Author: touringplans.com

During a recent exploration of Magic Kingdom our field team decided to wish upon a star and hope that food at Pinocchio’s Village Haus had improved. For fear of making our nose grow longer, we won’t sugar coat it – it has not gotten any better. The team visited for lunch at this quick-service location that has been a part of Fantasyland since opening day. This location does offer mobile ordering, which is a great convenience. 

There is interior dining that has small dining rooms each with a mural depicting different characters from the Pinocchio film. The interior is full of classic Magic Kingdom charm. There’s even a few spots with views that overlook the “it’s a small world” attraction. Outdoor seating is available too, with unique views of Fantasyland.

Pinocchio’s Village Haus is popular with families thanks to its prominent location and recognizable characters. However, it is one of the lowest-rated dining locations at Walt Disney World according to over 500,000+ surveys on our site from the past few years. It ranks #71 out of 107 dining options at Walt Disney World, with a grade of C, and a 82% thumbs up.

You can see the menu for Pinocchio’s Village Haus here. Our team ordered the following:

• Gourmet Cheese Flatbread with Tomato Sauce, Cheddar, Mozzarella, Provolone, Parmesan $11.99
• Antipasto Salad – Diced Ham, Salami, Tomatoes, Cucumber, Red Onion, Provolone, and Romaine Lettuce, with Zinfandel Vinaigrette $9.99
• Kids’ Chicken Breast Nuggets Meal with Dannon Danimals Smoothie, GoGo SqueeZ Applesauce, and Dasani Water $7.49

The cheese flatbread does not deserve the “gourmet” designation. It is edible, but there are far better meals available throughout Magic Kingdom for the same price. The Antipasto Salad had been sitting a while and was not fresh or very flavorful. And what can we say about kids’ chicken nuggets? Kids tend to like them and the yogurt smoothie and applesauce are safe accompaniments.

Our recommendation would be to walk a few steps over to Liberty Square and dine at Columbia Harbor House, which has much higher ratings and better food. However, Columbia Harbor House is currently closed, so Pecos Bill Tall Tale Cafe would be a good choice.

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The post REVIEW: Has Pinocchio’s Village Haus Gotten Any Better? appeared first on TouringPlans.com Blog.

From our friends at touringplans.com
Filed Under: Dining, In the Parks, Magic Kingdom, disney dining, magic kingdom dining, Pinocchio’s Village Haus

For many, fall is the most fashionable season of all. The sweaters, the boots, the scarves, and the cozy colors are loved by many. Unfortunately here in Orlando our fall is cozy for different reasons, like the fact that it’s 90 degrees Fahrenheit in the middle of September. Thankfully, Disney has released some new mouse ears that are full of fantastic fall colors.

Here’s a look at some of the latest styles we spotted at Magic Kingdom Main Street Emporium and Disney Springs. Each of these fall-themed mouse ears are $29.99:

• Golden Yellow Mouse Ears
• Rich Burgundy Sequin Mouse Ears
• Orange Corduroy and Black Flannel Mouse Ears

Over at the France Pavilion we found some mouse ears that look good enough to eat. These feature two pink macarons as the ears with a sparkly Eiffel Tower charm in the center, and “Bon Appetit” embroidered on the left side of the headband.

These macaron ears remind us of the Hockey Mouse Ears we spotted at the Canada Pavilion and the Troll Mouse Ears in Norway.

Which of these new ears are your favorite?

The post NEW Mouse Ears Include Adorable Fall Colors and French Macarons at EPCOT appeared first on TouringPlans.com Blog.

From our friends at touringplans.com
Filed Under: Disney Springs, Epcot, Merchandise, Shopping, disney halloween, disney springs shopping, Epcot merchandise, fall mouse ears, halloween mouse ears, new mouse ears

More Dolphins ahoy! (I am officially bereft of Dolphin, Swan, and Swolphin puns and phrases. Somber posts may be ahead.)

If you recall, a few short weeks ago we reported on some nice weekend Priceline Express deals at the Dolphin in September and October. Well, there’s a new batch of deals out there now for the entire month of November starting at $115 per night. (Resort fee and unlimited churros not included.*)

The good news is these deals are not limited to weekends only – and the $115 rate covers a good portion of Sunday to Thursday nights throughout the month. Weekend nights are $130 until the 21st when they begin increasing as we head into Thanksgiving week. However, even those Thursday and Friday holiday rates are only $169. In my humble opinion, that is a steal compared to 2018 and 2019 where the hidden deal rates for that week were up around $250!

If you are planning to look for these deals and did not read my earlier Dolphin post, I suggest that you pop over there after perusing the calendar of deals below. In that post I outlined some techniques to make these deals appear in Priceline Express results.

*As far as I know, unlimited churros is not a thing. But it should be.

If you catch any of these deals or have any questions, please let us know in the comments!

