Our good friend Robert Ashburn of Figmentsmedia.net visited the Magic Kingdom on a less-than supernatural Friday the 13th and has a number of newsworthy photos to share with us:
Posters for Disney-Pixar’s “Up” and Disney Channel’s “Sonny with a Chance” at the Transportation and Ticket Center
Some exterior work on the Exposition Hall on Main Street U.S.A.
Read More about Robert Ashburn’s 3/13/09 Magic Kingdom Photo Report
Myrna Litt has returned from a short trip to the Disneyland Resort. Let’s get to her photo report:
There was some leftover merchandise from the D23 product release and signing in the Disneyana Store this morning.
This beach towel is only $10 with a $40 purchase.
WDWNT Photographer and Videographer Jose Eber has provided us with a video and a number of photos from around the Walt Disney World Resort. Let’s take a look at some of his findings:
Here is a video featuring progress on the Bay Lake Tower addition to Disney’s Contemporary Resort
Online Check-In Service Key Pick-Up desk running at Fort Wilderness
The McDonald’s near Disney’s All-Star Resorts is getting remodeled
Construction walls surround the front of the building while the restaurant remains open
ANAHEIM, Calif., March 12, 2009 – Disneyland Resort celebrates 15 new awards for its restaurants and chefs as it prepares to launch the 2009 Disney’s California Food & Wine Festival, a six-week “World Celebration” that features delicious food and wine from Disneyland chefs and celebrity chefs and winemakers.
The 2008-09 awards were presented to Disneyland Resort restaurants and chefs at the recent Southern California Restaurant Writers Awards Banquet at the Richard Nixon Library and Birthplace in Yorba Linda, California. A highlight for Resort restaurants was the recognition of Alex Flores and Francisco Origel, sous chefs at the perennially popular Napa Rose in Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel & Spa, as co-winners of the “Sous Chef of the Year” award.
Napa Rose was honored further with a Golden Bacchus Wine Award and a Golden Sceptre (Five Star) award, the highest, in the continental category. Steakhouse 55 at the Disneyland Hotel also received highest honors, with a Golden Bacchus Wine Award and a Golden Sceptre (Five Star) award in the American category. The awards reflect Disneyland Resort’s commitment to guest service, which has been enhanced under the guidance of Master Sommelier Michael Jordan and his wine education program. The Resort has 300 certified sommeliers who assist guests with the pairing of wine and food.
Andrew Sutton, the executive chef who has helped guide the culinary success of Napa Rose since it opened in 2001, lauded the success of his sous chefs, saying, “This is a tribute to their hard work and dedication to the Napa Rose. Alex and Francisco have been instrumental in the restaurant’s success, contributing to the culinary vision with their expertise, dedication, talent and integrity.”
Francisco Origel worked with Sutton for five years at Auberge du Soleil in the California wine country. He was promoted to sous chef at Auberge du Soleil in 1997 following a rigorous selection process. He joined the Napa Rose culinary team in fall of 2002. “Francisco has amazing plating and cooking skills that he loves to share with his fellow chefs,” Sutton said.
Alex Flores was part of the opening culinary team for Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel in 2001, working in Storytellers Café. He moved to Napa Rose in June 2002 and worked his way through the culinary training program at all stations in the restaurant, being promoted to sous chef in 2007. “Alex is a self-starter and dedicated to his craft,” Sutton said. “He is incredibly imaginative and has the culinary disciplines to back it up with sound cooking and flavor combinations.”
Napa Rose showcases California wine country cuisine with menu options that change seasonally to follow the holistic dining philosophy of Executive Chef Sutton. The restaurant features a 16,000-bottle wine cellar, more than 1,000 vintages and 80 wines available by the glass. At Steakhouse 55, which also earned top honors for the Disneyland Resort, guests experience classic and delectable American fare while enjoying the feel of vintage Hollywood through the restaurant’s retro décor. The restaurant is also home to the posh Lounge at Steakhouse 55 that features an extensive wine list and light menu of new and old American classics.
With a total of 15 awards going to 12 restaurants – seven in Disneyland Resort hotels, two in Disneyland, two in Downtown Disney and one in Disney’s California Adventure – Disneyland Resort guests have a vast array of outstanding dining options.
Guests will be able to meet some of the Disney chefs and enjoy hundreds of complimentary demonstrations at Disney’s California Food & Wine Festival, which runs April 24 through June 7 inside Disney’s California Adventure. For details and information, go to www.disneyland.com/foodandwine.
The complete list of Disneyland Resort awards:
Special Award Category
• Sous Chef of the Year: Alex Flores/Francisco Origel (Napa Rose, Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel)
Golden Bacchus Wine Award
• Napa Rose (Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel)
• Steakhouse 55 (Disneyland Hotel)
Golden Sceptre (Five Star):
• Napa Rose (Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel)
• Steakhouse 55 (Disneyland Hotel)
Gold (Four Star)
• Ariel’s Grotto (Paradise Pier, Disney’s California Adventure park)
• Blue Bayou (New Orleans Square, Disneyland)
• Café Orleans (New Orleans Square, Disneyland)
• Hook’s Pointe & Wine Cellar (Disneyland Hotel)
• Storyteller’s Café (Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel)
• Yamabuki (Disney’s Paradise Pier Hotel)
Sterling (Three Star)
• Goofy’s Kitchen (Disneyland Hotel)
• Ralph Brennan’s Jazz Kitchen Downtown Disney)
• Tortilla Jo’s (Downtown Disney)
Silver (Two Star)
• PCH Grill (Disney’s Paradise Pier Hotel)
The Southern California Restaurant Writers, Inc. has operated for 35 years as a non-profit seeking to improve the quality of restaurants in the region. Award winners are chosen from Santa Barbara south to the Mexican border.
