Category: Other

When ABC Commissary reopened last month, I don’t think any of us were prepared for its new menu to impress us as much as it has. Then our team tried it out and loved it. But, then I lunched there earlier this month and fell in love with a plant-based dish. Whether your diet is purely plant-based or if you’re like me and are a part time plant-based diner, you’ve got to try this dish.

The new menu at ABC Commissary is full of fresh, vibrant dishes. The Curry Rice Bowl with Tofu caught my eye and I am so glad I gave it a try. The Crispy Pineapple-marinated Tofu was sweet and perfectly crispy. It is served on top of the sauce and  the Sautéed Vegetables. Said vegetables are tossed in Red Curry Sauce and served with Jasmine Coconut Rice. The dish is a fantastic blend of sweet tropical flavors from the Crispy Pineapple-marinated Tofu as well as the Jasmine Coconut Rice. The rice itself was so fluffy, almost creamy. I could have eaten a bowl just of it. The Red Curry Sauce is savory and rich, not spicy. The vegetables including squash, cauliflower, carrots, and more were tender, but al dente. For $11.99 this is a great value.

You should have seen the looks of delight on my face as I savored each bite. With each forkful I’d snagged a bit of rice, some sauce, and either a few vegetables or a piece of the crispy tofu. I sat outside with my son in tow and reveled in the flavorful dish and the lovely fall Florida weather. For my son I ordered a side of Mexican rice, mostly because of the protein packed peas for him. And I couldn’t resist the Arugula-Farro Salad as a side for $3.79. I now have cravings for this meal.

Do you like to explore plant-based dishes at Disney? What’s your favorite?

The post REVIEW – ABC Commissary is Home to the BEST Plant-Based Dish in Hollywood Studios appeared first on TouringPlans.com Blog.

From our friends at touringplans.com

Filed Under: Dining, Hollywood Studios, ABC Commissary, disney dining, hollywood studios dining, hollywood studios restaurants

Many Disney fans love making use of Disney’s refillable mug program. But, due to COVID-19 things are a little different. While self-serve is not currently an option, you can still make great use of this program. Here’s how it works.

These refillable mugs are formerly known as Rapid Fill. Each mug cost $19.99 for your length of stay. Normally they are included in the Disney Dining Plan, too. Each mug entitles you to unlimited refills at the Disney hotels for the duration of your stay. This includes all Disney-owned hotels, not just the one at which you are staying. Each mug has an RFID chip that communicates with the soda fountain machines to indicate if the mug is still valid or not.

With COVID-19 precautions in place you can no longer refill the mug yourself. Sorry folks, this does mean not combining drinks to make your own magical concoction. Instead, there is a table placed near the soda fountain, and staffed by a Cast Member. Simply place your open mug on the table. Keep the lid with you. The cast member will ask for your drink order and will fill it for you, leaving you to place the lid back on the mug. Easy, right?

This is also the case with regular fountain drinks too. Simply show your receipt and let the Cast Member know what you want to drink, and they will place the filled drink on the table. There can be a crowd in the mornings as guests head out to the parks, though I didn’t feel it was much different than the crowds that would gather to fill their own mugs in the mornings back in the before-time. Just keep your distance, of course.

Are you a fan of Disney’s Rapid Fill program? Will this new process change your use of it?

The post How Refillable Mugs and Soft Drinks Have Changed at Resorts Due to COVID-19 Precautions appeared first on TouringPlans.com Blog.

From our friends at touringplans.com

Filed Under: Dining, Resorts, Trip Planning, disney dining, disney refillable mugs, on site disney hotels

Last week, Touring Plans boss mom Julia messaged me about our blog post plans for Thanksgiving. Between preparing for the mega-event of Derek’s Turkeys of the Year and an outlet report she suggested I pen a “thankful” list of things from Universal Orlando. This year has hit everyone hard to varying degrees, so I took up the suggestion of finding some good things to celebrate.

While I am spending my first Thanksgiving alone (but lots of Zoom calls) there are many not as lucky as I, who have put their souls into jobs only to have them ripped away due to the pandemic. If you are financially able to please consider donating to Orlando or Anaheim food banks. Additionally, I participated in a fundraiser last week where we raised money for Cast and Team Members in the Orlando area featuring Thrill Geek, Inside Universal, RetroWDW, Theme Park Bar, and more. You can watch our live stream here.

