Kosher Food in Disney World (Orlando)
Sep 7, 2011, 2:20 pm
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: Long Island, NY
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Posts: 151
Kosher Food in Disney World (Orlando)
For the benefit of others, I thought I'd post here about my recent trip with the family to Disney World in Orlando, FL. Hopefully others who are planning a vacation can use this information. This is also some what of a trip report.
We didn't stay at a Disney Hotel -- we stayed at the Hilton Grand Vacation Club on International Drive -- right outside the Disney properties. There's a Publix directly across the street from this hotel, and we were surprised to find the freezer sections stocked with kosher food. Empire Chickens, Chicken Nuggets, Frozen Dinners, Egg Rolls, and many other frozen ready-to-make foods. The ovens in the hotel were self-cleaning ovens, so I could see how it would be easy to make your own food.
We actually prepared some dinners in advance and froze them and brought them down with us. That way we could just stick the whole tray in the oven when we left in the morning and we'd come back for dinner and it would be ready. Had we known about the food available at the Publix, we may not have bothered with bringing down our own food.
One night, we ate dinner at the park. We ate at the Nine Dragons restaurant, which is in the China section of EPCOT. In reality, you can order kosher food at practically ANY Disney restaurant -- either in any of the 4 parks or in the restaurants that are in the resorts. You just have to order them in advance by calling 407-WDW-DINE (Disney says you should order 72 hours in advance).
The food is "OK". It's not great, and it's not bad either. But the experience is nice and the kids all agreed that it was great to be able to stay at the park the entire day without having to go back to the hotel to eat and then come back again to see the fireworks, etc.
Basically, you can order an appetizer (either a Matzo Ball soup or a Vegetable soup), an adult entree (Chicken, Beef, or Fish) and child entree (Hot Dog, Mac and Cheese), and Dessert (Pareve Cheesecake, Chocolate Cake, or Apple Strudel).
Appetizer: The soup was actually good -- but you have make sure they heat it up enough -- check it BEFORE they open the plastic (otherwise you can't send it back to be heated up). Also came with a warmed-up roll which was excellent.
Entree: Both the chicken and beef were good (we didn't even try ordering the fish). Each came with 2 side dishes -- different for each one -- so we all shared which was nice. After we had to send the soups back to get heated up more, they got it right with the entrees -- they were heated up well. Our youngest had a children's entree -- the Hot Dog in a bun. It was a very big hot dog (more like a knockwurst) and was completely enclosed in a bun (almost looked like a hush puppy). It came with one side of potato croquets -- like mini potato knishes. It was actually very good.
Dessert: We basically ordered one of each, but I doubt I'd order them again. We were surprisingly full from the Appetizer and Entree already. The desserts are like mini pies in a tin. The apple strudel was more like an apple fruit pie in a pie shell. The only one that was decent was the cheesecake (go figure -- Pareve Cheesecake...) and it tasted more like ice cream than anything else. It was ok, but as I said, we wouldn't order desert again (it's easy enough to carry your own snacks into the park anyway, which the kids nosh on during the day).
The pricing thing was weird. They gave me one price on the phone, but the restaurant itemized the stuff on the bill in a different way -- but in the end, the cost was the same. If memory serves me correctly, it was something like $5.99 per appetizer, $18.99 per adult entree, $10.99 per child entree, and $5.99 per dessert. Only children 9 and younger can order a child entree.
Of course, drinks cost extra, and with tax and tip, the total cost for a family of 5 came to about $180. We could have saved $20 by not getting the dessert. Considering we were in a disney restaurant, that price is not bad. Normally when we go out for dinner in NY, the bill comes to about $100-$120. So considering that we were able to spend the entire day in the park while still eating (and not shlepping tons of food with us), I'd say it wasn't bad.
Doing it throughout our entire vacation would have been too pricey though. The other days, we left the parks at around 4pm, took the 10 minute drive back to the hotel, ate dinner, then came back to the park by about 6:30 - 7:00 and stayed till park closing.
As I said, you can order this kosher food in advanced at practically ANY Disney restaurant if you call in advance. However, there's one restaurant in each park that serves kosher food on demand (they are listed here: http://allears.net/din/guestkosher.htm). We did not eat at these places, so I can't comment on them.
For lunches, we brought some food with us (we froze water bottles and kept them in a backpack with some food) and we ate in the parks. There are plenty of places to grab a table and eat. Any of the self-serve restaurants also have plenty of plates, forks, mayonnaise, ketchup, etc. We bought drinks and even found a few kosher items in these restaurants (mini pita breads, etc).
