The EPCOT International Food & Wine Festival will start today, July 27th, and run through November 18, 2023, this year. This is one of our favorite Disney World events!
Eat around the world at the many marketplaces featuring global cuisine and beverages. This is foodie heaven with delicious dishes, fine wine, craft beer, spirits, and other beverages sure to satisfy every palate.
For a full list of the numerous marketplace menus, check out the festival page below:
In addition to the food, there are also other fun activities. Participate in the Remy’s Ratatouille Hide & Squeak or Pluto’s Pumpkin Pursuit scavenger hunts. Commemorate your trip with special photo ops. And of course, there will be plenty of merch if you want to do some souvenir shopping.
You can also enjoy live concerts at the Eat to the Beat concert series with performances nightly starting at 5:30 PM, 6:45 PM, and 8:00 PM at the America Gardens Theatre.
This year, EPCOT will also be the focus for the Disney Company’s 100th Anniversary celebration activities in Orlando so expect additional fun related to that as well. Don’t skip EPCOT on your next Disney World trip.
Feel free to contact me if you want to chat about this or any other Disney event. We love these festivals!
Disney has announced that the Trails End restaurant and adjacent Crockett’s Tavern at Disney World’s Fort Wilderness Campgrounds Resort will be reopening tomorrow, July 27, 2023!
They have been closed for refurbishment the last few months. We were sad at the closing of one of our favorite Disney buffets at Trails End, now reimagined as a quick-service takeaway food market. It used to be our tradition to take the ferry boat over to Fort Wilderness after a long hot day at the Magic Kingdom Park for their buffet dinner. Resting our feet with the cool breeze blowing as the ferry sailed across the lagoon was the best feeling ever at that point. Then, we sat for a while as a family, recapping our fun day, enjoying the delicious fried chicken, brisket, ribs, gigantic baked potatoes, and more. Yummm! At least, it sounds like some favorite foods are returning, along with some new selections.
Most importantly, YES, the fried chicken is back! The old Trails End had the best fried chicken at Disney, and I contend even the best I’ve ever had elsewhere too. Crossing fingers that it’s returning the same. Too bad it won’t be all-you-can-eat anymore, but I can’t wait to try it again.
Along with the fried chicken, there will also be pecan smoked chicken and brisket, bbq ribs, chicken nuggets, chicken wrap, cheeseburgers, and pizza, including new meat lovers or veggie versions of the latter two. Sides will include mac n cheese, mashed potatoes with gravy, coleslaw, plant-based cowboy beans, french fries, and cornbread. Of course, they didn’t forget dessert! The famous strawberry shortcake from Hoop-Dee-Doo Revue next door is back, along with other favorites like banana pudding, lemon blueberry trifle, carrot cake, ice cream, and several cupcakes and cookies, including s’mores flavors.
The restaurant has been refreshed into a casual seating area with warm wood furnishings and rustic accents. You can sit there to eat your food from the marketplace or take them to go.
Crockett’s Tavern has also been reimagined into a lounge with expanded seating indoors and out. The outdoor window will also reopen for you to grab a quick drink to-go.
Light bites include a charcuterie board, chicken bites, crispy cauliflower, and a trio of sliders (pulled pork/brisket/buffalo chicken or plant-based fried green tomatoes). There’s also a dessert trio with s’mores chocolate pudding, strawberry shortcake, and banana pudding.
Of course, the adult beverages are the stars of the lounge, with a moonshine cocktail flight and several new cocktails featuring Uncle Nearest 1884 Small Batch Whiskey, Laird’s Applejack Brandy, Angel’s Envy Bourbon, Hendrick’s Gin, Teremana Blanco Tequila, Ole Smoky White Lightnin’ Moonshine, and more.
Were these places some of your favorites too? It’s sad to see the old favorites go, but I’m glad they’ve reopened back in some form. We’ll have to check them out on our next trip!
Feel free to contact me if you want to chat more about a Disney trip.
