One thing that brightened up the day a bit was the delivery of some much-needed “Mickey mail”.  Don’t you just love anything WDW-related that gets delivered by the good, old U.S. Postal Service?  And, how does Mickey do it?  Our “Mickey mail” always seems to come right when we need it the most … like on a dreary cold “late Autumn” day in August.  Yeah, in August.  Oof.

Anyway, we got something yesterday that I had been aching to see.  Well, in actual fact, we received the …

… Fall edition of the Mickey Monitor.  For those that don’t know, the Monitor is a booklet/pamphlet devoted to bringing all sorts of news, offers, and discounts to Disney’s Annual Passholders.  What I was anxious to get, though, was this:

Over the last few weeks, I have seen Facebook post after Tweet from tons and tons of All in WDW’s friends.  All were ‘crowing’ about receipt of this little magnet.  Where was mine, for Pete’s sake?!  Hah! So, here it is.  And, it was a good day to get it.  With the unseasonably lousy Georgia weather, and our son’s return to medical school in Ohio, it was a pretty sad day around the All in WDW household yesterday.

Have you ever seen a Mickey Monitor?  If not, I present its informative pages below.  Click on the pictures to read the text.  Thanks, Mickey!  We really needed the boost!  Now, this magnet.  I’d like to put it on the car, but … I’m a little bit afraid to lose it!

Cheers, folks!  Have a great Sunday!

So, this is how the magnet was presented.  When I pulled it off, however, a message was hidden underneath.  It said, “Kids can learn about how magnets help create the science of Walt Disney World attractions at disneyworld.com/magnets.”  It is an interesting link.  Check it out.

In honor of Flame Tree Barbecue’s victory as our Favorite Animal Kingdom Quick Service, I asked, “Did you know that peacocks, chameleons, and many other creatures grace murals and mosaics in each of Pizzafari’s six themed rooms? Which one of these is NOT a name of one of those rooms?”

The overwhelming response was …

… the “Upside-Down Room”, but, in actuality, Pizzafari’s six rooms include the Home Room, Nocturnal Room, Upside-Down Room, Camouflage Room, Four Seasons Room, and Bug Room. The Lizard Room didn’t belong on the list.

Pizza Planet won our poll to become the All in WDW Readers’ Favorite Hollywood Studios Quick Service, but our trivia question for that park had nothing to do with pizza. It was a hot dog-focused quiz. You can get a macaroni and cheese hot dog with truffle oil from Fairfax Fare, and you can find this Quick Service near the Tower of Terror and Rock ‘n Roller Coaster.

Asked in tribute to the fact that our precious Sunshine Seasons is also our Favorite Epcot Quick Service, the Epcot-related question I challenged you with turned out to be really tricky.  At this year’s quickly-approaching Food & Wine festival, you’ll be able to buy an Orange Dole Whip blanketed with Crème de Cacao White … the so-called ”Creamsicle” Dole Whip!  You’ll find it at the Refreshment Port near Canada.  If you’re going to get to Food & Wine this year, you’re gonna want to write that one down!  Yum!

Finally, as the All in WDW Readers’ Favorite Magic Kingdom Quick Service our “Cosmic” question was posted in order to pay homage to Columbia Harbour House.   And, of this quartet of quizzes, you had this one “cold”. There was little fooling you.  ”Cosmic Ray’s Starlight Cafe in Tomorrowland employs a unique service concept in which different types of meals can be purchased in one of three “bays”.  In which “bay” can you secure a ’1/2 Rotisserie Chicken’?”  It is Bay 1!

Great work, everyone!  Thanks for all your participation and support the last few weeks as we completed our quest through the world of WDW Parks Quick Services.  I hope you had a blast!  I did!

It was a dead heat after 58 votes.  Then, Flame Tree crawled into a 4-5 vote lead over Sunshine Seasons.  Four hours later, they were tied at 30 votes a piece.  Finally, by late evening, the “Sun” started to “Shine” much more brightly as Epcot’s marquee Quick Service sprinted into the lead.

This was a phenomenal battle from start to finish, and all four competitors played a huge role in the final outcome.  Each and every Quick Service involved garnered enthusiastic support from our readers …

… in votes and in comments.  For example, on yesterday’s post, Bethy wrote, “It is the shrimp basket at Columbia Harbour House that is so good and keeps me going back!”

Via Twitter, @Incage2 exclaimed, “Voted.  Flame on!!”  @WDWHub declared, “I voted for Flame Tree BBQ.”

