Vegan In Orlando : Downtown Disney | Rainforest Cafe | Vegan options

Well, as I mentioned in a previous post, being vegan avoiding Soy and Gluten in Orlando is tough!

I did extensive research before we went via a few vegan food blogs, but obviously I couldn't see if any of the meals/ snacks were excluded from gluten & soy. Well, I can tell you now! We found 2 places that we were able to eat at in ALL the parks. Everything had soy in it, followed closely by gluten. Most places were unable to even do pasta gluten free.... you'd think a huge place would have ample vegan / food allergy options.


I had to share this with you though:  The one place we did find that Opeie & I could eat at trouble free was Rainforest Cafe at Downtown Disney, they had a whole lot of options! They were able to produce an allergy menu, which had alot of vegan options, but sadly they all contained soy or gluten apart from the "Vegetable Pasta" dish.

For such a simple dish, the meal was amazingly flavoured, creamy and everything I could have wanted and more. It was also HUGE! I wish I'd have asked which brand of pasta it was because I'd have loved to have brought some home.

Opeie and Seth also had the same, but they had alittle bit of tomato basil sauce on theirs, and they both loved it so much they asked for doggie bags to take the rest of theirs home, since the children's portions were also huge! My meal was $16.95 which is alot for a bowl of pasta - even if it was huge! That said, I would definitely go back and have it, it was delicious and my mouth is watering just looking at it.

The children's meals were $5.95, as I said the portions were massive. Opeie and Seth could have split one easily and still have had some left over. Seth said it was delicious and asked if we could visit again, and Opeie said it was 'Yummy' which is lovely to hear since the little man seems to struggle so much when we eat out as he's always stuck with gluten free pasta, and I think he gets bored of it. Later on he asked for the doggie bag left overs for dinner, which I heated for him, and served with fresh veggie fingers, fruit, hummus and nuts.

About the rainforest cafe.

It's set inside a HUGE Volcano, filled with rainforest animals, vines and leaves all over the ceiling, and crazy attention to detail all over the restaurant including a beautiful waterfall.

Every 20-30 minutes, for around 90 seconds , a huge thunderstorm which is beautiful hits the tropical volcano. It's an unusual that they've set a rainforest inside a volcano, but it works! It's so much fun and the boys loved it! I'd definitely recommend it.

BabyCakes nyc Downtown Disney Review | Cupcakes | Donuts | Cookies | Gluten free | Vegan

 

This lovely lady made my day! She is so lovely!

Well, THIS happened! 

Oh My GOODNESS! I love Downtown Disney for having Babycakes nyc!

I have no words to explain how good the Babycakes nyc cakes and cookies are... they are heaven.

The lady that talked to me was super cute and lovely, we talked about all kinds of vegan food, life, favorite things- for a long while.  It was lovely to chat to someone else who has the same views on food as me out here!

I'd totally recommend it, it's located next to the Lego shop, handy if you have boys that want to have their cake and just go and eat, where as I like to have a little longer to chat!

I've bought 12 cupcakes since I've been here, I visited a few days ago ( but we won't go into that ) and I bought 6 cupcakes and some cookies, and then went back and bought 5 cookies, 6 cupcakes, and a Babycakes nyc book so I can try and recreate at home! The cupcakes are $3.75 each or 6 for $20, the cookies are around $1.95 and the books are $20-25

I really wish that we had a Babycakes NYC in England, but I'm glad in some ways that we don't since: 

1) I'd be so over weight

2) It makes it super special when you can have a massive treat like this on holiday that you can't get at home. 

(     I know I will regret saying that once I'm home- infact I regret saying it already ! The lady who I chat to is so awesome I will miss talking to her - and obviously the cake!   )

Vegan / allergy food at Orlando Disney Parks & Universal Studios. Can you take food into the parks if you have an allergy or Vegan ?

One thing we've REALLY struggled with out here in Orlando is food at the parks. It's awful. I'm not being negitive for the sake of it, but other than Babycakes NYC not many places cater for Vegans, especially vegans who have an allergy to Soya or gluten.

