#The Golden Dome at Epcot

[imagistation]

Happy Wonders of Life Day! Fan art doodle made to celebrate the Golden Dome at Epcot! Rushed but happy I could make something!

[themythinglink]

Goodbye Test Track 2.0; Welcome Test Track 3.0!

After 11+ years as one of Walt Disney World's most popular attractions, Test Track 2.0 at Epcot is yielding to Test Track 3.0, arriving in 2025. To mark the passing of the torch, here's the Test Track 2.0 case study from my book Every Guest is a Hero: Disney's Theme Parks and the Magic of Mythic Storytelling (available from Amazon.com). Happy roads!

Image Copyright 2024 - Walt Disney Company

Life in the Fast Lane Test Track Presented by Chevrolet

by Adam M. Berger

It’s natural to think of Future World as the Epcot equivalent of Tomorrowland. In their original incarnations, the Tomorrowlands of Disneyland and Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom were direct expressions of Walt Disney’s optimistic vision of the future. The same can be said of Future World. Unfortunately, like its Tomorrowland cousins, Future World continuously transforms into “Today World” as scientific and technological advances catch up to, and sometimes even surpass, the once-visionary attractions. All too soon, what was originally considered revolutionary and cutting-edge starts to seem commonplace or even quaint.

The Disney Imagineers eventually made a creative end-run around the problem of keeping the “tomorrow” in Tomorrowland. At Disneyland and in the Magic Kingdom, they re-imagined the land as an intergalactic spaceport, with nostalgic, retro-futuristic theming inspired by early 20th century concepts of the things to come. Hong Kong Disneyland’s Tomorrowland opened with a similar “spaceport” theme already in place. And Disneyland Paris’ version of Tomorrowland, known as “Discoveryland,” has also relied on the retro-futuristic approach all along, though its thematic direction takes its cues from the imaginations of Victorian-era science fiction writers Jules Verne and H.G. Wells.[1] By adopting this “futures past” direction, the Imagineers assured that Tomorrowland would always possess the same timeless quality as the parks’ other lands.

No such re-theming option exists at fact-based Epcot, where Future World’s attractions must be “refreshed” every so often or risk becoming laughably outdated. That’s why every current attraction in Future World has undergone at least one significant overhaul over the years. In at least two cases, the attractions have gone away entirely: Horizons was completely demolished to make way for Mission: SPACE, while the golden dome that once housed Wonders of Life was divested of its attractions, becoming an all-purpose special events venue.

Though the cavernous, silver-skinned cylinder that now serves as the home of Test Track Presented by Chevrolet is the same iconic structure that has stood on the site since Epcot (then known as “EPCOT Center”) first opened its gates in October 1982, the experience inside has twice undergone some of the most dramatic changes of any attraction in Future World. Yet in every iteration, the mythic energy of the Hero’s Journey has always resonated strongly, contributing to the popularity of all three occupants of the venue. 

The first of those occupants was World of Motion Presented by General Motors. The theme—and theme song—was “It’s fun to be free,” which set the upbeat tone for a whimsical, slow-moving jaunt through the history of transportation, from primitive foot-power to futuristic mass transit systems. Most of the mythic Journey was concentrated on the Road of Trials stage (experienced in the ride as a literal road) with frequent embedded threshold crossings as Guests skipped from one historical era to the next, encountering new transportation developments with each transition. Eventually, their Journey led them to the Inmost Cave—a “speed tunnel” sequence in which projected point-of-view action footage was combined with wind effects and the motion of the Omnimover ride vehicle to impart a semi-effective sensation of tremendous acceleration.

In 1999, the time-travel storyline was replaced by an entirely new transportation-based theme as World of Motion became GM Test Track and the leisurely excursion through transportation history was supplanted by “the thrill of safety-testing a prototype vehicle on a variable speed, multi-surface, multi-environment testing course.” The all-new experience featured a Road of Trials that was composed of a series of harrowing safety tests, including an Inmost Cave encounter that involved a near-collision with a semi-trailer truck inside a cave-like tunnel, and a high-speed Return sequence along an outdoor raceway.

In late 2012, GM Test Track was “reimagined” as Test Track Presented by Chevrolet, with the focus on auto safety testing giving way to a storyline centered on the art and technology of automotive design. While the thrills and dynamism remain the same and the ride vehicles reflect only cosmetic changes, the new show narrative, along with every aspect of the thematic design, creates an all-new experience—one that taps directly into the modern myths of cyberspace and telecommunications (see Chapter 17: To Infinity…and Beyond!).

