Splitsville at Downtown Disney is now open to the public after what feels like years of waiting, and we have some video to share with you. The following video was taken at the Disney Parks Blog Meet-Up on Monday, showing mostly the upstairs of the new Downtown Disney West Side establishment. Enjoy:
From Pam Brandon on the Disney Parks Blog:
With an opening set for early May, here’s a sneak peek at Tutto Gusto, the new wine bar adjacent to Tutto Italia Ristorante in the Italy Pavilion at Epcot that’s sure to be a new World Showcase hot spot.
Gusto takes over the former lobby space of Tutto Italia and extends back toward Via Napoli. The 96-seat Tutto Gusto will be a more intimate space, with décor inspired by an Italian wine cellar with stone walls and floors, and vaulted ceilings and a fireplace in the dining room. Hours will be 11:30 a.m. to 9 p.m.
The chefs have created a small-plate menu that takes guests on a fabulous culinary tour of Italy. There are six sections and all sorts of wonderful tastes: Affettati (cured, sliced meats); Formaggi (Italian cheeses); Panini(sandwiches); Piccoli Piatti (small plates); Cavatappi (a type of pasta), and Dolci (sweets).
With more than two dozen small plates with everything from a taste of prosciutto de Parma to creamy burrata cheese and mussels with white wine, we can’t wait for a taste. The pasta dishes all are made with cavatappi, a corkscrew-shaped pasta, and include three versions: tomato and bufala mozzarella; shrimp, chilis, garlic and tomato; and arugula, potato, pancetta, tomatoes and asiago cheese. Classic Italian!
More than 200 Italian wines, including sparkling, reds and whites, and beers such as La Rossa, Moretti and Menabrea will be offered. Grappas – a distilled drink made from what remains of grapes after they have been pressed for winemaking – will be another specialty, or just sip an espresso or cappuccino.
Tutto Gusto is part of the Disney Dining Plan.
From Pam Brandon on the Disney Parks Blog:
We got a chance to talk with Michelle Clegg, food & beverage operations manager for the soon-to-open Landscape of Flavors food court at the new Disney’s Art of Animation Resort that debuts next month at Walt Disney World Resort.
They’re still tweaking the menu, but all sorts of creative new items make this the next generation of Disney food courts. Even burgers are “create your own”; you can start with a beef, chicken or veggie burger, and then the kitchen will pile on your favorite toppings (say, pepperjack cheese, pickles, tomatoes, onions and lettuce). But most fun are the four onstage tandoor ovens where chefs will bake bread and roast chicken, shrimp, sausage and acorn squash and other veggies – Michelle says that the roasted acorn squash is her favorite dish at the new restaurant. Tandoors are cylindrical ovens that reach very high temperatures and quickly bake, so it should be a grand onstage show for diners. The real treat is naan, a delicious Indian bread that’s slapped directly onto the oven’s walls and left to bake until puffy and lightly browned, perfect for wrapping all sorts of delicious food.
Mongolian Grill Beef Stir Fry
And the restaurant’s Mongolian grill is another new touch – 3 feet in diameter, the chefs will make everything onstage, from challah bread French toast for breakfast to grilled beef and fish for lunch and dinner.
Shrimp Pasta
Make-Your-Own Yogurt Parfait
Mickey Fruit Tart
Egg White Frittata
Chocolate Chip Pancakes
There’s lot of attention on “better-for-you” options, so you’ll find buckwheat waffles and pasta, multigrain rice, low-fat smoothies, egg white frittatas and make-your-own yogurt parfaits. But it’s all about choices, so there are still pizzas and fries (and chocolate chip pancakes).
French Vanilla Coffee
And we’re excited to see real gelato on the menu, the Italian version of ice cream with less butterfat but bigger flavor. That and a whole menu of coffee drinks, including iced French vanilla, iced mocha, cappuccino, espresso and mochachino. We’ll carpool to the new resort for our 3 p.m. break!
From Pam Brandon on the Disney Parks Blog:
While some little ones are content with mac ‘n cheese or a burger, other young guests have a, well, more sophisticated approach to dining. Four Magic Kingdom Park table-service restaurants are adding some delicious new dishes just for kids for ages 3 to 9. At Tony’s Town Square, look for a steak skewer “spiedini” with roasted sweet potato fries and fresh fruit (spiedini refers to cubes of meat cooked on a skewer, an Italian specialty). Also at Tony’s, a grilled cheese sandwich on multigrain bread sliced into “dippers” with tomato sauce on the side should appeal to just about any child.
Liberty Tree Tavern is featuring a new barbecued chicken and pineapple flatbread pizza with a side of crisp veggies and apples, or oven-roasted turkey with mashed potatoes, veggies and fruit.
At Cinderella’s Royal Table, youngsters can try the new chicken drumette with rice and broccolini, grilled beef skewers with mashed potatoes and corn, or a chicken pot pie topped with a biscuit crust. (We want to try that one.)
And The Plaza Restaurant has a kids’ plate with grilled chicken slices, cous cous and a fresh fruit skewer. Ah, to be a young ‘un again.
WDWNT Reporter Adam Roth recently visited Disney’s Hollywood Studios and the Magic Kingdom and took a TON of newsworthy photos to share with us, so strap in for a lengthy look around Walt Disney World:
Adam caught the Comedy Warehouse Holiday Special inside the ABC Sound Studio, former home of Sounds Dangerous
In case you don’t know, Comedy Warehouse was a club at Pleasure Island
Just a sticker, but shows effort for a very temporary attraction
Control booth
The show is improv, comedy’s ugly cousin…
OK…
I’ve been running this site for five years, and this is easily the lowest moment…
Adam enjoyed it and so did guests, so we’ll see what the future holds…
Booths from the Food & Wine festival being used to meet dining demands
The Magic of Disney animation added a campus map a while ago… it’s trying to look like a real animation studio
Nothing says Italian like fast food meatballs…
The Premiere Theater is showing holiday cartoons
“Curse you Perry the Platypus!”
The daily schedule
The “italian” restaurant
It looks awful…
The stage is set for New Year’s Eve
Adam is a good colorer…
I’m so proud…
The Monsters University logo now up inside the Magic of Disney Animation
Moving to the Magic Kingdom, we arrive at Sleepy Hollow
What could we be here for?
Of course!
Here is the chicken sandwich without the usual spread
The ham, prosciutto, and swiss sandwich
The Diamond Horseshoe was open
Somewhere, a child cries…
“MICKEY!”
Mickey’s Once Upon a Christmastime Parade is performing daily now
“Yay! We didn’t have to buy a party ticket! But this place is packed…”
Christopher Robin was added to the parade this year, but the Pooh tree float is gone
Duffy joins the fun
The skiers were new for this year
Awwwww…
Bo Creep… I mean, Bo Peep
A personal favorite
Another personal favorite
However long that is, it’s too long…
Too long!
Could we cut out this step thing!
Storybook Circus construction as seen from the TTA
The lower level rock-work taking shape at Under the Sea: Journey of the Little Mermaid
The back of the Dumbo queue building was painted green
Three digits…
A Totally Tomorrowland Christmas is performing daily
Spot the Captain EO reference?
Eye did! Get it? Eye did!
Instead of having him on screen, Stitch appears on stage now
Some new props had to be made for the changes
The new tower at Barnstormer is rising up around the track
There is a lot of color on the Dumbo queue
They are pretty much rebuilding the old tents
Oooooo, I spot a dirty word…
Scaffolding up over the Dumbo queue building
The roof over the two covered queue areas is coming along
You can see the new Dumbo spinner through the queue
The train station is almost done
Another look at Under the Sea: Journey of the Little Mermaid
The caverns are now visible
Belle’s Village is starting to look good
Another look at the Storybook Circus train station
Back to Under the Sea
Prince Eric’s castle
Notice Mr. Stork at the top of the new Dumbo spinner
Back to Belle’s village
Maurice’s cottage
Be Our Guest restuarant
A panoramic view of construction
Some of the Storybook Circus pavement has been revealed
wagon wheel marks and horse footprints litter the path, a beautiful detail
The mountain range looks great
The sun sets on the old Dumbo…
Some work has been done on the Castle Wall
A stone wall has popped up next to it
The edge of the rock-work
A chimney through the trees
Holy Nana!
You’d have to have a hook for a brain to wait in that
“it’s a long line”
Nice sign
The new path near the Haunted Mansion is being worked on
Non-alcoholic sangria from Tortuga Tavern
YUM!
Time to light the Castle
Purty…
New details were unveiled in the Town Square Theater queue for Mickey
Notes for advertisements made by Mickey sit on a bulletin board
Gotta love these details
Mailboxes
A reference to the first attraction in this space, the Walt Disney Story
The Bill Justice character mural that used to stand in this space lives on with these rolled up pictures of it in one of the mailboxes
A great addition to a pretty bland room of the queue
A new Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom window in Fantasyland
Hidden camera
Another window in Fantasyland
This appears to be Merlin’s house as you can see Archimedes’ bird house in the back
Another Fantasyland window
Not so hidden
The last reference to Tinker Bell’s Treasures has been turned into a Sorcerers window
The Main Street Electrical Parade is supposedly leaving before Summer 2012, so get in your last views while you can
The holiday edition of “The Magic, the Memories, and You!” is still performing
Some Holiday Wishes! photos
Yowza…
Quick, let’s take the secret exit out of this photo report!
For those of you who make use of the Disney Dining Plan, you’ll be happy to know that a few new restaurants (mostly at Downtown Disney) are joining the fray in 2012:
-Bongos Cuban Cafe Window
-Bongos Cuban Cafe
-Marketplace Snacks
-House of Blues
-Paridiso 37
-Portobello
-T-REX Cafe
-Rainforest Cafe at Downtown Disney Marketplace and Disney’s Animal Kingdom theme park
They are are all non-Disney owned restaurants. Is this an attempt to bring more guests to the struggling Downtown Disney, or just some long overdue additions to the Disney Dining Plan?
From Pam Brandon on the Disney Parks Blog:
It’s only a test, but we expect the new buffet concept at the Pepper Market in Disney’s Coronado Springs Resort might stay. The former “food court”-style dining has been replaced with a concept that suits families and conventioneers – a quick bite and a diversity of flavors.
The restaurant looks the same, but instead of ordering from stations, you now pay a set price and it’s all you care to eat for everything from roast beef (or pork or turkey) to paninis, slices of pizza, pasta, salads and Mexican fare. We paired an enchilada with mashed potatoes, and had the kitchen make us a personal-size pizza instead of just ordering a slice of cheese or pepperoni. Everything is made from scratch, says Chef Stephen Wheeler.
Breakfast is waffles, made-to-order omelets, French toast, biscuits and gravy, pancakes and all the extras to accompany.
The buffet is for breakfast and lunch, dinner is a la carte. Cost is $14.99 for breakfast, $8.99 ages 3 to 11, and $16.99 for lunch, $9.99 ages 3 to 11. Non-alcoholic drink and dessert included.
From Pam Brandon on the Disney Parks Blog:
Just in time for the busy winter holidays, Katsura Grill at the Japan Pavilion in Epcot World Showcase is open – a beautiful space that replaces the former Yakitori House. The new exterior is inspired by the strolling gardens at the historic Katsura Imperial Villa outside Kyoto, Japan, established in the 1600s and one of Japan’s cultural treasures.
It’s a nice respite on World Showcase Promenade, with quick-service dishes from sushi to Japanese curry, teriyaki and udon noodles – no big changes from the old menu (but they did add edamame, a favorite lo-cal, high-protein snack) and tweaked a few of the old favorites. Our new favorite addition is Okonomiyaki, a traditional Japanese pancake (sometimes described as a pizza) topped with veggies and a tangy sauce – crispy on the outside, soft on the inside. Also new is a crispy, panko-breaded chicken sandwich, and a cold ramen noodle dish with shredded crab stick in a sweet soy dressing.
Sip a Kirin beer, plum wine or hot or cold sake and enjoy the gardens!
Our good friend Sarah who writes “Eating WDW” for WDWNT: The Magazine and has her own blog by the same name recently tried out one of the new, much discussed, waffle sandwiches at Sleepy Hollow Refreshments. Here is her review:
I had heard about Sleepy Hollow Refreshments’ menu changes via Zach of WDWNT, and I knew I had to try one of the new waffle sandwiches out. With F&W in full swing, I’d been neglecting my other parks. That all had to change yesterday! I wish Matt was with me so I could order the Ham & Prosciutto version as well, but since I was running around property like a nut that day, I had to pick one. I decided to go the more “traditional” route of chicken and waffles, hoping for some heat to the chicken.
I was in awe of the size of this beast, which was only $6.99. Talk about a great value on property!
There really wasn’t any heat to the chicken; it was definitely on the sweet side. It wasn’t overly sweet for me, so I enjoyed it. The waffle tasted like the same batter that is used for the Mickey waffles. Yes, I know the whimsy is in the shape, but these were still on point for flavor.
It was a LOT of food. I ended up just eating the chicken after a few bites. The greens were a really nice addition from a textural point, and really brightened up the sandwich overall. The slaw was quite nice as well for some crunch. I tasted it alone and liked it despite the heavy mayonnaise.
I look forward to trying the ham & prosciutto version, and the Nutella option sounds interesting as well. I’ll have to head back to MK with Matt by my side real soon!
Our thanks to Sarah for permission to use her report, and please go check out her Eating WDW blog!
WDWNT Reporter Zach Larson visited the Magic Kingdom on Tuesday and has a ton of newsworthy photos to share with us (including a ton of New Fantasyland progress), so let’s take a look:
Caste Dreamlight installations looks just about finished
Read More about Zach Larson’s 10/25/11 Magic Kingdom Photo Report
