Vegetarians Visiting in October

[bicker]

Just putting the finishing touches on our plans for our mid/late-October vacation... My wife and I are vegetarians (though we'll eat shellfish on occasion), and we won't be doing the Dining Plan. We're also not going to have Park Hoppers this time, so that represents a minor limitation on our dining options. We're staying at the AKL.

This is our plan so far.

Sunday - Epcot - Tutto Italia - Some of the pasta options sound really good.

Monday - Animal Kingdom - back to the hotel and have dinner at Sanaa

Tuesday - Hollywood Studios - Brown Derby - One recent menu had a Noodle Bowl with tofu that sounded good.

Wednesday - Magic Kingdom - duck out of the park and have lunch at The Wave - The linguine that was on a recent menu sounds really good, as did the vegetarian stew - perhaps, just do CS for dinner -

Thursday - Animal Kingdom - back to the hotel and have dinner at Jiko - We hope the shrimp curry is on the menu.

Friday - Epcot - hopefully the Cat Cora restaurant will be open by then

We're not going to be into going to some other resort for lunch or dinner, except perhaps another MK resort (as a replacement for The Wave), or another Epcot resort (as a replacement for Tutto Italia).

Options we've considered but decided against include:

California Grill - Great vegetarian options, but we've done CG many times, already.

Crystal Palace - Ditto!

Rose and Crown - I love the vegetable curry they often have, but I'd rather do something else.

Questions we have included:

50s Prime Time Cafe - Really, truly: Vegetarian entrees there? Are they ever any good? Better than what we could get at Brown Derby?

Yak and Yeti - The problem is that this would be lunch, eh? We love this place (been there twice already), and it seems (see above) that going back a third time would pre-empt a trip to either Jiko or Sanaa. In those terms, is it worth it? I don't think so.

I've, of course, read the various vegetarian pages on AllEars.Net, wdwinfo.com and here, over the years, so I don't need pointers to those. What I would like is if anyone has any personal experiences that they'd like to relay, with regard to any especially good vegetarian options that we're missing.

Also, pointers to the best vegetarian CS menu items would be greatly appreciated.

These are the places that we're considering for CS (and the menu item from a recent menu that caught our attention -- any personal review of these items would be greatly appreciated):

Frontierland - Golden Oak Outpost - Vegetarian Flatbread Wrap

Liberty Square - Columbia Harbour House - Lighthouse Sandwich (with hummus and broccoli slaw) or Vegetarian Chili

Tomorrowland - Cosmic Ray's Starlight Café
- Vegetarian Wrap

The Land - Sunshine Seasons - Garlic Udon Noodles, Stirfry veggies, white rice and broccoli

Sunset Blvd. - Starring Rolls Cafe - Whole Wheat Veggie Pita

Echo Lake - Backlot Express - Grilled Vegetable Sandwich

Commissary Lane - ABC Commissary - Asian salad

Tangierine Cafe - We found this place just too dry, so we won't be going back.

 

[iluvpluto27]

Hi. My husband is vegetarian and I included his thoughts on the vegetarian options at Tutto, Brown Derby, The Wave and Jiko in my dining reviews, which can be found at the following link.
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1980338

In terms of CS dining, we didn't do much last trip as we had the dxddp but my husband has enjoyed the lighthouse sandwich at Columbia Harbour House on a previous trip. We've also tried the veggie wrap at Cosmic Rays, but I thought it was a bit dry and much preferred the Lighthouse sandwich.

Hope this helps.

 

[bicker]

It most certainly does. Thanks!!

 

[Ktharee]

My husband and I are vegetarians...but we tend to "cheat" a bit on vacations. That being said, we've found that if you ask at any table service restaurant they usually can accommodate you and will prepare something that isn't on the menu.

 

[bicker]

@iluvpluto27: I'm zipping through your report a bit quickly... I'll go over it more slowly with my wife later... but my initial impressions of your impressions are leading me to favor doing Tusker House and Sanaa on the same day, pick something other than The Wave, and definitely do Tutto Italia.

I also got the impression that my original assumption that we'd not find much good to eat at the F&W festival was on-target. I am never impressed with samosas, and I hate beets, and it doesn't sound like your DH had anything else he liked.

One other impression I'm getting is that we may be better off rethinking things, doing more sit-down meals (perhaps lunch and dinner most days), but ordering one entree and two salads at each meal. We've talked about doing that before, but I think we're finally ready to do it.

To wit:

Sunday - Epcot -
Lunch: walk-in; no idea when we're arriving at WDW.
Dinner: Tutto Italia - Some of the pasta options sound really good.

