lexmelinda
<font color=blue>Has a Seussical googling DD<br><f
- Joined
- Apr 21, 2006
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Last week I took my 19 yr old (vegan) daughter to Disney. It was her Christmas gift and we had a great time and wonderful 70 - 80 degree weather every day. I wanted to pass along the information I gathered about vegan options as well as our thoughts on the experience in hopes that someone else can benefit.
I did lots of research in advance of the trip so we could find the best vegan food. I started a thread re: the best vegan CS options. Thanks to everyone for the great responses.
I also read the vegan dining reviews. I was able to find these to name a few:
Vegan and Vegetarian Dining Reviews by v_gan
Vegan Unplugged by docmidnite
Vegan in the World by miffy
Since DD and I ate mostly CS, I thought I would categorize my comments by parks/resorts.
Resort Dining
Pop Century: We stayed at the Pop and we asked at the food court the very first day what was vegan. The chef came out and discussed DD's options which were mainly a veggie burger and salads without cheese. She ended up making DD a custom veggie stir-fry dinner with rice. (They also had rice noodles as an option.) They added some spicy sauce to the mixture and DD loved this meal! In fact she requested it three times during the week we were there. Many thanks to Chef Katrina and Chef Dan who were kind and accommodating every single time.
Also at the Pop there are several options in the grab/go area including lots of fresh fruit, hummus, Wheat Thins for dipping, and Divvies cookies.
Boma @ The Animal Kingdom Lodge: One of only three TS dinners. Again the chef came out to walk DD through the buffet. Although DD really enjoyed the gingered black-eyed peas and some other veggie options, I didn't think overall that she seemed to have as many options as I'd hoped. Her only dessert option was raspberry sorbet which you have to request.
In Boma's defense I do believe they offered to whip up something special if she didn't find what she wanted but she seemed satisfied with what she had although frankly it didn't seem worth the $30 for what I saw on her plate.
On an omnivore-ish note: I loved Boma. The coconut-curried seafood stew was the absolute best soup in the history of all soup and the meal and desserts were fabulous. I would eat here again in a heartbeat.
Roaring Fork @ The Wilderness Lodge: The MK was so crowded on our arrival day that we took the boat to the WL to check it out and eat dinner. We were surprised to find Roaring Fork to be a tiny food court for such a big resort, but it was well stocked and deserted so we were happy. We ordered the Grilled Veggie Sandwich with red pepper hummus. It was just OK. There wasn't a lot of flavor and the veggies were cold, not hot. We ate outside. It was lovely and we were glad to finally check out the resort, but not worth a trip over if you're going for the grilled veggie sandwich.
Disney Studios This is hands-down the BEST park for vegans in our opinion!
We followed in the footsteps of v_gan's dining reviews and ate at the 50's Prime Time for the stuffed pepper with smoked ratatouille followed by a toffuti milkshake. DD loved this meal!
We also wandered into the Sci-Fi on a whim and they were able to seat us for lunch with no ADR. DD had the Marinated Tofu entree....again followed by a toffuti milkshake. This was her favorite meal.
Min & Bill's Dockside has the best vegan snack in DD's opinion....the apple cinnamon stuffed pretzel. She and I actually had these for lunch one day....ok, I had the spicy cheese pretzel....but they were great and filling. DD said it was the closest thing to apple pie she'd had in a long time.
EPCOT
We had lunch at Sunshine Seasons one day and were told by the chef that the veggie plate in the Asian section is vegan. DD wished she had asked for two helpings of the noodles (which were fabulous) instead of the one helping of white rice which is plentiful but without flavor. Nothing vegan for dessert here and no Divvies.
We had dinner at the Tangeriene Cafe in Morroco one evening. The vegetarian platter here is vegan with the exception of the lentil salad for which they gladly subbed another helping of hummus. We love this restaurant and never miss having a meal there.
We also had one dinner at the CS place in the Mexican pavillion. DD asked for the nachos without cheese and meat. This was probably the worst meal of the week. They didn't seem to add an extra beans or salsa to compensate. It was just corn chips with a blob of black beans and a blob of salsa.
