Disney Movie News & Reviews

Interview With Celebrity Chef Kevin Dundon of Raglan Road plus Giveaway!

10 June 2010 by Suzannah Otis 22 Comments

Those of you regular readers here at ZannaLand know that I’m not exactly the pinnacle of proper journalistic procedure and format. I did not come to this blog by way of a former career in the media, any official training, or degrees to back me up (unless you want to count writing for the high school newspaper and those two semesters of public relations in college). This is, I’m sure, more than evident in the casual way that I share my thoughts and views here with you. I do this to connect with readers and hopefully speak to them on the same level. So it is in that same vein that I share the following pre-amble to the amazing interview I’m about to post —

If you’ve met me in real life, you also know that shy and socially awkward are probably the first two impressions that come to mind. There’s a reason I write! However, after several meetings or perhaps an adult beverage, I do mellow out and relax. That said, hanging around my fellow bloggers and media mavens, I finally get that concept of: “What’s the worse they can say? No? Then you move on!“

So it was channeling one of those very bloggers that gave me the confidence to approach Chef Dundon after meeting him at the Raglan Road Signature Dinner and ask for an interview. As soon as I had the thought, the confidence was there and I knew I could do it. Even if he blew me off and said he was too busy, or was polite and said yes but later blew me off, I was going to DO it. So I did. And guess what? (not hard to guess reading the title of this post!) He said “That would be wonderful!” I spent the rest of the night on cloud 9, if for no other reason than I had made that next step in my new life as a purveyor of fine social media. (Like that title? I just made it up.)

Anyway, now you know the story behind the story and it is with great pleasure and honor that I present the following interview to you, my readers, and hope you enjoy it. Here’s a little more about Kevin Dundon’s background:

Kevin Dundon is the Chef/Proprietor of Dunbrody Country House Hotel & Restaurant, located in Ireland’s sunny South East. Dunbrody was established in 1997 by Kevin and his wife Catherine and has very quickly become a must-see for all foodies. It is now considered to be one of Ireland’s Premier Hotels & Restaurant. Kevin’s runs a cookery school at the hotel as well which already recognised as one of the most respected in the country. (source: KevinDundon.com)

In addition Kevin is the Chef/Patron of Raglan Road which has two locations, Downtown Disney in Orlando and Kansas City, MO. Given that Chef Dundon has cooked for none other than Her Majesty, The Queen and Bono, I think it goes without saying that Raglan Road will not disappoint. He is also author of two cookbooks: Full on Irish: Creative Contemporary Cooking and Great Family Food. Is there another in the works? Read on…

Take the Raglan Road to Wonderland – Celebrity Chef Dining Experience

4 June 2010 by Suzannah Otis 7 Comments

You may remember my review of my last Tables in Wonderland experience at The Wave in Disney’s Contemporary Resort. It was so spectacular, I had to take my husband to the next event. Lucky for us both, it happened to be at Raglan Road Pub at Downtown Disney at $115 per person, which included the entire meal and wine service as well as a signed cookbook from Chef Kevin Dundon, who would also be on hand cooking. Just looking at the menu got both of us excited since we just love Raglan Road in general. Let me recap the evening for you – with pictures of course!

I was curious as to how we’d be seated for the night, since I knew Raglan Road did not have a closed-off area and the event was for 63 people. For those who’ve not yet been, throughout the restaurant you will find antique furnishings, grand fixtures, marble adornments, leaded glass, and ornate detailing. The entire pub was built in Ireland then shipped to Orlando. As we arrived, the Irish band was just taking the stage.

Raglan Road stage — Raglan Road is pleasing to the eye and ear from the moment you step inside.

We were taken to the Raglan Room to the left of the stage and bar. This oak-paneled room was built using original woods from an old Georgian mansion in Dublin. It was nicely intimate while still enjoying the ambiance of the rest of the venue.When we were seated, we found some nice items waiting for us.

Tom Sawyer Island – A Pictorial Review-Part 1

18 May 2010 by Suzannah Otis 4 Comments

A little while back, I was gifted with the good fortune of getting a guided tour of one of the few places I’d never stepped foot in at Walt Disney World – Tom Sawyer Island. Ryan P. Wilson, of the Main Street Gazette had planned a research trip and I made it a priority to meet this blogging idol of mine. I’d been reading the Main St. Gazette off and on for years before I even thought of writing about Disney myself. Ryan’s shared love and admiration of the parks from history to present day was something I instantly related to. I wanted to meet him just to say hello and talk about our favorite topic – the tour of Tom Sawyer’s Island was just a bonus.

