A Look Back at This Week's Disney and Related News -- October 12

by Leap on October 12, 2012

It's time for the Frog Family's weekly roundup of Disney and Orlando theme park tidbits from the interwebs.

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This week’s highlights:

As if we aren’t excited enough about the new Fantasyland, the Disney Parks blog has announced it’s holding a live chat October 15 on all things related to the Magic Kingdom expansion with Disney imagineer Chris Beatty.
October 15 is also the date that registration will open for Walt Disney World passholders to preview Fantasyland. We have more details on the preview (and all things Fantasyland) here.
Parents won’t find standard kids fare at the new Be Our Guest restaurant, but even the finickiest of eaters will rejoice at the palette-friendly options such as Mickey-shaped meatloaf and sweet-potato fries. No chicken nuggets on this menu! It’s so hard to get Lily (and even Tad) to get out of their comfort zone when it comes to food, so Mommy Frog and I couldn’t be more pleased to learn that they won’t have a choice.
While we’re on the subject of food, SeaWorld and Busch Gardens have announced a partnership with the Food Allergy & Anaphylaxis Network to offer more personalized attention for guests who have food allergies. All park restaurant employees are trained to help guests with their allergen needs. Along with it, they are introducing more gluten-free and allergen-friendly menu options. We know this is huge news for those of you with food allergies, and it makes fully experiencing the parks much easier and less stressful.
One final word on food allergies: The Disney Parks blog has released a map of gluten-free dining options for the Epcot International Food & Wine Festival, which runs through November 12.
The Hard Rock Hotel at Universal Orlando has announced that this month’s Velvet Sessions concert will feature Soul Asylum. Mommy Frog and I caught the tail end of Bret Michael’s rendition of “Sweet Home Alabama” at last month’s Velvet Session, and the acoustics in the hotel lobby were absolutely fantastic!
A new ‘Alice in Wonderland’-themed water play area has opened up at Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa. By the way, guest blogger Liliane Opsomer did a nice look at a number of the splash pads at the Disney World resorts and parks back in September.
Oh, did you see that we are now offering deep discounts on car rentals at Orlando International Airport? We've done all the legwork, so you can save big on your car rental when you buy your attraction tickets from Undercover Tourist.
Last, but certainly not least, one of Epcot’s biggest attractions, Test Track, officially reopens to guests December 6 (my unofficial guess is that some guests will be allowed to ride sooner than that). Here are our highlights from Disney’s live chat in August on the reimagineered car design experience.