Author: touringplans.com

Happy October! Have you made your reservations for Thanksgiving dinner yet? It’s time! Slots for Thanksgiving dinner, and lunch, are booking up fast at Walt Disney World. Here are some of the best places to dine for Thanksgiving at Walt Disney World. I have also included a few places off property that usually have fantastic Thanksgiving offerings too. Each listing below has a link to our restaurant info page which includes the menu, ratings, and reviews of each restaurant.

• Liberty Tree Tavern (Magic Kingdom)
• California Grill (Contemporary Resort)
• Garden Grill (EPCOT)
• Narcoossee’s (Grand Floridian)
• The Wave… of American Flavors (Contemporary Resort)
• 50’s Prime Time Cafe (Hollywood Studios)
• Hollywood and Vine (Hollywood Studios)
• Hollywood Brown Derby (Hollywood Studios)
• Whispering Canyon (Wilderness Lodge)
• Wolfgang Puck Bar and Grill (Disney Springs)
• STK Orlando (Disney Springs)
• Homecomin’ by Chef Art Smith (Disney Springs)
• House of Blues (Disney Springs)
• Shula’s Steak House (Walt Disney World Dolphin Hotel)

Most of these restaurants have not released a special menu or other special offering for Thanksgiving, but their menu and setting would make for a great Thanksgiving meal. If your desired Disney dining location is not available for Thanksgiving then use our Reservation Finder. This tool is free to use, you just need a TouringPlans username and password to use it.

• Regal Eagle Smokehouse (EPCOT)
• Sunshine Seasons (EPCOT)
• Roaring Fork (Wilderness Lodge)
• PJ’s Southern Takeout (Fort Wilderness Campground)
• Contempo Cafe (Contemporary Resort)
• Gasparilla Island Grill (Grand Floridian)

If you’re up for venturing off Disney property, here are some restaurants and resorts that generally have great Thanksgiving offerings, and are about 10 – 20 minutes from Walt Disney World property.

• Seasons 52 on Sand Lake Road
• Eddie V’s on Sand Lake Road
• Capital Grille on International Drive
• Hyatt Regency Grand Cypress
• Rosen Shingle Creek
• Rosen Plaza
• Gaylord Palms Resort
• JW Marriott Grande Lakes

Have you dined at Walt Disney World for Thanksgiving before? Do you have any restaurants you would include on our list?

The post Where To Have Thanksgiving Dinner at Walt Disney World appeared first on TouringPlans.com Blog.

From our friends at touringplans.com
Filed Under: Celebrations, Christmas, Dining, Holidays, Trip Planning, disney holidays, disney thanksgiving, thanksgiving at disney, thanksgiving dinner orlando

As you may have seen from my previous posts, I love the Disney News Magazine from the 80s and 90s. It was the only way to get breaking Disney theme park news and behind-the-scenes info in the pre-internet era, and there were some absolute gems in there. One of the best things about these magazine are the ads, but my favorite type of ad was very specific; boring rental cars sitting inside Disney theme parks. Today I am proud to bring you 7 of the best ones I could find, as well as a letter grade and critique for each one.

An Important Note Before I Begin

You may have heard the news that Disney is in the process of laying off 28,000 cast members in California and Florida. While this post is fun and meant as a way to help you escape reality for 5 minutes, we can not ignore what is happening to the cast members and families affected by the layoffs. Please take a look at our other post to find out ways you can help those in need.

On to the list!

#7: Your Grandma’s Car, but a Magical Flying Version

I applaud the use of special effects in this ad. The clouds on the ground and the swirl magic streak are nice touches, but personally the whole thing is a bit too busy for my taste. Seeing this car did bring me back to the days when everyone’s older relatives had huge cars like this. The kind that had incredibly springy suspension where if you would hit a bump the car would then proceed to bounce for the next 7 minutes. This ad also gets bonus points for being the only one on this list to take place at night.

Grade: B-

#6: The Most Humdrum Car In An Iconic Location

The Buick Century in this ad has to be the most boring car I’ve seen. It looks like a nondescript generic off-brand toy car you’d get out of those 25 cent capsule toy machines outside of a pharmacy. Did anyone go out and buy this car and think “Yes, this is nice and exactly what I want in a car?” HOWEVER, the blandness of the car actually works in the ads favor. You have the iconic Mickey floral and Main Street train station contrasting with the vanilla ice cream of automobiles. This ad is great for that reason, the mention of the 15% discount for Magic Kingdom Club members, and that great retro WDW castle logo in the corner.

