A Picnic at Sea

After our recent dive into the culinary endeavors of a long extinct restaurant, a tasting tour that ended in disappointment, we thought we should definitely continue looking at extinct recipes. We move from the Contemporary Resort over to the Polynesian Village. Now known as ‘Ohana, this much beloved space of the south seas in Florida was for 23 years known as the Papeete Bay Verandah.

 

The Papeete Bay Verandah was home one of the earliest buffets and character meals to be found in Walt Disney World, Minnie’s Menehune Breakfast, a lunch buffet, and the prelude to the luaus to come, Polynesian Revue. The dark wooden decor matched up well with the charred and smoked meats served up on the menu and was offset by vibrant colors and flavors of the tropical fruits found in almost every dish. These fruits, particularly from the buffet, were elevated by a pair of simple dips. The Coconut Dip and the Polynesian Honey Dip are a wonderful way to chase away the winter blues, and the next recipes we’re taking on in our home kitchen.

 

COCONUT DIP

 

Ingredients:

 

2/3 Cup Sour Cream

1/3 Cup Coconut Cream

1/3 Cup Brown Sugar

 

Directions:

 

Mix together all ingredients.

Serve with tropical fruits, such as orange sections, pineapple spears, fresh figs, apricots, or banana slices.

 

POLYNESIAN HONEY DIP

 

Ingredients:

 

1 Cup Sour Cream

1/2 Cup Brown Sugar

1/4 Cup Honey

2 Tbsps. Brandy

Cubes of Fresh Coconut

 

Directions:

Place sour cream in a blender and blend for a few seconds until smooth consistency. A bowl and hand-mixer will also work.

Gradually add brown sugar while blending until mixture is smooth.

Add honey and brady and mix for a few seconds to blend together.

Chill dip.

Serve with bite-sized cubes of fresh coconut.

Both of these are delicious and will be found on some sort of muddle-headed breakfast charcuterie plate I’ll come up with when I’m trying my best to be nice to my wife on the spur of the moment on a random Sunday morning. The Polynesian Honey Dip is a bit thinner, and you can taste the brandy, so I would completely recommend it for children. That said, it also has layers of sweetness that makes it playful as it darts from taste centers all over the palate. The Coconut Dip is creamy and has a wonderful balance between sour and sweet.

 

Fresh coconut is recommended for the Polynesian Honey Dip, however, unless this is a texture and flavor profile I would recommend using other fruits. Likewise, the Coconut Dip doesn’t pair as well with sliced bananas. Whichever dip you choose to whip up, go with the tropical fruits you know and appreciate. The dips should be extensions of and highlight what is already special about tropical fruits, so pair these with what you already love. For our part, pineapple, dried apricots, and cantaloupe were all fabulous for our homemade breakfast buffet.

Crew Roster

Tortuga Tavern may not be the port of call for hungry guests it once was, leaving itself shuttered except for when Caribbean Plaza is teeming with possible patrons, but it still has a wealth of history and details waiting for the keenest of eyes and wit. We’ve spoken before about Arabella and some of the history tucked away in the eaves of the restaurant, but today we’re in search of pirates. Pirate crews to be exact.

 

Situated on the far end of one of the dining rooms is a window with candles, lanterns, shells, casks, pitchers, a few flowers, an hourglass, and an auspiciously place book. In another establishment or home, minus the casks, it could be mistaken as a family bible. As it turns out, the pages the book is open to features the crew logs for both the Black Pearl and Queen Anne’s Revenge.

 

The Queen Anne’s Revenge may seem like an odd choice to reference here, especially with newer ships like the Silent Mary or Dying Gull, or more iconic vessels, the Flying Dutchman, may be more recognizable to guests. However, in 2011, when Tortuga Tavern received its overhaul refurbishment that resulted in the restaurant’s name change, the Pirates of the Caribbean film, On Stranger Tides, was sitting on the horizon. With Blackbeard’s Queen Anne’s Revenge featuring prominently in that film, it makes sense to see it included here.

 

With not much known about the film, there are enough breadcrumbs here to lead any old sea dog worth their salt to find some interesting morsels that gave hints about the upcoming movie, such as the inclusion of Angelica as first mate, or spark a-ha moments in those looking back. While most of this crew would not fare well in the end of the film, some of the luckier souls, like The Cabin Boy, would go on to be a part of Barbossa’s crew.

 

Speaking of Barbossa’s crew, the other ledger is definitely the more intriguing of the two. The Black Pearl’s roster has been edited by Captain Jack Sparrow. The original roster includes Captain Barbossa’s ghostly crew and Joshamee Gibbs, which means this roster was originally written after the mutiny of Captain Jack and the sending of Bootstrap Bill Turner to Davy Jones’ locker, as neither is included in the register, but prior to their discovery of the cursed Aztec gold. Jack’s edits, including reinserting himself as captain, are comprised of many of the crew Jack brings onboard with his acquisition of the HMS Interceptor and who we can presume served onboard the Black Pearl as well between The Curse of the Black Pearl and Dead Man’s Chest films. Further edits, as the history of the Pearl unfolds over the course of the series, seem to have not taken place or have slipped Jack’s mind as he is likely in search of rum.

 

While some of the names on either list may not seem familiar, many of the faces, those dirty, bedraggled faces, they represent are familiar to fans of the Pirates of the Caribbean films. Personally, I’d love to see other rosters included, whether in pages that could be turned, but not removed by treasure hungry guests, or other books in the dining room. Regardless, these are a nice tip of the pirate hat and worthy of an exploration the next time you’re in port.

Echoes Through Time

I have long been an advocate of guest taking time to really explore the galleries housed in each of World Showcase’s pavilions in Epcot. Some of them are directly in the face of guests, such as the lobby of the Mexico pavilion that must be pass through to enter the shopping, dining, and attraction portion of the pyramid, while others are a bit more tucked away and take time to find. One such gallery, Bijutsu-kan, can be found tucked away in the back corner of the Japan pavilion near the Kidcot station and one of the exits of Mitsukoshi.

