Disney Cruise Line have revealed which characters will adorn the stern of the new Disney Fantasy ship. Dumbo and Timothy Mouse will feature on the new ship, in the location which was taken by Sorcerer Mickey on the Disney Dream.
The 4,000-passenger Disney Fantasy will sail week-long Caribbean cruises from Port Canaveral, Fla. with its maiden voyage scheduled for March 31, 2012.
Images © Disney Cruise Line
If you’re planning a visit to the Central Orlando theme parks this October and want to attend one of the Halloween events, you may have only given consideration to Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party at Walt Disney World, and Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Orlando, both of which are ticketed events (you pay extra to get in). Did you know that SeaWorld Orlando also have a Halloween event? And it’s included in the price of regular park admission!
This year, SeaWorld’s Halloween Spooktacular takes place every weekend in October: 1-2, 8-9, 15-16, 22-23, and 28-30. It’s a daytime event and runs from 12 p.m. to 8 p.m., which is great for little ones who may not be able to stay awake for nighttime events, or who may be afraid of spooky things in the dark.
I’ve attended the event twice, the first time being a few years back when it first began, and most recently last year.
We arrived at the park early as we had a booking for the character breakfast. The breakfast is usually seasonal, but I can’t find any reference to it on SeaWorld’s website, so not sure if they still do it.
We were done soon after the opening time of 10am and had a couple of hours to see Blue Horizons and some of the other attractions before the Halloween event began.
There were two entrances to the Underwater Fantasea path, which ran round one half of the lake and around the back of the Shamu Stadium, past Shamu’s Happy Harbor. We entered across from Polar Parlor Ice Cream, just before the entrance to the Waterfront, and exited at the Sea Garden.
Maps and treat bags were available at each entrance.
Bubble machines blew hundreds of bubbles out onto the pathway, setting the scene for the underwater theme.
Much of the activity was centered around the first half of the pathway, with most of the trick-or-treat stations located here. Some Cast Members were more generous than others with what they handed out, so don’t expect to go home with a bag brimming over with candy, unless you’re prepared to put in time revisiting each station!
There were lots of other activities to do, including carnival-style games, face painting and hair wraps, all of which incurred an extra fee.
A big attraction along this pathway were the numerous character and sea creature greetings. Shamu and Dolly the Dolphin put in appearances, along with a whole host of other fanciful sea creatures and mermaids.
The Atlantis Bayside Stadium payed host to the Abby Cadabby’s Halloween Adventure, an interactive maze, where you could meet Abby herself at the end.
The Frozen Fun Zone outside of Wild Arctic was a DJ dance party, where kids could enjoy dancing, interactive games and activities. This year it wil be called Penelope’s Party Zone.
Visitors can also see the Sesame Street’s Countdown to Halloween Live Musical Stage Show, something that we didn’t get chance to see.
I think it took us over an hour to walk the whole length of the Underwater Fantasea path, and visit all of the trick-or-treat stations, leaving us the rest of the day to enjoy everything else SeaWorld has to offer. You could spend much more time there if you partake in all of the activities, including paid-for ones. We also visited when it first opened, and noticed lines for things like character greetings were longer later in the day.
This was out stash of booty at the end of the day.
I’d highly recommend SeaWorld’s Halloween Spooktacular event, especially as it doesn’t cost a cent above regular park admission, and you get to enjoy all of the other activities, rides and shows that the park has to offer too. It is geared more towards children, and teens might not appreciate the character greetings, but might be tempted by the free candy!
You can buy discounted SeaWorld Orlando tickets here. (UK visitors click here.)
Watch out for more articles on SeaWorld coming soon!
The DFB Mini-Guide to the 2011 Epcot International Food and Wine Festival is the second in a series of mini-guides, published by AJ Wolfe of the wonderful Disney Food Blog website. The mini-guides follow on from the first e-book, the DFB Guide to Walt Disney World Dining, which we reviewed a few months back.
Published in pdf format, it’s there on your computer within minutes of ordering, ready to read or download to a smartphone or iPad. This format means it’s perfect for reading on the go, and taking with you to the parks, for instant reference whilst at the Food & Wine Festival.
