Splash Mountain - Fun Times - Till Someone Rips Your Face Off

Someone I work with posted this to Facebook with the caption "Go to Disneyland, they said. It'll be fun, they said."  Yep, Happiest Place on Earth.

Hungry Bear's Fried Green Tomato Sandwich

Fried Green Tomato Sandwich
Hungry Bear Restaurant - Disneyland
A Disney Parks Blog Photo

Disney Parks Blog is a marketing vehicle used to promote (and sell) everything Disney under the sun. Funny that they have used their blog to promote something as simple as a sandwich in consecutive weeks. A couple of weeks ago, the blog featured a post of Disney chefs giving some of their favorite resort sandwiches (link). On Monday, Disney Parks Blog gave a rundown of some vegetarian dining options available around the parks (link). In both posts, Disneyland's Hungry Bear Restaurant found in Critter Country just down from Splash Mountain had their Fried Green Tomato Sandwich featured.

Now I have tried Hungry Bear's Fried Green Tomato sandwich. It's good but there is a qualifier - the proverbial - but..... The sandwich is pretty long on the mango-jicama slaw feature and a bit skimpy on the corn breaded fried green tomatoes. You mostly taste the slaw and the accompanying sauce. Besides not hardly tasting the tomatoes much you can barely taste the Havarti cheese which I frequently put on my sandwiches when I make one here at home (it's kind of like a swiss cheese - milder and creamier). But all that being said, it is a different option from regular park food, and it kind of works from a taste standpoint. Just wish there was more fried green tomato in Hungry Bear's Fried Green Tomato sandwich. Comes with sweet potato fries, also different.

Now when I head to Disneyland in a few weeks, getting the Fried Green Tomato Sandwich is going to be pretty far down my dining list. There are too many things on that list I'd rather try (or standards that I always go back to). But if the time and circumstances were just right, I could give another try at the Fried Green Tomato Sandwich. Maybe this time, I'll actually taste a fried green tomato.

PS - as for time and circumstance - if you go to the Hungry Bear Restaurant a little off peak dining hours, it is a very nice place to relax out on the dining patios (upper and lower) right next to the Rivers of America. It also features one of the Disneyland's largest and best restroom facilities. 

Rethinking Disneyland's Winnie the Pooh Ride

Just maybe the Disneyland Traveler was wrong. That's right, I said it, wrong. On a regular basis Disneyland's Winnie the Pooh ride in Critter Country gets punished in forums and discussion boards. And for years I have stuck up for the little ride and said I rather enjoyed it. After all, it's not Pooh's fault that it was misplaced, stuck across from one of the ultimate E-ticket attractions in Splash Mountain and replaced what many feel was a beloved classic Disney attraction in Country Bear Jamboree. If the Pooh ride were placed over in Fantasyland where it belongs, then it would fit right in with everything else they have going on over there in that part of the park.

Disneyland's Winnie the Pooh ride is bright, colorful, and cheerful, just fine for what it is, an enjoyable small dark ride. And then this morning happened. Looking through a MiceChat forum someone posted a video of Tokyo Disneyland's version of Winnie the Pooh. Whoa! That ride beat the Disneyland version from here to Tokyo and back again.

It's been said that since Disney doesn't actually own the Disney parks in Japan, the actual owners - OLC (Oriental Land Company) doesn't have any problem handing over Disney imagineers, in their licensing agreement with Disney, big dollars for state of the art attractions at a spare no expense cost. With Winnie the Pooh in Japan, it shows.

Check out the video below and enjoy a much superior Winnie the Pooh attraction.

Pooh & Friends - Disneyland's Best Meet & Greet

The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh dark ride in Disneyland's Critter Country is a favorite target of Disneyland regulars who contribute to forums and discussion boards.  The ride seems to be loathed for a number of reasons but here are the main ones.  1) It replaced the legacy attraction Country Bear Jamboree (which no one seemed to go to anymore by the time it closed).  2) It's a dark ride that comes up short on a high impact wow factor for something being relatively new.  3) As characters go, Pooh and friends do not seem to be in the same category as the some of the other classic Disney characters - a second tier so to speak, as Pooh was acquired by Disney rather than created by Disney and 4) There is a version of the Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh in Japan that puts this one to shame.

