Walt Disney World Resort – Page 185

Reservations Open Today for New Enhanced Wishes Dessert Party

WDWNT on April 13, 2015

Enjoy an exclusive, unforgettable view of the fireworks over Cinderella Castle while you indulge in a decadent dessert experience at the newly enhanced Wishes Fireworks Dessert Party at Magic Kingdom Park beginning July 5, 2015.

Tomorrowland Terrace Dessert Party at Magic Kingdom Park will be enhanced and transformed into the Wishes Fireworks Dessert Party. Relax in a reserved seating area with family and friends over delicious desserts and beverages. Delight in a selection of themed desserts prepared daily by our pastry chef including chocolate-dipped strawberries, chocolate mousse, and ice cream. Delectable new additions to the menu include a variety of seasonal fruit and cheese, Disney character-themed cupcakes, and more!

As the fireworks begin, a sparkling cider toast will be offered. Throughout the evening, you can now enjoy hot chocolate and signature lemonades, as well as coffee and tea.

Wishes Fireworks Dessert Party is $49 for adults, $29 for children, tax included. Reservations can be made beginning on March 20 by visiting DisneyWorld.com/dine, or calling 407-WDW-DINE.

Speaking from personal experience, my family and I did the dessert party during our trip to Walt Disney World last year and we think it’s the best spot to relax and enjoy the fireworks and castle shows. We liked it so much that we’re doing it again for our trip back to Walt Disney World next week!

PHOTOS: New Merchandise on the Way To Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort

WDWNT on April 13, 2015

Disney today previewed more merchandise coming to Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort:

Disney once again showed off the fantastic Tiki medium figure near where the actual full-size statue will be located in the lobby.

These ceramic cups will arrive later in the year.

Hawaiin shirts for guests of all sizes are on the way, as well as bags and a hoodie.

Steven Miller of the Disney Parks Blog poses with a great shirt inspired by Trader Sam’s.

Adult and child apparel

A glass, picture frame, window decals, pins and magnets are among other items guests will be able to find at the resort. Trader Sam’s Grog Grotto has an open edition pin and a limited edition grand opening pin as well.

All of these items will be released at Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort this year.

Dirk Wallen’s 3/20/15 WDW Photo Report (Polynesian Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Hollywood Studios, Disney Springs, ETC.)

WDWNT on April 13, 2015

WDWNT Reporter Dirk Wallen was all over the Walt Disney World Resort this week and has a ton of newsworthy photos to share with us, so let’s take a look at what’s new and exciting:

Starting at the Polynesian, the right side of the entrance is out from behind walls and looking good

The pool area is nearing completion also

Moving to the Magic Kingdom, work on the center of the hub is picking up speed

New planters await railings

The old Rose Garden is now being demolished as part of the hub expansion

The final remnants of the Plaza Swan Boats are being erased

Moving over to the Studios, walls are up around the former site of the Sorcerer’s Hat, at least through late-April

Strange to see this sight again, but if Echo Lake is demolished, it won’t be a sight for long

Over at Epcot, work continues on the mysterious “colorful” new Innoventions exhibit

Meanwhile, there is no visible progress on the Frozen attraction

Moving to Disney Springs, the Marketplace Co-Op has these Adventurer’s Club signs back in stock

These photos were taken just before the first pedestrian bridge was installed yesterday

The Town Center will rise upon this site over the next 12-14 months

One large structure is already rising

The small park area in front of Planet Hollywood and the Orange Garage entrance is nearing completion

New planters being installed outside Harley Davidson

No visible progress on STK Orlando, the supposed replacement for the BET Soundstage

The Hangar restaurant is now completely sealed, but still no announcement from Disney

The new Margarita Bar and pier in the Marketplace is coming along nicely

The BOATHOUSE, as seen from the Village Causeway

Still to early to tell, but this looks like one fo the facades that will hide the second parking garage from view

A lot of work still to be done on Morimoto Asia

Meanwhile, flags have gone up outside of the BOATHOUSE, leading us to believe it is nearing completion

Work on the dock is wrapping up

Another look at the Hangar Restaurant, whatever it might be…

Innoventions West Closing, Are New Exhibits Coming or is Something Bigger on the Way?

WDWNT on April 13, 2015

Disney confirmed after a few days of speculation that all existing exhibits inside Innoventions West at Epcot will be closing. The expected closing date is April 30th.

While it isn’t rare for Innoventions exhibits to close and be replaced, the last time that the entire pavilion or a whole side of it was shut down was when it was converted from Communicore to Innoventions in 1994.

We are also led to believe this has been in the works for a long time now as replacements for the now long-closed Velcro, Segway, and Rockin’ Robots exhibits never materialized, even after years of vacancy in those space. Where’s the Fire, IBM Think, and the Great Piggybank Adventure will now follow suit.

