A Diabetic and a Vegetarian Dine at Disney

[Laura]

Just to give you an idea of who we are and what we eat: DH and I are both 30. I’m a lacto-ovo vegetarian (I eat eggs and dairy), while DH is a meat-eater and a type 1 diabetic. We are not picky, and love all kinds of foods. I apologize, I did not take any food photos; we were generally too hungry by the time we sat down to eat. I have listed prices below. We charged most things to the room, and I’m referencing our express checkout list for the cost. I carried a Frio wallet in my shoulder bag that held DH's insulin for his shots. http://www.friouk.com/



Day One: 4/29/06
Arrival and Epcot

We landed at MCO at 2:30 and got to our hotel room about an hour later (hooray for Magical Express). By 4pm, we were on the bus to Epcot. DH was hungry pretty much by the time we got to Future World, so we went to the Land to check the wait for Soarin’. It was too long, so it had to wait. DH was getting impatient about eating (blood sugar dropping=cranky DH), so Sunshine Season Food Fair was the obvious choice. I got a veggie Cuban sandwich and DH a turkey sandwich. A Smirnoff Ice for me, a beer of some description for DH, some chips, and dinner was ready. Other than a bit too much mustard, my freshly pressed sandwich was excellent. DH said his was good as well.
Cost: $28.31

(FYI--I always asked DH about his food, and he was never very descriptive unless he REALLY liked something. “Good” and a shrug was mostly what I got when we ate at a counter service restaurant.)

After doing the Future World thing, we went to World Showcase and wound up getting desserts at the Kringla Bakeri in Norway. This is an excellent place, but you have a tough decision to make here. I finally chose a school bread and DH a chocolate cake. The school bread was huge! It wasn’t as sweet as I was expecting; the bread part is more like a soft, dense roll and the sweetest part is the coconut topping. The vanilla custard filling was very thick and delicious. DH’s chocolate cake was nice and rich and oh so chocolaty. He managed to finish his, but I got ⅔ of the way through the school bread before I had to stop.
Cost: $8.39



Day Two: 4/30/06
AK, AKL and MK

Breakfast was at the Sassagoula Food Factory. DH got one of the breakfast combos (scrambled eggs, meat, biscuit, etc.) with coffee while I got a cheese omelet with potatoes and OJ. The omelet had more the consistency of a frittata, but it was still okay. The potatoes were very good; but unless you burn the potatoes or the centers are hard and cold, I’m going to like your potatoes. DH liked the fact that his breakfast was big enough to fill his stomach. Nothing spectacular, nothing bad.
Cost: $16.56

At AK, we were finished with the Pangani Forest Exploration Trail when it was time for lunch. Tusker House was the logical choice. Dinner that night was at Boma, so a light lunch was in order. Well, at least it was for me. I told DH to get me the mac-n-cheese kid’s meal with apple juice and found us a seat. He chose the ½ rotisserie chicken meal, which was huge! He did say it was very good, and very large compared to the other chicken meals he saw people taking back to their seats. The kid’s meal came in the black plastic Mickey-head plate. My macaroni and cheese was better than I was expecting; very creamy and cheesy. Applesauce (unsweetened!) and goldfish-type crackers also shaped like Mickey were in the ears of the plate. Not a bad lunch for a vegetarian; it was just enough to fill me up before the bingeing at Boma later. A bigger drink would be in order later, though, as the apple juice wasn’t enough to quench my thirst.
Cost: $14.98

Later, we had ridden EE, and we were a little parched. We stopped by the Royal Anandapur Tea Company and got some cold drinks. DH ordered an iced coffee and I had a raspberry iced tea. Not bad, not exciting.
Cost: $? (couldn’t charge it to the room)

We went to dinner at Boma a little early. We took the bus to AKL at about 4pm and stepped into the lobby—I have to say it’s a stunning hotel. DH and I would really like to stay here one day. We hung out in the lobby for a little while, then went to have a drink at the Victoria Falls Lounge. I had a powerful drink called “Hangin’ Out in Capetown” (or something like it) and DH bought some beer thing. This was a lot more expensive than I thought it would be for two drinks and tip: $18.84

