Three New EPCOT Festival Marketplaces Open Today

 by Beth Keating

News

DisneyBizJournal.com

September 22, 2023

 

While you have just under four months to explore the various offerings at the two dozen or so food booths at the EPCOT International Food & Wine Festival (they’re called Global Marketplaces during this festival), Disney likes to keep it exciting by adding new Marketplaces along the way. To liven things up, there are three new booths opening today (September 22, 2023), and one more coming later with a date to still be announced.

To make things even more interesting, these booths will stay open throughout the next festival, the Festival of the Holidays, giving you an even longer shot at sampling the dishes at these new venues.  Or, to come back a second time if you enjoy their special menus. This year’s Food & Wine Festival runs through November 18, while the Festival of the Holidays runs November 24-December 30, 2023.

   
Here’s what’s being dished up at the new booths:

Wine & Wedge (Available Sept. 22 through Dec. 30)

 
Food Items:

• Assorted Artisanal Cheeses and Accompaniments (Emile’s Fromage Montage)
• Boursin Fig & Balsamic Soufflé with fig tapenade (Emile’s Fromage Montage)

• Southern Pimento Cheese with bread-and-butter pickled vegetables and grilled bread (Emile’s Fromage Montage)

• Artist Palette of Wine and Cheese: Assorted Artisanal Cheeses paired with Selbach-Oster Zeltinger Sonnenuhr Riesling Spätlese, Hartley Apple Brandy, and Florida Orange Groves Winery Black and Blue Port 

Beverages: 

• Selbach-Oster Zeltinger Sonnenuhr Riesling Spätlese 

• Hartley Apple Brandy 

• Florida Orange Groves Winery Black and Blue Port 

• Flight also available

Courtesy of Disney Parks Blog

Char & Chop (Available Sept. 22 through Dec. 30)

Food Items:

• Roasted Porchetta with lemon-parsley salsa verde and shaved fennel salad 

• Grilled IMPOSSIBLE Spicy Sausage with herbed polenta, puttanesca sauce, and ricotta 

• Meat Assorti: Trio of shaved meats with baby arugula, pickled mustard seeds, truffle oil, and grilled ciabatta 

 

Beverages: 

• Krombacher Pilsner 

• North Coast Laguna Baja Vienna Lager 

• Motorworks Brewing Midnight Espresso Coffee Porter 

• GoGi ‘Birdie’ Pinot Noir

• Bloody Mary with Seaside Grown Bloody Mary Mix and Kurvball Barbecue Whiskey 

• Beer Flight 

Bubbles & Brine  (Available Sept. 22 through Dec. 30)

Food Items:

• Jumbo Shrimp Cocktail with prosecco cocktail sauce and grilled lemon 

• Jonah Crab Claw Cocktail with stone-ground mustard sauce

Beverages: 

• Moët & Chandon Impérial

• Veuve Clicquot Rosé

• Dom Pérignon

 

Courtesy of Disney Parks Blog

Also opening soon (with a date still to be announced) is the Swirled Showcase, which will be serving:

 

Food Items:

• Mickey-shaped Liquid Nitro Cake 

• Soft-serve in a Waffle Cone

        • Vanilla

        • Apple-Cinnamon

        • Salted Caramel

• Cream Soda Float with vanilla soft-serve 

• Fanta Grape Float with vanilla soft-serve 

Beverages: 

• Frozen Apple Pie (Non-alcoholic)

• Cinnamon Apple Cider (Non-alcoholic)

• 3 Daughters Toasted Coconut Porter

• 3 Daughters Toasted Coconut Porter Float with salted-caramel soft-serve

• Berry Fizz Fragolino Red Sparkling Wine Float with vanilla soft-serve

 

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

 

Disney World’s “Fab 50 Statues” To Get Pixie-Dusted

 by Beth Keating

News

DisneyBizJournal.com

September 21, 2023

 

In walking around Magic Kingdom recently, my family joked that Florida was continuing to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Walt Disney World Resort, instead of Disney100 (honoring the company’s founding), since the golden 50th anniversary character statues were still making their homes throughout the four parks.  We thought by now, a full half-year after the 18-month long 50th celebration ended in March, the figures would have been re-homed somewhere.

The adorable statues had arrived in the parks just a few weeks ahead of the October 1, 2021, celebratory kick-off, and maybe the figures just didn’t want the party to be over. In any case, they were a fun addition to the atmosphere of the parks, and it turned into a bit of an unplanned scavenger hunt trying to locate favorite Disney characters. We especially enjoyed finding our pals in Hollywood Studios.

