Full Menus for Disney California Adventure Food and Wine Festival 2017

WDWNT on February 23, 2017

Spring is already in full bloom in some states, and that is true for California. The Food and Wine fest at California Adventure will be here before you know it, and with that in mind, here is some info to help you plan. Disney has given us a look at the menu offerings for this years event.

width=Nuts About Cheese

  • Brie toast with fig and mint and roasted California almond crumble
  • Baked ham and Swiss cheese croque monsieur roll with smoked pistachios
  • Chèvre fromage blanc tartine infused with rosemary and honey, topped with toasted hazelnuts
  • Almond milk tea with pudding

Uncork California

  • White wine flight
  • Red wine flight
  • Mimosa flight

I Heart Artichokes

  • Artichoke carbonara with garlic aioli and smoked bacon
  • Grilled and chilled artichoke hearts with Romesco sauce
  • Creamy artichoke and dark chocolate cake pop
  • Orange iced tea with orange pearls

Garlic Kissed

  • Grilled beef tenderloin slider with chimichurri sauce
  • Black garlic soy-braised pork belly bao with pickled vegetables
  • Garlic-rosemary and avocado oil ice cream pop

California Craft Brews

  • Southern California flight
  • Northern California flight

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Olive Us

  • Chilled Cioppino soup with shrimp, crab claw and grilled olive bread
  • Warm olive focaccia with olive oil and sea salt
  • Vanilla bean crème fraîche panna cotta with Amarena cherry jus and EVOO madeleine

Bacon Twist

  • Baby iceberg and heirloom tomato wedge with peppered bacon and blue cheese dressing
  • Smoked bacon mac and cheese with barbecue-seasoned crispy onions
  • Maple-bacon Whoopie Pie

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Lemon Grove

  • Roasted cauliflower and Meyer lemon-infused Dannon Oikos®
  • Greek nonfat yogurt cauliflower puree with sundried tomatoes and fried capers
  • Duck confit on potato smash with Meyer lemon preserves
  • Meyer lemon macaron with blueberry marmalade, Meyer lemon cream and blueberry dust
  • Cherry lemonade with cherry pearls

Seafood…Sustained

  • Verlasso® sustainable salmon tataki with avocado-wasabi puree and Furikake dust
  • Cage-free cream cheese deviled eggs with farm-raised smoked trout and chives
  • Passion fruit posset and coconut chia with mango compote and jelly
  • Mango agua fresca

The Onion Lair

  • French onion mac and cheese topped with parmesan crumble and chives
  • Braised Wagyu beef on creamy polenta with haricot vert and red onion salad and roasted Cipollini onion
  • Chocolate-hazelnut and raspberry Feuillete tart
  • Strawberry pineapple float with vanilla ice cream and strawberry pearls

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Off the Cob

  • Sweet corn nuggets with beef chili, spring onions and sour cream
  • Jackfruit carnitas banh mi nachos with cilantro crèma and “pickled” de gallo
  • Roasted sweet corn custard tart with honey tuille and smoked chili-infused chocolate sauce

Sweet & Sourdough

  • Bay shrimp Louie salad served in a mini Boudin sourdough boule
  • White cheddar lager soup topped with bacon, served in a mini Boudin sourdough boule
  • Milk chocolate sourdough bread pudding with vanilla bean sauce

LAStyle

  • Chicken Teriyaki slider with spicy Dole® pineapple jam
  • Korean barbecue beef short rib tacos with Kimchi slaw
  • Fresh strawberry compote, lemon verbena and vanilla bean shortcake parfait
  • Dole® Pineapple-strawberry Float with vanilla ice cream and strawberry pearls

Paradise Garden Grill Beer Garden

  • Beer-battered cod served with steak fries, sweet slaw and spiced remoulade
  • Potato and cheese pierogis with vegetarian sausage served with grilled Anaheim chilies, caramelized onions and sour cream
  • Beer-braised pork tacos served with pickled apple slaw, black beans and queso
  • Sausage platter trio served with braised red cabbage and warm potato salad
  • Large soft pretzel served with beer-mustard dipping sauce
  • Salted caramel budino with vanilla bean Chantilly cream
  • Bienenstich cake with honey-glazed almonds, filled with vanilla bean custard

The festival continues in the Hollywood Backlot area, featuring wine flights at Wineology, beer and beer floats at The Brewhouse, and wine at the Festival Merchandise & Bottle Shop at Stage 17. Reservations are now open for all signature events, and can be made by clicking here. Learn more about the festival by visiting disneyland.com/FoodAndWine

RUMOR: Are We Finally Getting The Unaltered “Star Wars” Original Trilogy?

