A Fond Farewell...

Over at the Disney Blog, John Frost has posted about the closing of L'Originale Alfredo Di Roma in the Italy Pavilion at Epcot. He raises some excellent thoughts about why this beloved and cherished restaurant is closing. The biggest? The Disney Dining Plan.

Personally, I experienced this restaurant in 1994, 1997, 2000 and 2001. We didn't visit it in 2004 or 2006 for different reasons. At each dining opportunity, I always ordered the Fettuccine Alfredo, the signature dish. I found it to be absolutely perfect and ruined me for life. (Just like my wife's lasagna.)

We didn't visit the restaurant in 2004 because my mom didn't want to spend a lot of time in restaurants or eating heavy meals (during that May trip, we did eat at Sci-Fi, Prime Time, and Olivia's). When we visited Epcot, we ate at the Electric Umbrella and the Rose & Crown (for my Dad).

In 2006, we did the Dining Plan (DDP). It was just us (me, wife and both kids) and it really wasn't worth it for us. Our kids are very finicky and they had just changed the DDP kid's menus. Honestly, we were shocked. Our first meal was at the Rose & Crown and there was nothing on the menu that either one of our children would eat. I am not kidding. We begged the waitress to make a grilled cheese and they couldn't accommodate us.

The rest of the week, as far as dining was concerned, went very downhill. Sure, we saved money and ate in restaurants we would never have tried. But, we ate way too much and left a lot of food on our plates. We talked about it the whole trip. We looked at the menu and discussed what we would have shared to save money. We decided with the kids, it would have saved so much time and effort to eat all of our meals at counter service locations. Our favorite meal of the trip was at Pinocchio's Village Hause in the Magic Kingdom.

I started this post to commiserate and celebrate Alfredo's. I have digressed, but I always do that when I mention the DDP. Here are some shots of our 2001 visit to Epcot. (the shot at the top of the post is of my mom and dad.)


This is Connery trying to take a nap...or us trying to get him to take a nap.






Here is my youngest brother, Stacy, in front of the fountain.








Connery entertaining himself in the lobby of the restaurant.








Good food, good times. Alfredo's, we will miss you. I do wonder what other restaurants at Epcot might suffer the same fate.

Blog Review

2719 Hyperion

I ran across this blog a few weeks ago after it was mentioned on the belated Mousetunes Podcast. I have spent the past few weeks digesting it. If you are a fan of Walt Disney World, you have to add this blog to your aggregator ( I still like bloglines).

What drove me to the site was the wonderful interview with Jeff on the Mousetunes podcast for January 28, 2007. Jeff and Lou (the host) spent time discussing the Muppet Vision 3D attraction--specifically the queue areas. This is one of my favorite attractions and the Muppet Show was my favorite show growing up. Hearing Jeff and Lou laugh and discuss the secrets, jokes and insider information was one of the best segments of the podcast series.

When I got home, I immediately checked the show notes for the blog site and was amazed at the content.

At first, I was drawn in by the fantastic pictures. Due to the detail, I assumed that Jeff was an Orlando native. When I checked his profile, I was astounded to see that he lives in North Carolina (the home state of yours, truly).

Once I delved into the blog (I started with the first post and read backwards), I was pleasantly surprised to see that Jeff was not just a fanatic, but he cared about Walt Disney World. He didn't gush or lambaste...he was somewhere in the middle. He obviously had done his research and has spent many years following the Walt Disney Company.

I liken Jeff's blog to an online course about Disney. He has articles detailing classic cartoons and characters, extinct attractions and attractions that were never built. My absolute favorite section of Jeff's blog deal with the small details of the theme parks that you might miss as you sprint to Splash Mountain or the Tower of Terror. Whether it is a sign, and architectural detail or a hidden element.

I applaud Jeff and thank him for the work that he is doing.