A Blog About Disney Stuff

Disney’s Fort Wilderness Campground and Cabins has been a Disney fan favorite for decades. But this year this beloved rustic resort was put on an even higher pedestal. It was one of the first parts of Walt Disney World to reopen after the March 2020 shutdown. Its unique features make it an even more desirable destination than normal. Here are the top 3 reasons Fort Wilderness Campground became a favorite resort of 2020.

1. Your own free-standing cabin or campsite
2. Peaceful getaway that’s still close to the magic
3. Plenty of activities if you don’t go into a theme park

These days many of us are not very comfortable with the idea of staying in a traditional hotel room with interior hallways and recirculated air. Suddenly the idea of staying in a free-standing cabin, or even a campsite, went from feeling like “roughing it” to a welcome way to get away, and stay away from others.

In July 2020 when Walt Disney World first started to reopen in phases, many Disney fans took advantage of low rates and made a date with Fort Wilderness. That is exactly what my family did in July. Staying the night at Fort Wilderness and spending time in the parks when they were empty during the initial reopening is a precious memory of this year. Other Disney fans, like our own Derek Burgan, had their own Fort Wilderness getaway at some point this year too.

Fort Wilderness Cabins have often been sold out well in advance in years past, with rates in the $350 or more range. Throughout 2020 there have been dates during which a night at a Fort Wilderness Cabin runs about $250 – $275, which is a good deal considering the features of the cabin. There’s a separate bedroom, bathroom, fully equipped kitchen (albeit a little small), living area, and large porch. The cabins feel like a cozy little home surrounded by Florida’s natural beauty.

With all the difficult news throughout the year, many guests longed to get away, but in a safe manner. Fort Wilderness offers a truly splendid location that makes for a peaceful, tranquil setting, but is still in the middle of the magic. The land on which Fort Wilderness stands is full of native Florida flowers, trees, and plants. You can also usually spot wild turkey and deer here as well.

Some guests want to feel the magic of Disney, but might not yet be comfortable heading into one of the theme parks. Despite some activities being temporarily unavailable, Fort Wilderness still has lots of activities and recreation. There is a main pool with a themed water playground, and a quiet pool is near the front of the resort too. The resort sits on the shore of Bay Lake and there is a marina, though motorized boat rental is temporarily suspended. Thankfully, the Electrical Water Pageant is back giving guests another fun thing to do at Fort Wilderness.

Fort Wilderness is the absolute best resort for renting a bicycle. There are multiple trails and lovely views. Currently the playgrounds remain closed and the campfire sing along with Chip and Dale is temporarily not offered. Fishing and canoe rental are available as well as tennis, volleyball, basketball, and even tetherball is available.

Have you stayed at Fort Wilderness before? What’s your favorite feature of this resort?

The post Top 3 Reasons Fort Wilderness Campground and Cabins Become a Favorite Resort of 2020 appeared first on TouringPlans.com Blog.

From our friends at touringplans.com

Filed Under: Just For Fun, Observations, Resorts, disney on site hotels, disney resort hotels, disney’s fort wilderness lodge

Hindsight is 2020 — if the world was going to get a tattoo to commemorate this year, let’s go with that. Back at the beginning of 2020, Derek had a wonderful Saturday Six article about what we were looking forward to for Florida theme parks in 2020. And we DID get some of the things — Regal Eagle opened in EPCOT. Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway opened with the most ironic theme song (Nothing Can Stop Us Now…and then a few weeks later, all Disney Parks worldwide closed). But there were some things that just didn’t happen this year. Here’s our list of what was on that list for 2020 that we’re still looking forward to at Walt Disney World in 2021.

Space 220 Restaurant (EPCOT)

In Space, no one can see you dine? This restaurant has more twists and turns than a runaway ride on Space Mountain. Will it open in 2021? I hope so. The concept sounds fantastic as you dine in space outer space with views of the cosmos.

Crêperie (France Pavilion, EPCOT)

We’re pretty sure that we’l be seeing this one soon, and we’re excited about it!

Offering both table service and items to-go, the crêperie’s menu is designed by celebrity chef Jérôme Bocuse, of Monsieur Paul fame. We’ve said many times that EPCOT offers guests some of the best dining options in all of Walt Disney World, and this new addition makes it even better!

Woody’s Roundup Rodeo (Toy Story Land, Disney’s Hollywood Studios)

One thing that really surprised me with the opening of Toy Story Land was how small of a dining place Woody’s Lunchbox is. Don’t get me wrong, I love the grilled cheese there, and the totchos are a favorite of many on the TouringPlans taste team. It just seemed like there was something lacking. Having this restaurant open would be a great addition to a land that could use just a little bit more.

