Florida

News

Themed Weekends Planned For 2012 Flower and Garden Festival

Even though January isn't even half over yet, plans are in full swing for this year's upcoming International Flower and Garden Festival at Epcot. Concerts, displays and special activities are all on tap for the festival, and Disney has planned some themed weekends to take place during the event. Here are those weekends' dates and highlights:

  • March 23 - 25, 2012: Art in the Garden Weekend. This weekend promises to combine nature and art, including "plein air" artists and their works. Check it out at the World Showcase.

Disney VoluntEARS Donate Record Number of Toys

The Disney VoluntEARS have been hard at work collecting toys at WDW's toy drive and recently made a record-setting donation to U.S. Marine Corps Reserve's Central Florida Toys for Tots. Some 30,000 toys, gathered during this year's Toys for Tots toy drive, were delivered by cast members and Mickey himself recently.

Staff at the organization's headquarters say this is the largest donation of toys to date and will go to help some 20,000 children in the Florida counties of Seminole and Orange have a brighter holiday season.

One Day Benefit Sale Coming to Downtown Disney in November

Forget Black Friday! Looks like Downtown Disney is the place to be November 5 as it will be the site of The Benefit Sale. This one-day-only shopping event will offer some great deals to shoppers as well as benefit the Heart of Florida United Way.

Downtown Disney merchants that are participating in the Saturday sale include the World of Disney(r) Store, Tren-D, Team Mickey, Disney Days of Christmas, Once Upon A Toy, Disney Pin Traders, Mickey's Pantry, and Marketplace Fun Finds.

Celebration A Top 10 Prettiest Neighborhood

Celebration, Florida, has been named to Forbes' Top 10 Prettiest Neighborhood List.

The Disney-planned and built community exudes a "small-town America feel," according to Forbes, thanks in part to its parks, places of worship, restaurants and shops. Forbes goes on to say that Celebration, while technically a town, is a throwback "to a time and place that may or may not have existed, but through force of will and careful planning, does now."

The Florida Project Takes Place at Epcot This Weekend

Epcot will be the place for many dedicated pin traders this weekend as it is set to host the Disney Trade Celebration. This year's event, called the Florida Project, starts today and focuses on giving pin and Vinylmation enthusiasts opportunities to swap pins, participate in silent auctions and meet Disney pin artist and developers.

Today and Saturday are focused on pin trading from 9:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Guests can expect a wide variety of pins, some featuring a retro or nostalgic feel as WDW gears up to celebrate its 40th anniversary.

$1 Million in Fradulent Disney Tickets Confiscated

Discount park tickets are a big business around Orlando, and one is often left wondering how legit some of those tickets are. We now know that at least some of those tickets are fradulent, thanks to a recent sting conducted along U.S. Highway 192 in Kissimmee, Florida.

Some 3,617 tickets for Disney World, Universal Studios and Sea World were confiscated during the sting. The estimated cost? Over $1 million.

Jiko Named One of the Nation's Best Wine Restaurants

Congratulations are in order to Jiko - The Cooking Place for making Wine Enthusiast magazine's top 100 list of best wine and fine dining restaurants in the United States.

The Animal Kingdom Lodge's African-inspired restaurant boasts an impressive, award-winning wine list that features a large collection of South African vintage wines.

A few more Florida restaurants made the list as well, including Prime One Twelve in South Beach, Hakkasan at the Fontainebleau Miami Beach, Bern's Steak House in Tampa, Baires Grill in South Beach and Angle Restaurant at The Ritz-Carlton in Palm Beach.

Disney Executive Al Weiss To Retire

Al Weiss, the president of worldwide operations for Walt Disney Parks and Resorts, will be retiring from that role immediately after thirty-nine years of service. The decision was annouced through a letter distributed to Disney employees yesterday afternoon.

Weiss was eigtheen years old when he began his career with Disney as a worker in the Magic Kingdom. Over the years, he's held more than twenty jobs with the company including finance manager and vice president of resort operations support. He also served as president of Disney world from 1994 - 2005.

Disney Contributes Over $600,000 to VoluntEARS' Charities

They consistently provide outstanding customer service in and around the parks, and some Disney cast members take these skills into the central Florida community by being a Disney VoluntEAR. Turns out, this group of dedicated Disney employees volunteered some 228,000 hours of their time to various charities last year. Now, in addition to the hours of service, the Walt Disney Company is also contributing $686,950 to nearly 400 charities.

