Delicious and Different Breakfast at the Ale & Compass

 by Ray Keating

Review

DisneyBizJournal.com

May 19, 2024

 

Are you a breakfast person? For a longtime, I wasn’t. But now, I tend to swing back and forth depending on my schedule. 

 

Recently, the idea of getting up early and heading over to Walt Disney World for a nice breakfast to start the day – yes, this is one of those benefits of leaving New York to live not far from Mickey’s Place – has held appeal. And since I can work mobile, then opening the laptop somewhere at a resort or in a theme park only adds to the positives.

So, it was breakfast at the Ale & Compass restaurant at Disney’s Yacht Club Resort.

 

I appreciated the varied menu, and was tempted by the buffet. But I was looking for something different, and settled on trying the Breakfast Flatbread ($14.00). This definitely wasn’t in my normal breakfast wheelhouse. A sunny-side up egg rested in a nest of apple-wood smoked bacon, ham, provolone and arugula, all sitting on flatbread.

This made for a nice-sized breakfast. The flatbread was thin and soft, but with a touch of crunch as well. The sunny-side egg worked well with the other flavors and textures, with the bacon shining through along with sweetness in the dressing.

 

This Breakfast Flatbread serves as a great start to the day, and it requires full engagement with knife, fork and hands.

 

My recommendation: Say “yes” to this different and delicious breakfast. Enjoy!

 

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Ray Keating is the editor, publisher and economist for DisneyBizJournal.com; and author of the Pastor Stephen Grant thrillers and mysteries, the Alliance of Saint Michael 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?

 

The Disney Planner: The TO DO List Solution combines a simple, powerful system for getting things done with encouragement and fun for Disney fans, including those who love Mickey, Marvel, Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Pixar, princesses and more.

 

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• The Pastor Stephen Grant thrillers and mysteries. There are 19 books in the series now.

 

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Gingerbread Display at Disney’s Beach Club

 by Beth Keating

Lifestyle

DisneyBizJournal.com

December 1, 2023

 

If you are awed by the creativity and absolute skill that it takes to create the gingerbread masterpieces at Disney World’s Resorts each year, you might want to keep your eyes peeled for a few special events coming up – Disney is offering pin signing opportunities with some of their pastry chefs. 

The first one was December 1, 2023, at the Beach Club, where the whimsical gingerbread carousel lives, and we discovered it quite by accident when we were gingerbread display hopping. Later in the month, the Contemporary will also be hosting a Pin Signing, but the date hadn’t been posted yet.  If you aren’t familiar with these pins, Disney releases a series of Resort specific pins each year, tied to the Resorts that are hosting gingerbread displays.  

For more than 20 years, Disney has been sharing amazing gingerbread displays, from the life-sized house used as a walk-up merchandise kiosk at the Grand Floridian Resort & Spa, to the new gingerbread lighthouse at the Yacht Club Resort.

At Disney’s Beach Club Resort, the display is a working holiday Carousel. The carousel changes themes each year, but it has been there for 22 years.  While it isn’t large enough for people to ride on, it does sport four carousel horses being ridden by some of your favorite characters.

This year’s theme is “DuckTales,” and the four horses are decorated with Donald Duck and his nephews, Huey, Duey, and Louie. You’ll need to find 22 hidden Mickeys throughout the spinning display, honoring the 22 years of the gingerbread carousel. This centerpiece of the Beach Club’s lobby took 432 pounds of honey, 1200 pounds of rye flour, 100 pounds of eggs, 25 pounds of spices, 10 pounds of simple syrup, 200 pounds of icing, 10 quarts of egg whites, 100 pounds of confectionary sugar, 50 pounds of dark chocolate, and 20 pounds of Grand Marnier to bake!

The carousel theme ties in to the “DuckTales World Showcase Adventure” game that you can entertain your family with at EPCOT. (It’s a scavenger hunt of sorts, where you follow clues to make things happen in the various pavilions, and solve mysteries… a fun diversion!)

The merry-go-round not only features the cute ducks, but a variety of Easter eggs to tie each galloping horse to one of EPCOT’s pavilions.  Look closely, and you’ll find a golf placard for the UK pavilion, butterflies decorated in the flags of the countries, and a guitar and a tiny piñata for the Mexico pavilion, among many others.

 

The Yacht and Beach Club Resorts do offer gingerbread goodies if you want to sample some holiday treats, but the holiday shop is located at the Beach Club side of the Resort, so you’ll have to head over there to indulge.  (You were going there to see the carousel anyway, so no problem, right?) The goodies are available from 11:00 a.m. – 9:00 p.m.

 

Some of the holiday treats available at this location include Signature Stollen Bread ($12.99); Lighthouse Fudge ($8.49); a Mickey Snowman Pop ($5.99); Crisped Rice Treats ($4.99); Peppermint Bark ($7.99); Gingerbread Shingles just like the ones on the creations! ($5.79); and Gluten-free Gingerbread Cookies ($5.79). Hot Chocolate Flights are also available.

