Candy In The Media - Looking Back at 7-11

When I was a kid 7-11 was the end and a be all of stores. A trip to 7-11 meant you were in for some serious sugar and snack fun times.  I'm not sure if the quality of these stores has gone down hill, or if my expectations have gone up. They're just not what they used to be in my eyes, and that's a little sad.

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It's a New Episode of Junk Fud On The Road All About Disney World!!!

In this episode Chris and Allison talk about their epic 12 day adventure in Disney World (that's the one in Florida). It's a unique episode because it was recorded while driving back home after their trip.

For more episodes of Junk Fud you can check out our YouTube page, Soundcloud, or our webpage.

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Disney World Roundup (With Bonus Review)

I'm not sure how many people know this, but Disney World is really a foodie destination.  I think some people think that this theme park's best food offerings are corn dogs and chicken nuggets, but that's just not true. Granted these options are available, but this series of 4 theme parks, many resorts, and so much more offers some pretty amazing food as well as attractions.  There's everything from "fine dinning" to some pretty interesting niche snacks.

Since this is a blog about sweets, and candy, we'll start there.  Disney excels at some sweets, and fails almost completely with others.  When it comes to bakeries and hand made sweets, Disney has a huge assortment of things to try and almost none of them will let you down.  Some are classic Disney treats, like the famous Dole Whip, and others are far more unique and fancy, like pumpkin fudge (a special treat for the fall season).

Disney has also jumped onto the cupcake bandwagon with guns blazing.  Every single restaurant, bakery and many snack stands offer cupcakes.  Some are unique to their area of the parks, others are available all over the resort, almost every single one we tried was tasty, some were down right fantastic.  These weren't the only trends that  Disney seems to be trying out (we saw "cronuts"), but cupcakes are certainly the sweet treat that seems to be working for them.  They're all over the place, and there are some pretty amazing choices available. If you check some of the Disney World food blogs (yes these exist) you'll find that people collect these cupcakes like others collect Disney trading pins.

The good thing about their fine hand made and baked sweets is that they spread them throughout the resorts, including to the restaurants.  They've even taken the idea of dessert to a new level and started dessert parties.  These are parties that you pay extra for, and are associated with another event.  We went to the Star Wars dessert party, and it was pretty good.  The party consisted of a huge dessert spread in an indoor area with all kinds of Star Wars characters wandering around.  After the dessert party, we were ushered to a reserved spot for fireworks, and also given a special Chewbacca mug.  It was  a great night, and the food was constant.

Speaking of constant food, if we're to talk about the meals at Disney there are two descriptions that work, huge portion and fancier than you might think.  We had some days where we just felt sick at the end of the day.  One piece of advice that comes up on many Disney travel blogs is that sometimes you might want to share a meal.  I would say that most of the time you'll want to share a meal.  These massive portions were actually a down side for me.  The food was interesting, so I wanted to try as much as possible, but the portions are so big that you can't.  Since I'm a person that likes variety, I found myself really limited, and often overstuffed.

While the portions were a bit of a bummer, as the Candy Critic, I have one huge complaint about the sweets, and it breaks my hears since I'm a huge Goofy fan.  Disney has a few series of packaged snacks and candies including Goofy's Candy Company, Chip and Dales Snacks, and a few others.  These are prepackaged candies and snacks available everywhere in the resorts.  For the most part, I found these snacks to be very disappointing.  Most of them were just regular snacks packaged in Disney packages.  A few had Disney shapes when they could, but even that was limited.  I would think since they're putting so much money into creating some epic foods and hand made sweets throughout the parks that maybe they'd have some clever candies as well.  Alas that was not to be found, and you can read my review here to find out how disappointed I was.

All in all I would say that Disney World is expensive, but worth it. I don't see us going back in the near future, but not because we didn't have fun.  The portions were huge, and some of the flavours a little dulled down for North American palettes, but all in all I really enjoyed the food.  Some was OK, but most was surprisingly amazing.  If you're really into food, and you want to visit, I recommend visiting the Epcot Food and Wine Show (it was going on while we were there), it takes the surprising food variety of these parks and amps it up a bit.

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This Week In Candy... Yup, It's a Little Late.

Seriously, I just can't seem to get back on track after my epic adventures.  We just got back from an awesome drive across the USA to Florida (Disney World) and then back to Canada.  I'm a little tired, and falling behind on everything, including posting this blog, and posting the new review.  But if you're reading this than obviously I have things back on track... at least enough to post this.

