My Disney Vacation (Warning: long post ahead!)

I can't believe it's been 2 weeks since I last blogged. It sure went by fast! As I mentioned in my last post, Andrew and I went to Disney World! We did so much that I don't even know where do begin! The weather on our first day there was really bad and I was forced to wear a garbage bag on my head. Luckily, it was hot and sunny the rest of the week!

(Mom and I, rocking the garbage bag look)

We covered all of the Disney theme parks: Magic Kingdom, Hollywood Studios, Epcot, and the Animal Kingdom. (From a vegan's standpoint, I have mixed feelings on the Animal Kingdom but I'll save that topic for another day) We got up early every morning and stayed in the parks until late at night. Needless to say, I was exhausted by the time we flew home on Monday. It was worth it though! I had so much fun! I think I had more fun this time than I did when I was a child. I don't think children can really appreciate how great Disney World is until they are older. My favorite park was Epcot, which is funny because I thought it was so "boring" when I was little. I really enjoyed getting to see all of the countries represented in the World Showcase (Morocco and Japan were my favorites). Hollywood Studios was a lot of fun too. Andrew and I actually went back to Hollywood Studios on our last day because we weren't finished seeing everything yet. We went to every show we came across- Beauty and the Beast, The Lion King, Indiana Jones, a few 3D shows, parades, and fireworks for the 4th of July (just to name a few). We went on all the classic Disney rides that I remember from when I was a kid. Of course, I went on my favorite ride Pirates of the Caribbean several times. I brought home plenty of pirates souveniers too! (I have a slight obsession with pirates, in case I've never mentioned it before) On my birthday I was given special Fast Passes so we could ride a bunch of rides without having ot wait in line. It was pretty cool. There are so many other awesome things about our trip that I could talk about, but I'll try to spare you from having to read an insanely long post.

Since this is a food blog I probably shouldn't forget to mention the food! I was a little concerned about what the food situation would be like, even after doing a little research online beforehand. I know now that there was absolutely no reason to worry! It is so easy to find vegan food in Disney, all you have to do is ask for it! Our hotel had cafeteria-style food service, which included breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks. Breakfast was easy- the hotel had plenty of fruit, cereal, oatmeal, and even soy milk. We were usually in the park during lunch and dinner time. Lunch was usually a veggie burger (several fast food places in the park had them) or a salad. We made dinner reservations weeks in advance, so we got to eat dinner in sit-down restaurants instead of fast food places. We had so much luck when it came to dinner. I never imagined how many choices we would have and how delicious it would all be! What impressed me the most was that everyone actually knew what the word "vegan" meant and how to cook for us. Even the servers were very knowledgable of what was in the dishes and what we could/couldn't eat.

The first night of our trip we went to a restaurant in the Magic Kingdom called Tony's, which served Italian food. Andrew and I mentioned to our server that we were vegan so we could find out what we could eat on the menu. To our surprise, our server went back to the kitchen and sent the chef out to our table to talk to us. The chef let us know what was vegan on the menu and even offered us another dish that was on the lunch menu. We both ended up ordering the same thing- a whole wheat pasta dish with roasted veggies (bell peppers, artichokes, portobella mushrooms, and broccoli). It was topped off with a drizzle of olive oil and balsamic vinegar. It was delicious! Definitely one of my favorite meals during the trip. There was even a dessert on the menu that was vegan- sour apple sorbet. We had lunch one afternoon at the 50's Prime Time Cafe. It's a cute little restaurant that looks like a 50's style diner. It's one of my niece's favorite restaurants at Disney, so we had to go there. Andrew and I had another delicious meal there- a roasted pepper stuffed with bulgur and ratatouille. I was surprised at how good this was, I really wasn't expecting much from the restaurant due to the kind of food on the menu. I guess I was wrong!

Pasta with Roasted Vegetables (sorry for the blurry picture)

On my birthday we went to the Grand Floridian and had breakfast with the Disney characters. Not only did the chef come talk to us about the food, but he actually gave us a little tour of the buffet to point out everything that was vegan. There was way more than I expected- fruit, potatoes, oatmeal, grits, breads, bagels, and even vegan pancakes. My mom mentioned that it was my birthday when she made the reservation, so our server and Winnie the Pooh sang Happy Birthday to me. Yes, I was embarassed. For dinner that night we ate at the Kona Cafe in the Polynesian Resort. As you can probably guess, the theme of the restaurant was Hawaiian. The chef made me Asian noodles with stir-fried veggies, tofu, peanuts, and peanut sauce. It was really good! I wish I had the recipe for the peanut sauce, because it was so good I could have licked my plate clean. Even though I don't drink alcohol much, I ordered a drink with my dinner that night since I turned 21. (They didn't even card me though!) Andrew and I found an ice cream parlor in the Magic Kingdom that night that had Tofutti and Rice Dream. I ordered chocolate Tofutti ice cream for my birthday treat.

Asian Noodles with Peanut Sauce

On the 4th of July Andrew and I had a lovely date at a restaurant called Sanaa. Sanaa is an African/Indian restaurant in one of the Animal Kingdom hotels. Our meal at Sanaa was outstanding! It was hands down my favorite meal of the whole trip. The restaurant has an entire vegan menu, separate from the regular menu. The menu had vegan appetizers, bread, entrees, sides, and even desserts! It may seem silly, but I was so excited about this. This was the first time since going vegan that I have ever had a whole menu to choose my meal from. Usually restaurants only have one thing we can order. On the menu was a list of Indian breads that you could order as an appetizer, along with 3 accompaniments. We ordered parathas (an Indian flat bread) with mango chutney, red pepper hummus, and spicy garlic-ginger chutney (my favorite). For your entree you got the choice of 2 main items (most of them were some sort of curry) and a side item. I had chickpeas and vegetables in coconut curry, curried spinach and tomatoes, and a side of 5 grain pilaf. It was fabulous! I definitely ate a little too much that night, but the food was so good that I just couldn't help myself. Unfortunately, I have no pictures of my meal at Sanaa. Actually, I don't have many pictures of our meals from Disney period. The pictures we took in the restaurants didn't come out very well. We borrowed Andrew's mother's camera, which didn't seem to work well in darker settings. I apologize for the lack of food pictures from my trip. You will just have to use your imaginations to visualize the amazing meals I had on vacation.

(My niece and I with Tigger)

I had a really good time on vacation, but I am glad to be back now. I missed sleeping in my own bed, cooking my own meals, and of course Nico and Ditty! I missed you guys too! I have lots of catching up to do with your blogs this week.