Dining at The Hollywood Brown Derby at Walt Disney World's Hollywood Studios

Dining at the Hollywood Brown Derby

The entrance to the Hollywood Brown Derby

If you want a taste of old Hollywood while at Disney world be sure to reserve a table at The Hollywood Brown Derby at Hollywood Studios on your trip. We have had the pleasure of dining with them twice and it has now become a staple of our Disney vacations.

The Hollywood Brown Derby is a replica of well, the Hollywood Brown Derby in Hollywood California. This restaurant is a perfect place to dine when at Hollywood Studios since this park combines the glitz and glamour of old Hollywood with the sleek and flair of current Hollywood.

Caricatures of Old Hollywood’s Famous Celebrities

The interior is filled with browns, golds, shades of white and the restaurant has wall after wall of these caricatures of the Hollywood greats of yesteryear.

Once seated we were greeted with this beautiful display of gold glittery stars and complimentary champagne, it was our 1^st trip to Disney together and our one year wedding anniversary which I had added to our reservations in hopes of a little “pixie dust” and once again Disney did not disappoint!

      The extra “Pixie Dust” for our Anniversary Celebration

Do you see the Mickey?

This trip we tried the Andouille crusted shrimp and grits as a started and the filet with red wine reduction compound butter for our main course.  They were the best dishes I have had on Disney property. The shrimp was perfectly cooked and the grits were creamy and rich. The steak just melted in your mouth and the presentations were beautiful.

Andouille Crusted Shrimp and Grits

Chargrilled Filet with Red Wine Reduction Compound Butter

 The menus at Disney are always changing and evolving at Disney and they are always adding new amazing things to try. That being said I must say if these were a constant on the menu I may never pick anything else these were so good!

Having the Happiest 1^st Anniversary at the Happiest Place on Earth!

The Hollywood Brown Derby is classified as a Signature Dining restaurant which means it is a one of a kind, high end dining experience. The cost ranges from $$($15 to $34.99 per adult) for lunch-$$$($35 to $59.99 per adult) for dinner. If you are on the Disney Dining plan or the Deluxe Dining plan this restaurant is worth 2 credits. Reservations are recommended to be made at least 180 days in advance.

Tips or Tricks?

I highly recommend you have your travel planner mention any special even you are celebrating when they reserve your table. You never know what kind of magic awaits you!

Hubby being surprised with special Birthday dessert on our last trip!

Anything else?

The Hollywood Brown Derby is famous for their Cobb Salad and if you ask they will provide you with the recipe on these super cute little brown derby hats. They make a great FREE souvenir as well as the perfect prop for your photo ops!

Cobb Salad Recipe Card

Excited to try Disney’s The Hollywood Brown Derby?! Contact one of the Travel Time Travel Planners today to start booking your dream vacation.

 By Kris 

Kris@traveltimetravel.com

Let us make your vacation even easier!  We'll help you plan from the start and can advise you and handle your arrangements, including dining, fast passes, room requests, discount application, and celebrations.  We are the same price or less than if you book on your own, and you get us for FREE!  Have an expert on your side at zero cost to you and contact one of our agents today!

Disney Springs - Splitsville

When planning a vacation to the Walt Disney World Resort, you begin making dinner reservations, fast pass+ selections, planning which characters you’re going to meet and probably mixed in there is some downtime away from the parks. When planning some down time, or new experiences, you’ll find the Disney resorts and Disney Springs offer some interesting options; like watercraft rentals, new dining choices, dinner shows, and even mini-golf courses.  But would you ever expect to find bowling at Walt Disney World? Me neither! Enter, Splitsville. This multi-purpose two story restaurant, bar, bowling alley and gift shop, houses one of the coolest experiences I have ever encountered during my 20+ trips to Disney World and the Orlando area.

On my most recent mother/daughter trip with my mom, we encountered some delays from the airport, making our arrival to Port Orleans Riverside so late that we missed our reservations we had previously made. Our resort manager was kind enough to comp us a cab to Disney Springs for our troubles. When we got there the first thing we saw after getting out of the cab at Disney Springs was the sign for Splitsville. We looked at each other and said lets give it a shot!

