Category: Other

When Disney Springs reopened this past summer, it did so in phases. One of the few establishments that remained shuttered for a good while has reopened recently. If you enjoy a more relaxed pace at Disney Springs you’ll be pleased to hear that Dockside Margaritas is serving up fresh squeezed margaritas once again.

At Disney Springs Marketplace you can grab a seat along the sparkling lake and sip on a fresh-made margarita at Dockside Margaritas. Lounge-style seating is offered next to this outdoor, walk-up bar. Live music is often offered on weekends. The citrus stand theme, lakeside views, and comfortable seating make this a great spot to waste away and slow down.

This outdoor bar is one of the highest rated bars in Disney Springs according to our readers and over 500,000 completed surveys. Dockside Margaritas has a 94% thumbs up rating and is ranked number 38 out of 171 comparable options at Walt Disney World. You can view ratings and information for all Walt Disney World dining locations on our site and in our Lines app.

One of the things we love about Dockside Margaritas is that there is usually a seasonal margarita on the menu. Right now a Black Cherry Margarita is offered, and it is the perfect balance of sweet and tart. Fall in Florida is its own season, much different than other regions, often filled with warm temperatures, so a margarita that has some fall flavor to it is perfectly Floridian.

The Watermelon Margarita is one of the most popular options on the menu. It is sweet, but not overly so, making it a refreshing choice. Each margarita is $15.00 – $16.00, which seems steep compared to prices outside the Disney bubble, and even within it. But these margaritas are made to order. There are other cocktails available, as we’ll as beer, wine, and mocktails without alcohol too.

If you’re looking for a place to stop for a moment and savor the Disney Springs atmosphere Dockside Margaritas is a top pick. It is approachable and doesn’t require any pre-planning. It is one of the venues at Disney Springs that embraces the Florida feeling. Stop for a moment, raise your glass, and be present that you’re enjoying some time in Orlando, at Disney Springs. Toast to a great day.

Have you sipped on a cool drink at Dockside Margaritas before? Do you have a favorite drink on the menu?

 

The post REVIEW – Wasting Away Again at Dockside Margaritas appeared first on TouringPlans.com Blog.

From our friends at touringplans.com
Filed Under: Disney Springs, Drinking, Snacks, Trip Planning, disney springs bars, disney springs drinks

At Walt Disney World, there’s no better place for dining that runs the entire spectrum from casual to classy than Disney Springs. Lots of attention is paid to the more refined options at Disney Springs, but if you’re looking for something easy and casual, there’s some great options too. B.B. Wolf’s Sausage Co. is an unassuming stand along the lake at Disney Springs Marketplace. It is often overlooked, but if you’re in the mood for a hearty meal without a hefty price tag B.B. Wolf’s is a decent option.

Our readers have submitted over 500,000 surveys over the past few years and give B.B. Wolf’s Sausage Co. a low thumbs up rating of only 77%. This puts it at number 107 of 108 quick service options at Walt Disney World. With this in mind, our fearless field research team decided to pay a visit to B.B. Wolf’s to  see what’s holding this location back.

This walk-up kiosk by the lake it one of three gourmet snack kiosks operated by Disney at the Marketplace. Daily Poutine is nearby, as is AristoCrepes, each with the same style of operation – walk-up, order, and enjoy your food anywhere you like in Disney Springs. Interestingly enough, Daily Poutine has much higher ratings than B.B. Wolf’s. Of course, Poutine seems much more a specialty food than gourmet hot dogs.

The menu at B.B. Wolf’s is all sausage, which is pretty savage of Disney to make a gourmet hot dog stand and theme it after the Big Bad Wolf who antagonizes three little pigs. Highlights of the menu include the Hawaiian Island Dog, New York Pastrami Dog, and the Plant-Based Bratwurst Sausage. One of the things that holds B.B. Wolf’s back is each gourmet dog is served with a sad, disappointing bag of plain Lay’s potato chips. We’d almost rather they not serve anything with the dogs and lower the price by 50 cents.

Our team selected two popular items on the menu:

• Texas Chili-Cheese Dog – All-Beef Quarter Pound Hot Dog, Topped with Chili, Cheddar, and Corn Chips on a House-Made Roll, Served with Chips $11.49.
• Three Little Pigs – Three Mini Versions of our Specialty Dogs: Pastrami Reuben Dog, Hawaiian Island Dog, and Texas Chili-Cheese Dog, Served with Chips $13.99

The Texas Chili-Cheese Dog is hearty and sloppy. You’ll definitely want to grab multiple napkins before diving in, and you may need to be hosed off afterwards. The house-made roll elevated this super casual plate. We found the corn chips on top could have been more plentiful and we suggest asking for extra if you want some nice crunch. For under $12.00 it is not a bad deal considering many quick-service options at Walt Disney World run $12.00 and up.

