Monthly Archives: May 2015

WDW Resortloop Quick Service – Contempo Café

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RM-Mary-Blair-MuralAs I’ve mentioned before, we love the Contemporary Resort!  We love the expansive, soaring Grand Canyon Concourse with the monorail station inside, the shops, the Mary Blair mural (Hello, Five Legged Goat!), and the restaurants.  Chef Mickey’s has always been our favorite character dining experience.  Right next to Chef Mickey is a counter-service restaurant we’d seen and heard of, but had never tried until our most recent visit to Walt Disney World.  We ate there twice – Lunch on our arrival day and breakfast on our last day of vacation.  We were quite pleased with our meals, so I’m sharing this review with you today…

WDW Resortloop Quick Service – Contempo Café

The first impression of this eatery is that it’s both wide open and, in keeping with the theme of the Contemporary, quite modern.  Orders are placed at automated, self-service kiosks that print out a ticket for you to carry to the checkout counter, along with any extras you select from the self-serve sections for bakery items and bottled beverages (I chose beer at lunch).  After you pay for your meal, you then wait for your ticket number to be called so you can pick up your tray(s) and find a seat.RM-Contempo-Cafe-Interior RM-Contempo-Menu RM-Contempo-Cafe-Self-Serve

The bakery items looked good and the menu offered a broad selection.  The beer selection was a bit sparse, but didn’t keep us from enjoying lunch.  We ate right after we arrived and checked in, so I took care of ordering and getting our table, while Raymond took some things to our room.

For Raymond I ordered the Caprese Flatbread ($8.49) and I chose the expensive Lobster Roll  ($16.29).  Normally, I wouldn’t spend that much on lunch, but I was thinking of you.  So in the interest of culinary research, I sprung for it.  Both orders looked tasty and weren’t heavy, which was important since we had a dinner reservation later at the Kona Café (Polynesian Village Resort).  The food was good!  We were both pleased with our lunches (if not the price) and decided the Contempo was convenient with good choices and needed to be added to our list of quick-service favorites.RM-Contempo-Cafe-Flatbread RM-Contempo-Cafe-Lobster-Roll

On the last day of vacation, we had some time to spare before our Fort Wilderness Back Trail Adventure tour, so we decided to see what the Contempo Café had to offer for breakfast.  We already knew about the bakery counter, but ended up ordering off the menu.  I ordered the Breakfast Burrito ($6.49) and Raymond had the Breakfast Sandwich ($6.49), we also decided to share an order of grits ($3.19).  RM-Contempo-Cafe-Breakfast-Sandwich RM-Contempo-Cafe-Breakfast-Burrito-and-GritsIt’s a thing we do, like a test.  See, living in Louisiana, we eat grits just about every weekend.  I make some pretty amazing garlic cheese grits and they’ve become a staple on our weekend breakfast lineup.  We often try grits in restaurants to see if we can find anyplace that does them well.  I’m happy to report that so far, the Contempo Cafe’s grits are the best we’ve had at Walt Disney World!!!  They’re served with white cheddar cheese, which makes them taste great!  We will most definitely be visiting the Contempo Café again.

See the complete Contempo Café Menu here.

Which Resortloop Quick-Service restaurants do you like best?

Spoiler-Free Avengers Age of Ultron Review

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RM-Avengers-Age-of-Ultron-Ticket-StubI am pretty much the geekiest Marvel-loving-50-year-old-female person I know.  I’ve enjoyed every Marvel movie that’s been produced.  I’ve liked them all on different levels, though.  I did not like all the Iron Man movies the same.  Thor? The second was better than the first to me.  Captain America? – Loved ’em both equally.  I thought the first Avengers movie was about as good as it gets, super-hero-entertainment-wise.  I also loved Guardians of the Galaxy for many of the same reasons.  In fact, I’ve probably watched Guardians more times than all the other Marvel movies combined.  “We ARE Groot!”  The original Avengers movie and Guardians had much in common:  unique, likable characters who learn to work as a team, a great storyline, well placed humor, and excellent villains.

So…Avengers Age of Ultron.  I had high expectations.  Which was probably the problemRM-Avengers-Age-of-Ultron-Poster to begin with.  I wanted my expectations fulfilled:  all the laughs, the fighting, the egotistical world-domination-obsessed villain, the good versus evil excitement…and it was there.  Sort of.  No spoilers, but there were a bunch of holes in the action scenes that begged for a little comic relief (HA! See what I did there?) – or at least some humorous one-liners or funny situations that never materialized.  Some of the action felt forced, as did some of the character interactions – like everyone was going through the motions without any real passion.  Twice during the film I checked my watch, which never happened during the original Avengers.  The elements of a great film were there, but…

I missed Loki.  Not just because he’s easy on the eyes.  I missed him because he brought the fun, the mischief, the charming bad-boy spark.  Yes, Age of Ultron had a good – actually, GREAT villain, but still there were holes.  I can’t tell you precisely how those gaps could have been filled with a good, bad-boy character, but I do know that unexpected laughs and endearing bits of charm were in short supply during Age of Ultron.  There were some gems, but not as many as I wanted there to be.

Summary:  Decent, but slightly convoluted plot, diabolically evil bad guy, strong heroes with lovable human weaknesses and vulnerabilities, excellent new characters.  Lacking:  The sparkle, the humor, the rapier-edged, perfectly placed wit that would have saved much of this film.  There was too much reliance on fancy special effects instead of a strong script.  I wanted more than humdrum, but that’s all there was.  I liked the movie, but left the theater feeling less than wowed.