As far as snacks at Epcot we did NOT find Divvies at either the French bakery or the Norway bakery. FYI. DD did have a kaki gori at Japan both days we were at Epcot. We also had the hot cinnamon spiced nuts at the cart between the Land and Imagination. These are wonderful and I thought I remembered reading that they were vegan although we did not check the ingredients. We also found toffuti at the Edy's ice cream place next to Club Cool. It was NOT on the menu but we found that most "scoop" ice cream place have toffuti even if it's not on the menu.
Magic Kingdom
We had lunch at Columbia Harbor House and ordered the Lighthouse Sandwich with the broccoli slaw on the side, a bowl of veggie chili, and an order of fries. We split the sandwich and I ate the fries and broccoli slaw while DD had the chili. I did try the chili....lots of black olives but pretty good. We always love this place. It's quiet if you choose the upstairs seating and we sat right by a window overlooking the Haunted Mansion. Very relaxing.
Snacks: We were in search of Divvies cookies again and did Not find them at the Main Street Bakery. The bakery sent DD to the confectionery and a confectionery employee walked her back up the bakery to show her where the cookies were but alas there were no cookies. DD settled for a bag of Divvies caramel corn. We also had a veggie egg roll from the cart in Adventureland. (The samosas are no longer offered here.) The ingredient list showed dried egg but we were starving and DD compromised a little. She also had a frozen strawberry bar from the cart in Fantasyland one day.
Animal Kingdom
Seems there would be lots of choices here but strangely this seemed to be the worst of the parks for vegan choices. We had a fruit plate from Flame Tree for lunch. It was generous and the fruit was ripe and delicious. And really you can't beat the seating at Flame Tree on a sunny day. If you haven't been there before, walk all the way down the path to the river....beautiful views of EE from there.
Summary
So there you have it. I guess my best advice for vegan dining would be: Don't be afraid to ask. Ask for options. Ask for ingredient lists. I think there are a lot of choices that are not apparent from the menus. Let's face it....Disney probably has the best customer service on the planet. They will accommodate you in any way possible if you make a special request. We did take a jar of peanuts, a bag of oreos, and some unfrosted pop-tarts to fill in the gaps. I highly recommend this.
Have a great trip!
I did lots of research in advance of the trip so we could find the best vegan food. I started a thread re: the best vegan CS options. Thanks to everyone for the great responses.
I also read the vegan dining reviews. I was able to find these to name a few:
Vegan and Vegetarian Dining Reviews by v_gan
Vegan Unplugged by docmidnite
Vegan in the World by miffy
Since DD and I ate mostly CS, I thought I would categorize my comments by parks/resorts.
Resort Dining
Pop Century: We stayed at the Pop and we asked at the food court the very first day what was vegan. The chef came out and discussed DD's options which were mainly a veggie burger and salads without cheese. She ended up making DD a custom veggie stir-fry dinner with rice. (They also had rice noodles as an option.) They added some spicy sauce to the mixture and DD loved this meal! In fact she requested it three times during the week we were there. Many thanks to Chef Katrina and Chef Dan who were kind and accommodating every single time.
Also at the Pop there are several options in the grab/go area including lots of fresh fruit, hummus, Wheat Thins for dipping, and Divvies cookies.
Boma @ The Animal Kingdom Lodge: One of only three TS dinners. Again the chef came out to walk DD through the buffet. Although DD really enjoyed the gingered black-eyed peas and some other veggie options, I didn't think overall that she seemed to have as many options as I'd hoped. Her only dessert option was raspberry sorbet which you have to request.
In Boma's defense I do believe they offered to whip up something special if she didn't find what she wanted but she seemed satisfied with what she had although frankly it didn't seem worth the $30 for what I saw on her plate.
On an omnivore-ish note: I loved Boma. The coconut-curried seafood stew was the absolute best soup in the history of all soup and the meal and desserts were fabulous. I would eat here again in a heartbeat.
