ATTN: Healthy eaters/ counter service?

[mom4graceandlogan]

We are veterans at Disney but each trip we run into the same problem. This year we are doing the DDP and I am expecting it to be even worse. 3-4 days into the trip my husband and six year old have had it with all the eating out. DH is healthy(diet and exercise). I am moderately healthy( exercise but still love cheeseburgers now and then). He prefers salads/wraps/noodle bowls/fruit etc. My six year old loves these things too.I want to plan this trip a little better so that when it is meal time, our only options around us are not burgers and fries. I know that many of the counters service usually have a healthy option or two. But haven't tried them all. Anyone have any recommendations? My 3 year old would prefer chicken every meal, but will eat other things if it is all that is made available to her.

 

[pigget74]

We went from March 11-17th and I had a hamburger 1 time. We only had 2 table service meals and the rest was CS. I would get a salad or chicken or some other option. You can go to allearsnet.com and look at all the CS menues so you could have an idea of the options before you go. Good luck.

 

[Colleen27]

We are veterans at Disney but each trip we run into the same problem. This year we are doing the DDP and I am expecting it to be even worse. 3-4 days into the trip my husband and six year old have had it with all the eating out. DH is healthy(diet and exercise). I am moderately healthy( exercise but still love cheeseburgers now and then). He prefers salads/wraps/noodle bowls/fruit etc. My six year old loves these things too.I want to plan this trip a little better so that when it is meal time, our only options around us are not burgers and fries. I know that many of the counters service usually have a healthy option or two. But haven't tried them all. Anyone have any recommendations? My 3 year old would prefer chicken every meal, but will eat other things if it is all that is made available to her.

I only eat hamburgers rarely and can't tolerate a whole lot of grease with my food unless I want to feel draggy and tired for the rest of the day, and I really enjoy Disney because I can find things I like fairly easily.

I liked Tusker House and Flame Tree BBQ at AK, and I think I had entree salads at both. I think those were the best 2 counter service meals we had, and since we were sharing meals and using CS credits for both breakfast & lunch (using that loosely - we don't get going early and we don't eat much traditional breakfast food, so it was really more like early lunch & late lunch, with TS for dinner), we tried quite a few places.

At MGM, we went to Toy Story Pizza, and my mom & I split a veggie pizza & salad meal which was just okay. I wouldn't recommend it. Our other CS there was turkey legs, which were okay but not as good as the ones we get at the local Renaissance Festival.

We were there during Food & Wine Festival, so we didn't do a counter service meal at Epcot because we were stuffed from snacking our way around the World Showcase. So I can't recommend anything there.

At Magic Kingdom, the noodle place in Tomorrowland was pretty good. Wasn't impressed with the veggie & tofu bowl, but DH had the chicken teriyaki and that was good. And everyone liked Cosmic Rays; we all had burgers/chicken/BBQ sandwiches, but I'm pretty sure they have some wraps and salads too.

 

[lovmy2girls]

At the AK, Tusker house has baked chicken leg with mash potatoes, or mac and cheese with cheese nips in shapes of mickey heads, with apple sauce.

At MGM, the Back lot express has wraps, very good.

At MK, the noodle station if open. Columbia Harbor house has a great tuna sandwich on multi grain bread with chips, and carrots.

Epcot the Land has a great CS, to many options to list.

 

[mousehouselover]

I can't make any recommendations but you can find menus (and prices) here:

http://www.wdwinfo.com/wdwinfo/dining/diningmain.cfm

Good Luck, maybe we'll see you there!

(Hi Heather!)

 

[disnut8]

I very rarely eat a burger. The husband loves them, though.

Animal Kingdom - Flame Tree BBQ is nice and has a chicken wing kids meal. Also has a very nice seating area. Other like Tusker house but there's nothing that will appeal to my husband.

MGM - nothing much there, unfortunately for counter service. Best would be the Studio Catering Company at the back near Lights, Motor whatever stunt show. There's also a fruit stand down Sunset Boulevard. Soft pretzels here are a good bet as well (more as a snack, though).

Magic Kingdom - really haven't done too much here but Columbia Harbor is a good alternative. Also, there's fruit and I believe baked potatoes at Liberty Square.

Epcot - lots. The counter service at Japan turned into a nice surprise for both of us. We each got something and then shared. I love Lotus Blossum Cafe. Definitely not burgers there. The Mexican place outside. Morocco has a counter service as well. There are pretty good open faced sandwiches at the bakery in Norway.

For Epcot, don't think that you all have to agree on one thing. We've often had the son get his nachos in Mexico (to go), me get beef fried rice and egg rolls (to go) in China, and we all meet back in the Liberty Inn seating area where my husband does America proud and chows down a double cheeseburger.

 

[MissionMouse]

You will start running into a conflict since the majority of Counter Service establishment equate to fast food or unhealthy food (i.e., smoked, fried, processed meats and foods, etc).

In this day and age fewer people are aware of what their eating and it should not be a surprise since schools fail to teach it or even embrace it...just look at a child's cafeteria menu. Overall, we find the MK to offer some of the least healthy food offerings with Epcot offering what we consider the healthiest CS offerings in WDW. Here are our healthy food CS recommendations:

Tangierine Cafe - Epcot WS
Yakitori House - Epcot WS
Matsunoma Lounge - Epcot WS
Lotus Blossom Cafe - Epcot WS
Tomorrowland Terrace Noodle Station - MK
Flatbread Grill (Studio Catering Company) - MGM
Anaheim Produce - MGM
Tusker House - AK
Harambe Fruit Market - AK

 

[cedmonds]

hi we have run into the same problem and thankfully the parks have the fresh fruit stands to give you some options. I really wish they would offer more options as far as snacks too, like fat free yogurt or sugar free something. We found that Wolfgang Puck express(DTD) had some interesting, healthier options , salads and wraps with dressings on the side. You can get a decent sandwich at Earl of Sandwich(DTD) but I am not sure if they have whole grain bread but my son was thrilled to just get a turkey sandwich and an apple one day. We only go for 4 or 5 days now b/c I cannot take more then that with the eating out.
We are DVC members so we eat breakfast in the room, we have a frig and stove so I will make egg whites or we will have cottage cheese and fruit and yogurt or cereal but I find the options in the resort stores very limited and since we fly with ME we can't stop at a store.
Has anyone done delivery from a local supermarket?

 

[PlutoLuvr]

DH & I try to scope out the non-greasy options in the World when eating CS. Here's what we've found:

MK:
Columbia Harbor House -- a tuna sandwich
Pinocchio's Village Haus (my fav) -- Italian hoagie or antipasto salad with roasted red peppers

Note: There was a thread recently about a shop on Main Street, I believe, that had a refrigerated section of nice to-go sandwiches. Mozzarella, tomatoes and fresh basil sticks out in my mind. I will check out for it our next trip in a couple weeks

Epcot:
Lefsa, sandwiches and salads at the CS in Norway
A hot pretzel in Germany
Lots of nice options at the CS in Morocco. DH & I usually share a lamb and chicken sandwich or platter with couscous and olives. Yummy.
We haven't eaten there, but when you visit the Land, there's a big food court with several salad/baked potato options.

MGM:
Ick. Never had any luck at all there with CS. Best bet, splurge at 50's Prime Time Cafe. I had a wonderful pasta primavera there with shrimp and scallops. Very fresh squash

AK:
Tusker House. Roasted chicken or salmon with rice and veggies.