 

Bijutsu-kan can be literally translated as art gallery or museum, and has hosted a variety of exhibits since the Japan pavilion opened in 1982. In fact, it was built to be the lobby area of the Meet the World show, which was to be the main attraction of the pavilion. Through the years the gallery has been home to showcases of puppetry, netsuke carvings, tin toys, mythological creatures, origami, a collection of photography capturing the beauty and importance of World Heritage Sites, and is currently focused on the Kawaii culture of cuteness. In 1988, one of the more fascinating exhibits would be installed, replacing the Feathers on the Wind kite exhibition, it was called Echoes Through Time: Japanese Women and the Arts.

 

For Echoes Through Time, the gallery was transformed into a space that house the work of six contemporary female artists. The exhibit utilized Bijutsu-kan to give each artist a space to highlight their work, while also providing context of how these modern works of art related to traditional Japanese art forms. The artforms presented included fashion design, paper sculpting, painting, raku pottery, and Ikebana flower arranging. Coincidentally, some of the aspects inherent in Ikebana I have tried to merge into my photography over the years. The last of the six art forms presented, and perhaps the most intriguing, was sound and music, and featured the artist Mineko Grimmer.

 

Mineko Grimmer was bard and raised in northern Japan and went on to study at the Otis College of Art and Design, where she received both her Bachelors and Masters of Fine Art. While there in the 1970s she began photographing shadows, waves, and wind effects as a way in which to study the passage of time. This led to her interest in ice photography and art installations that included the use of ice as she was seeking something that would change over a shorter period of time. Her first ice and sound sculpture was displayed at the Japan American Community Culture Center in Los Angeles. Eventually Grimmer’s skills were noticed by Disney and her corner of the Echoes Through Time exhibit came to fruition.

 

Known as Symposium II, the sculpture of sound was created using bamboo, other wood, stones, and, of course, ice. The bamboo elements created a grid, while the sounds were formed by pebbles of ice that had been frozen in an inverted pyramid that then hung above the rest of the installation, like a pendulum. As the ice pyramid melted, the pebbles would drop onto and bounce through the bamboo segments before falling into the wood-lined pond at the base of the sculpture. It would take approximately 30 minutes for a pyramid of ice to melt, though those times could be short when temperatures were particularly hot and humid, that would in turn change the rate at which the pebbles fell. Just as you would expect, no two performances were ever the same.

 

While the story of Echoes Through Time and Mineko Grimmer’s Symposium II are unique, there are similarly intriguing stories to be found throughout the history of Bijutsu-kan and the other galleries scattered about World Showcase. These exhibits are a real treasure to me, they hold such captivating moments of art and history, but they are rarely seen by most guests. While I love being able to leisurely enjoy these installations and reflect in quiet moments, I do wish more guests would partake of these galleries. There is always something to learn and each kernel of knowledge gained provides us with a greater understanding of the larger world we are a part of.

Invasive Species Study

The queue for Flight of Passage has a lot of wonderful moments that pull you further into the story of Pandora. The art and craftsmanship of the Na’vi, a life-sized Avatar, and even the bioluminescent lifeforms that have breached the former RDA complex are each enough to tickle the imagination on their own, but put together they form an intricate narrative that guests are drawn into unconsciously. One area where the dense layers of storytelling comes through is in the labs of the Pandora Conservation Initiative, where various studies are being conducted. One research station that particularly draws me in is the desk that houses the Velocivirus.
 

This invasive sea urchin-like species, also known as a Velocifungus, is known for attaching to spaceships on their way to Pandora. It was introduced to the planet after ships ignored rules of burning their engines before breaking the atmosphere of Pandora in order to destroy the parasite. The Veolicvirus can absorb organic material it comes into contact with, which it locates through echolocation with micro-vibrations that also move the organism.
 
The desk where the Velocifungus is located includes notes from an individual researcher. The notes are succinct and give some deeper understanding of the organism. When extreme heat or a variety of gasses are applied, its vitals did not change and it appeared to embrace the flames, while with the gasses it absorbs them and blows up like a puffer fish. However, when compression is applied, the spines of the organism flatten and sharpen, taking on a saw-blade like appearance that cracks the glass on its original quarantine enclosure. It’s last noted test, is directly questioning the Velocifungus about its destructive existence, which in turn leads to the research questioning their own destructive existence.
 
Informative and witty, this notebook provides a lot of insight. However, it is the piece of paper next to the notebook that really draws me in every time I pass by. Perhaps the magnifying glass made me curious, or just my belief that everything helps with furthering the story. Whatever it was, what looks like scribbles or ink blots is, in all actuality, a tried and true research tool, a track trap.
 

They are utilized to create evidence of animals in a given environment. You find areas animals are likely to be, such as a food trail, water source, or areas that provide safety (such as along the edge of bush clumps, walls, etc.), any spot where they are easily funneled through naturally will work great, and leave a piece of white paper on the trail. You then place an ink pad or a cloth soaked in ink or paint on either side of the paper, since animals can travel in any direction. They will pick up the ink and leave impressions behind on the paper that can be compared to known samples. This is a particularly useful tool when you’re not sure if an animal is or isn’t in the area, or if your trying to capture a sample of the diversity found in the area.
 
This desk includes two pieces of the narrative puzzle, but there are so many stories to find in the lab and larger queue of Flight of Passage. Whether you’re interested in the habits of a carnivorous fungus or what types of creatures are present throughout the Valley of Mo’ara, whether you’re intrigued by the writings of Dr. Ogden or Team Banshee’s baseball season, there is something here for everyone to discover that will drawn them just a bit further into the story, and conservation efforts, of Pandora.

Grand and Elegant Dining

What’s the fanciest meal you can have at Walt Disney World? If you were visiting between 1971-1988 your answer could have been the Gulf Coast Room. If this restaurant doesn’t sound familiar, I assure you that you are not alone.
 
Situated on the Level of the Americas, the Contemporary’s ballroom level we all mostly bypass on our way to the Grand Canyon Concourse or as the elevator pitstop to California Grill, the Gulf Coast Room was hastily thrown together to answer the call for fine dining and evening entertainment during the early years of the Vacation Kingdom. When the solitary park, the Magic Kingdom, was closing in early evening, guests and conventioneers were looking for something to do and eat. Disney sectioned off a third of the Grand Republic Ballroom and turned it into a fine dining destination.
 
