Thanks for being funny and helpful in the comments section. Now watch as this post gets zero comments.
According to WDWMAGIC, The Land Pavilion and Character Spot are going to be open until 10pm during the Test Track refurbishment, while the rest of the Park closes at 9pm as usual. You may also remember that most of Future World closes at 7pm. Ordinarily, Circle of Life, Living with the Land, Ellen’s Energy Adventure, Journey into Imagination with Figment, and Captain EO close at 7pm. It doesn’t sound like those attractions will remain open late. I’ve been trying to obtain confirmation on exactly how this is going to work, but haven’t been able to. Not that this website isn’t well connected, but “literally” no one seems to know. Will Soarin’ issue FASTPASSes for 9pm – 10pm? Will Circle of Life be running? Will the Monorail run until 11pm? I’ll try to check on things on Monday, but it’s a little late for me to be out. Mother likes me in bed by 9pm.
Also according to WDWMAGIC, Disney is going to have an a cappella group performing at Test Track. On one hand, it’s nice that they’re doing something. On the other hand, it’s tragic (hilarious?) that people are going to be absolutely stoked about riding Test Track, only to find that an instrumentless singing group is in its place. Remember, the Test Track refurbishment isn’t listed on DisneyWorld.com as of today and the refurbishment begins Monday. If you don’t follow “Disney planning sites,” you would likely have no idea that Test Track is going to be down until you arrived at the attraction. Then imagine plodding over to Soarin’ only to find waits are 100+ minutes and FASTPASSes are gone. It’s an ugly situation. While I’m not ordinarily of the mind set that one closed attraction is a “deal breaker” or will “ruin your vacation,” there’s no debating that a lot of people have Test Track on their “must ride” or “top five favorites” list. The refurbishment is necessary and should come to pass, but the handling of it and lack of communication from the Walt Disney Company are suspect. There’s absolutely no reason why Test Track isn’t listed on the refurbishment schedule. The question may be when it’s reopening, but Disney has certainly put up refurbishments and then extended them afterwards. Dumbo over the last couple of months is a good example.
Continuing from Part 1 and Part 2 of what is apparently an extensive look at Norway.
Norway is behind us. “Literally” as they say. Continuing up through Germany, it’s nice to see people interested in the train set.
This kiosk should disappear in about two weeks when Tutto Italia reopens. It hasn’t been terribly popular, but there’s always a line around peak meal times.
$9.00 for a 16 ounce Moretti seems pretty crazy for a beer that ordinarily runs $7-$8 for a six pack in stores.
I prefer the La Rossa dopplebock, which is 7.2% alcohol versus the 4.6% in the usual Birra Moretti Euro Pale Lager. La Rossa is available at Via Napoli and I would assume Tutto Italia when it reopens. In either case, Birra Moretti is really just a small part of the Heineken conglomerate and nothing particularly special.
Headed up through Italy where it isn’t terribly crowded. Just as a reminder, it’s 5:35pm this past Tuesday.
Tutto Italia is supposed to reopen on April 28th.
And through the United States Pavilion.
Stopping at the Fife & Drum Tavern in the United States Pavilion.
The current menu.
Nothing says “The American Dream” like two flavors of Fanta Icee mixed with vanilla soft serve. DisneyFoodBlog.com turned me onto this one. It’s amazing and some of the best $4.00 I’ve spent at Walt Disney World. Icee + ice cream = genius. If you’re looking for something cold and refreshing around the United States, this is definitely on your short list. Plus it comes with one of those straws with the little spoon on one end. Love it!
Walking over to Japan. We should be looking at even lower crowds as we progress through the rest of April. I’m happy to see Easter behind us and would have happily fast forwarded through the past two weeks if anyone would ever trust me with the remote control.
The Kabuki Cafe in the Japan Pavilion is now offering the hot food items that were originally on the menu, but never actually offered.
Said items.
Sushi items.
We’ll give it a whirl next time.
The current Rose & Crown menus:
DisneyFoodBlog has an overview of the changes. I need to get back over there to try it again. You may remember my lousy experience last September.
I’m running back out to Epcot this evening and we should see an update to the May operating schedule and release of the November operating schedule on or around April 20th, though it could come as soon as Monday the 16th.
Have a good weekend!