Your Test Track 2.0[2] Journey begins as you enter Test Track Plaza in Future World East, where you get a preliminary glimpse of the design-centered experience awaiting you inside the great wheel-shaped show building. Your first hint of this stylish Special World is the aerodynamic blue “speed form” sculpture mounted above the attraction marquee. The gleaming sculpture, as you will soon learn, represents an idealized automotive shape and is similar to speed forms created by professional automotive designers as they envision tomorrow’s vehicles. Though you may not realize it yet, speed forms like this one will play a foundational role during your Test Track adventure.

The speed form’s abstract-looking shape also offers another clue about what’s to come, with its subtly curved or “bowed” lines soon to be echoed in the architecture, scenic design, graphics, display media, and throughout the Guest-interactive portions of the pre-show experience. You can already discern it in the design of the graphic banners suspended around the plaza. In this sense, the marquee sculpture is very much a mythic herald, announcing that the first stage of your Hero’s Journey is fast approaching, if not already underway.

In Test Track Plaza, you are also exposed for the first time to the attraction’s inspirational background music score—an upbeat, minimalist composition that’s as clean and streamlined as the marquee speed form. The music is frequently punctuated by the roar of the “Sim Car” ride vehicles as they zoom overhead at white-knuckle speeds, one after another, along a portion of the exterior “Turbo Track.” It’s a pulse-quickening preview of the Return movement of your forthcoming Journey. But first, you have a major threshold to cross as you accept your Call to Adventure and enter the Special World of the attraction’s pre-show experience.[3]

Passing through the building entrance, you find yourself transported to the sleekly modernistic setting of a contemporary automotive design facility. Here, you can see the bowed line of the marquee sculpture expressed throughout the space’s interior design—in the rounded walls and ceiling treatment, in the graceful swoop of the wing wall, and in the softly angled portals and frames. The room’s evocative lighting draws your attention to the several full-size concept vehicles that populate the facility, along with a number of vehicle models, speed forms, and video displays. Meanwhile, the stylishly minimalistic background music continues, taking on a slightly different character from area to area to complement the displays in each zone.

This is your introduction to the Special World of automotive design—an actual profession that you and many of your fellow adventurers may never have given any thought to until now. You may feel like a stranger in a strange land, surrounded by esoteric imagery and ideas that have little connection to your daily life in the Ordinary World. But that’s the essential purpose of the mythic Special World: to take the hero out of her element, prodding her to learn “the lay of the land” in a new and unfamiliar setting.

Studying the pre-show models, videos, concept cars, and graphics, no one could blame you for feeling somewhat overwhelmed—and possibly even a bit intimidated—by the highly technical nature of the displays. Every new display you come upon only reinforces your suspicion that you are totally out of your league, and you may even begin to wonder if you should have refused the Call to Adventure that brought you here in the first place.

Despite your possible misgivings, like any true hero you press ahead with your Journey. Soon enough, your perseverance is rewarded as you begin to recognize a pattern emerging in your surroundings. Specifically, you notice an emphasis on the idea of “Performance Attributes,” along with the recurrence of the words “Capability,” “Efficiency,” “Responsiveness,” and “Power.” It becomes increasingly clear that these terms have significance in this Special World, and will no doubt play an important role later in your adventure.

Congratulations! By simply moving forward through the pre-show queue, observing and absorbing your surroundings along the way (rather than abandoning your Journey, thank you very much), you have proven yourself worthy of crossing the next threshold. That transition takes you into a rotunda-like chamber featuring a “blank” speed form on a pedestal. Behind the model, a wall-mounted media screen features a montage of individuals, young and old, who take turns describing the cars of their dreams. Interspersed among these brief monologues are equally brief vignettes of auto designers speaking candidly and enthusiastically about their professions. As they speak, the blank speed form becomes a projection surface onto which are mapped a succession of images illustrating the on-screen comments.

The presentation is not just engaging; it also casts the subject of automotive design in a whole new context, humanizing it and making this abstruse topic suddenly accessible. At this point, it may dawn on you that the automobile designers in this presentation are not so different from you and your fellow adventurers. Yes, they bring certain specialized skills to their profession. But more than anything else, it is their passion—their love of great design and their enthusiasm for all things automotive—that propels them in their individual creative Journeys. They are the heroes who have gone before you, blazing a trail in this Special World, and their personal stories now serve as a catalyst and inspiration for your own Journey.