Unlike me, Ryan grew up as a child of Fort Wilderness, so of course Tom Sawyer Island across the river from Frontierland was like another backyard to him during those years. When I mentioned on twitter that I’d never been, he was astounded at such a fact and wanted to remedy it. As I admitted there, I can thank Steve Birnbaum for instilling a fear of actually running into Injun Joe on the island. That was enough to keep 7-12 year old me away…okay, maybe 20 year-old me too. What can I say, I don’t like horror movies and I grew up hearing about places like Spooky World (formerly) in Berlin, Mass, where people jumped out at you so I wasn’t taking any chances even in the Magic Kingdom. I guess with three kids under my belt, I suddenly became fearless even if Injun Joe was waiting for me. (Which Ryan assured me was not the case.)

Anyway. I do not have the history or memories of this place that Ryan has and shares on his site, but it was still a marvelous place to explore and I definitely enjoyed the company along the way. As I’ve mentioned many times, one of my favorite parts about Walt Disney World is the immersion into the story. From the very basic understanding that there is only one Mickey all the way up to Mom and the cousins in the 50’s Prime Time Cafe thinking you’re using a walkie-talkie when you take out your cell phone, the whole point is to make you a part of the show. Tom Sawyer Island is a perfect example of that. The real world is already long gone, but now you leave even the fantasy land of rides and shows behind and enter another time, where you are exploring right along with Tom and Huck. While I have no doubt that the island has lost some of its original splendor and attention to detail, there are still many committed to the spirit which embodies this magical place.

As always, click the photos to enlarge.

Tom Sawyer Island welcome sign — Tom Sawyer Island "Welcum" sign from Tom himself (with some edits by Huck)

Rayovac Powers Your Vacation-Magic Wand Sweepstakes!

13 May 2010 by Suzannah Otis 1 Comment

ZannaLand first brought you a sneak peak at this Disney Rayovac commercial back in December but now this same commercial can help you win a sweepstakes!

Unlock your imagination and celebrate the chance to win a celebration vacation for four to Disney World® or Disneyland® by entering the Magic Wand Sweepstakes. In addition to the Grand Prize, there’s also the chance to win a lifetime supply of Rayovac batteries or a Disney Gift Card from Rayovac. Enter the sweepstakes from now until 11:59 p.m. (CT) on July 31, 2010 at www.rayovac.com/disneyvacation (eligibility to enter the sweepstakes subject to the official rules found on the website).

Also, be sure to take part in the #Rayovac Powers Your Vacation Twitter Event

Join Rayovac and MomSelect for a Twitter Event to support the exciting Rayovac Powers Your Vacation-Magic Wand Sweepstakes. The evening will feature more than 20 fun giveaways from Rayovac ranging from a summer supply of Rayovac Batteries to Disney Gift Cards.

Rayovac Powers Your Vacation Sweepstakes
Date:        Wednesday, May 19th
Time:       7:00 p.m. until 9:00 p.m. CST
Location: #rayovac (follow that hashtag on twitter)
Follow:     @Rayovac_Battery, @MomTalkRadio, @CirclePRMary

See you there – and hopefully in the parks too!

Meet Your Walt Disney World Moms Panel – Margaret Fries

12 May 2010 by Suzannah Otis 1 Comment

Ten weeks into our Meet Your Moms Panel series here on ZannaLand and we finally get to meet Margaret F, better known to some as MEFRIES! These informal interviews are meant to be a jumping off point from the bios that appear on the DisneyWorldMoms.com site where you can learn about every panelist’s background and experience with Walt Disney World, and see their personal videos as well. Once you check them out there, you can get to know the panelists a little better here!

The Walt Disney World Moms Panel {image ©Disney}

When I first began posting on twitter and started this blog, one of the first Disney Moms I discovered on twitter was @mefries. I soon discovered that she was the life of the Moms Panel party. In fact, it was Margaret’s tweets about meeting up with her “Moms Panel BFF’s” and all the fun they had together that really made me more obsessed with becoming part of the panel. So there you have it, this is all Margaret’s fault. 😉 Now that I’ve met Margaret and spoken with her in person and on the phone, I can see why she is so beloved among Moms panelists and Disney fans alike. She is just SO fun and full of life, she has such a great sense of humor and love of Disney – it’s contagious. I’m so happy and honored to have Margaret here to share some more about herself with all of us —

CoCo Key Water Resort Orlando-a Great Choice for Families

11 May 2010 by Suzannah Otis 5 Comments

Coco Key Water park entrance sign — This way to the water park!