First thing to note is that the Gulf Coast Room had no windows, so there were no views to enjoy. Instead, ambiance was created with high-back chairs, candlelight, fancy linens, wallpaper, strolling violinist, a strict dress code, and tableside preparations of dishes. The menu highlighted fresh ingredients and presented the height of culinary flair for its day and age, including frog legs, rack of lamb, Alaskan crab, Steak Dianne, and Pompano en Papillote.
 
The fine-dining experience, second only to the Empress Room for early Walt Disney World sophistication, was likely the meal of the vacation for many couples. That said, it hasn’t garnered as much fond reminiscing as other restaurants of the era. For our first recipe of the new year, we thought we’d dive into the deep annals of Disney history and attempt a dish from this unheralded corner of the Contemporary. We opted to take a run at one of the Gulf Coast Room’s  beloved appetizers, the Blue Cheese Patties.
 

BLUE CHEESE PATTIES
 
Ingredients:
 
6 oz. Blue Cheese (at room temperature)
6 oz. cream cheese
1/3 Cup Flour
2 Tbsps. Milk
3 Slices Fresh White Bread
2 Eggs
Butter
 
Directions:
 
Process bread slices in a food processor to make fine crumbs, set aside in a pie pan.
Process half of the blue cheese and cream cheese in a food processor until well blended.
Set aside and process remaining blue cheese and cream cheese, mixing together in a bowl once finished.
Roll cheese mixture into 12 small balls, flatten to form patties.
Beat eggs and mix with milk.
Dip patties in flour, then egg mixture, and lastly in bread crumbs.
Brown on both sides in buttered skillet, 3 to 4 minutes.
 
 
Our first look at this recipe made us think that there was room for improvement. As an attempt to head off some trouble, we made half of our patties with the white bread crumbs and the other half with panko bread crumbs. Turns out, however, there was much room for improvement.
 
The blue cheese we used was double creamed, and between that and the cream cheese this was a very loose and creamy mixture from the get go. It was basically impossible to form balls or patties. We chilled the mixture, then made the balls, chilled them again, flattened them into patties, and chilled them one last time before the dredging and pan frying. They still came out very messy.
 
Using the panko instead of white bread did make the frying go a bit easier, but the end results weren’t great. The cheese mixture needs a stronger binding agent, such as introducing panko into the mixture before trying to make balls. Also, since ingredients are very different in today’s markets, with a better-quality blue cheese, I’m not sure there’s a need for the cream cheese. Additionally, I would add some salt, pepper, or other form of seasoning to the bread crumbs to give it more than a one note flavor. Lastly, I would recommend using olive oil instead of butter for a more uniform cooking.
 
Overall, I wouldn’t recommend taking on the Blue Cheese Patties. The Gulf Coast Room may have been the height of elegance in its heyday, and I’m the first to admit that my culinary skills and equipment aren’t up to the same standards as Walt Disney World’s, but I’m willing to bet there are better dishes to attempt from this Contemporary dining experience.

Heirloom Grains

Star Wars Galaxy's Edge: The Official Black Spire Outpost Cookbook has been one of my favorite cookbooks to play around with for the past couple of months. The unique recipes, colorful dishes and beverages, and Black Spire backstory are all wonderful. Although, I am the first to admit that some of the recipes aren't as close to their Batuu counterparts as I would like. Authenticity aside, there are still some new favorites and fun concoctions to be found in the cookbook's pages.

Take, for instance, Kat's Kettle Corn. They don't use corn on Batuu, it is referred to as 'heirloom grains,' and Kat Saka's family have been growing, harvesting, and serving up these kernels for generations. For this sweet and savory recipe, we're going to have to make up a special batch of Saka Salt first. In case you haven't caught on, Kat Saka and I could clearly be friends as we both have a love of alliteration, but we've strayed away from the kitchen long enough.

SAKA SALT

Ingredients:

2 Tbsps. Red Salt

2 Tsps. Garam Marsala

Directions:

Put all ingredients in a food processor.

Pulse until fully combined.

Store in an airtight container for up to two weeks.

That's just about as simple as it can be, right? As it turns out, finishing up this snack is almost as easy!

Kat's Kettle Corn

Ingredients:

1/2 Cup Popcorn Kernels

1/3 Cup Sugar

1/4 Cup Vegetable Oil

1 Tsp. Saka Salt

Yellow Food Coloring

Directions:

Pour oil into a medium pan with a few drops of food coloring.

Place pan on medium high heat.

Add sugar and popcorn kernels to pot, place the lid on pot, and shake the pot a few times.

Leave pot on heat until the cork starts popping.

Shake the pot back and forth until you can no longer see the bottom of the pot through the popped corn.

Remove from heat and continue shaking to cover popcorn with sweet coating.

Once the popping has mostly stopped, pour popcorn into a large bowl.

Sprinkle with Saka Salt, tossing occasionally to coat evenly.

Kat's Kettle Corn lives up to its name, and gives your mouth a workout with sweet, salty, and spicy flavors playing back and forth constantly. The salt definitely is the strongest, almost overwhelming, flavor, but you can definitely taste all of the ingredients. It is as wild of a flavor combination as, say, Kat's Outpost Mix that is available in Galaxy's Edge, but it is a fun to make and fun to eat treat.

The recipe gave my family some ideas, and allowed us to create a shortcut snack if you don't want to make your own popcorn. We have been using microwave butter popcorn and then tossing it with Garam Marsala once we've gotten it into a large bowl. It cuts out the sweet, and levels out the saltiness, but still gives it a wonderful spiciness that we don't get everyday.

There are a ton of other recipes that have piqued our interest in the Black Spire Outpost Cookbook, so you have more recipes to look forward in the coming months. Until then, mix up a couple of Blue Milks, pop up your own batch of heirlook grains for Kat's Kettle Corn, and make it a Star Wars movie night!

