Theme Park Foodie

Photo Courtesy of Walt Disney World Media Relations

A week-long Cinco de Mayo ¡Fiesta! is coming to Epcot’s Mexico pavilion as part of Walt Disney World’s Limited Time Magic. San Angel Inn Restaurante and La Hacienda de San Angel, the pavilion’s restaurants, will be offering the following specialty menu items to celebrate from May 5 to May 11! 

Appetizers

• Cream of Chile Poblano: Chile poblano, cilantro, onion, garlic and Mexican cream, garnished with tortilla strips, poblano peppers and cream ($7.50)
• Chalupas de Chicharron: Corn dough topped with roasted chipotle sauce, shredded chicken, pork rind in green tomatillo sauce, fresh cheese, sour cream and avocado ($11.50)

Entrees

• Chile en Nogada: Egg-battered stuffed poblano pepper with pork, almonds, raisins, apple, pineapple, cinnamon, roasted tomato and garlic, topped with a walnut cream sauce ($24.50)
• Enchiladas de Mole Poblano: Corn tortillas filled with marinated chicken, topped with mole poblano sauce, sesame seeds and Mexican cream ($23.50)
• Pollo Rostizado en Salsa de Mercado: Slow roasted French-chicken breast, topped with a roasted green tomato, pine nuts, garlic, onion and saffron sauce ($23.50)

Dessert

• Camotes en Leche Condensada: Sweet potato dessert topped condensed milk, garnished with almond brittle ($7.00)

1) Make advanced dinner reservations yesterday (or ASAP)!

Disney dining reservations can be made 180 days in advance, and each day the Be Our Guest dinner reservations are quickly snatched up. There may be a few days with availability scattered over the course of the next sic months, but these are few and far between. If you want a Be Our Guest dinner reservation, stay up until 12:00 a.m. Eastern Time or wake up early 180 days before your trip to the Magic Kingdom to make your reservation. You can make advanced dining reservations online here or by calling the reservation hotline at (407) 939-7211. Lunch is served from 4:00 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. If you are unable to make reservations for dinner, don’t worry! Reservations are not required for lunch.

2) Be prepared to wait in line for lunch.

The lunch at Be Our Guest is a modified quick service style. Guests enter the restaurant, are directed through the Beast’s Study where they order using a touch screen, and then seat themselves. Disney cast members deliver lunch to the tables by using RFID magical roses guests receive when they finalize their order. While this process is very efficient, the restaurant is very popular and fills up quickly. If you’re hoping to dine at Be Our Guest for lunch, you’ll likely wait in a line of some sort. If you get to the restaurant by 10:30 a.m. a short line will have begun to form, but you will be seated when the restaurant opens at 11:00 a.m. If you decide to have lunch at a later hour, be prepared to wait in a line that may be more than an hour long. Lunch is served from 11:00 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., but the line has been known to close at 2:00 p.m. Our best recommendation for waiting in line? Pick up a LeFou’s Brew at Gaston’s Tavern, hop in line at 10:30 a.m., enjoy the quality time with friends and family and get excited for a great lunch!

3) Know the limitations on the availability of the Grey Stuff.

There’s been a lot of hype about the Grey Stuff being served at Be Our Guest, but guests planning on visiting the restaurant shouldn’t get too excited until they know all of the details. The Grey Stuff is, unfortunately, not available on the menu. Guests celebrating a special occasion can request the treat, which is a cookies and cream concoction, but it cannot be ordered as a dessert. It is also only available during dinner service. We teamed up with Orlando Attractions Magazine to call for Disney to add the dessert to the menu, and we’re keeping our fingers crossed that it will be added in the future. In the meantime, tell your server with a wink and a smile that you’re celebrating something special (birthday, anniversary, first visit, etc.) to get a taste of this iconic Beauty and the Beast dessert.

4) Bring your best ball gown! Dinner guests have a date with the Beast.