If you aren’t familiar with the statues, there were 50 (give or take, depending on how you counted the characters or character groupings) small sculptures scattered around the four parks, and when you waved your MagicBand+ at the medallion at the base of the statue, the character would respond with lines or sounds from their respective films. Mostly. (They were notorious for taking too much time to reset between guests, and sometimes not really responding at all.)

Now, Walt Disney World has announced that the medallions will be getting a refresh – Imagineers will be “pixie-dusting” the golden 50th anniversary versions to enable guests to continue interacting with their favorite Disney friends for future trips.

It seems that those beautiful statues will be making their permanent homes in the parks after all! Let’s keep the party going! 

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

Interview with WDW Radio's Lou Mongello

 by Ray Keating

News/Analysis

DisneyBizJournal.com

September 21, 2023

 

If you’re familiar with Disney and podcasting, then you know Lou Mongello, the host of the WDW Radio podcast. Lou not only is a Disney expert, but he leads the way on issues such as entrepreneurship, customer service and relationships, podcasting, and beyond. 

 

Lou graciously was guest on my PRESS CLUB C Podcast to discuss his upcoming Momentum Weekend Workshop, and much more. Here’s the info, and please tune in…

 

PRESS CLUB C Podcast with Ray Keating – Episode #121: Entrepreneurial Momentum with Lou Mongello – Ray talks with Lou Mongello about his Momentum conference, entrepreneurship, customer service, podcasting, and much more.

 

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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? (Keating is a Disney shareholder.)

 

Support Ray’s Kickstarter Campaign – “7 Exclusive Novels from Ray Keating – Limited-Release Thrillers, Mysteries, Historical Fiction and a Pinch of Science Fiction.” Get started on and/or don’t miss any Pastor Stephen Grant and Alliance of Saint Michael novels, and make sure you’re in on new series. Get all of the information for this Kickstarter at https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/raykeatingnovels/7-exclusive-novels-from-ray-keating.   

 

Consider books by Ray Keating, including…

 

• The Pastor Stephen Grant thrillers and mysteries. There are 18 books in the series now.

 

• Order The Weekly Economist II: 52 More Quick Reads to Help You Think Like an Economist. Kindle editions and paperbacks via Amazon here and signed books here. And don’t forget the first book in this growing series, i.e., The Weekly Economist: 52 Quick Reads to Help You Think Like an Economist at Amazon.com.

 

• Cathedral: An Alliance of Saint Michael Novel is at Amazon. 

 

• The Lutheran Planner: The TO DO List Solution combines a simple, powerful system for getting things done with encouragement, inspiration and consolation from the Christian faith.

 

• Signed editions of Ray’s books are at www.RayKeatingOnline.com. 

 

Also, check out Ray’s podcasts – the Daily Dose of Disney, Free Enterprise in Three Minutes, and the PRESS CLUB C Podcast.

Exclusive Passholder Treats Debut This Week

 by Beth Keating

News

DisneyBizJournal.com

September 20, 2023

 

Oswald the Lucky Rabbit is having his day in the sun. Starting today (September 20, 2023), Disney World’s Annual Passholders will be seeing a lot of the happy-go-lucky bunny.

  
Not only will Passholders be able to pick up a free Annual Passholder magnet featuring Oswald (at EPCOT’s Creations Shop through October 23, or while supplies last), but they’ll also be able to head over to Sunshine Seasons in the Land Pavilion at EPCOT to find more of the historic icon.

Courtesy of Disney

From September 20 to October 23, 2023, two specialty, “cake and shake” treats will be available for purchase. They are:

 

• Oswald Triple Chocolate Cake: Chocolate cake, chocolate ganache, chocolate mousse, crisp pearls and a white cookie dome (with adorable chocolate ears!)
• Oswald Cookies ‘n Cream Shake: Garnished with an Oswald the Lucky Rabbit chocolate coin

 

You’ll need to have your valid Annual Pass ID and a valid government-issued photo ID to snap up these exclusive treats, though, because they aren’t available to other guests.  (You’ll also need either an EPCOT park reservation to enter EPCOT, or you can enter EPCOT after 2:00 PM without a theme park reservation with your Annual Pass, subject to your Passholder blockout dates, of course).

 

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

Disney’s Big, Wise Investments in Theme Parks

 by Ray Keating

News/Analysis

DisneyBizJournal.com

September 19, 2023

 

Theme parks are cash cows for The Walt Disney Company. As stated by the company, “Disney’s Parks business is a key driver of value creation for the company…” 

 

Therefore, it’s not surprising that Disney announced today a vastly expanded investment commitment to double its projected capital expenditures in its Parks, Experiences and Products segment to $60 billion over the coming decade.