Evil Comes Prepared

If you’re anything like me, then board games have been a staple of your safer-at-home/quarantine/self-isolation activities as we’ve bee doing our part to stem the tide of this pandemic. In the past few years, Ravensburger has made some terrific games, especially if you’re an enthusiast of all things Disney. Villainous, its three current expansion sets, and the Jungle Cruise Adventure have all been in regular rotation of our small, but fun, game nights. With the recent release of the Marvel Villainous set, I started thinking. While there are a ton of animated Disney and Marvel comic villains to play with, wouldn’t it be great to see a set of live-action villains step up to the plate to take on the heroes in their own version of Villainous.

For starters, the base sets of each of the Villainous incarnations include 6 headlining villains, which is the same number we took on in this blue-sky daydream of for Disney Live-Action Villainous. For each, I picked a property with a villain, some well-known and some deeper cuts, and then created the mechanic, or objective, for each villain.

Let’s start with Captain Barbossa. Pirates of the Caribbean has plenty of scallywags and worse of the seven seas to consider, but Barbossa was the first rogue to engage in a battle of wits against Captain Jack Sparrow, Swann, and Turner. His objective is simple, Barbossa wins if the cursed gold is returned to the chest. As with most things in Villainous, this isn’t as simple as it sounds, for Barbossa is only able to win if he starts his turn with 20 pieces of cursed Aztec gold and he is located at Isla de Muerta.

Our second villain is Hocus Pocus’ Winifred. Oh, sure, Mary and Sarah are most definitely in the mix, but Winifred is the real deal here. Winifred’s objective is to cast the spell gives her eternal life. In order to pull this off, she must collect four ingredients (Oil of Boil, Dead Man’s Toe, Green Newt Saliva, and Dash of Pox) and have a child on her side of the board (most likely the work of Sarah).

Stepping back a bit further into the vault of live action villains, we’re calling upon Captain Nemo from 20,000 Leagues Under the Seas. His objective is quite simple, gain the trust of Professor Aronnax. Like Mother Gothel, this occurs if Nemo is able to have 10 Trust tokens at the beginning of his turn.

Neville Sinclair may be a deep cut, but to outsmart The Rocketeer and gain control of Howard Hughes’ unique invention, who could pass that up? Obviously, the objective for Sinclair is to gain control of The Rocketeer’s jetpack and helmet. To find, secure, and get both on Sinclair’s side at the same location as his zeppelin. Not so easy now, huh?

Unlike our first entry of Barbossa, I went with the most recent villain in a series for our next entry of Clu from TRON: Legacy, leaving Sark for another day and expansion pack. Clu’s objective is actually given to him from his archnemesis, Flynn, to create the perfect system. To accomplish his objective, Clu must have at least 3 programs at the Rectifer Facility and control of Flynn’s identity disk.

For our last entry, we’re digging deep with Pete’s Dragon, the 1977 version, and the over the top charlatan, Doc Terminus. Unlike our previous entries, however, we’re going to give the nefarious Doc a pair of ways to win. His objective is either to sell a bottle of his “miracle cure” at each location on the board or gain control of Elliot. For Terminus to gain control of Elliot, he must defeat the friendly dragon at the lighthouse.

I will admit, while imagining all of this up, I originally had Judge Doom from Who Framed Roger Rabbit? in the place of Doc Terminus. The variations in game play were minor, and included collecting the deeds to the four board locations and defeating Roger or Eddie at the ACME Warehouse. However, given the convoluted legalities behind the film, I wasn’t certain it could be utilized and opted to find a little-known, but much beloved, villain to get in the game. I also had a daydream of the highly stylized Villain figures, including a Nautilus (or organ), cauldron, a skeletal figure with a feather plume hat, angular orange programesque figure, a horse-drawn wagon, and a well dressed man, but maybe I'll leave the artist aspects up to someone with more skill than me.

There you go! A little daydream, or day-scheming, for a live action rogues gallery should Disney and Ravensburger ever consider looking at such an option. As always, I offer these up with no expectation that this will come to pass, but Ravensburger is free to use my ideas! And, also as always, I’d love to help story-craft in anyway I could! But what about you, which live action-villain would you love to see in a Villainous set on your kitchen table?

Get a Head Start on Your Holiday

You may have heard this before, or know a December baby that feels similarly, but I hated having a birthday in December as a kid. There were always events happening so that friends couldn’t make it to my birthday parties, and it often felt like a day meant for me was being overshadowed. Silly, I know, but as I got older I came to love the holiday season and wrapped myself in its trimmings, making my birthday an integral piece of the merriment.

As so many are celebrating Christmas in July this week, I thought I’d use my role as an unofficial ambassador of the holidays to offer up something festive to drink that you can make at home. This comes straight from one of the classiest cocktail set-ups in all of Disney, Carthay Circle Restaurant. While the Poinsettia Cocktail may be perfect for Christmas, I dare say it would be just as much at home for Thanksgiving or New Year’s. The Poinsettia Cocktail has a ton of variations, with the only common thread being the cranberry juice, but the Carthay Circle recipe is a spot on holiday favorite. Put on your favorite Christmas album, turn down the thermostat, throw on a light sweater, and let’s get to shaking!

POINSETTIA COCKTAIL

Ingredients:

3 Oz. Cranberry Juice

1 ½ Oz. Cuvée

½ Oz. Orange Liqueur (I recommend Pierre Ferrand Dry Curaçao or Grand Marnier)

1 Orange Peel Twist (for garnish)

Directions:

Combine orange liqueur and cranberry juice with ice in cocktail shaker.

Shake for 10 seconds.

Strain into a glass flute and top with cuvée.

Garnish with an orange peel twist.

Simple enough, right?

If you’ve ever had cranberry ginger ale, a holiday treat that was much easier to find when I was a child, then you already have and idea of what you are getting into here. The bubbles are nice, the tartness of the cranberry is the first thing you taste, but the subtle flicks of orange come out on the back of each sip. Short of dosing the beverage with cinnamon or a peppermint stick, which I do not recommend, the Poinsettia Cocktail covers many of the favorite dessert holiday staples. That said, this is definitely not a sugary cocktail.

Whether you are looking for a cocktail for this weekend or storing up recipes for when the holidays roll around, the Poinsettia Cocktail from Carthay Circle is about as easy as they come, both in terms of ingredients and preparation. I hope it makes whatever day you produce a batch of them on just a little bit merrier and brighter.

