Food and Beverage and Storytelling
- Since 1955, Disney Parks have been where guests connect with the Disney stories and characters they cherish most, and the food and beverage offerings play an integral role in those stories.
- Food and beverage is one of the key elements that make up a Disney theme park experience, with unique restaurants and cuisine that put guests inside the story. Blue Bayou Restaurant has been immersing guests in the story of Pirates of the Caribbean since 1967 at Disneyland Park, and Cars Land in Disney California Adventure Park invites guests to dine in Flo’s V8 Cafe from the Disney•Pixar movie “Cars.”
Innovation of Disney Dining
- In recent years, Disney has transformed the theme park dining experience, and has been recognized by both consumers and industry experts for the exceptional, innovative, fun and healthy dining experiences.
- Innovation is at the core of the Disney dining experience. From immersive dining that brings guests into the stories they love to the broad range of options, varying from five-star restaurants to quick-service choices, Disney Parks are moving the culinary industry forward.
Meeting the Needs of Guests with Special Dietary Requirements
- Walt Disney Parks and Resorts is recognized as an industry leader in meeting the special dietary needs of its guests. In 2011, Food Allergy Research and Education, or FARE, honored Walt Disney Parks and Resorts as a “hero of food-allergy awareness.” Along with allergy accommodations, Disney Parks has pushed the boundaries on immersive dining experiences and healthy options.
- The Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Network also honored Walt Disney Parks and Resorts in 2011 for its commitment to allergy awareness.
Dining for Guests with Food Allergies
- At the Disneyland Resort, guests and families have choices that make it easy to enjoy a worry-free vacation.
- New allergy-friendly menus identify the most common allergens (gluten/wheat, milk, peanut, tree nut and fish) and allow guests to self-select menu choices to meet their individual needs, ensuring a fun and effortless Disney experience for all.
- After positive guest feedback from a test of new allergy-friendly menus , Walt Disney Parks and Resorts has introduced new allergy-friendly menus at approximately 120 quick-service and table-service locations, extending legendary Disney service and dining options to guests with allergies in an entirely new way. The menus provide more convenience and readily available options for guests with special dietary requests.
- Signature restaurants across Disneyland Resort began offering allergy-friendly menus in April 2015. The menus are available at Disney-operated table-service and select quick-service restaurants with online menus also available.
- Guests may consult directly with a restaurant chef or specially trained cast member. Guests are encouraged to communicate special dietary needs to restaurant cast members, to allow the culinary team to take extra measures during preparation to prevent the introduction of the allergen.
Healthy Options at the Disneyland Resort
- Disney’s commitment to healthy living is evident in Disney Magic of Healthy Living, an initiative that partners with parents to inspire kids to lead healthier lifestyles. At Walt Disney Parks and Resorts, nutritious food and beverage options continue to be added, making healthier dining alternatives easily accessible.
- With special enhancements like the “Mickey Check” on kids’ menus – a tool to help families easily identify healthier dining options that meet Disney Nutrition Guidelines – there are healthy and indulgent options for everyone.
Fun Facts
- The Disneyland Resort continues to hire and help train some of the top chefs in the culinary industry. More than, 50 chefs work in culinary management, and many are graduates of prestigious culinary schools. In addition, the resort employs nearly 200 restaurant and catering managers and more than 7,000 food and beverage cast members overall.
- With more than 150 food and beverage locations, the Disneyland Resort offers more than 8,500 different food items.
- Disneyland Resort guests consume approximately 350,000 apples each year. If stacked on top of each other, that many apples would reach 17 miles into the sky, or the height equivalent of 1,146 Sleeping Beauty Castles.
- If the 3,800,000 churros that are consumed each year at the Disneyland Resort were laid end-to-end, they would stretch 954 miles. That’s enough churros to line the Disneyland Resort monorail track 382 times.
- Disneyland Resort guests consume 860,000 Mickey-shaped pretzels annually. That’s enough each year to serve at least 29 pretzels to all 29,000 cast members at the Disneyland Resort.
- If the 2,600,000 hot dogs that are served each year were laid end-to-end, they would stretch 242 miles or the length of 11,208 Millennium Falcons.
- More than 300,000 pounds of bananas are consumed at the Disneyland Resort each year, which is approximately 130,000 individual bananas for Baloo from “The Jungle Book” to enjoy.
- Over the course of a given year, guests purchase more than 12 million kids meals, and parents typically choose the nutritious sides and beverages that Disney offers as the menu default option. Six out of 10 kids meals were served with the healthy options in 2016.
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