Explore "Cities in Wonderland" at Epcot Fest

Fine cuisine and some of the best "foodie" cities in the world will take a bow at the 13th-annual Epcot International Food & Wine Festival September 26 through November 9, 2008.

Epcot guests can explore "Cities in Wonderland" - from trendy Cork, Ireland, to the melting pot of Cape Town, South Africa - around the World Showcase promenade while also discovering blissful bites at international and regional marketplaces brimming with exotic flavors and comfort foods. The six-week festival will showcase tastes from countries on six continents.

More than 25 international marketplaces will serve tapas-sized portions of regional specialties at $2-to-$5 each, and recommended wines and beers make perfect pairings at each kiosk. New festival flavors explore the culinary wonders of Lyon, France; Marrakesh, Morocco; Shanghai, China; Bologna, Italy; Tokyo, Japan; and Mexico City, Mexico.

Daily complimentary wine and beer tastings serve up sips from around the world, and culinary demonstrations dish up featured taste treats. A series of special culinary programs features a lineup of renowned winemakers, guest chefs and speakers participating in elegant dinners, luncheons, seminars and wine schools.

Musical entertainment pairs perfectly with culinary fun during the nightly Eat to the Beat! concert series featuring a varied lineup of classic rock, soul, R&B, oldies, jazz and funk hitmakers. Concerts are performed three times each evening at America Gardens Theatre along the World Showcase lagoon. New acts to appear include Kool & The Gang, Spyro Gyra, En Vogue and Big Bad Voodoo Daddy. David Sanborn, Jon Secada and Otis Day and the Knights are among returning crowd-pleasing acts.

Other festival highlights include: The Festival Welcome Center, complete with a Champagne and Wine Bar, complimentary wine seminars and book signings; some 250 Disney chefs and guest chefs conducing culinary demonstrations and hosting elegant dinners and tasting events; a weekly Party for the Senses grand tasting event featuring tempting tastes from eminent chefs, more than 70 wines and beers, and live entertainment.

Wine and beer seminars, cooking demonstrations, special book signings at the Festival Center, Eat to the Beat! concerts, culinary and cultural exhibits, and all attractions and park entertainment are included with regular Epcot admission. The weekly Party for the Senses grand tasting, Food and Wine Pairings at select Epcot restaurants, Regional Feasts, Epcot Wine Schools, Cheese Tastings, Sweet Sundays, and other special wine and culinary programs require reservations and separate admission.

Guests can call 407/WDW-FEST (939-3378) for information and to make reservations for special events and programs.

Top 10 Most Popular Theme Parks for 2007

1. Disney's Magic Kingdom - 17.06 million visitors

2. Disneyland - 14.87 million visitors

3. Epcot - 10.93 million visitors

4. Disney-MGM Studios (Disney's Hollywood Studios) - 9.51 million visitors

5. Disney's Animal Kingdom - 9.49 million visitors

6. Universal Studios - 6.2 million visitors

7. SeaWorld Orlando - 5.8 million visitors

8. Disney's California Adventure - 5.68 million visitors

9. Universal's Islands of Adventure - 5.43 million visitors

10. Universal Studios Hollywood - 4.7 million visitors

Sources: Park World, InPark, TEA Inc., Economics Research Associates

Stump the Schwab at ESPN The Weekend

Remember the Skyway to Tomorrowland?

Opened in 1971, the Skyway to Tomorrowland once provided a bird's-eye view of Disney's Magic Kingdom between Fantasyland and Tomorrowland. The Skyway to Tomorrowland closed permanently in the fall of 1999.

Tampa Bay Rays to return to Disney in April

The Tampa Bay Rays will return to Disney’s Wide World of Sports Complex April 22-24, 2008, for an American League series with the Toronto Blue Jays. In May 2007, the Rays swept a three-game series from the Texas Rangers at 9,500-seat Champion Stadium in the first regular-season major league games EVER played in the Orlando area.

Individual tickets for the three-game set are on sale at the Champion Stadium Box Office at Disney's Wide World of Sports Complex, Tropicana Field Box Office, Rays Tampa Office & Pro Shop, via the Rays official website at www.raysbaseball.com or www.raysbeisbol.com, all Ticketmaster locations, and via Ticketmaster Phonecharge at (727) 898-7297 or (407) 839-3900. The Rays are also offering a special three-game package. Luxury entertainment suites and group ticket specials are available by calling 888/FAN-RAYS or by logging on to www.raysbaseball.com.

