Posted by It’s that time of year again! 🎄⛄️🎅✨️
These seasonal Holiday items run from November 11, 2022 to January 8, 2023 (unless otherwise noted). I went on November 12 to my normal walk around of Disneyland and DCA to ask all the necessary questions. Here is a link to the official Foodie Guide for your reference.
The first section below goes over the Festival of Holidays menus. The Festival of Holidays is an event in Disney California Adventure Park that consists of the seasonal food stands, as well as a few items at normal restaurants (e.g. Paradise Garden Grill). This is just a normal part of California Adventure that you can experience all day while in DCA; no separate ticket is needed.
The section after that goes over the general Holiday Time themed menu items in Disneyland, DCA, and Downtown Disney, that are not part of Festival of Holidays.
If you see something in the Foodie Guide that I don’t mention below, that is because it is not vegan or veganizable, usually because it contains dairy/eggs/meat in some sort of inextricable way. I don’t list all of the non-vegan options, because it would be too cumbersome here – so if you don’t see it, you can assume that it’s not vegan.
By the way, I am aware that it is not a huge array of options this year. I am trying to be helpful by doing research and reporting it to you, but I have no control or influence over anything that happens at Disneyland – I’m just a guest like you! So while I understand that you may wish there were more vegan options this year, it does not help anything to complain to me about it, and it exhausts me to get complaints all day about things over which I have no control. Please take a moment to write a polite, positive email to Disneyland so that we can hopefully get more options in the future 😊
Table of Contents (Jump to a section!)
- Festival of Holidays marketplace booths
- Paradise Garden Grill
- General Holiday Time items in California Adventure
- General Holiday Time items in Disneyland
- General Holiday Time items in Downtown Disney
Festival of Holidays marketplace booths
Grandma’s Recipes Booth
I went to this booth and asked about the ingredients on the new Impossible Meatloaf with Mashed Potatoes with Classic Gravy and Crispy Shallots, and I had the cast members call into the kitchen to ask, since it doesn’t have the plant-based menu icon. They told me that there is dairy in the mashed potatoes, and egg in the meatloaf itself, so there is no way to make it vegan unfortunately.
Blood Orange-Pom Limeade: Pomegranate & Lime Juices and Cookie Butter & Blood Orange Syrups, garnished with a Lime Wheel
Brews & Bites Booth
There is a long list of beers at this booth, most of which should be vegan (you can put them into Barnivore if you like). As far as is “possible and practicable,” beer is generally vegan, except for when there is clearly an animal product, as is often the case with stout beers, sometimes called milk stouts. Here at this booth, there is the Bottle Logic Hexpresso Stout, Pumpkin Spice Latte Stout, which lists lactose in its description, so it very clearly not vegan. Otherwise, the beers should all be vegan.
Holiday Duets Booth
Ceylon Splash: Joffrey’s Coffee & Tea Co Ceylon Black Tea, Passion Fruit Juice, Coconut Sugar and Calamansi Purée, garnished with an edible Purple Orchid
Huckleberry Sake Sangria: Merlot, Sake, Huckleberry Syrup, Orange Juice and Cinnamon Syrup, topped with Sparkling Water and garnished with an Orange Wheel
(I don’t know the brand of wine here, which is generally hard to find out because drinks like this at Disneyland tend to come pre-mixed and the cast members at the booth don’t have the packaging, so they have to call in to the prep kitchen/management be able to tell you. Many wines are vegan, but sometimes obscure animal products are used in the filtration process. You can look up wines by brand on Barnivore, but I find it to be beyond the “possible and practicable” part of the definition of veganism to make a point of always figuring this out for every wine.)
Making Spirits Bright Booth
Here, they have a variety of wines. Please see the note above about vegan wines.
Merry Mashups Booth
Spicy Apple Cider Margarita: Reposado Tequila, Apple Cider, Hose-made Ghost Pepper-Cinnamon Syrup, Raspberry Syrup and Lime Juice, garnished with an Apple Chip
Visions of Sugarplums Booth
Cranberry-Chai Pisco Punch: South American Brandy, Cranberry & Lemon Juices and Cranberry & Chair Syrups, garnished with a Lemon Wheel
Piña-Hibiscus Mezcal Mule: Mezcal, Pineapple-Ginger-Lemon Purée, Pineapple & Lemon Juices, Hibiscus Syrup and Ginger Beer, garnished with a Pineapple Wheel
Winter Sliderland Booth
Cherry-Mango Punch: Cherry Syrup, Mango and Peach Nectars and Lemon Juice, garnished with a Frozen Peach
Tiramisu Yule Log Cocktail: Vodka, Hazelnut Liqueur, Oat Milk, Tiramisu Syrup and Chocolate Bitters, garnished with Valrhona Chocolate Powder
This last one looks vegan to me, but I can’t say 100% – I looked up the Valrhona Chocolate Powder, it appears to just be a standard cocoa powder.
Paradise Garden Grill (DCA)
This is a brand new vegan item here for the holidays this year!
Impossible Albondigas Soup: Impossible Meatballs in a Vegetable Soup
I tried this one on November 12th and it was really tasty! It has 3 large impossible meatballs, and a food amount of veggies – seemed like carrots, potatoes, and some greens. So satisfying as the weather gets colder!
As I kept eating it with the chips, it did start to seem really quite salty to me after a bit, but my salt sensitivity is perhaps not the same as yours. I think it was mostly the chips that were too salty, but just note that the soup might be on the salty side if you are particularly sensitive to it. Overall, a great soup that I’m excited to get several more times before January 8!
