For Sale: Main Street Popcorn

Inside some of the shops you can buy bags of popcorn. It isn’t the popcorn sold from vendors around the parks, it is a pre-packaged version of kettle corn. They have different flavours both savoury and sweet and I’m here to tell you about some of those flavours- I have yet to try them all.

Both times that I have gotten these different popcorn bags for sale was first on Thursday and then today while I was waiting for the Soundsational Parade to begin. Both times I purchased them at the Market House on Main Street, U.S.A.

And both times the chocolate on the popcorn melted in the hot sun while waiting for the parade.

You can find the popcorn in the Market House on a rack by the two front entrances.

On the packaging are different classic images of the iconic Disney characters: Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, and Donald.  Love their classic designs.

Thus far, I've only had two sweet flavours and not the savoury one (cheddar cheese). The first one I had was caramel chocolate popcorn.

It was amazing. It tastes exactly as it says, like kettle corn with milk chocolate drizzled on. There is that bit of salt that balances out the sweet caramel and chocolate. The chocolate is cooling and adds some creamy, smoothness to the sugar crunch.

Then there is the chocolate mint popcorn. It was kettle corn with mint milk chocolate drizzled on. The two look the same but taste a lot different, but that extra coolness from the mint again helped supply further contrast as well as further flavour. However the mint one is limited edition.

The bag might say family size but that is a complete lie! Maybe two people per bag- maybe, I personally have found no problem finishing the bag myself. They are ridiculously addicting, you can't just have one piece and leave it at that.

More flavours to come.

-Charlotte

New Orleans Square: Mint Julep Bar [2]

UPDATE: As you may or may not know, last week I had a really bad cold and on several occasions I had to talk myself out of going to the parks to play. Well once I was well enough to go back to work I decided I was well enough to play in the parks (only for a half day though). 

To make myself happy, the first thing I did was go and get a mint julep and it turns out these drinks have magical healing powers as well. It felt amazing on my sore throat and soothed it quite nicely and it cleared up my sinuses. If you are feeling a little under the weather while at the parks but you still are playing because you aren't going to pass up this opportunity to go to Disneyland, get yourself a mint julep to help make you feel better.

Now if you don't like the mint juleps and you are sick at the parks, then get one anyway because if your sinuses are blocked then you can't taste it you will only feel the Disney magic working its way down your throat and healing you of your ailment. 

That is all.

-Charlotte

Mint Julep Bar review can be found here.

Frontierland: River Belle Terrace Breakfast

Ever since I found out that the River Belle Terrace served breakfast as well (until 11 A.M.), I had a craving to go there for and try it. I finally picked a day to go and do just that. It was my day off, and I was still recovering from being sick but I felt well enough to go to the park for breakfast. I slept in till 9 then got up and made my way to the park.

It's spring break time so that means it is kind of busy, and by ‘kind of’ I mean ‘insanely’, but it was later in the morning so I thought it would be empty of all the crowds. This was not so. When I walked into the restaurant, it was still packed full of people. I jumped in line after getting over the shock of having to wait in this long line so late in the morning and looked at the menu. Here it is:

Mickey Shaped Pancake (for the kid in all of us). One giant Mickey shaped pancake.

Steam Boat. Three pancakes, scrambled eggs, your choice of bacon or sausage.

Mark Twain. Homestyle potatoes, scrambled eggs, your choice of bacon or sausage with a biscuit.

Becky Thatcher Fruit Bowl. 'Everything but the huckleberry.'

I don't know if they have the gluten free pancake mix here, and honestly I didn't want the pancakes that morning so I got the Mark Twain with sausage and no biscuit.

The only complaint about all of this is that it was bland. They have little salt and pepper packets to add to your food and I shall remember next time to pick some up because I believe those potatoes could be amazing if they had seasoning on them. Honestly, I would like some other seasoning on them than salt and pepper but at the state they were in, any seasoning would have done to elevate them. The eggs are scrambled eggs but needed seasoning as well and the sausage is your typical maple glazed morning sausage. The sausages were tasty, but just the average breakfast sausage, nothing too spectacular. I would recommend it for breakfast as long as you pick up some salt and pepper.

It was at least more interesting food-wise than a buffet, character dining breakfast.