If you’d rather keep yourself open to sampling the many flavors of Disney Springs then the Three Little Pigs will give you a way to sample some of the signature flavors here. If you split this hot dog flight with someone else you’ll be satisfied but still have room to try some of other great food around Disney Springs.

If you do decide to huff and puff and pay a visit to B.B Wolf’s take note of the weather vane atop the kiosk. Grab a spot along the water and enjoy the views as you chow down on messy, but yummy food. One drawback of this location is it can be quite slow to get your food once you’ve placed your order. Due to the limited setup of this location, no mobile ordering is available, so this is not a quick and easy spot. The slow service is one of the reasons for such poor ratings here.

We’ve got listings and ratings for every Walt Disney World restaurant. You can access these ratings on our site as well as on-the-go in our Lines app. Our site also offers the free Menu Search tool so you can see where to find your favorite foods at Walt Disney World.

Have you ever eating at B.B Wolf’s Sausage Co.? Do you think it deserves a better rating?

 

The post REVIEW – B.B. Wolf’s at Disney Springs Offers Hearty Gourmet Hot Dogs and Sausage appeared first on TouringPlans.com Blog.

From our friends at touringplans.com
Filed Under: Dining, Disney Springs, Dos and Don’ts, Snacks, disney dining, disney springs lunch

Parks reporter Chrissy and I recently went head to head, testing how long it takes to complete the Touring Plans’ 18 Magic Kingdom attractions most requested by adults.

Over the course of a full day, we chugged through headliners like Space Mountain, Splash Mountain, and Pirates of the Caribbean. Chrissy, using the touring plan, got through the entire list and I got through most of the biggies, but we did so putting in 11+ plus hours of time in the park, much of which was wait time. Personally, I logged a 55-minute wait for Pirates (a 7-minute long ride) and a 66-minute wait for Seven Dwarfs Mine Train (a 3-minute long ride), among others.

I admit to feeling more than a little salty (and sweaty) after my Mine Train wait. It’s a good ride, but I’m not sure it justifies a wait that’s 22 times longer than the attraction itself.

Fast forward a few days later and I decided to finish off the rest of the currently open Magic Kingdom attractions. The park’s official open time was 9:00 a.m. I arrived early and, as is typical these days, found the park fully operational when I walked in at 8:20. Instead of rushing to boffo hits like Space Mountain or the Mine Train, I ambled over to the less-lauded Astro Orbiter.

There was no wait. I had the entire ride to myself. When I finished, the cast member attendants asked me if I wanted to stay on and ride again. I declined and headed over to Tomorrowland Speedway, rode immediately, and was also asked if I wanted another turn.

Before 10:00 a.m. I had ridden Astro Orbiter, Tomorrowland Speedway, Mad Tea Party, Dumbo, the Barnstormer, the Carousel, and the Magic Carpets. That’s seven attractions in 100 minutes.

I then got a Citrus Swirl, walked through the Swiss Family Treehouse, watched the Enchanted Tiki Room and Country Bears shows, saw two cavalcades and the Cadaver Dans, watched the glassblower on Main Street, did a little shopping, and left the park by noon in a wonderful mood.

Overall, in just under four hours I experienced 10 attractions, ate, saw the available entertainment, puttered around a bit, and felt some of the old Disney magic – all without wilting in the heat.

To be fair, I wouldn’t want every visit to the Magic Kingdom to look like this. No adult really needs three versions of spinner rides in a single day, but as a palate cleanser, these minor attractions were exactly what I needed to get my Disney mojo back. They were quick fun with no fuss.

And of course my minor attraction morning, followed by a dip in the hotel pool, would have been a completely perfect day for a young child.

Minor attractions for the win!

What are your thoughts? Do you have must-do minor attractions or plan a “majorly minor” day? Let us know in the comments.

 

The post In Praise of the Minor Attraction appeared first on TouringPlans.com Blog.

From our friends at touringplans.com
Filed Under: Walt Disney World (FL), attractions, touring plans

It was a beautiful day in Central Florida, and no surprise that people were flocking to theme parks. How busy was it?

Magic Kingdom Wait Times

“it’s a small world” had an average wait time today of 52 minutes. Its 7-day average is 36 minutes, so today ranks #1 for this week. Its 30-day average is 36 minutes, so today ranks #1 for the past month. Its 365-day average is 32 minutes, so today ranks #11 for the past year.

