Month: February 2024

REVIEW: The WORST-Looking Snack in EPCOT Actually Tastes INCREDIBLE

If you love croissants, cheese, chocolate, and beignets, there is ONE place you need to visit during EPCOT’s 2024 Flower & Garden Festival.

2024 Fleur de Lys Outdoor Kitchen

We’re talking about Fleur de Lys booth — one of the Outdoor Kitchens (also known as Food Booths) at the park’s springtime celebration! Stop here while enjoying the Festival’s famous Disney topiaries, garden displays, and entertainment. Join us as we review Fleur de Lys to see if it lives up to its stellar reputation. There’s one snack here that LOOKS pretty terrible…but just wait until you hear what our reporter thought of the TASTE!

Menu

At Fleur de Lys, many items are returning, but this year also brings us two new snacks

2024 Fleur de Lys Menu

This booth is full of new items, and we can’t wait to dig in!

Eats

We’ll start our “eats” portion with the returning Croissant au Fromage de Chèvre, Herbes et Ail Rôtie. This is a returning favorite from  2022 and 2023, and we’re happy to see it back! The dish is a croissant with goat cheese, herbs, and roasted garlic.

When we had it in the past, we found that it had a lovely, crispy, buttery outside, with a soft inside filled with goat cheese that worked so well with the light herbs and garlic.

Croissant au Fromage de Chèvre, Herbes et Ail Rôtie

We’re happy to report that this croissant is STILL very tasty! Depending on your bite you may end up with too much goat cheese to croissant ratio, but if you take intentional bites you should be able to get a good balance of bread and cheese. The goat cheese is really delicious and herby and there is PLENTY of it!

Croissant au Fromage de Chèvre, Herbes et Ail Rôtie

As for the croissant itself, it’s super soft, flaky, and buttery. Overall, the croissant is a really high-quality item and a big win in our book!

You can grab this tasty dish for $6.95.

Look at all that goat cheese!

Next up, we have a NEW dish — the Parmentier de Canard A L’Orange. This is a Pulled Duck Confit with Orange Sauce and Garlic-Rosemary Mashed Potatoes.

Parmentier de Canard A L’Orange

This dish is SHOCKINGLY GREAT! Presentation-wise, it’s not very pretty at all, but the taste is wonderful. The best way we can put it is that this Duck l’orange is akin to elevated turkey, mashed potatoes, and gravy. The gravy has a nice herbaceous flavor and the potatoes are incredibly soft and creamy.

It doesn’t look like much, but it tastes great!

As for the duck, it does have that rich flavor that is typical with duck but overall was very delicious. Ours was perfectly cooked and paired beautifully with the potatoes and gravy. This may be one of the worst-looking dishes at the festival, but it is also one of the best-tasting.

Grab the Parmentier de Canard A L’Orange for $7.95.

Our next item was another new one — the Gâteau au Crémeux Citron, Lavende et Thym, Compote de Fruits Rouges priced at $6.95. This is a Warm Cake filled with Lemon, Lavender, and Thyme-infused Cream served with Berry Compote. Sounds like a bright and springy dream come true — let’s see how it tastes!

Gâteau au Crémeux Citron, Lavende et Thym, Compote de Fruits Rouges

This treat gives off Festival of the Arts vibes and is really delicious! Our cake had the perfect level of moistness and a little bit of filling with great fruitiness and nice acidity.

The berry compote is the perfect companion to this cake and provides a burst of fruity flavor. The lavender gel on the side of the plate gives a nice lavender punch and isn’t overwhelming in the slightest. Overall, this cake has a lot of great components and tastes great!

Great fruity flavors!

And finally, we’re ending our Spring visit to France with a returning favorite — the Beignet Caramélisé, Fourré Crème Vanille, Glacé au Caramel Fleur de Sel priced at $6.50.

Beignet Caramélisé, Fourré Crème Vanille, Glacé au Caramel Fleur de Se

This is a Caramelized Beignet filled with Vanilla Cream and glazed with salted Caramel. This has been on the menu for a little while, and when we had it back in 2022 we loved it. And (surprise, surprise) in 2023, we loved it, again! The beignet is thicker than your usual one (so just keep that in mind!), but the crystallized caramel glaze has been INCREDIBLE and it has sometimes made our list of the best items at the festival.

