I am very very VERY thrilled to be writing this post. Two of my absolute favorite things (both of which I consider myself an expert in)- Disney World & dessert. My love of Disney World has been lifelong which is similar to my love of all things dessert. My family and I have been to Disney almost every year since I was three so I have a lot of experience in the parks and thought it would be fun to share some of my favorites. All the food options at Disney can be overwhelming and while they do have many great options they also serve a few not so amazing food items... so hopefully this helps! Below I am sharing all my favorite desserts in the Disney parks. (I will share my favorite restaurants at a later time and I will also cover Disney Springs later as well!) If you have any questions send me a message on insta @lauren_lavin.
Let's start with the quintessential Disney World park: Magic Kingdom.
I would say this park has the most traditional "theme park" food options which really isn't my favorite but they do have have some great sweets even if they aren't technically what you might think of when you think dessert. These aren't listed in any particular order!
MAGIC KINGDOM
1. strawberry mickey waffle or Nutella fruit waffle sandwich
location: sleepy hollow located in liberty square
If you are going to have a mickey waffle while at Disney, and I would argue that it is a must, this is the place to get it from. Sleepy hollow makes all their waffles fresh to order so you are guaranteed a waffle with a perfectly golden crisp exterior with a soft pillowy interior. Naturally the strawberry waffle is doused in artificial strawberry sauce which I find both equally delicious and nostalgic. Now if bright red strawberry sauce isn't quite your thing they also have a waffle with Nutella and fresh fruit that is quite the rage. I am not a big fan of Nutella but if you are then this is the dessert for you!
2. Dole Whip
location: Aloha Isle in Adventureland
Dole whips are Disney fans cult classic. Creamy pineapple soft serve that is as refreshing as it is indulgent. At Aloha Isle they have floats, sundaes, and swirls so there are a variety of options to get your dole whip fix. Personally I like the vanilla soft serve with pineapple juice, a pineapple float if you will. They also have other rotating flavors such as orange, lime, and raspberry. Fun fact: all the dole whip flavors are dairy free! This is a great option of a lighter dessert that will cool you off on a hot Florida afternoon.
3. Giant Cinnamon Roll
location: Gastons Tavern in Fantasyland
I looooove cinnamon rolls and this one from Gaston's Tavern is MASSIVE. These huge cinnamon rolls are a slightly sweet yeasted dough with a light cinnamon filling drizzled with sugary icing and a caramel glaze. This pillowy cinnamon roll is sweet. Maybe too sweet?? It can also be a little dry- so much roll, much less icing. (PS you must ask for extra icing on the side. You need it!) I do have to disclaim that is not the **best** cinnamon roll you will ever have but it is warm and way better than the mickey one at the main street bakery Starbucks location. This is a great dessert-for-breakfast option to share with the fam!
4. Peanut Butter Cookie Pie
location: Main Street Confectionary on (you guessed it) Main Street
I'm welcoming this new comer to the Disney dessert scene with open arms. The Main Street Confectionary recently underwent a major renovation and which included a large partnership with Mars candy (aka M&Ms). The Confectionary nows serves a variety of sweets including caramel chocolate apples, rice krispies, cookies, and cupcakes. For the most part I would say the desserts here to be average, nothing to write home about. (Pro tip: the caramel apples are literally impossible to eat in the park because you really can't cut them with plastic knife so just have them package it up to take it back to where you are staying). However, the cookie pies (specifically the peanut butter) were quite good. The cookie was dense almost like a blondie and topped with fudge and peanut M&Ms. If you like peanut butter and chocolate this will be a winner!
5. Ice Cream Sundae
location: Plaza Ice Cream Parlour on Main Street
I loooove the smell of waffle cones. I mean who doesn't?? The Plaza Ice Cream parlour makes them all in house daily and you can smell them from a block away. They have a variety of ice creams (inclduing nondairy/planted based) that you can choose to make your own sundae or you can pick one of their speciality creations. The ice cream here is pretty generic but I personally think its better than a Mickey Premium bar. So if you want ice cream this is your spot in MK!
Animal Kingdom
1. Chocolate chip cookie ice cream sandwich
location: Dino-Bites snacks in Dinoland USA
Okay theres really only dessert in animal kingdom thats worth being on this list in my opinion and it happens to be one of the my favorite desserts out of all the parks. Animal kingdom has lots of great food options but the dessert is pretty ho hum, except for the chocolate chip cookie ice cream sandwich at Dino-Bites. Y'all this ice cream cookie sandwich is top notch. They fresh make the cookies multiple times a day and put the ice cream between the cookies AFTER YOU ORDER. This is key. You know the typical cookie sandwiches where the cookies were frozen and everything is just hard so you have to wait until the whole thing is basically melting before you eat it? Yeah, this ain't that! The cookies are soft the ice cream is the perfect hard scooped consistency that makes it easy to eat. That being said it is Florida so the ice cream WILL melt fast :) They usually have a the traditional option and then a seasonal flavor (like mint chocolate chip with triple chocolate cookies for st pattys day).
