A Blog About Disney Stuff

Judging from notes from friends and family up north, fall is in full swing. And while Florida is a little bit slow to join those cooler temperatures, Disney always goes over the top when it comes to trying to bring about the fall feeling. This includes special food with those fall flavors of apple, pumpkin, and spices. Here’s our top four picks for fall treats at Walt Disney World.

Magic Kingdom: Not-So-Poison Apple Cupcake

The Not-So-Poison Apple Cupcake, available at Pinocchio Village Haus in Fantasyland, has been at Magic Kingdom during the fall season for a few years now. The spiced apple cupcake is loaded with cozy autumn flavors. There is an obscene amount of frosting on this one, which is a good thing if you love frosting.

Disney’s Hollywood Studios: Pumpkin Cheesecake Cannoli at PizzeRizzo

A delightful twist on pumpkin cheesecake, the filling is mixed with praline crunch and fills the crunchy cannoli.

Disney’s Riviera Resort: Pumpkin Mousse at Disney’s Riviera Resort La Petit Cafe

A European-themed resort would not be the same without an artisan coffee shop and bakery. La Petit Cafe sure fits the bill with its tasty pastries, baked goods, and specialty coffees. For the Halloween season a few desserts are offered, including the Pumpkin Mousse. Our field team immediately fell in love with the smooth creamy texture and sweet pumpkin spice flavor. Light, yet filling and satisfying, the Pumpkin Mousse is a must-do dessert for anyone who enjoys fall flavors.

Disney Springs, Amorette’s Patisserie and The Ganachery: Anything, really!

If there’s one constant in the world, it’s that we’re huge fans of the sweets at Amorette’s Patisserie and The Ganachery at Disney Springs. Whether you’re looking at the incredible pumpkin Creme Brulee or Cookies and Cream cake at Amorette’s or the Caramel Chocolate Skulls or the amazing Chocolate Piñatas at The Ganachery, it is hard to find something that we wouldn’t recommend at these locations.

Which of these do y9u find the most tempting to your taste buds?

The post The Top Four Fall Sweet Treats at Walt Disney World appeared first on TouringPlans.com Blog.

From our friends at touringplans.com
Filed Under: Snacks, Walt Disney World (FL), Amorette’s Patisserie, cupcakes, snacks, The Ganachery

For nearly three decades, the Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin hotels have stood as an iconic property that blends the benefits of staying on Disney property with the amenities of a Starwood (now Marriott) property. By offering many of the same benefits as a Disney owned and operated hotel, plus Marriott’s standards, the Swan-Dolphin hotel area is  a great choice for many families. But a recent change to their bus transportation may decrease the overall value of staying at these properties.

For years the Swan and Dolphin utilized Disney’s own buses for guest transportation to the Disney theme parks. This allowed guests to be dropped off at the Disney owned bus stops, which are closest to the theme park entrances. This is especially helpful at Magic Kingdom because it means being dropped off and picked up close to the park entrance itself.

Now, the Swan and Dolphin has switched to Mears Transportation. Although Mears is the absolute largest transportation provider in Orlando, this means a major change to Swan-Dolphin’s transportation. Guests are now dropped off and picked up at the third-party bus lots. For Magic Kingdom this means the Swan-Dolphin bus stop is at the Transportation and Ticket Center.

Guests that are used to the Disney bus terminal just outside the entrance to Magic Kingdom will find this to be a big change. Having to instead come and go from the Transportation  and Ticket Center, will add about 15 – 30 minutes to their arrival and departure. And while that may not seem like a huge amount of time, it can certainly feel like a big change, and it can feel like a lot more effort is in involved.

The Swan and Dolphin still offer an incredible location. They are right next to Disney’s Hollywood Studios and EPCOT. They are part of the Boardwalk neighborhood which is home to Disney’s Yacht Club, Beach Club, and Boardwalk Resorts. If the main focus of your trip to Walt Disney World is visiting EPCOT and Disney’s Hollywood Studios then the Swan and Dolphin hotels offer an unbeatable location. For those two parks it is best to walk, especially since the Friendship Ferry Boats are currently not operating. In fact, the Swan Dolphin’s guide to Disney transportation essentially states that to get to EPCOT and Disney’s Hollywood Studios guests need to walk there.

If you’re not sure which resort is the best fit for your family we can help with that. We’ve got information on all the Disney Resort Hotels. And our Room Finder tool is free to use and enables you to find the specific hotel rooms that fit your needs at any of the Disney properties. Becoming a TouringPlans Subscriber will give you access to all our tools and the Lines app, which will give you the ability to avoid long lines to maximize your time.

Have you stayed at the Swan or Dolphin before? What do you think of this change to their bus transportation?

The post Major Change to Swan and Dolphin’s Bus Transportation – What Does It Mean For You? appeared first on TouringPlans.com Blog.

