Packing for Disney World can be a bit overwhelming. However, there are some essential items necessary for theme park days and hotel room nights, and several of them are available on AMAZON right now.
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We have tried A LOT of ponchos at Walt Disney World over the years, and this is BY FAR our favorite. This poncho — available on Amazon in multiple colors, including this striking hot pink — had several features that we simply adored. The material allowed the rain to slip right off, and between that and the lack of sleeves, we didn’t feel steamed or hot underneath. On top of that, the poncho was large enough that our backpack was able to fit underneath it comfortably, while still keeping the bag and our back completely covered from the rain.
Packing bag
If all that wasn’t enough, the poncho even came with a waterproof storage bag, meaning we were able to quickly pack it up and throw it in our backpack as soon as the storm ended without worrying about anything in there getting wet.
These Sukeen cooling towels are “made of high-density cooling mesh microfiber, soft and skin-friendly. which is super absorbent, breathable and hyper-evaporative. This ice towel adopts physical cooling by the evaporation of water molecules.” To activate the towel, all you’ll need to do is “soak it with water, wring it out and shake it several times. The hyper-evaporative towel will chill you down instantly, and the magical cooling effect can last up to several hours.”
Available on Amazon in multiple colors and styles, this bladeless neck fan “will not pinch hair or cut your fingers, ensuring safe use for long hair people, children and the elderly. The fan is “constructed of soft and comfortable material, ergonomically designed, light and comfortable and skin-friendly.”
This theme park essentials kit features a fanny pack, a collapsible water bottle, three emergency ponchos, a USB-powered fan, a cooling towel, and a reusable straw.
This flat power strip features 3 outlets, 2 USB-A ports, and 2 USB-C ports, which can charge up to 7 devices at the same time. This makes it perfect for a Disney hotel room, where outlet space is often at a premium, especially on family vacations.
We stopped by The Lunching Pad recently to try out the seasonal Jalapeño Popper Dog! For a limited time, this treat is joining the other specialty hot dogs at The Lunching Pad.
It’s on the menu for a limited time!
For $14.79 you get an all-beef hot dog topped with sriracha cream cheese, crispy onions, bacon, and Hades relish. It’s quite the creation! It comes with a bag of chips on the side.
Hot dog and chips
As far as the taste goes, it has a decent low heat to it. If you’re a fan of a mild salsa or a jalapeño heat, you’ll enjoy the relish, because it’s the hottest part of the hot dog. The sriracha cream cheese is SO creamy, which adds a nice texture, and it was probably our favorite of the toppings.
It’s a beauty!
The bacon bits and crispy onions add a nice crunch to the mix. Honestly, this was pretty delicious and we’d try it again! If you’re a hot dog fan and don’t mind a little heat, we’d recommend you try it out.
Inside the dog
That’s a wrap on our review of this particular snack, but make sure to check out our reviews of all the other Halloween snacks in Disney World before you have your vacation! We’ll keep you in the loop with any other new treats, so stay tuned to DFB.
From the thrills of Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party to the enchanting resort decorations that’ll send shivers down your spine, our guide is packed with tips and tricks to help you squeeze every ounce of ghoulish fun out of your visit. Plus, we’ve got the inside scoop on all the limited-time-only bone-chilling activities happening across the parks!
If driving to Disney World is how you get to the Most Magical Place on Earth, then you know just how important it is to find CHEAP gas prices before you hit the road.
Disney World
Gas prices fluctuate like the wind, which can make it difficult to budget ahead of your trip. And, depending on where it is you’re coming from, sometimes driving can be just as expensive as flying. But, we have good news for Floridians and those planning on driving to Disney World soon!
Good news for Floridians and those who drive to Disney World! After briefly rising 7 cents last week, gas prices have now dropped to their lowest point in two months, according to AAA.
Gas is getting expensive!
The state average on Sunday, August 18th was $3.31 per gallon — 2 cents less than last week, and 12 cents less than one month ago. Not only that, but it’s also 53 cents less than the same time last year. In addition, the state average is 33 cents below the overall high of $3.64 per gallon so far this year.
Gas Station in Hollywood Studios
AAA spokesperson Mark Jenkins said, “The price of crude continues to influence prices at the pump…Oil prices increased early last week on renewed optimism about the U.S. economy after a July domestic consumer spending report was better than analysts expected. By the end of the week, however, weak economic data from China caused oil prices to soften.”
