Best & Worst Christmas Snacks at Magic Kingdom

Magic Kingdom has a large lineup of holiday snacks and desserts at its counter service restaurants both for Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party and Walt Disney World day guests. In this post, we’ll share some of our favorite–and least favorite–Christmas foods at Magic Kingdom, and recommend what you should buy and skip.

As we note in our Guide to the 2019 Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party, spending any time or money on eating during the party–aside from the free treats (also reviewed below) is arguably a waste. Because of this, we’re generally less keen on the party-exclusive items, with one exception.

With that said, most of these fun treats are excellent uses of Disney Dining Plan snack credits, objectively speaking since they’re all priced above $6. If you have the snack credits to burn, you might want to spend the time to grab a couple of the Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party desserts while waiting for the parade or fireworks. The converse is true if you’re paying out of pocket, although there are a few things we think are worth it…

Before we dig in, we should start by noting that there are still a lot of snacks and desserts throughout Magic Kingdom that are not seasonal. Because of this, it seems that the Christmas food lineup is a bit light. (There’s also the matter of all the Arendelle Aqua/Frozen 2 special items that are still on menus.)

In any case, if you’re visiting Walt Disney World and keen on snacking, you should read our Best Magic Kingdom Snacks & Desserts post in addition to this one. That highlights the best regular snacks and desserts, and that should be where you start when formulating a plan of attack to “conquer” the best savory treats and decadent desserts in Magic Kingdom.

Once you’ve “completed” all of the classic Magic Kingdom desserts, consider some of the new Christmas desserts in this post…

Christmas Cookie Sundae (Available Daily at Auntie Gravity’s Galactic Goodies) — Cookie butter soft-serve topped with whipped cream, chocolate sauce, sprinkles, and a white chocolate piece.

So this doesn’t look like much, but it’s actually fantastic. The cookie butter flavor is subtle, almost like an extra creamy and buttery vanilla soft serve. (See below for our added “hack” with both of the top two sundaes.)

Gingerbread Sundae (Available Daily at Storybook Treats) — Gingerbread soft-serve sundae topped with whipped cream, gingerbread pieces, and a Minnie Mouse waffle topper.

As much as we enjoyed the Christmas Cookie Sundae, the Gingerbread Sundae takes the cake. The soft serve here is very ginger-forward, which works well for us because we love ginger. That flavor is tempered nicely by the dusting of gingerbread pieces and piece of waffle. This is my favorite dessert of the entire lineup.

Santa Mickey Waffle Sundae (Available Daily at Sleepy Hollow) — Red velvet waffle topped with mint-chip ice cream, seasonal sprinkles, chocolate sauce, and peppermint powder.

Our luck with seasonal desserts at Sleepy Hollow is very hit or miss. Last year, our Red Velvet Zero Waffles were atrocious–so stale we should’ve requested a replacement. Unfortunately, the kitchen here can become overwhelmed at times, and quality control becomes an issue.

The Santa Mickey Waffle Sundae we had was fantastic. While the presentation leaves a lot to be desired (Santa Mickey was indecipherable on every waffle we saw), the taste is fantastic. Our waffle was warm, fresh, and full of chocolatey goodness. It went really well with the ice cream and peppermint, all of which elevates it considerably. We’d recommend visiting Sleepy Hollow earlier in the day before it gets a long line. That’s your best bet for a freshly-made, quality dessert.

An Orange Bird Christmas (Party Exclusive, Available at Sunshine Tree Terrace) — Orange-scented white chocolate mousse filled with orange curd on a citrus-almond cream cake with buttercream leaves, and a white chocolate piece.

This is absolutely fantastic; a variety of layers and textures, plus rich chocolate, semi-tangy citrus, and an overall delicious flavor. However, I must admit that I’m very biased. First, it’s Orange Beloved, beloved icon of Walt Disney World. Second, I used to get Terry’s Chocolate Orange Balls every year in my stocking as a kid at Christmas, and this very much reminded me of that. It’s obviously very different, but the shape and some flavors are similar. (I wonder if this was intentional?)

Cherry & Pistachio Float (Available Daily at Aloha Isle) — Cherry and pistachio swirl soft-serve served over cold hot chocolate.

Ah, a new snack for the Walt Disney World Culinary Hall of Shame. Rather than being a Christmas-themed dessert, this should be a Lilo & Stitch-inspired item. Because the only conceivable explanation for this is that aliens crash-landed in Adventureland and were tasked with creating a dessert despite no prior knowledge of human taste buds, or any concept of flavors.

