As a sleever though, I was really worried about how to eat, what to eat, how much I would have to pay to "not" eat and what options I would have for healthy eating. Last time I was at Disney, I remember a lot of "park" food. Chicken fingers, burgers, fries, Mickey shaped sugary snacks, etc. I do NOT remember any salad options more less the fun healthy stuff I love to eat. But may be because I wasn't trying to make healthy choices in the old days.
My first Disney trip this past month was right after Christmas. A 10 day trip with friends to Walt Disney World in Orlando and all the surrounding parks. I had spent months prior to going, trying to decide if I wanted to pay for the "Disney Dining Plan" knowing there was no way I would be able to eat the $50 of food per day. My friends I would be traveling with totally understood my concern. I didn't want to pay tons of money for food I wouldn't eat.......or couldn't eat.
I consulted with my weight loss surgeon's people at BeLiteWeight, read weight loss surgery blogs about Disney dining and read and researched anything I could online to see what other sleevers who had gone to Disney did. I really didn't get a lot of answers or solutions. The only recommendation I got was to take a pre-printed medical card that indicated I was a Weight Loss Surgery patient and required smaller portions etc with the hope that a restaurant would let me order from the kids menu, pay the kids buffet price etc. Other sleevers had indicated that Disney really wasn't too receptive to the card anymore because so many NON WLS people had abused the use of it just trying to save money. Boo!! Good news is that I had so many wonderful healthy and small portion options that I didn't need to negotiate.
Fortunately, my friends I traveled with decided not to do a dining plan. We decided to make reservations at some of the fab restaurants on property and eat lite the other meals. Once all the reservations were made, I immediately got online and looked up all the menus. I was MORE than PLEASED. Ohhhhhhhh sooooooooo many healthy options. SO MANY!! I knew I was ok with the reservation places. Making do the times we had to get "quick service" or "grab and go" made me more nervous. I didn't know what options I had there. Well let me tell you.....Disney was a dieting, weight loss surgery, healthy eating DREAM.
I am happy to report that I ate AMAZINGLY healthy (by choice) while I was in the parks and restaurants. Was so easy to eat things "my way". First, you are able to bring into the parks water, water bottles, food, fruit, protein bars etc etc. So I took 1 Zero Calorie Vitamin Water and 2 Quest Protein bars every day. I figured worst case scenario, I could survive on that if needed.
Disney will also give you FREE cups of ice or ice water at the food places and kiosks around the parks.
Here is how/what I ate in Disney. We ate breakfast on our own so nothing fancy to mention there. We stayed in a hotel the first 2 nites then we were at a resort on Disney property the remainder of the trip (Wilderness Lodge and The Grand Floridian). Each restaurant I listed is hyperlinked to the restaurant. Click on "Menu" and check out the different menus for breakfast, lunch and dinner from the drop down menu. When we were not eating at a restaurant listed below we were eating at our resort or some where in town. I ate my own leftovers a few times.
Breakfasts
-My Quest Protein bars most days
-Eggs, meat, cottage cheese and fruit from the buffet in our hotel
-Lots of coffee
Lunches:
Be Our Guest: (Magic Kingdom; Nice sit down quick service). I was able to order a kiddo meal here and still had something hearty. I had the Slow-cooked Pork with Sauteed Green Beans and Mashed Sweet Potatoes. Perfect lunch sized portion. Also ate someone else's steamed broccoli. No dessert.
Delish!! A lot of really cool unusual and healthy options. Check out the menu for sure!! I cannot even begin to list all the things I tried. I did more of a sampler platter here. We also had the BEST waiter here!!
The Artist's Palette (Saratoga Springs Resort; Quick Service). Met some friends here for lunch one day. I had the Turkey and Brie Sandwich. Was huge and yummy!! Could only eat one half. Ate the second half for dinner that nite.
We got a "boxed" lunch one day at a place (can't remember but it looks like a boat) in Hollywood Studios which also got us a free ticket to the fabulous Fastasmic show that nite. A lot of great options for the boxed lunches too. I had the shrimp salad with a side salad and fruit. I didn't care for the odd salad that came with it but otherwise yummy and protein packed!
Dinners:
Chip 'n' Dale's Harvest Feast Dinner (Garden Grill at Epcot. Many of the foods are local and made right on the Disney property. Very farm to table and delish).
Dinner included platters of beef, turkey and sustainable fish, plus fresh salad, warm dinner rolls with maple butter, buttermilk mashed potatoes and root vegetable. Dessert was Harvest skillet cake.
I ate the turkey and beef but loved the beef the best. I do NOT eat fish ever.....yuck to me. The salad and root vegetables were amazing. I did not touch the skillet cake but it didn't look like much. No drink.....I cannot eat and drink together. Was all you can eat so easy to over eat......even the healthy stuff.
I also met and had pics with Mickey, Goofy and Chip n Dale of course.
*Note: This way my very first restaurant on the trip. It is a "family style" all you can eat meal. I wanted the kids price since I would not eat much. I met with the manager, talked to him about my WLS, showed him my WLS card and he said NO!! He said I was paying for the experience of meeting the characters so I couldn't get the kid's price. Oh well. Was a delish dinner any way. But didn't encourage me to try to debate with managers in restaurants anymore. I just went to Plan B......eat healthy, order small portions, plan ahead and make good choices!