All that being said, as I've blogged about before, I like the Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh.  I enjoy it's color.  It's a feast of the eyes.  And I like it because there is usually very little wait to get on which is always a good thing.  A nice ride, stress free, and no wait, it all adds up to a winner for me.  The ride wouldn't be nearly as controversial if it sat somewhere in Fantasyland where it belongs, but it's not Pooh's fault for being in the wrong spot, off by itself, and next to the powerhouse Splash Mountain attraction.

But sitting in the middle of the Pooh ride, Splash Mountain, and the Pooh Corner retail and candy store is something that should not be overlooked or taken for granted - the Winnie the Pooh & Friends Meet and Greet.  Now I'm not really a M&G kind of guy.  Only on occasion am I in the park with small children but the Pooh meet & greet, anytime, with or without kids, is a reason to smile as Pooh, Tigger, Eyore, and the rest of the pals from the hundred acre wood interact with kids (of all ages).  The line can be a little long but doesn't come anywhere close to princess or Mickey lines for waiting.  And I have to say of all the photos I have of children in my family getting pictures with characters, the Pooh meet & greet pictures are easily the best.  So if the lines for meet & greet's frustrate you, take a walk over to Critter Country and visit a bear, a tiger, and a sad-sack donkey, they'll be glad to see you.  They really will.

Disneyland Dining - The Hungry Bear

Since this blog started a few months back, I have had to rethink my approach to certain topics a couple of different times.  That is what I am doing with the park restaurant reviews.  Over on the DCA side of things I've posted blog entries about Quick Service Dining and Table Service Dining where I compare one eating establishment with another. Well, I've come to see the limitations to that approach especially when it comes to Disneyland where there are just more dining options.  Disneyland has been changing and upgrading their  food offerings for the last couple of years but I have to admit, there are a few dining establishments in Disneyland I haven't been to in several years and in the case of one - the Pizza Port - never been to at all (kind of tucked out of the way I guess).  So with that in mind, I'll take a look at the restaurants individually rather than lump them together.

I'll start with the Hungry Bear Restaurant where we did enjoy a nice lunch on a trip a few months back.  This is one of the dining places in Disneyland that did undergo a brief refurbishment and came back with a new menu.  On trips to Disneyland in prior years our memories of the Hungry Bear have been OK - they served roast beef or turkey sandwiches on croissants which were really pretty good.  They also served up the standard Disney park burger which seemed to always be a poor choice in years past.  I also have a memory of dropping a tray of food on the ground - embarrassing.

On our most recent trip to the Hungry Bear, I tried out their new signature item which is the new fried green tomato sandwich with sweet potato fries (below), while Mrs. DisneylandTraveler went the safe route (again) and had the crispy chicken sandwich.  We decided to split an order of onion rings (can also be seen in the picture below).

I enjoyed the fried green tomato sandwich even though it seemed a bit skimpy on the fried green tomato part and a little heavy on the cole slaw topping. It would have been better if the two fried green tomato slices on the sandwich where a bit bigger and thicker. I do enjoy sweet potato fries, but it seems like after a few of them, the novelty seems to wear off.  I seldom finish all of them.  The Hungry Bear may be the only place in the park where you can get onion rings and while the order consisted of only four rings, they are absolutely huge.  If only the fried green tomatoes on the sandwich were this big.  As for Mrs. DLT, Disneyland chicken sandwiches of almost any kind are a good safe bet.  They are always pretty good even if you can't describe them as memorable.  The Hungry Bear also serves up a signature chili burger on their new menu but since chili is not one of those things I typically order in a restaurant, don't expect any future posts about my views on their chili burger - not happening.

The Hungry Bear has a large two story outdoor eating area and is tucked away up in Critter Country along the Rivers of America.  The setting is special.  Unless you are there during peak dining times, you can enjoy the peace and quiet of a very nice view of the water. There is also plenty of shade if you are looking for somewhere to eat and get out of the sun. The Hungry Bear also has one of the better bathroom facilities in the park, very large, clean, and well attended to.  In all, the Hungry Bear is one of my favorite dining places in Disneyland but it is tucked all the way to the rear of the park and not convenient unless you are heading to Splash Mountain or Winnie the Pooh.  Sometimes just the quietness (usually) of the place makes it worth the hike.