Beatrix (Disney Springs)

I think once we all start trying to ease back into normal life, we’re going to see a renewed focus on healthy habits as we try and shed our own uh…COVID 19? Beatrix will be a great addition to Disney Springs for its health-conscious focus and a menu that sounds fantastic.

Cirque du Soliel: Disney Drawn to Life (Disney Springs)

So many artists and performers have had a rough time during the pandemic. With Drawn to Life almost ready for its full debut and then shuttered before it could officially launch, I have to admit that I’m nervous about the future of this show. I’m hopeful that it is still waiting in the wings for its big debut and that we’ll all get to enjoy an amazing show at some point in 2021.

Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure (France Pavilion, EPCOT)

Anyone else think we’ll find out an opening date for this attraction as part of New Year’s festivities on ABC? Just me? We know this ride is super close to its debut, and it looks like enough fun that we’re okay waiting for a little while longer.

Harmonious (EPCOT)

One good thing to come out of the delay is that Disney seems to have ditched the capital “US” in the name. I personally think it looks much better without. We’ve started to see the large barges moving into World Showcase lagoon, so a debut of this show should come very soon. (It truly is a case of irony that EPCOT Forever was probably one of the shortest-lived nighttime shows at Walt Disney World . . . )

DuckTales — World Showcase Adventure (EPCOT)

I have to wonder if this project will see the light of day, with DuckTales headed to the end of its series and nothing more mentioned about this project. Truth told, I don’t see why Disney wouldn’t have launched it even during the pandemic if it was ready to go. It is a beautifully social distancing activity, and wouldn’t be so popular that it would draw large crowds to the park on its own. Has this adventure stopped before it started?

Are you excited for any of these projects for 2021? Let us know in the comments.

The post What We’re (Still) Looking Forward to in 2021 at Walt Disney World appeared first on TouringPlans.com Blog.

From our friends at touringplans.com

Filed Under: Walt Disney World (FL), 2021

EPCOT’s average posted wait times today are high enough to rank as the second highest of the past year.  Take that with a grain of salt, because the actual wait times were about a third lower than the posted waits, and that’s a pretty big gap.  We counted 489 of 500 guests (98%) in EPCOT wearing masks according to Disney’s guidelines.  And we got 139 actual wait times from Liners today. Let’s do the numbers!

Magic Kingdom Wait Times

Here’s something interesting: We received 5 actual wait times today at Peter Pan’s Flight, and the actual wait averaged 133% of the posted wait time.  Pan’s average posted wait time today was 49 minutes. Its 7-day average is 47 minutes, so today ranks #2 for this week. Its 30-day average is 41 minutes, so today ranks #3 for the past month. Its 365-day average is 46 minutes, so today ranks #77 for the past year.

Animal Kingdom Wait Times

Expedition Everest had an average wait time today of 61 minutes. Its 7-day average is 33 minutes, so today ranks #1 for this week. Its 30-day average is 33 minutes, so today ranks #1 for the past month. Its 365-day average is 41 minutes, so today ranks #52 for the past year. We received 7 actual wait times today, and the actual wait averaged 56% of the posted wait time.

Hollywood Studios Wait Times

Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run had an average wait time today of 67 minutes. Its 7-day average is 67 minutes, so today ranks #4 for this week. Its 30-day average is 63 minutes, so today ranks #10 for the past month. Its 365-day average is 60 minutes, so today ranks #63 for the past year. We received 8 actual wait times today, and the actual wait averaged 91% of the posted wait time.

Rise of the Resistance had a solid day of operations, calling boarding groups starting at 8:30 this morning and running almost uninterrupted until now.  As I’m writing this, Rise was approaching boarding group 150, and has a good chance to get to 180 before closing.

EPCOT Wait Times

Soarin’ had an average wait time today of 74 minutes. Its 7-day average is 54 minutes, so today ranks #2 for this week. Its 30-day average is 45 minutes, so today ranks #2 for the past month. Its 365-day average is 37 minutes, so today ranks #11 for the past year. We received 4 actual wait times today, and the actual wait averaged 66% of the posted wait time.

The post EPCOT Waits #2 of the Year – Disney World Wait Times for Wednesday, December 30, 2020 appeared first on TouringPlans.com Blog.

