News & Rumors 7/5/10 - 7/11/10

News

• Flame Tree BBQ will be down for refurb from Aug. 9th - Sept. 19th. (BTW...totally a sidenote...something that just sort of puzzled me a bit...but who's the genius who decided to close this for refurb during FREE DINING?!)
• The menu items are out for the new Via Napoli restaurant in Epcot's Italy Pavilion. Items will include: Appetizers: Sicilian eggplant with olives and raisins; salad of lettuce, fagiolini (string beans), fennel and tomatoes; arancini (fried saffron risotto balls) with meat ragù, mozzarella and pomodoro sauce; corn-crusted fried calamari; and minestrone with basil pesto. Or share a plate of arancini, mozzarella, calamari, portobella mushrooms, asparagus, zucchini and carciofi (artichokes).
  
  Main course salads: Manzo (filet of beef) with greens, red onion, gorgonzola, apple and cucumber with a red wine-mustard vinaigrette; chopped salad with lemon chicken, greens, cantaloupe, cucumber, red pepper, green beans, onions, almonds and pasta crisps with honey-citrus vinaigrette; calamari with arugula, carrots and fennel with orange vinaigrette.
  
  Pastas: candele (long, tube-shaped pasta) with sausage ragù; linguine with seafood; malfadine (ribbon pasta) with guanciale (unsmoked Italian bacon) and pomodoro sauce; lasagna verde.
  
  Piatti alla Parmigiana: (dishes topped with Parmesan and mozzarella gratinée): veal, chicken and eggplant.
  
  Wood-fired pizzas: made with caputo flour imported from Southern Italy, San Marzano tomatoes, handmade mozzarella and water from a local spring just like in Italy’s Campania region – 10-inch, 20-inch or 1/2 meter to share: a dozen choices, from a simple pizza Margherita with tomato, mozzarella and basil to carciofi with artichoke, potato, pecorino cheese, prosciutto and cantaloupe.
  
  Sweets: tiramisù, zeppole di ricotta (ricotta cheese-fried dough, whipped cream and chocolate sauce); apple cake with almond sorbetti; gelatie; and vanilla gelato with almond cookies and amarena cherries.
  

The restaurant is expected to open in August.

• Work on the new Winnie the Pooh Queue configuration is expected to go on through the end of the year. When opened, it is expected that the queue experience may be enhanced.
• In case you missed it, Free Dining has been extended through December 21st. See here for more details and if your will qualify.
• We had word about Typhoon Lagoon's annual refurbishment dates earlier this month, now it appears that Blizzard Beach will be closed from Jan. 9 - March 20th.
  
• The Osborne Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights will take place at Disney's Hollywood Studios from Nov. 8 - Jan. 4, 2011.