@mkayo44 announced, “I voted Pecos!”  @happykaren74 jumped on board with, “Yep.  It’s the toppings bar that does it.”

Importantly, @Prttygrievnces said, “I couldn’t get around Sunshine Seasons’ variety.”  @mholley579 agreed with, “That is why I went with Sunshine Seasons.”  He added, “I am a big Pecos guy, but I also voted for Sunshine Seasons.”

I have to tell you, folks, it is really hard to argue with the avalanche of options you can find at Sunshine.  Plus, of the four finalists, this is the only place to find a really quality breakfast.

How about some breakfast?

Or, some bakery.

Is it lunch time? Grab a sandwich!

There are Asian noodle options.

And, soups and salads.

Finally, stop by “The Grill” for some fresh-cooked favorites!

@JamboEveryone, better known as Safari Mike of the Animal Kingdom-focused web site JamboEveryone.com confessed, “I voted … and not for Flame Tree.  Sunshine Seasons might be the best Counter Service on property.”  I wholeheartedly agree with Mike, and, like him, The Land’s culinary jewel got my vote as well.

Like I said.  Each restaurant had its pockets of support … but, in the end, it was Sunshine Seasons and its overall variety that won the day.  Congratulations, Sunshine.  You are the All in WDW Readers’ Favorite WDW Parks Quick Service!

Before we leave, I would be remiss if I didn’t make at least a little comment on the battle between Pecos Bill and Columbia Harbour House.

Yesterday, I mentioned that when I introduced Columbia as the Magic Kingdom’s “champion”, I wrote, “Congratulations, Columbia Harbour House, but Pecos Bill is already screaming for a rematch!”  Well, a rematch “Bill” got, and this time its burgers and toppings bar came out … well, on ‘top’.  Congrats, ‘Bill’.  You’ve been redeemed.

Group #1 saw us rack up 160 total votes.  160!  And, within that fantastic amount of activity, Pecos Bill Tall Tale Inn & Cafe came from behind to squeeze out a narrow victory over Epcot’s Sunshine Seasons.  Group #2 saw us cast 138 total votes, but the race was decided much earlier in the day as Flame Tree Barbecue easily cruised to the “prize”.  My three favorite Park Quick Services … all in the finale.  Yay!  Then, there’s …

… Columbia Harbour House.

When we held the Magic Kingdom Quick Service competition back in January, I wrote, “I had the opportunity to lunch at Columbia Harbour House when I took Disney’s Keys to the Kingdom Tour a year ago.  I had their Fried Fish Basket.  I remember thinking that I would rather have had a serving of fish at Epcot’s Yorkshire County Fish Shop.  It is much better there, in my opinion.  Much better.”

I placed Columbia and Yorkshire in the same voting group on purpose.  I wanted to see what you had to think.  Well, it pains me to see the U.K. fish shop get outvoted by Columbia Harbour House by such a wide margin.  Is it the “the chowder [and] the tuna-fish sandwiches” at Columbia as suggested by @Prttygrievnces on Twitter yesterday?  Clearly, I have to give them another try.  They must be better than my initial meal.

You guys did a great job.  I couldn’t ask for a better finale.  First, you’ve given me my three personal favorites.  Second, three of our four “favorites” made it to the “Final Four”.  Only Pizza Planet got pushed to the side-lines.  And, finally, when I introduced it as the Magic Kingdom “champion” so many months ago, I joked, “Congratulations, Columbia Harbour House, but Pecos Bill is already screaming for a rematch!”  In this one last battle, you’ve given me that as well.  Thanks!

Vote! Vote! Vote, my friends!  Pile up as many votes as yesterday!  Don’t let your favorite get squeezed out of becoming the All in WDW Readers’ Favorite Parks Quick Service!

Back in January, Columbia Harbour House stunned Pecos Bill to become our Favorite Magic Kingdom Quick Service.  Likewise, in February, we named Pizza Planet as the All in WDW Readers’ Favorite Disney’s Hollywood Studios Quick Service.  After those two “elections”, I became convinced that I had no understanding, whatsoever, as to what Disney cuisine catches our fancy.

Then, came Epcot and Disney’s Animal Kingdom.  Sunshine Seasons restored my faith in our dining choices back in April … as did Flame Tree Barbecue just a week or so ago.  We “crowned” them as our favorites in definitive fashion.

Now, we return to decide just which of our ‘Top 8′ WDW Park “fast food” eateries is …

… our “favorite of favorites”!