Grade: B

#5: Mickey and Mini…van

Whoever put this ad together was burdened with the gargantuan task of trying to make a minivan sound fun. I also think it’s ironic that a highly themed thrill ride was paired with the most boxy, clunky, and uninteresting vehicle one could imagine. But I have to give credit where credit is due, they really did try for this one. You can tell they tried to give it some extra ommph by adding Mickey to the photoshoot, which could not have been cheap. Overall I do like this ad because it’s unique. Most of the other ads sat the car in front of the castle and called it a day, but for this one they put it in front of a ride, which is unique.

Grade: B

#4: Chevy Lumina With the Best Parking Spot Ever

Think about the kind of pull National Car Rental had to have in order to get a picture of a car in front of Sleeping Beauty Castle. Disneyland’s castle is a nationally recognized icon and to this day is one of the most photographed subjects in the world. It’s one of those things that you have to think would never happen in today.

Grade: B+

#3: EPBUS

You may think it’s cheating for me to put this ad on the list since it does not include a rental car. But I will counter that with the argument that it is no doubt in the same spirit as the other ads. Plus you can not argue that it’s cool to see that vintage Walt Disney World Express logo on the side.

Grade: A-

#2: The Fab Five’s Preferred Ride

National Car Rental must have been an unstoppable goliath by the time this ad was made. Not only is the car parked in a prime spot in front of Sleeping Beauty Castle, but every member of Disney’s Fab Five is along for the photoshoot. Impressive stuff. The Mickey balloons in the back are also a nice touch. Honestly, Pluto with his head out of the window giving the thumbs up alone would have shot this ad high on the list for me, but instead it’s the cherry on top of the sundae.

Grade: A

#1: The Michael Jordan of Boring Rental Cars Sitting Inside Disney Theme Parks Ads

The cream of the crop when it comes to Disney News Magazine car rental ads. A rental car, driving down Main Street, curb packed with onlookers, and the hot new Mickey Mania parade in the background. Incredible. If this wasn’t proudly tattooed on the back of the CEO of National, I hope he or she at least had a framed copy of it hanging on the ceiling above their bed.

Grade: A+

Check out my other posts with even more vintage Disney News Magazine content:

What did you think of my ranking and grades? Sound off in the comments below, I want your hot takes!

The post Top 7 Vintage Disney Ads of Ancient Rental Cars Sitting In Disneyland and WDW appeared first on TouringPlans.com Blog.

From our friends at touringplans.com
Filed Under: Disneyland (CA), Just For Fun, Walt Disney World (FL), just for fun

Pandora – World of Avatar is full of immersive details. Even the food and beverage is special. Many folks don’t know they can enjoy a hearty breakfast at Pongu Pongu, the area’s snack and specialty beverage spot. Our team started their day with a full spread from this popular spot.

Our readers have rated Pongu Pongu as the second best snack spot in all of Walt Disney World. They’ve also given it a 95% thumbs up rating. The star of the show is the Pineapple Cream Cheese Lumpia, but we feel their breakfast offerings are worthy of praise too.

• Sausage, Egg and Cheese Biscuit – $6.99
• French Toast Sticks – $6.29
• Pongu Lumpia (Pineapple Cream Cheese Spring Roll) – $3.29

The biscuit is certainly the heartiest of the breakfast items. The biscuit was a little crunchy on the outside, but fluffy (as a biscuit should be) on the inside. The serving of egg, sausage, and cheese was plentiful. This will absolutely fill you up.

The French Toast Sticks were a hit with our team, and our junior field team members. Sweet, slightly crunchy, fluffy, and tender these are easily shared.

The most popular item at Pongu Pongu is the Lumpia, a crispy spring roll filled with sweet pineapple and cream cheese. It’s warm and gooey, and has been a hit since Pandora’s opening day.

You can pair your Pandora breakfast with the signature beverage, The Night Blossom, which is layers of Apple and Desert Pear Limeade topped with Passion Fruit Boba Balls ($5.99). If you’re a fan of boba balls you can order extra (as seen in the Night Blossom on the right side of the photo). Pongu Pongu is also one of the rare places at Walt Disney World that serves beer and alcoholic beverages in the morning.

