Author: Nate

Foodie Guide to Disney’s Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party

Get ready to celebrate the season as the holidays return to Disney’s Magic Kingdom Park! Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party kicks off on tomorrow and you won’t want to miss all of the festive sweets and treats that our Magic Kingdom Chefs have cooked up this year.

While most of these Disney treats are exclusive to the party, there are three items that will be available daily from Nov. 9-Dec. 22. The first one is a holiday cinnamon roll. This Mickey-shaped treat is decorated with red and green icing as well as a white chocolate snowflake.

The second item available daily is a peppermint cupcake – a red velvet cupcake filled with peppermint mousse and topped with cream cheese, buttercream, peppermint sprinkles and peppermint bark. Both of these can be found at the Main Street Bakery. And the third item – a peppermint ice cream sundae available at Plaza Ice Cream Parlor and Storybook Treats.

Exclusive to Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party, the rest of this list is sure to satisfy your seasonal sweet tooth, starting with some tasty Yule Log desserts! You’ll find the first at the Main Street Bakery; this Yule Log consists of white chocolate mousse, raspberry mousse, cassis pate de fruit and chocolate flourless cake. It comes covered with a red glaze, striped with white chocolate and topped with a garnish featuring Mickey and Minnie. The next Yule Log is at Pecos Bill Tall Tale Inn and Café, a chocolate cake with chocolate mousse and ganache featuring Chip and Dale and Donald Duck. And what’s more– both of these Yule Log desserts are gluten-friendly.

If you’re looking for more gluten-friendly options, over at Gaston’s Tavern, “Beauty and the Beast” fans will be excited to try this gluten-friendly Enchanted Christmas Belle Dessert. This flourless chocolate cake is filled with white chocolate peppermint mousse and covered in a yellow glaze with a chocolate garnish featuring Belle dressed in her holiday best. You’ll also find a gluten-friendly Tinker Bell Dessert in Disney at Cosmic Ray’s Starlight Café! This dessert consists of chocolate peppermint mousse, raspberry mousse, and dark chocolate mousse with a flourless chocolate cake bottom. It’s also covered in a green glaze and garnished with a chocolate piece featuring Tinker Bell.

It looks like Sandy Claws is “Making Christmas” again with his new cake push-pop – available at Sleepy Hollow. He’s filled his dessert with layers of orange vanilla cake, cranberry cherry mousse, white crispy pearls, cream cheese buttercream and holiday sprinkles. It’s also topped with a chocolate piece featuring none other than Sandy Claws, himself! And that’s not all, Sleepy Hollow will also be serving up decadent red velvet Mickey waffles with vanilla ice cream, caramel sauce and holiday sprinkles.

Finally, if you’re looking to get your egg nog fix, then look no further than Storybook Treats, where you’ll find an egg nog custard dessert, topped with spiced chocolate cake, meringue and an edible Scrooge McDuck gold coin.

If you want to get in on the merry celebration and try all these delicious sweets and treats, then get your tickets today for Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party. This winter celebration takes place on select nights Nov. 9-Dec. 22 at Magic Kingdom Park and includes live entertainment, spectacular fireworks, and an oh-so-jolly holiday parade.

November 11, 2017
Fantastical Gingerbread Displays Decorate the Walt Disney World Resort

As the holiday season draws near, the Walt Disney World Resort pastry chefs are bustling with excitement as they prepare their magnificent gingerbread displays! Each year, guests travel from around the world to see the beautifully-crafted gingerbread creations that adorn our parks and resorts. Here is the inside scoop on what’s in store for this year!