All fans attending the games in Orlando will receive a voucher for a ticket to a designated weekend game at Tropicana Field this season.

Pleasure Island to Celebrate St. Patrick's Day

Pleasure Island at Downtown Disney will host a special St. Patrick's Day celebration called "Sham-Rock 'n' Roll," a fun-filled street party for the whole family, on March 14, 15 and 17, 2008. Highlights will include live music featuring Seven Nations, videos by Irish artists and stilt walkers. Club admission is not required for "Sham-Rock 'n' Roll," which begins at 7 PM during the above dates.

In addition, the Raglan Road Irish Restaurant & Pub will feature Irish music, song and dance for St. Patrick's Day on March 16-17, 2008.

Spaceship Earth: The Relaunch!

Here are some interesting facts about the recent relaunch of Spaceship Earth at Epcot:

New scenes depict a family in the late 1960s viewing the moon landing on television; a massive, two-story computer room of the late 1960s with reel-to-reel-computers; a garage of the early 1970s where the "personal computer" is born; and a "tech tunnel" in which guests become part of a digital data stream.

"Practically every Audio-Animatronics figure in Spaceship Earth has been updated in one way or another," said Show Producer Bob Zalk of Walt Disney Imagineering. "To make the figures more realistic, they've received a makeover of everything from their hair to their costumes to their movements."

The new narration is delivered by English actress Dame Judi Dench, who earned an Oscar as best supporting actress in 1999 for her role in the motion picture "Shakespeare in Love."

While Dench delivers the ride vehicle narration in English, guests can also choose five other languages for their vehicle, a Disney "first" -- French, German, Japanese, Portuguese and Spanish.

The new musical score was composed by Bruce Broughton, who has won a record 10 Emmy Awards and has been nominated for an Oscar and a Grammy during a career writing in every medium - from theatrical releases and TV feature films to the concert stage and computer games. A 62-piece orchestra and 24-voice choir brings his latest composition to life.

As the ride-through adventure nears its finish, interactive touch-screens in the ride vehicles light up with a series of questions, soliciting guests' preferences concerning things such as where they'd like to live and work in the future. Then guests are treated to a personalized view of themselves in their idyllic future.

When guests disembark the time travel experience, they are invited to visit "Project Tomorrow: Inventing the World of Tomorrow" presented by Siemens, where interactive exhibits bring to life the ideas and technologies Siemens is developing to help make the world a better place for the future. The space is filled with fun, interactive games and displays that showcase innovative technologies.

Primeval Whirl Gets Added Safety Features

Check out this Orlando Sentinel article about new safety features at this Animal Kingdom ride.

Hanging Out at ESPN The Weekend

Yesterday morning we took the kids to Disney's Hollywood Studios with the idea that we would have the theme park to ourselves. However, when we arrived promptly at 8:30 AM there was already a good crowd - mainly middle-aged, overweight, balding dudes wearing football jerseys. Then I realized that we were caught in the middle of ESPN The Weekend!

Actually it wasn't too bad, all of the sports fans seemed to be hanging out in the designated ESPN The Weekend areas, while we were able to go on a bunch of rides and view shows such as Great Movie Ride, High School Musical and Star Tours without waiting in any lines. I did break away from the family for awhile to catch a celebrity motorcade that featured football legends Mercury Morris (I'm a lifelong fan of the Miami Dolphins, especially when they actually won Super Bowls!), Harry Carson and Tim Brown followed by an entertaining Q&A session.

Also, we ate lunch for the first time at the '50s Prime Time Cafe. Every time we've tried to get in this popular eatery in the past there was always a horrendous wait time for a table. It was a cool place: You sit down at what appears to be a kitchen table from the '50s with a TV playing clips from popular '50s TV shows. The wait staff is lively and the waiters and waitresses call everyone "kid." The will also reprimand you if you don't eat your vegetables. The food was overpriced (I guess it was about typical for a Disney World sit-down restaurant though) and the menu specializes in "comfort food" like fried chicken and meatloaf, as well as mac and cheese, hotdogs and chicken strips for kids. I enjoyed the fried chicken, which came with green beans and mashed potatoes and gravy. The check itself was somewhat of a shock: $54 for lunch for a family of four! However, it's worth the experience at least once in a lifetime . . .

Oh yeah, I have plenty of photos of ESPN The Weekend that I will upload over the next few days (as well as photos I took at Disney's Magic Kingdom the night before).