During my recent trip to Disneyland, instead of waiting in line for every single roller coaster ride, I decided to try out all the iconic snacks in the park. Each item’s ranking will depend on a combination of its price, taste, presentation, and wait time. While I didn’t hit all the spots, here’s a pretty good range of foods at Disneyland, ranked.
1. Mickey Shaped Beignets
Price: 10/10
Taste: 8.5/10
Presentation: 8.5/10
For $4.49, you can get 3 decent sized Mickey shaped fried dough of goodness, and it can’t get much better than this. These beignets can be found in the Mint Julep Bar, and although the line was long, you could get the mint julep along with the beignets, making the wait worth your time.
2. Bengal Barbecue Safari Skewer
Price: 6/10
Taste: 10/10
Presentation: 9/10
Although the portion size is small, this bacon wrapped asparagus skewer is worth the $4.49 price tag. As someone who usually dislikes bacon, I still thought this skewer tasted like heaven. Located in Frontierland, Bengal Barbecue serves many different types of skewers and barbecued meats. The skewer wasn’t too oily, and the sweetness of the asparagus mixed perfectly with the savory bacon.
3. Dole Whip
Price: 8/10
Taste: 9/10
Presentation: 9/10
Unless you’re a hater of iced dessert, this dessert cannot go wrong. Located at the Tiki Juice Bar at the entrance to Frontierland, the Dole whip is a must have at Disney. I personally strongly dislike pineapple and therefore have not had pineapple in years, but the taste of the pineapple in this Dole whip was still delicious. The $5 price is similar to some soft serve places around Los Angeles, but it could definitely still be cheaper.
4. Bread Bowl
Price: 8/10
Taste: 8/10
Presentation: 8/10
This unique food item can be found in the French quarters in the park, and serves delicious soup inside a giant sourdough bread. If you’re looking for filling food, this is your destination. The amount of soup we got in our bowl was slightly disappointing, but the bread dipped in the soup was filling and satisfying nevertheless. You can even challenge your friends and family to devour the whole bread bowl.
5. Mint Julep
Price: 9/10
Taste: 7/10
Presentation: 8/10
Found in the same restaurant (and in the same picture above) as the Mickey-shaped beignets, this drink is a great way to quench your thirst on a hot day. Since the whole restaurant was named after this drink, I was disappointed to realize that this drink mainly just tasted like the typical lemonade with a hint of mint. Of course, it was still a nice and refreshing drink to have with the beignets.
6. Turkey Leg
Price: 7/10
Taste: 8/10
Presentation: 7/10
Given that this is literally a giant chunk of meat, the price is technically pretty reasonable. The turkey leg tastes good for the first few bites, but becomes a painful process to finish after that. If you’re not a meat lover, I would not recommend getting this. Even shared between two people it was hard to finish this massive turkey leg. That being said, the meat was juicy, and its size was definitely insta-worthy.
7. Churro
Price: 4/10
Taste: 9/10
Presentation: 9/10
These churros, found in multiple food cart locations around the park, are better than the average churro. The outside is crunchy, inside is relatively soft, and there’s a ton of sugar coated on the outside. However, at $4.75, the price of this churro is pretty ridiculous. I could get the same sized churro at Costco for $1, and the taste isn’t even that different. If you’re going into Disney with the intentions to splurge, then by all means go for it. Any Disney churro is a good churro.
8. Corn dog
Price: 5/10
Taste: 6/10
Presentation: 6/10
This was the only food item on this list that I wasn’t very happy with taste-wise. Although the cornbread outside was unique, the corn dog was slightly too salty, and the sausage inside tasted below average. A corn dog, paired with a small bag of sliced apples, came out to be a whopping $9.50. Considering that you could get a whole bread bowl for $10.99, I would skip the corn dog and get the bread bowl instead.
Sadly, I did not get to try all food at Disney, as my wallet had already taken a big enough hit. If you’re going to Disneyland anytime soon, prepare to overspend.