Whether you’ve visited the Food and Wine Festival before or not, you’ll find useful information in this mini guide, which covers everything from how to get to Epcot, to touring plans for visiting the Festival.
Disney have just revealed plans for a new role-playing game that’s coming to Magic Kingdom Park in early 2012.
© The Walt Disney Company
Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom will see guests recruited by Merlin the magician to become apprentice sorcerers. They then have to use the maps and clues provided by Merlin to defeat an army of Disney villains, and save the Magic Kingdom.
© The Walt Disney Company
By Guest Blogger Chris.
Hi! My name is Chris and this is my blog about staying off-site when visiting Walt Disney World. I should probably explain a little about myself in case you are wondering why I am writing this blog.
I have visited Walt Disney World (WDW) 5 times and for various reasons have always stayed off-site, racking up the numbers of various hotels and resorts around the Orlando area and beyond. Also through immediate and extended family members also visiting the Mouse (and continuing the trend of staying off-site) I have amassed a bit of knowledge on the various lodgings in the I-Drive area (which I’ll explain about a little later).
As I’ve two younger siblings (the youngest is 6 years younger than me) I also have first-hand experience of holidays with children under 8, teenagers, young adults and “old” adults travelling with family and as a couple with my girlfriend.
The Grand Floridian Cafe is the Resort’s less formal table service restaurant, situated on the 1st floor of the Resort. We’d eaten here before on our honeymoon and enjoyed the food, so decided to revisit, booking a table this time for 6:15pm.
We arrived early, at 6pm and were told it would be nearer our ADR time when we’d be seated. However it was closer to 6:30pm when our pager finally lit up.
As at quite a few of Disney’s table service restaurants, the tables here are way too close together which is a pet hate of mine. You feel like you’re dining with the people on adjacent tables, with no privacy for conversation.
Some of the first homes at Disney’s exclusive Golden Oak residential community are ready to move in. The luxury resort custom homes are priced between approximately $1.5 million and $8 million. Lucky residents will have access to parks, a private clubhouse and select amenities at the planned Four Seasons Resort Orlando at Walt Disney World Resort, including the full service spa, restaurants, and golf course.
Here’s a first look inside some of the homes.
1 – Decide where you want to eat before your trip. I know that doesn’t sound easy, but when it’s free dining plan period you’ll find that the more popular table service restaurants are fully booked and you’ll struggle to use your table service credits. If you check out published park hours you can work out a rough schedule in advance. Once you know which park you’ll be at on which day you’ll have a better idea of where you want to eat. Check out online menus and reviews. We have some great dining review posts on our forums. Book your Advanced Dining Reservations as soon as possible. Popular places such as Le Cellier Steakhouse book up as soon as reservations open at the 180 day mark. Before booking, make sure that the restaurant accepts dining plan credits, as there are some that don’t.
2 – If you arrive not having booked anything, try these table service restaurants which aren’t as popular and may have availability: Restaurant Marrakesh, Nine Dragons Restaurant, Maya Grill, and Shutters.
Beaches and Cream Soda Shop is located around the back of the Yacht and Beach Club Resort, right near to Stormalong Bay pool. It’s one of our favorites and somewhere we try to eat at on every trip.
Reservations aren’t taken, so it’s a case of first-come, first-served. Although we’ve never had a problem getting in, I’d recommend visiting outside of peak dining hours at busy times of the year.
On our last trip, we called by at around 6pm and were told we’d have a 20 minute wait for a table. Pager in hand, we sat on one of the tables opposite, overlooking Stormalong Bay. The pagers only operate within a certain distance of the restaurant, so can’t be taken back inside the Resort building. We actually only waited 10 minutes before our pager buzzed and we were seated.
The restaurant is themed after a 1950s-style ice cream parlor. Pictures of ice cream and other sweet treats adorn the walls above the mirrors, with wall light fittings in the shape of ice cream cones.
Cake pops are the “in thing” at the moment, and are very popular for birthdays, baby showers, and gifts in general. Here are some I made recently for my daughter’s Disney princess themed birthday party.
For the cake ball mixture I followed Bakerella’s recipe, which is for 48 cake pops, but halved the ingredient quantities to just make 24 pops.