When the Kidani Village building containing the villas at Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge opens on May 1, 2009, so will a new Walt Disney World table service restaurant:
Sanaa Restaurant serves African cuisine with Indian flavors for lunch as Disney’s Animal Kingdom Villas – Kidani Village in Walt Disney World Resort. Just as its name – in swahili – means “artwork,” Sanaa offers its Guests beautifully prepared food in an artistic atmosphere.
Before dinner, relax in the comfortable lounge beside the spacious dining room. Once you are seated, choose from an array of delectable dishes that are slow-cooked, grilled over a wood fire or roasted in a traditional Indian clay oven.
Reservations are available now by calling (407) WDW-DINE
The new online check-in system for Walt Disney World Resort hotels we told you about many months ago is now finally up and running according to Disney:
LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. (Feb. 24, 2009) – Walt Disney World Resort launched a new Online Check-In Service today, designed to simplify and streamline guest arrivals. The new service is complimentary and available to guests staying at select Walt Disney World Resort hotels and Disney Vacation Club resorts open as of February 2009.
Within 10 days of their arrival dates, guests are able to provide check-in information, advise the resort of their arrival times and request room preferences (although those cannot be guaranteed). Guests can also register the names of all the people in their party and provide a credit card to cover charges at the resort hotel.
Upon arrival at their resorts, guests visit a special welcome location where their room keys and other registration material are waiting. Disney cast members are also available to provide additional information and answer questions.
Meeting professionals can also arrange private group check-in at a Disney resort convention center or other locations.
“Our new Online Check-In Service offers added convenience and time savings for Walt Disney World Resort hotel guests,” said Kevin Myers, vice president of Resort Operations for Walt Disney World Resort. “It’s the latest benefit created as part of our continuous effort to provide a seamless and hassle-free arrival experience for our guests as they begin their Disney vacation.”
Online Check-In Service is the newest Disney service designed to simplify the travel and arrival process. Guests staying at select Walt Disney World hotels get an extra dose of pixie dust with great perks and services including: Complimentary on-property transportation; Disney’s Magical Express, which offers complimentary airport shuttle and luggage delivery; and Extra Magic Hours, where each day one of the Walt Disney World theme parks opens one hour early or stays open up to three hours later, providing extra time in the parks to experience select attractions.
For more information about the new Online Check-In Service, click on disneyworld.com.
WDWNT Videographer Jose Eber has returned with a fantastic high definition video of the Bay Lake Tower at Disney’s Contemporary Resort. As previously reported, all of the scaffolding is down and work on the interior is in full swing:
Bay Lake Tower at Disney’s Contemporary Resort is scheduled to open on Aug. 4, 2009. The Treehouse Villas at Saratoga Springs Resort are scheduled to open this summer, but no date has been released. All 60 “treehouses” are scheduled to open simultaneously.
Members with ownership interests in Bay Lake Tower at Disney’s Contemporary Resort may begin making reservations for their new home resort on Feb. 8. On that same date, Members with ownership interests at Disney’s Saratoga Springs Resort may begin making reservations for the resort’s new Treehouse Villas accommodations.
All Disney Vacation Club Members may book reservations for Bay Lake Tower at Disney’s Contemporary Resort and the Treehouse Villas accommodations at Disney’s Saratoga Springs Resort & Spa beginning on Feb. 22.
Construction of Bay Lake Tower at Disney’s Contemporary Resort remains ahead of schedule, putting the new Disney Vacation Club Resort on pace for an estimated opening on Aug. 4.
How exactly will members be able to make reservations next week for the Treehouse Villas when an opening date has not yet been announced? We haven’t heard anything about this minor issue yet.
In other DVC news, the Online Check-In Service currently being rolled out at select Disney resorts will launch for Disney Vacation Club Members on Feb. 24.
Robert Ashburn of Figment’s Media and FTN has provided us with another fantastic photo report, this time from the Magic Kingdom area with a full report on the park’s latest parade and some other smaller happenings. Let’s take a look:
We’ll start this report with photos from the debut performance of the Celebrate a Dream Come True Parade at the Magic Kingdom. Since the pre-parade vehicle is now in the actual parade, a high school band acted in it’s place
Disney was filming the first performance for some promotional footage
The parade banner leads along with what was the pre-parade Grand Marshal vehicle
While we anxiously await the return of Tom Corless, here’s some news for fans of Jiko and the California Grill from Scott Joseph’s Orlando Restaurant Guide blog:
Brian Piasecki has left Jiko The Cooking Place at Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge to take the top spot at the California Grill at Disney’s Contemporary Resort.
The spot at Jiko has been filled by John Clark, who most recently was in charge of operations at Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort’s first-floor restaurants.
The opening at California Grill was the result of Jens Dahlmann moving to Epcot to become that park’s executive chef.
No word on who’s taking the reigns at 1900 Park Fare and one of Tom’s personal favorites, the Grand Floridian Cafe.
