Walt Disney World: It's Not Just for Kids » Vegetarian

WDW Not Just or Kids Review: Whispering Canyon Cafe

Hedy — Mon, 29 Aug 2011 04:19:16 +0000

As you know, on my last trip I ate at Whispering Canyon Cafe. As I am a vegetarian, I was unsure what options would be available. The sauteed quinoa cakes from lunch are on the dinner menu. I love quinoa and edamame, but I was not a fan of this dish. My fries were good, and I had way too much fun with the bottomless milkshakes.

Red Quinoa Cakes, August 2011

The service at WCC was amazing. Our server was Larry the Telegraph Guy, who was amazing. My nephews ordered drinks of coke mixed with root beer, and every soda but diet coke-Larry did not blink. He offered to change any side we wanted-so Mordie ended up with steak (which he raved about) with steak frites and regular fries.

Mordie saw how the ketchup was taken to each table-he thought he could beat the system by asking for one bottle of ketchup. He could not beat the system.

Ferdie had the skillet, which he greatly enjoyed. Despite my not liking my dish, I would return here in a heartbeat. I think it could work for fun loving adults-if you’re shy or think that 50s prime Time sounds like abuse, give WCC a try.

Whispering Canyon Cafe…

Hedy — Thu, 02 Jun 2011 04:35:08 +0000

As you know, I am going to WDW with a good portion of my family (two brothers, two sister-in-laws, and two nephews.) I’ll give you formal introductions later, but one night I an taking my nephews, who are 15 and 12, to Whispering Canyon Cafe. I chose Whispering Canyon Cafe because I fell in love with Wilderness Lodge in December, my nephews have never been there, and as they liked the shtick at 50′s three years ago, I thought they might like WCC. Also, in January I read Creating Magic: 10 Common Sense Leadership Strategies from a Life at Disney by Lee Cockerell, and Mr. Cockerell describes how the idea for WCC came from Cast Members at the Wilderness Lodge.* I thought that was really cool.

Anyway, the cast of characters for this night will be**:
Heather/Hedy: Self-explanatory, right?
Mordie: 15, rising high school sophomore. Trip was arranged to cover his busy summer schedule: he plays soccer, is in marching band, and in training (?) to be an Eagle Scout. Enjoys watching TV, being charmingly precise, cultivating his Disney hat collection and taking pictures.
Ferdie: Will be turning 12 on this trip. Rising seventh grader. Enjoys Boy Scouts, reading, taking pictures, and video games. Ferdie is the spitting image of his father (my brother Jack) and grandfather (Jack’s/Mickey’s/My father)
A few excerpts from our last night out in WDW:
*Auntie Heather sold Ferdie up the river for wearing his hat at 50′s.
*”Mortimer! Stop hitting your brother with your glow bracelet! Ferdinand! Did you not hear what I just told your brother?”
*((Boat captain notices Mordie and Ferdie speaking to each other in Morferdish (as I described it when telling the story to my family, “that language that is like twinspeak, except they are not twins))) “You two are brother’s aren’t you?” Mordie: “Yes, and she’s my aunt!” (There is a hysterical backstory to this statement which I may ask the parties involved for permission to blog.)
*(We are all in Pixar Place in DHS) Ferdie: I left my fanny pack in your hotel room. Auntie Heather: Do you have your park pass?

Other than that, Mordie and Ferdie are somewhere between brothers and an old married couple. As such, their brotherly conflicts look more like marital spats than sibling bickering.

Anyway, Whispering Canyon Cafe had the two key menu items for the boys: Macncheese for Ferdie, and a steak for Mordie. Yes, I am a vegetarian who chose a restaurant based on steak. (Let me put it to you this way-I learned last week that a rib-eye contains no ribs. Meat is so not my area of expertice). I presume that their pasta can be made vegetarian for me, although I am kind of hoping I can charm my way into getting lunch’s Quinoa Cakes. Oh, and I need french fries for ketchup.

I really enjoyed hearing the Be Our Guest podcast episode on this restaurant. I fully plan on ordering more Coke (I may or may not have included the big sodas as a selling point to the boys) and I might get a shake for dessert.

Any whispering Canyon Cafe tips for three non-Kids?

