomato and papit: As Josh noted, you can smell the spices for this one as you walk by. Though it was a little more spicy than I would normally like, both Elyssa and her sister (who both would order the “atomic” wings in a heart beat) really enjoyed it.

Morocco

Baklava (Oops, I got to excited and forgot to take a picture of the one I ordered.)
Baklava (Oops, I got to excited and forgot to take a picture of the one I ordered.)

Baklava: I decided to use this year’s Food & Wine Festival as a chance to try baklava (for the first time in my life.) For a first taste (ever) of this pastry, it was pretty good. (Since then, I’ve gotten the frozen stuff from Trader Joe’s. The Food & Wine stuff was better than that.) I’m still far from a baklava connoisseur, so feel free to take that into consideration.

Belgium

Potato and leek waffle with beer-braised beef
Potato and leek waffle with beer-braised beef

Potato and leek waffle with beer-braised beef: Though this booth was stocked with items I wanted to try, I ended up choosing this waffle with beef. The beef was tender and the waffle was quite good. I really liked this.

Belgian waffle with warm chocolate ganache and whipped cream
Belgian waffle with warm chocolate ganache and whipped cream

Belgian waffle with warm chocolate ganache and whipped cream: Elyssa, on the other hand, went with this waffle with chocolate. I’m not sure how to review a fresh waffle with chocolate, other than to say “It’s as good as you’d expect it to be” (i.e., pretty good.)

Ireland

Lobster and Seafood Fisherman’s Pie
Lobster and Seafood Fisherman’s Pie

Lobster and Seafood Fisherman’s Pie: This was really, really good. Potatoes, lobster, cheese. How can you go wrong with an item that sounds so delicious? (Actually, don’t answer that.) The only negative thing I have to say about this item is that having it almost immediately after entering the festival set my expectations a little too high for the rest of the available items.

Chew Lab

Liquid Nitro Chocolate Almond Truffle with Warm Whiskey Caramel
Liquid Nitro Chocolate Almond Truffle with Warm Whiskey Caramel

Liquid Nitro Chocolate Almond Truffle with Warm Whiskey Caramel These things were amazing. They had a texture and taste almost like ice cream (but with more of a mousse-like consistency) and the caramel on top added just the right complementary flavor. Elyssa and I had five of these (each) while we were there, and would probably have them all the time if they there were available somewhere near us.

News Nuggets (Holiday-ish? Edition)

by John Events, Magic Kingdom, Resorts, The Studios

Crossing my fingers about potential rain this weekend
Crossing my fingers about potential rain this weekend

The holiday season has already started at Disney World, so this week’s News Nuggets are heavy on the “festive cheer” (so to speak.)

Before we get into the nuggets, two items of note: First, the Disney Podcast Directory has been up on the site for about a week now. I haven’t heard anything in the past few days about missing shows, so I think the list is looking pretty solid. Please feel free to check it out if you have an interest in listening to Disney podcasts.

Second, Josh from easyWDW and Dave from yourfirstvisit.net are doing a book signing Sunday evening, starting at 5:30pm at the Tomorrowland Terrace. If you’re a fan of their sites or their book, you might want to check that out.

With that out of the way, here are the nuggets:

Earlier this year, Elyssa and I agreed that we would not visit the Osborne Lights until we ran through them during the Wine & Dine Half Marathon. Since I’ve extended that “moratorium” to also include reading coverage of the event, I can’t point you to the “best” coverage of this year’s spectacle. Instead, I’ll finish this post with all the coverage I have found:
  WDW Magic – “What’s new?”;
* The Disney Blog – An early preview;
* All Ears – 2015 Photos;
* The DIS – Why you need to see the Osborne Lights this year;
* Inside the Magic – Write-up and videos; and
* DaMouse – A 4K video of this year’s spectacle.

Disney World Schedule Changes for November, December (2015), and February (2016) at easyWDW

by John Planning

I’ve said it before, but it’s worth mentioning again: Josh at easyWDW is almost always one of the first people to post information about Disney World Schedule changes.