Of course, the mickey mouse ice cream bars and sandwiches are kosher (not cholov yisroel), and it was easy enough to bring smaller snacks like granola bars, etc. To really save money, buy a case of water bottles in Publix and put them in your freezer. Even in the 90+ degree August heat, they lasted almost the entire day. The bottle straps are worth it as the kids wear the water bottles on their neck or shoulder and don't complain.
Regarding minyan, we tried this place called Ohel Rochel Leah which was really close to our hotel, but they only had 7 people and we didn't get a minyan. So we went to Chabad of South Orlando (near Universal) for the other days and there were like 50 folks there each day. Shacharis was 8am and it was about a 12 minute drive from the hotel.
Hopefully, this information will be helpful to others. If people require additional details, just ask and I'd be happy to share whatever info I have.
We didn't stay at a Disney Hotel -- we stayed at the Hilton Grand Vacation Club on International Drive -- right outside the Disney properties. There's a Publix directly across the street from this hotel, and we were surprised to find the freezer sections stocked with kosher food. Empire Chickens, Chicken Nuggets, Frozen Dinners, Egg Rolls, and many other frozen ready-to-make foods. The ovens in the hotel were self-cleaning ovens, so I could see how it would be easy to make your own food.
We actually prepared some dinners in advance and froze them and brought them down with us. That way we could just stick the whole tray in the oven when we left in the morning and we'd come back for dinner and it would be ready. Had we known about the food available at the Publix, we may not have bothered with bringing down our own food.
One night, we ate dinner at the park. We ate at the Nine Dragons restaurant, which is in the China section of EPCOT. In reality, you can order kosher food at practically ANY Disney restaurant -- either in any of the 4 parks or in the restaurants that are in the resorts. You just have to order them in advance by calling 407-WDW-DINE (Disney says you should order 72 hours in advance).
The food is "OK". It's not great, and it's not bad either. But the experience is nice and the kids all agreed that it was great to be able to stay at the park the entire day without having to go back to the hotel to eat and then come back again to see the fireworks, etc.
Basically, you can order an appetizer (either a Matzo Ball soup or a Vegetable soup), an adult entree (Chicken, Beef, or Fish) and child entree (Hot Dog, Mac and Cheese), and Dessert (Pareve Cheesecake, Chocolate Cake, or Apple Strudel).
Appetizer: The soup was actually good -- but you have make sure they heat it up enough -- check it BEFORE they open the plastic (otherwise you can't send it back to be heated up). Also came with a warmed-up roll which was excellent.
Entree: Both the chicken and beef were good (we didn't even try ordering the fish). Each came with 2 side dishes -- different for each one -- so we all shared which was nice. After we had to send the soups back to get heated up more, they got it right with the entrees -- they were heated up well. Our youngest had a children's entree -- the Hot Dog in a bun. It was a very big hot dog (more like a knockwurst) and was completely enclosed in a bun (almost looked like a hush puppy). It came with one side of potato croquets -- like mini potato knishes. It was actually very good.
Dessert: We basically ordered one of each, but I doubt I'd order them again. We were surprisingly full from the Appetizer and Entree already. The desserts are like mini pies in a tin. The apple strudel was more like an apple fruit pie in a pie shell. The only one that was decent was the cheesecake (go figure -- Pareve Cheesecake...) and it tasted more like ice cream than anything else. It was ok, but as I said, we wouldn't order desert again (it's easy enough to carry your own snacks into the park anyway, which the kids nosh on during the day).
The pricing thing was weird. They gave me one price on the phone, but the restaurant itemized the stuff on the bill in a different way -- but in the end, the cost was the same. If memory serves me correctly, it was something like $5.99 per appetizer, $18.99 per adult entree, $10.99 per child entree, and $5.99 per dessert. Only children 9 and younger can order a child entree.
Of course, drinks cost extra, and with tax and tip, the total cost for a family of 5 came to about $180. We could have saved $20 by not getting the dessert. Considering we were in a disney restaurant, that price is not bad. Normally when we go out for dinner in NY, the bill comes to about $100-$120. So considering that we were able to spend the entire day in the park while still eating (and not shlepping tons of food with us), I'd say it wasn't bad.
Doing it throughout our entire vacation would have been too pricey though. The other days, we left the parks at around 4pm, took the 10 minute drive back to the hotel, ate dinner, then came back to the park by about 6:30 - 7:00 and stayed till park closing.
As I said, you can order this kosher food in advanced at practically ANY Disney restaurant if you call in advance. However, there's one restaurant in each park that serves kosher food on demand (they are listed here: http://allears.net/din/guestkosher.htm). We did not eat at these places, so I can't comment on them.
For lunches, we brought some food with us (we froze water bottles and kept them in a backpack with some food) and we ate in the parks. There are plenty of places to grab a table and eat. Any of the self-serve restaurants also have plenty of plates, forks, mayonnaise, ketchup, etc. We bought drinks and even found a few kosher items in these restaurants (mini pita breads, etc).