Though it may be far from obvious at first, every part of your trek through the queue thus far has been in preparation for the Supreme Ordeal that awaits you a few moments from now within the Inmost Cave. Those preparations have largely dealt with acclimating you to the rarefied realm in which expert automotive designers dwell. Up to this point, the familiarization process has been a strictly hands-off experience. But now that’s about to change as you enter a section of the queue known as the “Line Interactive Room.” Here, your experience becomes hands-on in the most literal sense as you pause at one of the four large, wall-mounted touchscreen displays.

Following a set of simple on-screen prompts, you can practice drawing a gestural line and then watch as your line defines the profile of an automotive speed form. You can then manipulate various “grab points” along your profile line to change the shape of the virtual speed form. As you shape and re-shape the onscreen speed form, you can see how each change affects the four Performance Attributes. (Yes, as you had earlier suspected, those Attributes—“Capability,” “Efficiency,” “Responsiveness,” and “Power”—have come into play…and not for the last time, either.) Though your training here in the Line Interactive Room is brief, the new skills you develop in the process will prove vital as you begin your Supreme Ordeal. But first, a few words from your mentor. 

Often in the structure of the mythic Hero’s Journey, the Meeting with the Mentor occurs early in the adventure—sometimes even before the Crossing of the First Threshold. But in Test Track 2.0, your first encounter with your mentor takes place in the lobby outside the Chevrolet Design Studio—the Inmost Cave of your Journey. During his Approach to the Inmost Cave, the hero may be aided by one or more allies. Your mythic ally in this lobby space is a friendly Test Track Cast Member, who presents you with a magical talisman: a “Design Key” card that will unlock the power of the touchscreen Design Station kiosk for you as you are challenged to design your own virtual Chevrolet Custom Concept Vehicle.[4] Yes, as you may have already begun to suspect, your aptitude as an automotive designer is about to be put to the test. The specifics of the task ahead are explained by the soothing, disembodied voice of your mentor, accompanied by the helpful graphic animation that plays across a set of media displays mounted above the automatic doors leading into the two identical Design Studios.

The interior of the Chevrolet Design Studio is about as sleek and stylish as any Inmost Cave could hope to be. The chamber is bathed in cool, blue light, while the touchscreen panels on the banks of the Design Station kiosks radiate a beckoning glow. Drawing on the sage advice of your mentor moments earlier, you locate your assigned kiosk and touch your Design Key to the kiosk’s Touch Reader. The machine responds approvingly, having judged you worthy enough to face the Supreme Ordeal.

As Supreme Ordeals go, this one proves to be a lot more fun than arduous. Thanks to your earlier experience in the Line Interactive Room, you find you have already mastered one of the initial tasks: drawing the gestural line that will define the profile of your Custom Concept Vehicle. But then, as the base speed form materializes onscreen, you are faced with a cascade of creative decisions involving everything from the width of your vehicle to the number of wheels to the color of the body paint. And, once again, those four Performance Attributes come into play, with many of the design choices you make directly affecting your vehicle’s Capability, Efficiency, Responsiveness, and Power scores. Every choice involves a trade-off of some kind: increase the Power score and you may lower your Efficiency score. Increase the Responsiveness and you may adversely affect the vehicle’s Capability. Finding a happy medium is no easy task, and even then the result may be a design that is not very aesthetically pleasing. Pretty soon you are developing a healthy respect for those who design automobiles for a living.

With time running out, you finalize your Custom Concept Vehicle design as your compatriots around you do the same. In the brief interval before the exit doors open, you may want to pause and appreciate what has just occurred. For in the span of a few minutes, you and your fellow adventurers have successfully completed the Supreme Ordeal. Moreover, when you leave the Inmost Cave, you will no longer be an oblivious neophyte in the Special World of automotive design. The Custom Concept Vehicle that is now associated with your Design Key provides unequivocal proof that you are emerging from the Chevrolet Design Studio as a full-fledged and highly capable automotive designer.

There’s no question that your Custom Concept Vehicle looks terrific. But just how awesome is your design, really? That’s where the next portion of your Journey comes into play. For in a few moments, you will be boarding a Sim Car and putting your design to the test on the Sim Track. As it happens, the digital matrix of the Sim Track is actually a second Inmost Cave, and each Performance Proving Course within this Cave will challenge you (or at least your Custom Concept Car design) with a new Supreme Ordeal.

As Test Track 2.0 amply demonstrates, there’s no rule specifying how many Inmost Caves and Supreme Ordeals can be contained in a single Hero’s Journey. Ultimately, the number and sequence of the stages in any particular Journey are determined by the needs of the Hero. And so, as you arrive at the Sim Car load platform, you touch your Design Key to a designated Touch Reader and confirm that your Custom Concept Vehicle design will be accompanying you, virtually, over the next threshold and into the Inmost Cave of the Sim Track.

