Your Guide to Vegan Options at the Disneyland Resort Hotels (December 2018 Update)

Welcome to the Disneyland Resort Hotels! Let’s eat some vegan food!

These are all of the options that I know of as of December 2018. Because they change regularly, please double check with the cast members and chefs, in case something is out of date! And please contact me if you see any items that were previously vegan that are no longer, or if you know of any options that I missed 🙂 The quickest way to contact me is to message me on Instagram (@happiestveganonearth).

Table of Contents (Jump to a section!)

• Grand Californian Hotel
  Storyteller’s Café
  Napa Rose
  White Water Snacks
• Disneyland Hotel
  Goofy’s Kitchen
  Trader Sam’s
  Disneyland Hotel Coffee Shop
  Steakhouse 55
• Paradise Pier Hotel
  Donald’s Seaside Breakfast – Character Buffet at PCH Grill
  Surfside Lounge
• Gift shops in all the hotels
  Dark Chocolates and “Snacks with Character” throughout the parks

• Storyteller’s Café (Grand Californian Hotel)

For breakfast, this place is a character buffet, so you get Mickey, Minnie, Pluto, and Chip and Dale in their Tales of Adventure outfits!

Tell the host or hostess that you’re vegan and they will have the chef come out to tell you about their options. The vegan things on the buffet already are:

• Lots of fruit
• Oatmeal made with water, you can add brown sugar or maple syrup
• Bagels (we checked with the chef that they were vegan)
• Strawberry compote to top waffles, oatmeal, etc.
• Coffee with almond milk on request, orange juice, cocktails, etc.
• Minnie’s cantaloupe raspberry limeade (I asked about Minnie’s horchata, it does contain cow’s milk, not just rice milk)

And then the chef will make some special vegan things for you that are not on the buffet!

• Vegan Mickey Waffles (also gluten-free)
• Vegan pancakes (also gluten-free)
• Vegan omelette: potatoes and a bunch of veggies inside, topped with avocado!

Below is what was on the dinner buffet on December 8, 2018. I asked for a chef to walk me around the buffet and tell me about the ingredients in each dish and which ones were vegan. When she asked if I ate dairy, I felt I needed to define vegan for her, so I said no meat, dairy, eggs, or honey.

I’m sure the dishes could change from day to day, so it’s a good idea to ask for a chef to walk you around the buffet when you get there!

Here is my plate:

Garlic and pea noodles, Thai quinoa salad, and mixed green salad with chickpeas, tomatoes, olives, baby corn, etc.

The chef told me that the following items are vegan:

Salad and toppings, I’m sure they change daily but it’s pretty clear which ones are vegan. They had 4 dressings that day, but they all had dairy or honey. But there was so much oil on everything else that I got, the salad didn’t really need a dressing.

Garlic steamed rice and stir fried veggies:

Garlic and pea noodles:

The Thai quinoa salad is vegan. Be careful of the kale salad next to it, it has cheese:

The chef asked if we wanted anything made special for us, so I asked what they usually make for vegans, and she said she could do some roasted potatoes for us, so here they are:

I asked if they still had the vegan sorbet from before this place was buffet for dinner, and they do still have it!

Also, they have espresso and various coffee drinks. The server said that they have soy, almond, and rice milk. So I got a soy latte. Check out the ridiculously cute Mickey shaped sugar cubes!

They also have lots of fun cocktails on the menu! This is the Spicy Watermelon Margarita.

And the Blood Orange Margarita:

• Napa Rose (Grand Californian Hotel)

This is the fanciest restaurant on property, so it’s quite expensive, but great for special occasions! The menu changes seasonally, so this is the Summer 2018 menu. It has changed to the Fall/Winter menu now, so these exact items aren’t on the menu anymore, but you might find the following useful as an example of the type of food they serve there. Please let me know if you go and order from the new menu so that I can update this!

They bring out bread before the meal, and our server checked and said that all of the normal breads have dairy and/or honey, but they have this gluten-free/vegan “allergy” bread that is very tasty! It’s reminiscent of pizza, with lots of garlic!

That mushroom/corn/fava beans/pasta appetizer you see on the menu up there is vegan with modifications: switch the pappardelle pasta (contains egg) for a fusilli pasta, which is a regular vegan pasta, and switch out the butter for oil.

None of the soups on the menu were vegan (the mushroom bisque has veal stock and dairy, which is about the grossest thing that one can put in a mushroom soup), but they had an off-menu vegan tomato bisque with mushrooms and corn. It was very tasty!

The main course is the easiest because they actually have a vegan-with-no-modifications entree! The Summer Vegetables Tossed in an Indian Curry with hummus, samosa and mint chutney.