West Palm Beach and Boca Raton have the highest gas prices at $3.49 per gallon, while the current Orlando average was hovering around $3.25 on Monday afternoon.
Speedway Gas Station Outside of Magic Kingdom
This is likely welcome news for many, as back in April, gas prices reached $3.62 across the state. This was 11 cents more per gallon than Florida gas pumps saw this time last year. The springtime high for 2023, however, was $3.72.
Prices have slowly been falling, with a $3.36/gallon average throughout July, and prices even lower at the pumps now.
Disney World gas station in March 2022
Ultimately, though, it’s a good idea to check average gas prices before you head out on your trip so you know what to expect. And, if you’ll be driving to Disney World soon, you might want to consider budgeting some extra dough for gas — you never know when those prices might creep back up!
Don’t forget that once you arrive at Disney World, you can drive yourself around or opt to take Disney’s free transportation services. There are buses, boats, the iconic monorail, and the Skyliner as well!
Disney World’s Skyliner is a ride!
If you’re looking for some help planning your next trip to Disney World — we know just who to call! While we have all the best tips, tricks, and more, a Disney Travel Agent like our friends over at Small World Vacations can plan your trip for you from beginning to end — and make sure you’re getting the absolute best deals, too!
We’ll keep an eye on the latest gas prices so you know what to expect when you’re driving to Disney World next. In the meantime, make sure you stay tuned to the Disney Food Blog for all your vacation planning needs!
It’s almost time! Time to eat and drink around the world and enjoy the BEST food EPCOT has to offer.
2023 EPCOT Food and Wine Festival
Yep, the EPCOT Food & Wine Festival starts soon: it begins on August 29th and runs through November 23rd. During the festival, you’ll have a chance to sample food and drinks from a TON of food booths all over World Showcase, as well as some new special festival foods at existing EPCOT eateries. Then there’s the Eat to the Beat concert series, where you can jam out with your favorite band while you wine and dine. If you’re attending the 2024 festival, we’ve got the best tips you may not know about!
So whether you’ve been to the EPCOT Food & Wine Festival before or if this is your first time at the festival, we’re sharing our best tips to guarantee you have a great time.
Plan ahead
We cannot stress the importance of planning ahead — yes, pick out what foods you want to eat BEFORE you get to the festival. Trust us, there are a TON of choices, and if you wait until you get to EPCOT and just try to wing it, you’re going to get overwhelmed fast AND you might miss out on things you really wanted to try.
There are SO many foods to choose from
The best way to make a game plan for the festival? Be sure to grab the DFB Food & Wine Festival Guide, which has everything you need to plan your time at the festival. We’ve got all the food booths listed out, and you can choose your priorities before you ever set foot in the park.
If you’re planning on ordering multiple items from a food booth, you’re going to need a tray to carry them all. You can get inexpensive trays from Amazon, and trust us — this is a LIFESAVER. Unless you have extra helping hands, a tray will let you carry all the food and drinks you order. But it’s not the ONLY thing you need.
Get a Tray!
You’ll probably also want to bring your own reusable silverware. Why? Well, although plastic silverware is generally available around each booth, the dispensers occasionally run out (although they are refilled often). You’ll also just save time by bringing your own. We also highly recommend bringing reusable straws, too — Disney is doing away with plastic straws and if you don’t like drinking out of cardboard straws or the agave straws (that we think add a strange flavor to drinks), bring your own.
Yes, we’re going to tell you to stay hydrated — are you surprised? This is always our biggest piece of advice when it comes to visiting Disney World. The Florida heat and humidity is NO JOKE — and you can start feeling the effects of it pretty fast. Drinking water will help you deal with the heat.
Water Fountain Refill Station
This is especially true, though, for the festival, especially if you’re drinking alcohol. If you’re drinking around the festival, you’ll dehydrate even faster, so it’s important to keep drinking water every chance you get. Bring a water bottle to the parks, fill it up at the water refill stations, and ask for that free cup of water at quick service locations.
You can get Disney gift cards before your trip or you can buy scannable gift cards on wristbands at the festival. If you buy a gift card for a certain amount, you can stick to that amount for your festival budget. This is a great way to make sure you don’t overspend (because it is VERY easy).
Food and Wine Festival Wristlet Gift Card 2023
We particularly like the little gift cards on the wristbands because they are so convenient to use at the festival.