One of our favorites

This beignet is more like School Bread at Kringla Bakeri Og Kafe in the Norway Pavilion than a classic Mickey Beignet, as it is very bready with a regular diner roll texture but sweet. Inside, you’ll taste the perfect amount of vanilla cream while the outside features a phenomenal cracked sugar caramelized topping to really complete that amazing crème brûlée texture and flavor. 

This treat is also big enough to share or save for later, so keep that in mind.

Delicious filling

And to go along with your dishes…

Drinks

First up, we have the returning Sparkling Raspberry Cocktail. This is a Rosé wine with a natural raspberry flavor. When we’ve had this in the past, we’ve found it to be much sweeter than a regular rosé, but not too sweet (at least for us). Plus, it has a nice dry finish, which we really loved. If you want a lighter, sweeter, or more fruity drink, this could be a good one to try. 

Sparkling Raspberry Cocktail

You can grab this cocktail for $6.50. 

This year, we had a slightly different experience with the Sparkling Raspberry Cocktail. Our glass tasted like a refreshing glass of white wine, but we couldn’t taste any raspberry. It was good, but not necessarily as advertised. Maybe your glass will have a stronger raspberry flavor.

Sparkling Raspberry Cocktail

Next up, the Jean Bojour Val de Loire. This is a Sauvignon Blanc from the Loire Valley for $7.00. We did not try this, but it is available and is Sauvignon Blanc from the Loire Valley. You can also find Kronenbourg Blanc 1664 Draft Beer here for $5.50 and $9.95 depending on the pour.

And finally, the last drink available here is the returning La Vie en Rose Frozen Slush. This drink is made with Vodka, Grey Goose L’Orange Vodka, St. Germain Elderflower Liqueur, and white and red cranberry juices, and is priced at $14.50.

La Vie en Rose Frozen Slush

In the past, we’ve found this drink to be VERY yummy! If you’re a fan of the more regularly offered alcoholic slushies within the France pavilion, this is one we’ve felt like you’d typically enjoy. We grabbed the drink again this year to see if it could live up to our memories, and we were still impressed!

La Vie en Rose Frozen Slush

This drink is super floral and very photogenic. We still prefer the Grand Marnier Slush, but this is a really tasty drink nevertheless!

OVERALL

There was nothing here we disliked, so this booth gets two big thumbs up! The beignet was our favorite item from the booth, but we honestly think you can’t go wrong with any of the selections here. The food is delicious, the drinks are refreshing, and overall, we definitely recommend checking Fleur de Lys out during your next visit to the Flower & Garden Festival! If you stop by Fleur de Lys and give it a try, be sure to give us your review in the comments below!

Click here to see FULL reviews of EVERY BOOTH at the 2024 EPCOT Flower & Garden Festival!

Trying to plan the PERFECT trip to the EPCOT Flower and Garden Festival? We’ll be keeping you updated on all of the latest. Click our links below for the information you need to know:

And don’t forget to pick up our EPCOT Flower and Garden Festival e-book! See more details about the book below.

MAKE THE MOST
OF YOUR FESTIVAL DAYS

DFB’s Guide to the EPCOT Flower & Garden Festival details everything you need to know to maximize your time, budget and stomach space! Know what’s worth it and what to skip with our full-photo menus of each booth, complete with DFB’s Best of the Fest.

It includes all the must-have information for navigating this one of the most BEAUTIFUL festivals at Disney World, including:

  • 🌸 Booth & food photos, maps, and crawls with DFB’s exclusive recommendations!
  • 🐝 The COMPLETE schedule of events (so you don’t have to go hunting for all the dates!)
  • 🌳 All the details on special events, topiaries, festival exclusive merchandise, and more!

What do you think about the Fleur de Lys booth? Tell us in the comments.

The post REVIEW: The WORST-Looking Snack in EPCOT Actually Tastes INCREDIBLE first appeared on the disney food blog.

REVIEW: Dig Out Your Wallet, Because You’ll Be Spending $21.75 at This 2024 EPCOT Flower & Garden Festival Booth

Do you have your fork ready?

