Beginning May 21st, Trail’s End at Fort Wilderness will begin offering a weekend brunch every Saturday and Sunday from 7:30AM until 2:00PM. This brunch will feature the usual breakfast buffet plus some additions. Here’s the menu”
Hot Foods
Scrambled Eggs
Bacon
Sausage
Hash brown potatoes
Canadian Bacon Benedict
Pasta (Veg-pesto)
Mix Vegetables
Fried Chicken
Baked Mac and Cheese
Mash Potatoes and Gravy
Omelets to order
Diced Ham
Andouille
Bacon
Shredded Cheddar Cheese
Diced Onion
Diced Peppers
Roasted Mushrooms
Pull Pork or Brisket
Chili
Salsa
Eggs to order
Over easy
medium
hard
Sunny side up
Poached
Mickey and Belgian Waffles – with various warm toppings:
Blueberry Compote
Banana Fosters
Maple
Praline Sauce
Whipped Cream
Dessert Island
French Toast Bread Pudding
Assorted Pastries (4 different Kinds)
Red Velvet Cake -Cookies (2 different kinds)
Apple Cobbler
Corn Muffins
Fresh Fruit
Watermelon
Melon
Strawberries
Citrus Wedges
Breakfast Cold items offered from 7:30am to 11:00am
Smoke Salmon
Sliced Cheddar Cheese
Sliced Salami
Slice Ham
Yogurt (Strawberry)
Items introduced at 11:00am
Shrimp
Caesar Salad
Cole Slaw
Potato Salad
Mix Green Salad (with 3 dressings)
Soup Station:
Chili
Grits
Buffet price is $23.00 for adults and $13.00 for children and all usual discounts will be accepted for this brunch offering.
Rivers of Light is delayed and Pandora: The World of AVATAR might be a year away, but Animal Kingdom is taking down one of it’s headlining attractions for 2 months this summer.
DINOSAUR will be closed July 25th until September 29th, 2016. The ride has seen a number of broken effects over the last few months, so it is expected these items will be fixed at this time before more attention is placed on the park next year with the opening of AVATAR. Other significant changes for the ride have been rumored over the last year or so, but it is unknown if any will be made during this closure.
Ample Hills Creamery opened this past weekend as the latest resident of Disney’s Boardwalk. The new specialty ice cream shop replaces the ESPN Yard Arcade and fills the void left by the closure of Seashore Sweets (which is now set to become part of the AbracadaBAR and Flying Fish). Ample Hills operates a location in Brooklyn, New York already making this just their second location, however, Ample Hills pre-packaged ice cream is now available across the country.
The menu is fairly straightforward: 16 flavors, large or small cups/cones, sundaes, and milkshakes.
Take a video tour of the interior and all of the ice cream flavors:
Some pre-packaged Ample Hills ice cream is also available.
The interior evokes feelings of the northeast amusement boardwalks in the 1920’s, but still has a lot of the Ample Hills personality evident.
Here’s the menu. Many of our readers have commented that Ample Hills is overpriced, but I’m not entirely sure I agree that these prices are crazy for a specialty ice cream shop at Walt Disney World. Comparably around the resort, Dole Whip is $4.19, soft-serve ice cream in a cup or cone is $3.69, and most items at Plaza Ice Cream are priced around $5 each. At $0.50-$3 more for specialty ice cream with a variety of toppings or even a specialty hand-made cone, I don’t think anything here is unreasonable, except for the milkshakes.
OK, let’s talk about what we ate: this is the Sally Sells Seashells ice cream (exclusive to Walt Disney World) with an M&M filled cone. The flavor was a little too orange-y for me, but the cone was pretty spectacular. I highly recommend a specialty cone no matter what flavor you decide upon for your ice cream.
Here’s butter pecan brittle and ooey gooey butter cake in a chocolate chip cone. Again, you are doing yourself a disservice if you don’t get one of these cones.
