Eating Healthy at Walt Disney World
Juli RussMarch 23, 2017
Many people are trying to eat in a healthier way. My husband, Kevin, and I are no exception. We have changed our eating habits over the past five months opting to not eat processed food, white flour and sugar. When our recent Walt Disney World vacation arrived we were wondering how we would continue to eat the way we wanted to.The first night of our trip was spent at the All Star Movie Resort. When we arrived we walked in to the dining area to see what was available for dinner. We noticed the usual burgers, chicken fingers and pizza, but then discovered a cooler containing a great selection of fruit, salads, cheese, yogurt and hard boiled eggs. Kevin and I were both pleased to see we had multiple options that worked for us.
Magic Kingdom was the first park we visited where some of our very favorite treats can be found! Dole Whips and Mickey Bars are two treats we always enjoy while at Magic Kingdom, but were going to skip on this trip. As much as we wanted a Nutella Waffle, we thought it would be best to look around for a healthier lunch. Have you ever seen the giant turkey legs in Frontierland? We had seen them over the years, but never sampled one so we gave it a try. The turkey leg was delicious and enough to share. As we walked through Liberty Square we found the perfect food stand! The Cast Members were grilling corn and there was a large variety of fresh fruit. The grilled corn was delicious, a good compliment to the turkey leg.
Magic Kingdom was the first park we visited where some of our very favorite treats can be found! Dole Whips and Mickey Bars are two treats we always enjoy while at Magic Kingdom, but were going to skip on this trip. As much as we wanted a Nutella Waffle, we thought it would be best to look around for a healthier lunch. Have you ever seen the giant turkey legs in Frontierland? We had seen them over the years, but never sampled one so we gave it a try. The turkey leg was delicious and enough to share. As we walked through Liberty Square we found the perfect food stand! The Cast Members were grilling corn and there was a large variety of fresh fruit. The grilled corn was delicious, a good compliment to the turkey leg.
The International Food and Wine Festival had begun at Epcot just prior to our arrival. The Food and Wine Festival is one of our favorite events at Walt Disney World where every country has sample-sized food and drinks to try. For Kevin and me, this was the best place to eat many of our meals because we could choose the food that worked best for us. Our favorites were the filet in Canada, the beef skewers from Morocco and sweet & spicy shrimp that we found at the Australia stand.
While we were at Epcot we had dinner at Teppan Edo in the Japan Pavilion, a wonderful sit down hibachi style restaurant. Our chef was very accommodating and gave us extra veggies instead of rice to go with our steak and shrimp. The food was incredible and the experience was very fun.One of Kevin’s favorite meals of our whole trip was a salad at Wolfgang Puck Express which is located at Disney Springs. Again, the staff was very accommodating and offered fruit in place of the dessert which accompanies a quick service meal on the Disney Dining Plan. Kevin found the salad to be delicious and big enough to share.
Buffets are another ideal place to dine when you are looking for healthier options. Our breakfast buffet at Cape May had so many delicious items to choose from that we were stuffed when we left. There were several types of eggs, which were all very tasty. The meats like bacon, sausage and smoked salmon, along with the fresh fruit rounded out our breakfast nicely. We discovered that the chef will make gluten free Mickey waffles for those who cannot have gluten.On our last night we had dinner at the Cinderella’s Happily Ever After buffet at 1900 Park Fare in Grand Floridian. We both ate way too much while we waited to meet Cinderella, Prince Charming and the Step Family. I gave the famous Cold Strawberry Soup a try and loved it, it was incredible. Kevin and I both thought the Mongolian Beef was very good, as was the prime rib. There were many salads and a very nice variety of veggies. It was hard to walk past the desserts, they looked wonderful.Overall we found the selection of healthy food options to be extensive at Walt Disney World, especially if you ask questions of the Cast Members before ordering. Everyone was happy to substitute vegetables for potatoes and fruit for dessert. If you are looking for healthier options I would love to talk to you about our experience and help you plan a healthy trip to Walt Disney World. Follow me on Facebook and Twitter, or contact me at julir@wishesfamilytravel.com