By: Amy Wold, a Marvelous Mouse Travels agent
Hi! My name is Amy Wold, and I am a travel agent with Marvelous Mouse Travels. I specialize in Disney Destinations and Universal Orlando.
My husband, our two teenagers, and I recently spent a few nights at Disney World. My youngest and I have celiac disease, so we need to eat a gluten free diet. Disney World is my all-time favorite place to visit because of the wide variety of food that is safe for us to eat. Nobody wants their vacation ruined by feeling sick or the worry about feeling
sick!
Our first meal was a lunch at Geyser Point Bar and Grill at the Wilderness Lodge. We were able to walk up and get seated immediately without joining the walk-up list. I am in love with the Wilderness Lodge, and we love the outdoor dining at Geyser Point. I ordered the roasted salmon. Their ancient grains have gluten in them, so I substituted roasted vegetables. The salmon was cooked and seasoned well. My daughter ordered the smoked turkey sandwich on gluten free bread. The french fries are gluten free made in a dedicated fryer, so she got to have them as her side. We both thought our food was good! My husband and son got bison burgers (they can be made gluten free too) and say they are delicious. It was cute because there were ducks walking around the restaurant, and one duck liked to hang out under our table.
For our evening meal we decided to try Three Bridges Bar and Grill at Disney’s Coronado Resort. As soon as we arrived on the property, we joined the walk-up list in the app. Our wait was about 30 minutes, but it was a beautiful day to explore this gorgeous resort. For this meal we ordered a bunch of things to share: roasted corn dip, warm manchengo cheese and oaxaca cheese dip, three-bridges signature burger, the coconut curry chicken, and of course the churros with chocolate dipping sauce. This restaurant had a huge selection of things that either already are or can be made gluten free! Our server was awesome and knowledgeable about gluten free dining which is so appreciated. The food here was out-of-this-world good! I think of all the meals I had on this trip; this one wins the honor of being the most delicious.
On the second day we ate lunch at Olivia’s Café at Disney’s Old Key West Resort. We really love the theming and peacefulness of this resort. My daughter and I decided to share the seasonal market salad and the conch flats club sandwich made gluten free. The sandwich had great flavor because of the perfectly cooked bacon and mayo. Gluten-free bread can sometimes be dry, but this bread was not. Both of us decided that we didn’t like the texture or taste of the roasted sweet potatoes in our salad, but otherwise it tasted good. This meal was good, and we would go back.
After my son and husband golfed and my daughter and I visited the Grand Floridian Spa, we had dinner reservations at Topolino’s Terrace at Disney’s Riviera Resort. What a fun experience this meal was! This restaurant seemed to have a small amount of gluten free options (or gluten friendly as they say,) but that’s ok because what they do serve, they do very well. My daughter and I tried the peche repose cocktails without alcohol because our server described them as light and refreshing. They were just as described. I appreciated that it wasn’t too sweet. Our server brought out a bread service (warm, gluten free rolls) and olive oil. For our antipasto we tried the Fritto Misto: artichoke, clamshell mushroom, zucchini, herb emulsion, and golden raisin mostarda. It was quite the combination of flavors! We especially like the mushrooms because they were crispy. When talking to our server about this interesting dish, he told us that the head Disney chef was blown away by the chef who made this dish and offered him his pick of all the Disney restaurants! For an entrée my daughter ordered the filet mignon. I had a taste and oh my word was that delicious! The steak was tender and flavorful, and the sides were delicious as well. I ordered the classic sole meuniere. The menu describes the dish like this: sea beans, capers, lemon, Romanesco, cauliflower, artichokes, and petite potatoes. The lemon sauce for my perfectly cooked fish was delicate and amazing. Ok maybe this meal was the winner for the most delicious of the trip! I was too full for dessert, but my daughter ordered the crème brûlée. I did sneak a taste and YUM. We could see fireworks while dining and enjoyed some time out on the terrace after our meal. It will truly cherish the memory of this dinner.
The next day we spent at the parks. For lunch we tried a bunch of different dishes at the Epcot International Flower and Garden Festival. Unfortunately, we were unimpressed with the foods we tried this year. The street corn was tough, the poutine tasted good but reminded us of elementary school hot lunch, and the potato pancakes were doughy. My husband ordered the scallops which were the best thing we tried at the festival. I wonder if it was just an off day for these food booths? There is a booth at the festival that has only gluten free options – we wish that we had made it there to try those things. Maybe another visit!
Dinner that evening was at Nomad Lounge at Animal Kingdom. This lounge offers small plates, so we shared again. We ordered the beef sliders with yucca fries. I really liked the aioli and slaw on the burgers. The yucca fries were good too – much denser and chewier than a french fry. We also ordered the extremely flavorful chicken Manchurian nomad bowl. Our third dish to share was roasted cauliflower with a sort of barbeque-ish sauce. Loved it! All these things were quite the combination of flavors, lol. For dessert we ordered the churros which are always gluten free like at Three Bridges, but you would never notice. They are served with vanilla crema and a chili-strawberry sauce. Our server told us to try each sauce separately, and then combine them for a blast of flavors. So delicious! We all decided that we preferred the churros and sauces here over the ones at Three Bridges. The sauces were better, and the churros were cooked perfectly.
The last morning of our short vacation we ate at Centertown Market at our resort, Caribbean Beach Resort. I ordered the gluten-free Mickey waffles with a side of fruit. The waffles were deliciously crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. The fruit wasn’t great. The grapes were mushy and some of the melon wasn’t ripe. I would totally get the waffles again, but maybe not the fruit.
Lunch before we headed to the airport was at Primo Piatto at the Riviera Resort. We loved that we could walk there from our resort and experience the French/Italian ambiance. My daughter and I both ordered the Croque Monsieur (ham and cheese sandwich) with french fries. We also ordered the grilled vegetable skewer without the pita. This restaurant serves their food in boxes even when you dine in. There is something about eating out of boxes that I don’t enjoy and won’t be disappointed when they go back to plates. It seemed like our food sat for a long time before they called us to say it was ready. The food was nothing too exciting. It was a lot of food, so we could easily have shared. We were impressed with the large amount of gluten free choices, so would go back and try other things. What I loved most about this restaurant were the large windows looking out at the pretty grounds accompanied by the music they had playing. It has the feel of a more upscale quick-serve restaurant.
The sign of a great vacation is that you are sad when vacation comes to an end. We were sad to have to head back to the airport. Until next time, Disney World!
Please reach out to Amy, an agent with Marvelous Mouse Travels to plan your next vacation or you may contact Marvelous Mouse Travels.
