How do you/do you eat healthy on vacation?

sunnydays28

Mouseketeer
Joined
Jan 2, 2011
I am struggling a little bit with our upcoming vacation, glad it is not until May so I have time to figure this out. I am especially stumped by breakfast choices.

We are very healthy eaters: no juice, low carb, very little milk, almost no processed foods, no added sugars, lean meats and protein. The breakfast choices in the restaurants are all carb and sugar heavy and/ or will take a lot of time, the options to keep in the room are limited by not having a microwave or stove top. Typical breakfast at our house is zapped egg whites, Greek yogurt with fresh fruit, grilled chicken strips, hummus with veggies, veggie burger. We will have lots of healthier snacks with us throughout the day and those will be easier and I know we will have a fridge in our room and a cooler in the car for fruit and yogurts, but what else can we do? We will be in 4 hotels over the 13 days we are traveling.

Or do you just give in and eat whatever, getting back on track when you get back home? And do you feel like crap if you eat differently while on vacation?
 
I did what I could to be realistic about it. Some of the places we chose to eat were going to make it difficult to eat healthy (Biergarten, anyone?) so I went through each of the restaurants we chose and decided which restaurants were going to be splurges and which ones were going to be healthy. Biergarten, Akershus, and Le Cellier were all splurges. At places like 'Ohana, I knew I needed to watch it. I figured I would mostly eat fruit, but then they brought out the healthy platter of egg whites, chicken sausage, turkey bacon, and vegetables. That made that much easier. All of my counter service meals were required to be healthy so I often got veggie burgers or something similar with apples instead of fries.
 
Honestly, Disney is no different than any other vacation destination. You'll be able to find things you can eat, but you'll have to look for them ..
 


Honestly, Disney is no different than any other vacation destination. You'll be able to find things you can eat, but you'll have to look for them ..

I guess why Disney is different is that we usually vacation at condos, timeshares, relatives homes and are not on much of a timetable. Disney is different, and while we are not park commandos, we are going to keep our daughter on our usual schedule of being up early and getting to the parks at RD, which does not leave time for cooking breakfasts or ordering healthier options in the restaurants. But I am not even finding that many healthy options: the yogurt is processed and high in sugar, the cereals are flour, rice and sugar, the fast are doughnuts and Pop-Tarts.

Do you know if we would be allowed to bring our own microwave into an AoA room? We are driving and have a small one in storage here at home.
 
Do you know if we would be allowed to bring our own microwave into an AoA room? We are driving and have a small one in storage here at home.

That shouldn't be an issue.

Have you considered bringing a crock pot and doing crock pot meals? I feel like that might be your best bet to meet your family's dietary considerations.
 
We drive to the Orlando Whole Foods which is a 10 minute drive from wdw and stock up for the week. We keep most everything in the fridge in the room. We get water, bananas, apples, pears, other fruit, gf breads and snacks, nitrate free cold cuts, peanut butter. I see you eat dairy, so greek yogurt and any other dairy products you like. I'm surprised that you use the microwave so much at home, it is not a particularly healthy cooking method. I don't know anything about putting a microwave in your hotel room. I think for a future trip renting dvc points would be a great option because you could cook egg whites and grilled chicken in the room. We also choose to eat at a lot of signature restaurants. The chefs are happy to make me plain grilled chicken, fish, filet mignon and veggies. I am gluten and dairy free and the chefs always do a great job. Have a magical trip!
 


We used to mix it up, do some healthy meals and snacks as well as some serious splurges. Yum! Now we have one of us with cholestrol issues and one of us with sodium issues, so we have to really behave nearly all the time. The sodium issue has been challenging to find options for. I've been reading the menu listings like crazy for the last couple weeks and for breakfast, I've found some options thus far and hoping for more to come :) Sunshine Seasons in Epcot looks to have alot of healthy choices overall including oatmeal and fruit for breakfast. Many other spots have oatmeal and fresh fruit too. Grand Floridian Cafe and The Wave offer an Egg White Frittata and Whispering Canyon Cafe has an Egg White Omelette on the menu.
 
I think I read that AoA rooms have a microwave in them. Could save you!

