Our train lunch on our way to the park.
My family and I spent last week at Disneyland! I love Disneyland! It really is the happiest place on earth - for almost everything. The unhappy part of a Disney trip? The food.
You betcha, it's the bottom of the barrel. I do applaud Disney for kicking out McDonalds and for offering "healthy" options such as kids meals with milk, string cheese, yogurt and whole grain gold fish crackers but like a lot of Americans, Disney has no clue what is actually food, let a lone health food.
The easiest option is to bring most of your own food to the park, but as us real foodists know it can be really hard to find self stable real food. Here are some of my best tips.
Bring a small cooler
Depending on your circumstances and how you arrived at the park (car, train, bus, plane, etc) your best bet for healthy food is to bring a small cooler with you.
But wait, lugging a cooler around Disneyland? For sure not, right? I mean how would that be practical?
Well, depending on your budget for the park (which may stretch further when you're bringing your own food) you may want to choose to rent a locker on main street USA. A small purse or back pack can easily hold food for a few hours. Return to your locker two or three times during the day to restock on meals and snacks. A small cooler can be packed neatly under a stroller too and brought around the park if you're traveling with a young baby. Even the Disney rental strollers have enough storage underneath for a small cooler.
The best meals and snacks to pack in that cooler? Here are some ideas:
- Slices of raw cheese
- Hard boiled eggs
- Smoked salmon
- Kefir or yogurt
- Kombocha or Kavaas
- Sprouts
- Whole milk
- Slices of roast beef
- Chicken salad
- Cucumbers and cream cheese
Pack It
If the cooler option doesn't work, or in conjunction to the cooler option, try these short-term, self stable foods.
- Crispy nuts
- Sprouted bread, tortillas, or English muffins
- Homemade sough dough bread
- Dried fruit
- Dry seaweed
- Canned Dolmas
- Soaked oatmeal bars
- Apples, oranges, pears, tangerines, bananas, etc
- Olives (the fancy kind in the glass jar)
- Butter (keeps for a few days in moderate weather, just pack it tightly and remember napkins!)
- All natural beef or turkey jerky
My Park Recommendations
These place may not be perfect food but they are the best I found around the park. Feel free to comment with your own suggestions.
- The Best Western Stovall Inn. The continental breakfast left a lot to be desired but they did have oatmeal (you could soak a day ahead of time in your room, after your first day if you brought yogurt) and they also had hard boiled eggs (but they are behind the counter, you have to ask). Bonus points; they are located within walking distance form the park, nice clean rooms and the price is very reasonable.
- Coco's located right next to Best Western Stovall Inn had organic selections, decent prices and real butter!
- Clam chowder bread bowl is one of my favorite things to eat in the park, located in New Orleans Square.
- Tomorrow land has a semi real food Pizza place and Frontierland features a somewhat decent Mexican eatery. Do not go to Village House for pizza, they have changed their recipe and it is nasty!
- Outside of Jungle Cruise (as well as some other spots) you can find a stand loaded with expensive fresh fruit!
- Tomorrowland pavilion features a chicken salad.
And just remember, you're on vacation and a churro or two wont kill you! : D