 

A Visit to the New York World’s Fair – Book From Disney History

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1964 World's Fair PlateTime for another post from our friend, Nick.  Regular visitors to this site already know how I’m connected to the 1964 World’s Fair – I was THERE!  Well…sort of.  See, my parents took my brother and sisters to the fair.  I was…under construction, so to speak, and wouldn’t make my debut until November, 1964.  Know what that means?  Yup, you guessed it – I arrived in the same year as legendary Disney classics like Carousel of Progress and It’s a Small World!  That makes this particular treasure in Nick’s collection especially meaningful to me…enjoy!

A Visit to the New York World’s Fair – Book From Disney History

by: Nick

Fans of all things Disney will no doubt know of the importance of the 1964 New York World’s Fair on the Disney Theme Parks. It is at this fair, for which Disney created 4 shows, that the “Audio-Animatronics” and “People Mover” ride systems were designed and perfected.
The fair opened 50 years ago, April 22nd.

When I saw this children’s book at the Flea Market a couple of years ago, I picked it up, curious to see if any of the Disney pavilions would be included.

.

By Mary Pillsbury, illustrated by Catherine Barnes. Published by Spertus Publishing Company in 1964.

Lovely illustrations. Still trying to find some Disney.

And there it was, a piece of Disney history illustrated in this great book.

Ford Motors presented “Ford’s Magic Skyway” a WED (now Imagineering) designed pavilion. It included an early prototype of what would become the People Mover ride system. The ride moved the audience through scenes featuring life-sized audio-animatronic Dinosaurs and cavemen.

Indeed, the book even refers to this as “a Walt Disney wonderland of Past, Present and Future”.

These same Dinos can still be seen today in Disneyland’s Railroad Primeval World diorama.

But wait, there’s more!

Next came a look at “Small World”!

At the Pepsi Pavilion, “Pepsi Presents Walt Disney’s It’s a Small World – a Salute to UNICEF and the World’s Children” (whew!) was featured. I think we are all familiar with “It’s a Small World”, but if not, it features animated dolls representing the world’s children and animals, and a song by the Sherman Brothers which, if you’ve started to hum it will be stuck in your head all day now.

“In each country they passed, thanks to Walt Disney, they saw animated figures of children dressed in picturesque costumes-and there were even the right animals for each country!”

And how much did I pay for this little “time machine”? $1.00!

Disney-MGM, Disney’s Hollywood Studios…

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DSCN3146May 1st, 1989 was a red letter day for Walt Disney World – Already an actual, working production studio, Disney-MGM Studios, the theme park, opened to the public.  I wasn’t there that day, but managed to make my very first visit to Walt Disney World just a few months later (as a newlywed) in early 1990.  Constantly changing, the studios bears little resemblance today to the park it was originally – and it’s about to change even more.  On this, the Studios’ 26th anniversary, I wanted to take a moment and reflect on some of my favorite things, past and present, about this unique corner of the World.

It was Disney-MGM Studios – then it was Disney’s Hollywood Studios – next it will be ????RM-Gertie

Dino Gertie and Min & Bills Dockside Diner – These fixtures, original to the park, are rumored to be on the chopping block to make room for the future Star Wars Land.  RM-Min&Bill'sIf the predictions are true, and Gertie and Min & Bill’s have to move on, I’ll live over it.  But I’ll miss them every time I visit the park.  I know I will…won’t you? Citizens of Hollywood at Disney's Hollywood Studios

Citizens of Hollywood – I wrote about them in this post, but I really can’t say enough about how much “Streetmosphere” adds to the Studios’ unique charm.  This is absolutely one of those things Disney doesn’t have to do, but we’re so glad they feel the need.  If there ever comes a day when we can no longer find these live, impromptu, amazing character actors roaming the park and treating guests to such a special form of entertainment, that will be a truly dark day for Walt Disney World indeed.  RM-Indiana-Jones

Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular – Yes, I’ve heard that this attraction’s days may be numbered and the last time I saw the show, it left a lot to be desired (the giant “stone” ball was missing from the routine) – but it’s Indy!  I’ll save you from yet another rant.  You can catch the first one here.  IMG_6923

MuppetVision 3D – I was virtually raised by Muppets, so this area of the park will always be near and dear to my heart.  Oh, I hear the whining about the show needing an update, but at my age, nostalgia is an important component to my Disney vacation happiness and I’ll root for the Muppets to remain unchanged for as long as they can.RM-Maroon-Studios RM-Acme-Bricks

Roger Rabbit – Once so well-represented in the Studios, then virtually obliterated, Roger, Jessica, and the Toons and props from the movie were available for photo ops and tons of fun.  If you look carefully, you can still find evidence of their existence, but nowhere close to the extent that was once there.

Sure, I love Toy Story Midway Mania, the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror and Rock’n’ Roller Coaster, but my earliest memories of the Studios – the ones I always look back on when I’m there – made up the list.  Honorable mentions to the Hunchback of Notre Dame (A Musical Adventure) stage show (1996-2002) and Four for a Dollar.  The Hunchback show was so much better than the movie and we found it wildly entertaining as we did the a capella singing group Four for a Dollar.

What memories are YOU celebrating today on Disney’s Hollywood Studios’ anniversary?