Okay, on to dinner! We had our ADR for 5:30 but checked in about a half hour early. After just a few minutes waiting, we were seated. I had read so many mixed reviews about Boma that I wasn’t sure what to expect. Fortunately, since my expectations were low (and DH had no expectations), we were delighted with this restaurant. It was fabulous. Boma isn’t like our local Ethiopian restaurant, which is similar to Indian food: spicy stews and such. It seems to have more Mediterranean/North African flavors. I wonder if people either expect more spicy flavors, or are just not terribly adventurous eaters. Both types of diners might be disappointed. I also read more than one review stating that there was the same type of spice in everything. Neither of us found that to be the case at all. Not much on the buffet was spicy, and what was spicy was mildly so. There were a lot of dishes with interesting combinations of ingredients and flavors. I started with the soup and cold salads, taking a little bit of just about everything vegetarian! They had carrot ginger soup that night, and it was a wonderful introduction to the rest of the meal. Some of my favorite things were the avocado-grapefruit-papaya salad, the watermelon rind salad, coconut-carrot-raisin salad, and the plantain-corn salad. Yum! Everything was delicious. DH came back with a plate with prime rib, bobotie, another meat dish and some of the side dishes near the meat pod. As he started to eat his food, he asked me how much this buffet cost. I told him $26, and he said the food on his plate was worth more than that. He loved everything he ate, too. Then we both got a second plate. This time I went for the hot dishes like pap, fufu, jollof rice, potatoes with Afritude, falafel, etc. DH got a variety of things, but other than getting some chicken curry soup, I wasn’t paying much attention. Too busy gorging myself on the tasty food! I had picked up all three flavors of hummus, which were only okay. Too salty for me, and I didn’t eat much of the olive one since the flavor of olives was too strong, and I don’t enjoy olives. But I tried it! As for dessert, it wasn’t as good as the rest of the buffet. I had saved up some room for it, but there wasn’t much that stood out. DH had a zebra dome and really liked it, but they have gelatin in them, so no tastes for me. I got other things like the tiny fruit tarts and bread pudding, but honestly it was not too memorable. DH had another beer with this meal as well. Our server was very nice, and encouraged us to eat there again, as the buffet changes night to night. It didn’t take much convincing; on Tuesday I called and made ADRs for Friday night.
Cost: $69.08



Day Three: 5/1/06
Epcot

After our gargantuan meal at Boma the night before, we just ate a couple of snack bars in the morning for breakfast. Neither of us was super-hungry.

Of course, that changed by lunchtime, when I made DH trek all the way to WS for lunch. He was kind of grumping about walking to Morocco from the Imagination pavilion just to eat. Ha! Silly boy. Tangierine Café was for lunch: I got the tabbouleh wrap with couscous salad and lentil salad. DH ordered the lamb platter. The wrap was very good, and quite refreshing. The couscous was just okay (bland) but the lentil salad tasted weird, like they hadn’t washed the lentils or something. I tasted the hummus on DH’s plate; it was only okay. I am very picky about my hummus. DH loved his meal, and just raved over the lamb. I don’t think he was sorry we walked all the way there. DH grabbed a piece of baklava after finishing his meal, and that was excellent. We love baklava.
Cost: $25.35

Later in the day, we had a snack in Germany. DH got a Spaten Optimator from the beer stand, and I had a pretzel. I’m not a beer drinker, but I got a taste of the Spaten and it was quite good. I really dislike lagers, but can drink a darker beer. The pretzel was tasty, not doughy.
Cost: $11.00

(We also picked up some chocolates from the shop in Germany, but I don’t know what it cost because we also got a book.)