La Isla Fresca Outdoor Kitchen

I sure hope so, because we’re DIGGING IN with another Outdoor Kitchen Food Booth review at the 2024 EPCOT Flower and Garden Festival! La Isla Fresca is our next stop, and since this food booth has consistently delivered some terrific tropical tastes during previous festivals, we always look forward to checking it out. Of course, the question is: Does La Isla Fresca impress once again this year? Let’s find out…

Menu

You’ll find La Isla Fresca tucked between the France and Morocco Pavilions in EPCOT’s World Showcase. The menu features one new food item with the IMPOSSIBLE Jamaican Beef Patty, and one returning food item, with the Coconut Tres Leches.

2024 La Isla Fresca Menu

The Tropical Slush returns in its non-alcoholic form, and of-age guests can order it with Don Q Límon Rum. Florida Orange Groves Winery Tropical Perception White Sangria is also up for grabs, along with the new Wicked Weed Brewing Mango Wowie Hazy IPA with mango.

Eats

NEW this year is the IMPOSSIBLE Jamaican Beef Patty, which was lent some additional flavor with a Spicy Papaya Syrup. 

IMPOSSIBLE Jamaican Beef Patty

It costs $6.50, and as you may have guessed, this is a plant-based item at this year’s Festival. Since this is plant-based-, we noticed it had a meat patty inside instead of loose, ground meat. It had a texture similar to that of a meatball, but the non-traditional aspect of this was offset by the great spices. The crust is nice and flaky. The sauce on top makes this a sweet and spicy dish, but more like a medium spice level. If you like a little amount of spice, we think you’ll enjoy this. This is definitely a best of the fest regardless of what your diet preferences are!

IMPOSSIBLE Jamaican Beef Patty

HOORAY!! The Coconut Tres Leches is back, and coconut fans will want to pay close attention… We have LOVED this vanilla cake soaked with oat, almond, and coconut milk every time it’s made an appearance, and it’s consistently been one of our favorite desserts at the Flower and Garden Festival.

A vanilla cake is soaked with oat, almond, and coconut milk and topped with toasted coconut. Not only is it another plant-based option, but it’s also an eligible item for those participating in the Garden Graze Food Stroll! You can grab it for $5.00.

Coconut Tres Leches

The coconut flavor is strong in this cake. It has a nice texture and is not dry even though we thought it looked that way at first. It is plant-based, so the topping is non-dairy and is sweet and creamy. Overall, it’s very good, and even if you’re not on a plant-based diet, we would recommend it.

Coconut Tres Leches

Next up? Drinks, of course!

Drinks

Ready for some more of those tropical tastes? The Tropical Slush is back, combining lemonade, grapefruit, and simple syrup in a frozen slushy form.

Tropical Slush

The non-alcoholic version of this beverage is $4.50, and it’s also available to order with Don Q Límon Rum for $11.50. It was probably the best beverage we had all day! We tried the non-alcoholic version, and we noticed the flavors all went super well together. It’s a great hot day drink to cool you off. The grapefruit is probably the most prominent flavor and it did overpower the lemonade a bit. People who don’t care for grapefruit should avoid this drink, but for everyone else, you should try it! It’s certainly one of our best of the fest.

Tropical Slush

New this year among the drinks is the Wicked Weed Brewing Mango Wowie Hazy IPA with mango for $5.75 for a 6-ounce pour or $9.75 for a 12-ounce pour. 

Wowie Hazy IPA

We were pleasantly surprised by this IPA. It was much sweeter than many IPAs we’ve had, and it didn’t have the bitterness you would expect from an IPA. We would even say that if you’re looking for a bitter, hoppy beer, you might want to look elsewhere. But if you want to try an IPA, this might be the perfect one to try. We love that you can get smaller pours at the festivals, so you can feel more free to try new items!

Wowie Hazy IPA

Wine drinkers may want to try the Tropical Perception White Sangria from Florida Orange Groves Winery. You can purchase a glass for $11.50.

OVERALL

We tried more things that were bests of the fest than not at this booth! If you’re looking to try some new, plant-based options, definitely head over to La Isla Fresca for some good eats and drinks!

There’s still SO MUCH MORE to check out at the EPCOT Flower and Garden Festival, so on we go!

