Greetings Foodies! Welcome to this week’s Geek Eats! This week’s topic is not only near and dear to my heart and stomach but also inspired by my most recent trip. That’s right, it’s time to talk about Disney food!
Disney food is almost a religion. Ask any regular attendee to the Disney Parks and they will very likely have their favorites and must haves. There is something for everyone at the park, though there are some foods that just about everybody loves. Examples of these would include: churros, Dole Whip, and monte christos. Now having never been to Walt Disney World, I’m going to stick with my experiences at the Disneyland Resort. The breakdown of this blog will be by type of food (ie: snacks, counter service, and table service).
Snacks- Snacks at the Disney theme parks seem to have the most avid following. Disney has even noticed this and created merchandise such as shirts, air fresheners, and magnets depicting these food 
favorites. Among the most popular are: churros, Dole Whips, and popcorn. Popcorn and Dole Whips are forever on my must eat list when visiting the parks. Rising in popularity are the seasonal baked goods from Jolly Holiday bakery. I tried a few on my most recent visit and can’t wait to try more on subsequent visits. The macarons (not to be confused with macaroons) are to die for! Snacks also lend themselves to seasonal collectable packing such as popcorn buckets and travel mugs for hot beverages. Speaking of seasonal, there are seasonal snacks as well such as candy canes and caramel apple smoothies.
Counter Service- Counter service is the easiest (well most of the time) way to have a meal in the park. Affordable and less of a wait than traditional table service; counter service offers a wide variety of foods all around the park. I have several favorite counter service stops, among them are: Stage Door Café, Little Red Wagon (their corn dogs are epic), Tangaroa Terrace, White Water Snacks, and Village Haus. 
Burgers, Corn Dogs, Pizza are the typical offerings at these locations but in recent years Disneyland has upped its game (most likely in order to compete with Epcot) and now feature items such as flatbreads, chicken sausages, stuffed baked potatoes, and fried green tomato sandwiches. The nachos at White Water Snacks are one of my favorites in the park!
Table Service- Table service is somewhat of a commodity in the parks. In each park (Disneyland and DCA) there are only a few restaurants that offer this luxury and they tend to fill up quickly. Reservations through Disney Dining are pretty much required and by dinner time there is almost no chance of stand by seating. The table service restaurants in the hotels and Downtown Disney tend to be more open as far stand by dining. The 3 gems of table service are Blue Bayou, Café Orleans and Carthay Circle Restaurant. Each offers a 
unique dining experience. Blue Bayou is all about the atmosphere (it is the only restaurant actually in an attraction), however, on our most recent trip we dined there and the food has gotten exponentially better and is now worth the hefty price tag. Café Orleans is the place to go for the famous Monte Christo. You will never have a Monte Christo this good and with a cheese only option, even vegetarians can get in on the fun! Carthay Circle Restaurant is a trip into the past. Diners experience an upscale dining experience unlike any other in the park. The food and drinks are not only tasty but extravagant as well.
As a way to wrap up I thought I’d share some of my favorite things to eat in the park and where to get them:
- Dole Whip from the Dole Whip stand at the Enchanted Tiki Room
- Steak Nachos from White Water Snacks
- Popcorn from any popcorn cart but New Orleans Square is my favorite cart
- Corn Dogs from the Little Red Wagon
- Chicken Sausage on a Pretzel Bun from Village Haus
- Bleu Cheese and Bacon Burger from Taste Pilots Grill
- Monte Christo and Pomme Frites from Café Orleans
- Firecracker Duck Wings from Carthay Circle Restaurant
There is plenty more food in the parks that warrants a tasting! In the comments below I’d love to hear some of your favorites! Join us next week for the October kick off with one of my favorite seasonal items, pumpkin! You won’t want to miss it!
Enjoy What You Eat!
DC