Monday - Animal Kingdom -
Lunch: Tusker House
Dinner: back to the hotel and have dinner at Sanaa

Tuesday - Hollywood Studios -
Lunch: ???
Dinner: Brown Derby - One recent menu had a Noodle Bowl with tofu that sounded good.

Wednesday - Magic Kingdom -
Lunch: ???
Dinner: ???

Thursday - Animal Kingdom -
Lunch: Yak and Yeti
Dinner: back to the hotel and have dinner at Jiko - We hope the shrimp curry is on the menu.

Friday - Epcot -
Lunch: ????
Dinner: hopefully the Cat Cora restaurant will be open by then​

 

[bicker]

My husband and I are vegetarians...but we tend to "cheat" a bit on vacations. That being said, we've found that if you ask at any table service restaurant they usually can accommodate you and will prepare something that isn't on the menu.

Yup. We've visited WDW a couple of dozen times over the last 20 years and regardless of our dietary needs or that of the folks we were traveling with (ranging from Atkins to vegetarian, from Weight Watchers to lactose intolerant to caffeine adverse, from super-spicy to super-bland), WDW's chefs have always been very accommodating when special needs are brought to their attention. One of our most treasured memories was of Chef Hummel at Spoodles putting together a roasted vegetable meal for us, especially. It was wonderful.

Having said that, I like the idea of going into a restaurant and enjoying what they offer more generally. I find that to be a more leisurely approach to dining, for me, though if we really wanted to eat a certain place, and the menu/typical offerings weren't going to meet our needs, I'd surely make a point of asking for something special.

 

[ROEDISNEY]

If you are vegg's you should defiantely ck out the Wave. My DH use to be strictely but not that strict anymore. He loved the Wave

 

[NOLA_Tink]

My comments are below in red. Best wishes!

Rose and Crown - I love the vegetable curry they often have, but I'd rather do something else. They also have vegetarian shepard's pie now & it sounds delicous. I plan on trying it in August.

50s Prime Time Cafe - Really, truly: Vegetarian entrees there? Are they ever any good? Better than what we could get at Brown Derby? 50's also has a delicious stuffed bell pepper (green pepper) entree. I highly suggest it!

Yak and Yeti - The problem is that this would be lunch, eh? We love this place (been there twice already), and it seems (see above) that going back a third time would pre-empt a trip to either Jiko or Sanaa. In those terms, is it worth it? I don't think so. Have you considered Tusker House in AK? They have LOTS of vegetarian option!


These are the places that we're considering for CS (and the menu item from a recent menu that caught our attention -- any personal review of these items would be greatly appreciated):

Frontierland - Golden Oak Outpost - Vegetarian Flatbread Wrap I had this in March & it was really good! I asked for extra hummus on the side too.Tomorrowland - Cosmic Ray's Starlight Café- Vegetarian Wrap

Sunset Blvd. - Starring Rolls Cafe - Whole Wheat Veggie Pita This is one of my favorite CS entrees. I also like to pile it up on sauteed mushrooms and onions from the toppings bar.
Echo Lake - Backlot Express - Grilled Vegetable Sandwich So good! The black bean side "salad" is really yummy!

I was also looking at the menu for "Beaches & Cream" recently and they have a tasty sounding grilled veggie wrap. I also suggest the butternut squash soup at Wolfgang Puck Express and the falafel pita at AKL's Mara CS restaurant.



________________________________________________________________________________________

 

[TillyMarigold]

For the Studios, I've also heard good things about the tofu entree at Sci-Fi. My DH is looking forward to it.

PS Love the user pic!

 

[magik]

In my opinion, the tofu noodle bowl at Brown Derby is definitely the yummiest vegetarian entree at any of the Hollywood Studios restaurants. I don't like the stuffed pepper at 50's Prime Time (although I love the atmosphere), and the tofu dish at Sci-Fi is just...eh.

In general, the best vegetarian counter service I have eaten has been at El Pirata Y El Perico (MK), Columbia Harbour House (MK), Sunshine Seasons (Epcot), and Tangierine Cafe (Epcot - I didn't find it dry at all). Everything else is just a veggie burger or OK sandwich...nothing special.

Just out of curiosity, what have you been able to eat vegetarian at Yak and Yeti other than one of the salads without the shrimp/chicken added? The vegetable lo-mein is made with chicken stock, at least that's what I was told when I ate there. Or do you eat seafood stuff there?

 

[TillyMarigold]

In general, the best vegetarian counter service I have eaten has been at El Pirata Y El Perico (MK),...