Most places cook everything in soy oil, which seems mad to me since surely they are cutting those with soy allergies like us off from having a meal, which means less money for them!? Hard Rock Cafe at Universal, is trialling a new menu, and instead of Canola oil, they're now using soy oil?! Seems crazy to me. So 3 of the places we've tried to eat at, Hard Rock, Planet Hollywood and Season's at Epcot have basically said they have nothing than plain dry salad ( no dressings- nothing) or green beans and poatao wedges for a meal. CRAZY?! It makes me mad they simply can't do a plain bowl of pasta, with veggies, or even carry a bag of vegan cheese to do jacket potaoes? But that would be too obvious right, they cook everything in dairy or soy. Depressing.

So, I've had to get wise.

I've started packing food for us. Oxo's baby travel plates, bowls, and cutlery make life so much easier as there is nothing worse than trying to feed a baby who's motor skills are still growing from a wobbly plate or worse out of a plastic sandwich bag.... so I've been taking the plate, bowl and cutlery with us, which has been a massive help. I've been packing Potato wedges, pizza, houmous sandwiches, salads, carrot sticks, fruit salads and lots of other things for the boys to snack on.

Two of my go-to foods in England came in so useful.... Nakd bars and Nakd Raisins to tide the boys over until we could get healthy meals, or well... just ANY meals that Opeie and I aren't allergic to. We've also been packing plenty of Ella's Kitchen smoothie pouches since they're nutritious and they contain plenty of fruit which is great since it's water based and it's been super hot here lately! 

In regards to the park, you can take food / drink items in, as long as they're not in a hard plastic 80's style cooler box. We took ours in a plastic freezer style bag I picked up at Wholefoods and put ziplock bag that I filled with ice cubes- to keep it cold.


What would you eat at Disney ?

Vegan in Orlando : Daiya Pizzas, Vega One, Weightloss

Well,  we've been super busy this week, and I've not had chance to write too much as we've been working on something exciting....

But I thought that you might like to see what I've been munching on... I had THE BEST pizza the other night... I have been THE biggest fan of Daiya since discovering it, so much so I named my iPhone Daiya ( don't ask! Odd ball girl ) .... it was worth the wait since my freezer stash ran out. YUM! The base was gluten free so it meant Opeie could eat it also. I've since gone back and bought 2 more in other flavors as Opeie loved it so much and keeps saying " Opeie have some pizza please?"

I like to eat more raw foods mostly but this pizza was an ultimate treat, as was the ice cream I ate afterwards!

Even the boys who are non-gluten free / vegan enjoyed it! I think I slightly overcooked the it as I'm still getting used to this cooker we have. although it's an amazing cooker, so I don't mind, and the base tasted gooooood! Probably the best pizza I've ever had. I don't want to come back to the UK at the end of the month.

On the way to the Disney park the other day I had VegaOne cherry chocolate protein bar. It was 16g of protein and the first few bites were good BUT it was kinda chalky and heavy. I had to eat it over 2 days. At $3.99 they're quite pricey too, but would be good for an after gym session I think.

Opeie's been munching on Minion bananas, all of the bananas have minion stickers on them, but Pauly decided to go one step further and decorate the yellow fruits with a biro for Opeie's snack.

I've done tons of food shopping at my mother ship, Wholefoods Market, I had the nicest suprise too while I was in there, When I was in the store 18months ago, I made a friend, a fellow Brit, who'd moved to Orlando with his parent's as a teen.... I was walking through the aisles and I said Hello to him.

I started to say, " Hello again.. you helped me so much last year...."
He remembered me but said " DAMN GIRL YOU LOST SOME WEIGHT....... "



Then we hugged and high fived. It was such a nice suprise, as I'm always the person who remembers everyone. After a chat I picked up some more products, and I am so happy that I was able to meet up with someone who helped me so much, even if it was just a few hints, it was more the state of mind change that helped.

 Last Year:

And this year.....



Here's to eating healthy!

Plans for the week: To check out some awesome parks, go swimming alot, shop! , check out some tasty vegan restaurants, and have a blast generally.

Enjoy today, Laura x