As your Sim Car conveys you away from the load platform, you encounter what may very well be one of the most distinctive and dramatic threshold crossings in any Disney theme park. The luminescent, high-tech archway signals a transition into a Special World within a Special World—a wondrous, neon-like electronic themescape of circuit boards and graphic patterns that appears to “rez-up” around you as you ascend the lift hill. But the threshold is only one of several within this digital Inmost Cave, for each Performance Proving Course along the Sim Track is accompanied by its own glowing, ring-shaped portal, along with a Performance Display monitor that compares your Custom Concept Vehicle’s performance to those of your fellow travelers (and to the performance of the Sim Car in which you are all riding).

The first of these four portals—this one belonging to the Capability Proving Course—awaits you at the top of the hill. Passing through the yellow gateway, you plunge into a punishing setting of digital snow, ice, rain, and lightning—elements calculated to reveal how well your Custom Concept Vehicle can handle challenging weather and off-road conditions. Next, a glowing green portal marks the threshold of yet another Inmost Cave as you enter the environmental testing chambers of the Efficiency Proving Course where your Sim Car is scanned to measure your Custom Concept Vehicle’s “enviro impact.”

Emerging from the Enviro Impact Chambers, you pass through a blue portal and are immediately injected onto the Responsiveness Proving Course for a harrowing test of your Custom Concept Vehicle’s steering abilities. Accelerating as it goes, your Sim Car weaves up a switchback mountain road lined with glowing digital trees, boulders, and warning signs before entering an electronic tunnel (yet another Inmost Cave), narrowly avoiding a collision with a laser-rimmed tractor-trailer lurking inside. But as you catch your breath, you realize that one final challenge remains: the Power Proving Course. Your Sim Car rolls to a momentary stop as it energizes in the Power-up Chamber. Directly ahead of you, the purple Power portal begins to glow and pulsate—and suddenly you are hurtling through a set of doors that snap open at the very last second to admit you to the outdoor Turbo Track. Rocketing along the course at white-knuckle speeds, you leave the digital Inmost Cave of the Sim Track behind to commence the Return movement of your Journey.

At last, your Sim Car pulls to a stop alongside the unload platform. You and your Custom Concept Vehicle have endured multiple Supreme Ordeals inside the Sim Track, proving that you have what it takes to be a Hero—at least within the framework of this particular Special World. Yet after you disembark from the ride vehicle, you find that the Return portion of your adventure has only just begun. Fortunately, the road back to the Ordinary World of Future World East is lined with several entertainingly high-tech opportunities to explore the capabilities of your Custom Concept Vehicle, which exists as a virtual talisman of your adventures in the Special World.

Now, in Test Track’s Design Showcase (the attraction’s post-show area), you can use your Design Key to review your Custom Concept Vehicle’s final Performance Attribute score and compare it to those of your fellow adventurers. Nearby, you’ll find Design in Motion, a large rotunda space equipped with interactive kiosks. Here, using your Design Key, you can summon your Custom Concept Vehicle from cyberspace and cast it as the star of a custom 15-second video commercial, complete with music and voiceover narration.

If you are feeling competitive, you can challenge your fellow adventurers to a virtual road race at any of Design Showcase’s three Give it a Spin! stations. Just sidle up to an available console, each of which is equipped with a steering wheel, a throttle arm, and a Touch Reader. Again, your Design Key is your ticket to ride, with your Custom Concept Vehicle zooming around the augmented reality racetrack alongside the virtual vehicles of your opponents. Elsewhere, you can pose for a souvenir photo with a computer-simulated rendering of your Custom Concept Vehicle or an actual Chevrolet car or truck. Finally, you can browse the Test Track logo merchandise and other souvenirs of your Journey in the After Market Shop in pursuit of a physical token of your adventures.

Altogether, the current incarnation of Test Track is not so much about transportation as it is about transformation—the hallmark of every mythic Hero’s Journey. The transformative theme is experienced on several levels. First, there’s the transformation that you witnessed as you evolved a gestural line into a speed form and ultimately into a complete Custom Concept Vehicle ready to be tested on the Sim Track. Then there’s the personal transformation you experienced as you morphed from an outsider and novice into an up-and-coming designer with the skill and insight required to create your own Custom Concept Vehicle.[5]

Test Track 2.0 reminds us that the role of the hero exists on different levels. It’s not always about mortal self-sacrifice. There are other kinds of service that a hero can provide for the benefit of the community. Indeed, like motor vehicles, heroes come in all makes and models. But the first requirement of every hero is a commitment to the quest—the willingness to accept the Call to Adventure and embrace one’s destiny.