Here are his updates for:

Personally, I’m most excited to see some hours extended for Princess Half-Marathon Weekend.

News Nuggets from around Disney World

by John Disney Springs, Epcot, The Studios

Thank you to everyone for the positive reaction to our first round of “News Nuggets.” Though I think Elyssa and I really enjoyed the comments, I believe that Elyssa’s most excited about ordering copious amount of corn dog nuggets during our next trip to photograph for use in this feature. Until then, however, you’ll have to make due with various other stock Disney images we have.

With the housekeeping out of the way, here is the latest round of nuggets:

Dusk at the Magic Kingdom
Dusk at the Magic Kingdom

easyWDW has Released its 2015 Epcot International Food & Wine Festival PDF

by John Epcot, Events

Earlier today, Josh from easyWDW (with a major credit given to Steve Milz) published the 2015 Version of the easyWDW Epcot Food & Wine Festival Review PDF. As I’ve said before, I always start my Food & Wine planning with easyWDW‘s food reviews. Therefore, it seems like a no-brainer to download this PDF to your phone, so you can reference it at the festival. (Though, I would love to see people walking around the festival with any of these guides in printed and bound form. Full color, of course.)

News Nuggets from Around Walt Disney World

by John Events, Holidays, Magic Kingdom, The Studios

I also like my corn dog nuggets with a side of beignets.
I sometimes prefer my corn dog nuggets with a side of beignets.

Since there has been a lot of news coming out of Disney World recently, it seemed like the appropriate time to debut Rope Drop [dot] Net’s “News Nuggets” feature (inspired by one of Elyssa’s favorite Disney Food items: the corn dog nuggets from Casey’s Corner). As you would expect, these are small, bite-sized “nuggets” of news that you may find delicious useful.

Before we get to the actual nuggets, I do want to point out that Josh at easyWDW has started posting his 2015 Epcot Food & Wine Festival “booth by booth” reviews of all of this year’s food and drink options. (As I’ve mentioned before, I always start my Food & Wine Festival planning with Josh’s reviews. They are top notch.) You can already find Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3 on his site, and I would imagine the rest of the booths will be up shortly.

Now, with that out of the way, it’s time for the nuggets:

That’s all the news for now. If you want more to read about Disney World, I suggest taking a look at the interview we posted yesterday with Casey Liss. It has gotten some really good responses so far, and I think you’ll enjoy it.

A lot of changes coming to The Studios
A lot of changes coming to The Studios

Five Items I want to Try at 2015 Epcot International Food and Wine Festival

by John Commentary, Epcot, Events

It’s less than a month until Elyssa and I head down to Disney World to visit the Food & Wine festival (and run a race, or something….). That means it’s time to really start figuring out which booths I might want to visit at this year’s festival.

My process is simple: start with Josh of easyWDW’s reviews of the new (one and two) and the returning food items, and supplement with other reviews, as necessary. (As you’d probably guess, I would encourage you to check out Josh’s posts for the full description and photos of all the items.)

After going through the various reviews, here are five items that I know I want to try. I’m sure I’ll add to this list as I read more coverage, go back over reviews, etc…, but this is my starting point:

Crispy Pork Belly with Black Beans and Tomato (Brazil)

Josh from easyWDW describes this as:

It’s high quality meat with little fat and a crispy texture, despite sitting in the generous spoonful of flavorful black beans

Potato and Leek Waffle with Beer-Braised Beef and Smoked Gouda Cream (Belgium)

Josh from easyWDW describes this as:

Several large bites of tender, slow cooked beef top a freshly pressed waffle. It’s basically beef stew over a waffle with a little bit of an onion-y kick from the leeks

Chilaquiles de pollo (Mexico)

Josh from easyWDW describes this as:

[A] baked enchilada kind of thing with some corn chips that are no longer particularly crunchy. But it’s piled high with seasoned shredded chicken, melted cheese, and the other ingredients to make a flavorful dish that probably doesn’t reinvent the wheel, but tastes better than anything currently served at the Mexico quick service.