I also decided to try a milkshake, this one with the Chocolate Milk and Cookies flavor. The milkshake wasn’t very big for the price, but I was a big fan of the service provided. I have never been asked how thick I would like the milkshake to be made, but the server here asked and made it just to my liking. This flavor was also fantastic; nothing crazy but basically chocolate instead of vanilla with cookies and cream, which is pretty neat.
With all 16 flavors at the very least sampled, the resounding favorites were Chocolate Cookies and Cream, Peanut Butter Wins the Cup, and Butter Pecan Brittle. Malty Salty Pretzel Punch and the Sally Sells Seashells were a bit of a disappointment based on how the description sounded, but otherwise there wasn’t a flavor I necessarily thought was terrible.
Ample Hills is a good alternative in the Epcot Resort Area when Beaches and Cream is a little too crowded, but if I had to choose, I would still probably pick Beaches and Cream over Ample Hills. Regardless, it is a HUGE improvement over the pre-made Edy’s ice cream that was served at Seashore Sweets and a welcome addition to Disney’s Boardwalk.
Special thanks to Elizabeth Chatron for her assistance in this review.
Rivers of Light won’t be looking to debut this Summer as we reported, but that won’t be stopping Disney from bringing Disney’s Animal Kingdom to life in the evenings. Starting Memorial Day weekend, a number of offerings will debut, including a Rivers of Light placeholder:
The Jungle Book: Alive with Magic
For the summer, Discovery River becomes the stage for music and pageantry in a limited-engagement show inspired by Disney’s hit live-action film The Jungle Book. Jungle Book: Alive with Magic is a live show filled with music and special effects that celebrates the new film and the classic songs, now infused with an Indian influence.
The rest of the lineup is coming as originally envisioned:
The Tree of Life Awakens
The theme park’s iconic Tree of Life will undergo extraordinary “awakenings” throughout the evening as the animal spirits are brought to life by magical fireflies that reveal colorful stories of wonder and enchantment. High-tech projections of nature scenes take on a magical quality as they appear to dramatically emanate from within the Tree of Life.
Kilimanjaro Safaris after Dark
Each evening, the popular Kilimanjaro Safaris daytime experience is artfully bathed in the glow of sunset with special lighting allowing guests to explore this attraction well into the night. During the expedition, guests can now encounter the nighttime behavior of the wildlife and better tune in to the unique vocalization of the animals. Plus, there are two new species to discover: African wild dogs and hyenas.
Harambe Wildlife Parti
When the sun sets, the popular Village of Harambe will become a hot spot with the new Harambe Wildlife Parti. Here, “party animals” can dance alongside a variety of entertainers and local street musicians, and enjoy the lively rhythms of African music. Guests can also partake in exotic foods and libations, and explore the diverse wares of village artisans and merchants in the vibrant marketplace.
Discovery Island Carnivale
The spirited community of Discovery Island has come together to celebrate their love of the natural world with the Discovery Island Carnivale. This nightly experience will captivate guests with lively music, jubilant dance, vibrant costumes, stilt walkers and tasty culinary creations — winding from one end of the island to the other.
Tiffins Signature Restaurant
In addition to the diverse new entertainment offerings, guests will enjoy Disney’s Animal Kingdom’s new signature eatery, Tiffins. Open for both lunch and dinner, this new signature dining experience will celebrate the art of traveling and include waterfront views from both indoor and outdoor seating areas. “Tiffin” is an Indian English word meaning midday meal or type of container used to carry food while traveling.
New Adventures with Favorite Attractions
Most attractions remain open at nightfall, and will shine like never before. At sundown, Kali River Rapids will reveal mysterious twists and turns throughout the rainforest with dramatic and drenching fun. Expedition Everest thrills adventurers as it lurches forward and backward through the icy peaks of the Himalayas. At night, the majestic mountain challenges trekkers to an evening ride revealing breathtaking views of the Animal Kingdom canopied by starlight. Amidst the colorful midway games at Chester & Hester’s Dino-Rama in DinoLand U.S.A., the thrills turn up aboard the zany Triceratop Spin or Primeval Whirl under the lights.