DH was hungry for dinner but honestly, I wasn’t. We had made our way to the end of World Showcase and decided to have food from the fish-n-chips counter. There was a huge line and the tables nearby were full, so DH got into line and I found us a bench in the garden. He had regular fish and chips, I just had chips and we both had diet Cokes. He liked the fish, and the chips were fine. Nothing special, until you put the malt vinegar on them. Yum!
Cost: $16.46



Day Four: 5/2/06
MK, DTD

Breakfast today was again at the POFQ’s food court. DH got himself an omelet (ham and cheese, I think) and a refillable mug for his coffee. I ordered 3 beignets. They were fresh out of the fryer and doused in waaaayyyy too much powdered sugar. I also picked up some oatmeal and orange juice. Lots of carbs and sugar! DH’s diabetic eyes were bugging out of his head when he saw my breakfast. I picked up a beignet. Just as I was biting into it, I inhaled some of the sugar, which made me cough. Powdered sugar blew into the air and sprayed all over my tray! DH thought that was very funny. The beignets are very good, but certainly have little nutritional value. They’re mostly air and sugar.
Cost: $28.58

Lunchtime came just as we happened to walk by Columbia Harbour House. …Okay, so we went there on purpose. I couldn’t decide if I wanted the veggie chili or the lighthouse sandwich, so I did the half sandwich with cup of soup option. DH got the Captain’s Special (chicken and fish). We went upstairs to eat, which is much less noisy than below. I enjoyed the sandwich, but I remember it being a wrap the last time I was at WDW (which was 2000, so I guess I’m lucky the sandwich is still on the menu). It’s easier to eat as a wrap. The chili was great; not too spicy. DH just thought his food was fine. No complaints. If he really loves something, I know.
Cost: $18.91

It being the Magic Kingdom, it was time for that traditional Disney treat: Mickey Bars! Just walked up to the stand, ordered two and enjoyed the tasty chocolaty creaminess. Okay, so they’re basically Klondike bars on a stick, but they taste better somehow.
Cost: $5.00

We went to Downtown Disney that evening, and wound up having dinner at Raglan Road. (DH wanted to eat at Bongo’s, but the wait was too long.) We started with the Goat’s Town appetizer, which is a round of warm goat’s cheese, field greens and fruit compote. We loved it. I ordered the risotto and DH had the shepherd’s pie. My risotto was excellent, the mushrooms were not rubbery (shiitakes seem to be that way sometimes), and I could taste the white wine in the sauce. Delicious. I think DH really enjoyed his shepherd’s pie, but I don’t remember. I had a very strong Cosmopolitan just before my meal and was quite tipsy. DH had a draft beer that he enjoyed very much, but I forget which one it was. We shared a Dunbrody Kiss for dessert. Mmmmm… chocolate.
Cost: $86.01



Day Five: 5/3/06
MGM, Epcot

We had a late start after the late night, so more snacks in the room for breakfast.

After a couple of rides in MGM, I was starving. We went to the first place I saw coming out of RnR: Rosie’s Red Hots. I know there are better CS places to eat in MGM for us vegetarians, but I was soooo hungry. My veggie cheeseburger was fine and much bigger than I expected; DH got a regular meat cheeseburger.
Cost: $16.78

Between lunch and dinner, DH and I split up to do separate things. We both wound up in Epcot later, but DH stayed to watch Illuminations and I went back to the room at 6:30 because I was turning a bit too pink from the sun.

DH had:
Beer in Germany: $7.50
Another lamb platter at Tangierine Café: $12.73
More beer in Germany and a pretzel: $11.00
Chocolate and peanut butter covered pretzels shaped like hearts to take back to me in the room (awww) from the Germany chocolate shop: $6.29

I had:
Almond-covered pretzel and water from Kringla Bakeri: $6.04
That pretzel was fabulous. I love the Norway bakery. Not the healthiest dinner, I know, but it was gooooood. Hey, I’m on vacation. I don’t eat like this every day.