King of the River

Disneyland, the television show where Walt Disney provided viewers with a wide variety of stories, films, and behind the scenes looks. It would also be the playground that would spark ideas for the theme park. One of the icons to make the jump from small screen to the Frontierland canvas was Davy Crockett. In the show’s first season, in 1954 and 1955, Davy appeared in three episodes, culminating in his death at the Alamo. His legendary tales were so popular that he was resurrected for a pair of episodes in the second season, and introduced another larger than life legend, Mike Fink. Davy Crockett’s Keelboat Race aired on November 16, 1955, and Jeff York’s gruff, tough, and sometimes less than honorable Mike Fink paddled his way into the imaginations of viewers young and old and to the title of King of the River. His bewildering friendship with the King of the Wild Frontier, Davy, would carry over to the last of Crockett’s tales on Disneyland in 1956.

Mike Fink’s keel boat, Gullywhumper, would find its way to the Rivers of America less than a month later on December 25, 1955. It was accompanied by Cap’n Cobb’s Bertha Mae, both the original watercraft that had been used to film the race months earlier. The boats were popular enough to be replicated as an opening day attraction when Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom welcomed its first guests in October of 1971. After Disneyland’s Gullywhumper capsized in 1997, both boats were shuttered at the park, with the Magic Kingdom’s pair of keelboats continuing to ply the waterways until 2001.

Of of the two ships to make up the Mike Fink Keel Boats, the Bertha Mae was, shall we say, the lovelier of the two ships. The Mike Fink Keel Boats attraction originally boarded in Liberty Square, down beneath the carriage house that is now associated with the Haunted Mansion. The attraction would later receive a dock in Frontierland as well. This second dock is still standing, though not in use, and you can still see Mike’s name on the boards if you’re looking from the side of the Liberty Belle, or from Tom Sawyer’s Island, back towards Big Thunder Mountain. The free-floating keel boats were an opening day B-Ticket attraction at the Magic Kingdom.

Photographs of extinct attractions are wonderful time capsules into the past of Walt Disney World. They remind us of beloved attractions and the stories they themselves harkened back to. We are given a sense of what the lay of the land was like in days when we were younger or, perhaps, not even alive to visit the parks and resorts. These pictures also remind us that Walt Disney World is ever-changing, even when exploring the world of yesterday. The Bertha Mae and Gullywhumper keel boats where a wonderful part of my child, as they were for many of you who also adored Davy Crockett. From this photograph, it is easy to see that they had a wonderful perspective on the Magic Kingdom as well.

Often times, we see the keel boats as a part of Liberty Square. I would argue that they feel more at home with a backdrop of Frontierland or Tom Sawyer’s Island, like this photograph of the Bertha Mae, but that’s just my opinion. In this photo we are clearly in Liberty Square, and you can see a line of people queued up in front of The Yankee Trader, now Momento Mori. Could they be waiting to get into the Haunted Mansion or a chance to take their turn aboard the Gullywhumper or Bertha Mae? Either is possible given the location of the crowd, but the Haunted Mansion is more likely. The romantic in me hopes it was for a cruise aboard the double-decker keel boats.

Further beyond The Yankee Trader, the foliage that divides Liberty Square and Fantasyland hasn’t yet created a natural barrier between the two lands. The happy coincidence from this lack of greenery is that we can see the side of the Swiss chalet that was home to the Skyway to Tomorrowland. In fact, as the trees and shrubs would grow up, much of the detail that can be seen here (and it is limited to do the distance the photograph was taken from) would have been swallowed up and very rarely seen, except by those in line for a ride aboard the Skyway. A section of the Skyway can even be glimpsed rising above and behind The Yankee Trader and Columbia Harbour House.

The photograph of the Gullywhumper, featured further up in the article, is almost obscured by the stately manor overlooking the river from the hill. In later years, The Haunted Mansion would have landscaping that intentionally highlighted the decay and disrepair of the grounds. At this point in time, however, you can see well-manicured green spaces and lovely, if overgrown, shrubs lining the riverbank. The dilapidation is left to the Gullywhumper, though it looks far better than its namesake vessel that set sail on the Disneyland program decades before.

Maybe it is my fondness for Frontierland that came from spending my formative years at Fort Wilderness, or the Davy Crockett episodes of Disneyland that spurred me into dressing as the King of the Wild Frontier for several Halloweens, but the keel boats were always something I loved to see on the Rivers of America. Tom Sawyer’s rafts and the Liberty Belle keep that spirit alive even today, but whenever I’m admiring the watery boundary of Frontierland and Liberty Square I always let my imagination play and remember what it looked like when Mike Fink and his boats worked the river.

Get This Wagon Train A-Movin'

As we have all found ways of coping with the pandemic, Disney has done their best to provide at home projects and things to lighten the heaviness of the disease ravaging our population. One of the ways they have done this is through releasing recipes of some of their dishes that have been scaled down, and in some cases modified, for home consumption. Among these are some tried, true, and well-known recipes, such as Tonga Toast or the Canadian Cheddar Cheese Soup. One newcomer to Walt Disney World, and to the collection of official recipes, is the Totchos from Woody’s Lunch Box. A fairly straight-forward and simple recipe, we decided to give it a go in our kitchen.

To start with you have to create the Chili with Beans and the Queso Sauce. The Chili with Beans, like any good chili, takes a while to come together, but it can also rest on a warm burner while you prepare the remainder of the dish. The Queso Sauce is an easy component to throw together and can be completed while you’re baking your tater tots.

I’m also going to say right now I have trouble using the Disney phrase ‘potato barrels’ when I’ve known them my whole life as, and the bags at the grocery store are listed as, tater tots. For that reason, you’ll see a lot of ‘tater tots,’ not ‘potato barrels’ in this recipe, but you’re free to call them what you like.