So now that I'm back home, what's going on here at Candy Critic?  We'll it's already been posted, but a new article all about things that many people think are American, but are actually not, has gone online.  I'm not saying that the USA hasn't come up with some amazing junk food items (after all I had my first real Philly Cheese Steak on this trip and it was amazing), but sometimes Americans appropriate things that they really don't deserve credit for.  Later tonight we'll also be releasing the first in a 4 part video series called In Hindsight were I look back at old candy reviews and see if they still stand up.  We'll also have our regular segments of A Candy Thing and Candy In The Media coming later this week.

Next week I hope to have a written account of our trip to Disney and all the cool snacks we came across, we'll also have an episode of Junk Fud On The Road with Allison on that very subject. Speaking of Junk Fud, Junk Fud News is coming back this week... at some point I hope.  Snack Facts on the other hand won't be back until next week as we're just trying to organize things here as well as get ready for Halloween.

Now that we're back home, we are back with a new review. This one was one we picked up on the road, unfortunately it wasn't great.  I'm sure one of the dozens of other treats we picked up will be great, but  not this one. Find out why by clicking here and reading our Yoo-Hoo Candy review.

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This Week In Candy

Can you believe we're still here?.. At Disney World?  The photo above is me in Disney Paris, that's because I'm writing this way in advance and I don't have a picture of me in front of the Florida castle (yet). At this point in our trip I'm sure that I'm either sick of Disney stuff, or planning to move here permanently.

Our trip is winding down right now, and that means it's on to the second part of this adventure, but we'll have more about that next week.  For now we're still posting most of our regular blog posts, and reviews are likely to come back in the next few weeks.  This week we're posting our final installment on candy varieties, and it's a strange one.  We're going to look at Lay's chips and all of the strange flavours you can find of this salty snack.

Hope you're keeping up with everything we're doing at the Magic Kingdom via Twitter and Facebook.

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Candy In the Media

Challenge accepted.

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This Week In Candy

We're at Disney!  We're here for a while, and I imagine that our Facebook and Twitter feed are a clear indication of this.  I say "imagine" because, as usual I'm writing this well in advance.

As we mentioned last week, some of our regular posts will still be going up this week, and as you would expect, we've added a Disney twist.  Our "Candy Thing" and "Candy In The Media" are going to be full of pixie dust. Once we get home, we'll have a whole bunch of fun stuff to share about this epic trip.  While we're not posting a review this week, we're collecting a whole bunch of treats to review.  To keep you occupied, this week we'll be featuring another candy variety, this time M&Ms.

I think it's time I eat a Turkey Leg.

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Candy In The Media

Just got to Disney World, I'm going to eat as many treats as I can.

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This Week In Candy

Guess what?  We're headed to Disney World real soon.

Very soon Allison and I are headed to the happiest place on earth. We're just finalizing all our last minute plans and working out our route... That's right, you heard me right, we're driving to Florida.  That means stopping at all kinds of classic American road trip stops down the east coast.  Our first stop is likely going to be a Cracker Barrel, because that place knows to how to be American. After that, who knows. Actually is you have any tips or ideas let us know.  You can follow some of these adventures on our Twitter feed and Facebook page as soon as we hit the road.

Many of our regular posts are going to continue to go online, with a Disney twist.  Our "Candy Things" and "Candy In The Media" are all going to be about this Magical Kingdom.  We're also going to write up a full report on this adventure when we get back, and show you the best treats Disney World has to offer.  This week we're continuing our series about candy varieties with this week featuring Reese's Peanut Butter Cups.

Today's new review is brought to us from our great friends at ciocolata-de-europa.com. They sent us a great sampling of some chocolate bars that we'd never heard of before.  While this week's review didn't do to well, it was great to try something brand news.  Click here to read this week's new review.

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This Week In Candy

Over the last few weeks here at Candy Critic, we've been re-organizing the way we produce some of our content. Most notably, we're changing up the way our podcast, Junk Fud, and our video blog series, Chris, Why Would You Eat That?!!, is put online.  Starting in July, the follow schedule will happen:

First week of every month - Junk Fud News, where we look at what happened in the world of junk food and candy for the month before.
Second week of every month - A new episode of Chris, Whey Would You Eat That?!!, where Chris eats questionable foods for your enjoyment.
Third week of every month - Junk Fud On The Road, where Allison and Chris talk about some of the cool places they've traveled, and the food they found.
Junk Fud History, and Junk Fud And You will continue, but on a random basis.

