REVIEW: Cosmic Ray’s Starlight Cafe Holiday Offerings, The Magic Kingdom

For the 2017 holiday season, many Magic Kingdom restaurants are offering some special holiday fare, so we decided to check out the rather interesting offerings at Cosmic Ray’s Starlight Cafe in Tomorrowland…

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The Bah Humburger ($13.99)

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Char-grilled Angus Cheeseburger topped with Turkey and Cornbread Stuffing and our Signature Cranberry Scrooge Sauce on a Brioche Bun, served with French Fries or Green Beans.

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If these toppings were placed on a burger that wasn’t served at a Magic Kingdom counter service restaurant, I think it would be quite good, but the problem here is where it was made. This is a good idea, and the turkey, cornbread stuffing, and cranberry sauce (which is thankfully not very bold and just adds a hint of cranberry flavor) were all enjoyable, but the hamburger underneath had no taste whatsoever.

Fa la la Fondant Fries ($4.29)

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Dusted with Cinnamon Sugar and drizzled with a Holiday Colored Fondant.

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These sounded weird and gross, so I immediately knew that I had to review them. Let’s be honest, you clicked this review to see what was going on with these french fries. So… these aren’t bad. It’s surprising how well icing and cinnamon sugar goes with fries (although fries historically go well with sweets). The one thing I will say is eat them while they are as hot as possible, because once the fries cool down, the flavor loses a lot of its charm and you start to realize that YOU ARE EATING COLD FRENCH FRIES WITH ICING ON THEM.

Magic Kingdom Counter Service Restaurants Roll-Out Special Holiday Menus for December 2017

For the busy holiday season, guests at the Magic Kingdom will find a number of specialty offerings at all counter service restaurants that offer mobile order through the MyDisneyExperience app. These items are available upon request otherwise, but many are not posted on menu boards or anywhere at all at the actual counter service restaurant.

Casey’s Corner:

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Aloha Isle:

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Aloha Isle does have the Dole Whip in a souvenir cup on a board at the counter.

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Pecos Bill Tall Tale Inn and Cafe:

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Pinocchio Village Haus:

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Cosmic Ray’s Starlight Cafe:

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You can get a full item description by clicking on it during the mobile order process…

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The Lunching Pad:

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Columbia Harbour House:

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The items are expected to be available through the end of 2017 at least.

PHOTO REPORT: Magic Kingdom 10/31/17 (MARVEL Invasion, New Princess & Tinker Bell Merchandise, Halloween Party, Club 33, ETC.)

Our latest photo report brings us to the Magic Kingdom for one last look at the Halloween season before Christmas settles in next week.

Welcome to the Magic Kingdom

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The last Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Part is on November 1st, and then it’s full speed to the Christmas season at the park.

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A section of the Emporium is still behind tarps.

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Items in the Vera Bradley Alice in Wonderland collection are buy one, get one 50% off at Uptown Jewelers.

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The Little Mermaid collection is also available here.

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A smaller version of The Dress Shop has opened towards Casey’s Corner. Many of the dresses, purses, and more from the Disney Springs shop can be found here now.

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For some reason, this limited release shirt from ShopDisney is being sold in the parks concurrently. The location makes sense as this space was the House of Magic many years ago. Hopefully, more limited release shirts like this get released at the parks as well. Sadly, the matching MagicBand is online only.

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The more confusing part is putting the shirt in a window that’s currently boarded up and no one can see…

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Even though a few parties remain, any guest at the Magic Kingdom can now buy select items from the event.

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As I said last year, I don’t agree with this. At least wait for the last party to end or send it to the outlets. It takes away one of the parks of the very expensive party ticket.

The Club That’s Made Not for You and Me

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As we reported over the weekend, work has begun on what will likely be the Club 33 locations for the Magic Kingdom, the remainder of the old Adventureland Veranda.

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The path into Adventureland is quite narrow right now due to the work.

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Some are speculating that this work is actually for a permanent Moana meet and greet, but it seems way too extensive for something so minor.

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Giant sections of awning that have been there since the 70’s have been removed. This wouldn’t be necessary for a meet and greet and could have been kept.

