That's funny, I live a stone's throw from the border and spent a lot of time in Canada when I was younger but never noticed that unsweet tea isn't available there! In the States it is generally a northern/southern distinction, with sweet tea being the norm in the south and unsweet being more common in the north, so I'd have guessed Canada to be not much different from Michigan that way.
I don't drink sweet tea so I was very happily surprised to see that Disney offers unsweetened, not only for the mug refills but also in their restaurants - the default option for iced tea at table service locations is unsweetened.
There is no corn syrup in Gold Peak unsweetened tea; it is just brewed black tea over ice, but it does contain a coloring that might or might not be corn-derived. They are actually one of few brands that use real sugar rather than corn syrup in their bottled sweet/flavored teas, not sure if the same is true for their fountain varieties. I can't even imagine how tough it must be dealing with a corn allergy and visiting the US - we avoid HFCS (along with a number of other additives) in our day-to-day lives but that pretty much goes out the window on vacation because it is so hard to manage if I'm not cooking from scratch.
My hubby loves iced tea, but hates tea, so I remember the first time he got unsweetened ice tea somewhere down South, and he almost spit it out! All of our iced tea is very sweetened with sugar/glucose or honey, but no corn syrup.
We are doing DxDP for a few days this next trip, so we are getting mugs, so I'm going to do a bit of research about that tea that you mentioned. Thanks for that info!
It is very difficult to eat in the states with so many corn products in everything. I get basic meals at most Disney restaurants, don't eat desserts (except for fresh cut fruit), and drink bottled water or apple juice only. We've eaten pretty much everywhere, so I know what to avoid now. Used to get the Disney chefs to make my meals each time, but that adds considerable time, plus, they sometimes err on the side of caution too much, and I'm not anaphylactic (yet!), so it was becoming a problem as some chefs would serve me bland food. We are starting to cook more in our DVC villa, so this is great too!
My family eats relatively healthy, even on vacation. We do not count calories at WDW but we select healthy snacks, drink no soda, consume as little HFCS as humanly possible and never eat something just because it comes with our plan. We only do coffee or unsweetened tea in our mugs, and then usually decaf coffee. We tend to do the Deluxe Dining Plan because we enjoy the high priced buffets, family style meals and signature restaurants. In our "real life" we do no fast food and almost no processed foods. Of course at Disney we need to relax our normal eating standards some, but it is possible to eat healthy even at Disney and even on the dining plans. We do order and usually share deserts as a vacation treat, but we walk a zillion miles as well : )
Yup, we eat very healthy at home too, same as you: no fast food, no pop, no corn syrup, etc., so you can eat that way at Disney. We used to eat 2-3 TS meals per day, and we are not overweight people at all(several of us are underweight). When you don't eat junk food all day, like we see many families doing at Disney, you can eat 3 balanced meals per day, with healthy snacks, and drink water, and occassional juice or milk, and we are fine! We don't get sauces or dips on most of our food, grilled chicken or fish for the most part, not a lot of desserts, if any, either.
Most people seem to have the sentiment on these boards that it's vacation, so they can eat what and how they want, and we don't share this sentiment. We allow the kids a few extra treats like an extra ice cream or one bag of cotton candy to share, and that's about it. We spend 2 weeks at Disney each summer, and we hardly buy any junk food Disney snacks during that period either. It's all about watching what you eat, if that's important to you!
You are right, it is possible to eat well balanced and healthy meals at Disney, but it takes self control and portion minding as well!
Happy eating to all, Tiger
Will def. rethink for our God-willing 2012 trip.