“We’ve reached the end of our sponsorship agreements with the exhibitors in Innoventions West and will temporarily close the space in early May to begin preparing for a new experience.” – Disney spokeswoman earlier today, according to the Orlando Sentinel.

Innoventions at Disneyland is closing permanently at the end of March 2015, so is Innoventions West at Epcot coming back, or is this the start of something else planned for the park? Now, it is possible they are just taking this opportunity to remodel the space before new tenants move in (the last time this happened was 1999), but it seems odd at a time when Disney is often hard-pressed to find sponsors for Epcot attractions. We will just have to wait and see…

CONFIRMED: Jungle Cruise Themed “Skipper’s Cantina” Restaurant Coming to the Magic Kingdom

WDWNT on April 13, 2015

The Jungle Cruise may not be getting a store anytime soon, but it is getting its own restaurant…

Image courtesy WidenYourWorld.net, Adventureland Veranda many years ago

The Adventureland Veranda restaurant opened with the park in October 1971, and despite several widespread menu changes and the arrival and departure of Kikkoman as a corporate sponsor, continued to operate until 1994. Since then, it has been used for many things, mostly character meet and greets and treat stations for the Magic Kingdom’s party events. After most recently serving as home to Tinker Bell and her fairy friends before she flew on over to Town Square Theater, the establishment will finally return to food service after 21 years of being lost in the shuffle. The recent swap of Sunshine Tree Terrace and Aloha Isle was indeed a measure to alleviate traffic in front of the restaurant’s entrances and exits.

The space being used as Tinker Bell’s Magical Nook

The new restaurant will be tentatively called the “Skipper’s Cantina”, themed around the near-by Jungle Cruise attraction. The back story would revolve around Jungle Cruise skippers being paid pretty poorly by the Jungle Navigation Company (or Disney in real life, but that’s enough of that…) and needing to operate the restaurant to make a little more money. This would be significant as it would be the first restaurant at the domestic Disney Parks inspired by an original Disney attraction and not an animated or live action film.

Who’s hungry for some Jungle Cruise-inspired cuisine?

Current rumors speculate that the restaurant will operate in a similar fashion to “Be Our Guest” in that is will offer a counter service lunch and a table service dinner. With the annual Magic Kingdom park attendance continually rising, the once unnecessary establishment will now serve a real purpose in helping out the overburdened park-wide dining facilities in the Magic Kingdom of 2015.

Disney would like to have the new restaurant open by November 2015, but that is purely speculation at this time. That being said, the interior of the building was never damaged too heavily by any of the tenants over the last few years, so the conversion shouldn’t take very long.

Stay tuned for more on this breaking story…

REVIEW: Be Our Guest Restaurant Begins Breakfast Test; Is It Worth The Price?

WDWNT on April 13, 2015

On Friday, the Be Our Guest Restaurant in New Fantasyland at the Magic Kingdom began testing breakfast service between the hours of 8 & 10 AM. We went to check it out on Sunday and see if the ever-popular restaurant’s pricey new breakfast would live up to months of speculation and hype surrounding it. Let’s find out if it did:

Yes, it is expensive.

Each table is provided a pastry tray. The pastry tray is pretty small for a party of 4, but I can see parties of 2 feeling like they got more than enough from this. With a few different reservations, we ended up having 12 in our party on Sunday morning. Now, you would think that each separate transaction would warrant a separate pastry tray, but it did not. The servers gave us 4 pastry plates for 12 people. If more than 4 people wanted a croissant, well, I guess that’s too bad. After asking several times, they did bring us a few more trays, but upon telling them that our kids would really love another croissant (if possible), the waitress vanished and never returned. I would much rather they simplify this as a basket of croissants and muffins, rather than this sampler that doesn’t feature many items that are easily share-able amongst more than 2 people. Besides that, they were the usual pastries you’d find at any of the breakfast buffets and most of the items are quite good… if you actually get one…

There is some variation in the trays as well, with a cinnamon roll being replaced with this tart in this case

The croissant doughnut was insane, but also insanely delicious. Very sweet, very soft, practically perfect in every way.

The Eggs Florentine was my favorite dish. The flaky, crisp pastry mixed with eggs and spinach was absolutely delicious.

The meat tray was good, but fairly standard.

The vegetable quiche was surprisingly edible and actually a really good option for those with special dietary needs. The crust was perfect, and there was enough flavor in it to feel satisfied with it.

The open face sandwich was also very good, but every order of this at our table was a bit cold. The ordering system at Be Our Guest can be spotty at times and you really can’t afford a delay in food coming to a guest’s table when there are eggs on it. Eggs cool down real fast and it was apparent this sat somewhere for a bit.