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With a little tree clearing, the patio would offer some unique fireworks views for Club 33 guests.

This and That

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All of the trees between Be Our Guest Restaurant and the village had to be removed due to hurricane damage.

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In fairness, it doesn’t look terrible since all of the walls the trees covered are well-themed.

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We’re still hoping they plant some new trees, at least to cover this speaker tower.

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Work continues on the outdoor covered seating area at Cosmic Ray’s Starlight Cafe. Should open very soon.

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Pecos Bill’s has added an menu with pictures… it’s a window cling.

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Splash Mountain is still closed for refurbishment.

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Some new holiday plush for sale. Goofy’s sweater features bulbs that actually light up.

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You can get the blown-glass Monorail ornament personalized at Ye Olde Christmas Shoppe.

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For some reason, they have a Haunted Mansion merchandise cart out in front of the store selling accessories. I suppose this is to capitalize on Halloween Party guests.

Princess Apparel 

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A number of new Princess items were released recently, including this Snow White line.

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$36.99

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$39.99

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$36.99

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$39.99

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Sir Mickey’s has the new Little Mermaid line as well.

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The collection also includes this hoodie, $49.99.

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Jasmine top, $36.99

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Aurora top, $36.99

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Belle long sleeve top, $44.99

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There are also 4 new Tinker Bell shirts. They range in price from $36.99-39.99.

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A large section of Sir Mickey’s is now selling items from Olaf’s Frozen Adventure.

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This pillow is exclusive to the parks.

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It retails for $27.99.

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Shop ‘Till You Drop

PHOTOS: New Restrooms and Exterior Seating Now Open at Cosmic Ray’s Starlight Cafe

After months of work, some of the new exterior seating and completely remodeled restrooms have debuted at Cosmic Ray’s Starlight Cafe in Tomorrowland at the Magic Kingdom.

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Benches against the building accompany tables and chairs for the new outdoor seating area.

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A new wheelchair ramp in place.

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The large sign advertising the bays was removed.

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Cosmic Ray’s has notoriously had some of the worst restrooms at Walt Disney World over the years. Thankfully, they were completely remodeled and are even well-themed to Tomorrowland.

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The entry area of both restrooms has a pretty neat light-up panel obscuring the view.

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Please note that these photos were taken early in the morning after we made sure no one was using them.

5 Magic Kingdom Restaurants Will Join Counter Service Mobile Ordering Program Next

Following the success of the Satuli Canteen and Pizzafari in Disney’s Animal Kingdom, 5 Magic Kingdom restaurants will launch the mobile ordering program starting in the next few days.

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Magic Kingdom locations joining the program include Tomorrowland Terrace Restaurant, Cosmic Ray’s Starlight Cafe, Pinocchio Village Haus, Pecos Bill Tall Tale Inn & Cafe, and Columbia Harbour House.

The mobile ordering program allows guests to order at Disney counter service restaurants from their mobile devices and then pick-up the order when they are ready to eat. Check out our comprehensive review of the service to see how it works.

Additional locations will slowly be rolled out over the coming weeks.

PHOTO REPORT: The Magic Kingdom 2/21/17 (New Hotel Roadways, The Haunted Mansion, 70’s Tomorrowland, ETC.)

Our latest photo report brings us on a short trip to the Magic Kingdom to see what’s new and exciting inside (and outside) of the world’s most visited theme park.

Road Work

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While taking the monorail from Epcot to Magic Kingdom, we got a nice view of the ongoing roadwork to alter the way guests leave and enter the Magic Kingdom resort area. This will alleviate the current Magic Kingdom toll plaza, leaving it just for guests parking at the Transportation and Ticket Center. You can see the plans for the roadwork HERE.

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A ton of trees on the right side of the toll plaza are cleared for a new road to take guests to Fort Wilderness Resort and Campground.

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To the left, more trees are being cleared just after the toll plaza, where the new flyover will be.

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Monorail red was looking really rough, and its wasn’t just on the doors either. The front of the nose cone was just as marked up as this. When things look like this, it is unacceptable. This is the kind of maintenance I expect from Six Flags, not Disney.

