PRESS CLUB C Podcast with Ray Keating – Episode #114: Top 10 Summer Adult Beverages
Host and DisneyBizJournal editor Ray Keating is joined by Craig Donofrio, podcaster, pastor and Tiki guru, to serve up their top 10 adult beverages for summer. Craig essentially provides a summer adult beverages master class. Meanwhile, Ray looks to concoctions at Walt Disney World for libation inspiration. Tune in here.
by Beth Keating
News/Review
DisneyBizJournal.com
November 5, 2022
The Polynesian Resort at Disney World has welcomed back the newly renovated Kona Café after a brief hiatus for a remodel and a freshening of its décor. A new portico signals the entryway to the second floor restaurant, and blends the café’s theming with the rest of the Polynesian’s refurbished ambiance.
Fans of Tonga Toast will be thrilled to know that the cult-favorite still retains its place at the top of the breakfast menu, and much of the eatery’s lunch and dinner offerings remain the same, with perhaps an increase in the variety of sushi offerings and a new plant-based option.
Kona Café is a relaxed tropical venue with an Asian inspired menu that also offers some traditional American meals for less adventurous eaters. For your dining entertainment, Kona features an onstage sushi kitchen where you can see the chefs prepping meals with creativity and amazing speed.
The vibe of this sit-down restaurant is casual but very upbeat. The energy level is high due perhaps to the fact that it is not only a very family-friendly location, but also because the front of the restaurant is open to the soaring central atrium of the Polynesian’s Great Ceremonial House. You are in on all the surrounding action, with guests coming and going to the nearby monorail entrance. (This also makes Kona a great mid-day getaway from the parks, since it is just a short monorail ride away, and offers some excellent air conditioning and great food for your lunch or dinner break, before heading back to the parks.).
You can book advance dining reservations for Kona Café, and it’s probably your best idea because the hours for Kona are a bit scattered. Breakfast is served 7:30 am to 11:00 am, and then the kitchen is closed for a half hour until lunch service begins from 11:30 am to 2:00 pm. Another, longer break takes place before dinner is dished up, with seating available from 5:00 pm to 10:00 pm.
It’s safe to say that the reason many returning Disney diners are heading to Kona Café for breakfast is to treat themselves to the legendary Tonga Toast ($17.00). What? You say you don’t know what Tonga Toast is? It’s an enormous, banana-stuffed sourdough French Toast rolled in Cinnamon-Sugar, then drizzled with a strawberry compote. Some people’s Disney vacation isn’t complete without it! For those seeking a less sugar-induced entrée to fuel their Disney park day, there are also a variety of egg, French Toast and oatmeal centric dishes. Another yummy and unusual tropically-themed dish for your consideration is the macadamia nut pancakes with pineapple sauce ($15.00).
Lunch offers a selection of hand-rolled sushi options ($16.00-$28.00), which you can watch the chefs preparing in the open view kitchen. There are also poke bowls ($22.00), dashi noodle bowls ($22.00-$24.00), or stir fry ($24.50). The Big Kahuna Burger ($24.00) is waiting for those looking for something a little less “seven seas” influenced.
For dinner, the sushi rolls are joined by heartier entrées like Kona-braised short ribs ($38.00), New York Strip steak ($40.00), Verlasso Salmon ($29.00) or Asian-marinated Airline Chicken ($24.00).
Guests 21 and over can enjoy fruity island cocktails in addition to three different specialty beers from Hawaii. (Try the Lapu Lapu, $19.50, a tropical juice and rum concoction served in a whole, fresh pineapple. You will really feel like you are on vacation!)
Oh, and make sure you save room for dessert. In addition to a number of small “dessert glasses” full of sweet treats ($5.00), you’ll want to try the delicious Pineapple-Coconut Bread Pudding ($12.00), a warm bread pudding served with melty vanilla ice cream topped with caramel sauce that is eerily reminiscent of the bread pudding served across the way at ‘Ohana. We’ve visited Kona just to get our forks on that little bowl!
Welcome back, Kona Café – we’ve missed you!
