During our time at Disney I tried to follow the mantra of over prepare, then go with the flow. It turns out rides tend to be a priority over food. Yes, it’s beyond my comprehension too.
The majority of our days were spent in the four parks…oh, and standing in lines, riding on buses, and dodging strollers. We had no set schedule, so when hunger hit I wanted to be able to suggest a good place to eat in the vicinity. To maximize our limited dining opportunities, I came up with best bets for each park.
| The Magic Kingdom section on my food list |
|
| Name | What to get |
| Aloha Isle | dole whip |
| Columbia Harbour House | tuna sandwich meal |
| Cosmic Ray’s Starlight Cafe | rotisserie chicken, ribs, or brisket |
| Pecos Bill Café | burger bar |
| Sleepy Hollow (Liberty Square) | chocolate chip cookie ice cream sandwich |
| Main Street Bakery | dessert, cinnamon roll |
| Plaza Ice Cream Parlor | ice cream sundae |
Note: Click the name of the quick service restaurant to view their menu.
We hit three out of seven:
- Sleepy Hollow in Liberty Square for a snack
- Cosmic Ray’s Starlight Cafe in Tomorrowland for dinner
- Aloha Isle in Adventureland for a snack
So many good things going on
Sleepy Hollow: Liberty Square
One of the top snacks on my list was a chocolate chip cookie ice cream sandwich. I love everyone of those words.
Marching up to the Sleepy Hollow counter I nearly had a heart attack because this item isn’t labeled with a snack symbol on the menu. But it never hurts to ask questions and the cashier reassured me it qualifies as a snack. Disaster avoided.
These babies are pure made-to-order heaven. Generous scoops of hand-dipped ice cream (your choice of vanilla or the flavor of the day) are cradled between two large freshly-baked chocolate chip cookies. It’s a fantastic use of a snack credit and is big enough to split. Please, do us both a favor and get one.
Cosmic Ray’s Starlight Cafe: Futureland
Following a spin on Space Mountain Friday night, we ate at Cosmic Ray’s Starlight Cafe for dinner. It was late, cold and the closest place on my list. There was no talking Ben and his brother into trekking across the park to Pecos Bill Cafe in Frontierland. Earlier in the day we passed Columbia Harbour House, but just had gigantic ice cream sandwiches.
Cosmic Ray’s has three “bays” to order from featuring chicken, burgers or sandwiches. The rotisserie chicken and ribs located in Bay 1 are popular entrees that come with potatoes and veggies, but we had chicken and ribs for lunch. (Finding repeated entrees is common among the parks.) I ended up ordering a Deluxe Angus Cheeseburger, french fries, a Diet Coke and apple slices from Bay 2. In hindsight I should have gotten the Greek Salad from Bay 3.
Apparently the addition of guacamole and bacon turns a plain food service patty into a deluxe burger. In reality it was fairly standard and a little dry. There also is a toppings bar where you can pile on sauteed onions, lettuce, tomatoes, pickles, and condiments which helped. The cashier was nice enough to let me have apple slices instead of cake. I was dying for something fresh and healthy, which is why I regretted not getting the salad.
The infamous Dole Whip Float!
Aloha Isle: Adventureland 
Another notorious snack available only at Disney is the Dole Whip. The Dole Whip kept popping up in my research and has an impressive fan following.
Sunday morning we hiked to Aloha Isle because it’s never too early for soft-serve. I used another snack credit and got a Dole Whip float with pineapple soft-serve and pineapple juice. Again, it was large enough to share.
The pineapple soft-serve is surprisingly tart, especially when paired with pineapple juice. Ben got a pineapple and vanilla swirl which was a better balance of sweet and tart. They also offer an orange version which I bet tastes like a dreamscicle when mixed with vanilla. It was refreshing and perfect on a warm day.
Overview
The Dole Whip and chocolate chip cookie ice cream sandwich are great snack options well worth the effort. Cosmic Ray’s was only okay. The Pecos Bill Cafe is a burger bar known for their toppings, but I’m not sure if it’s much different than Cosmic Ray’s. Supposedly the Columbia Harbour House is a small, quiet place to get a good sandwich and people like Casey’s Corner for their hot dog combo meals. The Main Street Bakery was always packed and I didn’t have room when we passed the Plaza Ice Cream Parlor. If you want a sweet treat, the Magic Kingdom has you covered.
-
- Cosmic Ray’s, Bay 1: chicken
-
- Bay 2: burgers
-
- Bay 3: sandwiches
-
- Counter beyond the cashiers
-
- Deluxe cheeseburger combo meal
-
- American cheese ick, guacamole yum
-
- Sleepy Hollow
-
- So many good things going on
-
- Aloha Isle
-
- The menu
-
- The infamous Dole Whip Float!
-
- Columbia Harbour House
-
- We didn’t eat here
-
- Get hotdogs at Casey’s Corner
-
- Plaza Ice Cream Parlor
-
- Main Street Bakery
-
- The Castle
I’m so jealous that you went to Disney! Just seeing your pictures makes me wish I was there right now! As far as the food goes… I have heard good things about the chicken at Cosmic Ray’s if you ever find yourself there again. We ate at the Harbour House last year, and it was decent. I am somewhat of a dole whip purist… just get the pineapple dole whip plain… it is the best! And there is a good hot chocolate place close to the castle, which was necessary last year when we were there in the freezing cold!
Posted by Lindsay | January 24, 2011, 1:23 pmI thought about you and how cold it must have been walking around last year. Y’all are tough cookies! I had good intentions of emailing for tips beforehand (you know how that turned out), and will definitely keep this in mind if we go back.
Posted by Gidget Eats | January 24, 2011, 2:47 pm