I went outside to eat my breakfast to people watch (best thing to do in Disneyland), and I had a rather nice view:
To my left was the queue entrance for Pirates of the Caribbean and it was a madhouse down there. So many people. When I left, I headed around Frontierland, taking the back way to Fantasyland, just to avoid the crowds. I had just passed Woody taking pictures and the petting zoo when I turned the corner and to my surprise there was Pocahontas! Pocahontas is a rare character to see and only is out during the busy times, she is out right now and still in the same area and she'll probably only be out until the 15th of April because that's when Spring break ends.

I now have a picture with all the princesses except Belle and Mulan!

Anyway I had a very good breakfast and I had a pleasant rest of the day as well, despite recovering from a cold.

-Charlotte

River Bell Terrance lunchtime review found here!

For Sale: Alice in Wonderland Tea Collection

Working around little kids all day it isn’t a surprise that I managed to get sick. I've been sick with a cold since Tuesday and I was being stubborn and not calling out sick from work, but I finally woke up today feeling worse so I had to call out. I had to leave a message and I'm sure the guy at scheduling thought I was dying by the way I sounded.

One way I've been trying to recover is with lots and lots of tea. So much, in fact, that I'm almost all out.- blasphemy, I know. But the tea that I've been drinking is the Alice in Wonderland Tea collection available online at the disneystore.com and at the Disney parks.

This is all of the products that I own, and, sadly, that wheel of tea is almost completely gone. I truly love all of it. The tea press pot came filled with the Mad Hatter Tea Party blend (which I highly recommend) but I finished that so I got that container filled with more loose leaf Mad Hatter Tea Party tea. The honey spoons have a lot of honey and tastes a bit like caramelized sugar. It is a creative alternative to sweeten your tea and stir it too. And the plus, they are all reasonably priced, or at least I think so.

This is a very good tea collection with great varieties of flavour, solid products, and decently priced. I approve and I think the Hatter does too.




















-Charlotte

Frontierland: River Belle Terrace

Before I get into the River Belle Terrace review, I would like to share a little story about an experience in the park. Yes this blog is about the food of Disneyland, but it is also about the different experiences you can have there.

I was walking around the Hub, looking in at Tomorrowland then glancing up at the Matternhorn and it's construction work, when I saw a flash of green and teal. Low and behold there was Ariel walking with Peter Pan- yes a weird combination, but that's the magic of Disneyland- and they were walking off towards Tomorrowland. Ariel was going to go check on Sebastian to make sure Louis the French Chef wasn't after him again and Peter had to go back to Neverland for a bit. Seeing that marvelous sight, I now knew that Peter Pan was here. You see he isn't always there, constantly having to fly back to Neverland and what not and I made it my mission that while I was working there, I would take a picture with Peter.

Alice in Wonderland and Peter Pan are my top two favourite Disney movies that I loved growing up. Having already met Alice, I was thrilled at the prospect of finally getting to meet Peter.

My goal that day was to meet Peter, but quickly it got later and later and I was getting hungrier and hungrier. Close to giving up and going for lunch, it was around 1:30 PM and I was walking around the castle for the ten millionth time when I saw another flash of green. I look and there is Peter running by, well more like skipping but he was moving fairly fast, and all day I had been trying to check off that one thing of getting picture with him off my list so I did the only logical thing I could think of at that point: I followed him. He did not make following him an easy task either. He was hard to keep up with and by now others noticed his presence and began to follow him as well. He finally stopped on the left side of the castle, past Ariel and Cinderella taking pictures, and I got in his quickly growing picture line.

When I made my way to the front, we actually talked for a long time, longer than the other groups who went before me and longer than I was expecting, but I wasn't complaining. I happily got my picture and could finally go off to lunch in Frontierland.
Fighting the ever present crowds in Adventureland, I made it to the River Belle Terrace through the Adventureland door and it was empty inside. I was both shocked and pleased about this, and it all makes sense considering it was well past lunchtime. Having very few guests inside, I was able to not cause a traffic jam when I ordered my gluten free Mississippi Turkey Breast Sandwich. The gluten free list from Disneyland says the only thing you can get at the River Belle Terrace is the turkey sandwich. I like turkey the most so I would have gotten that even if I had more options but for those that do want something else, I do know they marinate their meat so if you want something ask what they put in their marinade since the list isn't always correct.