Mythologist Joseph Campbell’s oft-quoted advice to “Follow your bliss” is beautifully embodied in the pre-show testimonies of the on-screen automotive designers, whose boundless enthusiasm for their profession is unmistakable. For these individuals, the joy of seeing their designs realized as actual, functional vehicles is nearly transcendent. It is closely related to the spontaneous expressions of delight frequently heard at the Design Station kiosks as Test Track guests finalize their Custom Concept Vehicles.

For the community at large, the auto designers’ creativity can result in better vehicles, better transportation systems, and ultimately better communities—an idea specifically conveyed in the pre-show’s EN-V/Technology & Innovation display. Here, the attraction’s storyline turns its focus to the problems confronting the world’s burgeoning megacities, and the role automotive designers are playing in addressing these urgent issues. The two full-size EN-V[6] models, accompanied by a video loop showing the vehicles in action, demonstrate how these unusual-looking vehicles may someday help to reduce traffic congestion and energy consumption while providing better parking and safety, and improving the quality of city life overall.

This is just one more way in which Test Track Presented by Chevrolet epitomizes “the boundless spirit of invention for the enrichment of life” that informs every Future World attraction. It is also an exemplary demonstration of Walt Disney’s original vision of the city of EPCOT—his “Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow”—that would serve as “…a living showcase for American free enterprise at its most creative and forward-looking.” It was a soaring vision—one that defined Walt’s own Hero’s Journey in the latter years of his remarkable life and career.

[1] Tokyo Disneyland’s version of Tomorrowland, on the other hand, still resembles its Orlando counterpart, circa 1975.

[2] The current attraction’s official title is “Test Track Presented by Chevrolet,” but it is often referred to casually as “Test Track 2.0” or just plain old “Test Track.” For simplicity’s sake, the remainder of this case study will use all three names interchangeably.

[3] Since the FASTPASS/Individual Rider pre-show experience on Test Track is highly abbreviated, this case study describes only the Standby guest experience.

[4] If you have a MagicBand wristband, that will do the trick, too.

[5] A third, more historical series of transformations may be appreciated by longtime Epcot fans: the evolution from the pavilion’s original incarnation as World of Motion into GM Test Track and then, ultimately, into Test Track Presented by Chevrolet.

[6] Electric Networked-Vehicles

Copyright 2013 - Berger Creative Associates, Inc.

[onthegoinmco]

The World’s Most Magical Celebration wouldn’t be complete without some tasty treats that celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the Walt Disney World Resort.

Disney chefs and mixologists have created more than 150 sips and bites full of color, whimsy, and a touch of EARidescent shimmer – with even more coming throughout the 18-month celebration beginning October 1st.

Walt’s personal recipes, Walt Disney World Resort attractions (past and present), beloved Disney Characters, and nostalgic dishes from 1971 were inspirations for the tasty offerings created for this anniversary celebration. 

You can view all the 50th anniversary celebration food and beverage offerings on your mobile device, click here to download the My Disney Experience app or click here to view at Disneyworld.com.

The World’s Most Magical Celebration: Foodie Guide

Magic Kingdom Park

Auntie Gravity’s Galactic Goodies

Uncle Orville Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow Sundae – Chocolate and vanilla soft-serve, brownie pieces, hot fudge, and whipped cream topped with red, white, and blue sprinkles served in a “bathtub”

Be Our Guest Restaurant

Squids Revenge Drink – A michelada with a salted rim and garnished with charred octopus and cucumber. Watch out, the giant squid is back!

Casey’s Corner

Pressed Penny Silk Pie – Chocolate tart shell, silky chocolate filling, sweet whipped cream, and a chocolate-pressed penny

50th Celebration Hot Dog – All-beef hot dog topped with strawberry bacon jam, crisp funnel cake pieces, and powdered sugar 

Cinderella’s Royal Table

Royal 50th Celebration Flight – Flight of Enchantée Champagne – a blend of Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, and Pinot Meunière (Enchantée Champagne is sold exclusively at the Walt Disney World Resort)

Columbia Harbor House

Happy Haunts Milkshake – Blackberry milkshake topped with a purple chocolate-glazed doughnut covered with black sprinkles

Cosmic Ray’s Starlight Café

Mission to Mars – Burger topped with bacon and macaroni & cheese served on a bun dusted with crushed cheese-flavored puffs

The Crystal Palace

Walt’s Favorites on the Buffet – Chicken fried steak, New York strip steak, pork chops, and more!