Photo via Mike Miley on Twitter

*Creating Magic was on of the most inspiring books I’ve ever read. Seriously. Go download or buy it.
**Like so many bloggers, I use pseudonyms for my family as it’s bad enough they have to put up with me in meatspace to protect their privacy. While Mordie and Ferdie’s real names don’t rhyme, they are similar enough that they get called the wrong name…often.

WDW Not Just for Kids Review: Fresh-a-peel

Hedy — Mon, 16 May 2011 14:47:54 +0000

In December (man, I might want to actually re-start my trip report, huh), I had planned on checking out Fresh-a-Peel, the “healthy option” section of Pollo Campero in Downtown Disney. These restaurants are located in the old McDonald’s area, and I was impressed by how un-McDonaldsy the place looked. I was very excited to see all the vegetarian options, and I decided to order a salad. I got in line, and waited, and waited. After waiting for a long amount of time, I ended up at my man the Earl of Sandwich (which was jumping, in contrast to Fresh a peel’s empty-ness). I did try a couple of BabyCakes samples, a banana bread and a cupcake bit, which I liked.

However, being a curious sort, I decided to check out Fresh a Peel’s ready to go options for my flight home. I got a quinoa salad, a chick pea salad, and popchips. I also got a chocolate cupcake from Babycakes. I was not impressed by the salads (too oily) or the cupcake (although how good any cupcake would taste after being smooshed in a carry-on is up for debate.

In short, I would not return to Fresh a Peel, with the Earl of Sandwich right down the street. Have you tried Fresh a Peel? What did you think. Let me know in a comment, on Twitter or Facebook.

Basic WDW info: Is the Disney Dining Plan Worth it?

Hedy — Sun, 06 Mar 2011 00:32:41 +0000

Is the Disney Dining Plan worth it? What if you’re a vegetarian? I started my lifestyle of adult trips in 2005, and was intrigued by the Disney Dining Plan (DDP). I really liked the concept of already paying for my meals ahead of time. However, I ended up using an AAA room discount, and as such could not enroll in the DDP. For my trip in 2007, my mother was joining me for only a few days, and I didn’t want to pay for her DDP for the whole time. In 2008, my brother and DSIL belonged to Tables in Wonderland (TiW), so I used their discount when we went to eat.

Vegetarian option at 'Ohana-it was good!

Which brings me to my last trip. The awesome group of people I was meeting had decided on ‘Ohana for dinner one night. (Or as I sarcastically referred to it, “Meat on a stick-yay,” ) I also was planning on doing a character breakfast at the Crystal Palace, as well as hitting my beloved Boma. As such, I was going to be spending pretty much the equivalent of one night of the DDP on these meals, I finally hopped on the Free Dining train.

See, while Disney World is the BEST place to vacation as a vegetarian, the DDP isn’t quite the bargain for us herbivores that it is for you carnivores. Let’s take Le Cellier as an example (updated as of March 5, 2011 now that it is a signature dining establishment). I could get the Warm Spring Vegetable, Mushroom and Goat Cheese Quiche for $27.00, with a Chocolate Moose ($5.99). On the DDP, you can order fun non-alcoholic drinks, so I’ll throw off my total by $4.29. So my food total is $37.28. You, being a carnivore, go with the salt-crusted prime rib ($40.00), with the Moose for dessert ($5.99), plus a fun drink ($4.29). Your total is $50.28-so you hit close to part of you DDP there, while I did not

. Purely as an act of anecdata, my mother loved the salmon there in 2007, but there is no way in heck she’d pay $44 for it.

Lunch at Sanaa

That said, when I paid my package for my free dining trip off, I was done paying for my vacation except for tips and souvenirs. I’m neither for nor against the DDP including the tip. I’d definitely look at getting the dining plan again, even as a vegetarian. I used up all my TS credits and snack credits-I had a counter service left over which I used to get food for the flight home.

Jiko…

Hedy — Sun, 30 Jan 2011 17:48:24 +0000

So, despite my screwing up the ADR, I was able to try Jiko last month. This was my first signature dining experience, and it did feel more upscale than say, Boma. Getting a vegetarian menu (always the easiest way to win me over) was painless. As I predicted, I opted out of the entree and instead had the taste of Africa, which was awesome. I also had a butternut squash soup that had almonds and cottage cheese in it that was phenomenal. I really wanted the dessert that Disney Food Blog raved about, but it was not on the menu, so I had the cheese tray for dessert. My cocktail was tasty, and I would return to Jiko.

