A Blog About Disney Stuff

While it’s true Walt Disney World is a foodie paradise, not all restaurants and dining locations are created equal. So how do you know which restaurants are worth your time or which ones you should leave behind?

After scouring through our TouringPlans Lines 2.0 app, I’ve compiled a list of both the highest AND lowest-rated dining destinations at Disney’s Animal Kingdom! So which ones made the cut? And will you agree with our user ratings? Let’s take a look!

Lowest Rated Dining Locations on the Lines 2.0 App

3. TIE: Caravan Road & Expedition Storage Lockers Beverage Cart

Rating: 85%

Caravan Road is a small kiosk on the walkway between Africa and Asia. Its small menu currently consists of Asian noodle salad, edamame, teriyaki beef sliders, and soft drinks. While many guests are fans of the cultural foods offered in Animal Kingdom, a limited menu for adventurous palettes isn’t always what families of picky young eaters are looking for.

Expedition Storage Lockers Beverage Cart located at The Oasis only sells bottled water and soft drinks. Apart from its name, I’m guessing its poor rating is due to its lack of options coupled with having to pay over $3 for a Coke.

2. TIE: The Smiling Crocodile & Mahindi

Rating: 81%

The Smiling Crocodile at Discovery Island offers a number of unique menu items ranging from tamales to street tacos. But from the look of its ratings, it clearly isn’t living up to guest expectations.

Mahindi is a popcorn cart just inside of Africa that also sells glazed nuts and collectible popcorn buckets. Guests who ranked this spot were either expecting something more from Mahindi or didn’t appreciate those long, winding lines for buckets.

1. TIE: Rainforest Cafe & Pizzafari

Rating: 79%

While families, especially those with young kids, love the atmosphere and the experience Rainforest affords, the food (and sometimes the service) has never been that great.

Pizzafari is conveniently located on Discovery Island serving kid-proof dishes like personal pizzas that fail to live up to expectations.

Highest Rated Dining Locations On The Lines 2.0 App

Now that we’ve tackled the worst, let’s get to the BEST according to our Lines 2.0 readers!

3. TIE: AK Carts, Creature Comforts, DinoLand Frozen Treats, Harambe Fruit Market, Nomad Lounge

Rating: 97%

All of the dining locations listed above tied for our third place slot with 97% rankings from our users. But despite sharing the same ranking, the only two similar to one other are the AK Carts from Discovery Island and DinoLand Frozen Treats from DinoLand U.S.A as both serve typical soft drinks, popcorn, and frozen treats.

Creature Comforts at Discovery Island, on the other hand, is the park’s Starbucks location, and the Harambe Fruit Market in Africa offers fruits, veggies, pickles, and even flame-grilled corn on the cob.

Located near the entrance to Pandora – The World of Avatar, Nomad Lounge is the only sit-down location to make this Top 3 list. It’s connected to the park’s signature restaurant Tiffins and serves a wide selection of drinks along with small plates and appetizers ranging from bowls to a bread service.

2. Anadapur Ice Cream

Rating: 98%

This snack stand can be found in Asia and operates out of an aqua blue, decorative bus! The menu is somewhat limited offering soft drinks, water, soft-serve waffle cones or floats, but occasionally it procures a seasonal treat like peppermint soft-serve ice cream!

1. Everest Beverage Cart

Rating: 99%

Yep, the highest-rated dining spot at Disney’s Animal Kingdom is indeed the Everest Beverage Cart. This rather basic cart serves up your typical theme park fare of all-beef hot dogs, Coca-Cola and Minute Maid beverages, beer, and frozen treats such as Mickey Premium Bars and frozen bananas.

Do you agree with our Lines 2.0 app ratings? Which of these dining spots would you rate as the highest? Let us know in the comments!

The post Top 3 Best and Worst Animal Kingdom Dining Locations According to You appeared first on TouringPlans.com Blog.

From our friends at touringplans.com

Filed Under: Attractions, Disney’s Animal Kingdom Theme Park, Walt Disney World (FL), animal kingdom dining, Best Places to Eat at Disney World, Dining at Disney, disney dining, Disney Restaurants, disney world, Disney’s Animal Kingdom, lines 2.0, Lines 2.0 app, walt disney world, Worst Places to Eat at Disney World

Love, and lovely scents, are in the air at Basin at Disney Springs. This bath and body care care shop at the Marketplace area of Disney Springs usually has seasonal and themed products throughout the year. If you’re ready to get the Valentine’s Day vibes going then a visit to Basin is in order.

We spotted a variety of Valentine’s Day and love themed bath bombs, which are said to be Basin’s most popular product. There are even some limited edition bath bombs that are $6.99 each and cannot be included in Basin’s popular bath bomb bundle. The limited edition bath bombs include a Be Mine bath bomb that has a dollop of body scrub on top.

We also spotted some romance themed soaps with pretty pink and red Mickey Mouse confetti style shapes embedded in the soap, and other styles as well. Most of these items, aside from the Mickey Mouse themed items, are available on Basin’s website.

Do you like to visit Basin when you’re at Walt Disney World? What’s your favorite product?

The post Valentine’s Day Arrives at Basin in Disney Springs appeared first on TouringPlans.com Blog.