Otherwise, animal kingdom is home to an assortment of mediocre cupcakes and pastries that aren't really great!
EPCOT
I am going to preface this section by saying that Epcot probably has the best dessert options out of all four parks. Honestly each of the world showcase pavilions have amazing and delicious desserts that are native to the country. On top of that, the festival food booths that are present most of the year also have great dessert options that change based on the festivals. Truly, you can't go wrong! That being said, this list includes items that I personally have tried and enjoy but is by no means an exhaustive Epcot dessert list!
1. Literally anything from Karamel Kuche
location: Karamel Kuche in the Germany Pavillion
You can smell this baby from a block away. The Karamel Kuche shop is home with Werther's caramel and goodness is it delicious. They make all the caramel goodness in these beautiful bronze kettles and the smell is everything. They have a wide assortment of caramel treats with our favorites being: caramel corn, caramel butter square, and caramel ginger cookie sandwich but you should get whatever looks good to you there because you can't go wrong. Except maybe the caramel apples because they are impossible to cut with a plastic knife... you've been warned!
2. Also anything from Les Halles
location: Les Halles in the France Pavilion
Ugh. This place reminds of French bakeries and I love it. It is always bustling and for good reason. Everything is great. The pastry case here rotates often but you can traditional french desserts like macarons, eclairs, mousse, and tarts. Word on the street the new apple crumble pastry is the best dessert in Epcot so maybe start with that!
3. Gelato
location: L'Artisan De Glaces
This is where you can find authentic gelato in a variety of flavors. Gelato is a richer and denser version of ice cream. Ice cream has a higher proportion of cream to milk than gelato which results in a lighter and airier consistency. Gelato is dense and tends to have richer flavors because less air is whipped into it throughout the production process. You can get this gelato in a cone or bowl but the star of the gelato show here are the two speciality options: Croque Glace or Macaron Glace. The croque glace is a warm and fresh brioche bun that is cut and then filled with your choice of a scoop of gelato and then pressed back together. Think warm donut meets ice cream sandwich. Incredible. The macaron glace consists of two large macaron shells sandwiched around a scoop of gelato. Both are unique options that you can't get anywhere else and a little different than your typical icecream treat!
4. School House Bread
location: Cafe Og Kringla in the Norway Pavilion
This one is another Disney cult classic. The school house bread is a traditional Norwegian dessert that has been served in Disney for years. It is a yeasted dough spiked with cardamom filled with a soft pastry cream and topped with thick icing and toasted coconut. The cardamom gives it a nice warm flavor that is nicely contrasted with the light pastry cream. If you are down to try something new I would give it a go!
5. Turtle brownie
location: sunshine seasons cafeteria
Sometimes you just want a basic brownie and this one delivers! I would say it has more of a cake like texture with a thick caramel in the middle topped with chocolate ganache, caramel sauce, and chopped pecans. A great option for a more traditional dessert.
Holly Wood Studios
1. Carrot Cake Sandwich
location: Trolly Car Cafe
To start this thing is massive. Its like two 5 inch cake layers with cream cheese frosting sandwiched between the layers and it is delish! Perfectly moist carrot cake layers and tangy cream cheese- match made in heaven! Now I will warn that the carrot cake did have golden raisins in it which I am not a fan of but you can pick them out. This is a great snack for sharing and it does come in a plastic clam shell which is nice because you cant put it in your bag to save for later. Pro tip: Make sure you ask for a fork!
2. Wookie Cookie
location: Backlot Express
I guess I am into dessert sandwiches. This one is two soft oatmeal cookies filled with a thick buttercream icing. It is also rather large and rather delicious. Reminds of the oatmeal cream pies from the grocery store but 10x better.
3. Num Num Cookie
location: The Market
Based on the Incredibles movie, this is a thick chocolate chip cookie in wrapper. I can't think of a better description. It's a good chocolate chip cookie but it is just a chocolate chip cookie!!! Some people love it and other think it is overrated for $7 so that is up to you ;)
So I think that concludes this list!! There are so many great dessert options in Disney and this is really just the tip of the iceberg based on what I know and love. Have a favorite dessert that I missed? Leave a comment! If you need specific recommendations or have questions send me a message on insta @lauren_lavin !