What did you find there? It's been awhile, but I remember a lot of ground beef and not much else, and the menu on AllEars seems to say the same. What's veggie there?

 

[CriminyCrafft]

I'm vegetarian but I do occasionally eat fish (esp. on vacation) and 50s PT is my favorite restaurant at WDW. I've had the vegetariann stuffed pepper and thought it was decent but it was a tad too smoky. I've had the shrimp cocktail, a salad, and dessert there as a meal. Desserts and ambience are the reasons I love 50s PT. They will also make you special vegetarian dishes if you ask them.

I'm drooling reading your dining agenda!

 

[bicker]

(though we'll eat shellfish on occasion)

Just out of curiosity, what have you been able to eat vegetarian at Yak and Yeti other than one of the salads without the shrimp/chicken added? The vegetable lo-mein is made with chicken stock, at least that's what I was told when I ate there. Or do you eat seafood stuff there?

One of us had the Pho, and I think one of us had the shrimp lo mein; we were full-fledged pescatarians bach then, so the salmon and/or mahi mahi were also in-bounds.

Beyond that, we aren't religious about asking about broths and such. While we expect that a vegetarian dish would be made with a vegetable stock, we generally won't check to be sure, and won't hold a grudge if we later find out that a chicken stock was used.

Beef stock is another matter.

 

[CriminyCrafft]

I forgot to mention two things. 1) Sci Fine Dine in is also awesome. They have a shrimp pasta and a tofu entree. I think last time I went there I had fries and a salad. 2) I will be at WDW from 10/17-10/26. I'm staying at WL from 10/17-10/20 and at AKL from 10/20-10/26. So I'm dying to make my ADRS too.

 

[iluvpluto27]

@iluvpluto27: I'm zipping through your report a bit quickly... I'll go over it more slowly with my wife later... but my initial impressions of your impressions are leading me to favor doing Tusker House and Sanaa on the same day, pick something other than The Wave, and definitely do Tutto Italia.

I also got the impression that my original assumption that we'd not find much good to eat at the F&W festival was on-target. I am never impressed with samosas, and I hate beets, and it doesn't sound like your DH had anything else he liked.

One other impression I'm getting is that we may be better off rethinking things, doing more sit-down meals (perhaps lunch and dinner most days), but ordering one entree and two salads at each meal. We've talked about doing that before, but I think we're finally ready to do it.

To wit:

Sunday - Epcot -
Lunch: walk-in; no idea when we're arriving at WDW.
Dinner: Tutto Italia - Some of the pasta options sound really good.

Monday - Animal Kingdom -
Lunch: Tusker House
Dinner: back to the hotel and have dinner at Sanaa

Tuesday - Hollywood Studios -
Lunch: ???
Dinner: Brown Derby - One recent menu had a Noodle Bowl with tofu that sounded good.

Wednesday - Magic Kingdom -
Lunch: ???
Dinner: ???

Thursday - Animal Kingdom -
Lunch: Yak and Yeti
Dinner: back to the hotel and have dinner at Jiko - We hope the shrimp curry is on the menu.

Friday - Epcot -
Lunch: ????
Dinner: hopefully the Cat Cora restaurant will be open by then​

Bicker - The veggie options at Tusker House were really good, and my DH is really looking forward to trying Sanaa as we eat a lot of indian food at home, but I haven't read many reviews of the veggie options there yet. Tutto was definitely one of his favourites and we're hoping to try Cat Cora's restaurant too, as we both liked spoodles.
Your right about the F&W festival, there's not a great choice for vegetarians (apart from desserts obviously), we both enjoyed our experience there, but I had a much greater selection than DH.

 

[Redbudlover]

Don't forget the Flying Fish! It has incredible shrimp dishes! and a cheese plate to die for!
Todd's Blue Zoo for upscale seafood as well. But take a jacket - they keep it at about 55degrees in there! Brrrr..

 

[magik]

What did you find there? It's been awhile, but I remember a lot of ground beef and not much else, and the menu on AllEars seems to say the same. What's veggie there?

They have vegetarian black bean tacos, or you can request the taco salad be made with beans instead of beef. It looks kind of gross at first, a blob of black beans on taco shells, but you can add whatever you want at the fixin's bar (lettuce, tomato, cheese, taco sauce, etc) and it comes with a packet of sour cream as well. Same thing for the taco salad, it's a tortilla bowl that they fill with the beans (if you ask for beans instead of meat) and then you put what else you want in it at the bar. It's certainly not fancy Mexican food, but it's a nice change of pace from really dry veggie burgers at most of the other CS restaurants.