CHILI WITH BEANS

Ingredients:

1 Pound Lean Ground Beef

1 Medium Yellow Onion (finely chopped)

3 Cloves Garlic (minced)

1 Can Crushed Tomatoes (14.5 oz.)

1 Can Tomato Sauce (15 oz.)

1 Can Kidney Beans (15 oz.; drained)

2 Tbsps. Chili Powder

1 Tbsp. Ground Cumin

1 Tbsp. Coarse Salt

Black Pepper (to taste)

Ground Cayenne (to taste)

Directions:

Brown ground beef in a 5-6 quart Dutch oven, or large pot, over medium heat until fully cooked.

Drain off excess grease.

Add onion and garlic and sauté for 5-7 minutes, until onion is translucent.

Add crushed tomatoes, tomato sauce, kidney beans, chili powder, and cumin. Simmer for 20 minutes. Add salt.

Add black pepper and cayenne, as needed.

Keep warm until ready to serve.

QUESO SAUCE

Ingredients:

2 Cups Jar Cheese Sauce

1 Can Diced Tomatoes with Chilies (10 oz.)

Directions:

Place cheese sauce and diced tomatoes with chilies in small saucepan.

Cook over low heat for 10 minutes, until warm.

Keep warm until ready to serve.

The chili itself is pretty similar to my own chili, with a couple of changes, but I knew the flavors I was dealing with. As you can see in the photo above, this makes a hearty, chunky chili, not a soup or stew. This consistency is key to the Totchos. We actually had many of the ingredients already in our house, and I imagine many of you do as well, making this an easy dish to throw together. One of the few items we actually had to get was the jar of cheese sauce. Now, on to the main attraction!

TOTCHOS

Ingredients:

1 Bag Frozen Tater Tots (2 pounds)

1½  Cups Corn Chips

Chili with Beans

Queso Sauce

¾ Cup Cheddar Cheese (shredded)

6 Tbsps. Sour Cream

2 Tbsps. Green Onions (thinly sliced)

Directions:

Cook Tater Tots according to package instructions.

Divide tots into 6 bowls.

Place ¼ cup each of corn chips, chili with beans, and queso sauce on top of each bowl of tater tots.

Top each bowl with 2 tablespoons shredded cheese, 1 tablespoon sour cream, and 1 teaspoon green onions.

The directions are for a serving size of 6, but both the Chili with Beans and Queso Sauce keep just fine in the fridge for several days, so don’t worry if you aren’t serving 6 people at once. Also, only make enough tater tots for those you are serving the Totchos too. Last note, while they give you specifications for shredded cheddar cheese, sour cream, and green onions, you know your palate, use these toppings as you would like.

This is a hearty meal that will fill you up and then some. Depending on your use of cayenne and chili powder, as well as the heat level of the jar of cheese you use, there is a definite kick to the Totchos. It wasn’t sweat inducing to me, but just they way I like to get a kick in the taste buds. The creamier components soften up the corn chips and mush up with the tots, but the different textures and flavors just give this a fun feel to me.

The Totchos would be perfect on a chilly autumn night by the fire or for a warm summer backyard campout. With all of the ingredients, it also allows for personalization and can get the little chefs, or favorite deputies, in your house in on the fun. I hope you put on your favorite Toy Story movie or soundtrack and give this little dish a try!

Fracture Shakespeare

In September of 2014 the World Showcase Players wheeled their cart of props out onto the lane of the United Kingdom one last time. The comedic storytelling troupe could be seen in the UK and Italy pavilions, and were billed as, “A troupe of comedy actors fracture Shakespeare and other playwrights with your help.” Their stories always included audience participation, not just with the casts ability to improvise responses to the crowd and call-and-repeats, but by the actors and actresses literally pulling audience members in to perform with them. The tales of Romeo and Edna and King Arthur and the Holy Grail were the most common productions, with titles usually tweaked to highlight the name of the guest who has joined the skit, but other stories were wheeled out regularly as well.

There are a couple of reasons that the sketch comedy shows linger so merrily in our memories. For one, during the early years of EPCOT Center, characters were few and far between. The culture, or caricatures as this case may be, were key components of the entertainment offerings of the park. Secondly, and perhaps more importantly, they were engaging and incredibly funny, especially if they happened to pick someone from your party or family to be the focal point of their shenanigans. Their cheek would start early with their town crier type of advertising something outlandish, such as free ale, before letting everyone in on the gag and starting their performance.

During the first few years of EPCOT Center, the group was known as Ye Olde Globe Players and came to Walt Disney World from St. Paul, Minnesota. Over the years many performers made their way through the group, including several faces that were familiar to long time Adventurers Club patrons. In the mid-1990s he United Kingdom pavilion became their main home and toward the end of the decade they were renamed World Showcase Players.

The world Showcase Players final performance in 2014 coincided with an overhaul of entertainment offerings throughout World Showcase, including the transition away from Off Kilter and Mo’ Rockin’. For multiple reasons, it appears that Epcot is in a state of entertainment evolution once again. I, for one, wouldn’t be opposed to see this early, and long running, troupe make another tour around the promenade.

I've Climbed a Mountain

Before we start today, I want to recognize that it has been months since you’ve heard from me. As most of you know by now, that was due in large part to personal health concerns, health disparities that frankly get better or worse almost daily and never, ever leave me, but I try not to let that be an excuse for not showing up in all aspects of my life. I had originally planned to relaunch with articles at the beginning of the month, but the world has other, more important ideas to contend with. For those of you who have been following me on social media, and have stuck with me when I used my privilege and voice to speak out, thank you. You can expect more of the same going forward. If that isn’t your cup of tea, you are more than welcome to cease following the Gazette as we believe that the lives and rights of our black, brown, indigenous, LGBTQIA brothers, sisters, or however they identify should be equitable and that justice is not just theoretical, but a way in which we should all strive to live.

That leads us into today’s discussion. Again, I had decided that I would restart articles in July, but the world, this time the Disney world, had other ideas. By now you should have seen that Disney will be undertaking a refurbishment of Splash Mountain in both Disneyland and Walt Disney World, giving the attraction a, likely, new name and a theme that picks up with Tiana and the characters from The Princess and the Frog after the film has ended. The swift approval, but more importantly, the swift denouncement of the move is what has sparked me to start click-clacking away at the keyboard. Let’s start with the benign and work our way up, shall we?