After sharing news of the opening of CoCo Key Water Resort‘s Orlando location, I wanted to provide a more in-depth review of the resort and its amenities. Thanks to the resort and their Orlando representative Vicki Johnson, I was able to spend Mother’s Day weekend there with my family and do just that.

We checked in at around 2pm, even though the official check-in time is 4pm as they had a ‘family suite’ available for us. The front desk hostess asked us what configuration of beds we’d like and after I said a king room and a room with two queen beds would be perfect, she found exactly what we were looking for. We received our wristbands for the water park and she told us we’d be in building 6, the tallest building at the resort. We discovered upon parking and finding the elevator to our rooms on the fourth floor that it really doesn’t matter which side of the building you park on; it was easily accessible on both sides with the elevator in the middle.

Baby Mine…Don’t You Cry – Happy Mother’s Day

7 May 2010 by Suzannah Otis 10 Comments

I could probably fill a million blog entries with the memories and emotions I feel about being a mother. It is, quite simply, the one thing I knew I was destined for before I was even married. Believe it or not (ok, so it’s probably pretty easy to believe if you are a frequent reader) a lot of how I knew I wanted to be a mom is tied to Disney. I would cry at Disney movies knowing I wanted to share the love I saw on screen with my own children some day. I’d watch other people’s children dance around at the end of the Festival of the Lion King show in Animal Kingdom and be a crying fool thinking of how sweet they were…hoping to someday share memories like that.

I never babysat as a child, in fact, I never even changed a diaper until my first son’s 11 years ago. It wasn’t that I had this need to ‘mother’ or that I felt I would somehow be great at it, it was more about the memories I knew would be there. I had such a wonderful childhood and I wanted to be able to give that experience to my own children. I wanted to treasure my children as much as my mom treasured me. I don’t think I’ve measured up to the bar she set, but I keep trying.

Whoa, Momma!

5 May 2010 by Suzannah Otis Leave a Comment

This is just a quick note to announce that my first (of hopefully many) articles is up at the TampaBay.com parenting blog – Whoa, Momma!

I was so honored and excited when journalists Sharon Kennedy Wynne and Sherry Robinson (also the editor of the blog) asked me to contribute, after Sharon interviewed me regarding my position on the Walt Disney World Moms Panel.

My first piece is all about the Top 5 Food Values at Walt Disney World.

Big thanks to the wonderful team at Whoa, Momma! for this opportunity and keep a watch out for future articles from me!

CoCo Key Water Resort Splashes into Orlando

4 May 2010 by Suzannah Otis 3 Comments

A few weeks back I was invited to the grand opening of a brand new hotel trying to make its mark on the Orlando tourism map. In actuality, this brand has been quite successful in other areas of the country, and is making its new home in a spot with quite an established bit of Orlando and even Walt Disney World history.

Originally the Hilton Inn South, this location was the very spot that cast members were trained before the opening of Walt Disney World’s Contemporary Resort! It’s hard to imagine an I-Drive back then, before the rest of the theme parks and surrounding tourist attractions moved into town.

The Key West-themed CoCo Key Hotel and Water Resort opened April 22nd and offers rates through June 15th for as little as $89 per night*. CoCo Key combines a casual tropical hotel setting with a whimsical water park that features slides, rides and fun amplified with four pools, 14 water slides, poolside entertainment, and splashing good times all specially designed for kids in a safe and friendly environment.

Project Future, The Inside Story Behind the Creation of Walt Disney World

9 April 2010 by Suzannah Otis 25 Comments

Though I may not be able to rattle off names, dates and facts as succinctly as some Disneyphiles, my love of all things historical within the Walt Disney Company is no less great. So I was quite excited when I was given a copy of Chad Denver Emerson‘s new book entitled Project Future, The Inside Story Behind the Creation of Walt Disney World, Ayefour Publishing, 2010, which details the events, meetings and plans that led to the creation of Walt Disney World – known at its start as simply Project Future.