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Magic Kingdom Restaurant Changes I Would Like to See

April 28, 2016April 28, 2016 dis/dom Leave a comment

While the Magic Kingdom has some nice table service restaurants, and the recent editions have been on the right track. Be Our Guest was a home run while Skipper Canteen had the best food in the park by far, many found the food too adventuresome so it never because super popular, so the food is about to be changed. Some of the restaurants in the parks need an update, and there still needs to be a few more additions to the park. With the number of people on the Disney Dining plans in the parks now, most days it is nearly impossible to even find a time to eat any of the Magic Kingdom restaurants unless you plan well in advance. A few more restaurants would really help.

Changes to the Magic Kingdom Restaurants I would like to see

Personally, I think all Disney restaurants could use a small change or two, but the following four in the Magic Kingdom need a bit of a reboot:

Crystal Palace – While Winnie the Pooh is great and all, many kids have no idea who he is. The Crystal Palace building is down right beautiful, but I think it could be better used with a character change. Disney has not done a great job using the Pixar characters in restaurants. Crystal Palace would be a fantastic location for a Toy Story character meal. Imagine seeing Woody, Buzz or Rex walking around the Crystal Palace, it would be impossible to get a table.
Jungle Navigation Co. Ltd. Skipper Canteen – Uggh, where to start. This was a fantastic idea with unique, wonderful food. Disney handicapped it from the beginning, making it impossible to get dining reservations in advance, and then wondered why it wasn’t full like the other restaurants. While the food is unique, it never had a chance to gain a following. With the upcoming food change, it will be a standard theme park restaurant with mediocre food and corny jokes. Stick with the menu Disney, give it a chance.
Liberty Tree Tavern – Liberty Tree has lost it’s way. Everyone associated the Liberty Tree Tavern with characters. Did you know characters were removed from Liberty Tree Tavern in 2008? Let’s remodel the restaurant so the characters can get around, stick with the family style menu, and bring back revolutionary Goofy and friends.
Tony’s Town Square Restaurant – Some people love eating at Tony’s, most would disagree. Easily the worst food available at any Disney restaurant. Turn over the kitchen to the people who run Tutto Italia and Via Napoli in Epcot, update the decor and you will have yourself a fantastic, winning restaurant.

Additions to the Magic Kingdom Restaurants I would like to see

I think you could go crazy with additions, but let’s be honest, it would be stupid to add 15 new restaurants in the Magic Kingdom, there just isn’t the demand. I will focus on two that I think need to be added that would be a huge hit.

Pirates of the Caribbean character meal – There isn’t one “boy” themed character meal in all of Disney. Girls have princesses, boys have nothing. Think about a restaurants built adjacent to the Pirates of the Caribbean, completely pirate themed! Include a ride on the Pirates of the Caribbean immediately after, some pirates including Jack Sparrow walking around. It would be a hit! The other option here would be to make this a signature style restaurant, similar to Blue Bayou in Disneyland, and put the boy themed character meal in Tomorrowland.
Tomorrowland Restaurant – There isn’t one table service restaurant in Tomorrowland, or one even close. There are so many themed options you could go with in Tomorrowland. This could be similar to Be Our Guest where you offer a nice quick-service meal for breakfast and lunch and table service for dinner. No characters needed. Meals can be delivered by drones, it would be awesome.

What changes or additions would you like to see to the restaurants in the Magic Kingdom?

Benefits of Using a Disney VISA to Book Disney Free Dining

April 27, 2016April 27, 2016 dis/dom Leave a comment

Earlier this week, Walt Disney World released their long awaited Disney Free Dining discount to the world for 2016. Results have been mixed. Availability is down right awful for most dates, though you can still find value and moderate resorts for some dates in early September and December, but hurry, as they are nearly gone. However, if you happen to have a Disney VISA card, did you know there is a completely different Free Dining offer available to you?

darth vader disney visa

Why you should use your Disney VISA to book Disney Free Dining

Please note, it involves more than just using your Disney VISA to book the reservation. You have to enter a special place on the Disney World website or have to know the discount code when calling Disney World. Consider using Mouseketrips, our agents will check both offers for you to make sure you get the best deal, and it won’t cost you a penny more than booking directly with Disney, many times even less as we can find better deals for you.

Additional Dates – The Disney VISA Free Dining offer includes more dates than the public offer. While dates are similar, there are an additional 9 nights added on the beginning that currently have fantastic availability. Check in dates are August 14 – October 1, November 15 – November 21, November 26 – November 28, and December 10 – December 21, 2016.
6 Months Interest Free – By using your Disney VISA on any Disney vacation, the charges fall into a special category on your credit card statement, and you get 6 months interest free and both your deposit and final payment on the trip.
Better Availability – While this may not help you if you are searching for a value hotel at the end of September, availability with the Disney VISA discount is much better at many deluxe hotels. For many dates, I am able to find more resort and more room options, especially at deluxe hotels. I have yet to find one case where the standard Free Dining Discount showed better availability than the Disney VISA offer.

