What to Look Forward to at 2016 Food and Wine Festival

Posted by Sep 12, 2016 Disney Dining, Disney Tips, Rides and Attractions , , , , , , , , , , , 11 Comments
What to Look Forward to at 2016 Food and Wine Festival

It’s the most wonderful time of the year! No, I’m not talking about Christmas. I’m talking about the Epcot Food and Wine Festival at Disney World. Leave the kids at home. This is when the adults get to have their own magical experiences. It’s time to eat and drink around the world! Disney announced this week the offerings for this year’s festival, and I’m stoked already. So what am I most looking forward to? Let’s break it down.

1. Pineapple Dole Whip Soft-Serve Ice Cream with Bacardi Coconut Rum

My all-time favorite snack at Disney World is the Dole Whip. Now they’re adding a coconut rum topper? I think this is what dreams are made of. Look for it at the Refreshment Port. Take a right when you enter World Showcase from Future World, and it will be one of the first kiosks on the right.

2. Twinings® Pumpkin Chai Tea Frozen Cocktail with Caramel Vodka

One of the great things about the Epcot Food and Wine Festival is that they bring in extra countries with kiosks around World Showcase that they don’t usually have around the rest of the year, such as Ireland. Why a chai drink is at the Ireland kiosk instead of at an India kiosk, I may never know. What I do know is that chai tea is my go-to drink at coffee shops unless it’s fall, in which case I’m as basic of a girl as it gets because I love my pumpkin spice lattes. Putting those two together just might make my tastebuds explode. But then they also want to add caramel vodka? It’s like they tailored this drink just for me.

3. Liquid Nitro Chocolate-Almond Truffle with Warm Whiskey Caramel

New to the Epcot Food and Wine Festival this year is the Chocolate Studio. If there’s one thing I love almost as much as Disney (other than my husband and family of course), it’s chocolate. I could totally relate in Frozen when Princess Anna sang, “I want to stuff some chocolate in my face!” This liquid nitro chocolate-almond truffle sounds like it will just melt in your mouth. AND it has warm whiskey caramel? Shut up and take my money!

4. Artist Palette of Wine and Cheese

Also new this year is the Wine & Dine Studio. The Artist Palette of Wine and Cheese includes a trio of cheeses (La Bonne Vie goat cheese served with toasted Craisin bread, Karst cave-aged cheddar cheese served with fig compote, and Statesboro blue cheese served with spiced candied walnuts), each paired with a wine (Conundrum White Blend 25th Anniversary, Kurt Russell’s GoGi “Goldie” Chardonnay and Robert Mondavi Maestro Red Blend). Is there anything in life that goes better than wine and cheese? Well, maybe magic and Disney. But really, this is a way to get all four at once.

5. Grilled Beef Skewer with Romaine, Apricots and Feta Cheese

Disney is more than just theme parks and movies. In fact, you might be shocked to find out what’s included in the vast Disney empire. One of the many things that Disney owns is the television channel ABC, which of course includes the TV show The Chew. And what promotes better synergy than exploiting the fact they own both a cooking show and a food-themed event than having a The Chew kiosk at the 2016 Epcot Food and Wine Festival? However, this grilled beef skewer with romaine, apricots and feta will likely make me forget that I’m giving into “the man” (or I guess in this case, it would be giving into “the mouse”).

What are you most looking forward to? Let me know in the comments!

Food and Wine Fest

Sanaa at Animal Kingdom Kidani Village

Posted by Sep 5, 2016 Disney Dining, Disney Resort, Disney Tips , , , , , , , , 19 Comments
Sanaa at Animal Kingdom Kidani Village

While I’ve stayed at both Animal Kingdom Lodge (Jambo House) and Animal Kingdom Kidani Village, I had only eaten at Boma in Jambo House. However, my aunt (who lives in Celebration and goes regularly) really recommended going to Sanaa at Animal Kingdom Kidani Village for lunch. She obviously knew what she was talking about because it was an incredible experience. If you like spice (like spices, not like hot), you will love Sanaa at Animal Kingdom Kidani Village.

Sanaa Animal Kingdom Lodge

We started with their famous bread service. It comes with five different types of naan bread and around 10 different sauces, which you can try on the different breads. We enjoyed mixing and matching the accompaniments to get different flavors. I’m a huge fan of heat, so I really liked the hotter flavors like the jalapeño-lime sauce. But the mango chutney was among my favorites as well. The bread service alone is enough to fill you up! Plus, it is so yummy!