WDW Trip report: Resort hopping 12/11/10

Hedy — Sat, 15 Jan 2011 15:50:13 +0000

I woke up from my nap, and decided to head off to resort hop. I wanted to check out the Wilderness Lodge, so I hopped on the Magic Kingdom bus. Now, once I got on the bus to the MK< I found something out? If you know me, you know how I love POFQ. Anyway, I never realized how used to the whole cruella de ville” banjo I was until I realized the bus was playing anything goes. Once I was on the bus to the MK, the OMG I am in Orlando bug hit me. I boarded the boat to the Wilderness Lodge, after telling the MK I would be back soon.
Ok, maybe it’s just me, but being on Bay Lake, the fact that anyone would need to be told to stay out of the dang lakes is beyond me. Anyway, I have a confession about Wilderness Lodge-it’s always kind of been a literal also-ran in my trip planning. I think ooh, deluxe, Magic Kingdom, awesome. But then I think “But it’s not the Contemporary, why am I spending the money” and stay at POFQ. LOL. However, I stepped off the boat to Wilderness Lodge and I get why people like it. It reminded me of POFQ, in the sense that it takes you out of central Florida. I walked through the pool area and stopped at Roaring Forks. I wanted to try the infamous cookie bar. Honestly? I ate two bites of it and threw it out. However, having the first cokewithnoiceplease of the trip, plus catching up on Twitter (I get a good deal of my news via Twitter, I gotta admit) were highlights of it. I headed out into the lobby. OMG love. You take the out of Floridaness of POFQ, the style of the Grand Californian, and the exotic touches of AKL, and you’ve got Wilderness Lodge. I poked around their gift shop, and then decided to head toward the Contemporary. I think the boat went by the remains of River Country.
I walked through the Contemporary. It’s my favorite resort so I loved walking through it, seeing the new food court for the first time. BUT the Christmas display Seriously? It was pretty dang pathetic. However, the Poly was a mere ride on the monorail away. I entered the Poly. It was great, but once again, the resorts were phoning in the decorations. I looked at a pair of Mickey cardi-ugg type shoes. I debated getting them, but decided that given that I wasn’t sure if they were slippers or not, I decided I was too old for them. Let me tell you, I wished I had got them.
I stopped by Captain Cooks for a linner of adult grilled cheese. I also grabbed a Monster energy drink-it was around $5, which seemed exorbitant. I charged my droid eris, and called my mom (she was watching my nephews that weekend).
I headed onto the GF. The GF totally made up for the other hotels-it was stunning. I took a bunch of photos, and got into a conversation with a Photopass photographer about my Xshot*. It was approaching 4pm, so I hopped on to the monorail. I shared a car with a blowhard who was lecturing about how the proces they give for DCL are inside cabins, and “no one wants to stay there.” It took everything in me not to tell him that I could not wait to stay in my cabin no one wanted to stay in in a few days, but didn’t.
*My show always makes me think of Code and Lease, as they were the first people I saw with one.

New ADR system…post-mortem

Hedy — Sat, 25 Dec 2010 20:24:59 +0000

So, what did I think of the new online ADR systems once I ate? To be honest, I’m pretty much meh. Remember how I checked “other” to indicate I was a vegetarian? That was apparently the wrong thing to do. As soon as the cast member seating me saw it, she immediately stated “Oh, you have food allergies, do you need to speak with the chef?” I said I was a vegetarian, and there was a wicked awkward pause while she waited-I think I was supposed to say if I needed the chef or not. I said I did not think I needed to see him or her. Just my $.02, but here is where most restaurants would say “our x, y, and z is vegetarian.” My waiter had a similar reaction. As I predicted, I think a vegetarian ticky-box could ease things up.

I do have to admit that I messed up my Jiko reservation though, and had to reshedule. I was able to access it on my phone-my phone showed availability when the online system did not.

Jiko!

