An excerpt from The Legend of the Cowfish breaks down the evolution of this unique restaurant concep

Quick refresher: It has been rumored for several months that CityWalk s Starbucks, currently positioned on the second floor (over the new Red Oven), would be moving to the recently gutted downtown disney hotel map Endangered Species store on the first floor (right next to Red Oven). For a visual aid, the first photo is Starbucks in its current location, and the second photo is the gutted Endangered Species.
A reliable source has told us that a North Carolina restaurant called Cowfish Sushi Burger Bar will be Universal CityWalk s newest occupant. As with any rumor, this is not confirmed by Universal and can t be absolutely guaranteed. Nevertheless, should this one come true, CityWalk will be adding this to its menus:
An excerpt from The Legend of the Cowfish breaks down the evolution of this unique restaurant concept, and simplifies it to its roots. The Cowfish is a one-of-a-kind dining experience, thriving on its ability to fuse two niche products seamlessly on the same menu. Certainly unusual, absolutely great! The first and only Sushi Burger Bar !
The Cowfish brings to the world the first restaurant focusing on offering both the best sushi AND the best burger in town. Fresh, innovative and delicious, the sushi segment of the menu is powered by the success downtown disney hotel map of sister company, eeZ Fusion Sushi. All natural, creative and hearty, the burgers entice with fresh, never frozen, ingredients and bold flavors. Spiked hand-spun milkshakes, premium sakes, craft beers, wine and 10oz exotic martinis round out a huge bar menu that is sure to please. The Cowfish aims to offer something for the entire family. Scrumptious appetizers for sharing, hot soups and entree-sized salads, homemade downtown disney hotel map desserts and a fun kid s menu are joined by our signature downtown disney hotel map creations that we call Burgushi ! A cutting edge fusion of burger and sushi, burgushi items include sushi rolls created using burger components, and pick-up style sandwiches created using sushi components. If you can t make up your mind, try a bento box to sample a mini-burger along with your choice of sushi roll and three tasty side items!
Remember that big Disney announcement from last month, where the company finally started to tease just what will be in store with Pandora: The World of Avatar? Well, it looks like we're now starting to get some specifics on just what, exactly, will be involved with Animal Kingdom's first expansion.
downtown disney hotel map The centerpiece of the area will be the E-ticket, Soarin'-esque flight simulator, which will perch guests on the back of a Banshee. The general assumption amongst the various theme park connoisseurs was that it truly would be a Soarin' clone, but the latest intel from Joe Rhode, the lead Imagineer on the project, is that it'll actually be the next-generation version of that ride: not only will it have more in common with, say, Universal's signature downtown disney hotel map Harry Potter attractions downtown disney hotel map (Forbidden Journey and the forthcoming Gringotts coaster ), providing more in the way of thrills and spills, it'll also feature a brand-new ride vehicle; rather than Soarin's tried-and-true bench-style seats, the site speculates that riders will be flipped over onto their bellies, much like SeaWorld's Manta . Imagineering is still debating whether downtown disney hotel map they'll go 3D or not.
Top 5 goes on to confirm the general layout of Pandora: downtown disney hotel map an area teeming with lush, sometimes-interactive foliage that is crisscrossed downtown disney hotel map with the ruins of a previous downtown disney hotel map human base camp. The entry point will be themed as a landing station, replete with a quick-service restaurant styled as an army base mess hall and sidewalks that light up with electronic ripple lighting effects (for now – the site notes that they're actually "massive, touch screen-style sidewalks" that can be programmed with anything Disney wants on them, like the ones currently being deployed in Downtown Disney for the holiday season). Walking trails lead throughout the local flora and fauna, and interactive animal encounters will be featured, as well, as both part of a walk-through attraction (the third for the land, for those of you playing along at home, in addition to the D-ticket boat ride) and as a series of character meet-n-greets throughout the day.
And what about those floating mountains? The website doesn't have much to say about them, except that they'll be the icon of the new land – though they won't out-shine the park's major weenie, downtown disney hotel map the Tree of Life – and that they're set to play a "prominent role." As of right now, it seems like the Imagineers are thinking downtown disney hotel map of hiding one of the two major rides' show buildings in them.
Oh, lest you become downtown disney hotel map too excited for all this wondrous theming, Central Florida Top 5 has one last Pandora detail for you: the area's 2017 release date is just for its first phase . There is no word on what, exactly, this will entail, or how many further phases Avatar Land will consist of.