Compare that with Space Mountain at an average wait time today of 56 minutes. (Its 7-day average is 40 minutes, so today ranks #1 for this week. So yes, busy–but not “small world” busy?)  We received 4 actual wait times today for Space Mountain, and the actual wait averaged 60% of the posted wait time, so there was certainly some wait time inflation going on.

Also over in Tomorrowland, Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin had an average wait time today of 41 minutes. Its 7-day average is 30 minutes, so today ranks #1 for this week and #2 for the past month. We received 4 actual wait times today, and the actual wait averaged 61% of the posted wait time.

In all, average wait times today were also #1 for the week for Astro Orbiter (37 minutes), Big Thunder (55 minutes), Dumbo (21 minutes), Mad Tea Party (20 minutes), Mickey’s PhilharMagic (31 minutes), Peter Pan (43 minutes), Splash Mountain (82 minutes), Barnstormer (29 minutes), Haunted Mansion (55 minutes), Magic Carpets of Aladdin (15 minutes), Winnie the Pooh (30 minutes), Seven Dwarfs Mine Train (69 minutes), and Little Mermaid (31 minutes).

Moral of the story — if the weather is nice and it’s a Saturday, Magic Kingdom is not the place to avoid crowds.

EPCOT Wait Times

Over at EPCOT, wait times are much more reasonable, even though (like Magic Kingdom) many attractions hit their highest average wait times of the week.

Gran Fiesta Tour Starring The Three Caballeros had an average wait time today of 8 minutes (which puts it at #6 for the week). Although most other attractions were #1 for the week, wait times still weren’t horrible compared with Magic Kingdom. For instance, average wait times for Living With the Land was 17 minutes (3 minutes above the 14-minute seven-day average) and Spaceship Earth saw 28 minutes.

Taking a look at the headliners, all had their biggest average wait times of the week: Soarin’ (57 minutes), Test Track (85 minutes), and Frozen Ever After (70 minutes) could have eaten up most of your early part of the day. Looking at the average wait times, it did seem that there was a noticeable EPCOT exodus as the day wore on.

If you’ve got to visit during a busy weekend, have a special tool at your side. Subscribe today and get our Lines app too.

Disney’s Hollywood Studios Wait Times

Looking for where to avoid the crowds? Hollywood Studios was quiet compared with other days this week, although wait times tend to be higher there due to the lack of things to do.

The only attractions to hit number one for the week were MuppetVision 3D (average wait of 30 minutes) and Lightning McQueen’s Racing Academy (22 minutes).

Actuals compared to posted wait times were fairly good as well.  We received 5 actual wait times today for Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster, and the actual wait averaged 76% of the posted wait time. Star Tours actual wait averaged 78% and Tower of Terror averaged 89%. At the other end of the spectrum, Toy Story Mania! had an average posted wait time today of 31 minutes–with 15 actual wait times today, the actual wait averaged 36% of the posted wait time.

If you were trying to have a pleasant ride on Disney’s newest attraction, Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway had an average wait time today of 78 minutes. Its 7-day average is 87 minutes, so today ranks #6 for this week.

Here’s how Rise of the Resistance Boarding Group data looked for today.

 

Disney’s Animal Kingdom Wait Times

And finally, over at Animal Kingdom, like Magic Kingdom, waits were the highest of the week today.

DINOSAUR had an average wait time today of 48 minutes. Its 7-day average is 32 minutes, so today ranks #1 for this week. We received 4 actual wait times today, and the actual wait averaged 83% of the posted wait time.

This one will have you squirming in your seats — literally! It’s Tough to Be a Bug! had an average wait time today of 28 minutes. Not only is that the #1 for the week and for the month, its  365-day average is 12 minutes, so today ranks #1 for the past year.

Other attractions hitting #1 for the average wait times of the week include Expedition Everest (45 minutes), Kali River Rapids (39 minutes), and Na’vi River Journey (62 minutes).

It wasn’t too bad of a day to take a ride on a banshee. Avatar Flight of Passage had an average wait time today of 78 minutes. With a  7-day average is 72 minutes, today was only the second busiest day of the week. (Some of you enjoyed riding today — We received 8 actual wait times today, and the actual wait averaged 74% of the posted wait time.)

The trick for Animal Kingdom is, with its early opening time, arrive as early in the day as possible. Average wait times will increase and stay constant until its early closing time.

 

 

The post Yes, It Was Busy at Disney (It’s Saturday After All) — Walt Disney World Wait Times Saturday, October 24, 2020 appeared first on TouringPlans.com Blog.

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