It was a medium-sized portion, but full of flavor! It had carrots, okra, cauliflower, peas, green onions, and mushrooms. Very festive!

Our server said that there is also another vegan entree option, an off-menu pasta, so ask about that if you’re not a fan of curry 🙂

The wine list was about 20 pages long, so I didn’t take photos of the whole thing, but the wines by the glass were only the first 3 pages, and then the rest were half-bottles and bottles. One of the bottles was $18,000! But there are quite a few wines you can get for $6-10 per glass as well. The wine list is in a leather binder, so be prepared for that. It’s always hard for me if I touch something and realize it’s leather without being mentally prepared first.

I put a bunch of them into Barnivore to check if they use isinglass/gelatin, and many of them are too obscure to be in there yet. I did find the Stolpman Vineyards Syrah listed as vegan on Barnivore though, so I had a glass of that and it was delicious!

Our server described the desserts to us — 3 types of sorbet! Lemon cucumber, raspberry hibiscus, and peach vanilla. And then he said that they also had a vegan chocolate coconut cake with a house-made vegan whipped cream, so of course we went for that! He overheard that it was my birthday, so they brought out a candle and gave us the dessert for free 🙂

• White Water Snacks (Grand Californian Hotel)

This reopened in January 2019 with an all-new and much more vegan-friendly menu!

During breakfast time (until 11am), they can make you the vegan/gluten-free Mickey waffles upon request, the same as in Storyteller’s Café!

They also have this Coconut Chia Parfait in the refrigerators, where you can grab it and take it to the register. I cannot describe how delicious it was! Definitely recommend!

I love how it says “Vegan Friendly” right on the label!

Also in the grab-and-go section is some fruit (oranges/apples on that particular day), Clif bars (the one flavor they had that day was vegan), an instant oatmeal, etc:

This curried cauliflower salad in a box is vegan and clearly labeled too! I had too much other food to order, so I can’t tell you how it tastes yet, but I will get it soon!

Here is the lunch and dinner menu for your reference. Below follows a summary of how to order several of these options vegan:

1. Tofu Poke Bowl: choose tofu and either rice or shredded lettuce. Remove aioli (contains egg) and furikake (contains fish)
2. The Edamame hummus is vegan as-is. The chef told me that the pita chips do not contain any eggs or dairy, but that they are fried in a shared fryer. If you would like to avoid the shared fryer, you could ask them for another portion of the veggies to replace the chips. I didn’t think of that at the time, so I didn’t ask and I can’t say whether they would be able to do that, but I imagine they would do it.
3. The Forest mushroom pizza is with Impossible meat (to which the “Vegetarian sausage” refers). Omit the cheese and it’s vegan! It is quite a large pizza, I would say for at least 2 people.
4. They also have the Impossible burger as a secret menu item to replace the Cali Burger. They don’t have a vegan bun, but they have sourdough bread, so get it on that, and then with no cheese/hollandaise/aioli.
5. The Avocado toast is on sourdough bread, which is vegan. So just omit the burrata (cheese).
6. Mediterranean Vegetable Skewers: The pesto contains cheese, and the dip contains dairy. The chef didn’t have any suggestions for substitute dips, so they would just be dry skewers. Probably not great compared to the other options.

Tofu poke bowl (no aioli, no furikake):

Edamame hummus, no modifications:

 

• Goofy’s Kitchen (Disneyland Hotel)

This is a character dining buffet with lots of vegan options! Tell them that you’re vegan when you arrive, and the chef will come out to talk to you. They can make you vegan Mickey waffles and pancakes:

And can bring you out vegan sorbet for dessert on request as well — I got a peach one, it was delicious!

They can also bring you some almond milk to put in your coffee:

There are quite a few vegan options on the buffet! Lots of fruit:

Roasted potatoes:

Roast cauliflower salad:

Thai Mango salad:

Watermelon kale salad:

Rice Pilaf:

Seasonal vegetables:

Veggie soup:

Oatmeal made with water:

I’m sure these could change from day to day, so make sure to have the chef walk you around the buffet to let you know what’s vegan!

• Trader Sam’s (Disneyland Hotel)

They recently changed the menu and the vegan options are much better now! You can get this poke bowl with marinated tofu — ask for no aioli and no wonton chips (they contain egg). The fried spring rolls are vegan, but the sauces that they come with aren’t, so ask to substitute teriyaki sauce, which is vegan!

There are also two salads here. The Rongo salad is vegan with no modifications:

The Tangaroa salad is vegan if you say no meat, and substitute for the dressing that it comes with, which has a binding agent that isn’t vegan, according to our very knowledgeable vegan server! All of the cocktails are vegan! Our server double checked on the creme de cacao and the coconut cream which are in some of the cocktails.