Victoria & Albert's Receives AAA 5-Diamond Award

Victoria & Albert's, that ultra-posh restaurant at Disney's Grand Floridian Resort, has been given the 5-Diamond Award, the highest AAA rating honor offered for restaurants.

The AAA 5-Diamond Award is a pretty high honor, indeed. Out of some 60,000 restaurants and lodging options reviewed nationwide, Victoria & Albert's is one of only three Florida restaurants with the rating. It also joins ranks with fifty-five North American restaurants to receive the award this year.

Forum Posts

Articles

Guest Review: Braves Spring Training At ESPN Wide World Of Sports

I gotta admit: sports confuse me. I've tried since I was little to learn the rules of football, baseball, tennis...nothing seems to stick. So when my friend invited me to see an Atlanta Braves Spring Training Game at Disney, I was a little nervous.

I love my friend, but would I love this game? I love Disney, so would seeing it at the ESPN Wide World of Sports make it better? What if I ask too many questions in the stands and she gets annoyed? But most importantly: does this place sell Dole Whips?

A Few Drinks At Jock Lindsey's Hangar Bar

My 22 year old son and I have a running "argument" over which one of us drank more on our last Disney trip. He's sure it was him, but I think he just didn't want to have to tell his friends that is was totally his Mom. Regardless of who downed more delicious Disney cocktails on the trip - we started it all off with rounds at the fantastically fun Indiana Jones themed location at Disney Springs - Jock Lindey's Hangar Bar.

Stop In For Cocktails at Art Smith’s Shine Bar

When the days are warm and lazy nothing is quite as nice as settling in on the covered porch to admire the springs and enjoy a cocktail at Art Smith's Shine Bar. You'll find this welcoming spot tucked off to the side of Homecoming Florida Kitchen just waiting for you to drop in and stay a spell. Keep reading to learn about one of my favorite new spots for cocktail Friday!

A Grown-ups Guide For Smooth Winter Travel

If you're a regular reader of Walt Disney World for Grown-ups you know that we think the key to a successful Disney trip is a little pre-planning. With holiday trips looming close I thought it would be a good time for folks to brush up on Travel Tips for Winter Weather and a Busy Holiday Season. Make sure that your family is prepared for winter travel by visiting the links embedded in this page.

Art Smith’s Hamilton County Chocolate Pecan Pie

Is there anything more quintessentially southern than a pecan pie? This 19th century variant of classic chess pie is a special holiday favorite where pecan trees grow native. The turn of the millennium shook things up with pecan pie lovers creating several popular variants, such as chocolate and bourbon inspired pies. With the so many new restaurants that opened in Disney Springs recently, it's no surprise that pecan pie is showing up on menus.

Florida Sunshine In A Cup At Dockside Margaritas

Welcome back for more Friday cocktails! Man - we sure need it this week don't we? How many of you spent time this week wishing you could just run away to live in Walt Disney World? I know I did, and if I lived in Walt Disney World I know I'd spend a fair amount of time sipping cocktails in the sun. This week we're checking out some liquid Florida sunshine from Dockside Margaritas in the Marketplace at Disney Springs.

Paying Homage To The Filmmakers at Disney’s Hollywood Studios

Since the earliest days of film, makers have been driven to believe that fantasies can come true and that we can create our own reality. The legendary movie studios that mad their home in Hollywood, California were full of such dreamers, dedicated filmmakers who lived to share their visions with the world. Walt Disney himself once said that "Movies are a medium of expression like a symphony orchestra, or a painter's brush or canvas." Disney's Hollywood Studios pays homage to those artists who capture their glittering dreams by technological magic.

Fun Facts About Disney’s Hollywood Studios

Originally designed to be a "half day" Park, Disney's Hollywood Studios has had its bumps and bruises since it's start in the mid 1980s, but that doesn't mean that fans don't still love it. The 135-acre park is currently undergoing yet another transformation with the highly anticipated additions of Star Wars Land and Toy Story Land under construction. We thought it was about time to share some fun facts about Disney's Hollywood Studios.

What’s New To Eat At The 2016 Epcot International Food and Wine Festival

The countdown continues with just 6 more days until the opening of the 21st Annual Epcot International Food and Wine Festival. Guests will be able to find plenty of the most popular dishes from past Festivals at 30 Global Marketplace Booths. Being served up along side the tried and true will be 32 new marketplace dishes and 49 new cocktails, beers, wines, and ciders!