Day 306: A Few of my Favorite Things V4

It hasn't been the normal amount of time since my last Favorite Things Post, as usually I try to keep about 50+ days in between each series post, but it just felt like the right time. I mean, November is the month that's filled with food, and there's an entirely different Favorite Things Post planned for December, but more on that later.

Today's post, as promised, is on something more delicious than the last post, not that we don't all love Disney movies. No, obviously this post is all about my favorite Disney food, and boy is there a lot of them. I don't think I could pick one favorite, so we'll do this in a series of sections I think, not that I know what that series will be yet. I'll make it up as I go along.

Favorite Disney Classics

For those that know Disney well know that there are, generally, four "classic" Disney foods, although we can extend it to include various others. What does this include exactly? Well, you've got the Mickey's Premium Bar (Ice Cream!), the Turkey Leg, the Dole Whip, the Churro, and then some include things such as the classic Disney Popcorn and the Mickey Mouse Shaped Pretzel. There's another one stuck in here too but I'll be talking about that further later so I'll save it for then.

Honestly I think, out of all of these, my favorite has to be the Turkey Leg and the Churro. Yeah...I can't even decide which of those I like more. I mean, I love the Mickey Premium Bar and Dole Whip (I need to get one of these...haven't had one in years), but I'm lactose intolerant, so that just doesn't exactly work out very well. And I haven't had much in the popcorn or Mickey Shaped Pretzel department lately either (as both technically include dairy....life is rough). BUT, The silver lining here is that means more Turkey Legs and Churros for me!!

And no, I couldn't resist putting those pictures.

Mickey Waffles

Remember how I said that I'd talk more about one of those Mickey Shaped things later? Well, it's later. I love Mickey Waffles, mostly because my family has a Mickey Mouse shaped waffle iron so we have these all the time (actually I'm totally going to ask if we can have some when I'm home one of these times). The funny part is that my friends love them too. It's like a staple. When you go to Lizzie's house you will, eventually at some point have Mickey Waffles. If you haven't you haven't lived.

So when I get the chance to have the REAL THING down in Florida, I do that too. On my last trip I even got specially made ones that had NO DAIRY! It was WONDERFUL! Yay for Disney and making my trip feel special. =)

Favorite Restaurants

Ok, so since really you can't talk about specific food without going into favorite restaurants overall, this seems like the most sensible thing to do. So it'll work much like the post of favorite attractions did, although you'll see the addition of Disneyland at the end here because, well, it seems silly not to include it!

Magic Kingdom Winner: Be Our Guest

Did you really have any doubt that my favorite Magic Kingdom restaurant would be Be Our Guest? I mean, it's where I had my birthday dinner, and that's saying something. I adore this restaurant and wish I seriously could eat there all the time (but one has to mix it up). I'm really hoping that I can get in with a few of my friends on the Band Trip. Like seriously that would be awesome. My favorite dishes at this restaurant? Well, I always get the Salmon with Leak Fondue and Potatoes. Delicious. And then I am a huge fan of the sugar and gluten free Lemon Raspberry Cream Puff. It was actually my inspiration for the cream puff that I was awarded a merit award for at the county fair back in July. But then there's the grey stuff, and I'm really excited that you can get it all the time now (although I'll always feel special for getting it for my birthday when that was a special thing).

Magic Kingdom Runner Up: Cosmic Rays

Ok, so I guess it's not really fair to have sit down restaurants and counter service all in the same competition, but Cosmic Rays is just one of those restaurants that my family has jokes with and that makes it awesome. Plus the food is delicious there, and I always think about Kingdom Keepers when I walk by or even think about it. You know, when they meet in there in the first book. Yeah, just one of those things that stuck with me for some reason. Makes me happy. =)

Epcot Winner: 

Oh god, I have to choose? NOOOOOOOO. Ok, here we go. After some looking at the list of Epcot restaurants I've determined that two really stand out as my favorites in Epcot, so I'll share those as the winners:

Les Halles: For those that haven't been reading my blog since the beginning, this is a newer place...well, sort of. It's just redone. In the area that used to be the giant shop at the end of Impressions de France, they remodeled it into a full on cafe, and the area next door that used to be the bakery now serves ice cream and sorbet. Yeah, I loved it so much that I ate there twice on my last trip. If I have 99 problems (not that they're really problems) they're all the delicious bread. Can I just take it all home with me?

Tokyo Dining: Those who know me know that I do indeed love sushi, and I bet you can guess the first place I ate sushi. No, it wasn't Tokyo Dining, but it was at Disney, in the Counter Service Grill in the Japan Pavilion. So not long after my mom and I ate at Tokyo Dining and the rest is history. My brother and I love it there. Honestly I'm kind of sad that I won't be there on my next trip...but hey, that just means we'll have to go back and I'll have to take my brother out for sushi here sometime super soon. The best sushi, by the way? Volcano Roll.

Epcot Runner Up: 

Too many to mention. You know what I mean. If I listed them the entire park would be on here.