WDWNT on February 23, 2017

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Man, I really hope so! This May will be the 40th anniversary of the theatrical release of “Star Wars”, or as most call it now, “A New Hope”. Rumors have been circulating that we may finally get the unaltered version of The Original Star Wars Trilogy with an announcement possibly coming at this year’s Star Wars Celebration.

According to MakingStarWars.Net:

Every time there is a rainy day, a slow news week, or a Star Wars drought, a rumor starts to go around that the un-altered version of the Star Wars Trilogy will be re-released. I generally have it as a policy that we don’t run those rumors because they are generally wrong. However, over the last month the evidence and tips have been piling up that the unaltered original trilogy will be re-released this year for the 40th anniversary in various formats. Several sources have let us know it was coming and it appears to actually be on the way this time.

We will share the details of the re-release when they become more concrete on our end. At this time, we firmly believe the unaltered original edits of the 1977, 1980, and 1983 cuts of the original Star Wars Trilogy will officially be re-released soon.

I will be pretty surprised if this rumor doesn’t pan out. But remember, it is a rumor.

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I have been following MakingStarWars.net for a while and these guys are usually right on the money when it comes to Star Wars news. They are a very reliable source. Like Jason Ward said, they dont normally publish rumors when it comes to the unaltered Original Trilogy. For Jason to be hearing it from multiple reliable sources, something is definitely in play.

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Most people know that although Disney owns Star Wars, the one thing they do not own is “Star Wars: A New Hope”. Fox owns that, and it will take a ridiculous amount of money for them to ever sell it back to Disney. But there is no reason that Disney and Fox can’t work together on releasing the unaltered Original Trilogy, especially if it means that both sides will profit from it.

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Another problem that Disney has faced since acquiring Lucasfilm is that George Lucas loves the changes that he made to The Original Trilogy and to him that is the definitive edition. Disney and Lucas have always had a great relationship with each other and that is one of the reasons why Lucas sold his empire to Disney and not Fox. But lately, their relationship has kind of chilled. Shortly after “The Force Awakens” opened, Lucas spoke with Charlie Rose, and he made it clear how he felt about his relationship with Disney at the time:

“They looked at the stories, and they said, ‘We want to make something for the fans.’ They decided they didn’t want to use those stories, they decided they were going to do their own thing. … They weren’t that keen to have me involved anyway — but if I get in there, I’m just going to cause trouble, because they’re not going to do what I want them to do. And I don’t have the control to do that anymore, and all I would do is muck everything up. And so I said, ‘OK, I will go my way, and I’ll let them go their way.’”

Airing dirty laundry is one thing, but then he said the following and he may have burned his bridges with Disney:

“I sold them to the white slavers that takes these things, and…,”

Lucas never got to finish that sentence because he probably realized he was being too candid with Rose. I believe at the time that Lucas thought what he had said was off the record and that it would not air.

Disney does respect the father of Star Wars but I also feel that they realize now that Lucas is going to say whatever he wants to say. Lucas loves everything he has done and still doesn’t understand the hate that some people have for the changes he made with The Special Editions and also the hate that some people have for The Prequels. Disney is on the side of the Star Wars fans and Disney wants to give the fans what they want and it doesn’t hurt that they make a little money from it too.

Here are some of the questionable changes made in The “Star Wars” Special Editions:

“Who shot first?”

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This needs to be restored once and for all because plain and simple, Han shot first. Regardless of what Lucas says, or wants you to think, at this point Han is on the edge of good and bad. He is a scoundrel, as Princess Leia once called him, and he makes most of his money from illegal cargo transports. Lucas made the change because he felt that Han was a hero and it was a bad message to children to have Han just kill someone without being provoked. First off, it just looks like a mess and it was poorly executed. Although after constant fiddling with this scene, it looks a lot better in it’s current form. But we want Han to have a dark side, so that his redemption at the end means more to us.

“Who is that young guy next to Obi-Wan?”

