Vegan Disney World: Winter Edition

I love whenever I can work at Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, Florida; it truly is the happiest job on earth! Here in my latest Vegan Disney World blog post, I will show you what's available now. But I must warn you, plant-based at Disney is evolving so rapidly, that by the time you are visiting (and my next trip in the spring), there will be tons more vegan options and they may be slightly different. For example, I thought that I got pretty much all of the vegan goodies that Disney World had to offer, at least the newest stuff, but on the day I left, they rolled out with another two AMAZING vegan dishes at the restaurant I was at just the day prior. One of them was a whole homestyle vegan meatloaf meal! It happens that fast there and they respond so quickly and efficiently to our veggie requests. So here are some of the vegan finds I was able to taste-test on my most recent winter trip there.

So the veggie burger game has majorly stepped up everywhere at Disney World Parks and Resort. Pictured above is the Beyond Burger, which is served everywhere around the park with some usual places to find it, and some randomly. Also, they switch up the veggie burger option a lot of the time, but if you see "veggie burger", "vegan burger", "plant-based burger" or "vegetable burger" on the menu, it is likely the Beyond. Sometimes a black bean burger, sometimes a falafel burger, and sometimes the Impossible Burger. I always ask and confirm that it is vegan-friendly or ask that it is prepared that way. If a vegan option isn't available at the moment at a particular eatery, they have always offered to run to another place and get me the vegan option to be prepared there. But lately, it has been the vegan option being available about 99.9% of the time. You can always find the veggie burger and fries at Liberty Square (America section) in the Epcot park.

Above is the Beyond Burger sausage dog loaded with all vegan loveliness, like coleslaw and aioli. It was beyond delicious... and located at Casey's in Magic Kingdom at Main Street U.S.A.

I love the buffet at Tusker House located in Animal Kingdom park. It is such a beautiful restaurant and definitely my favorite. They are super vocal about plant-based options on the menu and the chefs are super happy to help you navigate what is vegan and what is not. They also prepare vegan things for you there, like Mickey waffles that are not just vegan but also gluten-free. Just ask.

I'm so into Dole Whip. Here is my 100th Dole Whip float during my winter trip...HAHAHA! Okay, okay - maybe not my 100th, but certainly feels like it. I never miss a chance to grab a dole whip. You'll find these all over the parks but to make it easier, use the My Disney Experience App and not only locate your dole whips and other vegan treats, but mobile order them. Ah, yes - ready in minutes and so convenient to do! I also did this at Casey's; love not having to wait in line.

Speaking of frozen treats, pictured above is LeFou's Brew found at Gaston's Tavern in Fantasyland in the Magic Kingdom park. Non-alcoholic of course, it is a fruity delight which even includes a marshmallowy tasting foam on top - how fun!

Literally my 500th veggie burger. Cannot even get enough of the way Disney World prepares their veggie burgers - so delicious! And the fries are awesome too! ABC Commissary in Hollywood Studios!

During the Epcot festivals you can find different menu items, so those are ever changing. Pictured above is like a potato knish. It is dough on the outside and mashed potatoes in the middle. It is served with a sour cream type sauce that was not vegan-friendly, so I had it plain. It was delicious as-is and the filling was even a little spicy, which I loved. If you like a little dipping sauce with it, there's always ketchup and BBQ sauce at the carts, especially in the world showcase. So you can grab something and walk around and find a sauce or condiment at another booth nearby.

These meatball sort of delicacies are found at Akershus Royal Banquet in Epcot right near the new Frozen ride. They are vegan almost like meatballs but made with potato and served over perfectly seasoned vegetables. What a lovely dish. Bonus: when you eat here you get to meet the princesses, take part in a little parade around the restaurant and also get access to the appetizer buffet that had plenty of vegan options like fruits, veggies and breads.