At the Beach Club’s attached sister Resort, the Yacht Club, a quick stroll down the sidewalk will wow you with a brand new working gingerbread lighthouse, surrounded by a tiny snow village with a train chugging along.

Chef Michael and his team built the gingerbread lighthouse to ¼ scale of the Yacht Club’s lighthouse on Crescent Lake, and the light on top flashes, too!  The surrounding train town is filled with hidden Mickeys, and lots of moving parts.

While the Yacht Club has played host to the train village before, this is the first year to see the floor to ceiling sized lighthouse.

 

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Beth Keating is a theme parks, restaurant and entertainment reporter for DisneyBizJournal.

 

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Where Are NBA Players Staying at Disney World?

by Ray Keating

News/Commentary

DisneyBizJournal.com

June 17, 2020

The NBA has provided information about how the league will operate while playing hoops at Walt Disney World starting in July. The New York Times, for example, has served up some points from the 113-page NBA handbook provided yesterday to team personnel focused heavily on safety and health protocols.  That’s fine, but I’m more interested in the part of the story regarding where NBA teams will be staying at Disney World.

As noted by Yahoo Sports, for example, the Gran Destino Tower at the Coronado Springs Resort will host the Milwaukee Bucks, Los Angeles Lakers, Toronto Raptors, Los Angeles Clippers, Boston Celtics, Denver Nuggets, Utah Jazz, and Miami Heat.

Among the guests at the Grand Floridian Resort & Spa will be the Oklahoma City Thunder, Philadelphia 76ers, Houston Rockets, Indiana Pacers, Dallas Mavericks, Brooklyn Nets, Memphis Grizzlies, and the Orlando Magic.

And the Yacht Club Resort will host the Portland Trail Blazers, Sacramento Kings, New Orleans Pelicans, San Antonio Spurs, Phoenix Suns, and Washington Wizards.

So, what will players and staff have to look forward to at each of these resorts? Here are key descriptions from the websites of each hotel.

Coronado Springs Resort: “Celebrate the unique blend of Spanish, Mexican and Southwest American cultures at the newly re-imagined Disney’s Coronado Springs Resort. This beautiful lakeside oasis offers classic influences, Disney touches and modern comforts to energize and inspire as you delight in an array of new features, eateries and enhancements.”

As for the Gran Destino Tower in particular, when it opened in July 2019, it was described as follows: “The new tower rises dramatically on the southeastern shores of Lago Dorado (‘Golden Lake’). It offers 545 modern guest rooms (including 50 suites and club-level services), a grand two-story lobby, new meeting venues, new lounges and a rooftop restaurant with spectacular views. The distinctive tower is the stylish new gateway to the 2,385-room resort.”

Check out dining options here. And read DisneyBizJournal’s review of one of these restaurants – Toledo – and the Gran Destino Tower.

Grand Floridian Resort & Spa: “Victorian elegance meets modern sophistication at this lavish Disney Resort hotel. Relax in the sumptuous lobby as the live orchestra plays ragtime, jazz and popular Disney tunes. Unwind outdoors, indulge in a luxurious massage and watch evening fireworks light up the sky over Cinderella Castle. Just one stop to Magic Kingdom park on the complimentary Resort Monorail, this timeless Victorian-style marvel evokes Palm Beach’s golden era.”

Check out dining options here.

Yacht Club Resort: “Delight in the formal grace of a grand New England-style yacht club at this lakeside hotel. Relax in the inviting elegance of a plush lobby replete with nautical touches, explore the whimsical Stormalong Bay and rent a variety of watercraft from Bayside Marina. Sharing many amenities with its pastel-toned sister, Disney’s Beach Club Resort, Disney’s Yacht Club Resort is walking distance to Epcot and a convenient boat ride to Disney’s Hollywood Studios.”

Check out dining options here. And read DisneyBizJournal’s review of Cape May Café. 

My message to NBA players? Enjoy, even if you’re unable to take advantage of all of the amenities given pandemic restrictions. 

What about the rest of us? On the one hand, there will be more sports to watch on television, which is great – though I admit to not exactly being a big NBA fan. I’m a baseball, football, hockey and golf aficionado. But beggars can’t be choosers. So, perhaps I’ll be watching some NBA basketball for the first time in a very long time.

At the same time, though, could the NBA at these Disney resorts feed an ugly jealousy in this overweight, older guy sitting at his laptop who not only can’t hit a free throw but wishes he was in Disney World? Let’s hope not.

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See related...

“The NBA Coming to Walt Disney World”

“Major League Soccer Returns; Disney to Host July Games”

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Ray Keating is the editor, publisher and economist for DisneyBizJournal.com, and author of The Disney Planner 2020: The TO DO List Solution (now available at a deep discount) and the Pastor Stephen Grant novels. He can be contacted at  raykeating@keatingreports.com.

Get the paperback or Kindle edition of Ray Keating’s new book Behind Enemy Lines: Conservative Communiques from Left-Wing New York.