My recent vacations involved lots of shopping and good food, and my last visit to Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida was no exception. My mom and I stayed at the Hilton Lake Buena Vista, which is near Disney Springs. This was our first time staying offsite and Uber made it easy to get around.
On our first morning in Orlando, we ate breakfast in the hotel at Covington Mill. I had a vegetarian burrito with grapefruit juice, which was so good that I insisted we return another morning, so I could order it again. On the first day, I was fully energized to go to Madame Tussauds and didn’t need to eat anything until after we finished taking 300 pictures with wax figures. I’m not exaggerating!
My post-modelling snack was probably the best (and most ironic) part: two scoops of cookie dough ice cream from Ben & Jerry’s! After some shopping at Macy’s and Sephora, we went to the Cheesecake Factory. Thankfully the lineup for a table at the Mall of Millenia was short compared to the new Cheesecake Factory at Yorkdale, which I haven’t visited yet.
The next morning, I had a few hours to myself, so I bought the most expensive box of cereal I’ve ever consumed and ordered room service. I decided to order Froot Loops because I was already kind of acting like Peter Pan by embracing my youth and going back to Walt Disney World as an adult. In other words, I wanted the food to fit the theme of the trip and it did. It was colourful, sweet and fun. The best part was that I could eat in my pajamas and listen to my own playlists.
Ok, let’s focus on what I ate at the Disney theme parks next.
Magic Kingdom
I was already addicted to Starbucks when I visited Walt Disney World in 2014, but I never bought a drink at a Starbucks on Disney property until this February. Unfortunately, the cup doesn’t show the Starbucks logo, but I went to the one inside Main Street Bakery and it was so satisfying, even if it’s cliche.
Even though everybody buys Dole Whip at Walt Disney World, it was Jonathan Cheban who convinced me to get one. Long story short, the group in front of us ordered an extra by accident, so mine was free! Couldn’t take a nice photo before it was a dripping mess, but it was refreshing and I’m glad I was able to cross it off my to-do list.
It’s important to stay hydrated! Plus, this is the perfect place to go if you don’t drink alcohol.
Disney Springs
I have nothing against chain restaurants or tourist traps as long as the food and service is good. After spending the day at Magic Kingdom, we took a bus to Disney Springs (formerly known as Downtown Disney) and ate a late dinner at Planet Hollywood. I’m no stranger to Planet Hollywood, as I’ve been to the one in Las Vegas and I even have an old Facebook profile picture from there. I ordered the Hollywood Bowl salad without bacon. Planet Hollywood had awesome music and they played Top 40 music videos on gigantic screens.
However, my absolute FAVOURITE place to eat at Disney Springs is Wolfgang Puck Express. Wolfgang Puck catered Kim Kardashian’s wedding, so of course I love his team’s food too! We went for lunch and dinner on different days, as well as multiple times on our last trip. I love how the caesar salad comes with bruschetta on the side. I also enjoyed their pasta, pizza and salmon.
Epcot
Even though everyone raves about the different international cuisines you can try at Epcot’s World Showcase, the highlight for me was the classic Mickey Mouse pretzel!
