Vegitarian

[Fam of 4]

My 11 year old daughter has become a vegitarian since our last trip 2 years ago. She has been at it for just about 18 months and I don't think its going to change before we head out in August.

My question is, while looking at All Ears and the menus there doesn't seem to be a lot of options for adult menu items that do not have meat. Because she is 11 she will eat off the adult menu with the dining plan. Will they be helpful to create some menu items that are not listed for her? I wish she wasn't 11 yet- she could eat pizza and mac and cheese the whole week... but that isn't an option, especially if we are paying the higher price.

Any help- Thanks in advance!

 

[GOOFY4DONALD]

At 11 your DD is considered a Disney Adult but many places will allow her to get a child's meal...my kids did it all week ay counter service places. My DD does not eat much meat at all and she was able to find plenty to eat. At the buffets there are so many things that she can choose from. There are tons of Disers that are vegetarian so they will be able to guide you better than I can.

 

[KateMW]

My best friend and her family {including two daughters} are vegetarians and they say Disney is great about it. I'll try and ask her where they ate the most.
Does your DD eat fish?

 

[empty_nester]

My daughter is a vegetarian and had a good veggie meal at Ohanas. It was a large platter of tempura vegetable, rice noodles and tofu. She also ate the salad, noodles and dessert. That was the only restaurant she asked to see the chef since there wasn't a menu to choose from. She ate veggie burgers at the fast food places, cheese pizza at wolf gang pucks, and a cheese sandwich at Earl of Sandwich. She does eat fish so she didn't order anything else that was truly vegetarian but saw choices on every menu that looked good.

 

[Nadjalu]

There are plenty of veggie dishes at Disney....Boma is a huge buffet that is mostly veggie dishes.

 

[TillyMarigold]

It depends how picky she is ... someone who is vegetarian but not otherwise picky will have no problems finding at least 1 good meal option at any restaurant on property ... possibly excepting Flame Tree Barbecue (I don't consider "fruit with yogurt" a valid meal!).

If she's picky, I'd recommend that your TS meals be breakfasts, there are a ton of veggie breakfast options anywhere you go, and then eat QS for other meals and she can have a veggie burger (Disney's veggie burgers are really good *if* you like the ones that are a ton of veggies, rather than imitation meat), plain pizza, or salad.

Other good options for QS that are more unique are Columbia Harbour House at MK, Tangierene Cafe at Epcot, and the Picnic in the Park at AK.

 

[perkinsrose]

How strict? Not vegan-- She eats cheese/eggs? Are you on dining plan?

I left the redmeat world at age 16- twenty years ago & my husband was converted along the way. Our family (DH, myself & two kids don't do redmeat (beef/pork/bacon/lamb, etc) Some of us eat chicken/fish which makes it easier but we also have food allergies which complicates things.

We find character meal buffets (we use dining plan) have the widest variety of things to choose from and always have vegetarian options and plenty of vegetable & grain sides plus she could always get cheese pizza & mac&cheese from the "kids" part of the buffet--I sometimes do too! Hollywood&Vine at DINNER (only) has a decent buffet withOUT characters.

Counterservice is the hardest. Most often offered are salads--sometimes not so filling and veggie burgers. As of a few years ago, they were Bocaburgers which were soybased. Some people loved them but I have a soy allergy so I was out of luck!

WDW is very accomodating for special diets. I have asked for substitutions even at counterservice. I've had to wait when asked for a sandwich without bacon but they will do it. They have subbed the jello-like dessert for carrots for my kids too. (You may or may not want to tell your daughter if she doesn't already know--jello is not vegetarian. Geliton sp? is a cow product--also marshmallows!)

If necessary when ordering/ needing help, ask for a manager. Sometimes the CMs don't know what they're allowed to do for special circumstances. I'm a somewhat shy &quiet, softspoken person but I'll do what I need to do to feed my family. I'm paying alot to be in WDW and be on the dining plan afterall!

www.allears.net has section on vegetarian dining in WDW. From main page--go to dining and then down to Veg. on left side of site.


PS

If you get to the Polynesian,
at their counterservice-- they have the BEST grilled cheese I've ever had! I think its called "grown up Grilled cheese". I think the place is called "Captain Cooks"

 

[mullertwin]

There are so many options available for vegetarians. Some places are obviously better than others, though. I highly recommend reading allearsnet's veggie pages to get an idea of the best places to eat at.

CS places are the toughest as most are veggie burgers which are now a vegetable based patty versus the soy based one that they used to have. But she might like them. At the MK CHH has the lighthouse sandwich which is veggie. Golden Oak Outpost also has a veggie flatbread which is vegan IIRC. And if it is open El Pirata y el Perico has veggie tacos. DHS has Backlot Express which has a veggie sandwich and Starring Rolls which sometimes has a veggie pita. Epcot has Sunshine Seasons which has a few veggie options plus Tangerine in Morrocco but just ask about the falafel as I think it's fried up with the chicken. AK has pizzafari for pizza and Restaurantosaurus has veggie burgers.

TS places are easier. You can always ask for the chef as well. Most places have some vegetarian options. Buffets are great because there are always lots of sides.

I would also wander up to the dining reviews and look for some great TR's by vegetarians and vegans that are helpful.