Mobile ordering is not available at this location. It is a walk-up and order location without any dedicated seating, but Satu’li Canteen is nearby with outdoor seating there.

Our team enjoyed breakfast here and recommend it as a great way to start your day exploring Pandora. If you love having tips and information at your fingertips then become a TouringPlans Subscriber; our Lines app includes ratings for all Walt Disney World dining locations.

Have you had the Pineapple Lumpia in Pandora? How does it sound for breakfast?

The post REVIEW: Breakfast at Pongu Pongu – Pandora World of Avatar appeared first on TouringPlans.com Blog.

From our friends at touringplans.com
Filed Under: Dining, Disney’s Animal Kingdom Theme Park, Dos and Don’ts, Observations, Pandora, animal kingdom dining, disney avatar, disney breakfast, disney dining, disney pandora, Disney Snacks, Disney’s Animal Kingdom

We’re here with a series of quick posts, “Disney in a Minute,” bite-sized nuggets of information that can better help you understand a Disney term or planning topic. Enjoy!

What is a dark ride?

When chatting about theme parks may hear a sentence like, “I think the new Ratatouille dark ride at EPCOT will open next year.” What does the “dark ride” part of that mean?

You’re likely to find several variant definitions depending on who you ask, but the key components of a dark ride are:

• The attraction is primarily indoors.
• The attraction is designed to direct where you look and what you see.
• The attraction typically tells a story.

Classic examples of dark rides are Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, Peter Pan’s Flight, and it’s a small world, all located in Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom.

These are all attractions where you board a vehicle that takes you on a pre-determined route. The vehicle points you toward the area of interest. Your physical position, lighting design, and even sound cues, all direct what your eyes will take in.

If, for example, you look upwards while riding it’s a small world, you’ll see ceiling tiles reminiscent of a 1970s office park, revealing that you’re basically floating along in a warehouse. To prevent this, nearly every aspect of the attraction design (colors, movement, lights, music) work to keep your interest at ground level, in the world of lovely singing dolls. You only see what they want you to see.

Unlike large outdoor roller coasters, dark rides are weatherproof, typically easy to control, and can be reconfigured with minimal effort. Changing EPCOT’s Malestrom dark ride into Frozen Ever After, was accomplished relatively quickly because it was done out of sight and primarily involved switching out set decor.

Let us know what Disney topics you think need just a bit more explanation.

The post Disney in a Minute: What is a Dark Ride? appeared first on TouringPlans.com Blog.

From our friends at touringplans.com
Filed Under: Walt Disney World (FL), Classic Attractions

We’re here with a series of quick posts, “Disney in a Minute,” bite-sized nuggets of information that can better help you understand a Disney term or planning topic. Enjoy!

What is a dark ride?

When chatting about theme parks may hear a sentence like, “I think the new Ratatouille dark ride at EPCOT will open next year.” What does the “dark ride” part of that mean?

You’re likely to find several variant definitions depending on who you ask, but the key components of a dark ride are:

• The attraction is primarily indoors.
• The attraction is designed to direct where you look and what you see.
• The attraction typically tells a story.

Classic examples of dark rides are Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, Peter Pan’s Flight, and it’s a small world, all located in Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom.

These are all attractions where you board a vehicle that takes you on a pre-determined route. The vehicle points you toward the area of interest. Your physical position, lighting design, and even sound cues, all direct what your eyes will take in.

If, for example, you look upwards while riding it’s a small world, you’ll see ceiling tiles reminiscent of a 1970s office park, revealing that you’re basically floating along in a warehouse. To prevent this, nearly every aspect of the attraction design (colors, movement, lights, music) work to keep your interest at ground level, in the world of lovely singing dolls. You only see what they want you to see.

Unlike large outdoor roller coasters, dark rides are weatherproof, typically easy to control, and can be reconfigured with minimal effort. Changing EPCOT’s Malestrom dark ride into Frozen Ever After, was accomplished relatively quickly because it was done out of sight and primarily involved switching out set decor.

Let us know what Disney topics you think need just a bit more explanation.

The post Disney in a Minute: What is a Dark Ride? appeared first on TouringPlans.com Blog.

From our friends at touringplans.com
Filed Under: Walt Disney World (FL), Classic Attractions