The commitment will cover “expanding and enhancing domestic and international parks and cruise line capacity.”

 

Given stepped up competition from Universal and others in the theme park and broader entertainment industries, critics might say that Disney was a bit late in stepping forward with this. 

 

In the Disney statement, it was noted: “Already, new Frozen-themed lands are coming to Hong Kong Disneyland, Walt Disney Studios Park in Paris and Tokyo Disney Resort, as well as a Zootopia-themed land at Shanghai Disney Resort. However, Disney will explore even more characters and franchises, including some that haven’t been leveraged extensively to date, as it embarks on a new period of significant growth domestically and internationally in its parks and resorts.”

 

As for potential scale, Disney pointed out that “there is significant room for further expansion on land and at sea. In fact, Disney Parks has over 1,000 acres of land for possible future development to expand theme park space across its existing sites – the equivalent of about seven new Disneyland Parks.”

 

And in terms of market size, the company noted: 

 

“Today, Disney has seven of the top ten most attended theme parks in the world, including Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom Park, which has been the #1 attended theme park on earth for decades. Disney Parks welcome approximately 100 million guests each year. Yet there is still enormous untapped potential for reaching more consumers. According to Disney’s internal research, there is an addressable market of more than 700 million people with high Disney affinity it has yet to reach with its Parks. In fact, for every one guest who visits a Disney Park, there are more than ten people with Disney affinity who do not visit the Parks.”

 

Disney is hosting an investor summit today at Walt Disney World, and more information will be forthcoming at the close of this meeting, according to the company.

 

Much of the future of Disney is about streaming and theme parks, along with cruise ships, movies and ESPN/sports, of course. And as always, Disney is about synergies among these endeavors, and so much of that synergy is evident in its parks and on its cruise ships. After some stagnation, the company seems ready to make investments to serve current fans (or guests, in Disney-speak) and future ones. This is much-needed, clarifying news from a company recently stuck in a fog. Naturally, though, the devil is in the details and the execution.

 

__________

 

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? (Keating is a Disney shareholder.)

 

Support Ray’s Kickstarter Campaign – “7 Exclusive Novels from Ray Keating – Limited-Release Thrillers, Mysteries, Historical Fiction and a Pinch of Science Fiction.” Get started on and/or don’t miss any Pastor Stephen Grant and Alliance of Saint Michael novels, and make sure you’re in on new series. Get all of the information for this Kickstarter at https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/raykeatingnovels/7-exclusive-novels-from-ray-keating.   

 

Consider books by Ray Keating, including…

 

• The Pastor Stephen Grant thrillers and mysteries. There are 18 books in the series now.

 

• Order The Weekly Economist II: 52 More Quick Reads to Help You Think Like an Economist. Kindle editions and paperbacks via Amazon here and signed books here. And don’t forget the first book in this growing series, i.e., The Weekly Economist: 52 Quick Reads to Help You Think Like an Economist at Amazon.com.

 

• Cathedral: An Alliance of Saint Michael Novel is at Amazon. 

 

• The Lutheran Planner: The TO DO List Solution combines a simple, powerful system for getting things done with encouragement, inspiration and consolation from the Christian faith.

 

• Signed editions of Ray’s books are at www.RayKeatingOnline.com.

 

Also, check out Ray’s podcasts – the Daily Dose of Disney, Free Enterprise in Three Minutes, and the PRESS CLUB C Podcast.

New Kickstarter Campaign - 7 Exclusive Novels from Disney Biz Journal’s Ray Keating

Limited-Release Thrillers, Mysteries, Historical Fiction and a Pinch of Science Fiction

Ray Keating has penned 19 exciting, thought-provoking and well-reviewed novels, and more are on the way. In addition, Keating is now launching a Kickstarter campaign to expand and jumpstart the writing and publishing of still more novels covering the thriller, mystery, historical fiction, and science-fiction genres.

 

The “7 Exclusive Novels from Ray Keating: Thrillers, Mysteries, Historical Fiction and a Pinch of Sci-Fi” can be accessed right here.

 

This Kickstarter will allow longtime readers of Keating’s works to continue reading books exclusive to this campaign’s backers; and new readers to jump in with these limited new releases, while also having the option to get all of Keating’s previous novels and short stories.

 

The seven new books will include two new thrillers/mysteries in the Pastor Stephen Grant series, two new works of historical fiction in the Alliance of Saint Michael series, and first books in three new series, that is, the first novel in the Quinn Porter series, the first installment in the Berger & Knight series, and the initial book in the Decker Files science-fiction series.