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Most people when they talk of why they do not like the Special Editions, almost always “Han not shooting first” comes up first. But to me, this…this change is totally unacceptable. Removing original actor Sebastian Shaw and replacing him with Hayden Christensen makes absolutely no sense other than George wanted to tie the Original Trilogy to The Prequels. When Vader dies at the end of “Return Of The Jedi”, he has to be around 60, so his Force Ghost should look similar to how he was when he died. Why change him to a young Hayden Christensen? Why is Obi Wan old then? Why not make him the Ewan McGregor version? Because it doesn’t make sense.

“Is this Jabba The Hutt or Pizza The Hutt (He’s Delicious)?”

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What is this? OK, it is supposed to be Jabba but this scene was so unnecessary. Even though they have made Jabba look better with each additional change throughout the years, I don’t want to see it….ever, if it is possible.

“Finally! A good thing!”

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OK, not all of the changes are bad. Changing the hologram  of the Emperor in “The Empire Strikes Back” to look more like Emperor Palpetine from “Return Of The Jedi” was a fantastic change. But if it means I have to see this monkey looking Emperor, but we get rid of Greedo shooting first, Darth Vader screaming “Noooooo”, and not seeing an angry looking Hayden Christensen Force Ghost, I’ll be the first one to buy a bunch of bananas and enjoy Star Wars as it was meant to be.

I love The Godfather movies, but the story ends for me when Part II is over. I also love the Alien series and that series ends for me before the start of Alien3. If you love the complete Star Wars Saga, including The Prequels, that is great. But I like to think of Star Wars without The Prequels, where the guy inside the Darth Vader costume is not a spoiled, arrogant and ungrateful brat.

I hope Disney and FOX will make everyone happy and give everyone a choice as to which version they want to see.

Source: MakingStarWars.net

AERIAL PHOTOS: Latest Progress on Star Wars Land and Toy Story Land at Disney’s Hollywood Studios

WDWNT on February 23, 2017

The following aerial satellite images of the Star Wars and Toy Story Land construction sitesat Disney’s Hollywood Studios comes to us courtesy of NearMap. The latest images were captured on January 24th, 2017.

The below overall shot gives you a good idea of the scale of the project. Despite the fact that the walls at the end of PIXAR Place show art for Toy Story Land, that site is actually part of Star Wars, with the Toy Story area contained behind Toy Story Midway Mania.

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In the north-west corner is the large building that will contain all the “back-of-house” needs for the Slinky Dog Dash rollercoaster. What will be the load station is just to the right of it in the picture. To the south is the ride mechanism for Little Green Men Swirling Saucers. We can make out the interlocking tables that will take the saucers on a double figure eight pattern on one of two separate systems, just like Mater’s Junkyard Jamboree at Disney California Adventure.

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Not much has changed in Star Wars Land, just more land preparations for the two attractions.

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Below, a closeup of what should be the site for the “Battle with the First Order” attraction.

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Below are some nifty sliders where you can see the progress made between September 19th, 2016 with January 24th, 2017:

Star Wars Land will open at Disney’s Hollywood Studios in 2019, while Toy Story Land is rumored to debut in 2018.

Disney’s Contemporary & Yacht Club Resorts Testing New “Express Fresh” Dining Service Starting Today

WDWNT on February 16, 2017

While many guests still enjoy traditional in-room dining, consumer preference for quick and casual dining is on the rise. To address the evolving needs of Guests, beginning February 7th and running through April 1, a new option added to in-room dining programs, Express Fresh, will be piloted at Disney’s Contemporary Resort and Disney’s Yacht Club Resort. This pilot will complement the existing in-room dining program by offering select quick and casual meal options to Guests.

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The meals are presented at the Guest’s room door in disposable containers and no set up is required. Disney is stating that the meals will arrive within 30 minutes of ordering as the menus are comprised of quick-to-prepare items. Express Fresh will be offered in the menu guides as a separate insert along with the traditional in-room dining options.

VIDEO: Enchanted Rose Cake Inspired by ‘Beauty and the Beast’, Now Available at Amorette’s

WDWNT on February 16, 2017

If you have ever visited Amorette’s Patisserie at Disney Springs and looked into the display case of all the delectable confections, you will see that each handcrafted dessert is a remarkable piece of art. All new cakes are first sketched on paper. After the sketch has been drawn, the extremely talented cake decorators will then bring the sketch to life, just as the inanimate objects in ‘Beauty and the Beast’ are brought to life in the movie. The video below from the Disney Parks Blog shows one of the pastry artists creating an Enchanted Rose Cake inspired by the live-action film “Beauty and the Beast.”