Day 6: 5/4/06
Epcot

Another late morning, but a leisurely stroll through POFQ to POR took us to breakfast at Boatwright’s for the first time. I had an omelet and DH got the sweet potato cakes. The omelet was like the one in the food court; more folded frittata than omelet. DH’s pancakes were delicious.
Cost: $24.73

Breakfast was so late that it was more like brunch, so we didn’t eat lunch that day. Besides, it was very hot. In Epcot, I got a margarita from Mexico and DH yet another beer from Germany. We sat in the shade in Germany with our refreshing beverages when DH noticed the signs for the CS and TS restaurants. He asked me what they served—German food, silly—and decided we should eat at Biergarten for dinner. I was a tad apprehensive about the veggie buffet offerings, but somewhere in my dim memory I remembered a DIS dining review from a vegetarian who said that there was enough food there to choose from. So I agreed to it and we went ahead and got ADRs for 6:15. This was a good choice. I used to love the buffet at Akershus, but now with the princess invasion and the change from full to half buffet, it doesn’t appeal to me any more. I think Biergarten is a good replacement; Norwegian and German food seems to have much in common. I noticed Biergarten even has cold herring, if you’re missing that! While I certainly think Boma is a much better buffet for vegetarians, Biergarten is really great. Yeah, there are sneaky non-veggie items like the potato salad, but there are lots of other choices. DH ordered a liter of Löwenbräu (only $9.50!), which came in a gigantic mug. He actually finished it! I got a drink that was cherry liqueur (or something) blended with chocolate ice cream. It wasn’t a good choice to have such a heavy drink on a hot day. It hit my stomach with a thud. I started with the cold salads on the buffet like at Boma, and this was a great way to finally cool off from the heat outside. Then I could hit the hot food. Biergarten is quite dark inside, making the place look like a nighttime Oktoberfest celebration. The band was great and played an alphorn, which has a beautiful sound. DH had many of the meats off the buffet, and I had a few hot items to choose from, like roasted potatoes and spaetzle. Oh, and the pretzel rolls are fantastic! The desserts were better than Boma’s, we both thought. The apple strudel was excellent.
Cost: $80.78



Day 7: 5/5/06
MK, AKL

Our last full day at WDW.

We went again to have breakfast at Boatwright’s. This time I had the sweet potato cakes, and DH had the banana stuffed French toast. He said his breakfast wasn’t very filling, and it was very sugary. The pancakes were just as good as DH’s were yesterday. I just put the pecan butter on them, no syrup.
Cost: $24.73

At MK, we eventually needed to eat some lunch. We were in Adventureland when DH stated he needed sustenance, but there wasn’t anything more filling than a Dole Whip to be found, so we walked past Casey’s (nothing for vegetarians there) and stopped in the Main Street Bakery. Surprise, surprise, there was a veggie sandwich there. Tomato and mozzarella with pesto. It’s not good for vegans, as there’s not only the cheese in the sandwich, the bread is baked with cheese on the top. They’re also pre-made and sitting in the fridge behind the counter. It was a great sandwich, nice and cool and filling. The tomatoes were very ripe, the mozzarella was fresh and the pesto was excellent. What did DH have? I dunno, I think some boring ham sandwich thing. Poor meat-eater. He did like it.
Cost: $17.40

We took the bus from MK to AKL for our dinner at Boma. It was another wonderful meal. This time they had butternut squash soup, which I had heard so much about. It was very rich and delicious with many subtle flavors, but I think I enjoyed the carrot ginger soup more. Just my preference. This time I knew not to save so much room for dessert, so I filled up on my favorites and tried some new things. I had lots and lots of the falafel. DH had the prime rib again, and raved about the flank steak. For dessert, I had a mango tart in white chocolate shell (along with a few other things). It was tasty. DH got some flourless chocolate cake, which he said was wonderful. I got some more from the buffet, and he was right. It was light and moist and had a delicious, mysterious texture to it. We got the recipe for that from Disney (our server gave us a piece of paper to write our requests on, and we got the e-mail a few days later), and it turns out almond flour is what we were stumped on. We’ll be making it ourselves one of these days. We also got a recipe for the flank steak and the carrot ginger soup. I am still considering writing them back and asking for the entire recipe list for everything they have on the buffet. It was very hard to decide what to ask for! Fortunately, there are places on the web where I can find other Boma recipes. They seem quite simple, for the most part.
Cost: $65.36 (no alcohol this time)



Day 8: 5/6/06
POR

Our last morning, and we were renting a car from the AAA Car Care Center near MK to drive to St. Augustine. So it was back to Boatwright’s (made an ADR calling for 30 minutes from the call) for breakfast. I tried the omelet again. It was the same as before, but at least those things have lots of protein. DH got the Boatwright’s Breakfast. It was a pleasant way to end the WDW part of our trip.
Cost: $? (wasn’t charged to the room)

 

[honeybee213]

Thanks for your reviews.