We've brought/ had grocery delivery of yogurts, fruits, veggies, etc for in-room eating of breakfast and lunch park snacks.

This site (WDWINFO.COM) has menus of pretty much every restaurant. My DH & I made our own list of each QS restaurant and rated it according to the number of good choices we could make there. (for example Pizzafari = 0; Sunshine Seasons = 7) Our ratings would be different than yours, as we do eat bread and a few things that don't, however having that list in our pocket planner made it easy for us to pick QS places in each park and resort. You could do the same thing by reviewing dinner menus before making your ADR's. Review the menus of the park/area you'll be in & then decide based on menu choices now, when you are not as rushed, so that you are confident when you get to a TS or QS place that you'll know they'll have options for you.

While we were making our choices based on weight watcher's points, I've seen everywhere on the boards that Disney TS restaurants can be accomodating when you have an actual allergy, just let them know ahead of time if possible.

Don't stress! have a great trip & maybe we'll see you in May :flower3:
 
I have considered the crock pot, but not sure how I feel about it running in a hotel while we are at the park or pool, since a fire would affect so many other people. A microwave we would use for a few minutes then unplug while gone.

We don't actually use a microwave that much, mainly for cooking eggs in a hurry once I get to work, that is why ours is in storage. But for a trip it is the one appliance that would do it all (I hear there are no coffee pots in the AoA LM rooms): warm foods, chicken for my husband, oatmeal for my daughter, eggs for me.

We probably will do suite or villa, with or without DVC points for future trips, but wanted this trip to be all about our 4 year old and staying in the LM room.

We are planning on a grocery trip, good to know Whole Foods is close by. My daughter has a dairy allergy so I will be able to get her some yogurts there. And yep, it is easier to do the signature meals and sit downs, I am just surprised there are so few healthy fast options.

Thank you all!!
 
sunnydays28 said:
I have considered the crock pot, but not sure how I feel about it running in a hotel while we are at the park or pool, since a fire would affect so many other people. A microwave we would use for a few minutes then unplug while gone.

We don't actually use a microwave that much, mainly for cooking eggs in a hurry once I get to work, that is why ours is in storage. But for a trip it is the one appliance that would do it all (I hear there are no coffee pots in the AoA LM rooms): warm foods, chicken for my husband, oatmeal for my daughter, eggs for me.

We probably will do suite or villa, with or without DVC points for future trips, but wanted this trip to be all about our 4 year old and staying in the LM room.

We are planning on a grocery trip, good to know whole foods is close by.

Thank you all!!

That sounds so fun for your little one! I can't imagine how fun staying in a LM room would be at that age! I just know you all will have a great time and be able to eat healthy.
 
We are usually healthy eaters too, so we will be bringing granola bars and fruit to the parks with us.
We know that our diet won't be as good as it usually is, but it will be fun to have treats. My boys don't eat processed foods so I expect to be ordering meals from the adult menus for them to share - there is usually grilled chicken/fish or salad so we'll do our best but will also make the most of relaxing the rules.

It does make a difference to how we feel by the end of the trip, so getting home and getting back into our regular diet is always extra nice!!
 
You could stick with a cold breakfast of yogurt and fruit or hummus and veggies. If your LM room doesn't have a microwave there should be one at the food court. The food court will also have hot water (for tea) that can be used for instant oatmeal. We brought disposable Ziplock/Glad containers with us for breakfasts when we stay at non-DVC resorts. Plastic cutlery is available at the food court.
 
I've found breakfast in the villa/room to be the easiest for us. We don't want to spend 1 hour to 1 1/2 in a rest. every morning. We don't like buffets, not big eaters in the morning and certainly not eggs, bacon, sausage etc. So we keep it simple, organic milk, cereal, yogurt, fruit, granola. And if you want to eat out, some of these items (perhaps not organic or as healthy) are available at Main St. Bakery and a few of the QS rest. at the various parks. 13 days is a long time, good luck!

You could bring a little electric pannini/sandwich press to do the veggie burgers and cook egg whites, etc. Mine happens to have both the griddle and the pannini part, it's interchangeable!
 