Starting at Disney’s Animal Kingdom Theme Park, Tusker House Restaurant will have a 3-foot long African-inspired gingerbread marketplace on display from Dec. 10 to Jan. 2, created by Pastry Chef Amber Vega. Over at Epcot, Pastry Chefs Noah French, Jason Stricker, and Crystal Saunders will be putting together two gingerbread displays at The American Adventure featuring the United States Capitol Building as well as the Lincoln Memorial. These will be on display starting Nov. 19 and will contain over 50 pounds of gingerbread! On Black Friday, Nov. 24, Pastry Chefs Yoly Lazo and Joseph Lodato from Disney Springs will have a set of gingerbread icons that celebrate the story behind Town Center; look for a display in the window of Amorette’s Patisserie where you can enjoy a sweet treat in between shopping stops.

If you’re planning to go resort hopping to see the festive holiday decorations, our deluxe resorts will be featuring gingerbread displays that you won’t want to miss. Starting Nov. 9 on the 4th floor of Disney’s Contemporary Resort, you’ll find the beautiful Cinderella Castle, designed by Pastry Chef Jeff Barnes and his talented pastry team. This display recreates the castle in the style of legendary artist Mary Blair on a backdrop inspired by “it’s a small world.” With oversized gingerbread cookies depicting Cinderella and Prince Charming greeting guests from the castle forecourt, this 18-foot tall display is crafted from thousands of gingerbread blocks, rolled fondant, and a mouth-watering amount of modeling chocolate!
This year also marks the 18th anniversary of the Holiday Carousel – a life-size, edible spinning carousel that’s become a holiday tradition at Disney’s Beach Club Resort. This year’s carousel is designed by Pastry Chefs Thomas Huebner, Jennifer Ladisky and Cindy Roman. The Lilo and Stitch-themed carousel will feature horses with hand-painted holiday characters and hand-crafted gingerbread snow flakes. See if you can spot all 18 hidden Mickeys on this display! There will also be a limited-edition pin featuring Lilo and Stitch available for purchase starting 11/17 at the Beach Club Marketplace. And right next door at Disney’s Yacht Club Resort, you’ll also find the annual Holiday Miniature Train! These beautiful holiday displays will be in the lobbies of each resort starting Nov. 17.

And for the “Grand” finale, Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa is celebrating the 19th anniversary of its famous life-size gingerbread house, which will be located in the main lobby of the resort Nov. 15-Jan. 1. Each year, the Grand Floridian pastry team, led by Executive Pastry Chef Erich Herbitschek, spend over 400 hours baking the gingerbread and over 160 hours constructing and decorating the house, which also contains The Bake Shop. There you can find gingerbread ornaments, cookies, and gingerbread house kits, all made using a classic gingerbread recipe from Austria. On Nov. 18, there will be a pin trading event with a special limited-edition pin featuring the penguins from “Mary Poppins.” What’s more, decorating aficionados will be excited to attend gingerbread house decorating demos conducted daily in the lobby in front of the display starting Dec. 1.

November 11, 2017
Jessie & Rex Arrive in Toy Story Land at Disney’s Hollywood Studios

Some exciting news coming out of Toy Story Land and we thought the Disney Dorks audience should be among the first to see.

Jessie and Rex became the first “Toy Story” characters to be installed in Toy Story Land at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, earlier this week. According to their storyline, Rex and Jessie decided to help Andy build a rollercoaster using his Mega Coaster Play Kit in his backyard by stringing up the lights on towers of blocks. Rex, of course, has got tangled up in the lights, but Jessie is nearby to help.

Stay tuned for an upcoming video that will take you inside Toy Story Land, which is set to open at the park in summer 2018.

November 11, 2017
Walt Disney Travel Company Packs More than 10,000 Military Care Packages in Anaheim, Calif., for Troops Overseas

What started out as 40 military care packages, packed by a small team at the Walt Disney Travel Company, has turned into an office-wide, biannual military care package drive that has reached more than 10,000 troops overseas.

“Our packing events have flourished in a wonderful way,” said Ivy Goodman, a team leader of travel reservation agents at the Walt Disney Travel Company. “Our latest drive generated more than 3,000 care packages to show the brave men and women of our Armed Forces that they are appreciated.”