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Welcome to the Magic Kingdom

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Work continues on the Main Street Railroad Station and the train remains closed.

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The Haunted Mansion MagicBand 2 was released recently. For more details on it (and link to buy it), check out our post on the limited edition collectible. If you click the link to buy, WDWNT even gets a few bucks to put towards more fantastic Disney World coverage for you.

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Work continues on the new covered seating areas outside of Cosmic Ray’s Starlight Cafe.

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The D-Tech on Demand kiosks inside the Tomorrowland Light and Power Co. now also have a matching Haunted Mansion 45th anniversary phone case.

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There are also some new MagicBand designs inspired by the upcoming Beauty and the Beast film.

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Sadly, these are still going to be printed on the old MagicBands.

Tomorrowland Gets “Revive”d

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The Joffrey’s Revive coffee kiosk in Tomorrowland just got really interesting, now with a tall marquee reminiscent of those that were found in the land back in the 1970’s.

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If You Had Wings, Flight to the Moon/Mission to Mars, and the Circlevision 360 theaters all had similar marquees back in the day.

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This and That

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Some nice flowers were planted in Town Square, perfect for the spring weather which has already descended upon Orlando.

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On the way back aboard the monorail, we could see more work happening just outside of the Magic Kingdom toll plaza, along the road which leads guests away from the park. Apologies for the dirt monorail window, but it was the hand we were dealt.

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PHOTO REPORT: The Magic Kingdom 2/13/17 (Walls Everywhere, Tomorrowland Overhaul, Beauty and the Beast, ETC.)

Our latest photo report brings us to the Magic Kingdom as many refurbishments and enhancements continue through the less busy weeks of the year.

Welcome to the Magic Kingdom

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Work continues on the Magic Kingdom monorail station (and it remains open thankfully).

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Work continues on the Magic Kingdom train station.

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The Emporium remains open while work is done to the exterior.

Tomorrowland In Progress Today

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Sadly, the new paint scheme on the Tomorrowland rocks is already peeling.

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There are now Toy Story Snuggle Snappers for sale.

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Work continues on the rumored Joffrey’s Coffee location in Tomorrowland.

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Just a few days ago, there was just a foundation behind those walls.

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The Cool Ship has reopened, but the Cool Scanner remains under refurbishment.

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The exterior painting on Space Mountain continues.

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A look down at just the foundation for the coffee stand.

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The Cool Ship is looking good after its short refurbishment.

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Apparently, the guest relations location in Tomorrowland is still a thing, there was just no one working there the last time we visited.

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Some Beauty and the Beast phone case designs can now be found at the D-Tech on Demand kiosks here.

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As you can see, it was open again. I’m guessing they were understaffed the last time we visited.

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The refurbishment of Cosmic Ray’s Starlight Cafe is underway, with the restrooms closed for remodeling.

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This kid asked me why the bathrooms are closed. I responded, “Kid, have you eaten here?”

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I’m not sure if it was done recently, but I noticed the old multicolored covering on the benches was gone and there was a new paint scheme on the walls.

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There is now a FuelRod kiosk inside of Cosmic Ray’s. The convenience continues to grow as you can find many of these in each park now.

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The work on the exterior has many of the windows covered.

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If you couldn’t tell, it is really dark inside right now.

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The work outside is to add more covered seating areas.

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Beauty and the Beast Taking Over

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I found the Beauty and the Beast MagicBand at the Magic Kingdom. It’s not the best one I’ve seen…

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Bonjour Village Gifts is now selling tons of merchandise from the new movie.

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Including the Belle doll which most think looks more like Justin Bieber in a dress…

This and That

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I’m no fan of Pinocchio Village Haus, but closing at 6pm seems a bit early. Even the @WDWToday twitter account tweeted at 6pm the other day that you should go eat here, but it was closed already…


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Inside, the electronic menu boards have been covered for a while, with these static signs placed over them for now.

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There are now candy-filled lightsabers for sale at the parks.