 

There are several rewards levels in this Kickstarter, including receiving all seven of these novels throughout 2024 and 2025 as ebooks or as signed paperbacks; and receiving the seven limited-release books along with all of Ray Keating’s previously published works of fiction.

 

Keating said, “Over the coming two years, Kickstarter supporters will be able to read seven limited-release books, while at least another four more books will be widely published. I truly am in the midst of a major step-up in my fiction writing, and hope readers will support and enjoy my efforts.”

 

Again, get all of the information for this Kickstarter at https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/raykeatingnovels/7-exclusive-novels-from-ray-keating.

 

Kirkus Reviews has called Ray Keating’s Pastor Stephen Grant “an engaging and multifaceted character” and “a consistently entertaining hero.” Lutheran Book Review calls Keating “the master of the theological thriller.”

 

The retired host of KFUO radio’s BookTalk declares, “Ray Keating is a great novelist.” David Keene of The Washington Times calls the Pastor Stephen Grant novels “great reads.”  And another reviewer observes, “How I'd love to see Pastor Grant on Netflix!” 

 

In an article titled “If James Bond Became a Pastor” covering Ray Keating’s Pastor Stephen Grant thrillers/mysteries series, author and columnist Gene Veith noted, “Mr. Keating knows how to tell an exciting story. And these books, like the James Bond novels, are ridiculously entertaining.”

 

Contact: Ray Keating

Kickstarter at https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/raykeatingnovels/7-exclusive-novels-from-ray-keating

E-mail: raykeating@keatingreports.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PastorStephenGrantNovels and https://www.facebook.com/AllianceofSaintMichael

Twitter: @KeatingNovels

www.RayKeatingOnline.com

 

Breaking News: Bear Spotted at Magic Kingdom, Closes Parts of Park

 by Beth Keating

News

DisneyBizJournal.com

September 18, 2023

 

Update: As of 1:00 PM, the bear reportedly had been apprehended, and most of the attractions have reopened.

When lunchtime rolls around at Disney, plenty of guests are hungry, perhaps as hungry as a bear … including, it appears, a real bear spotted in a tree in the back section of the park this morning.

 

As of lunchtime, Florida Fish and Wildlife had been called in to capture the furry guest, and attractions in Adventureland, Frontierland and Liberty Square were temporarily closed so the trappers could safely get the job done.

Incidentally, the Country Bear Jamboree was among the closed attractions.

We’ll update this post when the park fully reopens.

 

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

 

Stalking the Halloween Treats at Walt Disney World

 by Beth Keating

Review

DisneyBizJournal.com

September 14, 2023

 

Growing up in New York, it always seemed that the first day of school coincided with the first cool day of fall as well.  Not so here in Florida, where the kids go back when the calendar still says “summer,” and Disney starts putting up the pumpkins and hosting trick-or-treat trails in August.  For me, it’s a biological imperative not to begin drinking pumpkin-spiced anything while it is 900 degrees out.

Last week, though, we finally hit meteorological fall. And while the daytime temperatures in Orlando are still pushing the low-mid 90s, the humidity has eased off a bit, and it’s occasionally dipping to the upper 70s at night.  I could sort of justify looking at fall desserts.  Living in the hope that it might soon be cool enough to wear the spirit jerseys that Disney keeps hawking, we decided to go on a scavenger hunt for the best of the Halloween treats at Disney World.

To make our journey a bit more fun, we opted to board one of the free Sassagoula River Cruise boats to travel our way down the water to our first stop: Disney’s Port Orleans Resort – French Quarter, where we popped in to Scat Cat’s Club Café for the “Ghoulish Delight Beignets.”  Ahhh, beignets!  Apparently, we’d elected to start our day with what we later decided was the best treat of the hunt.

  

For $7.49, you get three delicious Mickey-shaped beignets, dusted with cookies and cream powdered sugar and purple and white marshmallow crème drizzles.  These seasonal beignets are available through October 31. (Snacks are always more exciting when they make them Mickey shaped, am I right?)

These pillow-y sweets are made fresh to order, so you may have to wait a few minutes for your treat, but that will give you time to look around this tiny room, decorated with portraits of famous musicians; lots of instruments, albums and sheet music; and sketches of jazz club scenes.  Upbeat Dixieland music sets the tone in the background. If you feel so inclined, there’s also an oversized checkerboard on one of the tables if you want to challenge a friend.

  
When your beignets appear, they are warm and puffy, a bit messy from the powdered sugar, but oh-so-good.  We were very glad there were three because they were quickly gobbled up.  (And if these aren’t sweet enough for you – don’t know how that could be - there are containers of dipping sauces you can purchase for a small upcharge.) While the dough wasn’t as airy as some beignets we’ve had in the past, neither were they dense, but merely a perfect texture of yummy goodness.  The rest of the day had a lot to live up to.