 

[Fam of 4]

Thank you all for your replies! This really gives me the feeling that we should be ok. It is just hard for our family because we have one vegitarian and one VERY picky eater. We have a hard time eating out anywhere and Disney is no exception. Knowing that the vegi lover will be taken care of puts my mind at ease. I know we can get nuggets just about anywhere.

I only worry now that the next time we go my son will be considered an adult and will still only want nuggets!

 

[itchin2go]

What restaurants are you looking at?

There are 3 types of restaurants:

Buffets - she'll be fine
Table Service - most will have a veggie option
Counter Service - many have a veggie option

As others have said, anyone can order a kids' meal. They don't "card" for them.

I am vegetarian, and like others have said, the main issue is counter service. You're doing the right thing by reading the menus and mapping it out ahead of time. And by the way, thank you for being the accomodating mom and not trying to strong arm her into eating something she doesn't want to eat - BRAVO!

My husband is an avowed carnivore, I'm vegetarian and my daughter is just plain picky. Like you, I find myself trudging through the menus to try to find places that will please everyone.

Two counter service places that I can whole-heartedly recommend: Sunshine Seasons in Epcot (in the Land pavilion), and Columbia Harbor House in Magic Kingdom. Great variety in both, and not at all typical theme park fast food.

 

[pigletto]

Would you believe that I am pouring over menus looking for vegetarian options for my dd when we go in September and she also became a vegetarian at 11 after our last trip?
Small world

I have read many posts in the past where people have made sure that it is noted on their reservation that they are dining with a vegetarian. Also in the Dining Reviews there are quite a few reviews by people who are vegan or vegetarian.
I am almost positive that most people found most restaurants to be willing to make something not on the menu or modify a dish with prior notice.

The CS menus do look a little bit dismal but I think all the buffets will be great and most table service as well.
My dd will still eat fish so I have more leaway there.
Good Luck.
If I can find the Dining reviews I will bump them up.. I read them months ago though so I might not be able to locate them.

 

[perkinsrose]

CS places are the toughest as most are veggie burgers which are now a vegetable based patty versus the soy based one that they used to have. veggie burgers.

.

Do you by chance know what brand/kind veggie burgers they now serve?

A few years ago, the soy ones were "Boca Burgers". Maybe now they're more like "Gardenburger" brand? Personally, I'm happy to hear of the change.

 

[somethingblue]

Many (if not most?) counter service places have a veggie burger available if you ask for it, even if it's not on the menu.

You should check out the vegetarian/vegan dining reviews! They are awesome! One is called "Tower Of Vegan Deliciousness" and is easy to spot on the review board.

 

[TillyMarigold]

Do you by chance know what brand/kind veggie burgers they now serve?

A few years ago, the soy ones were "Boca Burgers". Maybe now they're more like "Gardenburger" brand? Personally, I'm happy to hear of the change.

They are Gardenburger "Malibu" burgers, a type that is only sold to restaurants, but they are very similar to the "California" burger you can buy.

I really prefer them, myself, but they do have big chunks of veggies in them (corn, peppers, and I think carrots and broccoli)! There's a picture in my dining review (from Restaurantosaurus), but you can't really see the burger because I'd put a ton of tomatoes and pickles on it.

http://disboards.com/showthread.php?p=34724777#post34724777

 

[eeyore81]

We are vegetarians and went to Disney in September. We never had any problem getting a vegetarian dish. All the restaurants we ate at were more than accommodating. We told our servers when we ordered drinks that we were vegetarians. In most cases the servers was able to list a number of vegetarian entrees that were not on the menu. Also, at many of the locations, after the servers listed a couple of entrees the server would also say if we didn't like any of those options, they could get the chef to come to our table and tell us other things that were an option. For breakfast we ate at Chef Mickeys, Ohana and Boma. At Chef Mickeys and Boma there were plenty of options on the buffet. At Ohana, we could have easily been fine with the eggs, fruit, mickey waffles, etc, but the chef also made us a tofu stir fry that was excellent. For dinner we ate a Grand Floridian Cafe. I do not remember all the options the server told us, but we chose a pasta primavera that was great. Then we ate at Mama Melrose and our server told us that any of the entrees on the menu could be made vegetarian and that they could make us just about anything we wanted. We got the pasta primavera again, it was totally different than at the GF Cafe, but it was great too. Next we ate a Coral Reef. We had the mushroom lasagna. It was awesome. The server told us that if we did not want the veg option on the menu the chef could come to our table and tell us what else could be made. However, we were happy with the lasagna. We also at at Crystal Palace. Tons of options here. The chef walked with us through the buffet and let us know what was veg. At Sci-Fi we were given the option of the shrimp pasta without the shrimp but added veggies. We could have also had a veggie burger. We were happy with the pasta, so we did not need any additional options. The pasta here was just ok. The last night we ate at TREX. Our server listed tons of things on the menu that could be made vegetarian. We got the appetizer sampler (con queso dip, brushetta, and quesadilla). It was great. We had black beans in the quesadilla instead of chicken. For lunches we ate at Backlot Express (had the grilled veggie sandwich) Columbia Harbour House (had the hummus sandwicha and veg chilli - this meal was awesome), Earl of Sandwich we had the veggie sandwich and grilled cheese, and then had a couple of veggie burgers at various places. I was really surprised at how accomodating all the restaurants were. 3 out of 4 of us are vegetarians, including my 12 year old niece. All of us enjoyed our meals and the meat eater of the group was happy too.