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Filled with off-brand M&M’s…

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You can get blue or red, but clearly the red is more popular.

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A new mug for sale in the Emporium.

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I thought it was neat that it has an emoji of the castle underneath instead of the usual logo.

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Pecos Bill’s has become my favorite quick service lunch spot over the last year. It seems this is where I end up every time there’s not something new to order elsewhere in the park.

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The new kid’s nachos dish is a pretty good value, and you can load it up as much as you want at the fixin’s bar.

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The taller trees on the riverbank were removed to help with the sight-lines for Tiana’s Riverboat Party.

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As you can see, this new, smaller tree was just planted.

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All sorts of emergency walkways and exits around the parks seems to be getting much brighter LED lighting for nighttime.

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Seen here, the stairway at the dock is brighter than the lights on the Riverboat.

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Tomorrowland Tonight

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The nighttime lighting on the Tomorrowland rocks looks great as it reflects off the water and makes a wave effect.

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New lighting was installed on the Progress City model along the Peoplemover and it looks great.

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Just two days later, the entire Joffrey’s Coffee kiosk was there (sorry for the blurry pics, but best I could do).

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Goodbye…

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The Wishes! poster acts as a decent reminder when you leave that you only have a few weeks left to see this legendary show.

PHOTO REPORT: Magic Kingdom 10/29/16 (Haunted Mansion, Tomorrowland Entrance Done, ETC.)

Our latest photo report brings us to the Magic Kingdom, as Halloween fades into Christmas… even though it isn’t even Halloween yet.

Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort

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The lamp from the rooms at the Polynesian is for sale again, JUST $300!!! (He says as he already owns one…)

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Moana Mercantile has fittingly been taken over by Moana merchandise.

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The Reyn Spooner Moana shirt retails for $118.00, but it’s pretty snazzy.

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Welcome to the Magic Kingdom

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Christmas and Halloween are fighting for the last few days of October.

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Signage for Celebrate the Magic on Main Street will need to be changed as the show is departing on November 3rd.

Tomorrowland Rocks

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The painting of the rocks at the entrance to Tomorrowland is finally complete.

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Stitch’s Great Escape is closed seasonally through later this month, so for now it is stroller parking…

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This and That

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A new Dumbo MagicBand can be found in shops around the parks.

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Moana phone cases are now available through D-Tech on Demand at the Tomorrowland Light and Power Company.

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You can still make a Main Street Electrical Parade MagicBand, even though it is gone now.

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The banners taken down for Hurricane Matthew in Storybook Circus are coming back very slowly. Part of that is Disney is also installing new ones currently since the old set was faded from the sun.

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There are still Halloween Parties left, but Disney is selling the merchandise any old time now. Kind of frustrating for those who attended, they should at least wait until all of the Parties have happened.

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I did find some new ladies shirts inside Big Top Souvenirs as well.

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Columbia Harbor House now has a shrimp macaroni and cheese dish.

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Yum?

The Haunted Mansion

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Most of the tarps are finally down at the Haunted Mansion.

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The attraction exit is missing an awning right now.

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The interactive queue is missing a covering as well.

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Mousecellaneous

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The pot roast and the Pilgrims’ Feast are gone from Liberty Tree Tavern, check out our lunch review for all of the info.

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New “it’s a small world” pin, and the clock face actually moves on it which is pretty cool.

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Halloween Party exclusive pins readily available on a non-party day.

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The refurbishment of Big Thunder Mountain Railroad rolls on…

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It was particularly busy on Wednesday, this was the FastPass line for Pirates of the Caribbean.

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After seeing this line, Evinrude the dragonfly flew as far away as he could.

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The Swiss Family Robinson Treehouse is back from its lengthy refurbishment and it is looking fantastic.

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The only thing that seemed new to me was the no-slip flooring on the upper levels. I could be wrong, this sin’t an attraction I do very often.



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OK, I think it is time to abolish the bays at Cosmic Rays when most of them are the same.

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The BB-8 Souvenir Cup can now be found here as well.

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The grilled chicken club is new to the menu.

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The Electrical Parade shirts are still around (in select sizes).