Tacos de camarón (Mexico)

Josh from easyWDW describes this as:

Battered shrimp, pico de gallo, pickled onions, and chipotle mayonnaise is a slightly different take on Mexico’s usual shrimp taco. This is the best version yet, with four lightly fried shrimp sitting underneath a creamy, spicy chipotle mayo and the piquant onions adding a little crunch along with the pico.

Liquid Nitro Chocolate Almond Truffle with Warm Whiskey Caramel (Next Eats)

WDW Magic describes this as:

It is made right in-front of you using liquid nitrogen to rapidly cool the truffle mix. It is all topped in a warm whiskey caramel to make a delicious sweet treat

Early Coverage of the 2015 Epcot International Food & Wine Festival

by John Epcot, Events

Sunset at Epcot
Sunset at Epcot

The 2015 Epcot International Food and Wine Festival officially opened on Friday and (as you might expect) there has been a ton of early coverage.

My go-to source for reviews of food items at Disney World is easyWDW and Josh has already reviewed all of the new items at the festival in these two posts: Part 1 and Part 2. He’s already sold me on the $5 Chilaquiles de pollo from Mexico:

This is not exactly what I was expecting – I thought it would be more of a nachos situation, but this is more of a baked enchilada kind of thing with some corn chips that are no longer particularly crunchy. But it’s piled high with seasoned shredded chicken, melted cheese, and the other ingredients to make a flavorful dish that probably doesn’t reinvent the wheel, but tastes better than anything currently served at the Mexico quick service. It’s an above average value that’s easily shared.

Sounds great. If you’re interested in items returning from previous years, Josh also put together a post on those items a couple of months ago. Of course, though I enjoy the food-based posts, I’m still eagerly anticipating his reviews of the various new craft beer options available at this year’s festival. (Yes, I know there is a site dedicated to reviewing beer at Walt Disney World, but since at least one of their reviewers has said she is not a huge IPA fan I discount the site’s opinions pretty heavily.)

UPDATE: September 30, 2015 – I was contacted by Scott of Beers & Ears via Twitter, and he explained that though Jenn isn’t an IPA fan, he actually is. He also pointed me to his recent review of BrewDog’s Punk IPA as an example of an IPA he’s enjoyed. Given this new information, I might have to re-evaluate how I interpret the opinions of the writers on Beers & Ears.

TouringPlans has a series of posts looking at this year’s festival, including one taking a look at this year’s Food & Wine Festival branded merchandise, one reviewing some of the new food items, and one giving some general updates about things like the Chase Lounge and the “Remy’s Ratatouille Hide and Squeak scavenger hunt”. I especially like Julie Mascardo’s description of the new Chocolate-Almond Truffle from The Chew’s “Next Eats” booth:

Essentially the chocolate truffle is a chocolate mousse made into a ball and then dipped into liquid nitrogen, which instantly freezes it. The frozen ball is then tapped with a small hammer to crack it open, and almond powder is sprinkled over the top and then it is coated with a whiskey-caramel sauce.

Yes, please.

Both WDW Magic and Disney Food Blog also have reviews and recommendations of items at this year’s festival, but I found the WDW Magic reviews lacked detailed descriptions of the food items, and I think my sense of taste differs slightly from those who write for DFB. That said, I’m including the links should your preferences differ from mine.

One new wrinkle I plan on trying this year is the Food and Wine Tracker app by Dave Kennedy of disneypodcast.net. I first heard about this app via EatingWDW and, though it seems fairly basic, I think I am going to give it a shot. (Of course, if easyWDW puts together a PDF version of its 2015 Food & Wine coverage, I’ll probably end up downloading that as well.)