Of course, the mickey mouse ice cream bars and sandwiches are kosher (not cholov yisroel), and it was easy enough to bring smaller snacks like granola bars, etc. To really save money, buy a case of water bottles in Publix and put them in your freezer. Even in the 90+ degree August heat, they lasted almost the entire day. The bottle straps are worth it as the kids wear the water bottles on their neck or shoulder and don't complain.
Regarding minyan, we tried this place called Ohel Rochel Leah which was really close to our hotel, but they only had 7 people and we didn't get a minyan. So we went to Chabad of South Orlando (near Universal) for the other days and there were like 50 folks there each day. Shacharis was 8am and it was about a 12 minute drive from the hotel.
Hopefully, this information will be helpful to others. If people require additional details, just ask and I'd be happy to share whatever info I have.
Sep 11, 2011, 1:21 pm
#2
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Join Date: Dec 2009
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Kosher Food in Disneyland (Aneheim)
Also worth noting Kosher at Disneyland.
Was there recently, and asked at a random concession stand, and was pointed to a large concession area pretty close. We asked for Kosher, and it took bout 5-10 minutes. Was a little on the pricey side compared to the non-kosher food, in line with the higher pricing in comparison to non-kosher seen at ballparks. The food itself was solid. Pizza and fries. Apparently there's meat too, but we didn't want. The fries were incredible.
Was there recently, and asked at a random concession stand, and was pointed to a large concession area pretty close. We asked for Kosher, and it took bout 5-10 minutes. Was a little on the pricey side compared to the non-kosher food, in line with the higher pricing in comparison to non-kosher seen at ballparks. The food itself was solid. Pizza and fries. Apparently there's meat too, but we didn't want. The fries were incredible.
Jan 30, 2015, 7:30 am
#4
Join Date: Aug 2008
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Not sure haven't been on the Disney grounds in years. Looks like they have a dining hotline you can call and even pre-order something:
https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/fa...sher-products/
https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/fa...sher-products/
Mar 29, 2015, 8:37 am
#5
Join Date: Jul 2000
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Posts: 6,293
Not sure haven't been on the Disney grounds in years. Looks like they have a dining hotline you can call and even pre-order something:
https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/fa...sher-products/
https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/fa...sher-products/
In downtown Orlando there a couple of options. Right next to the Crown Plaza is the Chabad Center with some groceries and food.
There is a decent Israeli Kosher place over by the Discount Centers. Very reasonable prices, noise and balagan level are exceptionally high. Not to the Golders Green Pizza house level, but can be not far from it. Excellent food!
The Supermarket on Sand Lake Blvd on the way to the airport has allot of OU products as well.
Aug 16, 2015, 5:50 pm
#6
Join Date: Aug 2015
Posts: 1
We live near the parks
Kosher Meals Available without Advance Requests at the following locations:
Animal Kingdom - Pizzafari
Disney's Hollywood Studios - ABC Commissary
Epcot: Liberty Inn - American Adventure
Magic Kingdom - Cosmic Ray's Starlight Café - Tomorrowland
Today we ate at ABC Commissary in Hollywood Studios park.
Animal Kingdom - Pizzafari
Disney's Hollywood Studios - ABC Commissary
Epcot: Liberty Inn - American Adventure
Magic Kingdom - Cosmic Ray's Starlight Café - Tomorrowland
Today we ate at ABC Commissary in Hollywood Studios park.
Feb 12, 2016, 7:38 am
#7
Join Date: Jul 2000
Location: 6E Westbound, 4E Eastbound
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Posts: 6,293
There are two or three sites that have walk up purchase kosher food, and a few more where you can even have a pizza or hot dogs, burgers, chicken fingers delivered and waiting. When we did the walk up, it was the same window as ordering a regular meal, you just had to specify kosher.
In downtown Orlando there a couple of options. Right next to the Crown Plaza is the Chabad Center with some groceries and food.
There is a decent Israeli Kosher place over by the Discount Centers. Very reasonable prices, noise and balagan level are exceptionally high. Not to the Golders Green Pizza house level, but can be not far from it. Excellent food!
The Supermarket on Sand Lake Blvd on the way to the airport has allot of OU products as well.
In downtown Orlando there a couple of options. Right next to the Crown Plaza is the Chabad Center with some groceries and food.
There is a decent Israeli Kosher place over by the Discount Centers. Very reasonable prices, noise and balagan level are exceptionally high. Not to the Golders Green Pizza house level, but can be not far from it. Excellent food!
The Supermarket on Sand Lake Blvd on the way to the airport has allot of OU products as well.