Le Cellier Steakhouse (Epcot-Canada):
This place was AMAZING and so yummy. It is a steakhouse. I ordered from the appetizer menu and it was PERFECT portion!! I actually ordered too much. Only because I ate some bread before my salad came. My meal was:
- pretzel bread (this stuff was DANGEROUS and could easily ruin a meal. It is part of a set of breads brought out to the table while you wait. Yall know how dangerous and bad this is. After a long day of parking you are tired, hungry and bread looks like GOLD).
-“Le Cellier” Lobster Chopped Salad (This was my FAV dish from the trip. DELISH)
Mixed Field Greens, Haricot Verts, Avocado, Tomatoes, and "Lake Meadow" Egg topped with grilled lobster. -Canadian Cheddar Cheese Soup (Sadly, I didn't need to order this. I had no room left in my pouch and couldn't eat it. Tasted it.....was yummy). Made with Moosehead Beer, “Nueske’s” Applewood-Smoked Bacon
No dessert!!
Hollywood and Vine (Hollywood Studios.....buffet). This was our LEAST favorite meal of the trip. Fancier but not yummier buffet style food. Was easy to make healthy choices but limited choices and way overpriced (and they charged us almost $15 more than usual since it was New Years Eve. Holiday upcharge. Whatever. We were NOT impressed).I ate A LOT of boiled shrimp, some salad, broccoli, no sure what else. It was that unimpressive and very expensive. Boo! I do not reccomend.
Mama Melrose's Ristorante Italiano (Hollywood Studios):Oh my goodness YUM!! I will admit that the thought of eating at an Italian restaurant made me nervous. I do not eat pasta. I will eat a very thin crust pizza but didn't want pizza at a fancy restaurant in Disney. I was MORE than pleased with my options. I ordered the Vegetarian Minestrone Soup that seriously tasted like it was made with the most fresh veggies and herbs straight from the garden. I could have sipped on it for days. I also ordered this:Bresaola SaladThin-sliced Cured Beef, Fava Beans, Sweet peppers, Olives, Arugula, Basil, Lemon, and Extra Virgin Olive OilI was way too full to eat it though. This happens often. Boo! I am still learning. I did nibble on the Fava Beans and Olives and threw the rest away. Was just too full. No dessert.
ABC Commissary (Hollywood Studio-Quick Service): Check out the menu. Quick service options are really good. Don't have to eat in a fancy restaurant to get good options. A lot of great salad options here but I was over salad by this point in the trip. I got a cheeseburger, no bun and apple slices. Ate a few of someone else's fries and stole someone's uneaten carrot six with dip. Several kids traveling with us at time so I always stole healthy leftovers they didn't touch! :-)
Earl of Sandwich (Downtown Disney): The one food I could eat every single day before WLS was a good sandwich. I do not eat that many now but do still love a good sandwich. This place is VERY popular and yummy. I had the kid's Turkey and Swiss. Was only able to eat half. Ate the other half at a park the next day. I had some soup too but cannot remember what kind??
I think this about covers it Anyone who takes time to look at all the menus will see how EASY it is to eat after WLS in Disney. The temptations are there yall!!
I did have some occasional treats too. Best snacks I had were the veggies and dip, apples and dip as well as popcorn. The not so healthiest was "Caramel Apple". Disney will slice your apple treats for you. So my treat lasted 2 days!! I tasted a few other treats here and there and never had one bit of guilt of overindulgence. Preplan and pack your water, water flavor sticks like Crystal Lite if you use those (I do not), and whatever snacks you want. We would take fresh fruit from the buffets if we could and save it for later. Saves you money and prevents temptation.
I am not even kidding about the walking. I was actually sore and tired and for someone who runs like I do......that says a lot about the miles you are logging. Next time I will wear a pedometer! I lost 2 pounds on this trip. Not many can say that about Disney right!!
I cannot give enough BIG prompts and high fives to Disney for working so hard to have healthy options everywhere. I saw a lot of dairy free, Gluten free, vegetarian and other dietary friendly options. Always has the option to get something healthier if you didn't want fries. Top notch organization!
I was also VERY lucky to be traveling with Disney experts on my trip. My best friend is a Disney Travel Agent. Now that you all know you can go to Disney and still have healthy eating options......I highly encourage you book a trip! So fun!! But I also highly encourage you to use my friend's FREE Disney agent services to book your trip. She does EVERYTHING for you such as consulting with you and your family in the planning stages, making your reservations, dining, park planning, adventures etc for you so you do not spend hours online or on the phone trying to figure it all out. And she does all of this FREE of charge for you. You do not pay for her anything for her services. You do not pay any hidden fees, extra costs or consulting fees. Every single thing she does for you is FREE!!! You just pay for your trip. Using a Disney Travel Agent can save you $$$$$$$. She will make any needed adjustments to save you $$$ or changes to your plans. She is a true expect in all Disney experiences as she travels with her own family to the parks and on cruises multiple times a year. I loved that all I had to do was pay for my trip. She planned the rest! For FREE!!
Please contact Jennifer Casselman if you are even thinking about doing a trip to the parks in Orlando, California or a Disney Cruise. She can help you figure it all out. She was with me as I worked though all my healthy eating decisions at the parks so she can consult you on that as well. Her email is: jcasselman@mindspring.com and her number is 205-401-7246.
I also just got back from a Disney Cruise!! Will blog about that next!
