Our trip for 2020 has officially disappeared – no hotel reservation showing up in our MyDisneyExperience App, no dining reservations, no park days booked – nothing! Nothing at all! Sigh. But during the next couple of weeks as we piece it all back together those reservations will reappear – but for 2021! Such is life and it gives us plenty of time to get rid of our lockdown wobbly bellies. There’s been lots of baking during lockdown – mostly trying to recreate snacks and treats we love from Orlando, WDW and Universal – and of course therefore eating the experimental treats. So yes, plenty of time to slim down to make room for the USA yumminess, and much longer to dream, drool and plan and plot so that we get all of our favourite meals, snacks, treats and drinkies in, whilst leaving plenty of room for all the things we want to try and new places we want to eat at. Mmmmmm – beginning to think this slimming down in a year might be trickier than we think, as all we seem to do is think about food, watch vlogs about food and look at photos of food!
I can barely think of waiting a year for the vast array of donuts, pastries, churros, danishes, apple pie, cinnamon rolls, cupcakes and general sweet and delicious treats available all around Orlando and in particular in the resort hotels and theme parks. I don’t think there’s anywhere we haven’t tried over the past 30 years for our sweet fix. We can’t even manage to pop into Walmart or Publix without coming out with a pack of donuts of some kind. All delicious, all sweet and always necessary on a long park day – oh that sugar rush – grabbing a quick coffee and a sweet treat to perk you up. One of the worst things about all of these options being available is actually making your mind up what you want. We popped into Voodoo Donuts and honestly you can be 20 minutes deciding which one (or maybe two or three – cos they’re doing a deal obviously!) to have. There’s always that dilemma – do I have the one I really loved last time and having been having dreams about, or do I try something new which might be even more amazing? Tricky times and difficult decisions.
Krispy Kreme’s will always be my absolute favourite – raspberry glazed! Ticks every box and is perfect in every way. Obviously cinnamon rolls coming in a close second – the one with the extra icing poured all over it from Gastons in Magic Kingdom. Favourite desserts for after a meal (which I rarely have room for due to the giant food portions, but hey there’s always “to go” boxes right?!) are split equally between three. In no particular order, Caramel Apple Crisp from Dennys, Snickers cheesecake from The Cheesecake Factory, and Lemon Meringue Pie from Perkins. Delicious – all of them. The Caramel Apple Crisp is so so delicious, warm and appley (is that even a word) and with oozy caramel all over it, and served warm with a generous blob of vanilla ice cream which melts all into it. The Snickers cheesecake speaks for itself – cheesecake, creamy and crumbly and then that gorgeous hit of peanuts, chocolate and caramel, it’s perfect. The lemon meringue pie is so delightful and the meringue on it is so so tall – I always have to have it to go and it barely fits in the box they give you to take it home in. You can buy it as a slice which I always have, but you can actually buy the WHOLE PIE – yes the whole pie. Has anyone ever done that? I guess US citizens might well have done for a party or gathering or something, but as a tourist with so many other things to eat, I couldn’t possibly buy a whole pie. I am sure I would just keep cutting slices off it until I eventually have to sit in front of the fridge crying because my sugar rush and my beautiful pie is all finished.
My teeth are practically aching following that delve into my sweet obsessions. I rarely eat sweet stuff in the UK – not much really floats my boat sweet wise, I can take it or leave it, but somehow the US sweet treats seem so much more interesting and exciting.
Meals – well again – there’s so much to try and so many places to eat it’s hard to pin it down to a few favourites. I will say that no-one does baked potatoes or mashed potatoes like the USA! I do love the baked potatoes that come with the little tubs of butter and sour cream. Delicious – I have them in Perkins, Longhorn Steakhouse and probably anywhere else I see them as a side or served with an entree. Love them! I am drooling just thinking about them now. Oh and the mash – so creamy and delicious. I cannot wait to try the mashed potatoes at Homecomin, which is high on our list of places to visit next trip. They look fully of cheesy creamy goodness – I suspect not a diet option. Fries are also a real treat in Orlando – in loads of forms and restaurants and quick service places in theme parks and Disney Springs. I am desperate to try the new loaded fries at The Basket which is the quick service window at Wine Bar George (already one of our favourite places). They have four different types of loaded fries which are paired with a frozen cocktail. Oh my goodness that is very high on my list of things to try next trip – am already excited and we’re more than 365 days away.
Places high on my list to revisit to try new things, or maybe the delicious things I’ve tried previously, are Terralina at Disney Springs which has the most delicious pizza and Mr Kamal’s in Animal Kingdom which is a fantastic quick service location which serves THE most delicious food. We had three small dishes and shared them between us at Mr Kamal’s and there’s a lovely outside seating area amongst the trees behind the food truck which is a lovely space to eat your delicious food and have a little sit and rest. It’s in the Asia section of the park which is beautiful to look at anyway, so sitting there with our delicious food is always an absolute treat and the perfect way to take a quiet break from the excitement and liveliness of the park and rides.