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The Enchanted Rose Cake is now available at Amorette’s Patisserie. Dome cakes can be pre-ordered by calling (407) 934-3500 or by visiting the shop at least 72 hours in advance.

This Week in Disney History: February 12th-18th

WDWNT on February 16, 2017

Today, WDWNT is debuting a new weekly Disney history column, aptly named “This Week in Disney History.”  In this space, we take a look at several important events of this week in the history of The Walt Disney Company. We will not endeavor to cover everything, and what we highlight might not even be the most important happenings of the week, but instead we hope to give you some interesting tidbits to broaden your knowledge of Disney history.

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This Week in Disney History: February 12th-February 18th

  • On February 12th, 2009, Carrie Underwood and David Cook , former American Idol winners, held a concert at the ‘American Idol Experience’ at Disney’s Hollywood Studios in honor of the grand opening of the attraction which would take place on February 14th.
  • On February 13, 2016, Walt Disney Animation’s Zootopia premiered at the Brussels Animation Film Festival in Belgium. The movie was not released to the U.S. until March 4th, 2016. Also, on February 13, 2009, Disney debuted their new tv channel called DisneyXD along with the website DisneyXD.com. They hoped to use this new channel as a means of making shows for boys ages 6-14. The channel is still very popular in 2017.
  • On February 14th, 2013, Walt Disney World celebrated Valentine’s Day by having 50 pre-selected couples to renew their wedding vows at Cinderella Castle while Snow White, Cinderella, Auroa, and their princes were performing on stage with Mickey and Minnie Mouse.
  • On February 15th, 1899, the wife of Walt Disney, Lillian Marie Bounds, was born. They were married on July 13th, 1925. Also, on February 15th, 1950, Walt Disney Animation’s Cinderella premiered in theaters.
  • On February 16th, 2012, Disney Cruise Line’s newest ship, The Disney Fantasy, set sail from Cape Canaveral on its maiden voyage.
  • On February 17th, 1998, construction for the ‘Rock n’ Roller Coaster Starring Aerosmith’ at Disney’s MGM Studios began.
  • Finally, on February 18th, 1960, the VII Winter Olympic Games began at Squaw Valley, California. This event is significant in Disney history because Walt Disney orchestrated the opening and closing ceremonies for the Olympics. Walt’s official title for the Olympics was ‘Head of Pageantry for the Games’.

“We keep moving forward, opening new doors, and doing new things, because we’re curious and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths.” -Walt Disney

New “WALL-E” and “A Bug’s Life” Tsum Tsum Released Today

WDWNT on February 16, 2017

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For the month of February, DisneyStore.com is celebrating “Tsum Tsum Tsuesdays” with a new release of the fuzzy plush every Tuesday.  This week, the featured release is WALL-E and EVE as well as a collection of “A Bug’s Life” characters including Flik, Dot, and Heimlich as both a caterpillar (green) and butterfly (blue, with yellow wings).  While Heimlich is a favorite character, I would have thought there was at least one additional somewhat-memorable character they could have used instead of duplicating Heimlich in two variations.

Tsum Tsum

The mini Tsum Tsum are $5.95 each and limited to 5 per person. (Who actually buys 5 anyway? If you do, let me know in the comments!) There is also an 11″ version of WALL-E for $12.95.

In addition to the plush, there are also three Limited Release T-Shirts featuring the new Tsum Tsum character designs.

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The shirts retail for $29.95, or you can mix and match 2 for $44, and must be ordered by Sunday, February 12, 2017.

Stay tuned to WDWNT next Tuesday for the next release, and be sure to come back on Tuesday, February 21 for the Star Wars Death Star Collection Tsum Tsum!

 

VIDEO: Imagineering Shares Behind the Scenes Look at Enhancing Peter Pan’s Flight

WDWNT on February 16, 2017

Peter Pan’s Flight is a beloved classic Disney attraction, as evidenced by the wait times that exceed many other favorite rides. Versions of the ride can be found at Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom, Disneyland in California, Tokyo Disneyland, and even Shanghai Disneyland. The ride takes you on a journey, retelling the story of Peter Pan in scenes that include flying over the streets of London, visiting Mermaid Lagoon, and even encountering Captain Hook. In 2015, Disneyland’s version of the ride was refurbished to add many new special effects. In the video below from the Disney Parks Blog, take a look behind the scenes as Imagineers are busy making the magic behind the ‘new’ updated ride.