Friar’s Nook

The Toad Burger – Brat burger served on a bun with lettuce, tomato, pickle, and American cheese

Jungle Navigation Co. LTD Skipper Canteen

Veranda Fried Rice – Spicy chili-garlic shrimp served over pork fried rice with eggs and peas (from the original Verandah Restaurant menu)

Outdoor Kiosks

Dumbo Churros – Churros rolled in peanut dust and served with chocolate dipping sauce in a Dumbo-themed churro bag

Royal 50th Churro – Churros rolled in strawberry sugar, drizzled with marshmallow cream, and shimmer sprinkles served with  chocolate dipping sauce

Plaza Ice Cream Parlor

The Banana Boom – Traditional banana split topped with popping candy and a candied shooting star

Plaza Restaurant

Cheers to 50 Years! – Chocolate and vanilla ice cream, brownies, cupcakes, cookie crumbles, pretzel rods, and hot fudge topped with whipped cream, EARidescent sugar, and a Mickey pretzel drizzled with caramel and chocolate icing (serves 4-6)

Storybook Treats

Heigh-Ho Sundae! – Chocolate soft-serve, hot fudge, graham cracker pieces, chocolate gems, and whipped cream

Tony’s Town Square Restaurant

Five Alarm Wings – Wings tossed in a sweet-and-spicy heat served with ranch dressing for dipping

Disney’s Animal Kingdom Theme Park

Drinkwallah

Hand-dipped 50th Celebration Mickey Premium Bar – Our classic Nestlé Mickey’s Premium Ice Cream Bar dipped in blue raspberry-flavored coating with celebration sprinkles and a little bit of pixie dust

Restaurantosaurus

Cheese Fries with Walt’s Chili – Crispy fries topped with Walt’s favorite chili and cheddar sauce

Walt’s Favorite Chili on Foot-long Hot Dog – A foot-long hot dog served on a warm bun topped with Walt’s favorite chili and cheddar sauce 

Tiffins

50th Celebration Chocolate Gâteaux – Almond praline, white chocolate crémeux, ganache, and chocolate-South African cream liqueur sauce

Disney’s Hollywood Studios

Trolley Car Café

Glimmer and Shimmer Pineapple Mousse – Golden pineapple mousse on a toasted coconut crisp with caramel cream and matcha sponge cake

The Hollywood Brown Derby

Filet Mignon with Walt’s Hash topped with an egg (just the way Walt liked it!)

The Hollywood Brown Derby Lounge, Oasis Canteen, Sunshine Day Bar, Animation Bar

Shimmer over the Moon – Apple pie moonshine, amaretto, falernum, pineapple juice, and club soda served with a souvenir glow cube

ABC Commissary

Chocolate Mousse – Raspberry-dark chocolate mousse, chocolate-almond cake, and a layer of hazelnut crunch and whipped chocolate-hazelnut cheesecake

EPCOT

Coral Reef Restaurant 

Key Lime Tart with toasted meringue, EARidescent shimmer, sprinkles, and chocolate garnish

The EPCOT Experience 

EARidescent Croissant Doughnut – Croissant doughnut with blue icing and sprinkles

Le Cellier Steakhouse

Chocolate Mousse Bar – Dark chocolate mousse, caramel cookie pieces, milk chocolate shell, and chocolate shortbread cookie 

Sunshine Seasons

Mini Chocolate Bundt Cake – Mini chocolate Bundt cake with chocolate ganache, sprinkles, and icing dusted with EARidescent shimmer and chocolate 50th anniversary garnish

Disney Springs

Amorette’s Patisserie

50th Celebration Petit Cake – Vanilla chiffon cake with celebration blue mousse, blueberry jam, and lemon curd

The Ganachery 

50th Celebration Chocolate Bundle:

50th Celebration Ganache Chocolate Bar – Milk chocolate combined with caramel and crispies for a playful crunch

50th Celebration Ganache Square – Celebration cake ganache mixed with sprinkles, enrobed in 65% dark chocolate, and decorated with a shimmering castle design

Frontera Cocina

Chocolate Pigñata – Chocolate shell filled with cajeta mousse, tender cake (infused with whiskey & vanilla), crumble of chipotle bacon, candied orange, and Maria cookies. Yes, there’s a mallet to break your piñata!  Serves two.