For travelers to Disney World in Orlando Florida, the Sunshine Flyer and Mears Connect bus services have announced their merger this week. The new service will be called Mears Connect Driven By Sunshine and officially begin service on August 1, 2023.
These services provide bus and van transportation to and from the Orlando International Airport and the Disney World area resorts. With the merger, they can now provide 24/7 service and additional features. Unfortunately, the buses will no longer have the cool old-fashioned steam train look though.
If you have a current Mears Connect reservation, you will not be impacted. If you have a Sunshine Flyer reservation before August 1st, you should have gotten an email with new instructions.
Future reservations can be made on the Mears Connect site. You can also visit the site for additional information about the merger.
This is just one of several options for transportation to the Disney Parks. You can always rent a car and drive yourself, book private car services, or take Uber/Lyft. Feel free to ping me if you want to chat about your options for a Disney trip.
Disneyland just announced that San Fransokyo will be opening on August 31, 2023 in California Adventure Park!
In case you didn’t know, Disneyland has been reimagining the Pacific Wharf area in California Adventure Park as San Fransokyo Square, inspired by the Big Hero 6 movie. It looks like it is near completion now.
You can walk across the new San Fransokyo Gate Bridge, try new foods in the reimagined restaurants, and of course, get souvenirs in the new markets. There will even be a meet and greet with Hiro and Baymax!
Be sure to check it out next time you’re there. The new foods sound really good.
Feel free to contact me if you would like to chat about planning your next Disneyland trip.
My post about the Orlando Informer ticket sales starting “today” was supposed to be scheduled to go out the wee early morning of June 6th, but it looks like it got posted this morning, which is the 5th. So ignore all those references to “today”. They actually will go on sale tomorrow, the real June 6th at 10am ET. Sorry again!
Alert! Tickets for the Winter 2023 Orlando Informer events go on sale at 10am ET, June 6, 2023! Queue up early!
The Orlando Informer events give you private evening hours at Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure parks in Orlando after their normal closing times. You can ride all the rides with much shorter wait times, enjoy special event bonuses, and indulge in unlimited select food and non-alcoholic beverages from the park restaurants and food stands. Yes, unlimited butterbeer!!
OI ticket holders can then book a Universal resort room for significant savings on June 7th.
The Winter 2023 Orlando Informer dates are:
November 17-18
December 1-2
December 8-9
This year, they are also holding Mini Meetups that just run for several hours in Islands of Adventure park only and are limited to those 18 years+. Tickets for these go on sale today as well.
The Mini Meetup dates are:
November 16
December 7
You can just buy individual nights or do both nights of one weekend for some slight savings. The registration fee for the OI Meetup is $229 for Friday night, $244 for Saturday night, or $363 for Friday and Saturday, plus processing and tax.
Even though the event’s official start time is after the normal park closing time for that day, you can enter the parks at 5pm and enjoy a few hours of the park rides and shows that may not be available during the Meetup hours. The Winter dates will allow you to see the parks decorated for the holidays and you should be able to catch the iconic Macy’s Christmas parade in Universal Studios if you enter at 5pm.
We did our first Orlando Informer event last December and then did another last February. Check out our Dec 2022 Trip Recap for a summary of our experience there. There were events this past weekend too, so you can catch some YouTube videos coming out now. We didn’t go to these this time.
For more details about the events or to buy tickets, visit the Orlando Informer site:
These Orlando Informer events are very limited and extremely popular, so tickets can sell out fast. If you’re interested in going, I recommend you hop online a little before 10am ET and join the virtual queue to buy tix as soon as you can.
If you want to chat about Orlando Informer events, feel free to contact me.
This one sounds so incredible! You can take a private jet trip to all of the Disney Parks and several other iconic Disney locations around the world!
Spend 24 days jet-setting to 6 countries with the Adventures by Disney trip program, visiting 12 Disney theme parks, 3 Disney studios, and 3 iconic landmarks – the Taj Mahal, Pyramids of Giza, and Eiffel Tower! It includes private guides everywhere and VIP access for entrances, rides, and shows, lodging in deluxe resorts, dining in signature restaurants, plus many other Disney extras and the highly pampered Disney service level.
