When I looked at this photo of the Market House at Disneyland I was shocked by how little has changed in this space in the last 10 years when so much of the rest of Main Street has seen upgrades. Now its time is up and Market House will expand to accommodate the much-anticipated addition of Starbucks into the park.
Alas, for fans of Disneyana, that means it will be evicted from Main Street and forced to join its spiritual twin on Main Street in the Disney Gallery, which now occupies the former space of the Bank of Main Street. That’s such a beautiful space on Main Street, I’ll be sad to see it close. But I am happy it’s not being replaced by a wall of plush.Read More »Starbucks Moving into Market House space on Main Street USA at Disneyland
Last week I talked about the great character interaction you’ll find at Disneyland Resort, but by far the easiest way to meet characters is by going to a character meal where you’ll bypass the lines and have a much more relaxed experience. For research purposes (okay, I had a 5-year old with me), I tried out three of the five breakfasts available on property and I’m happy to report there wasn’t a bad meal in the bunch.
Storyteller’s Breakfast at the Grand Californian Hotel and Spa:
We did this first and I’m glad we didn’t let it scare us off from character dining at Disneyland Resort because it was, especially when compared to character meals at Disney World, pretty quiet and low-key. This is actually a good thing because your kids will probably find it easier to focus on their food without a ton of noise and activity. We met Rafiki, Terk, Meeko, Koda, Pluto and Dale, who came back to the table more than once. Since we went in early February, one of the slowest weeks of the year, the dining room was almost empty and the character interaction was top notch, even if my son didn’t recognize all of the characters.Read More »Picking a Disneyland Character Meal
I’ve already written about whether or not the Disney dining plan is a good deal, but I haven’t discussed how you use it. Chances are if you’re a first-timer using the plan, you’re a little overwhelmed: You’ve got credits and refillable mugs and desserts that you might not even want coming out of your ears! Fortunately, using the plan doesn’t have to be confusing and it can be easy to maximize your credits so that you get the most out of the plan. Here’s how.
1. The dining plan starts as soon as you check into your resort and get your Key to the World Card. Contrary to popular belief, “check-in” at a Disney resort doesn’t start when you get your room, which may be as late as 3:00 in the afternoon, but when you check into the resort, which can be any time of the day. You’ll get all your dining credits and then you can start using them immediately. On a related note, your credits are good until midnight the day you check out.
It’s one of those classic Disney conundrums: What do you do when you have an early morning breakfast reservation at another resort but you don’t have a car? Without question, one of the trickiest aspects of getting around Disney World is the fact that there’s no resort to resort transportation, forcing you to treat the parks as transportation “hubs” from which you transfer to other resorts. This usually poses no problem at all, but what do you do when the parks aren’t open yet? Well, you get a little crafty.
Probably the easiest solution is to take a cab, but it’s also the most expensive option, at around $25 for a ride anywhere on property. The good news is that it’s a direct route, so you’ll get there a lot faster. This is ideal if your family is like mine and likes to lollygag in the morning. Even better, because Disney is always looking out for guests, you can be assured that cab drivers who are allowed to operate on Disney property are fair. Nonetheless, make sure you establish a price before you get into the cab. Tips are welcome but not required.
The more complicated solution is to take Disney transportation. As noted above, since there’s no resort to resort transportation, you’ll have to take a bus (or boat or monorail) to the park nearest to your destination and then go from there. Officially, Disney transportation starts running 60 minutes prior to park opening, which isn’t at all reassuring when your reservation starts at 8:00 and the park opens at 9:00. Worse still, you have to allow time to get not only from your resort to the park and then to the other resort! The good news is that Disney “unofficially” runs buses sporadically about 90 minutes prior to opening. The bad news is that part where I mentioned the word “sporadically. I’ve been late more than once to a reservation because I missed the one bus that was running that early.Read More »Dealing With Early Morning Dining Reservations at The World
Using the Disney dining plan isn’t as straight-forward as simply walking into a restaurant and handing over your Key to the World Card: While all credits are created equal, not everything you buy will be. While it’s obvious that missing meals is essentially throwing money away, so is using a snack credit for a soda. Fortunately, using the plan effectively is actually quite easy. Here are the top ten tricks that will help you get the most out of the plan:
10. Use your dining plan for character meals and other more expensive dining locations. Look at it this way: For guests 10-years old and up, the dining plan costs $56 per person per night: This gives you a table service, meal, a quick service meal, a snack, and a refillable mug. If you estimate $4 for a snack, and $14 for a quick-service meal, you still need to “spend” $38 on your table-service meal that day. That’s not difficult to do if you’re eating dinner at location like Boma or Ohana, but if you’re eating at Via Napoli or 50s Prime Time Café, your tab is going to come in at around $30 per person. Not only did you not break even that day, you actually lost money.
9. Pay out of pocket for less expensive meals and you avoid the scenario above. This only works if you plan on eating more table-service meals than you’re actually allotted on the plan.
8. Avoid using your snack credits for drinks. As noted above, the dining plan works best when you save your credits for more expensive items, so save your credits for items cupcakes or ice cream (both $4 or more) and pay out of pocket for your drinks (usually under $3).Read More »Disney Dining Plan: Top Ten Tips for Getting the Most Value
While in Downtown Disney Orlando this past summer we could not resist the urge to pay a visit to the T-REX Restaurant and Shop. As we walked in we were greeted by the coolness in the air which we welcomed since it was so very hot outside. The first thing we noticed was this enormous and almost life like T-Rex towering over us. To the right a place to shop for all your Prehistoric needs and to the left was the restaurant a.k.a archaeological dig site filled with small, large and extra large animatronic and audio-animatronic creatures.
We were seated right away and attended to almost instantly. Trying to take in our surroundings time seemed to just escape us. We looked over the menus and although there were plenty of choices I was not overwhelmed by them. There is something in the menu for everybody from Spare ribs, Chicken and Pasta to Burgers and Seafood. For the future little paleontologist in your group there is a kids menu of course, it includes various choices like Pizza, Pasta, Sliders, Popcorn shrimp and even Dinosaur shaped chicken.Read More »Restaurant Review: T-REX at Downtown Disney
The website for EPCOT’s International Food and Wine Festival has been updated to include dates for 2013. Pencil in September 27 – November 10 (with the understanding that everything is subject to change, of course) for your glorious dining enjoyment.
Expect the usual festival features to return. I’ll be happy if they bring back the Ghiradelli Chocolate exhibit for a second year. I was really impressed with the chocolate sculptures prepared by each hotel’s dessert chef and team. Check them out below the jump to whet your appetite for September 27th.
If you missed the news, Thomas Staggs has made Disney’s most clear statement to date on exactly what NextGen will bring to the parks. The guest will encounter it via the MyMagic+ program. There’s a fairly good write up on the program by Brooks Barnes in the New York Times.
There was also this bit officially released by Disney:
With MyMagic+ Walt Disney Parks and Resorts is taking another step forward to evolve “how” guests experience Disney Parks and is using technology to make it easier than ever before for guests to make the most of their Walt Disney World visit. Many of these efforts fall under the umbrella of MyMagic+, which has the ability to connect nearly all aspects of the guest experience and make it better for everyone, at no additional charge.