Click here to see FULL reviews of EVERY BOOTH at the 2024 EPCOT Flower & Garden Festival!

Trying to plan the PERFECT trip to the EPCOT Flower and Garden Festival? We’ll be keeping you updated on all of the latest. Click our links below for the information you need to know:

And don’t forget to pick up our EPCOT Flower and Garden Festival e-book! See more details about the book below.

MAKE THE MOST
OF YOUR FESTIVAL DAYS

DFB’s Guide to the EPCOT Flower & Garden Festival details everything you need to know to maximize your time, budget and stomach space! Know what’s worth it and what to skip with our full-photo menus of each booth, complete with DFB’s Best of the Fest.

It includes all the must-have information for navigating this one of the most BEAUTIFUL festivals at Disney World, including:

  • 🌸 Booth & food photos, maps, and crawls with DFB’s exclusive recommendations!
  • 🐝 The COMPLETE schedule of events (so you don’t have to go hunting for all the dates!)
  • 🌳 All the details on special events, topiaries, festival exclusive merchandise, and more!

What items from this booth would you most want to try? Tell us in the comments!

The post REVIEW: Dig Out Your Wallet, Because You’ll Be Spending .75 at This 2024 EPCOT Flower & Garden Festival Booth first appeared on the disney food blog.

HURRY! This Leap Day Deal Is Sweet, but It’s Only Good February 29th!

2024 is a special year because it is a LEAP YEAR!

2024 Ears

Since it is a Leap Year, we get Leap Day which takes place on February 29th! There are a lot of ways that you can celebrate this extra day, but what if we said you can celebrate with discounted doughnuts?! 

To celebrate Leap Day, Krispy Kreme is rolling out a deal for that will only last one day so mark your calendars!

© Krispy Kreme

On Leap Day, February 29th, 2024, customers can buy a dozen original glazed doughnuts for only $2.29! Get it? $2.29… 2/29, very clever Krispy Kreme! To take advantage of this deal, customers also must purchase any dozen doughnuts at the regular price.

© Krispy Kreme

This deal gets even sweeter! If your birthday is on February 29th, you get an additional dozen original glazed doughnuts free of charge! Proof of your birthday is required.

©Krispy Kreme

Do not miss out on this as it only takes place on Wednesday, February 29th, 2024!

Click Here to See Our Review of Everglazed Donuts and Cold Brew in Disney Springs!

Join the DFB Newsletter to get all the breaking news right in your inbox! Click here to Subscribe!

WE KNOW DISNEY.
YOU CAN, TOO.

Oh boy, planning a Disney trip can be quite the adventure, and we totally get it! But fear not, dear friends, we compiled EVERYTHING you need (and the things to avoid!) to plan the ULTIMATE Disney vacation.

Whether you’re a rookie or a seasoned pro, our insider tips and tricks will have you exploring the parks like never before. So come along with us, and get planning your most magical vacation ever!

Will you be taking advantage of this deal? Let us know in the comments!

The post HURRY! This Leap Day Deal Is Sweet, but It’s Only Good February 29th! first appeared on the disney food blog.

REVIEW: We’re SHOCKED by the Italy Booth at the EPCOT Flower & Garden Festival

It’s finally time for the 2024 EPCOT Flower & Garden Festival!

Primavera Kitchen Food Booth

We’re bringing you along as we check out the Primavera Kitchen booth — one of the Outdoor Kitchens (also known as Food Booths) at the park’s springtime celebration! Stop here while enjoying the Festival’s famous Disney topiaries, garden displays, and entertainment. Join us as we review Primavera Kitchen to see if it can bolster the reputation of Italy Pavilion festival booths!

Menu

Over at the Primavera Kitchen booth, you’ll find a variety of available items. And, all the food this year is NEW!

2024 Primavera Kitchen Menu

Now that we’ve taken a look at the menu, let’s dive into the food itself!

Eats

First up, we grabbed the new Bocconcini — Mozzarella bocconcini, grape tomatoes, and pesto sauce for $7.50. We were honestly surprised by how much we liked this considering it was a pretty simple dish. The tomatoes were fresh and not mushy, and while the basil was not as fresh, the pesto made up for it. It was light but aromatic and blended well with the mozzarella.