It's tough to be bulletproof from a diet standpoint at WDW, but there are plenty of healthier options available, it's just a matter of planning ahead and making good decisions when you have the opportunity.

Remember you can generally order a la carte at the QS places, which helps both in the volume of food and avoiding the temptation of having a pile of carb-laden fries on your plate.

Also, services like GardenGrocer will deliver food to your room. We used it to ensure that we had plenty of fresh fruit and other healthy breakfast options on hand that we could just grab and go.

All of the parks have places that carry fresh fruit, like the market in front of Kilamanjaro Safari.

Finally, consider splitting dishes at meals. Portions at Disney are generally enormous, and a salad and entree split between two adults is often plenty to fill you up.
 
I've been seeing more posts than ever on the boards these days about this. It's nice to see actually and all of these posts are great tips.:thumbsup2

I am also extremely health conscious everyday as well. As of lately I've tried to cut out as much processed food as possible as well which is not easy. I also have a website that reviews the restaurants in WDW so that makes it even more tricky for us!:thumbsup2 However that being said, here's what I do IN ADDITION to some of the tips others have mentioned (like stocking up on healthy snacks in your room, etc).

We eat at a lot of the TS restaurants so I practically study the menus before we go and pick a few of those options. I omit things from some of the dishes they serve or put things on the side...etc. If most of the choices are really in question, I'll go with the salad option.;) We have become big fans of The Wave at the CR because a lot of their food is organic and health oriented AND DELICIOUS!:thumbsup2 There are more restaurants like this popping up all over and even in WDW. Even some of the CS/QS are adding healthier options to their menus.

If you're stuck eating something that has a little more of what you really didn't want to eat, just eat less of it, don't beat yourself up and move onto the next plan. I know you mentioned you'll be in 4 different hotels, are some of these on property? There are places you can rent a microwave from in the area? Have you looked into that at all? We are big fans of the DVC studios and FW cabins so we have this option (the kitchenette of the DVC studios are wonderful and the cabins have full kitchens).

I'm right there with you and although we do occasional splurges in WDW but I try to stick to the healthier habits most of the time, so I totally understand. Best thing to do is the plan before you dine somewhere and to see what you're options are as far as being able to rent a microwave if you're in a regular hotel room.:)

One thing I have to add though because this always sticks in my mind since this happened in WDW. We went to R&C for lunch for my birthday some years back and they had this awesome salad, it was so great that I was looking forward to it the next trip and to my disappointment it was gone off the menu! I was so bummed, and there was nothing else similar, when I asked if they can just make a salad with chicken the server gave me attitude (like "why"), but she did return and said it was fine. When I asked her why they didn't have any "healthy" options on the menu, she shrugged her shoulders and the people next to me said (and I quote).."healthy? Why would you want to eat healthy in Disney World"... wow...I just shook my head in amazement.
 
we tend to splurge a bit when we are there. We use the DxDP. My kids enjoy the occasional French fries and processed nuggets. But most of the time they are the best eaters, not a picky one (well one wont eat mushrooms if he can see them), grilled steak and chicken, they eat fruit all the time, and how they love salads. Seafood is a big thing for them.

We like to try different things while there. So we don't eat 100% clean. But really try to balance it out. Plus all the walking helps.
 
I think there's a lot of middle ground between eating a very restricted diet and "just giving in and eating whatever." That middle ground is usually where I spend my vacation.
 
My family doesn't eat as clean as yours does, but we do not eat fast food and we keep processed foods to a minimum. Just looking at some of the pics of Disney food gives me a belly ache! If I were to just let it all go, I would be sick in my hotel room.

Our plan is to order from Garden Grocer, or if we decide to rent a car we'll drive to Publix. We'll get fruit and yogurt for breakfast in the hotel. We'll get whole wheat bread, pb, and jelly (the natural stuff) for sandwiches in the park. We'll bring lots of snacks with us from home. And then we'll let the kids have a treat or two every day. I know the character breakfast will be a dietary bust day :confused3 but I don't think they offer many healthy options. We are doing a dinner at Boma and I know my 3 year old will just eat from the hummus area. So we'll do our best, but not overly stress.

Tangierine in Epcot may be a good option too....
 

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