Walt Disney World’s various park snacks reviewed

Walt Disney World: the happiest place on earth. Iconic scenes like Cinderella’s Castle in the heart of the Magic Kingdom, the Spaceship Earth ball at Epcot and the Hollywood Studios’ Tower of Terror elicit a sense of nostalgic joy. Everyone has their favorite ride, character, or movie, but let’s be honest —Disney’s best attraction is the food. TikTok and the internet are flooded with copycat recipes of the famous churros, Dole Whip, and giant cookies.

Everyone comes to the parks with something they want to taste test —I definitely did when I went to Disney World over spring break. I’ve put together a list of some of the most popular Disney snacks so that you know what to try and what to pass on for your next trip.

To start with, there is the Wookie Cookie at the Backlot Express in Hollywood Studios. My official verdict: it was pretty good.

I went in with very high expectations after hearing about it from a friend, and I was met with something that fell just a little bit short. An absolutely massive cookie (seriously, share this with at least two other people) decorated with a chocolate Chewbacca belt, this was basically a Little Debbie Oatmeal Creme Pie but four times the size. Two tasty oatmeal cookies with a whipped frosting filling made an enjoyable cookie, but not an exceptional one. I am of the opinion that whipped frosting is always the wrong choice when you could have literally any other kind of frosting, so that definitely knocked the cookie down a couple points.

Presentation wise, the chocolate Chewie belt was cute, but a great cookie needs to be well decorated. I give it a 6/10.

Next up we have Disney’s world-famous Dole whip. There are only a few places in the world that Dole sells these treats, but you can find it behind Aladdin’s Magic Carpets in the Magic Kingdom. I tried two flavors. First, the Tropical Serenade: without exaggeration, this was incredible, one of the best things I have ever eaten. Delicious coconut soft-serve ice cream over refreshing pineapple-mango juice melted together into a tasty piña colada. The ice cream was garnished with a vanilla cake pop dipped in red chocolate and rolled in shredded coconut. This was by far my favorite Disney snack; I would give it a 10/10, maybe even an 11.

The second flavor was the Raspberry Pineapple Swirl, and like the Serenade, this was amazing. Cool, fruity, and refreshing, this sorbet-esque ice cream was both delicious and pretty. The pink raspberry and yellow pineapple swirled together to give an effect reminiscent of a My Little Pony.

Sadly, now that I know what a true 10 is, I can only give this a 9 out of 10, as it could never live up to the Serenade. You should definitely give this snack a try if you go to the Magic Kingdom.

Third, we have the garlic knots from the Pinocchio Village Haus, also in the Magic Kingdom. These were, frankly, falsely advertised and nothing but a disappointment. Not knots. Not garlic. They were just vaguely oily breadsticks with little to no flavor other than plain Wonder Bread. It’s a no for me, but they did taste somewhat alright with buckets of marinara sauce. I would give the un-garlic un-knots a 1/10.

Our last Magic Kingdom snack is the Pineapple Cookie from the Main Street Bakery. This giant sugar cookie in the classic Mickey Mouse shape was frosted to look like a pineapple. It was cute, but the good things stopped there for the most part. The cookie itself was bready in consistency, moderately sweet but reminiscent of  bagel; it did not have the promised pineapple flavor.

The head was yellow and pineapple-striped, and one ear was frosted green like leaves — yes, only one, as if they wanted you to eat plain white bread for the whole other ear. The frosting was again pretty sweet with a white chocolate flavor. I am not actually sure if it was white chocolate or actual frosting. Overall, this was an adorable cookie, but fairly bland, and earned a 4/10.

Kicking off our Epcot snacks is the Minty Melon Refresher, the only drink in this review. It was delicious, perfect for a hot, humid day at Epcot. You can find the refresher at the various Joffrey’s Coffee kiosks at each Disney park. Described on the menu as “a lightly caffeinated blend of watermelon-cucumber-mint juice with strawberries and blueberries”, this fruity Instagram-worthy juice was a welcome, chilly respite from the heat of the day. I would rate it an 8.5/10.

Next are Disney’s world-famous churros, which have inspired countless copycat recipes on social media. The only place in Epcot that sells them is La Cantina de San Angel in Mexico.

Again, I went in with high expectations for the renowned churros, but while they were tasty, they were not much better than a churro from, say, Costco. They were well cooked and the pastry was good, but the cinnamon sugar was clumped all on one side. The chocolate sauce was just Hershey’s, which is fine, but nothing extraordinary. I love churros, though, so although these were not quite as exceptional as expected, they still receive an 8/10.

Finally, there is Gideon’s Bakehouse in Disney Springs. It was amazing. Astounding. Awesome. I cannot say enough good things about Gideon’s. This corner bakery was decorated in a spooky, ghostly Victorian style and was rumored to serve the most delicious and most massive cookies and cake slices known to man. I got the triple chocolate cookie and was not disappointed.

The chocolate cookie was soft and gooey and the outside was entirely covered in chocolate chips and a light sprinkling of sea salt. It was incredible. These cookies are definitely shareables, as they weigh in at half a pound each.

Gideon’s Bakehouse is a must if you go to Disney Springs, and everyone knows it, because the virtual queue to get one was two hours long! I rate Gideon’s as a 9.5/10, because again, it was fantastic, but nothing will ever beat the Tropical Serenade Dole whip.

In conclusion, Disney’s many snacks and foods vary greatly in quality. The ones to make sure to get: Dole whip, Gideon’s Bakehouse, churros, and the Minty Melon Refresher. Ones to skip: the pineapple cookie and not-garlic knots.

All in all, Disney World passes the Milford food critic test with flying colors.