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There is an awful amount of construction happening down by the Magic Kingdom Ferry Dock.

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Looks like a new queue area is being made.

REVIEW: Cosmic Ray’s Starlight Cafe Cheese Sauce Returns, New Sauces Added Along with Falafel Burger

Cosmic Ray’s Starlight Cafe at the Magic Kingdom serves more food to more guests everyday than any restaurant on the planet earth. That doesn’t mean it is good though…

While I have never been a fan of the food here, the daily performance by Sonny Eclipse, his amazing astro organ, and the Space Angels is typically what brings me into the place, even if I know I’m not going to have a particularly good counter service meal. Sometimes you just want chicken nuggets, and there’s nothing wrong with that.

My most recent trip to the establishment wasn’t prompted by a urge to see “the biggest little star in the galaxy,” but rather to see the return of cheese sauce to the restaurant after a few years, the addition of another new sauce, and a new vegetarian option.

Cosmic Ray’s Starlight Cafe Menu

Cosmic Ray's Starlight Cafe Menu

Cosmic Ray’s Starlight Cafe Menu

Cosmic Ray's Starlight Cafe Menu

Cosmic Ray’s Starlight Cafe Menu

Cosmic Ray’s Starlight Cafe Toppings Bar

Cosmic Ray's Starlight Cafe Toppings Bar

Cosmic Ray’s Starlight Cafe Toppings Bar

Of course, one of the reasons many guests like Cosmic Ray’s is the toppings bar that is offered.

Cosmic Ray's Starlight Cafe Toppings Bar

Cosmic Ray’s Starlight Cafe Toppings Bar

A sriracha spicy aioli sauce was recently added to the toppings bar. More on that later.

Cosmic Ray's Starlight Cafe Toppings Bar

Cosmic Ray’s Starlight Cafe Toppings Bar

Cheese Sauce ($1.00)

Cheese Sauce ($1.00)

Cheese Sauce ($1.00)

While the return of cheese sauce is a nice gesture, there just has to be a better way. In olden times (a few years back), hot cheese sauce was complimentary and offered at the toppings bar both here and at several other locations around the Walt Disney World Resort. It now is a pre-warmed container you can buy for $1.00.

Cheese Sauce ($1.00)

Cheese Sauce ($1.00)

While it is a generous portion, it is mostly flavorless and adds nothing to the french fries.

Cheese Sauce ($1.00)

Cheese Sauce ($1.00)

While this might be something good for nachos or pretzels, it just doesn’t work here. I would save your dollar and not even bother with this.

Sriracha Spicy Aioli

Sriracha Spicy Aioli

Sriracha Spicy Aioli

While the loss of the cheese sauce so long ago was devastating to some, the addition of this complimentary sriracha aioli is a pleasant addition. Again, as said in every review, I enjoy spicy, and as the name states, this is spicy. That being said, it is still flavorful and not overly spicy to the point where many guests will not enjoy it. This sauce goes really well with the fries.

Falafel Burger ($11.99)

Falafel Burger ($11.99)

Falafel Burger ($11.99)

Recently added to the menu is a vegetarian option: a falafel burger. $11.99 is a little pricey for a meatless burger, but it is a specialty offering that is likely not made in-house and is ordered in low quantities, so it is nice that it is even offered.

Falafel Burger ($11.99)

Falafel Burger ($11.99)

It isn’t the prettiest thing, but it is pretty decent. If a bun the quality of D-Luxe Burger was offered, I think this would be a really solid addition, but the horrid bun currently offered at Cosmic Ray’s really holds this back.

Falafel Burger ($11.99)

Falafel Burger ($11.99)

The burger itself is a little dry, but that is why the Tzatziki sauce is offered.

Falafel Burger ($11.99)

Falafel Burger ($11.99)

Falafel Burger ($11.99)

Falafel Burger ($11.99)

Again, it isn’t terrible and it’s still a viable option for any vegetarian who is being made to dine at Cosmic Ray’s, but on the other hand, the Falafel dish at Skipper Canteen is a little heavier and a little cheaper at that.