Comment #1.Thanks Josh, great as usual. 🙂
Well, you know I’m going to comment on just about every blog entry. So here I am again. (Hey, I’m a housewife…what else am I going to do with my time?)
Answer this for me…after you made a mess with your icee on that table…did you wipe it up or no? No lying.
I would have to lie about that.
So you left a mess?!? You can’t see me…but I’m shaking my head in disappointment.
http://profile.ak.fbcdn.net/hprofile-ak-ash2/41787_214277156210_9019_n.jpg
Haha! Awesome.
What I meant to say is I have staff that cleans up after me. Can’t remember the last time I actually had to hold a napkin myself!
One more beer to add to the “need to try” list. I love any kind of dark beer.
Who cares about the mess, I’m just proud that you’re consuming food products at a table instead of on top of a trash can.
Honestly, if not for this blog I don’t know how I’d make it to my next trip (168 days away)! It’s like my crack for the day…. LOL Thanks Josh.
Josh, thanks for the walkabout. Really enjoyed your details about Norway from the previous installments. The pillaging and conquering that were mentioned in Part 1 seemed like good times!
So Tuesday (2 days after Easter) wasn’t very crowded, it seems. Is that the norm? I ask only because once DD hits school age, I’d love to take her during spring break if it isn’t so crowded the week after Easter. Where we are, spring break is usually the week after Easter, not the week before.
I don’t know Desh, I miss the trash can meals/beverages. I think they really classed this place up!
Looking forward to reports from Epcot next week and what the Soarin FP situation is without Test Track open. The a cappella group is a bit of a head scratcher…
Do you expect many changes to the first week of May? Since they already have Fantasmic and MSEP every night, I’m thinking no.
I love those spoon-ended straws meant for Icees/Slurpees. They don’t have them at my local theater any more so I bring my own (and wash it after every use).
@MrsNick
You are SO LUCKY your kid’s spring break is after Easter. Less crowded in the theme parks for sure.
@Josh
Uh oh. It appears the Sunday Roast dinner is not on Rose & Crown’s menu any more? That was the best entree they had (well, the only one I’ve had, twice) with extra gravy upon request. Or au jus, but to Hubby it was gravy. If it’s gone there’s no need for us to eat there any more unless we want to try the fish’n’chips.
^ Actually, on another website it has the menu from last November and at that time it still had the Sunday Roast on R&C’s menu – but the picture you took….is that menu brand new since then? I guess I’ll just check for current menus before we make any ADRs next time we go.
Can we look forward to you being our On-the-scene reporter on Monday for a report on the situation at Epcot? For some reason which I believe is entirely attributable to your photographing Monorail times at the TTC, I am particularly interested in the signage as you enter the park and head toward TT. Will they be making guests aware of the closing right away or not until they get to the actual attraction (within hearing range)? Note: I will next be in the World in November and my curiosity with signage regarding an attraction closing in mid-April is somewhat disturbing. Thank you for feeding my addiction.
Literally another great post
Ooooooh, I like the addition of the scallops to the Rose & Crown. Maybe now I can actually try eating there since there now something on the menu my 11 year old will eat (yeah, I’ve got weird kids). I know you’re not a fan of the Scotch Eggs dish but I’d love to try it.
Have a good time tonight,Josh. From your recent tweets sounds like it is going to be interesting, hmm…
I literally want sushi now.
The lunch and dinner menus list “Seaonal Soup.” Literally.
That would be at Rose and Crown.
Thanks for the Kidcot post, maybe that was in Part II? Anyway, I appreciate it and will look forward to the other countries!
Kind of bummed that the open-face chicken sandwich isn’t available at Rose & Crown any longer, but in no way will that deter my evening martini fix!
I would never trust you with the remote!
Thanks for the WDWmagic updates. Now that’s one less site I’ll have to surf 🙂
p.s you’re my favorite
We ate at the Rose & Crown on Monday night. It was 2 hours of our lives that we will never be able to get back. It took over an hour to get our entrees and while the plates were hot, the majority of the food on the plates were not. I have eaten there a few different times over the years and have always enjoyed it. Out of 6 days at the parks it was the worst dining experience we had! But they “graciously” comped drinks and desserts. None of which we wanted after already sitting there for two hours!