 

[QueenGoblin]

Great Reviews.
I'm vegetarian and DH is vegan. I lol when I read your comment about not being picky. We aren't picky eaters either, but whenever we say that people who know we are veg look at us like we sprouted second heads.
We are going to have to check out Boma!

 

[SLM]

Thanksfor the reviews-sounds like you had a great trip!

 

[K and K's Mommy]

Excellent reviews! I love the sweet potato pancakes at Boatwrights! We love Boma too and are going for our third time in two weeks! I was nervous from some of the recent reviews, but you have gotten me excited to go again! The soups are my favorite!

 

[Kaycee]

Thanks for the reviews. I'm a vegetarian too, so I always enjoy reading about vegetarian dining experiences.

I'm not sure, but it may have been my Biergarten review that you read. I went there not expecting to find much to eat but was very pleasantly surprised to find plenty of vegetarian choices.

I still haven't made it to Boma, but I look forward to trying it on a future trip. From everything I've read, it's one of the best WDW spots for vegetarians.

 

[PrincessKitty1]

I've been wanting to read a review of Boma by a vegetarian--thanks! I'm a veg and DH is a meat-eater--sounds like a place we could both enjoy. I tend to avoid buffets because I don't eat much at one sitting (i'm a graze-all-day-long kinda gal), but I think I'll have to make an exception for Boma.

 

[amarberry]

Great reviews! I love that you went to Boma twice during your trip. I agree that most of the food isn't spicy...the chefs just use spices well to make the food flavorful.

Interesting review of Biergarden. I never even considered it before, but maybe we will in the future.

DH and I also discovered the Spaten Optimator on our last trip. I can usually hold my own pretty well with the beer, but that one packs a punch! I was quite tipsy after one, which is a good thing considering that they are $7.50 each.

 

[Laura]

I'm glad you guys found my reviews helpful.

I only made one ADR before we left (the first Boma dinner), and I was very happy to be able to eat at Boma twice. DH really wanted to. We have quite a variety of excellent restaurants where we live, but nothing quite like Boma. I think next trip to WDW, DH is going to want to stay at AKL and eat there for breakfast and dinner every day!

 

[budbeerlady]

Thanks, it is so great to hear all the vegetarian choices you found. And I really want to try Boma, it seems to have more offerings I would like than the traditional buffet. I wish there was a site or link that had more descriptive information about doing WDW as a veggie eater. (The all ears site seemed rather dated when I last looked at it.)

Thank you!!!!!!!!

 

[Ava]

Great reviews! My DP is a vegetarian (well, sort of - she eats fish & some types of seafood) so it's really helpful to read veg reviews. We didn't consider Boma or Biergarten because we weren't sure they would have enough veg options, but it sounds like we could give them a try in the future. We also enjoyed Tangerine Cafe and Columbia Harbour House. Also, San Angel Inn has veg options, they just aren't on the menu. We asked our server and he gave my DP a choice of 3 different veg plates the chef could do.

 

[amarberry]

Great reviews! My DP is a vegetarian (well, sort of - she eats fish & some types of seafood) so it's really helpful to read veg reviews. We didn't consider Boma or Biergarten because we weren't sure they would have enough veg options, but it sounds like we could give them a try in the future. We also enjoyed Tangerine Cafe and Columbia Harbour House. Also, San Angel Inn has veg options, they just aren't on the menu. We asked our server and he gave my DP a choice of 3 different veg plates the chef could do.

At Boma, the chef walked me through the buffet line to point out what was safe for my vegetarian, egg allergic DD to eat. He commented that 70% of the buffet was vegetarian, so you can imagine that it is VERY veggie friendly!