We got in line and realized we were both wearing sandals, but no worries, they had socks for sale at the counter for about $6.00 a pair. We each got a pair and they are by far the plushest, comfiest socks I’ve EVER owned. Extremely good quality and very comfortable! Well worth our $6.00.  We paid for our 1 hour round of bowling and received a buzzer for our twenty minute wait for a table since we did not have reservations. Wait times vary, after we got through the line a large group of teens came in and the wait time instantly went up another thirty minutes.  When our buzzer went off, we selected our shoe sizes and we were led up an escalator to our own personal lane upstairs. Our hostess explained how the timer worked and that it started when we bowled our first frame. We quickly put on our socks and shoes at our own high table booth and selected our bowling balls. Before we rolled our first frame our very attentive server came over to start us off with something to drink and to take our order. We decided to play it safe and stick with a pepperoni pizza, even though every single person we encountered said the sushi is to die for. (Maybe next trip!)

After ordering, we entered our names into the system and got the ball rolling! (Pardon the pun.)  Each lane is in a cluster of around two or three lanes; our section had three individual lanes. The atmosphere is a cross between a nostalgic retro/fifties era blowing alley and just enough of a modern vibe to bring it into 2016.  The alleys are lit up with multi colored LED lights and there was always great music playing from the classics to current hits. The Major League Baseball All-Star Game was playing that night and our server was more than glad to change the channel to the t.v. in our lane so I could watch my favorite players!

At first I was skeptical that one hour would be long enough to get our moneys worth. It was really the perfect amount of time for us, although our server said that on occasion if the wait isn’t too long they would let you stay over a bit to finish up a game if you happened to be in the middle of one.  In our one-hour session, we bowled two and a half games and had plenty of time to enjoy our DELICIOUS pizza and drinks. 

Pricing and time allowed on the lanes is based on how many people are in your party and what time you arrive. My parents are DVC members and we also received 20% off our bowling and socks and since we are also annual passholders, we received 20% off of our food! I loved the fact you could come in and just eat or just get a drink in the bar, or you could just bowl. You don’t have to do both but it is way more fun if you do!



Overall we had a FANTASTIC experience at Splitsville! I would highly recommend it to families who are looking for something new to do on their Disney vacation that’s slightly out of the ordinary, but that’s not so extreme you are scared to try it. It is great fun for every member of the family because in addition to the various seating options for different age groups, they also provide bumper guards for the lanes and bowling track guides for some of your younger (or older) bowlers who have trouble throwing the ball down the lanes. Try it out during early bird pricing for an early lunch, maybe after an early morning rope drop at one of the parks to have a midday break as a refreshing way to relax and unwind before hitting up the parks for more rides and fun! Whatever time of day you go, you are sure to have a swell time at Splitsville at Disney Springs! I can’t wait to go back and try it again!

Let us make your vacation even easier!  We'll help you plan from the start and can advise you and handle your arrangements, including dining, fast passes, room requests, discount application, and celebrations.  We are the same price or less than if you book on your own, and you get us for FREE!  Have an expert on your side at zero cost to you and contact one of our agents today!

Walt Disney World's Pirate League info and Review

Pirates League Blog

As we all know Disney is known for it’s hidden gems from the Dole Whips (okay not so hidden), to hidden Mickey’s, Ohana character breakfast, or the prime parade viewing in Liberty Square across from Ye Christmas Shoppe .  They are the secret gems only the truest Disney fan knows about but they are experiences filled with every nugget of Disney Magic.  Well today I’m going to let you know about another Disney hidden gem that has become my family’s ‘treasured’ (p’aaaarrrrrdon the pun) experiences.  It’s Pirates League at the Magic Kingdom.

So much hype in the Disney community exists for the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique.  Yes this makeover venue is pixie dusted elegance and glamour at it’s best but there is another selection for those who want to be magically transformed. If ye dares……

Pirates League is located directly to the right of the queue line of Pirates of the Caribbean.  Once you enter you are given your choices

of becoming any number of scary rough tough pirates or the friendly Jake from Jake and the Neverland Pirates. For the ladies/girls in your party  you become a dazzling Pirate Empress or mesmerizing Mermaid.  There are ofcourse deluxe add-ons from costumes to t-shirts to make the transformation complete. 

Once your selection has been made you will be ushered by a buccaneer or pirate wench to a room to use a special book and tool to determine what your pirate name would be.  At the completion of the makeover you are given an authentic looking parchment with the pirate oath, declaring your given Pirate name, and signed by ‘Captain’ Jack Sparrow.
If you have selected an add-on you are shown a changing room in which you can change into your official pirate garb. 