The thing is, cherry and pistachio can work well together. I’ve had cherry-pistachio cookies that are great, with a sweet-tart-nutty flavor profile that is perfectly complementary. None of that is present here.

Instead, there’s an abundantly artificial cherry flavor, maybe a hint of pistachio (maybe) and cheap coca flavoring. I don’t even know how to describe this. It’s sort of like chasing a shot of cough syrup with a cup of cold hot chocolate you found sitting around–except worse. We rarely waste food, but we couldn’t even finish half of this. You couldn’t pay me to eat this again.

Free Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party Snacks

If you’re attending Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party, there’s also a variety of complimentary cookies and other snacks that are included in the price of your event ticket.

Here are the MVMCP snack spots, along with what each serve:

• Pinocchio Village Haus: Snickerdoodle Cookie, Hot Chocolate, and Fanta
• Storybook Snacks Cart: Snowman Pretzel
• Miner’s Cove: Peppermint Cookie
• Friar’s Nook: Chocolate Chip Cookie
• Lunching Pad: Ginger Molasses Cookie and Apple Cider
• Cosmic Ray’s Starlight Cafe: Peppermint Cookie, Hot Chocolate, and Apple Cider
• Jungle Cruise: Ginger Molasses Cookie
• Tortuga Tavern: Snowman Pretzel and Fanta
• Golden Oak Outpost: Snickerdoodle Cookie
• Diamond Horseshoe: Chocolate Chip Cookie and Eggnog

Regular readers of this blog know that the Peppermint Cookie is the best of the bunch. After doing a thorough scientific analysis, I can confirm that although the packaging has changed this year, the Peppermint Cookie remains the same!

I make multiple visits to Cosmic Ray’s each party so I have a stockpile to take home and enjoy throughout the holiday season. Cosmic Ray’s is also home to a dance party featuring reindeer and the Fake Coke Bear, my arch-nemesis.

The Snowman Pretzel is also very good, and highly recommended if you want to ‘offset’ overloading on sweets. About the only things I don’t like are the Fanta, Chocolate Chip Cookies, and Eggnog. Additionally, when you go through the ‘welcome trail’ you’ll receive the Minnie cookie pictured below with the sundae–don’t eat that, it’s a trap. They’re trying to fill you up on mediocre cookie at the beginning so you don’t eat as many good ones later. (At least, that’s my working theory.)

Despite it not being home to any good treats, you should visit Diamond Horseshoe because the Country Bears sometimes hang out in there. Be weary of the beverages at Diamond Horseshoe–they’re served in what looks like a hot chocolate cup, but that’s most definitely not hot chocolate.

Above, we mentioned an ice cream sundae and cookie hack; here it is. After stocking up on these cookies, order the top two ice cream sundaes mentioned above for the ultimate pairing. These cookies will greatly enhance those already good ice cream sundaes!

I’d recommend the Ginger Molasses Cookies with the Gingerbread Sundae and the Snickerdoodle Cookies with the Christmas Cookie Sundaes for the best pairings. (You could also do the Peppermint Cookie with the Santa Mickey Waffle Sundae, but that’s already a good pairing and there’s not really any extra ice cream.)

That wraps up our look at the best and worst Christmas snacks at Magic Kingdom…for now! There are a couple of other things we’d like to try, and we’ll add those to the list once we have the chance. Plus, we’re still holding out hope that Walt Disney World will come to its senses and bring back the Yule Log that has been served at Main Street Bakery for the last couple of years!

Finally, a few plugs. First, our free Vacation Kingdom at Christmas eBook is available for download! This free eBook is 90 pages, with 100+ photos, and tons of great tips & info for the holiday season at Walt Disney World. For more details on how to get this totally-free ebook, click here. Did we mention that it’s free?! 😉

For comprehensive tips for planning your Christmas-time trip to Walt Disney World, check out our Ultimate Guide to Christmas at Walt Disney World. For Walt Disney World trip planning tips and comprehensive advice, make sure to read our Walt Disney World Trip Planning Guide and related articles.

YOUR THOUGHTS

What do you think of the Christmas food at Magic Kingdom? Will you pay extra for some Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party exclusive desserts, or would you prefer to enjoy the free cookies? Have a favorite cookie? Do you disagree with me about the Peppermint Cookie being the champ? (It’s okay to be wrong!) If you’ve already tried some of these (or other) items, what did you like and dislike? If you’ve yet to visit, which holiday snacks sound appealing to you? Any questions we can help you answer? Hearing your feedback is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!