You know how the polls work … the Top 2 choices from each of these semi-final groups will move into the “Final Four”!  Vote for your favorites, my friends!  Let’s see us pile up a BIG response!

Which of these “gems” is the All in WDW Readers’ Favorite WDW Parks Quick Service?  Well, we’ll find out pretty quick, now won’t we?  Uh, pun intended!

Bon appetit!  Vote!  Vote!  Vote!

Oh, by the way, our trivia questions remain open.  See the links below.  If you weren’t able to tackle them earlier this week, please stop back.  How well do you know your WDW Quick Service restaurants?

• “Pizza” Trivia
• “Hot Dog” Trivia
• “Dole Whip” Trivia
• “Cosmic” Trivia

One of those defeated restaurants is the, recently vanquished, colorful, and well-themed pizzeria in Animal Kingdom - Pizzafari.

Did you know that peacocks, chameleons, and many other creatures grace murals and mosaics in each of Pizzafari’s six themed rooms?  Which one of these is NOT a name of one of those rooms?

And, when it comes to our Favorite WDW Parks Quick Service polls, remember, the “competitors” are:

• Columbia Harbour House
• Pecos Bill Tall Tale Inn & Cafe
• Sunshine Seasons
• Yorkshire County Fish Shop
• Pizza Planet
• Starring Rolls Cafe
• Flame Tree Barbecue
• Yak & Yeti Local Food Cafes

The Yeti grabs you!

And, it just occurred to me that I hardly said a word about our victor – the Animal Kingdom’s Flame Tree Barbecue!  Located in Discovery Island, if you crave a bountiful meal of chicken, ribs, or pulled pork, Flame Tree is the place to go.  All of the meat is seasoned with their “special” BBQ rub, and it is DELICIOUS!

Having said that, the so-called “Yak & Yeti Counter Service” really piques my interest.  Why?  First, it was able to …

… prove itself as our second-favorite Animal Kingdom Quick Service restaurant two days in a row.  We must really like what it has to offer!  Second, it catches my attention because you clearly like it, and I … well, I didn’t even know what they had on the menu!  Even I don’t know everything about Disney, you know!

Billed as “Yak & Yeti Local Food Cafes” on WDW’s web site, this quick service option is also known as ‘Anandapur Local Food Cafes’.  Hmm.  Never knew that!

Located in ‘Asia’, the Yak & Yeti Local Food Cafes is the site of such ‘delicacies’ as Honey Chicken, Sweet & Sour Chicken, Beef Lo Mein, Pork Egg Rolls, and Chicken Fried Rice.  Hey, we love a good dose of Chinese “take-out”!

Stop by the Yak & Yeti Local Food Cafes and give it a try.  I know that, based on your feedback via this poll, we will!

What comes next?  Stop back later this week.  Now that we’ve “elected” our Animal Kingdom representatives, we’ll return with a poll to determine just which restaurant is the All in WDW Readers’ Favorite WDW Parks Quick Service!  Put on your thinking caps because the “competitors” are:

• Columbia Harbour House
• Pecos Bill Tall Tale Inn & Cafe
• Sunshine Seasons
• Yorkshire County Fish Shop
• Pizza Planet
• Starring Rolls Cafe
• Flame Tree Barbecue
• Yak & Yeti Local Food Cafes

It never occurred to me that this would be a “runaway”. Frankly, I expected Flame Tree, Restaurantosaurus, and Pizzafari to, more or less, split the votes pretty evenly … thereby making this an exciting two-round run! Having said that, I think we’ll still muster up a “Round 2″ … of a sort.

However, in the meantime, it’s very clear to me that the All in WDW Readers’ Favorite Disney’s Animal Kingdom Quick Service has been …

… chosen – Flame Tree Barbecue! With almost 47% of the vote, Flame Tree pounds the competition. None of the other six competitors were even close. Bring on that barbecue!

So, why do we need a “Round 2″?

Simply, in order to fill out our upcoming poll to name the All in WDW Readers’ Favorite WDW Parks Quick Service, we need a clear runner-up to emerge out of this “competition”. Yes, we could call it “a day” and name Yak & Yeti Local Food Cafes to that spot, but I’m feeling like the “race for second-place” is still too close to call. Therefore, the four restaurants that followed Flame Tree in yesterday’s poll will just have to give this thing one more shot!

Vote, my friends. Which of these do you want to join the Animal Kingdom’s barbecue “joint” in the “big” poll? Which of these restaurants is worthy of taking on our favorites from the Magic Kingdom, Epcot, and Disney’s Hollywood Studios?