Finally, the site has some brief tidbits on the other major component of Disney's Avatar announcement: Animal Kingdom's new nighttime operating hours and after-dark entertainment. According to its sources, WET, which designed the Bellagio's fountains in Las Vegas, downtown disney hotel map and none other than Cirque du Soleil are involved with the new after-hours show, which, Top 5's pretty sure, will utilize the new "Glow with the Show" ears . The Tree of Life itself looks to be getting in on the action, with a "top-to-bottom stripping and updating" of all of its branches – rumor has it that they've begun to already fall out, which has the Imagineers understandably concerned – replacing them with the Avatar -esque bioluminescent leaves/limbs.
Part of this unprecedented attendance and souvenir-splurging level can generally be attributed to the country's growing fascination with, and spending on, Halloween, which reached $7.6 billion this year (with $1.4 billion going to adult costumes alone!). But both analysts and Universal itself are quite aware of the real money-driver in this equation: licensed intellectual downtown disney hotel map properties.
Licenses constituted over half of this year's haunted house lineup at both Universal Studios Hollywood and Universal Studios Florida, downtown disney hotel map relying on such properties as The Walking Dead , Evil Dead , Black Sabbath, and Resident Evil . With more money being invested in recognizable brands – which includes, in most cases, the creators of those brands assisting in the design downtown disney hotel map and execution of the mazes – more money is, in turn, being spent by consumers who are eager to go visit (and be scared by) the worlds and characters they've already grown to love.
The writing on the wall? Expect this trend to continue, starting with next year's event and, more than likely, exponentially increasing in the years thereafter. For Orlando specifically, roughly 52% of the haunts were IPs this year; for 2014, expect that number to jump to at least 60%. Even the original haunted houses are starting downtown disney hotel map to become franchises of their own: La Llorona is tagged with the header "Urban Legends," which Universal hopes to become a brand all its own in future years, and Havoc 2: Derailed is, obviously, a sequel to a previous maze. (Which isn't to mention the fact that La Llorona was also originally a Hollywood attraction that got shipped across the country, providing another wrinkle counting against its originality factor.)
Whether such a development does, indeed, make you excited or make you repulsed, there's a fascination to HHN that runs more deeply than what horror creatures are slapped on its veneer – it extends to its very structure, to its body and bones. How does Universal Creative (in consultation with all those Hollywood and videogame producers) lay out the maze, time the scares, and construct downtown disney hotel map the atmosphere that you'll pee your pants in?
Now that you've got your behind-the-scenes peek, get back under your bed and start counting down the days until HHN 24. Don't worry – we'll be here holding your hand, to keep away the coming scares… of an all-licensed Halloween lineup.
Yesterday Dan took his weekly tour of Universal Orlando, where, upon entering CityWalk, he was surprised to see that Red Oven Pizza Bakery the venue that replaced the Pastamore Marketplace was serving food.
As you can see in the video, the food was going to construction workers and team members, not to guests yet. But this is a sure sign that the new quick-service restaurant will be opening to the public downtown disney hotel map very soon.
If this is the first time you re reading about this development, here s the description of Red Oven as provided by Universal: downtown disney hotel map Take a quick trip to Italy for authentic, artisan pizza made fresh, while you wait at Red Oven Pizza Bakery. downtown disney hotel map Savor the crackle of the perfect crust, market-fresh downtown disney hotel map toppings, and pure buffalo mozzarella. This is real pizza, the way Italy intended. Readers will note that the full-service portion of Pastamore is still open for business for now.
In other dining news, Dan was able to study the new Universal Dining Plan Quick Service (UDP-QS) in closer downtown disney hotel map detail yesterday. Although we still think the name is awful, it seems like the program may be a better deal than we reported in our first look two weeks ago.
Dan will be providing more analysis of the program later, but for now we can sum up our new findings: if planned correctly, the UDP-QS can be a strikingly good deal, lowering your dining costs by 30 percent. The key is that you have to find the more expensive items served at Universal s quick-service restaurants to realize the biggest savings (and, of course, you have to want to eat those items too).
As I mentioned before, Dan will provide further analysis of the program soon. For now, the good news is that the UDP-QS, while not offering the unlimited meals of the classic Meal Deal plan, can still be a money-saver.
That s the good news. Now the bad news. Universal s Photo Connect Star Card Package , truly one of the best deals available in Orlando s theme parks, lost a little bit of luster this week. In very simple terms, the Star Card Package allows Universal guests to collect all of their in-park and ride photos on