The post Priceline Express: November Dolphin Deals appeared first on TouringPlans.com Blog.

From our friends at touringplans.com
Filed Under: discounts, Resorts, Saving Money, Walt Disney World (FL), priceline

Just after wait times plummeted following Labor Day Weekend, we’ve begun to see an uptick at wait times at Walt Disney World. Primarily we’ve seen an increase at Magic Kingdom and Disney’s Hollywood Studios. Hours of park operation have been reduced across the board, but it seems reservations for Park Passes have increased. Our field team has noticed more people in the park – though physical distancing is still be followed closely fairly consistently.

Monday, our team experienced increased wait times as Rise of the Resistance did not successfully open for the 10:00 a.m. boarding group. Let’s take a look at how long actual wait times got, compared to Disney’s posted wait times, and let’s see how this Monday compared to other previous Mondays from recent weeks.

Actual Wait Times at Disney’s Hollywood Studios – Monday, September 14, 2020

We’ve seen before that anytime Rise of the Resistance fails to distribute morning boarding groups, wait times are heavy across the park for a few hours until the noon boarding group is released. Such was the case on Monday. It also appears that more Disney Park Passes are available, which has increased attendance and contributed to higher wait times.

Our Lines app uses real-time data to show Expected Wait Times compared to Disney’s Posted Wait Times. It also makes recommendations as to if you should wait to ride a particular attraction, based on historical data that indicates when wait times typically reduce at specific attractions. At 11:00 a.m. our Lines app recommended waiting to ride quite a few rides until later in the day, and the Expected Wait Times were 15-20 minutes less than Disney’s Posted Wait Times.

11:00 a.m. Wait Times – Monday, September 14, 2020

• Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway
  • Posted Wait Time 120 / Expected 72
• Slinky Dog Coaster
  • Posted Wait Time 75 / Expected 57
• Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster
  • Posted Wait Time 45 / Expected  34
• Alien Swirling Saucers
  • Posted Wait Time 40 / Expected 33

As a point of interest, just two weeks ago, Sunday August 30, we looked at wait times at Disney’s Hollywood Studios and on that day Rise of Resistance failed to distribute morning boarding groups. Even though that day was a Sunday, and weekends have typically been much busier, wait times were a little lower that day compared to yesterday.

At 11:30 a.m. on Sunday, August 30, 2020, Slinky Dog Coaster had a posted Wait Time 50 and Expected 39 minutes, and Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway had a Posted Wait Time of 60 minutes, and Expected 50 minutes.

After the first few hours of the morning rush, wait times decreased a little. However, Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway experienced some downtime. Still, with the decrease in wait times at many attractions our Lines app began recommending it was good to go ahead and ride most attractions.

2:00 p.m. Wait Times

• Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway
  • Posted Wait Time 90 / Expected 62
• Slinky Dog Coaster
  • Posted Wait Time 50 / Expected 47
• Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster
  • Posted Wait Time 40 / Expected  37
• Alien Swirling Saucers
  • Posted Wait Time 24 / Expected 25

With hours being reduced at Disney’s Hollywood Studios to close at 7:00 p.m. instead of 8:00 p.m. wait times did reduce, but not as dramatically as we are used to. After a busy morning, and a rainy afternoon, things slowed down around 5:00 p.m. yesterday a little, and even more so at 6:00 p.m.

5:00 p.m. Wait Times

• Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway
  • Posted Wait Time 85 / Expected 68
• Slinky Dog Coaster
  • Posted Wait Time 50 / Expected 38
• Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster
  • Posted Wait Time 55 / Expected  41
• Alien Swirling Saucers
  • Posted Wait Time 10 / Expected 14

Out of curiosity, let’s see how the past couple of Mondays have been at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. You can pull historical wait times from our site. In some cases yesterday’s wait times were more than double the wait times of the previous three Mondays.

So once again we see that, naturally, Rise of the Resistance being unavailable in the morning impacts the entire park and increases wait times. Thankfully our TouringPlans Lines App makes it possible to adjust your plans in real time, without having to use a Jedi mind trick.

When was the last time you visited Disney’s Hollywood Studios? Have you had to adjust your plans on-the-fly?

The post Wait Times Escalate at Disney’s Hollywood Studios With Ride Downtimes and Increased Attendance appeared first on TouringPlans.com Blog.

From our friends at touringplans.com
Filed Under: Hollywood Studios, In the Parks, disney wait times, wait times

We’re back with another set of photos to brighten your day. This time, we’ve been wandering around EPCOT, with a focus on The Land and The Seas (plus a few other photos from today to spark your Imagination and beyond).

 

Have a photo you want us to take in the parks? Let us know in the comments. 

The post EPCOT by Land and Sea appeared first on TouringPlans.com Blog.

From our friends at touringplans.com
Filed Under: Epcot, live from the parks