Land placement here seems like a lot of pluses for Disneyland and huge downsides for the Magic Kingdom. Honestly, as far as Disneyland goes, with this attraction living in Critter Country and on the boarder of New Orleans Square, I’m totally fine with the entire land being absorbed by New Orleans Square. Let Hungry Bear Restaurant become a second, fast-casual Tiana’s Place and take the beloved stuff ‘n fluff Pooh to a new home and let The Rescuers have an attraction here. All of this is far flung, but the point is there is a lot of potential when it comes to Disneyland for this attraction’s surroundings.

The Magic Kingdom, where Splash Mountain resides in Frontierland, has a few more bumps to contend with. For starters, those who claim that there aren’t any mountains in the bayou, you’re absolutely correct. However, there also aren’t a lot of mountains in Atlanta either, which is where the characters in Splash Mountain hail from, and Louisiana is further west than Georgia. Tom Sawyer Island, a fixture of Frontierland, resides in Missouri, along the same bank of the Mississippi as Louisiana. The aforementioned Mississippi is the inspiration for the riverboat and the Rivers of America. Cobble that all together with a Monument Valley-inspired runaway mine train and a street that looks like something akin to Tombstone, and you have one big mess, no doubt about it, but this new attraction doesn’t muddy the situation any more or less than what is currently there. If anything, pulling Splash Mountain further west, where there are little hills instead of mountains, at least makes the attraction an appropriate gateway to the frontier.

Disney stated that the idea of replacing Splash Mountain and the characters from Song of the South with a story that builds off of The Princess and the Frog for over a year, a claim that was bolstered by Imagineer Scott Trowbridge. There are those that think it is Disney yielding to public pressure or that their being opportunistic given the current climate. Regardless of reason or how long the project has been in the works, it is the right move.

When Splash Mountain opened in 1989 in Disneyland, Uncle Remus was removed as the narrator and replaced with Br’er Frog, basically an anthropomorphic version of Uncle Remus without the negative connotations. It may surprise many, but the last time Song of the South was aired in the United States, without the Tar Baby sequence, was in December of 2001. Beginning in 2010, CEO Bob Iger has taken a strong stance on the movie, calling it “fairly offensive” and “not appropriate in today’s world.” It has not been released during his tenure and earlier this year he stated that the film will never be released on Disney+.

With the removal of Remus many think the problems were all cleaned up and that the story of the Laughin’ Place was safe for public consumption, but the problems are still numerous. Perhaps chief amongst these is the keynote song from the movie and attraction, Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah. Yes, the song is catchy, and yes it did win the Academy Award for Best Original Song in 1947, but it would be foolish to think we have not changed in the 73 years since then. For starters, the song has its roots in minstrel shows. Two of the recurring characters in these performances were Jim Crow, a slave, and a dandy named Zip Coon, both of which were portrayed by white performers in blackface. Zip would sing a song, to the tune of Turkey in the Straw, which included lines such as, “O Zip a duden, duden, duden, zip a duden day.” Sound familiar? The minstrel shows treated black people as animals, often referring hair as wool, their speech as bleating, and their children using a slur that included the word cubs, and were incredibly popular throughout the 1830s through to 1910s, but lasted as viable entertainment until the 1970s.

You may not have encountered the history of the minstrel shows in your education, but that doesn’t make their vileness any less harmful to the individuals and communities who hear Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah and feel more than a passing sting of dread, or anger, or whatever combinations of emotion that type of portrayal bubbles up to the surface. Now, think about how the Disney community has embraced that song as a feel-good standard and used it for everything from merchandise to the names of communities, blogs, vlogs, and the like.

I have said it before, every attraction is someone’s favorite attraction, and in the case of Splash Mountain it has many, many fans. That doesn’t mean it isn’t time to say goodbye to it, to let the parks evolve and grow, just as this is a moment for us all to reflect, educate ourselves, evolve, and grow. You have cherished memories of Splash Mountain, and no one can take away your memories, but to use your memories as a banner against replacing something that hurts someone else is unconscionable.

After the debacle that was fitting Test Track into the former World of Motion attraction space, Disney had claimed that they were done trying to shoehorn new attractions into old spaces, but we’ve seen it time and again, most recently with Frozen Ever After and Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway. Now, it looks as if we’re going to get a similar treatment with Splash Mountain and The Princess and the Frog. I’ll reserve final judgement on the new attraction for when we actually see it, but to take an attraction that stands as a smack in the face to the black community and make it into something that celebrates Disney’s first black princess, is a strong statement and one that I can fully get behind.

Bright Suns

It seems that just about everywhere there has been cold, blustery, and downright gross weather to start the day off recently. With that in mind, we’ve been transforming our kitchen into the breakfast nook of Batuu to whip up a pair of warm beverages that are sure to make you forget about the dreariness right outside your door and transport you to a distant system where the suns are rising.

The first drink we’re whipping up is the Bantha Chai, a specialty for all of those who are looking for a new way to enjoy blue milk and need something a little warm to start their days off right.

BANTHA CHAI

Ingredients:

2 Cups Rice Milk (or milk of your choice)

1 Blue Butterfly Pea Tea Bag

1 Inch Fresh Ginger Root (thinly sliced)

2 Tsps. Arrowroot Powder

1 Pinch Ground Cardamom

1 Pinch Ground Mace

Sugar (to taste)

Directions:

Whisk together the milk and arrowroot powder in a small saucepan.

Place over medium-low heat.

Add remaining ingredients and allow to heat until steaming, whisking occasionally.

Let the mixture steep for 5 minutes. Look for blue coloring and the strong smell of spices.

Remove from heat.

Remove tea bag from mixture.

Strain into a clean mug.

This one is fairly straightforward, although the critical step is in removing the tea bag before straining. I, and my kitchen, learned that lesson the hard way. This has a strong taste of ginger, with the cardamom and mace coming in mostly as an aftertaste. I would definitely make this again, as it has a wonderful warming quality the comes not only from being a hot beverage, but also the spices that make it a perfect addition to a fall or winter line-up. The only thing I may change would be the rice milk, which I would consider replacing with regular milk (2%), as the rice milk has a thinner feel in my mouth than I would like. If you can’t find blue butterfly pea tea bags or arrowroot powder from your local grocery store, both are easy to find on Amazon.