Hollywood Studios Winner: Brown Derby

The Brown Derby is spectacular. I love it. Like the last time I ate there I walked in and felt like I was dressed wrong. I needed to be wearing a dress from the time period, and I really wanted to be wearing a dress from the time period. Plus the food there is amazing (don't even get me started on the rolls...what is it with Disney and amazing bread?)

Hollywood Studios Runner Up: Sci-Fi Dine In Theater

I CANNOT wait to bring my friends here in June if everything works out. I think it's one of the most brilliant restaurants ever, theme wise. I mean, maybe it doesn't have the best food on property (we all know where that is...V&A), but it's still spectacular. I have a ton of memories from this restaurant as a kid when my family would eat there. So yeah, you can bet that I'm excited to take my friends there, because I'm sure they'll be just as amazed with the theme that I still am, even after all these years.

Animal Kingdom Winner: Yak & Yeti

Of course it's Yak & Yeti! I love that place TO DEATH. Ok, maybe not to death, but the Cherry Limeade is sooooooo good, and all the food is delicious (do I even NEED to say Wok Fried Green Beans?) Certainly and easily my favorite in Animal Kingdom. I have no more words.

Animal Kingdom Runner Up: 

Honestly I don't think I have a winner for this one. There isn't really one that sticks out as the favorite behind Yak & Yeti, although I do really enjoy Tusker House (the Salmon there = perfection). So I guess that would probably be the runner up. But I mean, in general Animal Kingdom is kind of weird because of the whole no lids and paper straw thing. It's good they do it, but still kind of something you just really need to get used to.

Disney World Resort Winners: 

Yeah, I can't just pick one, so here's a list: Boma, Olivia's Cafe, Citricos, Kona Cafe, and a whole bunch of other ones that I'm just too lazy to list. All this food talk is really making me hungry though.

Disneyland Favorites: 

I have two favorites that really stick out to me as being, well, my favorites from my trip to Disneyland. To be honest I haven't eaten at all the restaurants there, but there were two that really always occur to me when I think about food at Disneyland. Just kidding, there's actually three.

First we have Blue Bayou, which I had for dinner. I LOVED LOVED LOVED how this restaurant was set IN Pirates of the Caribbean. Like I can't get over how much I love that (I mean, I guess it's the same as in the Mexico Pavilion at Epcot, but it probably has to do with the fact that I adore Pirates in California WAY more than I love the one in Florida). Plus the entire atmosphere was perfect and the food was great. And you're SUPER CLOSE to Club 33. Can't get much closer without walking in it...which hopefully someday will happen.

Next we'll do the counter service, which is Bengal Barbecue. We ate a quick lunch from there one of the days but for some reason I just really remember liking it. Actually my mouth is seriously watering thinking about it and I should probably stop talking about it. I will for sure be eating here on my next trip to Disneyland...which will hopefully be in 2015 (gosh that sounds far away)!

And finally, that one that everyone seems to talk about at some point, Steakhouse 55. I had my "birthday meal" there when we went to California (because my brother's birthday was on the trip and I didn't think it was fair that he'd get to celebrate it at a Disney Park and I wouldn't...granted, two years later I actually did but still). The Yukon Potato Stack is one of those things I would die for. Like it's probably one of my favorite dishes on the planet. Once in a great while we'll make it at home and while it's still good, it's just not the same as the stuff that's for real. Plus, at this restaurant I really just feel like Walt is there (although maybe that was because there was a picture of him and Shirley Temple on the wall right above me, but still, it was nice).

Disneyland Runner Up: Cafe Orleans

This one was pretty easy honestly. This was for sure one of my favorites on the trip too, although those other three are just a hare above it on the list, so this gets the runner up award. I don't really even remember what I ate, but whatever it was, it was delicious, and this is another that will be on my list for the next time we go there!

I think that's about it as far as food goes, although here's a short list of other honorable mentions that need to be brought up: Minnie's Strawberry Bar (Edy's Strawberry Bar), Chocolate Croissant, LeFou's Brew, just about everything in Epcot (again...it needed to be said), The Boardwalk Bakery, the Espresso stations throughout the parks that give me my coffee, the Crepes from the France Pavilion, Funnel Cakes from The American Adventure, Biergarten for entertainment (favorite as a kid!), Katsura Grill (first place I had sushi), and, in general, EVERYWHERE ELSE THAT SELLS FOOD AT WALT DISNEY WORLD.

Now I'm super hungry...

 

Second day of Frumpstagram, and it's all about Magical Mornings! I can't think of many mornings more magical than one standing on the Top of the World. Even now, months afterwards, I still can't express how SPECTACULAR it was to stay on the 16th floor and get to see that everyday. I don't think I'll ever have enough words to describe how much I loved that.






Here's today's Disney History: 1832: Kepple Disney (Walt's paternal grandfather) is born to Arundel Elias Disney and Maria Swan in Ireland.

Have a magical day!