Sanaa has a view of many animals, including giraffes, zebras, oxen and an array of exotic birds. One of these birds (an African crowned crane) decided to hop the fence and come over to say hello. This was definitely the closest I’ve come to any of Disney’s Animal Kingdom animals! And a snake slithered right by our table too, which freaked me out a little bit. The servers were really knowledgeable about all of the animals, which I thought was awesome.

Sanaa dessert trio

For our main course, we had butter chicken and basmati rice. The flavors and spices in the butter chicken were amazing, and I highly recommend it. We finished off the meal with a trio of desserts so we could try a little bit of everything. We had Afrika povu, which was like a chocolate mousse filled with rum caramel, a lemon lychee tart with a marshmallow topper, and strawberry sorbet. Everything was super yummy, but the lemon lychee tart was probably my favorite. We didn’t try the bread pudding this time, but my aunt says that the bread pudding is delicious as well. I guess that just gives me another excuse to go back!

Be Our Guest Restaurant

Posted by Aug 14, 2016 Characters, Disney Dining, Disney Tips , , , , , , , , , , , 20 Comments
Be Our Guest Restaurant

entrance to be our guest

With the expansion of the new Fantasyland at Walt Disney World came new attractions and restaurants, including the Be Our Guest restaurant, named after the song from Beauty and the Beast. The theme of the restaurant is Beast’s castle, and it is absolutely gorgeous. Decor- and ambiance-wise, this is the most beautiful restaurant in all of Walt Disney World—yes, even more beautiful than Cinderella’s Royal Table in Cinderella Castle.

rose napkin

The first time I went to Be Our Guest was for breakfast, which is quick service. Even though it’s quick service, you still need to get reservations in advance. I was lucky enough to get last-minute reservations, most likely because someone else canceled that day, but that’s not usually the case. It’s better to book as soon as you can. However, if you can’t get in on the day you want, keep checking the My Disney Experience app every day because something may open up. For breakfast, you order from kiosks, get a plastic rose, and then your meal magically shows up at whatever table you pick to sit at. I ordered the egg whites, thinking I was going to be healthy. Ha! I should have known that’s never the case at Disney World. With breakfast came an array of delicious pastries, and the diet went completely out the window.


When I went for dinner with my husband, I booked six months in advance. That’s how quickly this restaurant gets booked up. We checked in at the front a little early, and the cast member said that they were running a little late. So he said we could either wait on the bridge (where they had free water, which was nice), or we could walk down to Gaston’s tavern and hang out in the air conditioning. I am SO GLAD we listened to him and went to Gaston’s tavern because not only was waiting in the air conditioning better than waiting in the hot Florida sun, but we also ordered a couple of LeFou’s Brews. This might now rival the Dole Whip for my favorite sweet treat at Disney World. It’s amazingly delicious. It’s like an apple cider slushy with a hint of marshmallow taste, topped with a passion fruit foam. I can’t even begin to describe how good it was. My husband said he liked it even more than the Dole Whip. It’s still a tight race for me.

be our guest ceiling

We got a text message to let us know that our table was ready at Be Our Guest, so we headed back. The cast member at the front of the castle handed me a Lumiere figurine to “help light the way” to our table. We were lucky enough to be seated in the ballroom, which looks exactly like the movie. It’s so opulent and gorgeous, and they even have the mural with cherubs on the ceiling. If you look out the “windows” in the back, it looks like it’s snowing outside. The other gorgeous room is the West Wing, which, again, looks just like the movie. It has the painting of Beast as a human (Prince Adam) that he clawed at as well as tapestries that had also been clawed. The coolest part of the West Wing is the enchanted rose. It really is just like you stepped into the movie.

be our guest steak

For dinner, I ordered the shrimp and scallops, and my husband ordered the steak. This also happens to be the only place in Magic Kingdom where you can have alcohol. Be Our Guest offers beer and wine, but only for dinner. (If you really need a drink, you can go to any of the other parks, or I’ll give you some tips in another post.) Both of our meals were superb. This may be my favorite sit-down restaurant at Disney World (at least for the restaurants that aren’t all-you-can-eat).