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Beth Keating is a theme parks, restaurant and entertainment reporter for DisneyBizJournal.
by Ray Keating
Review
DisneyBizJournal.com
May 9, 2021
Disney did Mother’s Day right in 2021. How? There were two – not one but two – opportunities to celebrate with Mom over special Dole Whips. And that’s exactly what we did.
The first stop was for a Key Lime Pie Dole Whip at the Polynesian Village Resort’s Pineapple Lanai. How can you go wrong?
Key Lime Pie? Check. Dole Whip? Check. Combining the two? Check.
The lime soft serve came on top of crumbled graham cracker crust, with orange mango jam swirled on top, accompanied by a message to “Mom” on a piece of white chocolate and a real flower. The Dole Whip was both sweet and tart, and the graham crackers made for a nice base. The orange jam swirl didn’t really come into play. In the end, it was very lime-y – in a good way.
After much shopping and walking, we later arrived at Marketplace Snacks in Disney Springs for a special strawberry and chocolate soft-serve Dole Whip accompanied by a chocolate-dipped strawberry and edged with colorful heart-shaped sprinkles.
Again, this hit all the checkmarks. The mix of strawberry and chocolate – often underrated or overlooked when it comes to soft serve or other forms of cool delight (such as hard ice cream or frozen yogurt) – was delicious, and its Dole Whippiness was perfect as the temperature seemed to creep higher late in the day. And anytime a chocolate covered strawberry is presented, that’s a big plus.
Each was priced at $5.49 and well worth the price. However, I must confess that for this Dole Whip lover, nothing has yet reached my level of appreciation for the pineapple-vanilla and the orange-vanilla Dole Whip swirls. Those rank as heavenly.
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Ray Keating is the editor, publisher and economist for DisneyBizJournal.com, and author of the Pastor Stephen Grant novels and assorted nonfiction books. Have Ray Keating speak your group, business, school, church, or organization. Email him at raykeating@keatingreports.com.
The views expressed here are his own – after all, no one else should be held responsible for this stuff, right?
Keating has two new books out. Vatican Shadows: A Pastor Stephen Grant Novel is the 13ththriller/mystery in the Pastor Stephen Grant series. Get the paperback or Kindle edition at Amazon, or signed books at www.raykeatingonline.com. Past Lives: A Pastor Stephen Grant Short Story is the 14th book in the series. Get the paperback or Kindle edition at Amazon, or signed book at www.raykeatingonline.com. And pre-order the 15th book in the series What’s Lost? A Pastor Stephen Grant Short Story.
Also, check out Ray’s podcasts – the Daily Dose of Disney, Free Enterprise in Three Minutes, and the PRESS CLUB C Podcast.
You also can order his book Behind Enemy Lines: Conservative Communiques from Left-Wing New York from Amazon or signed books at RayKeatingOnline.com. His other recent nonfiction book is Free Trade Rocks! 10 Points on International Trade Everyone Should Know.
Please support the efforts of DisneyBizJournal.com to bring news, analysis and commentary on Disney to readers such as yourself. Make a contribution right here via PayPal. Thanks!
by Beth Keating
News
DisneyBizJournal.com
December 15, 2020
While some of the dates are a little further away than others, you can now start booking spring and summer vacations at three additional Disney Resorts.
Guests can start arriving at Disney’s All-Star Movies Resort on March 22, 2021. The Beach Club will begin welcoming all guests on May 30, 2021, although Disney Vacation Club’s Beach Club Villas were already hosting vacationers. The Wilderness Lodge will reopen for stays on June 6, 2021 (though Disney Vacation Club’s Boulder Ridge Villas and Copper Creek Villas & Cabins at Disney’s Wilderness Lodge are already open.)
The Polynesian Village Resort, currently under refurbishment, is on track to reopen in the summer of 2021. The BoardWalk Inn, with a previously scheduled reopening date, is now listed as remaining “closed until further notice, as the reopening timeline continues to be reevaluated,” although reservations are available at the BoardWalk Villas.
For a complete list of currently operating resorts, check the Disney website listing here.
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Beth Keating is a regular contributor to DisneyBizJournal.
Pre-order The Disney Planner 2021: The TO DO List Solution today!
Please support the efforts of DisneyBizJournal.com to bring news, analysis and commentary on Disney to readers such as yourself. Make a contribution right here via PayPal. Thanks!