Roaring Fork @ The Wilderness Lodge: The MK was so crowded on our arrival day that we took the boat to the WL to check it out and eat dinner. We were surprised to find Roaring Fork to be a tiny food court for such a big resort, but it was well stocked and deserted so we were happy. We ordered the Grilled Veggie Sandwich with red pepper hummus. It was just OK. There wasn't a lot of flavor and the veggies were cold, not hot. We ate outside. It was lovely and we were glad to finally check out the resort, but not worth a trip over if you're going for the grilled veggie sandwich.
Disney Studios This is hands-down the BEST park for vegans in our opinion!
We followed in the footsteps of v_gan's dining reviews and ate at the 50's Prime Time for the stuffed pepper with smoked ratatouille followed by a toffuti milkshake. DD loved this meal!
We also wandered into the Sci-Fi on a whim and they were able to seat us for lunch with no ADR. DD had the Marinated Tofu entree....again followed by a toffuti milkshake. This was her favorite meal.
Min & Bill's Dockside has the best vegan snack in DD's opinion....the apple cinnamon stuffed pretzel. She and I actually had these for lunch one day....ok, I had the spicy cheese pretzel....but they were great and filling. DD said it was the closest thing to apple pie she'd had in a long time.
EPCOT
We had lunch at Sunshine Seasons one day and were told by the chef that the veggie plate in the Asian section is vegan. DD wished she had asked for two helpings of the noodles (which were fabulous) instead of the one helping of white rice which is plentiful but without flavor. Nothing vegan for dessert here and no Divvies.
We had dinner at the Tangeriene Cafe in Morroco one evening. The vegetarian platter here is vegan with the exception of the lentil salad for which they gladly subbed another helping of hummus. We love this restaurant and never miss having a meal there.
We also had one dinner at the CS place in the Mexican pavillion. DD asked for the nachos without cheese and meat. This was probably the worst meal of the week. They didn't seem to add an extra beans or salsa to compensate. It was just corn chips with a blob of black beans and a blob of salsa.
As far as snacks at Epcot we did NOT find Divvies at either the French bakery or the Norway bakery. FYI. DD did have a kaki gori at Japan both days we were at Epcot. We also had the hot cinnamon spiced nuts at the cart between the Land and Imagination. These are wonderful and I thought I remembered reading that they were vegan although we did not check the ingredients. We also found toffuti at the Edy's ice cream place next to Club Cool. It was NOT on the menu but we found that most "scoop" ice cream place have toffuti even if it's not on the menu.
Magic Kingdom
We had lunch at Columbia Harbor House and ordered the Lighthouse Sandwich with the broccoli slaw on the side, a bowl of veggie chili, and an order of fries. We split the sandwich and I ate the fries and broccoli slaw while DD had the chili. I did try the chili....lots of black olives but pretty good. We always love this place. It's quiet if you choose the upstairs seating and we sat right by a window overlooking the Haunted Mansion. Very relaxing.
Snacks: We were in search of Divvies cookies again and did Not find them at the Main Street Bakery. The bakery sent DD to the confectionery and a confectionery employee walked her back up the bakery to show her where the cookies were but alas there were no cookies. DD settled for a bag of Divvies caramel corn. We also had a veggie egg roll from the cart in Adventureland. (The samosas are no longer offered here.) The ingredient list showed dried egg but we were starving and DD compromised a little. She also had a frozen strawberry bar from the cart in Fantasyland one day.
Animal Kingdom
Seems there would be lots of choices here but strangely this seemed to be the worst of the parks for vegan choices. We had a fruit plate from Flame Tree for lunch. It was generous and the fruit was ripe and delicious. And really you can't beat the seating at Flame Tree on a sunny day. If you haven't been there before, walk all the way down the path to the river....beautiful views of EE from there.
Summary
So there you have it. I guess my best advice for vegan dining would be: Don't be afraid to ask. Ask for options. Ask for ingredient lists. I think there are a lot of choices that are not apparent from the menus. Let's face it....Disney probably has the best customer service on the planet. They will accommodate you in any way possible if you make a special request. We did take a jar of peanuts, a bag of oreos, and some unfrosted pop-tarts to fill in the gaps. I highly recommend this.
Have a great trip!
