Now you all know that Walt Disney World Snacks are something that I take very seriously. The Disney Snack game is strong. Walt Disney World bring out new snacks all the time to go along with old favourites. This trip was over New Years so there are some more festive treats, some special snacks for the 50th Anniversary and some that I have to get every time I’m there. A snack in Disney terms is anything from a bottle of water through to an ice cream sundae. Let’s get snacking.
I’m starting with something I’d been very keen to try out and that is the Croque Glace. This particular snack has got quite a following and I can see why. You can find it at L’Artisan des Glaces in the France Pavilion in Epcot. This is a scoop of ice cream with a choice of sauce sealed in a warm brioche bun. You get to watch them scoop your ice cream then place it into the bun which is in turn placed inside a toaster that is specially designed for this jobs of heating and sealing. Similar to a waffle iron or panini press. The blend of cold ice cream and warm brioche is what makes this so special. This snack divided my wife and I, she said it was fine but wouldn’t get it again. Whereas I said I would definitely get it again. That’s the great thing about snacks at Disney World – there’s something for everyone. My recommendation would be coffee ice cream with caramel sauce inside that buttery brioche. It is large as many of these snacks are and so shareable. We always share snacks, this means not only do we not get to that uncomfortable stuffed feeling but we can try more snacks!! I would recommend grabbing yourself a Croque Galce and taking a stroll through the beautiful France Pavilion.
This treat is one that I knew I would enjoy. I am a big fan of lemon and Disney certainly know how to do a good lemon soft serve ice cream. The Snow White Cone is a simple treat but certainly a delicious one. A blue cone with lemon soft serve and chocolate bow & bird. This was refreshing and super tasty. With it being citrus this felt light enough that you could easily finish the whole thing and maybe have room for another. I prefer the lemon soft serve to the more famous pineapple dole whip. Don’t get me wrong I am a fan of pineapple but for enjoying in the heat of Florida it has to be lemon. This is a snack that has been brought out for the 50th Anniversary Celebration but I hope it stays around.
Churros are a Disney staple and this is a new version. You can find this in New Fantasy Land near the Dumbo the Flying Elephant attraction. It is the Dumbo Churro this is two churro rolled in peanut dust served with chocolate dipping sauce. The ones we had were actually fairly fresh, sometimes Disney World Churros can feel a bit stale or like they have been sitting out. This was not the case here, they were crisp and warm with a soft centre. The peanut dust whilst not a massive flavour was there which when combined with the chocolate sauce reminded e of a ‘Snickers’ bar. I would have loved these if there was a bit more of a peanut flavour. These were still very good but maybe a once and done rather than a snack I’d rush back for.
Another frozen offering, this one can be found in Disney’s Animal Kingdom at the Anandapur Ice Cream Truck. Another snack introduced at the 50th Celebration this one commemorating Animal Kingdoms new day time show, Kite Tails. This is the Kite Tails Sundae, a lemon and strawberry soft serve swirl topped with sprinkles and a white chocolate medallion featuring the King Louis kite. This was refreshing of course but also on the sweet side. Does it need the white chocolate? Arguably no, however it must be topped with something to be called a sundae. It is though a fantastic snack to grab and then enjoy whilst watching Kite Tails. This show has split opinion some love it some hate it. Personally I really enjoy it if I was to pick the Jungle Book show would be my favourite. Any show that has jet skis in has to be a win! Back to the sundae the texture was perfect especially as the sprinkles add a little crunch that is most welcome. This snack should go on your list that way you get to visit the prettiest ice cream truck I’ve seen.
We journey back to Epcot for this next snack. I should preface this one by saying it was a snack that we bought more than once and will be getting again! We were staying at the Dolphin resort for this trip and so Epcot was within walking distance and we would walk there just to get this for dessert. I present to you the Caramel S’mores from Caramel Kuche. This is a glorious confectionary shop located in the Germany Pavilion at Epcot. The Caramel S’mores is made up of Graham crackers sandwiching marshmallow, whether’s original caramel and covered in chocolate. I know that sounds heavenly and believe me it was. My wife is not a huge marshmallow fan but she is a Caramel S’mores fan. The marshmallow is squidgy and pillowy, the graham crackers are not sweet and so the caramel here bring the sweetness and really brings it all together. Definitely a treat that has gone onto the favourite must have list for next time.