 

While we were at French Quarter, we also stopped right next door to see what the Sassagoula Floatworks and Food Factory had in store, and we acquired their “Tombstone Sweet.”  It was indeed sweet, a rectangular triple-layer mix of chocolate cake, chocolate-coffee mousse, caramel-milk chocolate mousse, and chocolate ganache decorated to look like - yes, a tombstone (that’s going to be a recurring theme this season). Green frosting grass and a chocolate spider completed the look.  The Tombstone was tasty, but its refrigerator cold temperature made it feel more like a standard food court offering, and the coffee flavoring was lost among the other chocolates, with just the smallest hint of coffee in the background. Perhaps letting it warm up a bit would elevate the textures if you decide to grab this one for yourself.  The Tombstone Sweet is $5.99, and is available through October 31.

Back on board the boat, we headed to Disney Springs, with a short walk along the waterfront to Disney’s Saratoga Springs Resort & Spa, where The Artist’s Palette was offering a “Mini Pumpkin.”  If you love pumpkin pie, this treat would be right up your alley.  One of our diners liked it, the other hated it.  A cute, very photogenic goodie, the shape of this pumpkin was reminiscent of an upside down Bundt cake, with a hard orange frosting shell that was a touch misleading.  You expected the taste of the coating to be orange, but in fact it had a decidedly fall, nutmeg/cinnamon flavor to the coating.  This treat was pumpkin flavored through and through!  The pumpkin mousse interior was soft and fluffy, very like a cold pumpkin pie filling, with a chewy chocolate décor stem.  You gotta love pumpkin for this treat – it’s very fall forward!  It’s $5.99, and available through November 30.

Next up we headed to Magic Kingdom, where it seemed the bulk of the Halloween treats could be found. Unfortunately for us, we ran into a bit of trouble there, because by the time we finished our boat rides, it was mid-afternoon, and many of the treats had sold out for the day.  We were hoping to test out the incredibly adorable “Oh, My Gourd Cupcake” ($6.29) at the Main Street Bakery’s Starbucks location, but they were sold out already, so we had to suffer through with just a cold brew instead.  (They do have a seasonal Mickey-shaped cinnamon roll with orange frosting and autumn sprinkles for $6.79 if you are looking for something character-centric for breakfast.)

Next up was Auntie Gravity’s Galactic Goodies, where we were hoping to indulge in the sweet corn cone for $5.49, a twist of vanilla soft serve with sweet corn flavored soft serve, topped with a decorative chocolate bow.  Alas, that was among the missing as well.  Too bad, because we were intrigued by trying corn flavored ice cream.

We were, however, able to find another tombstone-shaped goodie, this time at Golden Oak Outpost on the edge between Frontierland and Adventureland.  A bit like a homemade “Pop Tart,” the “Tombstone Tart” ($5.99) was rounded at the top like a grave stone, and filled with a thin, deceptive layer of strawberry-jalapeno jam. At first, the jam layer tasted like your normal strawberry jam, but a few seconds later, there was a delayed kick of the jalapeno on the back of your tongue.  It wasn’t overwhelming by any means, just a delightful little bonus that gave the pastry more depth of flavor.  It was decorated with a grey buttercream rectangle and sprinkles, with a few chocolate sugar spiders to add cuteness. The crimped edges of the pastry were a little crisp, but the rest of the dough was soft and chewy, and not at all crumbly like a pie crust.  All in all, a nice afternoon boost.

 

Courtesy of Disney Parks Blog

Our original plan was to end the day at Disney Springs to purchase some of Amorette’s Patisserie specialty desserts to take home for later. Unfortunately, we didn’t make it back to the Springs in time to gather up the last of the treats we’d been searching for on our sugar adventure. We’ll have to go back another day to complete this treat extravaganza.  Amorette’s is offering these creations through October 31, and among the ones we’re seeking is the Jack Skellington Éclair filled with pumpkin cream or the Sally Éclair with caramel-chocolate ($7.00 each); or the Oogie Boogie Cream Puff ($8.00) with cookies ‘n cream mousse. There’s also a Mummy Mickey Mouse Dome Cake that sounds delicious and is super charming, with peanut butter-milk chocolate mousse, caramel, peanut crunch, and dark chocolate glaçage. If we feel like splurging, we may bring home the $22.00 (!) Maleficent Petit Cake with vanilla chiffon, caramel, and milk chocolate mousse. At least the petit cake is big enough and rich enough to split with two or three other family members!

 

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