It’s trip report time once again! We’re wrapping this sucker up with one final post on Disney snacks and drinks that didn’t warrant their own entry. Check out all the posts from this report here. Onward!
Okay, okay, ONE MORE trip report post and then you can all leave, promise. But I simply cannot let a Disney snack or drink go by without documenting my feelings on it in some fashion. How can I expect you to go out and make your own WDW food purchasing decisions without my input?! I would never do that to you.
And so this traditional final post, in which I will tell you about all the things I ate and drank at Disney that I didn’t already tell you about somewhere else. Let’s dive right in!
DINNER & DESSERT IN EVERYTHING POP
THE FOODS: Oatmeal whoopie pie and pasta kid’s meal
THE VERDICT: Erika and I selected the oatmeal whoopie pie out of the Everything Pop’s bakery case (for those new to the World, that’s the food court at Pop Century). This dessert-snack is comprised of two soft-ish oatmeal cookies with a frosting filling plus some thin frosting and sprinkle decorations.
It tastes exactly how you think it would: like caramel-y oatmeal cookie and vanilla frosting. Unfortunately, I found the proportions to be off; there was simply too much cookie or not enough frosting. Possibly both? But it’s certainly more interesting than a run-of-the-mill donut or whatever. It’s sizable and sugary, so I’d recommend sharing.
I’ve already discussed my go-to pre-race meal, but I wanted to make a couple updates. The current iteration of the pasta kid’s meal at Everything Pop comes with chicken – I think chicken parmagiana? I don’t know for sure because I asked to switch it out for meatballs and this request was granted. I also received the vegetable this time, which was a snappy, well-cooked green bean.
One thing I’d never noticed before is that there are cheese packets among the condiments. Obviously this is not high quality cheese, but it does zhuzh up the otherwise bland tomato sauce. Mind you, that very blandness is part of what makes it such an effective pre-race meal, but cheese isn’t too risky.
MY LATEST GIDEON’S BAKEHOUSE HAUL
THE FOOD: Rainbow crunch cake
THE VERDICT: One of my new favorite traditions is getting myself a slice of cake from Gideon’s Bakehouse to enjoy after my race. Knowing I was running as the Rainbow Corridor, I had to get a slice of rainbow crunch cake!
This is funfetti by any other name. Also, there is a ton of dye in the frosting, which you may be able to tell already if you have eyes. All that being said, this is (no surprise here) superior funfetti cake. I don’t know what Gideon’s does to their cakes, exactly, but they are incredibly moist and flavorful. And I say that as someone who generally regards cake as the vessel off which one scrapes frosting. You don’t eat it; that would be ridiculous.
But I do eat Gideon’s cake, because it’s delicious! The frosting was, weirdly, a bit much for me, though. I find Gideon’s vanilla frosting tends toward the aggressively sweet – like, sweeter than canned frosting sweet. I prefer when they cut it with other ingredients, like chocolate or cinnamon. Still, if you’re a big vanilla person and don’t mind a heaping helping of sugar on your tongue, I can’t imagine it gets any better than this!
NEW DRINKS I TRIED AT OGA’S CANTINA
THE DRINKS: Surabat Valley Harvest Brew – Terrapin Beer Co and Spice Runner Hard Cider
THE VERDICT: The Surabat Valley Harvest Brew is a new-ish addition to the Oga’s Cantina menu, and described as a sour. I myself am a huge fan of sours, but I know they’re divisive. I think that’s why the beer didn’t taste sour enough to me. I like something crisp, ideally brewed with salt, and Surabat Valley didn’t quite bring it home for me. I think there might have been too much sugar?
The Spice Runner hard cider is produced by Angry Orchard and, uh, you can tell. I’m not wholly unconvinced this isn’t just regular Angry Orchard cider with a fancy Oga’s name. There is definitely too much sugar.
LUNCH AT THE BROWN DERBY LOUNGE
THE FOOD: Cobb salad and spoon bread
THE VERDICT: They call this their “famous” Cobb salad and, uh, yeah, it deserves to be famous. I’m a big fan of a good Cobb salad, and this is a good Cobb salad. All the ingredients are high quality and cut very fine, so you can very easily mix all the flavors without having to construct a perfect but too-big forkful. It was maybe a touch overdressed but not egregiously so. Not a shocker, but I highly recommend it!
I first tried spoon bread in Colonial Williamsburg when I was like ten years old, and I’ve been chasing that high ever since. Most spoon bread goes a little too heavy on the bread – I know pudding-y textures aren’t for everyone, but they’re definitely for me!
This spoon bread wasn’t quite up to my niche standard; still, it was excellent in its own right. Brown Derby goes with a cornbread, and I love that it isn’t sweet! My favorite cornbread is the unsweetened kind, and it’s getting increasingly rare. While I would’ve preferred a somewhat more underbaked approach, this spoon bread scratched that itch for me. And with the butter topping? YES PLEASE.
I also drank a Woodford Reserve on the rocks. This is my favorite whiskey. Just dropping that knowledge in case you need a birthday present for me. It’s only a week away! 🙂 🙂 🙂
A SOLID ROUND OF DISNEY SNACKS
While some items were better than others, I don’t think I ran into any total air balls on this trip. Everything I tried was serviceable to excellent! What a way to end the trip report. Anyway, see you next month as we start a new trip report for marathon weekend… I really can’t get enough! 😅
Don’t forget, you can follow FRoA on Twitter @fairestrunofall and on Instagram @fairestrunofall. If you have any questions or thoughts, leave a comment or email fairestrunofall@gmail.com. See ya real soon!