Disney Food Reviews

You might not get much more out of me than Disney-related topics for the next few days, since that’s what I’ve been eating and breathing for vacation. So if you don’t care much for Disneyfied things, it might be better to head elsewhere. (Unless you happen to be interested in my health, in which case, read on to the end of this post.)

I’m back from Disney, and as I said on Facebook yesterday, my vacation was not kind to my diet. In fact, between stress eating over the election, followed by helping to run a statewide library conference, and topped off with a Thanksgiving vacation to Disney, my healthy goals tanked hard. I was not looking forward to getting on the scale this morning. Before I left on vacation, I knew I was already up to 191.2. Much higher than I’d hoped to be before my Disney food binge, and far too close to my line in the sand weight of 195. I debated (briefly) trying to watch the food intake some over the trip, but I ended up deciding against it. I was on vacation, dangit. I was going to have fun.

And fun is exactly what I had, especially when it came to food. One perk of going when we did was that we got the Disney dining plan for free. This means each day we each got 1 snack, 1 quick service meal (fast food), and 1 table service meal (sit down, nicer). It’s a veritable slew of calories. Here’s a rundown of all the damage:

• San Angel Inn–Mexican restaurant inside the pyramid at EPCOT. Very good food, though the service took a while. I can’t honestly remember now what I ate, but I remember waddling out.
• Marrakesh–Morrocan restaurant at EPCOT. A first for me. The food was very good, and there was a live dinner show. I had beef shish kebab and some sort of flaky dessert that I wasn’t too fond of. But fun to eat a cuisine I haven’t tasted before.
• Tuskerhaus–African-themed all you can eat buffet in Animal Kingdom. Character meal with Mickey, Goofy, Donald, and Daisy. Great food, with a lot of variety of things you just aren’t going to find every day. Plus, the jungle juice (guava, passionfruit, and orange) was divine (though I was also very thirsty). I’ve eaten here three times and loved each one.
• Akershus–Disney princess dining with a Norweigan theme at EPCOT. I had meatballs and all three of the desserts (mousse, rice puddinng, and apple cake). Princesses were Belle, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Ariel, and Snow White. MC was ecstatic. The food was really good too.
• Crystal Palace–We ate Thanksgiving dinner here (in Magic Kingdom) with Eeyore, Pooh, Piglet, and Tigger. Seeing Eeyore was fantastic (of course), but the meal did leave a bit to be desired. Good food, but probably the worst of the restaurants we ate at over the vacation. Just your standard American fare.
• Ohana–I still love this Hawaiian-themed restaurant at the Polynesian Resort, but Denisa wasn’t crazy about it. Too much meat. (It’s essentially a Disney-fied Brazilian steakhouse.) All you can eat, delivered right to your table. Steak, chicken, pot stickers, wings, salad, and the best bread pudding I’ve ever had.
• Raglan Road–Probably my favorite restaurant of the trip. It’s an Irish pub-theme in Disney Springs, complete with live music and a dance show. The food was excellent across the board, and we were seated right by the stage, so we had an excellent view of everything going on. I had shepherd’s pie and a dark chocolate mousse creation for dessert.
• Be Our Guest–Really the only quick service meal worth mentioning, but it was very impressive. It’s at the Magic Kingdom. They let you get reservations ahead of time, and then you order at a counter and they deliver the food to your table. Delicious, but also expensive if you’re not on the plan. ($21/person, I believe.) The theming of the restaurant is great, though: straight out of Beauty and the Beast. I would go back here in a moment. I had the roast beef sandwich, fries, and a triple chocolate cupcake for dessert. All were delicious.

Would I do the Disney Dining Plan again? Only if it were free. It’s so. much. food. Left to my own devices, I think I’d pay for a few table meals at EPCOT and split a bunch of meals elsewhere. It would be pricey, but it still wouldn’t be as much as the dining plan when you pay for it. The food is great, but there’s just too much.

Add to that a bunch of snacks and other meals, and things weren’t looking too good for the home team when it came to the ol’ diet. But I had a great time, and I wouldn’t go back and change things. That said, I was very worried about the scale this morning.

Survey says?

193.2

I only gained 2 pounds! I was pretty stunned, to say the least. I think a large part of it is that I was walking a ton at Disney, paired with the fact that while I ate a lot each time I ate, there wasn’t too too much in the way of grazing. All those in-between nibbles can really add up.

That said, I’m still in detox mode for the next while. I want to avoid sugar for the next week or two at least, and give my body a bit of a break before I turn to fudge and eggnog and peppermint ice cream for a brief spell over the holidays.

If you’ve read this far, you’re either far too good of a friend, or way too interested in my health. Thanks for reading, either way!