Finally, if you want to get a flavor (pun kind of intended) of what this year’s Food & Wine festival looks like, there are a ton of photos over on DISboards.com. The gang from the DIS also put together this video walk through: (which seems like a great way to end this post)

News and Lack of News about Star Wars at the Studios

by John Disneyland, The Studios

A number of sites, including easyWDW and WDW News Today are reporting that the Jedi Training Academy will be closing for about 8 weeks on October 4th to revamp the show to tie in more with the Star Wars Rebels cartoon (admittedly, a really well done show.) For me, the biggest bummer is that Scout and Elyssa, Jr. will never be able to do this:

Meanwhile, the Disney Parks Blog released a a bunch of details about the upcoming Season of the Force event at Disneyland. The post contained a number of details for the Disneyland version of the park (including a Chewbacca meet-and-greet), but ended with this disappointing note:

[K]eep an eye on the Disney Parks Blog for dates and details on these new Star Wars experiences coming to Disney’s Hollywood Studios in Florida.

Kind of a bummer for people like me who are looking forward to the Disney World event (Though, probably not as much of a bummer as all the closings that will be taking place at Disneyland as part of the Star Wars construction.) I imagine that the Seasons of the Force event will start up once the Osborne Family Lights come down (since that would be an easy way to get people to go to The Studios.)

One of my favorite Star Wars action figures
One of my favorite Star Wars action figures

Early Reviews of Jock Lindsey’s Hangar Bar

by John Dining, Disney Springs

As you may have heard on Twitter yesterday, Jock Lindsey’s Hangar Bar is now open at Downtown Disney (or “Disney Springs” if you’re reading this after September 29, 2015.) As is usually the case when a new place to grab food or drink opens, there have been a ton of new reviews posted.

The most thorough review of the bar, so far, comes courtesy of Dani (last name withheld) at TouringPlans. Her review features a good mix of photos, a description of the arrival experience (texting people that they can return is so much nicer than a pager-based system), and a nice rundown of the food and drinks she tried:

The calamari flatbread [$14.99] is a perfect choice for calamari fans. The harissa spread gives a nice Mediterranean flavor. This is a great option to share. The Air Pirate’s Pretzels ($8.99) were also a surprise hit. The caraway seeds add depth to the flavor, the beer cheese is way-too-good , though the mustard may be too strong for some palates.

(For people liked me who have no idea what “harissa” is, it’s “a Tunisian hot chili pepper paste the main ingredients of which are roasted red peppers, serrano peppers and other hot chili peppers and spices and herbs”.)

Josh from easyWDW also had an excellent write-up on the bar, that was full of his usual snark:

Lisa ordered the $10.25 Reggie’s Revenge: Florida Cane ‘Orlando Orange’ Vodka, Midori Melon Liqueur, White Cranberry Juice, and fresh Lime Juice. Ordinarily, you want to avoid just about anything originating in Florida, perhaps with the exception of this week’s episode of Cops, but Florida Cane does a good job with their vodkas. (emphasis added)

As you would expect from an easyWDW review, the article is full of good pictures (including some artsy titled ones) and good, practical advice about what you might want to actually order. (I admit I was pleased that he also seemed to enjoy the calamari flatbread, since I have been intrigued by that option since the menu was first posted. Also, his running joke about the name of the bar is fantastic.)

If you’re looking for more photos from the bar, then Denise at MouseSteps has a post with about a 100 of them. WDW Magic has also nice, concise, review, if you still want more coverage.

Disney World October, December, and January Park Hours Updates from easyWDW

by John Holidays, Walt Disney World

Josh at easyWDW has posted updates to Disney World’s operating schedule for October, December, and January. The December update is especially important since it includes a number of new Extra Magic Hour mornings around Christmas.

As a general note, I always check easyWDW for schedule updates before any trip. I know that I could pull the information directly from Disney but Josh’s layout and information is way more convenient. (I even prefer it to using MyDisney Experience to look for future park hours.)