Now over my trips to Walt Disney World I developed a love for a special Ice Cream shop that was located on the BoardWalk, Ample Hills Creamery. However Ample Hills no longer has a location in Disney World! There is a new offering from Disney and that is the BoardWalk Ice Cream Shop. I had to try them out to see how the replacement measured up to what was my favourite ice cream shop. I picked up a cone with Coffee with peanut butter chips. This was delicious ice cream with a good texture and variety of choices. I will say the choices here are more pedestrian than Ample Hills was but was still tasty. The service was excellent with some of the best cast members we encountered. However this has now become a place I will go to if I’m there but not a destination that I must hit up. But if you go you will have tasty ice cream.
One morning we found ourselves at Disney Springs looking for something to have for breakfast. We decided to try out a place that we had never been before and that is Everglazed Donuts & Cold Brew. I picked up a Maple Double Bacon Donut – a maple glazed donut topped with candied bacon. This was a very sweet way to start the day. I actually enjoyed it as the donut was a Wonderfull soft texture and the bacon provided some much needed salt. It may have been a bit early for me to truly appreciate this donut as I did come away feeling that I’d just been hit in the face with sugar. I have a very sweet tooth so if I’m saying its sweet then trust me its sweet.
It’s hot in Florida and there seems to be no end to frozen Walt Disney World Snacks. So I bring you yet another ice cream! Also another ice cream from Disney’s Animal Kingdom. This one can be found in DinoLand USA at Dino-Bite Snacks. The 50th Celebration Ice Cream Sandwich is made up of Double Chocolate Cookies with Vanilla Ice Cream, Celebration Sprinkles & a 50th Anniversary Logo. These cookies are delicious and really make this ice cream sandwich special. The sprinkles and ice cream are fairly standard, I mean it’s quite difficult to do vanilla wrong! But the cookies are rich and chocolatey and the perfect texture for an ice cream sandwich. Robust enough to stand up to the ice cream but yielding enough to bite into. This was brought in to celebrate the 50th anniversary and be warned you may come away with a blue mouth from those sprinkles. It is also ginormous so I suggest tackling it between at least two of you.
Now we were there at the tail end of the holiday season and so there was a plenty of gingerbread around. I think the best gingerbread cookie we found was the standard Mickey Shaped Gingerbread Cookie. This for both my wife and I had the perfect texture nice and soft with lovely warming ginger spices. The sweet chocolate coating didn’t take it over the edge of too sweet either as the cookie is not overly sweet. How many times can I write sweet in one sentence? We got this at Zuri’s Sweets but you could get this Mickey shaped one across the resort, in many confectionary cases. One fact we found out about gingerbread at Walt Disney World was that across the different Deluxe Resorts there are different gingerbread displays and at these you can buy gingerbread treats. However there are many different recipes being used. This is because gingerbread is the one recipe the head chefs at each resort can use their own – Disney does not standardise it as it does with almost every other snack. So if you buy gingerbread from the Grand Floridian Gingerbread House that will taste different to the Beach Club or the Board Walk Inn. So that’s a good excuse to try every single one right?!
This next snack was being sold in the confectionary cases throughout the different parks, it is a fairly basic snack but a good one. A Peppermint Marshmallow Wand. This is a Mickey shaped marshmallow, covered in chocolate and then sprinkled with crushed up candy cane. This was exactly as you would expect, squidgy soft marshmallow crisp chocolate and crunchy minty peppermint shards. Full of festive joy and flavours. I really enjoyed this but I’m not sure I’ve met a marshmallow I won’t eat. I grabbed this at Zuri’s Sweets in Disney’s Animal Kingdom but saw them in many places across the different parks.
Onto another cookie I bring you the Peanut Butter Cookie. I only saw this at one location – Zuri’s Sweet Shop in Disney’s Animal Kingdom. I always pop in here to see what they have. There are always some exclusive treats here that you can’t find anywhere else. This one was not one I’d rush back to have, I found it to be really rather claggy. The kind of cookie that you don’t have to bite it just crumbles and sticks to the top of your mouth. Whilst the peanut butter flavour is good and strong I found it to be a bit dry. I’ve had better cookies to be completely honest so if you find yourself in Zuri’s sweet shop maybe grab yourself something else.