• The Coffee House (Disneyland Hotel)

At the coffee shop in the Disneyland Hotel, they have Dole Whip, with an option to add a splash of rum! Either spiced rum or coconut rum. Get this early, as they close at 4pm last I checked.

They also have various coffee drinks here – espresso, lattes, etc. I haven’t had time to check whether they have soy/almond/coconut milk, but I’m assuming they have at least one. Please let me know if you’ve been recently and know of those options!

• Steakhouse 55 (Disneyland Hotel)

Here they do an afternoon tea (reservations required). They were able to modify and come up with a few things for us, but they didn’t have any vegan baked goods to replace the non-vegan versions (scones, muffins, etc), so they gave us fruit and sorbet. This is quite expensive, so unless they step up their game, I wouldn’t necessarily suggest it. The teas are amazing though — if you’re a real tea lover, you might find it worth it. They were seriously delicious. There are so many different teas on the menu and our server described them all wonderfully.

Normally they bring out honey and lemon, but we asked for agave and they were able to bring us some! I think it’s because agave is used in cocktails, so that’s why they had it on hand:

The tea sandwiches they brought out for us were:

– cucumber, watercress, hummus
– tomato, pesto, microgreens
– avocado, chives, tomato
– Mickey shaped peanut butter and jelly

Our server told us that while the breakfast and dinner menus don’t have anything explicitly vegan on the menu, the chef is prepared to make something special for you. I haven’t had the chance to go to either of those yet, but I will soon! Please let me know if you go and what they make for you!

• Donald’s Seaside Breakfast – Character Buffet at PCH Grill (Paradise Pier Hotel)

There are a few things on the buffet that are vegan (fruit, veggies, roasted potatoes), but the real thing to do here is to tell your server that you’re vegan and then the chef will come out to talk to you. We were lucky enough to get Chef Arturo (who also works at the Surfside Lounge, see below), and he made us a bunch of special dishes!

Fruit on the buffet:

On request, they can bring you soy and almond milk for your coffee:

Chef Arturo made us the vegan/gluten-free Mickey Waffles (the ones on the buffet are not vegan), and these roasted potatoes were vegan as-is on the buffet:

The tofu in the photo above is from the omelette station — the Chef said that we should ask the omelette chef to make us a tofu scramble, and so the omelette chef pulled out some tofu and made a quick scramble — it’s actually more of a stir fry with tofu, but it’s the same idea. But then Chef Arturo walked by and saw, and he said he would make us some more in the back (I think he knew that he could make it better than the omelette chef). So then he brought out this:

We saw some non-vegan chilaquiles on the buffet, so we asked Chef Arturo if he could make us a vegan version. So this is what he came up with! He used the Impossible burger meat (they offer the Impossible burger at Surfside Lounge, which shares a kitchen — see below for more info on that).

The characters you can meet here are Donald, Daisy, Minnie, and Stitch:

They also have a dinner buffet here with the theme of “Calitalian,” so I suppose a Californian / Italian fusion, but I haven’t had the chance to check that out yet. Please let me know if you go and I’ll be able to update this!

• Surfside Lounge (Paradise Pier Hotel)

They recently added the Impossible Burger to their menu! It’s just called a “Veggie Burger” on the menu but it’s really an Impossible Burger.

The chef told me that they’ve been experimenting and getting different sauces, and he was proud to show me the JUST Awesome Sauce that they put on the Impossible Burger! It was so good, a bit like a tartar sauce.

He told me that the bun doesn’t have eggs, dairy, or honey in the ingredients list, but the package has a “made in a shared facility with eggs” disclaimer on it.

The burger comes with fries (from a shared fryer), fruit, or steamed veggies.

Another easily veganized menu item is the Poke Bowl! I will come back to get this soon! You can see on the menu, just choose tofu for your protein and avoid the mayo and fish eggs.

I didn’t have time to ask about it, but I think this Kale and Quinoa salad is already vegan or easily modifiable — will have to ask about the dressing.

• Dark Chocolates and “Snacks with Character” throughout the parks

You can find these bagged dark chocolates throughout the parks, and in the various gift shops in the hotels. The two vegan options are the non-pareils and the cocoa dusted almonds.

At these locations with the chocolates, you can find various “Snacks with Character,” which I think are mostly repackaged Enjoy Life products that are made for people with allergies. You can see on those rice milk bars that they are clearly labelled “vegan.” There are also a few cookies, chips, trail mixes, and other snacks that are vegan! I don’t have photos of all of them, but look for the “Snacks with Character” and you’ll be able to see which ones are labelled “vegan,” like these chips:

Those are all of the options in the hotels that I know about at the moment! Please let me know if you find any that I should add! Messaging me on Instagram (@happiestveganonearth) is the quickest way to contact me.