From our friends at touringplans.com

Filed Under: Walt Disney World (FL), wait times

Here at TouringPlans, we love our readers — and a lot of you love hearing all about us, too. This year, due to pandemic life, we had the rare opportunity to write up some posts to give glimpses into some of the unique people here at TouringPlans. We had a blast running the “What I Love…” series, with posts about some of our unique experiences at Walt Disney World, Disneyland, and beyond. Derek and others got to share some of their purchases from the Outlet stores over the years. But there were three glimpses into the minds of some of our TouringPlans writers that really stuck out.

Erin’s Home Office

Erin mentioned once that she had a pretty sizable Vinylmation collection. I didn’t have any idea how sizable until she took some photos to share of her workspace. If that doesn’t shout Disney spirit, I don’t know what does! It was a lot of fun to get a tour of her home office — even virtually.

Guy’s Home Office

Not to be outdone, Guy provided the west coast experience with a tour of all the Disney memorabilia in his home office. It is so interesting to me to see what unique things people collect, and many other readers enjoyed this glimpse into the collection of a major Disney fan.

Erin’s Signature Dish

From where I sit at my desk, I can see no less than a dozen Disney cookbooks. Anyone who loves Disney and loves to cook probably has the same sort of ever-growing collection. Sometimes a recipe just “clicks” and that becomes the one that everyone wants you to make. This year, Erin shared her story about how she became the ultimate candy sushi-preparing mom in her area. Such a fun story about a very fun treat!

We were so grateful to be able to share a variety of personal stories this year as we all came together to work our way through what may be the most challenging year for so many people. Thanks for coming along for the ride, and we’re happy to keep sharing stories into 2021 and beyond!

The post Our 3 Favorite “Life in TouringPlans” Stories of 2020 appeared first on TouringPlans.com Blog.

From our friends at touringplans.com

Filed Under: Just For Fun, just for fun

At TouringPlans we eat — a lot. Snacks, quick service, and table service meals are all part of our theme park experience to make sure we have the most up-to-date information on our Lines 2.0 app and so we can make the best recommendations. Sometimes we have amazing meals, and other times. . . well, we don’t sugar coat it when a meal isn’t one we’d recommend.

It’s hard to narrow down the best meals that we have in any given year, but these are meals that really surprised us by being quite good during 2020. Although they may not be the highest-rated restaurants on property, they stood out in our minds and made our personal top 3 list for 2020.

Buttermilk Fried Chicken, Grand Floridian Cafe, Grand Floridian Resort

This dish was so good that Len actually went back a second time within the week just to order it again! A hearty portion size and delicious flavor made this a winner winner chicken dinner.

Your first thought is probably “Oh, they brought Len half a fried turkey. Interesting.”  It was not, dear reader, a turkey, despite almost reaching both sides of a 12″ dinner plate.  It was the largest chicken breast I’ve ever seen.  The photo above doesn’t even do it justice, because it stood at least 3″ high off the plate.  My first two questions to the server were “Is that a chicken?” and “How did you catch it?”

Saganaki on Fire (and more) at Wine Bar George, Disney Springs

Even if you’re not really interested in wine, the food at Wine Bar George makes it worth a visit. And how can you go wrong with deliciously gooey cheese ON FIRE.

Clearly if you want to make a statement during your meal this is the way to do it. A squeeze of lemon at the end of this flaming cheese being delivered to your table is part of the dramatic presentation, but it also brightens the dish. Although it is a must to enjoy while it is still hot, our team actually found it to be more delicious once it had cooled.

Everything that we tried there was simply delicious and we’re already lining up to see who can do the next review!

Lobster and Grits, Le Cellier Festival of the Arts Brunch, Canada Pavilion, EPCOT

No word yet on whether the special brunch at Le Cellier will return for this year’s Taste of EPCOT Festival of the Arts, but we’d be so happy if it did–or if this dish happened to appear on the menu at any time at all!

I was making some pretty embarrassing (for Chef, not me) sounds and faces while enjoying this dish and was surprised when Chef Tony Marotta stopped by our table. Maybe it was because we were at the first seating of his new brunch or maybe it was to ask me to stop yelling about the lobster. Either way, he was kind enough to explain that the lobster was one of his favorites and is an entrée he took great care in thinking through.

I can only picture some sort of When Harry Met Sally moment going on regarding this lobster. I have no doubt that it was that good. Could it return in the future? Here’s hoping!

If you’ve been to Disney in 2020, have you had any meals that you found outstanding? Let us know what your favorites were in the comments.

The post Top 3 Table Service Meals of 2020 appeared first on TouringPlans.com Blog.

From our friends at touringplans.com

Filed Under: Dining, Walt Disney World (FL), table service