Team Members

The parks simply would not be what they are without the amazing Team Members. I am thankful for every single one of them during my vacations in January and September, from the bartenders at Endless Summer to haunted house operations, Kyle and Keith over at Bigfire Grill to Ryan at Hagrid, and bus drivers to enhanced cleaning crews. You all rock and make this resort as great as it is.

Today Cafe

I am, as the kids say, basic af. I like my coffee cold-brewed, food fresh, my beer craft made, and there’s only one place at Universal that offers that – Today Cafe. This counter-service restaurant replaced the Beverly Hills Boulangerie which served pastries, deli items, and store-brand coffee. The new menu that highlights fresh ingredients, healthy choices, delicious coffee, and a New York attitude. For those who rolled into Horror Nights late, the shop also served draft beer and wine on tap. I am thankful for all the amazing new options here, especially the incredible potato salad (I normally HATE potato salad).

Fall Halloween Event & Christmas

There was a time we did not know if the parks would celebrate Halloween or Christmas this year as attractions and entertainment were cut around Orlando. But then in September, something magical happened: Universal said they will be testing a Halloween event. After a rousing success, Universal continued the event through October by opening two haunted houses, offering exclusive food and beverage, trick or treating, and costumes. Then, miraculously, Universal quickly shared their plans for Christmas featuring socially distanced meet and greets, a Christmas walkthrough, and more. I am thankful for Universal taking a big risk in adding more experiences to the parks and keeping some of the holidays alive during this weird time.

The Brussels Sprouts at Bigfire Grille

Ok, this one is pretty simple but hear me out. The Brussels sprouts at Bigfire are, well, fire. The appetizer-sized dish features perfectly crispy sprouts, each leaf crunchy and seasoned perfectly. Accompanying the dish are shishito peppers and a toasted almond smear. The flavors and textures of this dish highlight how much I enjoy Bigfire: simple, but well-executed dishes.

Horror Make-Up Show

pic.twitter.com/rdxoXtDQ4I

— Summerbellies the snowman (@Summerbellies) November 21, 2020

If you know, you KNOW. Horror Make-Up Show is an institution, an annual passholder favorite, and easily the funniest show in the Orlando parks. What is billed as an insider’s look into make-up and practical special effects in movies quickly descends into madness as the two hosts play off each other and the audience. No two shows are ever alike and I always make the effort to watch at least once a trip.

(For those wondering, my list is: Robyn, Josh, Summer, then Bill as favs. But they are all amazing.)

You, The Readers

I am not here if you are not here, so thank you dear readers for reading our posts about the caloric content of a cupcake, outlet reports, body augmentation, and more. This column is always a fun challenge that I love surprising and delighting you all with. Now one of these days I will finally get the Touring Plans company card…

The post Giving Thanks at Universal Orlando appeared first on TouringPlans.com Blog.

From our friends at touringplans.com

Filed Under: Universal Orlando Resort, thanksgiving

Any doubts about whether crowds would visit Walt Disney World for Thanksgiving were dispelled today, as the Magic Kingdom, EPCOT, and Animal Kingdom saw posted wait time averages in the top 3 of the past month.  Hollywood Studios was equally busy, but wait times are lower because of ride capacity that was added a couple of weeks ago.

Many Walt Disney World computer systems experienced issues today, including My Disney Experience and park tapstiles. It’s safe to assume this was related to an Amazon Web Services outage in the eastern part of the U.S.

We received exactly 200 actual wait times today from our Lines app Liners – thank you all. Let’s do the numbers!

Animal Kingdom Wait Times

The average posted wait for Avatar Flight of Passage hit two hours today. That 120 minutes may seem like a lot, but at #99 it’s barely in the top 100 days of the past year for FoP (and that counts days lost to the shutdown).  In good news, the actual wait times we measured at Expedition Everest and Kilimanjaro Safari were only half of the posted wait times.

