Wednesday, October 20, 2010

Vegan at Walt Disney World - not easy, but not hard either

My family went to Walt Disney World last week, my first extended trip away from home after I became vegan. I'd read up on what WDW could offer vegans and it's more than you'd think. The week before we left, the Disney Food Blog had post about vegan dining at WDW, which helped reinforce what I had already read or heard. Many resorts have grab-and-go areas of their food courts or quick serve restaurants. At Pop Century, the resort we stayed at, I found hummus, Silk Soy Milk, Divvies cookies and caramel corn, and corn flakes. At Epcot, the Sunshine Seasons food court in The Land pavilion of Future World had vegan black bean soup, which I had three times in the week we were there! They also had veggie sushi rolls and hummus, so I was very happy to eat there as often as we did. We celebrated our wedding anniversary while we were down, eating at Tusker House in Animal Kingdom. A chef came out to our table and walked me through the buffet tables, telling me what was and what wasn't vegan; if a dish wasn't vegan, he offered to make a similar dish that would be! I had a great meal there. I've heard that Boma, a buffet restaurant at Animal Kingdom Lodge is also a good option, so I may have to try that next time we're down.

Overall, I had no real problems eating as a vegan while I was at WDW, although a few times, I had to look carefully at what was included in a dish or read labels to make sure I would be okay eating something. I do miss, a bit, having a Dole Whip, but I'm sure that, if pressed, the chefs at the restaurants would whip up something equally delicious. I knew that I wouldn't have too much trouble, but I'm glad that I have now experienced being vegan at Walt Disney World for myself.