Baby Animals at Disney’s Animal Kingdom

We interrupt your regularly scheduled details of the Animal Kingdom to bring a special post about the park: a highlight of all of the baby animals born there in the recent months. I could talk about the special tours and shopping found there (and I will eventually), but a choice between that and adorable baby animals? Please, I’m going with the cute. The most recent addition to the Animal Kingdom came in June, in the form of a baby okapi. Okapis look like they’re some kind of deer, or strange deer-like horses that are related to zebras, because they have … Continue reading →

A Beastly Glimpse Inside Disney’s Enchanted Forest

Beast’s Castle, still under construction The official Disney Parks blog has posted a ton of videos lately about the Enchanted Forest section of the new Fantasyland expansion. Given that that’s the area that will feature “The Little Mermaid” and “Beauty and the Beast,” I can’t resist highlighting them. Most of the recent sneak peeks have all been about the latter. The earliest videos all previewed the Be Our Guest restaurant. If you’d like to have a meal in the world of “Beauty and the Beast,” this restaurant will be for you. It’ll open with three dining rooms in the middle … Continue reading →

17th Annual Epcot International Food & Wine Festival

I’m breaking with my own tradition here: usually I wait to post about the Epcot Food & Wine Festival until closer to when it will actually start. We’ve got just over a month until it kicks off, so why am I writing about it now? I’m doing so in case anyone reading this is interested in going, and wants to sign up for one of the seminars or other special events. As of right now, some are sold out but others still have spaces available. Slots are going fast, so sign up ASAP if you’re interested. Here’s a quick summary … Continue reading →

Adventures at Disney World

Your family is desperate for a Disney World vacation. They’ve been begging you to go for ages, but you just can’t get into the idea. Amusement parks aren’t your thing. Sure, there’s stuff like the Animal Kingdom and special events at Epcot, but even on an off-season Disney might just be too crowded for you. You’re the outdoorsy type, you love adventure. In fact, Adventures by Disney would be more your speed, but that’s way too expensive. You’re in luck, because a little-known fact about Disney World is that there’s tons to do there that one wouldn’t associate with amusement … Continue reading →

Lodging at Disney’s Animal Kingdom

The Animal Kingdom has lodging at just about any level: from deluxe villas to discount resorts. If you want something themed around the Animal Kingdom you’ll have to go for the pricier places: the deluxe villas Jambo House or Kidani Village, or the deluxe Animal Kingdom Lodge. The two former are actually just specific floors/areas within the latter, which is an African-style lodge spread out over 43 acres. The Animal Kingdom Lodge has two of its own restaurants, which weren’t covered when I looked at the dining at the Animal Kingdom. They’re Jiko – The Cooking Place and Boma – … Continue reading →

Disney Park Secrets: Working the Front Gate

Any Disney fan has wondered this at some point in his or her life: what would it be like to work at Disney? Be it for the movie division, at the parks, as an Imagineer, or even just in a Disney store, surrounded by the characters we grew up with, we’ve probably all thought about it at some point. So it’s fun to hear about what it could be like to work at the Happiest Place on Earth (or its East Coast sibling). Internet news/interest site Reddit has a feature called “Ask Me Anything,” wherein people, anyone from “Avengers” director … Continue reading →

Fantasyland Expansion Opening Dates

It’s 2012: where’s the new Fantasyland? Three years ago when I first read about all of Disney World’s planned expansions for the Magic Kingdom, I was so excited that for a moment I could close my eyes and almost imagine being there. That is the Disney World I always imagined as a child, and I only have to wait for three years, and there it’ll be. Well, we’re halfway through 2012 now, but it seems like little has happened. The biggest expansion-related news to come out of a Disney Park has been about “Cars Land” out in Anaheim. We all … Continue reading →

New FastPass Technology Tested at Disney World

Disney World’s always trying to improve, and one of the big complaints many guests have, at least at certain times of year, is the long lines for rides. That’s why the FastPass system exists: it allows Disney World to offer interested guests shorter wait times while making money off the idea. As part of their constant quest for improvement Disney World is trying to upgrade their FastPass system, according to The Disney Blog. They’re currently testing the next generation of the queue-jumping arrangement in the Magic Kingdom, and it involves RFID. RFID stands for radio-frequency identification, the process of using … Continue reading →

Adventurous Eating at Disney’s Animal Kingdom

I want to devote an entire day’s blog to dining in the Animal Kingdom. My naivete and lack of experience with Disney World shows, because I could write multiple blogs on the eatery options in just one Disney World Park, the Animal Kingdom included. So I’ll just give a quick overview today, saving the details for the nicer restaurants. The three proper sit down, have a relaxed and potentially multiple-course meal (and thus a more expensive one) establishments at the Animal Kingdom are the Rainforest Cafe, Tusker House Restaurant, and Yak & Yeti Restaurant. The Rainforest Cafe sounds like it … Continue reading →

New Disney Animation Resort Opens

It’s finally here: this Thursday the first phase of the Walt Disney World Art of Animation Resort opens. That means that starting in two days you can only stay in rooms in the “Finding Nemo” wing. But have no fear: by the fall the themed rooms for all of the movies will be open. The “Cars” family suites will be unveiled on June 18, August 10 sees the opening of suites from “The Lion King,” and on September 15 “The Little Mermaid” standard rooms will open for business. You can book reservations for all of these rooms right now. The … Continue reading →