From our friends at touringplans.com

Filed Under: Disney Springs, Holidays, Shopping, disney shopping, disney valentine’s day

Today the Universal Crowd Calendar gets a refresh. Lately, the crowd levels at Universal Studios have been two or more points higher than expected, on average. We thought that the end of the very successful Florida Ticket promotion would reduce the crowd sizes at Universal Studios, but wait times held steady right through the first week of January. In the first few days this week we have seen crowds closer to the predicted levels so that might be an indication that things are returning to normal. At Islands of Adventure crowds are up a bit, but not as much as the other park.

The busiest days at Universal since June have been Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays. We expect that pattern to continue and it is reflected in this latest update. If you can avoid weekends at Universal we strongly suggest you do so.

What to Expect in 2021

Covid-19 is still the most important driving factor in crowd levels at Universal Orlando Resort. Social distancing regulations are keeping ride capacities restricted to levels less than 100%. This means wait times will be higher and therefore the crowd levels will be higher too. There is also some evidence that the posted times are inflated a little more than usual. If you arrive at an attraction with a long posted wait time but the physical queue looks reasonable feel free to get in line. You might find that the actual time you wait in line much less than the posted time.

This update impacts crowd levels between now and May 31. Many days remain unchanged or change 1 index point higher or lower. If you have a touring plan scheduled for any day between now and June it would be a good idea to re-optimize it. If you re-optimize and the order of attractions doesn’t change, that’s okay. We find that is often the case.

Future Updates

We are examining our wait time models more frequently than usual. This means we may update the calendar more often than just once a month. A lot will depend on the status of Covid-19 regulations. If vaccination rates in Florida continue to grow and the recommendations from public health officials change, that would lead to another update to the crowd calendar. Until then we will continue to track the daily crowd levels and update our wait time models as needed.

The post Universal Crowd Calendar Update for January 2021 appeared first on TouringPlans.com Blog.

From our friends at touringplans.com

Filed Under: Crowd Blog, Universal Orlando Resort, Crowd Calendar

Start 2021 off with a beignet at Universal Studios Florida with Mardi Gras 2021. This year’s festival puts the food front and center with dishes from 13 countries surrounded by Mardi Gras decorations, floats, and live entertainment.

Food & Beverage

Sample iconic carnival food from all around the globe with over 70 dishes from 13 different countries. Food highlights include:

• New Orleans: Beignets, Crawfish Boil, and Jambalaya
• Canada: Beef Short Rib Poutine
• France: Poached Pear Creme Brulee Crepe
• Germany: Pork Schnitzel Sliders and Bavarian Pretzel
• Italy: Arancini and Cannoli
• Spain: Paella Mixta
• Additional vegetarian and vegan options

Plus each country will feature exclusives beers, wines, and mixed cocktails. For a full menu visit Universal’s Mardi Gras 2021 menu.

A tasting lanyard will be available for purchase; details and pricing to be announced soon.

Tribute Store

Returning for its second year, the Mardi Gras Tribute Store combines intricately themed walkthroughs and unique merchandise to create an attraction in and of itself. This year’s rooms will take guests into a 1920s jazz club, a lavish nautical cemetery, and an illicit waterfront warehouse.

The Tribute Store will feature exclusive merchandise along with new, unique food offerings and will be open during park hours at Universal Studios Florida.

Entertainment

Universal’s popular concert series is taking a breather for 2021 but that does not stop the good times from rolling. The park will be decorated with Mardi Gras decorations and street performers will wander the physically distanced crowds. 2020’s parade floats will be stationed around the park for photo opportunities and small bands will perform for dining guests.

Taking inspiration from the Halloween and Holiday events, Universal will also offer a Mardi Gras Scavenger Hunt. Details will be announced at a future date.

Universal Orlando’s Mardi Gras runs from February 6 through March 28, 2021. The event is included in the price of admission to Universal Studios Florida.

The post Universal Mardi Gras Is Back from February 6 – March 28, 2021! appeared first on TouringPlans.com Blog.

From our friends at touringplans.com

Filed Under: Universal Orlando Resort, Mardi Gras

With the holiday season gone, it is time for some sweets to make their return to the parks. At Disney’s Animal Kingdom the Cotton-Top Tamarin Cupcake has returned. It can be mobile ordered at Restaurantosaurus and Flame Tree BBQ, or picked up at Creature Comforts Starbucks location.

This cupcake is made in honor of the Cotton-Top Tamarin monkeys found in the park; their soft black and white fur makes them pretty easy to identify. So how does this cupcake in their honor taste?

The Cotton-Top Tamarin Cupcake is bursting with chocolate. Chocolate cake with chocolate filling is topped with a buttercream frosting. The buttercream is classic, thick and sweet giving a break from the chocolate cake and filling. There are chocolate pearls on the back adding a little bit of crispness.

This cupcake was available last spring through most of the summer. We’re not sure how long its return will last, but the great news is there is almost always a specialty cupcake available in each park throughout the year. It is $5.99 which is the standard price of practically any specialty cupcake at Walt Disney World.

Have you had this cupcake before? Are you interested in trying it out?

The post REVIEW – Cotton-Top Tamarin Cupcakes Are BACK appeared first on TouringPlans.com Blog.

From our friends at touringplans.com

Filed Under: Dining, Disney’s Animal Kingdom Theme Park, Snacks, animal kingdom snacks, disney animal kingdom dining, Disney Cupcakes, disney desserts