It took about five minutes or so for my sandwich to come out- probably would take a bit longer if it was busy- and every sandwich comes with a pickle, baked beans, and your choice of a small salad. I got a fruit salad but they had a pasta salad (not gluten free), lentil salad, and cole slaw. There is a little station where you can add lettuce, tomatoes, onions, and various other fixings, which was nice.

As you can tell from the picture, because the gluten free buns (same as the hamburger buns available at burger places in the parks) are small you essentially get two sandwiches, making them bigger than the regular sandwiches, but at the same price of $13 (without a drink). I got a sprite but they have many other Coke products as well as iced tea (sweet or not sweet).

The sandwich was your regular turkey sandwich. There were pieces of turkey and not deli slices that I had thought it would be, and it was slightly dry but that is where you make use of condiments and even your baked beans to give moisture and more flavour. Not the best sandwich in the world, but still a decent sandwich. It was also much more filling than I thought it would be and I must say I was happy I was going home after lunch because I was tired and didn't feel like doing anything else.

It was a good day with Peter Pan and good food—just not great food.

-Charlotte

Disneyland Parks: Cotton Candy

Before I begin there is something you must know, there is a difference in the cotton candy at Disneyland than at Disney California Adventure. Really, in Disneyland you can only get the pink cotton candy, and in California Adventure, you can get either pink or blue.

I was in New Orleans Square when I got my big bag of pink puffiness. Being that it was Disneyland and not Disney California Adventure, I only had one choice and that was fine by me. Now let me tell you how awkward it was sitting on a bench people watching by the Haunted Mansion and eating this big thing of cotton candy by myself. There was a group of three girls, probably a few years younger than me, sitting on the bench next to mine and they were sharing a cinnamon bun between them and here I was pigging out on a giant piece of cotton candy. So I only ate a little bit before putting it in my bag where it throughout the day got flattened. It was still good though when I pulled it out at home and ate it while watching a movie.

It's cotton candy, spun sugar, as classic as it gets. Price is $4 and can be found at outdoor vending carts throughout the parks.

Now for some history.

Cotton candy had to be a staple in Walt Disney's park because before actually building Disneyland, Walt traveled to all sorts of different amusement parks and theme parks trying to find what works and what doesn't work so his park would be the ultimate theme park and better than all the rest. While at one of these parks, he and two other men with him got huge helpings of cotton candy and that sold him on it. He had to have cotton candy at his parks.

One could view it as just another thing to help keep your kids as hyper as possible, if the prospect that they're at Disneyland isn't enough, but this is a treat for all ages- so don't be afraid to steal some off of your kids. It is good, classic and a must have.

-Charlotte

Adventureland: Tiki Juice Bar

In the Tiki Tiki Tiki Tiki Tiki Room
In the Tiki Tiki Tiki Tiki Tiki Room
All the birds sing words and the flowers croon
In the Tiki Tiki Tiki Tiki Tiki Room!

The Tiki Juice Bar (powered by Dole) is located outside of the Tiki room, with one line leading in from the pre-show to the Tiki Room, and the other line located just outside the Tiki room area. You can get a variety of pineapple treats from soft serve, to juice, to spears.

For a good combination of two of those things, my friend and I both got the floats.

It is pineapple juice topped with the soft serve, which is called whip. I've gotten just the whip before and I liked that a lot, it was light and smooth but still had that tangy pineapple flavour with just a hint of creaminess. I like pineapple juice, just on its own, I've decided after experiencing this treat. I didn't like the float that much, which is the most expensive things at roughly $5. The combination of whip and juice was just strange to me and I'd rather have a sip of full blown pineapple juice or enjoy the subtly incorporated flavour of the fruit in the soft serve rather than the out of balance combination of the two.

For me I'll just keep getting the whip at a little under $4, and that is good enough for me. True, you don't get cherries or a tiny umbrella if you get just the whip, but I'll survive.

There is also a plus in the Tiki Room, you can eat and drink in there! Just please, for the cast members, pick up your trash. There are plenty of trash bins just outside that you can immediately deposit your garbage into as you leave.

-Charlotte