The kid’s meals aren’t huge, but they are kid’s meals. Our 4 and 6 year-old children enjoyed them, but there honestly was anything special about them.

Overall, some dishes were great and some mediocre, but none of them were bad. I’ve had much worse breakfasts at Disney Parks, and I wouldn’t rank this lower than many (not bringing value into play).

So, is it worth $20 a person? You might be surprised to hear maybe…

Look at it this way: A tremendous amount of guests book a breakfast reservation for the Crystal Palace really just to get in the park early and get a jump on the crowds. Crystal Palace is far more expensive than Be Our Guest Restaurant for breakfast. Yes, there are characters, and yes, it is a buffet, but the price point is significantly higher. An 8:00AM Be Our Guest Reservation is far more affordable for any family, and while there is less food and no characters, that same early advantage remains. While later reservations won’t have this advantage (and thus are more easily deemed overpriced, which I feel that the meals are), I can’t help but feel Disney priced this based on those who will receive this perk and perhaps some backlash from those paying a lot more for Cinderella’s royal Table or Crystal Palace. Be Our Guest is the closest restaurant to Seven Dwarfs Mine Train too…

PHOTOS: Tour the New Villas and Bungalows of Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort

WDWNT on April 13, 2015

We are just days away from the opening of the Villas and Bungalows at Disney’s Polynesian Resort, but we’ve got a look inside the new DVC resort rooms for you today:

Stopping first at the Bora Bora Bungalows

Yes, it’s a lot of money to stay here, but it is clear these are something very special

You’ll find artwork with the Electrical Water Pageant when you pull the bed down

Great artwork in the rooms

These look awfully familiar… oh yeah, YOU COULD BUY THESE…

Super-amazing artwork!

The decor is really wonderful

The bungalows have there own private plunge pool

The giant bathroom

Yes, they have the TV in the mirror too

Now moving on to the Villas

The hallways inside are very colorful

A look around inside the Villa

Polynesian Tiki guy is the lamp…

A look ahead to the soon-to-be-completed pool area

Marvel “Super Hero Headquarters” Store Opening in Disney Springs This May

WDWNT on April 13, 2015

Disney has announced that today will be the final day for the United World Soccer store on the West Side of Disney Springs/Downtown Disney. In May (just in time for “Avengers: Age of Ultron”), the space will re-open as “Super Hero Headquarters”.

According to Disney, the store will “feature popular superhero-themed merchandise”. No other details have been provided. Rumors have indicated that a Marvel store was coming to Disney Springs, but nothing in the information released so far by Disney states this is an official or Disney-operated Marvel store, but that doesn’t mean that it won’t be.

Marvel merchandise can currently be found at D-Street on the West Side, but we are expecting all of the merchandise to be either removed or moved to the new store if it is in-fact Disney owned.

50 Cent’s SMS Audio Announces Disney Parks Partnership, Set to Sponsor Star Tours

WDWNT on April 13, 2015

From Twice.com:

Delray Beach, Fla. — SMS Audio, the audio manufacturer helmed by rapper 50 Cent, announced it is has entered into a strategic alliance with Walt Disney Parks and Resorts.

As part of the agreement, SMS Audio is now the official headphones of Walt Disney World Resort and Disneyland Resort, as well as of the Official Disney Fan Club. It will also be a sponsor of “Star Tours – The Adventures Continue” attraction at Hollywood Studios, and a sponsor of the Avengers Super Heroes Half Marathon Weekend and Star Wars Half Marathon Weekend at Disneyland Resort.

SMS Audio’s products are currently sold throughout the resorts, and the new Second Edition Star Wars collection will be available later this spring. Products will also be featured at Disney’s annual Star Wars Weekends, and SMS will participate in the D23 Expo 2015: The Ultimate Disney Fan Event, held this summer at California’s Anaheim Convention Center.

Brian Nohe, SMS Audio president, said in a statement that the company plans to build upon the partnership even further. SMS’s first Lucasfilms- (and thus Disney-) licensed products became available in May 2014. Nohe noted to TWICE a few months later: “A lot people questioned why we’d do that, and the reason is there’s a lot of Star Wars fans. They really appreciate quality product. … We sold out of our first couple runs of Star Wars products, and it’s doing fabulous.”

PHOTOS: Concept Art Exhibit for PIXAR’s “Inside Out” Opens at Disney’s Hollywood Studios

WDWNT on April 13, 2015

Yesterday, a new exhibit opened in the Production Gallery at the Magic of Disney Animation in Disney’s Hollywood Studios. The new exhibit celebrates art from the upcoming PIXAR film Inside Out: