Tag Archives: News

Dec 23 2015

Jungle Navigation Co. Ltd. Skipper Canteen In Magic Kingdom

Skipper Canteen 16

Looking for a fun, new place to eat while touring Magic Kingdom? Well, you are in luck. The Jungle Navigation Co. Ltd. Skipper Canteen is now open! This brand new table service restaurant located in Adventureland features tropical décor, exotic cuisine, and is hosted by your favorite Jungle Cruise skippers.

There are three dining rooms in this 222 seat restaurant:

  • The crew’s colonial-era Mess Hall
  • The Jungle Room – former family parlor of Dr. Albert Falls himself
  • S.E.A. Room—a once-secret meeting place for the Society of Explorers and Adventurers

The menu is an adventurous one:

  • House-made arepas with slow-cooked beef, black beans, tostones and queso fresco
  • Dr. Falls’ Signature Grilled Steak, a strip loin marinated in sofrito and served with yuca planks, avocado and house-made chimichurri
  • Rice Noodle Bowl with an Asian pho broth with choice of chicken, duck breast or tofu served with jalapeños and mix of fresh herbs
  • Trader Sam’s Head-on Shrimp, with sustainable, local, farm-raised shrimp tossed in a chili-garlic sauce and served with Chinese broccoli and choice of five-grain or white rice
  • Coconut Bar with Pineapple-Basil Compote and Vanilla Cream – a vanilla chiffon cake with coconut and lime topped with white chocolate ganache
  • Kungaloosh! – African-inspired chocolate cake is served with caramelized bananas and cashew-caramel ice cream topped with coffee dust

And for the little skippers in your party:

  • Junior Skip’s Special Mac and Cheese is inspired by an Egyptian dish with ground beef, pasta, Béchamel Sauce and house-made cheese gratin, served with broccoli
  • Amazon Annie’s House-made Arepas with slow-cooked beef, black beans and queso fresco served with yuca planks
  • Sizzling Savanna Grilled Flank Steak with steamed broccoli and fingerling potatoes
  • Smiley’s Little Croc of Chicken Noodle Soup
  • Kids Volcano! – gooey chocolate cake with caramel lava and exploding chocolate rocks

Two non-alcoholic specialties will be served:

  • The Punch Line Punch – tropical fruit juice and mango puree (also available with a spiced rim for an extra zinger)
  • The Schweitzer Slush – frozen apple juice and passion fruit topped with bursting green apple boba balls

Skipper’s Canteen is open daily at 11:00am – closing time varies depending on park hours. Currently Disney is not offering reservations for this location. Rumors are that will change in the near future with reservations possibly being available for as early as February 2016. For more information, please click here.

501 WaysHeading to Disney World soon?

If you are planning a vacation to Disney World, be sure to check out these valuable resources to help you save time and money:

Do you love the Jungle Cruise? Do you plan to try the Skipper Canteen?
Please leave a comment!

Dec 22 2015

Sunday Brunch At California Grill

CA Grill Brunch

A new breakfast option will soon be on the horizon. Beginning February 7, 2016, guests can enjoy a delicious Sunday Brunch being served at California Grill at Disney’s Contemporary Resort. What’s this new dining experience all about, you ask? Well, here’s the scoop courtesy of Disney:

California Grill atop Disney’s Contemporary Resort soars to new heights with ‘Brunch at the Top,’ a new Sunday dining experience beginning February 7, 2016. For the first time, guests can enjoy the beautiful daytime skyline of Magic Kingdom Park, Epcot and Disney resort hotels from the magnificent floor-to-ceiling windows at the California Grill restaurant while savoring a brunch of fresh, market-driven cuisine.

CA Grill Brunch 6‘Brunch at the Top’ is an immersive dining experience where guests can interact with the culinary team in the open show kitchen while sampling charcuterie, sushi and market-inspired salads.

The culinary adventure begins with an assortment of house-made breakfast pastries delivered to the table, including caramel apple Monkey bread and Tillamook Cheddar biscuits.

Guests will then visit the show kitchen for an assortment of small tastes, such as house-smoked orange honey ham, deviled Lake Meadow Naturals eggs, shrimp and grits with Gulf White Shrimp,  grilled flat iron steak with soft poached eggs, and hardwood cooked salmon.

Then guests choose their next course, delivered tableside:

  • Pan-Fried Buttermilk Organic Chicken Cutlet with Haricots Verts, Toasted Almonds, Frisée, Beurre Noisette;
  • Sweet Potato Pancakes with Caramelized Heirloom Apples, Dried Cranberry and Raisin Compote, Vanilla
  • Custard, Warm Canadian Maple Syrup;
  • Shrimp and Grits, Gulf White Shrimp with Tillamook Cheddar Grits, Spicy Tomato Broth,
    Espellette-Spiced Tomato Ragout;
  • Poached Lobster Benedict with Butter-Poached Tail, Two Soft-Poached Eggs, Honey Ham,
    Yuzu Hollandaise, Marble Potato Hash;
  • Chef’s Frittata with Three Lake Meadow Farms Eggs, Florida Heirloom Tomatoes, Roasted Poblanos, Chorizo, Creamy Goat Cheese, Marble Potato Hash;
  • Grilled Flat Iron Steak with Soft Poached Eggs, Chimichurri, Marble Potato Hash and Charred Red Onion.

The brunch concludes with an assortment of sweet mini-desserts, macarons and chocolate truffles. The decadent multi-course meal includes an over-the-top Bloody Mary Bar, cocktails and craft brews, as well as a signature brunch cocktail and faux “mimosas” for kids.

Brunch will be served each Sunday from 10:00am -1:00pm for $80, $48 ages 3 to 11. Reservations can be made by calling 407-WDW-DINE or online by clicking here. Guests are asked to adhere to a dress code when dining at California Grill; click here for more details.

501 WaysHeading to Disney World soon?

If you are planning a vacation to Disney World, be sure to check out these valuable resources to help you save time and money:

Will you be giving the “Brunch at the Top” a try?
Please leave a comment!

Dec 21 2015

Gingerbread Decorations Around Disney World

Gingerbread 3

It’s that wonderful time of year again when Disney goes all out decorating every square inch of the resort for the holidays. We aren’t just talking about the Osborne Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights and Frozen transformed Cinderella Castle friends, every resort hotel is also included in the festivities. If you are visiting during the holidays this year and plan to do some resort hopping, here are a few of the Gingerbread decoration highlights you won’t want to miss!

Gingerbread 2Disney’s Yacht Club Resort

Train fanatics will love this one! Watch a miniature vintage train chug through a meticulously detailed candy-coated holiday village nestled against a sugar rock candy mountain range from now through January 3, 2016.

Disney’s Beach Club Resort

Returning this year is the incredible Gingerbread Carousel. This masterpiece is made with 36 pounds of honey, 96 pounds of flour, 10 pounds of spices, 100 pounds of icing, and 50 pounds of dark chocolate. Available for purchase nearby are mini gingerbread houses, gingerbread cupcakes and shingles, sugar cookies, and gingerbread kits to make your own house.

Frozen Gingerbread CastleDisney’s Contemporary Resort

Returning for its second year, the 17-foot-tall Gingerbread Ice Castle complete with Frozen characters is on display now through January 6, 2016. The Ice Castle is adorned with sugar snowflakes and is made with 423 pounds of chocolate, 514 pounds of flour, 212 eggs, 35 pounds of sugar syrup, 311 pounds of honey, 222 pounds of icing, and 1,500 gingerbread shingles. Be sure to look for the 15 Hidden Olafs in the display and purchase a build-your-own snowman marshmallow kit, snowflake cookie, or other treat to take home.

Disney’s Boardwalk Inn

New this year, step inside Ginger’s Bread & Cookie Shoppe from now through January 4, 2016. The sweet shoppe is made with over 800 gingerbread shingles, 63 pounds of honey, and over 350 pounds of gingerbread. Be sure to look for the over 100 Mickeys included in the display and pick up some gingerbread sweets, peppermint bark, sugar cookies or candy cane gelato to enjoy. Also available are take home gingerbread kits.

Gingerbread 1Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa

Returning for a 17th year, visit the life-size Gingerbread House now through January 1, 2016. This holiday classic is made with 1,050 pounds of honey, 700 pounds of chocolate, and takes the team more than 400 hours to bake the fresh gingerbread used in the construction. Bonus – You can watch free gingerbread house decorating demos every day except Sundays in front of the house!

Heading to Disney World for the holidays?

501 WaysIf you are planning a vacation to Disney World during the holiday season, be sure to check out these valuable resources to help you save time and money:

Happy Holidays!

Dec 20 2015

Disney World Enthusiast Weekly Round Up December 20, 2015

Here’s the Disney World Enthusiast Weekly Round Up for December 20, 2015!

Latest Disney World Enthusiast Articles

Epcot Mission SpaceTip Of The Week

If only some of the members of your traveling party will be experiencing Mission: SPACE, those choosing not to ride can still wait inside the Mission: SPACE pavilion. Those guests can walk around to the side of the building and enter through the exit doors. While you are waiting for the rest of your group, you can enjoy interactive games, send a postcard from space, and little ones can try out the Space Base indoor playground.

Looking for more tips like this? Click here!

Osborne 2Disney Did You Know

98 percent of the lighting used for Walt Disney World’s holiday décor is LED and 2 percent is compact florescent.

Walt Disney 5Walt’s Words

“You can design and create, and build the most wonderful place in the world. But it takes people to make the dream a reality.”

Wishes CDDisney World Enthusiast Giveaway

From now through Thursday, December 31, 2015 at midnight, please enter daily to win Wishes: A Magical Gathering Of Disney Dreams Soundtrack CD. Just click here and follow the instructions to be entered into the giveaway. Be sure to take advantage of the bonus entries, and please tell your friends and family to enter as well!

Behind The Magic Podcast

Be sure to catch up on this week’s episodes when Zeek, Rachel, Tim, Richard, Sarah, Jerry and I discuss Disney news, rumors, and so much more. For more information about this week’s podcasts or to listen, please click here.

Featured Advertiser

BitbeltHave you heard of this incredible gadget – Bitbelt? If you aren’t familiar, this handy creation secures your MagicBand so that it doesn’t accidentally become lost. Anyone that carries a child, a backpack, or wears a jacket at Disney World knows how easily a MagicBand can become unclasped. That’s where this little beauty comes in! Simply place a Bitbelt on your MagicBand and save yourself the trouble of having to search for a lost band or take the time to get a replacement. Bitbelts come in a dozen different colors and in two sizes – adult and junior. They are only $4.99 each plus they offer discounted pricing when you purchase multiple Bitbelts in one order. And if you think Bitbelts are great for MagicBands, they are also available for your fitness trackers. Never lose a pricey Fitbit again! For more information about Bitbelt, please click here!

501 WaysFeatured Book

The difference between an average and an outstanding Walt Disney World trip is in the details. Kristi Fredericks helps make your dream vacation a reality with her numerous tips and tricks to save money, time, and sanity while at the happiest place on earth in her new book “501 Ways To Make The Most Of Your Walt Disney World Vacation”. For more information, to read an excerpt, or to purchase, please click here.

Considering A Disney World Vacation

Book Your Disney VacationJennifer Hardy, a Disney Vacation Planner with Destinations in Florida, is the official travel partner of Disney World Enthusiast. She can help you book your next Disney vacation whether it is to Disney World, Disneyland, or aboard the Disney Cruise Line. Currently Jennifer has some incredible deals for discounted travel to Disney World. For more information about Jennifer’s amazing and absolutely free services or to get a free no-obligation quote, please click here!

You’re Invited

Next Disney VacationJennifer Hardy, from Destinations in Florida, and I have teamed up to create a brand new Facebook Group called Next Disney Vacation! It is the perfect place to talk about your next Disney vacation, voice your opinions, ask your questions, get them answered, and share the magic. Whether it’s Disneyland Resort, Walt Disney World, or the Disney Cruise Line, Jennifer and I are ready to help. Everyday you’ll find posts, photos, trivia, tips, and more that we find all throughout the Disney Universe. If you’re counting the days until your next Disney vacation or just dreaming of one, we would love to have you join in the fun and conversation! Please click here to be a part of our group!

dwe logo small size white bkgdComing Up Next Week

Next week I’ll have more dining and planning information plus all of the latest Disney World news!

Have a wonderful week!

Dec 19 2015

Behind The Magic Podcast Recap December 14 – December 18, 2015

BTM S4 Logo

Welcome to Season 4 of Behind The Magic Podcast!

This “snack credit” of podcasts is a unique 15-minute daily Disney podcast hosted by Zeek, Rachel, Tim, Sarah, Richard, Jerry and myself. Every day Monday through Friday you can join us for entertaining Disney information, discussions, guests, games, and more. Zeek and Rachel will be surprising you each and every day with all of their fabulous humor and Disney insider knowledge. And of course, we’ll also keep you up-to-date on Disney news with our daily “Mouse News Minute” segment plus I’ll be sharing all of the latest Disney gossip with my weekly “Mouse Whispers” segment.

Here’s a quick peek at what you can expect each day:

  • Magical Mondays with fun and games!
  • Topical Tuesdays with exciting Disney discussions!
  • With Us Wednesdays with celebrity guests from around the Disney Universe!
  • Theme Park Thursdays with fun information, facts, and stories about the parks!
  • Field Trip Fridays with information helpful to your park visit!

This Week’s Episodes

This week’s episodes include:

  • Monday ~ Tournament of Podcasts
  • Tuesday ~ Security Rumors
  • Wednesday ~ Behind Geekin on WDW
  • Thursday ~ No Episode in Honor of the New Star Wars Movie!
  • Friday ~ Behind Your Queue

For more details about each episode and to listen, please click here!

We hope you enjoy our show!