In addition, whether you booked with the Disney VISA free dining or not, make sure you catch these Disney VISA perks in the parks:

Disney VISA Lounge in Epcot – During the Food and Wine Festival in Epcot, Chase provides a lounge that is only accessible to Disney VISA cardholders, located in the American Pavilion. Show your card and you are in. The lounge features drinks, video games and places to sit and relax in an air conditioned area. Oh, and there are free phone charging station too.
Disney VISA character Meet N Greet – Over in Innoventions West in Epcot, there is a private character Meet N Greet only for Disney VISA cardholders. The lines are usually really short. Only open from 1 – 7 PM though, so don’t miss it.
Disney VISA Star Wars Meet N Greet – Located in the Star Wars Launch Bay area of Disney’s Hollywood Studios, there is a special Disney VISA Star Wars Meet N Greet, open from 11 AM to 4 PM Daily.
Disney Merchandise and Dining Discounts – Save 10% at most in-park merchandise locations if you spend $50 or more, plus you can save 10% at many dining locations inside and outside the parks. Oh, you can also save on Disney tours too!

If you have a Disney VISA, there isn’t any reason to book your reservation with the standard discount, unless you already have, no need to go changing now. If you are still looking, and have a Disney VISA, make sure you are checking availability with the Disney VISA deal.

2016 Disney Free Dining Predictions – A Follow Up

April 25, 2016April 25, 2016 dis/dom Leave a comment

A few weeks ago, I wrote an article with predictions about the hopefully upcoming 2016 Disney Free Dining Discount: 2016 Disney Free Dining – My Predictions

Since the 2016 Disney Free Dining discount was released this morning, I felt it was time to follow up on my predictions and see how I did.

Did I expect to see Disney Free Dining for 2016?

Original Prediction: Yes, I expected to see it, just like we have seen it for the last 10+ years.

Actual Results: Yes, 2016 Disney Free Dining has been released.

This was a fairly easy one, but one year, I do expect Disney to completely abandoned Free Dining. 2016 wasn’t the year though, but 2017 may be.

When do you expect to see 2016 Disney Free Dining Released?

Original Prediction: May 2, 2016

Actual Results: Today, April 25, 2016

I was a week off. I got the Monday part right, but I was expecting Disney to wait a bit longer until early May.

Available Free Dining Travel Dates

Original Prediction: August 26 – September 30, 2016

Actual Travel Dates: August 23 – October 1, November 15 – 21, November 26 – 28 and December 10 – 21, 2016

I did not expect to see Fall dates at all this year, and obviously, I was wrong. However, there is very little availability for any of the Fall dates, even less than last year. Disney made the dates available, but didn’t make very many rooms available. On the big set of dates in September, Disney added a few days at the beginning, and an extra day at the end, I was close, but not quite.

Disney Resorts Included and Excluded from 2016 Disney Free Dining

Original Prediction: I predicted that the list would be identical to 2016, no French Quarter, Little Mermaid rooms, limited Riverside.

Actual Results: Exactly the same list as 2015, no difference.

I nailed this one, no change at all. Riverside is available for the September dates, but nothing after, and the same resorts that were excluded in 2015 were excluded in 2016.

Requirements changes for 2016 Disney Free Dining

Original Prediction: I predicted that Disney World would extend the stay and ticket requirements to 4 nights and 3 day park passes.

Actual Results: Disney did not extend the requirements, and stuck with a minimum 3 night stay and a minimum 2 day park pass with hopping or water park options added.

I am a bit surprised by this one. I fully expected Disney to force people to stay a little bit longer and spend a little bit more money in order to qualify for Free Dining. Wrong.

Will the 2016 Disney Free Dining Discount change for 2016?

Original Prediction: I predicted that Disney would give away the quick-service dining plan at the value and moderate resorts and the Disney Dining Plan at the Deluxe and Deluxe Villa resorts.

Actual Results: No change at all for 2016, Value resort stays get the quick-service plan, Moderate, Deluxe and Deluxe Villa resorts get the Disney Dining Plan

I was expecting Disney to cut back the discount a little bit by giving away less unless you were to spend the cash and stay in a deluxe resort. Wrong again.

As you can see, I was very pessimistic in my predictions for 2016 Disney Free Dining. The predictions I missed were all changes I expected to see from the Disney Free Dining discount that were more harsh than in 2015 and earlier years. I expected Disney making fewer dates available with more requirements and giving away less. In fact, they barely changed the offer from 2015 other than shifting a few dates around. I would have been better off predicting no changes at all, but where is the fun in that?

Of note, when the discount was released early this morning, availability was basically zero if you were traveling after September 15. Value and Moderate resorts are nearly impossible to find for any dates, and very few Deluxe resorts can be found. While Free Dining was technically released, so few rooms are available that very few people will be able to take advantage. Look for 2016 to be the last year of Free Dining.

Well, Disney Free Dining is out, I hope you all were able to get in on the deal, it really is a fantastic offer. If you haven’t yet, feel free to contact Mouseketrips to check on pricing for your next Disney vacation.