General Holiday Time items in California Adventure
Boudin Bread Cart
- Snowman Sourdough Bread (Plant-based)
- Candy Cane Sourdough Bread (Plant-based)
- Christmas Tree Pull-Apart Sourdough Bread (Plant-based)
They’ve labeled all the sourdough loaves as plant-based this year! These are so fun, I have to get at least one each holiday season. I take the glorious loaf home and slather it in Miyoko’s butter, and it is just heaven!
Clarabelle’s Hand-Scooped Ice Cream
- Pomegranate Hard Float: Pomegranate hard cider with lemon sorbet topped with pomegranate arils
- Pomegranate Hard Cider
Cider is almost always vegan, except in a few cases where there is honey. The sorbets at Clarabelle’s are almost always vegan, but it just depends. I’ll have to ask in person.
Cocina Cucamonga
- Winter Margarita: Black cherry margarita
Seems like it should be vegan.
Fairfax Market Fruit Cart
- Seasonal Agua Fresca: Christmas punch
Hollywood Lounge
- Gingerbread Mule: Cinnamon whiskey, ginger beer, lemon juice, and gingerbread syrup garnished with a maraschino cherry
- Harland Brewing Co., Winter IPA
- Calidad Hibiscus Watermelon Agua Fresca
- Smog City Brewing, From LA with Love
The drinks above seem like they should be vegan to me.
Mortimer’s Market
- Christmas Tree Pull-Apart Sourdough Bread (Plant-based)
Smokejumpers Grill
- Pineapple Limeade: Limeade, pineapple juice, and sour green apple syrup with a red sugar rim
- Holiday Punch Cocktail: Vodka with cranberry and orange juices garnished with fresh cranberries
- Karl Strauss Brewing Co., Tangible IPA
- Anchor Brewing, Christmas Ale
- Honest Abe Hard Apple Pie Cider
Outdoor Vending
- White Cotton Candy
Cotton Candy is basically always vegan, as far as the “possible and practicable” part of the definition of veganism is concerned. It’s just sugar, dye, and flavoring, and I’ve never seen any of them containing animal products. As always, use your own discretion.
General Holiday Time items in Disneyland
Harbour Galley
For the holiday season, they now have this new item, Mushroom, Vegetable and Farro Stew, which is clearly marked with the plant-based menu icon!
(By the way, if you’re looking for the Vegetable Gumbo that has been at Harbour Galley for the past few months, that has moved back over to its original location at Royal Street Veranda).
I tried this new Mushroom Stew on November 12 and I was floored!! This is perhaps one of my favorite Disneyland dishes of all time. If you are a mushroom lover, then this is for you. It has several types of mushrooms, Farro, and some other veggies – I think carrots and celery – but the mushrooms are really the majority of it. The broth is just so yummy, so savory and satisfying. And of course, it’s perfection with the sourdough bread bowl. At first I saw on the app that you can also order the soup in a normal bowl, instead of the sourdough bread bowl, if you prefer, but later when I was doing my 2nd mobile order of it (yes, I had it twice in one day!), I didn’t see the non-bread-bowl version there, so I’m not 100% sure about that.
Galactic Grill
- Christmas Punch: Pomegranate, cranberry, and orange juices with Sprite served over ice and garnished with fresh pomegranate seeds, cranberries, and a rosemary sprig
River Belle Terrace
- Pear Oat Cobbler: Spiced pears, oat streusel, and cranberry sorbet (Plant-based)
This looks to be a version of their current, regular vegan dessert, which is a seasonal berry cobbler. So now they’re making a holiday themed version as well. Looks great! I’ll try to get it as soon as possible to review it for you!
The Tropical Hideaway
- Holiday DOLE Whip Sundae: A swirl of DOLE Whip cherry and lime topped with festive decorations
All official Dole whip flavors are vegan, so the cherry and lime will be as well (you can read the ingredients on the Dole website), but it’s yet to be determined what the “festive decorations” are this time. If I remember right, there may have been gummy candies with gelatin last year…? But I will go and ask again, and see what, if any, modifications are required.
Pretzel Cart in Frontierland
- Holiday Cookie Pretzel: Ginger snap cookie-dusted pretzel with vanilla icing dipping sauce
This one is a long shot; I’m not at all saying it’s vegan, just that there is some possibility. Sometimes ginger snap cookies are accidentally vegan, and sometimes icing is accidentally vegan, so maybe all of the components are vegan. I’ll let you know as soon as I have a chance to ask at the cart.
Outdoor Vending Carts
- Christmas Cotton Candy: Apple flavor
Cotton Candy is basically always vegan, as far as the “possible and practicable” part of the definition of veganism is concerned. It’s just sugar, dye, and flavoring, and I’ve never seen any of them containing animal products. As always, use your own discretion.
General Holiday Time items in Downtown Disney
Catal Restaurant and Uva Bar & Cafe
- Mistletoe Mule: Vodka, cranberry juice, lime juice, ginger beer, and sugared cranberry garnish
- Home for the Holidays: Whiskey, bitter Italian aperitif, lemon juice, simple syrup, and rosemary garnish
- Santa and the Beach: Tequila, triple sec, coconut milk, cream of coconut, lime juice, simple syrup, and rosemary garnish
Salt & Straw (Available Nov. 25 through Dec. 25)
- Enjoy various limited-time holiday flavors!
Each month, Salt & Straw has at least one vegan seasonal flavor. Keep an eye out for the November and December flavors, which I’ll put on my Instagram as soon as I know what they are.
Tortilla Jo’s
- Candy Cane-Rita: Tequila, peppermint schnapps, and organic margarita mix with a splash of grenadine and garnished with rosemary and cranberries
- Purple Mistletoe: Tequila rose, tequila blue, agave nectar, and organic margarita mix with a splash of lemonade and garnished with rosemary and cranberries
Your Guide to Vegan Options at Disneyland! 