You can also keep track of all of the episodes of the podcast on our SoundCloud station right here.

Having said all of that, this summer looks like it's going to be rather crazy, so who knows how well we'll stick to this schedule.

Speaking of this summer, we're planning our next adventure, and it's going to be a big one.  We've traveled a lot of places, but now we're looking at visiting the "happiest place on earth", that's right Disney World.  We're getting geared up to visit the only place where you're happy to see mice wondering around. We've been doing our homework, and we have lots of fun things planned.  We are however always open to suggestions for treats and sweets that we can't miss.  We should ad that we're going to be there for the Epcot Food And Wine Festival.

This week on Snack Facts, our Instagram feed, we're looking at the origins of some classic candies.  Every day this week we're going to tell you how long a classic treat has been around.  It's amazing that many of us are eating the same candy that our grandparents ate.  To keep up with Snack Facts, you can follow our Instagram feed, Facebook page, or Twitter feed.

Speaking of classic candies, this week's review is a real classic.  It's such a classic that I'm really surprised that I haven't reviewed it yet. The Toblerone bar has been around as long as I know, and it's one of those bars I keep finding in every airport all over the world.  Click here to read our long awaited review.

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Candy News

Barry Callebaut is opening a chocolate school.  Looks like I need another degree.

I find this picture of the Green M&M to be very disturbing, and it's official.

A new Harry Potter addition has been added to Universal Studios in Orlando, and you better believe that they have some pretty cool treats.

So you think cutting a cake is easy?  Well chance are you've been doing it wrong the whole time.

Did you just eat an entire pint of ice cream, does your head hurt?  Here's why.

Speaking of ice cream, have you ever tried any of those artisinal flavours out there.  Think you could identify what flavour they are without a tag?  Well these kids couldn't.

If you want to keep up with all of the daily candy news that we come across as it happens, follow us on Twitter.

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Chocolate Covered Bacon

Sometimes I like to talk about a particular subject and point you to a related article.  Sometimes I write a brief description of an article and then post it below.  This time I'm just going to tell you the headline of the article and you can choose for yourself if you want to check it out.

"Have you tried: Chocolate-covered bacon at Wassi's Meat Market in Melbourne"

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If You Find Yourself In Florida This Weekend

Then you might want to check out the  Zonta Club of Melbourne's Chocolate Festival taking place this Sunday.  All the local chocolate experts are going to try and impress you with their best chocolate treats, so you don't want to miss it.

Click here to read more about the Zonta Club of Melbourne's Chocolate Festival.

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I Would Kill For a Girl Guide Cookie

Others stop short on simple assault.  A woman in Florida last week was arrested for attacking her roommate over a box of cookies.  The good news is that it was for a box of Thin Mints, and those are the best ones.

Click here to read more.

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Florida Treat Finds

I came across this list of places in Florida to pick up some treats, so I thought I'd pass it along.  While browsing this list I discovered a creation made by "Sprinkles Custom Cakes" called the "Cake Shooter".  It's a brilliant way to get your cake.

Click here to see the list and check out these "Cake Shooters".

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New Candy Store in Florida

If you happen to be looking for some sun this winter, and maybe a few sweet treats, then it sounds like this might be the place for you.

Click here to read more.

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Candy Resort

A resort in Florida has made a giant version of itself out of candy.  It looks pretty cool, and fairly detailed too.  The only thing that would make it cooler is if they did the interior as well.  Then I would call it the best candied version of a resort ever.

Click here to check it out.

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Chocolate Festivals In Florida

I just got word that there are a few chocolate festivals planed int he Florida area in the next few months. I recommend checking them out, in fact I recommend checking out any festival that has a close association with chocolate no matter where you are.

Click here to read about these Florida festivals.

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Golden Girls and Cheesecake

I really couldn't tell if the article below was a tribute to the Golden Girls or a description of some cheesecakes available in Miami. If it turns out it's both then I present the first contestant in the merge any topic with sweet treats article competition.

Click here and see for yourself.

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Candy Family

One of the great things about the candy business is how many of them are run by families. In some cases a family member will grow up in the candy world and split off from the main candy business to start their own. The reason why this happens is that the candy business is more than just making candy. It's also about business, art, and marketing, so families can pass on businesses even if the kids aren't interested in the same things. Here's an article about just such a man.

Click here to check it out.

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