All of this and I haven’t even really got started yet, what about all of the delicious breakfast options, the frickles, the pizzas and the mac and cheese? What about the Mickey shaped pretzels, the Mickey shaped ice cream bars, the pancakes, the omelettes, oh oh and the salad options, with so many dressings it’ll make your head spin. And don’t get me started on that really dark brown warm bread they give you in before your entree comes with those cute pots of butter. Handing over to Rob now as I need to go and find a snack.
Rob here *waves*, right where do I start? Some of my personal faves have gotta be the Longhorn Steak House, this is the place for a meal you will not forget in a hurry! My ‘go to’ meal here is a Flat Iron steak with baked potato and seasonal greens. It’s done so well, and of course our starter of the delicious warm loaf with honey butter and side of fried pickles. Fried pickles…oh my days… these were a revelation last visit, suggested to us by the server, we nearly broke the plate all grabbing them.
If I was going for my ‘king of snacks” it would have to be the mighty mighty CHURRO! I can remember my first one back in the day, Cinnamon dusted and delicious. You cannot ask for anything else. But, that being said the Cinnabon is a very close rival for my affections, one of these and a flat white from Starbucks on City Walk is a splendid way to unwind OR a very splendid breakfast?..
Onto something our US cousins do very well, sandwiches…I’d say I’ve not had a bad one yet. Me and my son Ashley always talk about the food we had the last visit, we always get onto ‘’who made the best Philly Cheesesteak sandwich?” I’ve lost count of just how many we had last time?? We were told off in the end for having them at every restaurant we visited. My personal fave sandwich has to be the Reuben, an American classic with Corned Beef, Sauerkraut and Swiss Cheese then toasted. Oh yes.. oh yes…(imagine the scene in When Harry met Sally, you know the one), this with a tall iced tea is a meal not too be rushed.
Snackage – a go to snack in Orlando for me is Ice Cream… if you cannot find a flavour you like here you will never find one! One of my absolute faves is the one I had in Universal from the Ben and Jerry’s stand in by Superhero Island. I had a hankering for one and had a bit of a toddler strop one day and demanded one, so off I went and asked the guy for a caramel and chocolate cone, he filled the cone with caramel sauce and then filled it sky high with chocolate ice cream. Delicious! My mate Rich saw me with this and then demanded one also…so the pair of us were sat on a wall with ice creams like a couple of sticky toddlers living our best life. Happy days.
Some people rave over the famous (infamous?) Turkey leg, I’m not really a fan of them to be honest, they are pain to eat and if you have the bbq sauce covered one you are gonna need a shower after it. A hot day covered to the elbows in sauce is not a day I wanna spend in the parks, but I know they are a staple WDW fan favourite. Each to their own I guess. Me, I’d much rather go for one of the huge Pretzels with beer cheese. Now that’s MY idea of a snack.
Now onto ‘chips’ or ‘crisps’ as we call them here in the UK Lays bbq Chips are simply the best. No argument. Whenever we go to Walmart we get a bag (or two) for snackage by the pool or in the room. We always end up covered in the bbq dusting they put on them, we look like we’ve taken the gearbox out of an old pick up truck! A bottle of ice cold Pepsi for me and 7-UP or Sprite for Tracey and its all good.
One of the best meals of the day in Orlando is breakfast. We often just grab a bit of toast or cereal if we’re in a rush to be somewhere, but as a treat we will visit a diner. I personally love these places, not just for the food but for the people watching. It’s fascinating watching how the “locals” sit with just a fork and break up the meal before eating. I tried it…I pushed all my eggs off the plate. All I heard was Tracey calling me a chimp and telling me to use my knife properly (normal for us tbh). We could sit for hours here watching the world go by chatting with the locals and the staff, Denny’s is another fave of ours, the full on American diner experience is to be had here, with the staff scuttling about carrying hot pots of strong coffee and watching the chefs cook the orders out the back is like being in a film set. I suppose that’s what’s so fascinating for us Brits, we could have the food at home but it’s not the same. I always think of my first visit in the late 90’s and being in awe of it all, the staff and the service has always been great, I suppose thats what hooked me in to keep coming back?
We seem to get asked quite a lot about bars and pubs, and I’m sorry to say we are both not really big drinkers, I always tell folks its not that sort of holiday for us. Don’t get me wrong, we love an iced cold beer and a glass of wine or maybe trying one speciality cocktail at the end of the day. There is nothing better than getting back to your villa grabbing a bottle of Miller and to sit with your feet in the pool too cool off…bliss, but on the whole we are not nightlife kind of people. A nice meal with a cold beer or glass of wine is more our thing. Bars are quite funny in the US – we’ve found that its a very different vibe than the pub scene back home. Disney Springs has a great collection bars, we’ve had a nice cold drink at a few – Ragland Road, Wine Bar George and Terralina to name but a few.
One thing we are looking forward to tying snack wise is the new “snack trucks” at Disney Springs, they have a rather nice assortment of things to try, such as the waffle Ice Creams and the many flavours of Churro. It’s gonna be a hard year for us with the dieting and training as we have 2 big weddings next year and our new Orlando adventures to get ready for. See you all soon! We will keep you all up to date with what’s happening with our bookings, and moving stuff around. Take care and be kind! Bye!
Check us out in our latest You Tube vlog where you’ll actually see us chatting all about this food and possibly see us drool while we talk about it!
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