When New Fantasyland opened, the Beast stopped meeting guests with Belle in Epcot at the World Showcase and reappeared in his study at Be Our Guest. It makes sense that he would want to meet visitors from the comfort of his own castle, and who wouldn’t enjoy dancing with the Beast after enjoying a lovely meal? Of course, the Beast (being a “hideous monster” and all) comes out at night; he only meets guests during dinner service. He’s also rather stingy with his time, as he likes to take photographs with entire parties and not individual visitors. If you make reservations for Be Our Guest, be sure to bring your camera and a smile! Ball attire is optional.

5) The restaurant features three different rooms, and each tells a different piece of the story of how Belle and the Beast fell in love.

When people imagine Be Our Guest, most think of the beautiful grand ballroom with the decadent golden chandeliers above and windows with a view to an enchanted wood and softly falling snow. While the grand ballroom is one of the rooms available for dining within Beast’s Castle, there are two others that are just as breathtaking. The Rose Gallery room has a similar feel to the ballroom. It is an opulent, warmly lit venue that features portraits of Belle and the Beast and their enchanted friends. The Rose Gallery is only available during lunch. The other room, a favorite of many diners, is the West Wing. This room is dimly lit, and features a number of the Beast’s, er, personal “touches” including a slashed portrait of the Prince (which has an enchanted surprise in store), ripped and hanging curtains, and the rumble of thunder and flashes of lightning. Meanwhile, amidst the destruction, the enchanted rose glows peacefully. The West Wing is a very well-themed, fun and unique dining venue, but parents be warned: it may be too dark and scary for some young children.

Do you have any tips for guests planning to dine at Be Our Guest? Comment on our pin on Pinterest or shares your thoughts with us at @themeparkfoodie!

Our latest column for Orlando Attractions Magazine is live! Coca-Cola Freestyle machines are popping up around Orlando’s theme parks, and their presence could change Central Florida’s theme parks forever.

Guests can expect a wider selection of beverage options at the Orlando theme parks. They can choose from the 120 plus flavors provided by the machine, but they also have the option to mix different flavors to come up with new beverage creations. A few of our favorite example combination recipes include Dreamsicle Coke (½ Orange Coke, ½ Vanilla Coke), Mai Tai (Fanta Orange, Fanta Peach, Minute Maid Lemonade, Hi-C Fruit Punch and Dasani Lime) and Very Berry Lemonade (Strawberry Minute Maid and Raspberry Minute Maid). There are more than 14,000 two drink combinations alone, so the possibilities for creative mixtures are almost endless.

Click here read more about what the arrival of Coke Freestyle machines means for your next theme park visit and how they may be used by theme park culinary teams to add further detail to the immersive themes of the area’s attractions.

Image Courtesy of the Swan and Dolphin

LAKE BUENA VISTA, FL— Culinary artistry, fine wine and celebrity chef meet-and-greets will once again highlight the Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin Food & Wine Classic. The event, back for its fourth year, will be held on Oct. 18 - 19, 2013 at the Epcot Resort Area hotel.

The outdoor festival will include food and beverage seminars, food and wine tastings and live music. Seminars will be led by the hotel’s chefs and certified beverage experts, while the hotel’s award-winning restaurants will showcase signature culinary selections to pair with tastings from more than 30 wineries.

Celebrity Chef Todd English, whose restaurant Todd English’s bluezoo is located in the hotel, will be in attendance to meet and greet with guests. English is a renowned restaurateur who has gained national acclaim through his line of restaurants and cookbooks, and other food-related enterprises. Todd English’s bluezoo features fresh seafood in a vibrant atmosphere.

Photo Courtesy of the Swan and Dolphin

With 17 restaurants and lounges, and a distinguished culinary and beverage team, the Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin Hotel continually earns national recognition for its food and beverage program. The hotel features more than 70 certified wine sommeliers and 1,400 wine selections.

Tickets to the Swan and Dolphin Food & Wine Classic are currently available as part of a hotel package or individually. For more information or to book, please visit www.SwanDolphinFoodandWineClassic.com or call 1-800-227-1500.