Just minutes ago, Disney shared a sneak peek of what’s coming to Toy Story Land at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, including new details on the land’s attractions set to bring the world of Toy Story to life for guests.
In Toy Story Land, you’ll find yourself shrunk to the size of a toy to explore the world of Andy’s backyard with your favorite Toy Story characters, including Woody and Buzz. There are two new themed attractions being developed for Toy Story Land.
The first – Slinky Dog Dash – will be a family coaster attraction. The attraction features a coaster track that Andy has built all over his backyard using his Mega Coaster Play Kit, but as you know, he has a pretty amazing imagination, so he’s combined it with some of his other toys, according to Imagineer Kathy Mangum. Take a look at a concept video of Slinky Dog Dash that Kathy shared earlier:
On Slinky Dog Dash, you will zip, dodge and dash around many turns and drops that Andy has created to really make Slinky and his coils stretch to his limits.
The second all-new attraction in Toy Story Land will be Alien Swirling Saucers. This attraction is designed as a toy play set that Andy got from Pizza Planet, inspired by the first Toy Story film. Aliens are flying around in their toy flying saucers and trying to capture your rocket toy vehicle with “The Claw.”
As you rotate around the toy planets and satellites as part of the game, you’ll swirl to the beat of fun “Space Jazz” music developed just for this experience, Mangum said. The music, the lighting, and the sound effects will add to the flurry of your adventure while “The Claw” looms ominously over you.
Also today, Mangum shared an update that beginning Memorial Day weekend, even more guests will be able to experience Toy Story Mania with the addition of a third track.
Starting in early May, guests visiting Epcot will be able to spot Dory and some of her friends from the new film “Finding Dory” at the park’s “Turtle Talk With Crush” attraction.
Some of her new pals you can expect to spot within the attraction include Destiny the whale shark, Bailey the beluga whale and Hank the “septopus” (that’s a seven-legged octopus). Crush’s son and best pal Squirt will also be swimming by for the first time, as well you may spot Nemo and his dad Marlin.
“Finding Dory” swims into theaters on June 17, 2016.
Rivers of Light may not be ready to debut anytime soon, but Disney previewed what they could of the new nighttime spectacular for Animal Kingdom at last night’s media preview. Take a look:
What we have seen of the show so far looks visually stunning, and personally, I’m a big fan of the soundtrack so far. Whenever it does debut, this should be a real crowd-pleaser for the park. Hopefully it is soon…
Nighttime safaris are coming to Kilimanjaro Safaris this Memorial Day weekend, but we are already getting an in-depth look at what we can expect from this new offering:
Beginning May 27th, Disney’s Animal Kingdom park will be open nightly until 11pm through July 2nd. There is no word yet on if any Extra Magic Hours evenings will extend past this time, but cast members were informed of the new hours this afternoon.
It has also not been stated what the park closing time will be after July 2nd.
Disney Parks will welcome its first princess inspired by diverse Latin cultures. Princess Elena of Avalor will be appearing at Walt Disney World Resort this summer and at Disneyland Resort in the fall, following her television debut in a new animated series this summer on Disney Channel.
Kids and families worldwide will be enchanted by the story of Princess Elena, a bold, caring, funny and clever 16-year-old who is ascendant to the throne in the fairytale kingdom of Avalor. The series follows the story of Elena, who saves her kingdom from an evil sorceress and must now learn to rule with the support of her appointed Grand Council and some magical friends by her side. Elena’s adventures will lead her to understand that her new role requires thoughtfulness, resilience and compassion, the traits of all truly great leaders, while highlighting the importance of family and family traditions.
The inspiring story of Elena of Avalor will be shared in 33 languages in 163 countries on Disney Channels worldwide. And, Disney Parks, where universally enchanting stories come to life every day, will be the place where families can see Disney’s newest princess in person. At Walt Disney World Resort, Elena will appear in the Magic Kingdom. At Disneyland Resort, she will appear at Disney California Adventure. The Disney Princesses at Walt Disney World Resort will welcome Elena in August. Her Disneyland arrival date will be announced in the near future.