This next snack can be found at the Polynesian Village Resort. This is not a resort I’ve ever stayed at but it is a very pretty resort. You can find these at the Kona Island Coffee Bar in the bakery case. These Chocolate Covered Strawberries are not just coated in chocolate. There are many different topping we chose m&m’s and chocolate sprinkles. In the UK the chocolate sprinkles would be called jazzies or mini jazzies I guess. These strawberries were absolutely massive, and how can chocolate and strawberries be bad? Answer – it can’t. These were both absolutely yummy and the strawberries were sweet and juicy. If you find yourself in the Polynesian Village Resort get yourself one or two of these wonderful Walt Disney World Snacks.
Next is another snack that has been released to celebrate the 50th Anniversary. We are back in Magic Kingdom and at The Friar’s Nook you can get yourself a slushy drink called The Wild Ride. This in in homage to Mr Toad’s Wild Ride an attraction that no longer exists in Disney World but does still thrill guests at Disneyland in Anaheim. The Wild Ride is made up of frozen wild sour cherry, blue raspberry and sour apple topped with whipped cream and a liquorice wheel. Any time I get a slushy drink I am transported back to being a child and what a treat it was to get one. This was very good, sweet enough but with a sour edge that was very welcome. In the Florida heat any cooling drink is welcome but this one is very good, if you’re wanting slush. The whipped cream and liquorice wheel are pure decoration and do not add a great deal to the drink. But it is for the 50th so let’s make it special.
One of the newest places to pick up Walt Disney World Snacks in Gideon’s Bakehouse. Now I’ve seen the queues that form outside Gideon’s Bakehouse in Disney Springs. I’ve seen people join a virtual queue upwards of 3 hours for a chance to go inside and buy some sweet treats. So how good can a cookie be? One day whilst we were there the line was short, so we joined it and we waited around 10 minutes. In the line we were given a printed card with a character on the back and that months flavours. It was good to see what was on offer before getting inside as when there is a queue outside you want to be fairly quick about your visit. Gideon’s Bakehouse has a 6 cookie per person limit. We decided to get four cookies between the two of us. This was plenty if anything too much as we even brought two of them home with us. We got Chocolate Chip Cookie, Peanut Butter Cookie, Pistachio Toffee Cookie, Cookies & Cream Cookie. All of the cookies were texturally good the ratio of chocolate chips to cookie almost feels 50/50. The peanut butter and the cookies and cream cookie I found to be a little too sweet. The chocolate chip cookie was very good but I’m glad we shared as I don’t think I’d have been able to finish it myself. The stand out cookie for both of us was the Pistachio Toffee Cookie, this was the perfect balance of salty and sweet full of textures and definitely the one I would go back for. Lastly At Gideon’s Bake house they have Peanut Butter Cold Brew, everyone raves about it. I can see why it was truly delicious. The bitterness of the coffee cancels out the sweetness of peanut butter and you get the full flavour. It disappeared far quicker than I would have liked.
Finally I have a returning favourite. Mickey Beignets! These warm pieces of fried dough tossed in powdered sugar are heavenly. In Walt Disney World you can only find them at a resort hotel Port Orleans French Quarter. The Port Orleans Resorts hold a special place for me and my wife as we stayed there on our first trip to Florida as just the two of us. So every trip to Disney World we always take a trip back and Beignets are always on the menu. I find the nicest way to get either to or from Port Orleans is to get the boat that docks at Disney Springs. These Mickey Beignets are pillowy soft not at all greasy and oh so good. Definitely a treat and one that is always worth the trip over to get them. One of my ultimate Walt Disney World Snacks. Yes powdered sugar goes everywhere but that is half the fun.
These are the Walt Disney World Snacks we ate; you will find a couple more in the Quick Service Post that we ate as a quick service meal but you could get as a snack, doughnuts or churros for example. Hope you enjoyed seeing just what snacks you can get at Disney World and of course there’s so many more that we didn’t get chance to try this time. You will also notice that everything is sweet, Disney World does have savoury snacks too we just didn’t pick those ones this time, oh well, we will have to go back.
Epcot International Festival of the Holidays 2021
Walt Disney World Quick Service December 21 – January 22