the grey stuff

Everything was so amazing that we couldn’t even imagine how delicious “the grey stuff” was going to be. In fact, the whole reason I even wanted to eat at Be Our Guest for dinner was so I could try the grey stuff. It comes from the line in the Be Our Guest song, “Try the grey stuff; it’s delicious. Don’t believe me? Ask the dishes!” Well, I hate to burst your bubble, but the dishes are liars. The grey stuff, while decent, was not great. I wouldn’t have called it super delicious. It tasted like Cool Whip—just Cool Whip with grey food coloring. Womp womp. My husband says that instead of asking the dishes, you should ask the steins. We both would have rather gone back to Gaston’s Tavern and had more LeFou’s Brew.

enchanted rose

After dinner, we had a chance to walk around and see more of the restaurant. The ballroom is definitely the best place to sit, but the West Wing is a close second. However, I would have been pissed if I had to sit in Belle’s picture room. It looked like they ran out of budget because they spent so much on making the rest of Beast’s castle look so incredible that they just slapped this room together with some pictures on the walls.

meeting the beast

We also had the chance to meet the Beast after dinner. All the cast members referred to him as “the master” and “our host for the evening,” which I thought was a nice touch. However, I think it would have made more sense if instead of the Beast, it was Prince Adam. A cast member happened to drop a dish while we were there, and I said to my husband that’s like murder if the castle is enchanted. He said that it’s not because the curse was broken, which is why all the servers are humans. I said that was a good point. But if the spell was broken, then why is the Beast greeting guests instead of Prince Adam? That’s a miss in my book. Also wish Belle could be there too, but I guess she’s over in the cottage for her Enchanted Tales.

be our guest menu

Overall, I highly recommend Be Our Guest for both breakfast and dinner. I can’t comment on lunch yet, but I assume it’s good. But opt for a different dessert than the grey stuff because that was a bit of a disappointment. I’m not saying it’s bad; I’m just saying there’s probably better options on the menu. It’s such a gorgeous restaurant with beautiful decor that it makes for great photo ops. There’s even a room with suits of armor that talk! Disney certainly knows how to pay attention to details.

High Tea at the Grand Floridian

Posted by Aug 3, 2016 Disney Dining, Disney Resort, Disney Tips , , , , , , , , , , , , 337 Comments
High Tea at the Grand Floridian

First off, do resorts get any prettier than Disney World’s Grand Floridian? I mean, come on! Gorgeous! My sister and I absolutely love high tea. We grew up going all the time with our grandparents on cruises, so of course I had to take her to try out the high tea at the Grand Floridian in the Garden View Tea Room for her 19th birthday. It did not disappoint.

High tea at the Grand Floridian

You do need to book this in advance because times for high tea at the Grand Floridian do fill up. Both my sister are huge fans of the book Pride and Prejudice. So of course I had to get the Derbyshire Tea package, just because Mr. Darcy owns half of Derbyshire. However, I pronounced it like they do in the movie, but our waiter pronounced it phonetically. I was a little put off by that. Maybe I’m just a snob — ha!

Grand Floridian champagne

The Derbyshire Tea package was $45 and included various finger sandwiches, cheeses, fruits, a scone, a tart and my choice of dessert and tea (duh). It also included a glass of Veuve Clicquot, which happens to be my favorite champagne. (We had it for the toast at my wedding.) Because she’s not 21 yet, my sister opted for the Bedfordshire Tea package, which is $30 and is essentially the same exact thing as the Derbyshire Tea package, just without the champagne. A $15 upcharge to include a glass of Veuve didn’t seem like that bad of a deal when you consider how expensive a bottle is.

Grand Floridian high tea

For the teas, my sister got the Earl Grey, which the server warned tasted more like licorice than regular Earl Grey. My sister didn’t seem to notice the licorice though. I opted for the nutty chocolate tea because it sounded like it was going to taste like Nutella. While it was good, it wasn’t Nutella good. Then again, few things are.

Grand Floridian high tea sandwiches

The sandwiches they brought out were all very good. In order of how I liked them, there was a curry chicken sandwich, a golden beet and goat cheese sandwich, a cucumber and cream cheese sandwich, and an egg salad sandwich. This actually surprised me because cucumber and cream cheese and egg salad are usually my two favorite kinds of sandwiches. However, I wasn’t huge on the bread they paired with the cucumber, and the egg salad had a bit too many chives. Overall, they were all yummy, especially that curry chicken one. The scones came with butter, apricot jam and lemon crème. The lemon crème was definitely my favorite. It was delicious!

