March 21, 2014 - On the Go in MCO

HGTV and DIY Network Stars at 2014 Epcot International Flower & Garden Festival

Top HGTV and DIY Network Stars to Appear

at 2014 Epcot International Flower & Garden Festival

Superstars of HGTV and DIY Network shows will appear at the 21st Epcot International Flower & Garden Festival presented by HGTV until May 18, 2014. Three HGTV stars will “crash” the festival for the first time: Matt Blashaw from “Yard Crashers,” Matt Muenster from “Bath Crashers” and Alison Victoria from “Kitchen Crashers.”

The popular HGTV celebrities will meet festival guests and showcase expert tips and clever tricks at noon and 3 p.m. each Friday, Saturday and Sunday on The Designers’ Stage presented by HGTV at the Festival Center. The Crashers and their crews are known for plucking regular folks out of home improvement stores to help them – in just three days – make over the family’s yard, bathroom or kitchen. Also new to this year’s festival are “Renovation Raiders” star Amy Matthews and Chip Wade, who started with John Gidding on “Curb Appeal” and now has his own hit show, “Elbow Room.”

HGTV/DIY favorites returning to this year’s festival include Vern Yip, “Design Star” judge, Florida’s own David “Color Splash” Bromstad, John Gidding of “Curb Appeal” and HGTV Star Genevieve Gorder. Here’s the lineup (subject to change):

HGTV DIY Network 2014 Epcot International Flower and Garden Festival — Vern Yip

March 21-23 – Matt Blashaw, “Yard Crashers”
March 28-30 – Matt Muenster, ”Bath Crashers”
April 4-6 – Taniya Nayak, ”House Hunters on Vacation”
April 11-13 – Amy Matthews, “Renovation Raiders”
April 18-20 – John Gidding, ”Curb Appeal”
April 25-27 – David Bromstad, “Color Splash”
May 2-4 – Chip Wade, ”Elbow Room”
May 9-11 – Genevieve Gorder, HGTV Star
May 16-18 – Alison Victoria, ”Kitchen Crashers”

Presentations by HGTV and DIY Network stars and all gardening programs and exhibits are included with admission to the Epcot International Flower & Garden Festival. For more information, call 407/W-DISNEY (934-7639) or visit www.EpcotinSpring.com.

Easter Happenings at Walt Disney World

If you are going to be in Walt Disney World for Easter, there are some fun offerings at the parks and resorts to enjoy this spring holiday. Guests looking for religious services can attend Protestant service at the Contemporary in the Fantasia ballroom on Easter Sunday at 9am. Catholic services will be held at 8am and 10:15am. For other holiday services, resorts can assist guests in directing them to off property sites for Hindu, Muslim, Judaism and other religious services.

Table service restaurants across property have Easter meals for booking if you are looking for a special meal. Breakfast with a character buffet is offered at Disney’s Beach Club Resort at Cape May Cafe. A special Easter dinner is also occurring at Cape May with the addition of a Roasted Lamb to the carving station at the buffet. Next door at the Yacht Club, Captain’s Grille is hosting a brunch with Roasted Strip Loin and Baked Ham with assorted sauces with the buffet. Another character meal offered is Chef Mickey’s Fun Time Easter Brunch at Disney’s Contemporary Resort. Also at the Contemporary at the Wave there is a brunch with a carving station featuring New York Strip Loin and Bone-In Ham. The Walt Disney World Swan offers a character dinner buffet at Garden Grove. Kouzzina at the Boardwalk and Olivia’s at Old Key West are also providing special dinner menus in addition to their regular dinner menus.

Cupcakes for Easter will be offered in locations at the Boardwalk Bakery, in the food court at Caribbean Beach, and at Roaring Fork at the Wilderness Lodge.

Special Easter merchandise will be available for purchase at gift shops at Coronado Springs and the Yacht and Beach Club. Other resorts will have Easter baskets for purchase in addition to these at the Boardwalk, Caribbean Beach, Contemporary, Fort Wilderness, Grand Floridian, Old Key West, Polynesian and Wilderness Lodge. Some will be pre-made and others will have the opportunity to create your own Easter basket. Consult the resort directly for further questions.

At Roaring Fork at Disney’s Wilderness Lodge, guests will have the ability to vote for winners of the Recycled Craft Contest in the dining room.

There will also be a chocolate Easter Egg display in the lobby of the Grand Floridian from April 5 – 22nd.

Stay tuned for more resort and theme park recreation activities to be updated in a future post in April as we get closer to Easter!

Muppets Most Wanted: A Disney Parks Blog Meet-Up

On March 8, the Disney Parks Blog held a meet-up at the AMC theater at Downtown Disney to see Muppets Most Wanted. I am definitely a Muppets fan and have always loved the movies so getting the opportunity to see this new movie before its release date was exciting!

After checking in at the theater, we were given vouchers for drinks and a bag popcorn. Soon, Thomas Smith and Jennifer Fickley-Baker from the Parks Blog started a trivia contest, giving away things like Muppet t-shirts and puzzles. Then some guests were brought up on stage who had shown their Muppets Side by coming dressed in costume. Finally, a very special guest arrived – Sweetums! We were told that after the movie, we would have the opportunity to meet Sweetums and get our picture taken with him!

The movie started at 3:00 PM and opened with a hilarious Monsters University short. I heard several people say that this short would be worth the price of admission alone. It’s about the brothers of Oozma Kappa throwing a party. I liked Monsters University, but I think this short was funnier than anything that was in the movie.

Finally it was time for the main event: Muppets Most Wanted. I’ll put my review a little further down in the post. No spoilers other than basic plot points. After the movie, we waited for our turn to meet Sweetums and got our goody bag, which was a mixture of St. Patrick’s Day and Muppets with green beads and trading cards.

And now for my review…I’d probably give Muppets Most Wanted a B. As I mentioned, I’m a big Muppets fan. I grew up watching the movies and reruns of The Muppet Show. I loved when they returned with The Muppets in 2011. I didn’t think this movie had as much as the emotional pull , which might be preferable to some movie-goers. It reminded me more of The Great Muppet Caper.

If you’ve seen the previews of Muppets Most Wanted, you know that in this movie we are introduced to Constantine – The World’s Most Dangerous Frog – who escapes from prison. He also happens to look a lot like Kermit. The Muppets are heading out on a world tour to capitalize on their new popularity, but they soon find themselves in the middle of an international crime caper. This is of course thanks to Constantine and his sidekick Dominick Badguy (Ricky Gervais).

There are some great laugh-out-loud moments, usually involving one of the many surprise cameos and just general silliness. Some of my favorite moments were between Ty Burrell’s Interpol agent character and Sam Eagle’s CIA agent. The Siberian prison scenes were also a highlight for me. The soundtrack isn’t as memorable as the last, but I did enjoy the opening number called “We’re Doing a Sequel” as well as Constantine’s crazy “I’ll Get You Want You Want (Cockatoo in Malibu).”

httpv://youtu.be/DQiGyBiNjLI

Overall, I definitely recommend seeing Muppets Most Wanted, especially if you are a Muppets fan. It’s a fun movie that the whole family can enjoy together. Oh and make sure to stay through the credits!