Okay, so now that we’ve told you to bring a gift card, we’re also going to suggest you have some cash on hand…just in case. We’ve seen some of the credit card and gift card readers go down…usually during storms. During these times, cash is king for making those food and drink purchases.
Cashier at food booth
Sure, you’ll find an ATM in the parks, but you’ll pay a hefty fee to use them. If you DO need an ATM, though, there are two in EPCOT: one near the World Showcase bridge (that bridge that leads to World Showcase from World Celebration) and one near the main EPCOT entrance.
Yes, EPCOT has some incredible restaurants, but you do NOT want to eat at any of them during the EPCOT Food & Wine Festival. Why? Because then you’ll fill up and not be able to check out all the food booths you might want to visit. So we always suggest skipping the advance dining reservations and just eating around the festival instead.
Le Cellier
There is SO much to eat at the festival, and you honestly don’t want to miss out on it by filling up at a restaurant. Le Cellier, Biergarten, and all those other great World Showcase restaurants will just have to wait.
Whatever you do, try not to visit the EPCOT Food & Wine Festival on the weekends. This is when the locals go to the festival, meaning EPCOT will be extra crowded and chaotic. You’ll find yourself standing in long lines for food, and, yes, things have even been known to get a little rowdier than normal, particularly on weekend nights.
Avoid crowds by avoiding weekends
Visit the festival during the week instead — trust us, you’ll have a much more pleasant time with fewer crowds and shorter lines.
Food & Wine Festival can be a bummer. You stand in line waiting for what looks like the perfect treat, and it’s a bust. But fear not, dear friends, we compiled EVERYTHING you need (and the things to avoid!) to plan the ULTIMATE EPCOT Food & Wine Festival experience.
If you’re planning a day or a week at the festival, we’ve got every performance, activity, and tasty nosh detailed out so you can make the most of your time and money. Listen, it’s a tough job eating and documenting the nearly 200 bites and sips, but we do it all for YOU!
Learn More About the EPCOT Food and Wine Festival!
Per the OCR, Walt Disney Imagineering will make the cultural sensitivity changes to the attraction that was recently unveiled at Walt Disney World in Magic Kingdom, with the new scene depicting Tiger Lily “with dignity and cultural authenticity.”
Disneyland “expects to update the Never Land Tribe scene […] with changes similar to those made at the Magic Kingdom,” according to resort officials.
The attraction is currently not scheduled for refurbishment to make this change, though the operating calendar for Disneyland Resort can change at any time.
For more Disneyland Resort news and info, follow Disneyland News Today on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. For Disney Parks news worldwide, visit WDWNT.
EPCOT fans, especially those over the legal drinking age, are sure to tell you about one of their favorite locations at the park, La Cava Del Tequila inside the park’s Mexico pavilion. Now, fans of the lounge experience can take home some tangible memories (which might be needed) thanks to a line of merchandise celebrating the […]
Regular WDWNT readers will no doubt recognize some of Cooper’s photography and may recall his calendars from previous years, including 2024. During the pre-order period, the calendar is available for the discounted price of $21.
Photo by Matthew Cooper
The calendar contains 12 of Cooper’s high-quality Walt Disney World photos, as well as two bonus photos from Disneyland Resort. All four Walt Disney World parks are represented.
Photo by Matthew Cooper
The first 100 preorders of the 2025 calendar will receive a 4×6 print of Cooper’s “Cinderella Castle Glow.”
Photo by Matthew Cooper
The calendar is 12 inches by 9 inches, and saddle stitched — stapled at the fold line. There is also a drill hole punched so you can hang the calendar on your wall.
Photo by Matthew Cooper
The calendars will ship by late October 2024. International shipping is also available, though any tax and duty are the responsibility of the purchaser.
The Chez Alcatraz bar in the San Francisco area of Universal Studios Florida has reopened to guests following its four-month-long refurbishment and remodeling.
Chez Alcatraz Reopens
Chez Alcatraz reopened on Monday, August 19, 2024 following a four-month remodeling that began in April 2024.
Much of the changes here are visual, with the roof of the structure having received a repaint. It was formerly brown, but is now white.
Thick ropes now wrap around the columns that support the roof of the bar.
Guests can once again get their favorite beers, wine, and specialty cocktails — like the “Jaws”-inspired Ocean Attack.