For dessert, my sister chose the strawberries and cream—so beautiful! It came with a sprinkle of red sugar in the Grand Floridian logo, and she said it tasted as good as it looked. I got the assorted pastries, which included two macaroons (love!), a chocolate-dipped strawberry and a puff pastry in the shape of a swan, filled with a strawberry cream. Amazing!

Briar roses

Everything was absolutely delicious and well worth the price. Plus, they even gave us each a rose at the end of tea. A Briar Rose, get it? (If you don’t get it, you’re not a true Disney fan.) We were so full from this (our reservations were for 4:15) that we didn’t even notice that we didn’t eat dinner before the fireworks at the end of the night. I highly recommend afternoon tea in the Grand Floridian’s Garden View Tea Room!

The Best All-You-Can-Eat Restaurants at Walt Disney World

Posted by Jun 25, 2016 Disney Dining, Disney Tips , , , , , , , , , , , 139 Comments
The Best All-You-Can-Eat Restaurants at Walt Disney World

For Meat Lovers: Ohana at Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort

Ohana is actually my favorite all-you-can-eat restaurant at Walt Disney World. First, I absolutely love Hawaii and everything Hawaiian-themed, so obviously I’m going to love any restaurant at the Polynesian Resort. But it’s the food that’s really got me. Even though it’s Hawaiian-themed, I would still consider it more of a Brazilian steakhouse for dinner. As they bring you to your table, they pick up some pineapple-coconut bread so you can start eating as soon as you sit down.  Then they bring out a salad, dumplings and wings. While all of this food is delicious, pace yourself. The real star of the show is the meat. I suggest just a little taste of each of the appetizers (e.g., try to limit yourself to only one wing and one dumpling). I know it’s hard, but believe me, holding out is worth it. After trying to fill you up on the cheap stuff, the waiters will begin to bring around different meats on skewers and slide off as much or as little as you like. The options are chicken, shrimp and steak. The chicken and shrimp are great, but the steak is amazing. The steak alone would be enough to make this my favorite all-you-can-eat restaurant in Disney World.

For Seafood: Cape May Café at Disney’s Beach Club

Cape May Café is my mom’s favorite restaurant at Disney World. If you’re a seafood fan, this is the restaurant you want to go to. Fill up on buckets of clams, shrimp, mussels, crab legs and more. When I say buckets, I literally mean buckets. They have buckets there at the buffet for you to fill. And don’t worry if you’re traveling with land lovers. They also have a strip loin carving station and chicken available.

For Atmosphere: Biergarten at the Germany Pavilion in Epcot

Get the Oktoberfest experience without buying a flight to Munich. My husband (who is part German) absolutely loves the Germany Pavilion at Epcot because of the fun atmosphere and also because of the all-you-can-eat buffet full of German food. Enjoy a live German band while you load your plate with brats, schnitzel and other German specialties. Be sure to show off your moves during the “chicken dance” while you’re there.

For Little Ones: Crystal Palace in Magic Kingdom

I wouldn’t really consider the menu at the Crystal Palace as the best that Disney has to offer unless you’re a picky eater. In that case, it has plenty to offer for those who have a plain palate. Obviously, little kids typically fall under this umbrella, so it’s a good choice for parents with picky eaters. Plus, the Hundred Acre Wood Gang is all there. Your little ones will love meeting Winnie the Pooh, Piglet and Tigger while they enjoy all of their favorite foods—pizza, mac and cheese, chicken tenders, etc.

For Something Unique: Boma at Animal Kingdom Lodge

My brother’s favorite buffet at Disney World is Boma in Animal Kingdom Lodge, and it’s definitely at the top of my list as well. Unlike the Crystal Palace, I wouldn’t recommend it for picky eaters. However, if you’re more of the adventurous type, Boma is perfect for you. I think the food here is among the best at all of Disney World. My favorite dish is the bobotie. It’s kind of like an African version of shepherd’s pie, and it’s delicious. I also highly recommend any of the soups. The flavors of all the dishes at Boma are amazing, and I definitely suggest you add it to your dining plans while at Disney World.