Thanks for the great post, and you have a great weekend too! Without the frequent little tastes of WDW I am able to get here, I would die in anticipation of my trip in 48 days. Literally, as they say.
Are you planning to do a review of Tutto Italia when it reopens? I have an ADR for June and have never eaten there before.
I bet the American Dream would be fantastic with a little bit of vodka
Do restaurants ever do “soft openings?” I’d love to try Tutto italia, but our last opportunity would be the 23rd.
Can you stake out Test Track next week and get some reactions of clueless people as they approach and realize it’s closed? I know it’s not very nice of me, but I would love a good “guest losing their s(&t in the park” story. Watch out, Guest Relations….I hope they have authority to give out Grand Floridian upgrades to make up for this!
@Jill, I’m a housewife too…and I do have better things to do with my time, I just choose not to do them ;). Without a boss looking over my shoulder (or a paycheck) I feel I’m perfectly justified in spending as much time as I want to reading and commenting on Josh’s updates. In fact, I was thinking of going back to work but this website ended all that nonsense :).
@samantha lol haha it’s ok, things that are just a tad mean are FUNNY
@Trudy – Shoutout from a fellow Trudie!
Josh, I am putting the American Dream on my list of treats for my next trip – it looks delicious!
@Samantha – Yep…same story here. I always have a ‘to do’ list a mile long. I just rarely get around to crossing anything off. 🙂
I wonder if Josh makes that much of a mess on top of the trash cans as he did on that table.
Can you use your remote and fast forward one month please? I’m ready to be there 3 years is way too long to wait between trips.
I hope your lousy experience at the Rose and Crown were due to the food and not the company…
Maybe it’s A Capella group for the safety of the performers. Wouldn’t want rabid outraged people to get mad and retaliate with the performers instruments.
It would of been better if they set up a new hands on acitivity to take care of TT being down. Table flipping.
$8.99 for a Scotch Egg LOL.
Even at the most Gastropub of pubs you wouldn’t pay more than £3 for one and that would have to be handmade on the thighs of angels or something. Its a food item you would normally find at a motorway service station.
“it’s nice to see people interested in the train set.”… but that is also a big dissapointment. 1 operating train for the entire track is as disheartening as walking up to TT cluelessly next week. I prep’d my team well in advanced to avoid any meltdowns.
We’re heading off to Epcot soon for lunch at Les Chefs de France, which we’ve never eaten at and I’m kind of nervous about, reviews seem polarizing. But that American Dream looks AWESOME and should be just the right thing to cap off a sunny afternoon, especially if lunch disappoints!
As someone who is arriving on Tuesday, I’m very glad that we already know about the TT closing (although I have 2 very disappointed boys). It definitely changes our touring plan a bit, but given the “secrecy”…please be sure to post an actual confirmation of closing on Monday, okay? I don’t have faith in the sigange being right, and we need to know which way to run (or if switching up my days and going to Epcot earlier could actually get us on TT)!
The most interesting things on the Rose and Crown menu are the names of the menu items. “I’ll take Mary and the Lads followed by some Bangers and Mash with a side of Bubble and Squeak.” Seriously, I morph into a 12 year old boy when I read the menu.
Walked back to Via Napoli and noticed they have a walk up window that you can order pizza slices from. Had no idea that was there until today
As I understand it, the a Capella will be throwing out handfuls of free fastpasses for the vengeful mob congregated around Test Track. The only catch: the passes will be for Habit Heroes.
Habit Heroes, which is also closed, lol. I’m never going to Epcot when TT is closed…it’s our fave ride there.
@Jill and Samantha, add me to the list of stay-at-home moms/housewives (or domestic engineers/groundskeepers? That’s what I call my unpaid job) who spend a lot of time on the computer during the day, hehe. Not just on this site.
I love reading these updates, and we planned our strategies based on Josh’s advice and were very satisfied. I do have a question, though. It looks like Epcot wasn’t as busy on April 10, a not recommended day, as it was on April 9, a recommended day. Seems curious.
And darn it, we missed the Mickey shaped pretzels. Couldn’t remember where to find them. Should we head back to get them? I think my daughter would say yes, she was very disappointed. Spent Easter week there, and had a great time, nonetheless. Thanks again, Josh, for all of the great information.