Christmas in July is here! I held back my Thanksgiving Walt Disney World trip report due to time constraints, and I’m so excited to finally share it with you. We close this report out with a Disney snack roundup. Click here for the setup, and read all the posts in this report here. Onward!
Welcome to the final post of my Thanksgiving at Walt Disney World trip report! You know how I like to close it out: we’re doing a quick roundup of all the random snacks I ate on the trip outside of restaurant reviews. There’s some hella tasty stuff to talk about in here, so let’s get cracking!
DISNEY SNACK TIME!
TUNA & NOODLES AT SUNSHINE SEASONS
Epcot’s Sunshine Seasons used to enjoy a solid following, but has slipped in the eyes of WDW regulars over the years. Once lauded menu items have either vanished or diminished. It’s not normally on my Epcot dining shortlist.
And yet I found myself eating there while waiting for a Soarin’ Lightning Lane reservation, and hey, it was pretty good! The menu might no longer be what anyone would call ambitious, but it’s definitely more culinarily diverse than your average hotdog stand.
Sadly I don’t see my meal on the current menu; I’m not sure if that’s because it’s gone or because the Sunshine Seasons web menu is not comprehensive. At any rate, I was delighted to find raw tuna in the offing, served over cold noodles and vegetables.
This was nothing to write home about, but as theme park food goes, it was light, refreshing, nutritionally balanced, and tasty. If you like raw tuna, you’ll love this. The Cast Member added way too much spicy mayo, though, which drowned out some of the flavor. I recommend asking for the sauce on the side.
JALAPEÑO CREAM CHEESE PRETZEL FROM, UH, THE CART NEAR ROCK ‘N ROLLER COASTER
The jalapeño cream cheese pretzel has popped up in numerous places around the World, and has amassed a niche following even as it disappears and reappears from menus. I found it at the snack stand across from the entrance to Aerosmith Rock ‘n Roller Coaster.
Which snack stand, you ask? Not KRNR The Rock Station stand to the left, and not the Joffrey’s cart. The cart next to that cart. The internet is not readily giving me the name; even Disney’s website doesn’t have it marked. Just… go into the little RNRC area and check the menus, I guess?
Anyway, back to the pretzel: it’s obviously mass produced, frozen, and reheated. Despite those marks against, it’s pretty good! The pretzel portion retains its crisp exterior and soft interior as a pretzel should. The jalapeño cream cheese has enough heat to enhance the flavor without scorching the tongue. As easy, portable snacks go, I recommend to anyone feeling peckish on Sunset Boulevard.
THINGS I’VE MOSTLY HAD BEFORE AT TOPOLINO’S TERRACE
Normally a visit to a table service restaurant would warrant a special post. Unfortunately, I am the worst blogger imaginable and did not get anything new during my Topolino’s Terrace meal except a cup of coffee. Look, it’s hard to pass up fresh pasta, okay?! Anyway, the coffee was perfectly good drip coffee, nothing special.
I did want to note, however, that our dinner was just as excellent as the first time, and is swiftly rising to the top of my favorite Disney restaurants. While fireworks o’clock is now doubt “the” time to dine here, our early evening reservation was lovely and serene. Love Topolino’s any time.
CHOCOLATE PEANUT BUTTER BAR FROM CONTEMPO CAFE
Of late, few resort grab ‘n go bakeries excite me. There are outliers, of course – what up, The Mara? – but otherwise I find most of the offerings overly complex or wholly uninspired, with little in between.
Nevertheless, I went sniffing around The Contemporary’s Contempo Cafe one night looking for a dessert to go with room wine and fireworks. I was delighted to discover they still had a chocolate peanut butter bar! It looked different from the last time I had it, but the appearance was still promising. If it contains peanut butter, I will eat it and love it. Yet another reason I shouldn’t have kids. 😜
The current version of the chocolate peanut butter bar is completely vegan, and to be honest, you can kind of tell. Not in a bad way necessarily; it’s just noticeably different. The texture of the peanut butter creme in particular is a little… wobbly. It was still tasty – it’s chocolate and peanut butter! How can it not be? – but both flavor and construction were kind of weak. I just read that the whipped cream is allegedly strawberry-flavored, which was news to me, a person who has eaten it.
If you’re strictly vegan, get one, but if you’re not, check out your other options. This isn’t a bad choice, but it’s probably not the best.
BUTTER BAR FROM KARAMEL KÜCHE
Karamel Küche, the Werthers candy kitchen in Epcot’s Germany Pavilion, is very popular, but I must confess I don’t hit it up frequently. Their bakery is excellent; I’m just not all that keen on caramel. Pat is, though, so we made a stop during one of our Epcot days.
If I am going to eat caramel, I like it to be salted, so I selected the caramel butter bar for my afternoon snack. I would describe this dessert as a sort of shortbread streusel, with a buttery shortbread crust covered evenly in caramel and spackled over with butter crumb topping.
The caramel butter bar strikes a wondrous balance between salty and sweet. Okay, maybe the caramel tips things in the sweet direction, but the butter and salt of the shortbread crust and topping evens things out nicely. It’s not something I’m itching to grab again (oh paw print brownie, how I mourn thee) in a stacked World Showcase culinary landscape, but I’d order it over other, sweeter options next time I find myself in Karamel Küche.
END OF SNACK REPORT AND END OF TRIP REPORT
Boo! Not boo to food; boo to the end of my report. Reliving the magic = over… for now. I’ve got trips for WDW Marathon Weekend and Princess Half Marathon Weekend starting early next year… and possibly even something up my sleeve for the fall. Who knows what I’ll snack on then?
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!
Yum! I’ve occasionally ordered other things at dinner from Topolino’s. That pasta dish is still the absolute best though!
I’m afraid if I got something else I’d fall victim to “yeah, but it’s not as good as the pasta” regrets. >D