The BOATHOUSE

Sweet Nostalgia Pineapple Upside-Down Cake – Pineapple upside-down cake with  caramel glazed with Chantilly cream

Terralina Crafted Italian, 

Whimsical White Chocolate Mousse –White chocolate mousse with salted caramel and cotton candy

Wolfgang Puck Bar & Grill, 

Caramel Banana Chocolate Sphere – Dark chocolate sphere, vanilla pudding, banana caramel compote, gold dust, and chocolate pearls

Resorts

The Mara, Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge

Chocolate Mousse with a cardamom financier

Contempo Café, Disney’s Contemporary Resort

50th Anniversary Peanut Butter-Banana Pie – Sweet tart shell filled with peanut butter mousse and banana sauce topped with chocolate glaze and chocolate décor

Toledo–Tapas, Steak, and Seafood, Disney’s Coronado Springs Resort

Braised Lamb Shank with olive oil-potato purée, rosemary-roasted garlic gravy, huckleberry jam, and English peas

P&J’s Southern Takeout, Disney’s Fort Wilderness Resort & Campgrounds

Chicken Dinner Cupcake Trio 

Fried chicken-apple fritter, apple pie moonshine filling, and vanilla buttercream ​

Peas and carrots-strawberry moonshine custard, white chocolate frosting, and  M&M’S Mini “peas” ​

Mock mashed potato-SNICKERS mousse cupcake, caramel buttercream, and STARBURST “butter”

Grand Floridan Café, Disney’s Grand Floridan Resort & Spa

50th Anniversary Vintage Minnie’s Brown Betty Profiterole – Crunchy-topped cream puff filled with one of Walt’s favorite flavors of cinnamon-spiced apples and Chantilly cream

Olivia’s Cafe, Disney’s Old Key West Resort

Spam-Cheddar Biscuits with white gravy and drizzled with honey

Capt. Cook’s, Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort

50th Celebration Cupcake – Vanilla cupcake with DOLE Whip pineapple center, tropical fruit salsa, and pineapple macaron

Le Petit Café, Disney’s Riviera Resort

50th Celebration Cupcake – Vanilla cupcake, cake-flavored mousse, and caramel-buttercream icing garnished with crisp pearls, 50th anniversary sprinkles, and a whimsical gold Mickey

Roaring Fork, Disney’s Wilderness Lodge

Petit Stump Cake ​– Chocolate cake with birthday cake buttercream filling surrounded by chocolate “bark” fondant topped with 50th anniversary chocolate coin

The Market at Ale & Compass, Disney’s Yacht & Beach Club Resorts

50th Celebration Tart – Birthday cake mousse dome on top of a milk chocolate mousse-filled vanilla tart shell with mini chocolate crisp pearls, buttercream, fondant, and chocolate décor

Available at select table-service restaurants, lounges, and pool bars throughout our four Theme Parks and Resorts 

EARidescent Sip-a-bration (Non-Alcoholic Beverage) – Minute Maid Premium Lemonade and fruity strawberry punch served in a souvenir 50th Celebration Cup with a surprise Character and a little bit of magic!

Magical Beacon Cocktail – Gin, blue curaçao, Minute Maid Premium Lemonade, orgeat (almond) syrup, lemon, hibiscus grenadine, and a souvenir glow cube

Event the classic Nestle Mickey’s Premium Ice Cream Bar will have a festive new wrapper showcasing Mickey in his EARidescent finest at Magic Kingdom Park!

For more #DisneyWorld50 info, make sure to follow @onthegoinmco on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube! 

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The post The World’s Most Magical Celebration: Foodie Guide appeared first on On the Go in MCO.

[astrofairies]

Angelic Pretty Questions: all of them?

I MEAN.... I GUESS!! 

Sugary Carnival: Have you ever been considered popular?

i don’t believe so! 

Milky Planet: Besides earth, what planet would you come from?

hmmm venus or neptune i think!

Rose Toilette: Your signature perfume?  

usually anything vanilla

Whimsical Vanilla-chan: What pets do you have/want to have? 

i have three dogs!! i love dogs and wouldn’t rly want another kind of pet!

Marine Kingdom: Favourite undersea creature?

hmmm i really like dolphins or sea stars!

Dreamy Dollhouse: Describe your room with just 5 words.

messy, unorganized, memories, books, homey

Melty Chocolate: Favourite type of chocolate?

milk chocolate! white chocolate is way too sweet for me, and i don’t really care for dark!

Sugar Dream Dome: What do you like most about Winter?

nothing

when it snows for the first time and everything is covered in a blanket of white

Milky Berry: What do you like most about Summer? 

that it’s always warm and i don’t have school!!

Happy Garden: What types of things would you plant in a garden?

different flowers that are a rainbow of colors!