In the heart of the Walt Disney World Resort, the award-winning Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin Hotel is the gateway to Central Florida’s greatest theme parks and attractions. The hotel is located between Epcot and Disney’s Hollywood Studios, and nearby Disney’s Animal Kingdom Theme Park and Magic Kingdom Park. Guests can discover 17 world-class restaurants and lounges, sophisticated guest rooms with Westin Heavenly Beds and the luxurious Mandara Spa. The hotel features five pools, two health clubs, tennis, nearby golf, complimentary transportation throughout the Walt Disney World Resort and the Extra Magic Hours benefit, where each day, one of the four Walt Disney World Theme Parks offers additional time for guests to enjoy select attractions. (Valid Theme Park admission and Resort ID required). The hotel can be reached at 800-227-1500, www.swandolphin.com or through Facebook at www.facebook.com/swananddolphin. 

Photo Courtesy of the Disney Parks Blog

This morning, the Disney Parks Blog announced that a new restaurant will be opening in Epcot’s World Showcase by late 2013. The Spice Road Table, a Mediterranean-inspired restaurant that will be located in Morocco, will feature a small plate menu and refreshments and will offer indoor and outdoor seating. The new dining venue will be located on the waterfront of the Seven Seas Lagoon.

In this writer’s opinion, another small plate restaurant will be a wonderful addition to the World Showcase dining line up. I’m sure the Spice Road Table will become a fast favorite for IllumiNations: Reflections of Earth viewing, or for watching the World (Showcase) go by.

Photo Courtesy of the Disney Parks Blog

Today, the Disney Parks Blog announced special dining options coming to Walt Disney World for the week of February 11-17. The meals will be a part of the park’s Limited Time Magic ‘True Love’ celebration. The Blog shared the following details:

“At Walt Disney World Resort, you’ll find fixed-price “Dinner for Two” at several spots. At The Hollywood Brown Derby at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, dinner starts with a colossal prawn stuffed with blue lump crab and continues with a filet mignon topped with Cabernet and shallot butter.

In the resorts, dinner at Artist Point offers a succulent Kumamoto oyster; heirloom beets; cedar plank roasted King salmon, filet mignon or crispy buttermilk-dipped chicken; and Valrhona Chocolate Indulgence with local strawberries. Yachtsman Steakhouse at Disney’s Yacht Club Resort gives you a choice of a New York strip steak, filet mignon, twin lobster tails, Long Island duck or butternut squash tortellini – and if you want a celebratory splash at the end, sip a glass of Champagne or chardonnay (extra cost).

The Wave… of American Flavors at Disney’s Contemporary Resort gives diners a taste of local farms with butter-poached lobster with Florida avocado-heirloom tomato salad; duck confit with Florida candied kumquats; rib-eye steak, and a sweet finish with a citrus-infused truffle torte. And Shutters at Disney’s Caribbean Beach Resort is a trip to the islands with Caribbean conch chowder, seared rib-eye with plaintain and white sweet potato gratin, and a chocolate and strawberry sweetheart dessert.

For reservations, calls 407-WDW-DINE. Bon appetit!”

Yesterday, About Theme Parks opened nominations for its annual Reader’s Choice Competition! Theme parks fans and employees may nominate for the following categories:
 
• Best New Theme Park Attraction of 2012
• Best New Theme Park Show of 2012
• Best New Roller Coaster of 2012
• Best New Water Park Ride of 2012
• Best Theme Park Halloween Event of 2012
• Best Theme Park Holidays Event of 2012

This year, there are two exciting NEW categories:

• Best Full-Service Park Restaurant
• Best Quick-Service Park Restaurant

Nominations will be open through Feb. 11, and voting will run from Feb. 19 through March 19, with winners announced March 27.

If you have a favorite theme park restaurant, this is the perfect way to let your voice be heard and share your appreciation for the dining location!

To nominate a park and to learn more about the awards program, visit The 2013 Readers’ Choice Awards for Theme Parks and Water Parks main page.