Vote!

If you remember, some time back, we elected our favorite Quick Service restaurants for the Magic Kingdom, Epcot, and Disney’s Hollywood Studios.  If you need a reminder, click the aforementioned park names to see the full re-caps.

But, in short, Columbia Harbour House shocked …

… Pecos Bill in the Magic Kingdom, Sunshine Seasons lit up Epcot, and Pizza Planet was the ‘king’ of feeding us in Disney’s Hollywood Studios.

Now, it’s time to tackle the “Kingdom of Animals”.  Let’s crown the All in WDW Readers’ Favorite Disney’s Animal Kingdom Quick Service!

This poll’s going to be a little bit different from those in the past, folks.  In Round 1, you get to vote for your TWO favorites.  The Top 4 finishers will move on to the finale where ONE will take the title!

Enjoy!  Vote, vote, vote!

Our apologies for the technical difficulties.  The Internet service has been spotty down here all week long, and last night it reached out to bite us in a big way.  Never fear … what we recorded last night will be cleaned up, edited, covered with a fistful of pixie dust, and published as a video podcast on YouTube in the very near future!  You’ll get another chance to see All in WDW’s video debut.

Outside of being on our very first Internet media production, it was a day of many other “firsts” for us yesterday.  For instance, Mrs. All in WDW and I went to …

… see Festival of the Lion King for the first time in, what we now know to be, its “old” home.  It was a great show, and, no, I don’t know what took us so long to go and see it.

As for its home, Shawn Slater of Disney Parks Blog reported, just yesterday, that Simba’s festival will be moving to an all-new theater in the Africa section of Disney’s Animal Kingdom in 2014.

After the show, we stopped in for lunch at Tusker House for the first time and met yet another bunch of new friends.  The dining review will come another day, but, in the meantime, check out this cast of characters!

Donald tried to tell me that he’s the leader of this expedition!

But, Goofy set me straight. He’s the boss!

Daisy threw her support behind Donald.

But, this guy’s REALLY in charge!

Or, is it this lovely lady? I don’t know … I get so confused!

Shannon Albert of WDW Prep School presents a great article entitled “Hurricanes at Disney World”.  I encourage you to pop over and take a look.  You’ll never guess how many hurricanes are projected for this year!  Will any hit Florida?  Hey, as far as I’m concerned, even though it was merely(?) a tropical storm, Andrea should count as that hit!

We’re off to Magic Kingdom, folks!  Have a magical day!

You’re an unwelcome “party-crasher”, Andrea!

… very well-presented display of Disney history!

I would like to invite you to take a few moments to tour through this short pictorial.  It presents memories of yesterday as well as Disney’s innovations of the future.  We felt that it was quite intriguing and, I have to say, much-less publicized than it really should have been.  Click on the pictures to read the “fine print”!  Enjoy, my friends!

Welcome message!

The full display!

Let’s take a “Jungle Cruise”!

You can see that it’s a remote control jungle boat! I want one!

The Tiki, Tiki, Tiki, Tiki, Tiki Room!

OK, everyone, let’s sing! “it’s a small world after all …”!

“it’s a small world” description.

Cast Member badges!

Cast Member name badges through the years. Where’s mine?!

Figment!

Kitchen Kabaret and Food Rocks.

Audio-Animatronics Hand.

Let me at that gold!

Character drawings for Pirates and Carousel.

Tom Morrow 2.0 Audio-Animatronics figure.

Tom Morrow 2.0 description.

WDW admission media.

Admission media description.

Ticket books.

2012 innovations.

Have you played ‘Sorcerers’ yet?

Interactive queues.

The “incredible” magic bands!

Therefore, in the past few months, as we entered parks the “old-fashioned” way, we gazed at all the lucky park-goers who were getting the opportunity to tap their cards against futuristic-looking, silver, Mickey-headed posts and we were incredibly jealous.

Well, a little over three months later, we …

… were able to right that “wrong” by turning in our paper-constructed Annual Passes a few days ago at the Odyssey Center in Epcot. In return, we were given these two, brand new, plastic Disney gems.

Note, we had a choice of four characters – Mickey, Minnie, Donald, and Goofy. Sadly, there was no Pluto.

If you don’t know, the Odyssey Center is located between Test Track and World Showcase. WDW had it set up as a very efficient exchange center, and we were literally in-and-out in mere minutes. Of course, it didn’t hurt that the Epcot crowd level was pretty light.

Have a great start to the week, my friends!