Bocconcini

Next, we grabbed the new Arrabbiata made with Pennette pasta, spicy tomato sauce, and buttery shrimp for $9.25. This was the standout item at this booth for us — it was that tasty! You can tell that someone put thought into it, especially the sauce. The sauce was rich and had a kick to it from chili flakes and tasted homemade. There were quite a few shrimp in the bowl we got and they were cooked pretty well — a bit overcooked, but we’d prefer that at a festival booth, honestly.

Arrabbiata

The Quattro Formaggi is made with Pennette pasta and four-cheese sauce, and you can get it for $6.75. This was good, but it’s not a must-have — it reminded us of something you might find on a kids menu at a chain restaurant. We definitely wouldn’t get it again just because it’s not too exciting, but it would probably be a great option for picky eaters!

Quattro Formaggi

And for dessert, we got the Chocolate Cannoli. This is a Chocolate-covered cannolo shell with peanut butter-ricotta filling for $5.75. We loved the chocolate-covered shell here, but it didn’t really taste like a cannolo to us. It was incredibly creamy and not too heavy on the peanut butter flavor, which we could have used more of. It was nice and sweet and overall not a bad option.

Chocolate Cannoli

We washed it all down with…

Drinks

In terms of drinks at this booth, we grabbed the Italian Margarita with limoncello and tequila for $12.00. Extremely refreshing, tart, and acidic all at the same time. This is a classic EPCOT festival drink and for good reason. If you’re a fan of margaritas, give this one a try!

Italian Margarita with limoncello and tequila

You can also get the Italian Sangria for $12.00…

Italian Sangria

…Peroni Pilsner (6 oz $6.50 / 12 oz $11.00)…

Peroni Nastro Azzurro Pilsner

…Sauvignon Blanc for $14.00 and Prosecco for $11.75. WHEW!

OVERALL

So, did the Italy Booth redeem itself this year? It’s still not our favorite or Best of the Fest material by any means, but we do think the Italy Booth has improved over last year’s festival. The arrabbiata pasta was a huge hit for us, and we were surprised by how much we enjoyed the bocconcini. Consider giving Italy another chance at this year’s fest!

That’s it for this booth, but there’s a LOT more where that came from!

Click here to see FULL reviews of EVERY BOOTH at the 2024 EPCOT Flower & Garden Festival!

Trying to plan the PERFECT trip to the EPCOT Flower and Garden Festival? We’ll be keeping you updated on all of the latest. Click our links below for the information you need to know:

And don’t forget to pick up our EPCOT Flower and Garden Festival e-book! See more details about the book below.

MAKE THE MOST
OF YOUR FESTIVAL DAYS

DFB’s Guide to the EPCOT Flower & Garden Festival details everything you need to know to maximize your time, budget and stomach space! Know what’s worth it and what to skip with our full-photo menus of each booth, complete with DFB’s Best of the Fest.

It includes all the must-have information for navigating this one of the most BEAUTIFUL festivals at Disney World, including:

  • 🌸 Booth & food photos, maps, and crawls with DFB’s exclusive recommendations!
  • 🐝 The COMPLETE schedule of events (so you don’t have to go hunting for all the dates!)
  • 🌳 All the details on special events, topiaries, festival exclusive merchandise, and more!

What items from this booth would you most want to try? Tell us in the comments!

The post REVIEW: We’re SHOCKED by the Italy Booth at the EPCOT Flower & Garden Festival first appeared on the disney food blog.

There’s a NEW Disney Loungefly Bag in EPCOT!

LOUNGEFLY ALERT! At this point, we think our Loungefly sense is even stronger than Spider-Man’s spidey senses. We can always tell when there’s a NEW bag to be found.

EPCOT

Right now, you can find the newest Disney Loungefly bag in EPCOT!

Click here to subscribe

The EPCOT Flower & Garden Festival is going on right now, bringing tons of tasty snacks and drinks to the park. But that’s not all — there are also tons of new souvenirs to celebrate the event!

Creations Shop

We’ve already spotted a new Lug bag (these are SUPER popular right now)…

Orange Bird Lug Bag

…some super cute Minnie ears…

Ears

…and a LOT of new pins.