Magic Kingdom Wait Times

Not only was the Magic Kingdom busy today, but the posted wait times were pretty close to actual waits in line we measured throughout the park.  There’s something to be said for truth in advertising.  One bright spot at the Magic Kingdom was that the average wait to get into Country Bear Jamboree – the world’s best ursine-based animatronic stage show with country and western music – was only 5 minutes.

Hollywood Studios Wait Times

The big thing we saw at the Studios today was that the posted wait time at Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run was underestimated by a fairly wide amount.  Smugglers Run’s average wait time today was 45 minutes. We received 8 actual wait times today, and the actual wait averaged 149% of the posted wait time – so that average posted of 45 minutes was an actual of almost 70 minutes.

Rise of the Resistance was running really well until the AWS outage just after 1 p.m., and that resulted in an hour-long delay in calling boarding groups.  Things resumed around 2:15 p.m. and seemed to run well for a bit before calling boarding groups slowed down from around 3 p.m. to just before 5 p.m.  Things look better as I’m writing this, though, so hopefully everyone who got a boarding group will get a chance to ride the best attraction Disney’s done in decades.

EPCOT Wait Times

Sure, EPCOT was crowded, but the Mexico pavilion’s Gran Fiesta Tour only had an average wait of 9 minutes.  My guess is that everyone was celebrating the birthday of La Cava’s tequila ambassador, Hilda, with margaritas and shots.

The post Crowds Ahoy! Walt Disney World Wait Times for Wednesday, November 25, 2020 appeared first on TouringPlans.com Blog.

From our friends at touringplans.com

Filed Under: Walt Disney World (FL), wait times

One of my favorite scenes of any Star Wars film is
when Han Solo takes the Millennium Falcon into the asteroid field in
“The Empire Strikes Back” (celebrating its 40^th anniversary this
year, by the way). As a kid, I’d watch the Falcon gracefully dodge those
asteroids – avoiding TIE fighters at the same time – and dream of being
onboard the “fastest hunk of junk in the galaxy.”

That dream came true last year with the debut of Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run inside Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge at Disneyland park in California and Disney’s Hollywood Studios in Florida. In this groundbreaking attraction, you walk those iconic curved hallways and then strap into the cockpit to take control of the ship that made the Kessel Run in less than 12 parsecs.

I must’ve had some galactic dust in my eye the first time I entered
the Falcon – I’m sure that’s why my vision went all watery and
blurry for a moment, right? Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run is an
amazing, immersive attraction that gives you a Star Wars experience like
never before. That’s why I’m so thrilled to share this latest video in our
“Ride & Learn” series, so you can take a virtual trip on this “bucket of
bolts” and discover some fun facts about the attraction along the way. Check it
out!

Still want to know more? Of course you do! Here are a few extra
fun facts about Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run:

• The Millennium Falcon, docked in the
  Black Spire Outpost spaceport inside Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge, measures
  more than 100 feet long.
• Hondo Ohnaka, who leads you on your journey, is
  a fan-favorite miscreant from the “Star Wars: The Clone Wars” and “Star Wars:
  Rebels” animated television series. Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run
  marks the first time he’s been seen in any form other than an animated
  on-screen character.
• You enter the Falcon through an access
  hatch on its port side. As you explore the ship’s main hold, you may spot all
  sorts of iconic Star Wars items, including the helmet and remote Luke
  Skywalker used in his first lightsaber training! Keep an eye out for some Porg
  nests, too …
• Industrial Light & Magic (the visual
  effects division of Lucasfilm) collaborated with Walt Disney Imagineering to
  create the gaming platform and interactive media for the attraction.  
• If the Falcon
  sustains damage – such as smashing into obstacles or taking enemy fire –
  and is not properly repaired, the ship’s handling is affected and its hallways
  will show damage after you land.
• Disney Imagineers worked with Lucasfilm to
  ensure authenticity in every detail of the Millennium
  Falcon – down to the hoses, pipes, switches and even the stickers on the
  exterior hull. Imagineers visited Star
  Wars film productions in the United Kingdom to study Falcon sets and pored over archival Lucasfilm photographs of the
  ship.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this flight aboard the Millennium Falcon and maybe learned a little something along the way. Keep checking back with us here on the Disney Parks Blog for more #DisneyMagicMoments!

From our friends at disneyparks.disney.go.com

Filed Under: Disneyland Resort, Walt Disney World Resort