The total price is quite the initial sticker shock at $114,995 per person! Gasp! However, it includes so many extraordinary experiences that will probably add up pretty quickly, even if you can individually do them. This will be hard math to do! When can we win the lottery??
There are two trips scheduled for 2024, and bookings opening soon for them as well. They’re limited to 75 people per trip, so they could sell out quickly.
Booking will begin on the following dates: * June 12: Previous Adventures by Disney guests who have traveled on 3+ Adventures * June 14: All previous Adventures by Disney guests * June 16: Golden Oak members * June 19: General Public
For more details, including the full itinerary, of this trip, visit:
Heads Up! You can now book Disney World tickets, rooms, and dining plans for 2024! Yes, dining plans are back!
As you can imagine, their systems got bogged down with the high volume this morning, but it looks like bookings are open again. If you’re interested in booking a 2024 trip, now’s the time.
Unfortunately, there is no one nice list of the prices for next year though. You just have to plug in your possible trip dates with the options you’re considering and see what the total is…or have a travel agent like me help you do the legwork.
In general, 2024 will cost more than 2023 though, but there are many factors that go into the total. Disney uses dynamic pricing, so the prices will vary depending on popularity and availability. Days that tend to be busier, such as weekends and holidays, will generally cost more than other days. The length of your stay and which resort you stay at will also affect the overall cost.
Finally, many people have been waiting for the dining plans to return. These are basically prepaid meal plans that folks like for the convenience. You should evaluate which restaurants you plan to really dine in, including what you might order there, to see if the plans are worthwhile to you though. Everyone in your booking will have to get the same plan if you opt-in for it, even the kids.
There are two types of dining plans that you can add to your resort packages. These are the prices and allocations per person per day of your resort stay. Both plans also include 1 Resort Refillable Drink Mug per person per stay.
Quick Service Dining Plan:
$57.01 per adult (ages 10+), $23.83 per child (ages 3 – 9)
2 Quick Service Meals
1 Alcoholic/non-Alcoholic Beverage per Meal
1 Snack
Disney Dining Plan:
$94.28 per adult (ages 10+), $29.69 per child (ages 3-9)
1 Table Service Meal
1 Quick Service Meal
1 Alcoholic/non-Alcoholic Beverage per Meal
1 Snack
If you’re thinking about a 2024 trip, you can now begin to crunch the numbers. Resorts can fill up for popular times of the year, and prices will just go up the closer you get.
Packages (which means booking a resort room and tickets together) just need a $200 deposit and that’s fully refundable if you cancel at least 30 days before your check-in date.
Room-only bookings need to pay the first day’s amount and are refundable if you cancel at least 5 days before your check-in date.
Ticket-only bookings are not refundable but the tickets can stay in your account for future use. You’ll just have to pay the additional difference if ticket prices increase for the days you eventually use them.
If a special offer comes along in the future, you can get that applied if your booking qualifies for it too.
As always, feel free to contact me if you want to chat about booking a Disney World trip! See ya real soon!
Breaking News! Disney just announced that the Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser experience in Orlando will be closing after the September 28-30, 2023 voyage!
If you’ve been meaning to book this, now’s the time. New reservations are paused for now but are expected to reopen on May 26th.
If you already have a booking for after September 30th, Disney will be contacting you in the coming days about your options.
The Galactic Starcruiser is a revolutionary 2-night experience where you will embark on a first-of-its-kind Star Wars adventure. Throughout the ship, you’ll interact with an eclectic collection of characters, sit down to exotic galactic cuisine and perhaps even plot a secret mission together. Seek out the inner workings of the legendary starship, learn the traditional art of wielding a lightsaber, and even jump on a transport to the planet Batuu—where your mission continues at Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge!
There are tons of YouTube videos if you want to see what the experience is like. For more details, visit the Galactic Starcruiser page.
If you would like me to help book your voyage, feel free to contact me.