For each packing event, Ivy and Cheryl Evans, a sales agent, offer colleagues a chance to sponsor a care package or create their own. Cast members hand-write messages on postcards to include in the care packages, which are shipped to troops overseas in partnership with Operation Interdependence.

In addition to postcards, the care packages include a protein like beef jerky, a small treat like a granola bar, candy left over from Mickey’s Halloween Party, and personal care items like lip balm and dental floss. Disney-related items like luggage tags or Mickey Mouse lapel pins also are included.

The packages are small in size, but huge in gratitude. Ivy is motivated by her stepfather, Bob, who served three tours in Vietnam, and retired from the Marine Corps as a Master Gunnery Sergeant, after 23 years of service. When Bob returned from Vietnam, he eventually married Ivy’s mom, who was the love of Bob’s life.

“With every postcard I write, I think of the brave servicemen and women who may read it, and thank them for their strength of character and sense of duty,” said Ivy. “In my heart, I say a prayer that they will make it home to their loved ones, too.”

November 11, 2017
Live Action Star Wars Series to Air On Disney’s Streaming Service

Star Wars is getting the TV treatment with a forthcoming live-action series set to debut on Disney’s digital streaming service. The still-untitled service is set to launch in 2019.

Walt Disney Company chairman and CEO Bob Iger confirmed the project Thursday while on a quarterly earnings call with investors.

Additionally, Iger revealed that new TV series based on the 2001 Pixar film Monsters Inc. (which also spawned the 2013 sequel Monsters University) and the Disney Channel film franchise High School Musical also will debut on the service.

It also was announced that the Star Wars franchise will expand with the launch of a new trilogy of films fromLast Jedi director Rian Johnson. The new movies will be separate from the continuing Skywalker saga and “Johnson will introduce new characters from a corner of the galaxy that Star Wars lore has never before explored,” according to an official announcement made by LucasFilm, which is owned by Disney. Johnson will write and direct the first film in the trilogy.

That new trilogy comes as Lucasfilm also has Solo: A Star Wars Story due out May 25, 2018, and director J.J. Abrams’ Star Wars: Episode IX, which is set to bow Dec. 20, 2019. The Last Jedi is slated for release Dec. 15.

In addition to original programming on the streaming service, Iger said on the call that Disney will consider licensing programming from third parties. The exec also noted that ABC Studios could end up producing for the new service. ‘We’ve talked about that a bit,” he said.

Although pricing is still being worked out, the plan is to offer the service for less than the price of Netflix, which currently costs $11 per month for its standard plan.

On the topic of Netflix, Iger noted that he doesn’t necessarily see the streaming service as a competitor but as a means of helping Disney become “a viable player in the direct-to-consumer space, a space that we all know is a very compelling space to be in.”

Disney’s ESPN service, meanwhile, will launch in spring 2018 and will be called ESPN Plus, Iger confirmed Thursday. The service will exclude sports that currently air on ESPN.

While this will mark the first live-action Star Wars TV series, George Lucas’ franchise has spawned five animated series, going all the way back to 1985’s Star Wars: Droids, which aired on ABC (long before ABC and LucasFilm were under the same corporate umbrella), as did the second series, Star Wars: Ewoks. The most recent animated entry, Star Wars Rebels, airs on Disney XD, a sister network of Disney Channel. Next up is Star Wars: Force of Destiny, which will debut on YouTube. Both Rebels and Forces of Destiny are produced by LucasFilm Animation.

Over the years, there have also been three live-action TV specials, most famously the widely lampooned Star Wars: Holiday Special that aired on CBS shortly after the original 1977 film’s release.

News that a Star Wars live-action series will be premiering on Disney’s streaming service has to be disappointing for ABC, which is also owned by Disney. Network president Channing Dungey expressed her optimism about ABC possibly airing a new Star Wars series at the Television Critics Association’s summer press tour in 2016 and said talks about that possibility were ongoing.

November 10, 2017