Hedy — Sat, 04 Dec 2010 15:24:33 +0000

Sorry for the lack of updates lately. Life has been kicking me in the booty, BUT this time next week I’ll be in Disney World, so there. :) Anyway, I managed to amass a bit of overtime at work this past week, so I, of course, decided to blow it in Walt Disney World. I decided on dinner at Jiko. I’ll be going there on my father’s death day, so I figure I could use the self-care.

I am wicked excited. You know how much I love Boma (actually, I’ll be having breakfast at Boma the morning after dinner at Jiko. Because it’s not like I won’t grouse about making the trek to AKL once). My sister-in-law is a big fan, and she and her cousin were talking about it when I saw them last week. My other sister-in-law and brother are also fans. Everything else aside, the fact that Jiko has not only a vegetarian menu but a vegan menu one thrills me. I am a little disappointed that the tofu dish my (vegetarian) niece loved seems to be gone, though. I’m not gonna lie-there is a part of my that is tempted to get a cheese tray, the taste of Africa appetizer, and dessert. I am really looking forward to trying it, I know Katie is a fan.

Are you a Jiko fan?

Pollo Campero/Fresh A-peel/Babycakes is now open

Hedy — Sat, 13 Nov 2010 15:48:33 +0000

BabyCakes-from WDWTodayPodcast on Twitpic

And I have to admit, it looks like a surprisingly awesome place for vegetarians and vegans. I knew Fresh a peel was going to be vegetarian-friendly, but I did not know that there was going to be a BabyCakes bakery there as well. BabyCakes is a bakery which will feature cupcakes which are gluten, egg, dairy and soy-free. Now, I eat all of the above items (I’m an ovo-lacto vegetarian, if you want to be particular about it). However, I can definitely appreciate there being an option for those who cannot eat those items for whatever reason. It will also be Kosher, which is nice for those who keep Kosher.

Fresh Appeal’s menu includes salads and other vegetarian offerings-I’m looking forward to hearing reviews on it as it opens.

Le Cellier Cheddar Cheese Soup-Vegetarianized!

Hedy — Sun, 17 Oct 2010 13:44:05 +0000

Le Cellier-From Disneyworld.com

As you know, I’m a vegetarian; however, of of my all-time favorite Disney restaurants is LeCellier-their vegetarian option is always tasty, and I’m a fan of their Chocolate Moose. If you spend any time in the Disney fan community, you may know that their cheddar cheese soup is very popular. Tragically, this soup contains chicken stock, bacon, and Worcestershire sauce, and as such is not vegetarian. Last night, armed with my Food and Wine Festival 2009 cookbook, I set out to make my own vegetarian version. The recipe I based it on is at All Ears, all edits are in italics.
Ingredients:

1.5 TB Canola oil

4 Tablespoons butter

1 Diced red onion (about 1 cup)

3 Diced celery stalks (about 1 cup)

1 Cup all purpose flour

3 Cups vegetarian veggie broth (I used a knorr cube in water)

4 Cups whole milk

1 Pound aged white Cheddar cheese (shaved or grated)

1 Tablespoon vegetarian Worcestershire sauce (I used Annie’s)

1 Tablespoon Tabasco sauce

1 cup warm beer(I used Trader Joe’s red label lager)

1/2 tsp Bacon Salt

1. Add the Butter and melt it.

2.. Add the Onion and Celery and sauté until onions to start to get translucent.

3. Dust this with flour and mix to form a roux. At this point I realized my mix looked try as it had no bacon fat, so I added 1.5 TB canola oil. Keep stirring until all of the flour has been incorporated.

4. Prepared veggie broth, if need be.
5. Add veggie broth. Bring to a boil for one minute, then leave it to simmer for 15 minutes.

6. Next add milk, again slowly, while constantly stirring. This should significantly lighten up your soup at this point.Simmer for 15 minutes and remove from heat.

7. Add cheese very slowly in small amounts, while stirring constantly. Allow each portion of cheese to melt away before adding the next. Keep stirring.

8. Now add bacon salt.

9. Next add Worcestershire, Tabasco, and beer. Make sure left over beer doesn’t get wasted. ;) Keep stirring.

10. Serve.

It turned out great, I can’t wait to make it again.