News update: New Disney breakfasts, Universal return tix, and SeaWorld food fest

January 17, 2017, 11:17 AM · Following Walt Disney World's decision to reopen Main Street USA in the mornings before the Magic Kingdom opens officially, Disney is adding new breakfast options on and near Main Street to accommodate hungry guests while they wait for the rope drop.

Magic Kingdom guests soon will find additional breakfast options at Casey's Corner and the Plaza Ice Cream Parlor on Main Street and at Sleepy Hollow, just off the hub in Liberty Square. Casey's will croissant donuts, bagels, muffins, and a hash brown hot dog. The ice cream parlor will serve Mickey waffles, donuts, and cold cereal from Disney partner Kellogg's. If you want to mash up breakfast with the parlor's typical fare, go for the new donut sundae, which includes a donut topped your choice of ice cream, plus hot fudge, apple topping, peanut butter and chocolate chips, and whipped cream and a cherry. And Sleepy Hollow is adding an egg, ham, and tomato waffle sandwich to its breakfast menu. The new items will be available "in the coming weeks," according to Disney.

Universal Orlando announced last week that its new Race Through New York with Jimmy Fallon ride would offer return time tickets, available at kiosks and through the official Universal Orlando app. Well, it appears that Universal is not waiting until the Fallon ride's debut on April 6 to introduce its new "Virtual Line" service to Universal Studios Florida. A return time ticket option showed up today on Universal's app for Despicable Me Minion Mayhem. Just navigate to that ride's listing on the app, select your party size and return time, and you're booked. As of now, Minion Mayhem is the only Universal Orlando attraction offering the virtual queue.

SeaWorld Orlando today announced details of its all-new Seven Seas Food Festival, which will offer concerts and food stands on 14 consecutive Saturdays from Feb. 11 through May 13. Here is the menu:

Asian Market- Peking Duck Lo Mein with Fresh Oriental Vegetables
Korean Market- Bingsu Salted Vanilla Ice Cream topped with Caramel Popcorn
Mexican Market- Braised Chicken Adobo with Mole Sauce
Caribbean Market- Cinnamon Slow Roasted Pork Belly with Sweet Plantain Mash
Florida Market- Fried Kataifi Orange drizzled with Local Honey
Mediterranean Market- Smoked Cured Salmon topped with Sweet Dill Mustard
North Atlantic Market- Banana & Caramel Cheesecake topped with Whipped Cream & Caramelized Bananas
Brazilian Market- Brazilian Churrasco with Chimichurri & Garbanzo Frito
Pacific Coast Market- Braised Pork Cheeks with Savory Apple Polenta
Polynesian Island Market- "Loco Moco" Grilled Spam, White Rice, Scrambled Egg & Brown Gravy
Gulf Coast Market- Southern Creamy Cheese Grits with a Blackened Shrimp

And here are the concert headliners:

Lynyrd Skynyrd (February 11)
Lee Brice (February 18)
Bill Engvall (Feb 25)
Styx (March 4)
Justin Moore (March 11)
ZZ Top (March 18)
Phillip Phillips (March 25)
TBA (April 1)
Village People (April 8)
Commodores (April 15)
Oscar D’León (April 22)
Olga Tanon (April 29)
Grupo Mania (May 6)
TBA (May 13)

The concerts are included with park admission, but SeaWorld's pass members can buy reserved seating starting Jan. 19. Look for information via email or visit seaworldorlando.com/SevenSeas.

Replies (10)

January 18, 2017 at 8:10 AM · Universal Despicable Me TM's told Seth Kubersky (Touring Plans, Universal & Disney unofficial Guides) that the DM queue virtual line is a "two week test". ....Just guessing, but this just might be a test for the Fallon attraction which is getting close to a soft opening.....I would seriously doubt Universal adopts virtual queue for more than a few attractions. For one, they've invested a lot into elaborate queues that are almost as good as the rides themselves. And, Universal makes a ton selling Express passes in the parks and gets a premium price for deluxe hotel rooms that include free hotel express. Virtual queue will be used for Fallon initially. And, if that works OK, they might expand it to a couple of other attractions, but not more than that.
January 17, 2017 at 8:36 PM · Has anybody seen the virtual queue in action? I'm assuming Express Pass goes first, followed by virtual ticket holders, and then standby? I've heard Fallon won't have standby though. Still wonder if that is going to cause empty seats if they have to hold a certain number for Express Passes.
January 17, 2017 at 9:13 PM · You had me at hash brown hot dog
January 17, 2017 at 10:56 PM · TBA are the best band. No wonder they've been booked twice.
January 18, 2017 at 8:16 AM · Attraction Ops Nerd here....

Despicable ME loads into a pre-show and not the theater. This gives them time to fill as many seats as they can with whichever Guests available. It also lets them manage their queues by loading more from one or another into the pre-show.

Examples:
Load up Express, Virtual, and Stand by in equal thirds.

Load half Express, a quarter Virtual Queue, and a quarter Stand-by.

Load a row of Express, empty the Virtual Queue into every row, and fill the last seats with Stand-by.

January 18, 2017 at 9:46 AM · Ian - Hate to disappoint you, but every time I have tried to go see them, they've been replaced by another act. Very frustrating.
January 18, 2017 at 9:53 AM · Minion Mayhem does need the virtual queue. We waited over an hour for that frickin' ride.
January 18, 2017 at 10:50 AM · Even though the food items at Sea World's food festival sound nearly as pretentious as DCA's, somehow they sound more appealing. I'm most looking forward to Knott's Boysenberry Festival, spicy boysenberry bbq wings - yum!
January 19, 2017 at 8:52 AM · I have a sweet tooth but I have to say that that donut sundae sounds disgusting..can you imagine the sugared out kids at 9am...what a nightmare.

I plan on doing the Sea World Seven Seas food fest, with an annual pass I don't have to try to sample everything in one day and that spam dish from Polynesia does sound interesting.

January 19, 2017 at 1:03 PM · My guess is that the new Jimmy Fallon ride will only be accessible via virtual queue. Notice how the queue does not imply that it's faster, it implies that is THE way this ride loads guests. Of course, based on the method, it will be faster than a typical standby type of queue. This strategy will increase the adoption of the Universal mobile app with guests. Surely they will have a digital kiosk near the ride for people who do not wish to use the app. I actually like this strategy as it's a win-win for everyone!

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