Butterfly Pin

But we couldn’t forget to tell y’all about the new Orange Bird Loungefly Backpack! The backpack is light blue with a big Orange Bird character on the front. The adorable bird is sitting inside a flower pot, which is perfectly on brand for the Flower & Garden Festival.

Loungefly Bag

This backpack is covered in little festival symbols, like gardening tools, orange segments, and Spaceship Earth. The adjustable shoulder straps are bright orange.

Here’s the back

You can get this bag for $88 at Creations Shop in EPCOT! It’s not online yet, but we’ll be watching for it to pop up at the Disney Store.

Creations Shop

Stay tuned to DFB for more updates from Disney World!

Click here to see ALL the merchandise at the EPCOT Flower & Garden Festival!

MAKE THE MOST
OF YOUR FESTIVAL DAYS

DFB’s Guide to the EPCOT Flower & Garden Festival details everything you need to know to maximize your time, budget and stomach space! Know what’s worth it and what to skip with our full-photo menus of each booth, complete with DFB’s Best of the Fest.

It includes all the must-have information for navigating this one of the most BEAUTIFUL festivals at Disney World, including:

  • 🌸 Booth & food photos, maps, and crawls with DFB’s exclusive recommendations!
  • 🐝 The COMPLETE schedule of events (so you don’t have to go hunting for all the dates!)
  • 🌳 All the details on special events, topiaries, festival exclusive merchandise, and more!

Are you going to grab this bag the next time you visit EPCOT? Let us know in the comments!

The post There’s a NEW Disney Loungefly Bag in EPCOT! first appeared on the disney food blog.

NEW Gnome Garden in Germany Pavilion for 2024 EPCOT International Flower & Garden Festival

A whimsical new garden at the 2024 EPCOT International Flower & Garden Festival is inspired by the gnomes of German folk tales. The Gnome Garden is located at the Germany Pavilion in EPCOT.

Gnome Garden

Find topiary versions of magical garden gnomes, originating from German folk tales.

The new Gnome Garden in the Germany Pavilion

There are three round gnome-ish topiaries atop green poles in this flowerbed. While gnomes are usually depicted as diminutive creatures, these topiaries depict gnome heads larger than those of a human. Each topiary is decorated with a round nose and different hair and hats.

A close-up of the new Gnome Garden

On the left is a gnome with hair from its head tied off with flowers below its chin. The gnome wears a green pointed hat covered in moss. The center gnome has two red braids of hair coming out from beneath a drooping pink hat. The third gnome has a big busy beard. It wears a brown and green pointed hat.

The Germany Pavilion also has a miniature garden and “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” topiaries.

The EPCOT International Flower & Garden Festival runs through May 27. Check out the two other new gardens for this year, the PB&J Garden and the China Penjing Garden.

For the latest Disney Parks news and info, follow WDW News Today on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

The post NEW Gnome Garden in Germany Pavilion for 2024 EPCOT International Flower & Garden Festival appeared first on WDW News Today.

Marvel Shares First Look at “Marvel Studios’ Black Panther: Wakanda Forever – The Art of the Movie”

Marvel is continuing the popular Art of series of tie-in coffee table books with Marvel Studios’ Black Panther: Wakanda Forever – The Art of the Movie. They’ve shared a first look at what this amazing book will have to offer. Marvel Studios’ Black Panther: Wakanda Forever – The Art of the Movie features exclusive concept artwork and in-depth […]

The post Marvel Shares First Look at “Marvel Studios’ Black Panther: Wakanda Forever – The Art of the Movie” appeared first on .

Mel’s Drive-In Reopens at Universal Studios Florida Following Extensive Refurbishment

Following a lengthy refurbishment, Mel’s Drive-In has reopened at Universal Studios Florida with a refreshed interior and updated menu. What’s Happening: After being closed for a multi-month refurbishment that began last summer, Mel’s Drive-In has finally reopened to guests at Universal Orlando Resort. Prepare to rock around the clock at this American Graffiti-inspired 50s drive-in featuring […]

The post Mel’s Drive-In Reopens at Universal Studios Florida Following Extensive Refurbishment appeared first on .