I normally get the taco bowl at Pecos Bill in Magic Kingdom (Frontierland), but this time decided on the vegan cheeseburger (it even had a spicy jalapeño cheese which was likely Chao, but not too sure). This meal comes with chips and salsa and you also have access to the unlimited condiment bar that has tons of amazing toppings. This is another option that can be mobile ordered on the app and when it's ready you receive a notification and pick it up right at the window. Major bonus.

If you've been following me for a while now, you know I am a huge dessert fan. I love sweets. So when you see a sign for "vegan dessert" you order it, even if you've already had dessert...or multiple desserts. I was chatting with the chef about how cool it was that they have that delicious vegan banana cream mousse with fruits in it, when she drops this on me..."this cupcake is vegan too!" I was like, whhaaaaaat???? After I asked her like a million questions about it, and confirmed like five thousand times that it is vegan (I was in serious disbelief), pictured above is the filled vegan cupcake and below is what the inside looks like. You can find this treasure in the Land food court area in Epcot park.

OMG!

Pictured above is a super tasty coconut crusted vegan tofu dish from Jungle Navigation Co. Ltd. Skipper Canteen in Magic Kingdom park at the Adventureland area. I had always skipped over this place and I'm so sorry that I did. Never judge a book by its cover...this restaurant is so beautiful inside and has a really nice ambiance.

There's a vegan brownie sundae located in Hollywood Studios at 50's Prime Time Cafe. Tofutti, coconut whipped cream and all. Don't tell me vegans aren't making a difference.

I just have to go back to this gem. Even vegan milk (which is located all over the parks and resorts in both vanilla and chocolate flavors).

NOMMMMM! Okay, sorry. Back to the other food.

This is like a smorgasbord of different dishes because this was taken on our last night and we had to use up dining meal plan credits. It is ratatouille, which was my second time getting this during the trip, along with polenta cakes and roasted asparagus. Also, vegan pizza (the cheese tasted like Teese or Follow Your Heart to me - melted a lot like Teese) and breadsticks. This was from our resort, All Star Music. We've also been to All Star Movies and Caribbean Resort, which all have a bunch of vegan options on the menu, or items that can easily be made vegan. The chefs at Walt Disney World are always so accommodating.

Imagine, a world where you can get a vegan pizza wherever you go? It's nice isn't it?

On our way out, we used up meal plan credits by getting giant boxes of Enjoy Life cookies in every flavor (for 1 meal credit, you can get 3 snacks). We also grabbed overnight oats from the case, which were absolutely incredible; made with coconut milk and had chia, almonds, blueberries and cinnamon - YUM!

This isn't everything vegan that was there, there's just SO MUCH and it is so common now, that it would be like someone just talking about every single food item at the resort. It felt like there were more vegan options than animal-based ones, to be honest. Every place that served food had at least one plant-based option, but typically more than one and even a few. There is now vegan cheese at every place to eat and vegan-meats all over the parks and resort. Hallelujah!

I even noticed menu items that were totally inspired by my cookbook and it made me so happy! I literally had the warm fuzzies about one of the soups served that was inspired by one of the original creations in my book! It is hard to describe the feeling, but when Disney knows you and acknowledges you, it makes you feel pretty cool. *pulls the collar up on my vegan-leather jacket*

*if you would like to see my past vegan WDW blog posts, please use the tag(s) below - I also have some on my archived blog over at www.thedirtyvegan.blogspot.com*

Also, if you love vegan comfort food like this, please check out my cookbook, The Dirty Vegan Cookbook, available everywhere books are sold. If you follow this link of mine it'll bring you to a page with a lot of purchasing options from different retailers (so you can use your cards, your promo codes or your rewards cards and get those points - I got you!). I'm working on the next cookbook, so you might want to have the first one in your collection, it has an A- Z Vegan Grocery Shopping guide that helps with a balanced plant-based diet and to have the ingredients on hand for the 100+ super easy recipes and I'm real proud of it.

And for now, the Dirty Vegan is signing off, I hope you have the most magical, the happiest vegan day on earth, day!