From our friends at touringplans.com
Filed Under: Dos and Don’ts, Hollywood Studios, Observations, Resorts, Transportation, disney on site hotels, disney reopening, disney swan dolphin, Disney Transportation, Swan & Dolphin

Florida sunsets can be simply spectacular. There are nights when the sky turns so pink that even the air itself seems to have a rose-colored hue. That “golden hour” is a great time to take in-park photos, and this is especially true at Magic Kingdom. The hour before sunset adds an extra layer of magic to an already magical place.

Here’s some photos that we captured recently during a particularly beautiful sunset at Magic Kingdom. Enjoy!

 

Are you a fan of sunsets at the parks or do you prefer nighttime more? 

The post Sunset Shots at Magic Kingdom appeared first on TouringPlans.com Blog.

From our friends at touringplans.com
Filed Under: Photos and Video, Walt Disney World (FL), photos, sunset

Planning a trip to Disney World looks a little different these days; and since new situations call for new tools, the TouringPlans Lines app (the highest-rated Disney World app in iTunes and Google Play!) has received a major update improving those features users love! And since a Disney fan has gotta eat, today I’m going to show you how to navigate the new and improved Lines 2.0 app dining page!

So let’s start with the app’s homepage. This is what you will see upon opening the Lines 2.0 app.

To get to the dining pages, we first need to select one of the park icons shown above; and since Hollywood Studios is high in demand these days, we’ll use that park for the sake of this tutorial.

What’s pictured below is what you will see once you select Hollywood Studios and then select the Dining tab on the header and next to the Attractions tab.

Here you can scroll through all of the park’s restaurants, quick-service restaurants, snack carts, and kiosks. You will also see the TouringPlans ratings for each location, whether or not it offers the option to mobile order, what to expect from the menu and an overall assessment of its price.

I continued to scroll down and then selected the Hollywood Brown Derby restaurant from the dining list.

Here’s the page for the Hollywood Brown Derby! As you can see, a restaurant page shows a summary of the restaurant’s menu, plus the restaurant’s percentage rating and its ranking in comparison to other restaurants on property. Also notice there are tabs for Menus, Prices, and Hours.

If we continue to scroll down…

…we will also be able to see what the restaurant counts as for the Disney Dining Plan, what discounts are available, and tabs for Summary, Setting and Atmosphere, Specialties, and Other Recommendations.

Let’s go ahead and select the Menus tab…

Here the menu is organized into categories for additional convenience. But since we’re keeping things simple, I’m just going to select the Dinner Menu.

If I continue to scroll, I’ll be able to see the Hollywood Brown Derby’s full menu with item descriptions and prices.

Now let’s go back to the restaurant’s main page and then select both the Prices tab and the Hours tab.

The Prices tab is super handy as it allows you to know the average cost of a meal at first glance and without having to read through the menus.

Plus, the Hours tab is especially convenient right now since operating hours for both the parks and their restaurants have had to adjust to the current global situation.

What you see pictured above is the restaurant’s open Summary tab and the open Setting and Atmosphere tab. Here you can learn what you really want to know about a restaurant.

As an added bonus, you’ll be able to impress your friends and family during your meal with your newfound expertise!

Now let’s talk about food! The image above shows the open Specialities tab which is an honest breakdown of the Hollywood Brown Derby’s most famous menu items. You’re gonna know what’s expensive, what could be better, and even what’s weird.

And if those specialty items aren’t quite what you’re looking for, the app still has you covered. The Other Recommendations tab lists some of the restaurant’s best-underrated menu items so you’re in-the-know about what’s best to order.

If I go all the way back to the page listing all of the dining locations at Hollywood Studios, there’s a way to search that you need to know about. Up towards the top of the page, you will see an option to either Sort or Filter the list of park dining locations.

What’s pictured above is what happens when I hit the Sort button. With this tool, I can search for a specific dining location by name or discover my options based on my preferred cost or rating.

Now what you see below is what happens when I hit the Filter button. This tool allows me to filter the selection of Hollywood Studios dining locations based on ratings or by what type of location you’re looking to enjoy.

So that’s how you navigate the Lines 2.0 app Dining Page and a look at how these features can both save you time and make meal planning easy while at Walt Disney World!

Have you checked out the new Lines 2.0 app? Let us know in the comments!

The post How to Navigate the Lines 2.0 App Dining Page appeared first on TouringPlans.com Blog.

From our friends at touringplans.com
Filed Under: Dining, Lines 2.0, Trip Planning, Walt Disney World (FL), best disney restaurants, disney dining, Disney food, Disney Restaurant Menus, disney restaurant value, Disney Restaurants, disney world, Hollywood Brown Derby, lines 2.0, Lines 2.0 app, Menu Prices, Restaurant Hours, walt disney world