News Walt Disney World restaurants to begin expanding plant-based menu options

[flvacationgirl]

I am so excited that Disney has added so many plant-based options. This will make my upcoming trip (first WDW trip as a vegan) so much easier. The rest of my family of 4 eats primarily vegan meals so this is win-win for all of us. Almost everyone I know, especially if they are young, are cutting back on meat and dairy. 10% or more of Canadians are vegetarian and vegan and that number is just going to grow. Check out The Game Changers on Netflix next week. Top athletes in every sport are going plant-based and having great results.

Not sure why there are so many meat-eaters on this thread hacking on these options. Maybe this thread isn't for you? Thank you to the omnivores who have open minds!

Not sure sure why so many love to bash Beyond and Impossible Burgers. Even though I eat mostly lentils, grains, etc at home, I love having the option to have an unhealthy fast food meatless burger once in awhile.

 

[PeoplemoverTTA]

I am so excited that Disney has added so many plant-based options. This will make my upcoming trip (first WDW trip as a vegan) so much easier. My rest of my family of 4 eats primarily vegan meals so this is win-win for all of us. Almost everyone I know, especially if they are young, are cutting back on meat and dairy. 10% or more of Canadians are vegetarian and vegan and that number is just going to grow. Check out The Game Changers on Netflix next week. Top athletes in every sport are going plant-based and having great results.

Not sure why there are so many meat-eaters on this thread hacking on these options. Maybe this thread isn't for you? Thank you to the omnivores who have open minds!

Not sure sure why so many love to bash Beyond and Impossible Burgers. Even though I eat mostly lentils, grains, etc at home, I love having the option to have a fast food meatless burger once in awhile.

Totally random, but I am actually in The Game Changers, lol.

 

[higgipoker]

Totally random, but I am actually in The Game Changers, lol.

Care to elaborate? Looking forward to the movie!

 

[flvacationgirl]

Totally random, but I am actually in The Game Changers, lol.

I saw it with a ton of friends and family on opening night! It's amazing. Yes, can you tell us more!

 

[mdcpr]

Geez, you're talking about the names and shapes of food. Because milk is white, all other white beverages should be off limits to vegans? The shape of a burger patty just happens to be convenient. Would you rather that vegans consume tofu triangles? Companies call them "milk" and "burger" for marketing purposes. The name "Impossible Burger" must sell better than "Impossible Pea Protein Patty", just like "hot dog" sounds more appealing than "meat trimmings capsule".

Anyway, I'm super happy with the changes WDW is making. They're a business and they wouldn't be adding all these plant-based menu options if there wasn't a demand for it. I just came back from Shanghai Disneyland and there was virtually nothing in their QS restaurants that didn't have meat. The majority of their guests must have different demands than those in Florida.

I don't know if this has been mentioned before, but I really like this website: https://vegandisneyworld.com and Disney now has an official page at https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/dining/plant-based/

Thanks for sharing the links!

 

[PeoplemoverTTA]

I saw it with a ton of friends and family on opening night! It's amazing. Yes, can you tell us more!

Haha, sure. I was the marketing director at Engine 2 at the time, and I had flown into Brooklyn a cold morning in January to help Rip prepare for his firemen scene in the movie. I had just started with E2, and this was the first time I was meeting Rip in person. I helped prep for the event all day, setting up chairs, etc, and filling all those grocery bags for the firemen (together with David Carter, the 300-lb vegan, who unfortunately didn’t make the cut in the movie!). I checked in all the firefighters and got them set up with their papers and bloodwork information.

The director was of course there, as was James Wilks, the narrator and executive producer. Louis (director) was all business and so was James, but James was a lot of fun.

The 2 seconds of me in the movie comes during Rip’s scene. I did NOT know I was being filmed at the time I’m checking all the grocery bags in my “plant based” hat - it was SO cold in there!

I left E2 after my daughter was born and returned to consulting, so I never knew if I made the cut on the movie. Rip is also an executive producer on the movie and his wife texted me to tell me she was excited to see me on the big screen when the movie premiered at Sundance, which was cool, but also over a year ago! They added a LOT more athletes in that last year, so I didn’t know if I made it until my husband and I saw the movie in the theater.

So yes, I can say I was in a movie directed by an Oscar winner and that also “starred” Arnold Schwarzenegger

 

[awoogala]

To be fair, whenever you eat a Whopper you're mostly just tasting *Whopper* - the toppings mostly overwhelm the taste of the protein. Anyone who is focusing so much on trying to discern the difference between a regular Whopper and an Impossible Whopper is not really interested in enjoying the food they eat anyway.

Strip things down to the burgers alone, no buns and no condiments, and you surely should be able to tell the difference more readily. I suspect that, as someone who hasn't eaten beef in over ten years, I probably couldn't tell the difference, but a connoisseur of beef almost surely could. However, that's not to say that they'd truly enjoy the taste of the beef better. Enjoyment is a reflection of expectations fulfilled. If you're expecting the hallmarks of beef, then beef will probably fulfill those expectations better. If, instead, you set aside such expectations and just assess what you're eating for what it (whatever it is) offers, then you might prefer the Impossible Burger.

Having said all that, the Beyond Burger (2.0) is different. I think it is far better than the Impossible Burger, and far better than what I remember of beef. I think anyone who goes into eating food with a mind truly open to what the food can offer will prefer the Beyond Burger to either the Impossible Burger or beef.

I hate beyond burgers. the chalkiness of the pea protein is just far too obvious to me. I'd much rather eat an Impossible burger. (Honestly, I really love bean based burgers, too, as long as they aren't the awful black bean burgers Disney sells). Also, My son the meat eater accidentally ate half his Dad's Impossible Burger before he figured out it was the "fake" one. (and only because it didn't have cheese on it).