You are then introduced to the official buccaneer or pirate wench, or as I lovingly call them your pirate guide, that will be completing your transformation. The room surrounding you has many mementos from the movies.  Ask your pirate guide about the décor and movie mementos and they will freely share the secret treasures Jack and his fellow crewmates have left behind including the chest of Davy Jones, to Elizabeth Turner’s dress, to artwork from the King’s Castle.


Your pirate guide may regal you with tales of ‘Captain’ Jack Sparrows adventures or there may be inquisitions into your new world tales of unfamiliar technology such as television, airplanes, or playstations. Pirates are unfamiliar with such crazy new world inventions and your child will be their informant educating the pirate guide of all the technological advances they are lacking being at sea.  The conversational discourse between Pirate guide and child is insightful and entertaining and you as a parent can delight in sitting back to observe this marvelous adventure.

When a makeover is complete a child’s name and title is announced to the room and a the room breaks out into a hearty cheer for the new pirate joining the ranks. 
Following this magical makeover the pirate guide then bestows on them the special tools of a pirate including a sash, bandana, and depending on the pirate guide your child may also receive the remaining palette of makeup and jeweled tattoos for the mermaid or empress makeovers.

The pirate is then taught the pirate oath and with raised hands and a hearty heart they pledge the oath and are thus officially assigned a prestigious new role as “pirate”. 
Now that they are a pirate they are given secret passage into a hidden room for more treasures.  For our adventure it was a pirate dubloon necklace in a treasure box my children had to discover in the hidden depths of this secret map room.  This is the final step of the makeover and one is then ushered to a Pirate cashier where a transfer of pirate coin (credit card or cash) is used to pay for ye’ transformation.

 There are often Photopass photographers near the sign for Pirates League to take pictures of your new scurvy mate to commemorate the magical moment.  And if you time it right you can walk the plank across the courtyard to the Captain Jacks Pirate Tutorial where frequently Captain Jack Sparrow himself plucks the newly transformed shipmates to join his crew and learn the ways of sword fighting, fleeing trouble, or pledging the pirate oath. 

For my girls this transformation allowed my glamorous fashionable 10 year old daughter to sparkle and shine with pixie dusted mermaid makeover and color changing jewelry (included in the makeover) and my tomboy 13 year old daughter to become a creepy pirate ghost (complete with skull makeup).  This venue truly has something for everyone and I saw whole families getting in on the transformation fun.  It is more budget friendly then Bibbidi Bobbidi with pricing starting at $39.95 and includes a swash buckling good time for the adventurer in all of us. 
The packages include the following components:
The First Mate Package
$39.95
•    Facial makeup and hair to become Ghosted Pirate, Zombie, Captain Hook, Blackbeard or Black Eyed Jack
•    Reversible bandana
•    Earring and eye patch
•    Sword and sheath
•    The Pirates League bag
•    Temporary tattoo
•    Unique pirate coin necklace
•    Official Pirate Name
•    Personalized pirate oath
The Captain Hook Deluxe Package
$99.95
•    Captain Hook Costume (youth sizes only)
•    Captain Hook facial makeup and hair
•    Sword and sheath
•    Bandana
•    Earring and eye patch
•    Pirate tattoo
•    Pirate bag
•    Unique coin necklace
•    Toy hook
The Empress Package
$39.95
•    Vibrant makeup, lip gloss, nail polish and face gem
•    Unique pirate coin necklace
•    Temporary tattoo
•    The Pirates League bag
•    Official Empress Name
•    Personalized pirate oath
The Mermaid Deluxe Package
$79.95
•    Mermaid costume (youth sizes only)
•    Luminous mermaid makeup and makeup palette
•    Mermaid hairstyle and color-changing hair clip
•    Distinctive mermaid necklace
•    Nail polish
•    Mermaid sash

For more information visit : contact your friendly Travel Time Agent today!!!

Let us make your vacation even easier!  We'll help you plan from the start and can advise you and handle your arrangements, including dining, fast passes, room requests, discount application, and celebrations.  We are the same price or less than if you book on your own, and you get us for FREE!  Have an expert on your side at zero cost to you and contact one of our agents today!