A shark-shaped pen cup sits on the white countertop next to a point-of-sale (POS) system. The bar itself has also been updated; it was previously wood and is now a white stone material.
The brown paneling remains behind the bar, but new tilework and spirit cabinets have been added.
The new tilework somewhat resembles fish scales and is a mixed palette of white and various shades of blue. The brown spirit cabinets have round tops and one shelf inside, with space to keep bottles on and below the shelf. This gives the bar a more coastal vibe.
The ship’s wheel that was once on this wall has been replaced by a bulletin board filled with advertisements referencing Amity Island and “Jaws.”
Here you can see a sign-up sheet for a Clam Chowder Cook Off, and a flyer for Mrs. Witte’s 6th grade art show.
A Chez Alcatraz postcard is on the right side of the bulletin board, with a homemade flyer for a missing cat named “Biscuit Baby Boo.”
Where the Chez Alcatraz window-like area was once located has now been covered with more scale-like tile and spirit cabinets. A kegerator can be seen on the far wall in the middle of the frame.
Finally, another framed bulletin board has been added to the bar. This one contains a menu for “Helen’s House of Huge Helpings,” the Amity radio station WJWS, various business cards, a set of keys, and the July 1991 Crow’s Nest schedule.
Universal Orlando Resort began taking contract bids to remodel Chez Alcatraz in February 2024. The project was described as a “remodel of an existing kiosk” and involved demolition, concrete work, millwork, carpentry, drywall work, painting, plumbing, electrical work, and more. A temporary bar was set up shortly after construction walls were erected so that guests could still grab a beverage in San Francisco while visiting the park.
What do you think of the new look for Chez Alcatraz? Do you like it, or do you prefer how it looked before refurbishment? Let us know in the comments.
For more Universal Studios news from around the world, follow Universal Parks News Today on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. For Disney Parks news, visit WDWNT.
First unveiled at D23: The Ultimate Disney Fan Event, Pixar Animation Studios has confirmed the date that some of their classic characters are coming to your screens – in LEGO form – on Disney+ next month! What’s Happening: After initially being revealed at D23: The Ultimate Disney Fan event earlier this month, five LEGO Pixar […]
We’re not-so-patiently waiting for TWO new dining locations at one Disney World hotel!
Disney’s BoardWalk Inn
Disney’s BoardWalk has been working on both The Cake Bake Shop and Blue Ribbon Corn Dogs for a while now, and we’ve been following the construction closely. Now, one of those locations has made significant progress!
Is Blue Ribbon Corn Dogs coming soon? Well, during a recent visit to the BoardWalk, we noticed that the construction hedges had been removed from the site! These were briefly removed back in June, but they went back up shortly after.
Walls are down, baby!
Now that those hedges have been removed again, we can see the full stand with its signage, ordering windows, and pickup spots. There seem to be two places for pickup — one on the front of the building and one on the side.
The side pickup window
The same is true for the ordering locations — there looks to be one on the side and one on the front. But the real kicker is that the side ordering window has a first glimpse at the MENU!
The ordering window and the menu!
The menu listed on the building currently has a variety of options, including everything from classic corn dogs to lemonade to cotton candy. You can even order a full meal!
For corn dog options, you can get the Classic Dog, the Pickle Dog, the Kids Dog, the Mexican Street Dog, or the Golden Dragon. For beverages, they have regular lemonade and strawberry lemonade, and then you can order either pink vanilla or pineapple cotton candy.
Yum, yum, and YUM
That looks like a pretty full menu! If you want to make it a meal, you can add lemonade to any corn dog for $2 off. They also sell other drink options and chips.
But those of you who are Disneyland Resort fans know that this isn’t the first Disney location of Blue Ribbon Corn Dogs! In Anaheim, you’ll also find a Blue Ribbon Corn Dogs at Downtown Disney.
Blue Ribbon Corn Dogs
The Downtown Disney menu also offers the classic, the Kid Dog, the Golden Dragon, and the Pickle Corn Dog. However, they don’t have the specialty lemonade or the Mexican Street Dog. This location does offer many specialty flavors that rotate throughout the year, so we wonder if we’ll get the same in Disney World.
Blue Ribbon Corn Dogs menu in Disneyland Resort
We can’t wait to stop by this spot when it officially opens — we’ll be on the lookout for any indication of that date, so stay tuned to DFB for the latest!
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 try out this new spot when it opens? Tell us in the comments!