 

[awoogala]

I'm just glad they're finally giving more options. As a vegetarian teen in the late 90's, I remember the San Angel Inn handing me a vegetarian menu of my own. (it was a single sheet, with bean burritos and other similar options). When I returned in the 2000's, no more separate menu, made me sad. I never understood why every restaurant didn't have a couple of vegetarian choices (even before the new wave of veg meats, beans have always existed, and been eaten, by most vegetarians- and bean dishes aren't that hard to make). Our family is a mix of meat and veggie people, and we have some faves that have always been good for both (Tiffins, Jungle Cruise, etc.). Let's just hope they stop selling the awful black bean burgers as the only option everywhere! lol

 

[higgipoker]

Let's just hope they stop selling the awful black bean burgers as the only option everywhere! lol

Hey! I liked that bean burger!! lol It was very common in 2017 but by 2018 already we found it was mostly replaced with variations of the beyond/impossible burger. Don't get me wrong, we absolutely love the new burgers, but would be nice to have a good old fashioned "just a patty made from unprocessed vegetables" option.

 

[bUU]

We had Impossible Burgers at Cheesecake Factory a couple of days ago. They were substantially better than at Hudson Grill and Burger King. How it is prepared makes a big difference. I still prefer Beyond Burgers, but that's because they're the only ones I can cook myself; I suspect once Impossible Burgers make it to the grocery, I'll be able to prepare it in a manner that I'll find as good as Beyond Burgers.

 

[awoogala]

Hey! I liked that bean burger!! lol It was very common in 2017 but by 2018 already we found it was mostly replaced with variations of the beyond/impossible burger. Don't get me wrong, we absolutely love the new burgers, but would be nice to have a good old fashioned "just a patty made from unprocessed vegetables" option.

I love bean burgers! Just not those specific black bean ones Disney uses everywhere!

 

[awoogala]

We had Impossible Burgers at Cheesecake Factory a couple of days ago. They were substantially better than at Hudson Grill and Burger King. How it is prepared makes a big difference. I still prefer Beyond Burgers, but that's because they're the only ones I can cook myself; I suspect once Impossible Burgers make it to the grocery, I'll be able to prepare it in a manner that I'll find as good as Beyond Burgers.

just saw Impossible ground in Wegman's yesterday! Also the Nomad lounge at AK makes amazing I.B. sliders!

 

[higgipoker]

just saw Impossible ground in Wegman's yesterday! Also the Nomad lounge at AK makes amazing I.B. sliders!

Beyond burger has just started appearing in Supermarkets here in Austria... we're doing our bit and stocking up. Hope they are popular enough to catch on! It's a tough sell with how expensive they are though.

 

[RSoxNo1]

All I know is that over labor day weekend my local Stop and Shop didn't have any actual Bubba Burgers. They had 4 different varieties of turkey and veggie burgers and I was annoyed.

 

[dreamfinder]

All I know is that over labor day weekend my local Stop and Shop didn't have any actual Bubba Burgers. They had 4 different varieties of turkey and veggie burgers and I was annoyed.

Shortage of bubba's to make burgers from?

 

[flvacationgirl]

Haha, sure. I was the marketing director at Engine 2 at the time, and I had flown into Brooklyn a cold morning in January to help Rip prepare for his firemen scene in the movie. I had just started with E2, and this was the first time I was meeting Rip in person. I helped prep for the event all day, setting up chairs, etc, and filling all those grocery bags for the firemen (together with David Carter, the 300-lb vegan, who unfortunately didn’t make the cut in the movie!). I checked in all the firefighters and got them set up with their papers and bloodwork information.

The director was of course there, as was James Wilks, the narrator and executive producer. Louis (director) was all business and so was James, but James was a lot of fun.

The 2 seconds of me in the movie comes during Rip’s scene. I did NOT know I was being filmed at the time I’m checking all the grocery bags in my “plant based” hat - it was SO cold in there!

I left E2 after my daughter was born and returned to consulting, so I never knew if I made the cut on the movie. Rip is also an executive producer on the movie and his wife texted me to tell me she was excited to see me on the big screen when the movie premiered at Sundance, which was cool, but also over a year ago! They added a LOT more athletes in that last year, so I didn’t know if I made it until my husband and I saw the movie in the theater.

So yes, I can say I was in a movie directed by an Oscar winner and that also “starred” Arnold Schwarzenegger

That is so cool that you made it into the final edit! Not an easy feat either with all of the edits that happened.

My friend's husband was saying that of the entire movie, it was the fireman scene that he mostly related to and was inspired by. Good work!! E2 was definitely one of my early influences in going plant-based.

I briefly met Rip's parents last fall. I met them at the airport and then drove them to their VegFest hotel. So now I get to mention to people that Dr. Esselstyn rode shotgun in my car. Totally an honour to have met both him and Ann.

Can't wait to watch for you as soon The Game Changers hits Netflix tomorrow!

 

[Clyde Birdbrain]

Orlando Sentinel article today about vegan food at WDW and other restaurants in the area:

Vegan at the steakhouse: Has plant-based dining finally hit the tipping point?

I’ve often mused that the international menu symbol for “vegan” should be a French fry since for eons, that’s what many vegans wound up eating at conventional restaurants. F…

www.orlandosentinel.com

Registered dietician Cheryl Dolven, manager of health and wellness for Disney Parks, says the company’s been laying plans for the big move for two years and echoes Noonan’s observations when it comes to the factors driving the decision.

“Historically, we’ve always worked to have something meatless on our menus,” says Dolven. “And over time, we’d get requests — can you take out the honey, the egg, the dairy? This is our way of going all-in on that, while also acknowledging that many of our guests are simply trying to get more plants into their diet.”