Reviewing the 2020 "Mini" Epcot Food & Wine Festival: A Look Back

August 26, 2020

One big event that draws crowd every fall is the Food and Wine Festival. This year marks the 25th year of this special event, but with 2020 being the year of change we knew this year’s festival may look a little different. While there is still a festival planned this year it is scaled back from previous versions and being called Taste of Epcot International Food & Wine Festival. So come along as we explore what a “mini festival” at Epcot is like…

Pizzafari Family-Style Dining Review (2020)

June 20, 2020

While we find Disney’s Animal Kingdom to have some of the best dining options in the parks (like Tiffin’s!), on our last visit we decided to try something a little different: a pizza joint. Pizzafari is located in Discovery Isle and offers a dinner option that is a cross between quick service and table service. We were in the mood for carbs and the price seemed reasonable so we ventured over to try out this spot. Read on for a full review of the Family-Style Dining offering…

Our Review of 6 Disney At-Home Food Ideas

May 31, 2020

With the Walt Disney World parks being closed for the past couple months we have been trying to find ways to incorporate some Disney fun into everyday life. With some online recipes being released and products available at home we have been experimenting with what is fun, easy, and delicious. Read on for six ideas we tried and see what we think is worth it. Apologies in advance for causing any cravings…

Planet Hollywood Observatory Review

May 26, 2020

Do you remember when Planet Hollywood used to be a big blue planet with “The Jenny” boat from Forrest Gump parked outside? We sure do and we have to admit we probably haven’t actually visited since then. With the redo of Disney Springs the restaurant received a facelift in 2017 to fit the new theming and we were definitely due for a visit to see the remodel. Last week we had a hankering for some American food and went to go check out the redone Planet Hollywood Observatory which included a different menu too. We have always been big movie fans so were also excited to see the memorabilia inside too. Read on to hear about our dinner at this fun themed spot…

Our 2020 Review: The $35 Magical Dining Menu at STK Steakhouse Disney Springs

May 6, 2020

Andrew loves a good steak dinner and a certain restaurant at Disney Springs had been on our list for awhile: STK Steakhouse. STK describes itself as a chic and modern steakhouse offering a fine dining experience. This location happened to be participating in Visit Orlando’s Magical Dining promotion which offers a special three-course prix-fixe dinner for only $35. With Andrew’s brother Chris, wife Kelly, and niece visiting us in Orlando we decided to book a reservation for us to enjoy a nice dinner together. Read on to hear more about this unique spot at Disney Springs…

Our Review of Spice Road Table at Epcot (2020)

April 20, 2020

While we love strolling Epcot’s World Showcase and sampling food and drink along the way, once in awhile we love booking a table service meal in one of the countries. Morocco has always been one of our favorite stops for flavorful cuisine. The menus can seem a bit more adventurous for some, which we find can actually lead to less kids and a quieter atmosphere. Having opened in 2014, Spice Road Table is a newer addition to the pavilion and has quickly become one of our favorites. Read on to hear more about this great dinner spot…

Epcot International Flower & Garden Festival

April 17, 2020

Throughout the year there are a few different seasons that bring some extra magic to Disney parks. One of those times happens to be in the spring when Epcot hosts the International Flower & Garden Festival. We had been to this festival years ago, and boy has it grown! (Food booths didn’t even exist back then!) While the 2020 festival season was cut short we were lucky enough to visit a little bit in the beginning and wanted to share the offerings this year. From beautiful gardens, to fresh food, and springtime merch, read on to hear what this festival has to offer…

Our 2020 Review: The $35 Magical Dining Menu at Wolfgang Puck Bar & Grill

April 13, 2020

While celebrity Austrian-American chef Wolfgang Puck is not new to Disney property, we personally had yet to dine at any of his locations. The newest Wolfgang Puck Bar & Grill location opened at Disney Springs in 2018 and has been on our list of restaurants we had wanted to try for awhile now. When making some plans with friends we decided the comfort food menu and variety of drinks sounded like a crowd pleaser so we finally decided to make a reservation. And lucky us, our dinner date also happened to fall during Visit Orlando’s Magical Dining promotion. With a special three-course prix-fixe dinner for only $35 this dinner was an even more perfect excuse for a night out. Read on to hear more about this modern dining option with fresh classic dishes…

Popular Blog Posts from The Orlando DINKs

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Update: Why We Changed Our Name to The Orlando DINKs

Yup, you read that correctly, after 6 years of being known as The Disney DINKs, we are officially changing our name to The Orlando DINKs.

While changing one word doesn’t seem like a huge change, it feels pretty huge to us since this has been our identity for so long. There are a few reasons why we decided to make the change, some of which are directly related to Disney and some that aren’t. Before we really get into it, we want to be very clear that this article isn’t an intent to bash Disney by any means. We have had amazing experiences related to Disney, from our wedding, multiple Anniversary trips on both coasts, and Disneyland Paris. Being Disney Vacation Club members has allowed us to experience some amazing destinations including Hawaii, Hilton Head Island, and Vero Beach. None of these would have been possible without DVC. We have also had the pleasure of sharing these experiences with friends and family throughout the years. So while it may seem like we are quitting Disney, we certainly are not (and please note we are even keeping our fun mouse ear branding!) Read on to learn more…

Moving Near the Mouse: Moving to Orlando to be a Disney Local

Everyone dreams about moving to their happy place whether it be the country, the mountains, or, in our case, near the house of the mouse. Last year we were able to make our dreams a reality and left Maryland to start a new chapter in Orlando. It’s hard to believe it, but we have now been Floridians for one year! We wanted to take a look back at this last year and chat about:

How we pulled off a big cross country move last year
What we are loving and missing now being in FL
A peek into our home (with several before and after projects!)
and finally, how our Disney habits have changed now being locals

Setting Sail on a Disney Specialty Cruise with a Private Fireworks View

With the July 4th fireworks at Walt Disney World canceled this year, we figured it was the perfect time to reminisce about a special fireworks experience we had last fall. We are always amazed at the amount of special activities and tours available at Disney and booking a private specialty fireworks cruise was one awesome time. Technically our friends Max and Niki had booked the experience for their honeymoon, but they let us crash the party and come along (how nice are they right?). One night last fall our group of four enjoyed some drinks at the Top of the World then set sail on our private pontoon. Read on to hear all about our enchanted evening sailing.

Is Disney Vacation Club Worth It? A DVC Review & Guide

If you have read some of our resort reviews before, you may have figured out that we are Disney Vacation Club (DVC) members. We have been blue card holders since 2013 and have used our membership in various ways. We find that we get a lot of questions about DVC, with the most frequent being “Is DVC worth it?” It can be a bit confusing at first to figure out how the membership exactly works so we wanted to break it down for our readers. With this article we will be covering…

Our Story: Why We Started The Disney DINKs Blog (Dual Income, No Kids & Disney Travel!)

We were recently asked to participate in a “Disney Friends Blog Hop” for people to discover other Disney blogs in the community. (You can learn a little more about that at the the bottom of this post!) We also realized with many new visitors recently it may be a good time to share a bit more about the two authors behind the posts. There are two things we tend to get asked pretty frequently. Many people are curious of how we decided to launch a Disney based blog geared towards an adult crowd. Many people are also curious about the term “DINKs” (Dual Income No Kids) and we wanted to touch a bit on our journey to decide to be childfree. So here is a little peek into the world of Julie and Andrew…