Magical Étoile:  Favourite attraction at a carnival? 

the ferris wheel!!

Toy Parade: What toys did you play with as a child?

i loved playing with barbies and polly pockets!! I also enjoyed painting and drawing!

Holy Lantern: Describe the darker side to your personality. 

uh i mean, i guess i can be really negative from time to time? maybe manipulative??

Melody Doll: What types of music do you listen to?

broadway, disney, etc! i just love singing!

Wonder Party: Favourite type of tea?

i can’t drink tea

Glass Bottle of Tears: What, without fail, makes you cry?

thinking about my future

whenever i reflect of my past and think about all the fun i have and i miss it bc i don’t get to experience it everyday

Cinema Doll: What makes a movie really enjoyable for you?

i love when there’s comedy and when the characters get a happy ending! like not even a “romantic” happy ending, i just want the characters to be happy and succeed. 

Memorial Cake: What is your ideal romantic experience? 

just spending time with someone who makes me unconditionally happy

Star Night Theatre: If life was viewed as a theatre stage, what role would you play?

probably a supporting character of some sort. i never like to be the center of attention.

Cotton Candy Shop: If you had your own shop, what things would you sell?

books!!!!!

Decoration Dream: Favourite way to decorate a cake?

just frosting tbh!! i don’t care for sprinkles or anything hard!

Fancy Box: What gift(s) did you get for your birthday last year? 

i actually...don’t remember?? my leo friend bought me a mermaid necklace (because she thinks im a mermaid), and lonny got me a mug, but i can’t really remember anything else? i went down the shore with my aunt so that was pretty much the highlight

Misty Sky: What is your favourite type of weather?

sunny with a few clouds so i can watch them roll across the sky!

Dreamy Horoscope: What is your zodiac sign, and do you relate to it?

gemini, and i do!! 

Symphonia of Birds: Favourite type of bird?

i really like peacocks!

Day Dream Carnival: What do you daydream about the most?

 life after college and what i’ll do!

Royal Cards: Name a game you are really good at.

hmm i think clue! i’m good at hypothesizing and putting things together. detective work!

Milky Cross: Are you a religious person? 

i mean i believe in a higher life but i don’t practice a religion? i’m methodist but i don’t really go to church or anything

Cream Cookie: What kinds of snacks do you munch on?

i like chocolate! 

Drained Cherry: What emotionally exhausts you?

everything

Fancy Paper Dolls: What accessories would come with a doll version of you?

probably a book or my laptop!  

Holy Night Story: Favourite thing to do when it’s night time?

watch movies!

Candy Treat: Favourite type of candy?   

chocolate candy, specifically kit-kats!

Fantastic Dolly: What cosmetics do you use?

i use everything but eyeliner and eyeshadow!

Drink Me: Favourite drink/beverage? 

water or hot chocolate...or milkshakes

Merry Making Party: Describe the biggest party you’ve ever been to.

probably my graduation night??? my class of 140 kids got together in our community center and spent the entire night there (from 6pm-6am)

Country of Sweets: What countries would you like to visit? 

italy, greece, germany! 

Fruits Parlour: Favourite fruit? 

strawberries!

Dream Sky: Have you ever seen a shooting star?

no :(

Soap Bubbles: How do you like to bathe/shower?

i like to stand in the shower for like 30 minutes daydreaming before i get out tbh....and when i take baths i like to use bath bombs!!

Jewelry Jelly: Name 3 of your favourite jewellery pieces.

a golden moon necklace i got from claire’s for like two bucks; a golden plate that says “inspire”; a pink and red friendship bracelet i bought from the mexico pavilion in epcot (lonny and my other friend also have the same bracelet, but in different colors. i got them two years ago and we havent taken them off yet!)

Dream Fantasy: What is your wildest fantasy?

i actually dont know tbh    

Milky-chan the Fawn: Favourite forest animal?

mmm probably bears!

Honey Cake: What do you normally eat for breakfast? 

depends! sometimes when im low on time just a nutrigrain bar or poptarts, or i’ll eat a bagel or toast with avocado if i have more time!

Dreamy Baby Room: The most childish part of your personality?

always daydreaming/imagining! 

Chess Chocolate: What piece would you be on a chess board?

queen 

French Cafe: Favourite thing to eat at a patisserie?

i rly like cupcakes or small cakes

Sugar Hearts: How is your love life right now?   

non-existent  

Wonder Story: What types of things do you like to read about?

everything!!

Twinkle Mermaid: Favourite type of fantasy creature?

mermaids or fairies!

Gloria: Name a very rare item that you would love to own.

hmm not sure!