Moving on to something a bit more high-octane, the Sunrise Caf is the Batuu version of an amped up latte.

SUNRISE CAF

Ingredients:

1 Cup Prepared Black Coffee

1/2 Cup Milk

1/4 Cup Heavy Cream

1 Tbsps. Coconut Oil

2 Tsps. Turmeric Powder

½ Tsps. Five-Spice Powder

Brown Sugar or Other Sweetener (to taste)

Directions:

Combine coffee, milk, coconut oil, five-spice powder, and 1 teaspoon of turmeric powder in a small saucepan.

Place over medium heat.

Heat until steaming, but not bubbling, then remove from heat.

Let mixture infuse for about 5 minutes.

In a small jar or cocktail shaker, combine the heavy cream and the remaining teaspoon of turmeric powder.

Shake the heavy cream and turmeric for approximately 30 seconds, until somewhat thickened.

Pour coffee mixture into a mug, sweeten to taste, and top with thickened turmeric cream.

This has a great flavor to it, but the coconut oil always seemed to be leaving a layer of oil atop of the concoction. With some trial and error, we found that blending together the mixture ever so briefly in a blender before topping with the cream helps to alleviate some of that separation. The turmeric gives it a strong curry-like taste, so if this isn't a flavor spectrum that you enjoy, this may not be the hot beverage for you. For us though, it was delicious. Also, you should use whatever coffee tastes best to you for this recipe, although I would hesitate to utilize anything that is flavored. For our take on this classic from Batuu, we opted to use Joffrey’s Organic Peru Alto Mayo coffee.

While Batuu may be known for its cocktails and novel approach to blue and green milk, these two recipes from Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge: The Official Black Spire Outpost Cookbook are welcoming in an entirely different way. Neither is overly complicated to prepare and both have something to offer when there is dreary or chilly weather outside, no matter what corner of the galaxy you reside in! I hope you’ll give them a try and let us know what you think.

Who Says We're Not Going Anywhere

Let’s get off of our high horse and share a little knowledge when it comes to the carousels of the Magic Kingdom and Disneyland. The Prince Charming Regal Carousel, at the Magic Kingdom, and the King Arthur Carousel, in Disneyland, both feature a wide array of beautiful crafted and uniquely decorated and named horses. Yet, one horse on each carousel has a special story to tell.

At Disneyland, that horse is Jingles. Jingles can be found quite easily as it sits on the outer ring of horses and is covered by a copious number of jingle bell straps, a blanket with Mary Poppins’ umbrella on it, and a shield that includes the number 50 and a silhouette of Mary Poppins herself, amongst other icons. Jingles has always been considered the lead horse, but in April of 2008 it was officially dedicated in honor of Julie Andrews. The horse was also featured in Saving Mr. Banks as the horse that P.L. Travers, portrayed by Emma Thompson, rode when she visited Disneyland with Walt Disney, aka Tom Hanks.

Meanwhile, a coast over at the Magic Kingdom, a horse with a laurel of roses with a golden ribbon trussed up in its tail is the horse of Cinderella. It sits in the second row of horses, near the carousel’s traveling bench, so its presence isn’t as pronounced as Jingles. All of which only makes it that much more special to find and take a ride with.

Here is where I’ll make a personal plea, whether you’re visiting Disneyland or Walt Disney World, search out these special horses and take a spin around the carousel, however, when you’re done find a small child in the next group and share the secret with them. My wife and I did this very thing last year, and while a trip on the carousel is always a nostalgic good time, it was the light in the young girl’s eyes when we told her the story and showed her where the horse was that made that morning truly magical for us. I can almost certainly guarantee that it will do the same for you.

Elegant Yet Unpretentious

When I’m at Walt Disney World, I tend to shy away from sit-down breakfasts. I’m much more of a get up and crash the gates, get as much done as I can, and then relax someplace cool once the heat of the day rises up, which leave little time to sit down and enjoy the most important meal of the day properly. Typically, we reserve sit down breakfasts for the morning we arrive or the morning we are departing. The tradition has served us well, but there’s a meal at the Grand Floridian Café that may cause me to reconsider my time-honored by pass of breakfast.

Chicken and waffles are nothing new to most diners, heck even Walt Disney World has been serving up the southern favorite in some form or fashion for the better part of a decade. The history of the dish goes back even further, taking root in the 1800s in Philadelphia, before moving south and west by the early 1900s. The finer points of its history, and where the best version of the dish can be found, is altogether another topic, but suffice it to say that the Grand Floridian Café has found a way to put their own spin on this classic meal.

The Grand Floridian Café’s version is listed simply as Buttermilk-Fried Chicken and Waffle, and comes with a hand-breaded, boneless chicken breast, a malted waffle with cherrywood-smoked bacon, and is covered with a sriracha-honey drizzle. The portion size is ridiculous. The waffle is larger around than my face. The chicken breast is larger around than my face. Together, the main components are almost the size of my head. The chicken and waffles are definitely large enough to share, and yet everyone who tries it intentionally tries to hoard it for themselves, because it is just that tasty.

The waffle is wonderful, with a crispy outside and fluffy inside that neither burnt, nor doughy. The bacon in the waffle tends to slip by my palate, particularly when I have a bite that also includes chicken, which why wouldn’t a bite have both waffle and chicken, but the smoked flavor from the cherrywood comes through. The chicken is juicy, with a breading that is crispy and well-seasoned. While pieces of it may slide off due to the inclusion of the drizzle, or as you saw your way through the breast, the breading does a nice job of maintaining its consistency. Last, but certainly not least, the sriracha-honey drizzle provides a back of your through tickle heat, while also being sweet enough to make you forget all about wanting to add maple syrup to the mix.

If there is a secret to the Grand Floridian Café’s Buttermilk-Fried Chicken and Waffle, it is that you aren’t just resigned to ordering it for breakfast, as it is also served up during the restaurant’s lunch time. The chicken and waffles are large and will definitely put you in a food coma, making it a hearty way to start your day or the perfect pre-nap meal. No matter when you seek out this dish, just be sure that you do!