Magic Kingdom Christmas Snacks: Reviews & Photos

Magic Kingdom has a lineup of special holiday foods and desserts at its counter service restaurants and snack stands this year. This Walt Disney World dining update shares photos, info, and our reviews of these Christmas foods, with recommendations of what you should buy and skip during your day in MK.

Before we dig in, we should start by noting that a lot of snacks and desserts throughout Magic Kingdom that are not seasonal have finally returned. There was a dearth of options the first couple of months after Walt Disney World reopened, but they’ve slowly returned–and more snack spots are open, in general.

If you’re visiting Walt Disney World and are keen on snacking, you should read our Best Magic Kingdom Snacks & Desserts post in addition to this one, as most of those are now available. Unfortunately, the counter service scene is still abysmal at Magic Kingdom, making snacking more “important” here than any other park at Walt Disney World…

There are limited menus everywhere, Casey’s Corner closed, Columbia Harbour House being used for backstage purposes, and Be Our Guest Restaurant is not doing counter service breakfast or lunch. That makes table service restaurant reservations or a strong snacking game your best options this Christmas.

Here are photos, info, and reviews of the Christmas foods we’ve tried this year at Magic Kingdom…

Spice Up Your Holiday – Spicy chicken sandwich with sriracha aioli, pickle slaw, and topped with a Santa Mickey Mouse brioche bun. Available at Cosmic Ray’s Starlight Cafe until December 30, 2020.

We’ll start with the lone savory option on the list. It’s hard to tell from the photo, but the portion of chicken here is gigantic. We didn’t simply luck out on that–friends of ours who ordered on a different day had similar success. In any other park, this sandwich would be wholly unremarkable. At Magic Kingdom, it’s above average and large. Those two things alone places the Spice Up Your Holiday Chicken Sandwich among the best counter service entree options in the park at the moment. Not exactly fierce competition, though.

Twice Upon a Cupcake — A confetti Christmas tree tops a vanilla cupcake with a red velvet hidden Mickey. Available at the Main Street Bakery until December 30, 2020.

Being available only at the Main Street Bakery Starbucks location, you’re going to have to wait in line for this. On three separate days at the start of Christmas-time, we kept an eye on the line and went when it was shortest–that was still a 12 minute wait.

The Twice Upon a Cupcake itself is fairly good, but nothing special. We’re used to the Main Street Bakery having gargantuan, inventive cupcakes for Halloween and Christmas. Thanks to the Hidden Mickey, this is arguably the latter…but not the former.

It’s also not particularly unique in terms of flavor. The Twice Upon a Cupcake is a quality dessert that executes on all of the fundamentals, but a very ordinary one. If you’re in the mood for a regular cupcake with good flavor, go for it. Otherwise, you can safely pass.

Belle’s Enchanted Christmas Tree – A Christmas tree trio of almond macarons trimmed with cranberry-orange filling in between each festive green macaron.

Available at Gaston’s Tavern until…who knows? Our guess is December 30, but it wasn’t in Walt Disney World’s official preview of holiday snacks.

Belle’s Enchanted Christmas Tree has the best presentation of anything on this list. Being associated with Beauty and the Beast also means there’s a ton of potential for photo backdrops and “clever” captions for Instagram with quotes from the movies and what have you.

Taste-wise, Belle’s Enchanted Christmas Tree is a mixed bag. The macarons are good; crisp on the outside, moist and fluffy inside. However, their flavor is overpowered by the filling, which tastes less like cranberry or orange, and more like artificial red. This dessert did lead me to discover one unexpected upside of wearing a face mask, which is that no could see my red-stained mouth and teeth afterwards. So feel free to pig out on this dessert without worrying that other guests will think you went full Hannibal in Magic Kingdom!

An Orange Bird Christmas — Orange—scented white chocolate mousse filled with orange curd on a citrus-almond cream cake with buttercream leaves and a white chocolate topper. Available at Sunshine Tree Terrace in Adventureland through December 30, 2020.

Like Belle’s Enchanted Christmas Tree, this is another dessert that presents well. However, this one also tastes fantastic. It has a variety of layers and textures, rich chocolate, semi-tangy citrus, and an overall delicious flavor. However, I must admit that I’m very biased. First, it’s Orange Bird, 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.

Let it Snow Taco — Sugar cookie “taco shell” filled with salted caramel and spiced chocolate mousse. Available at Pecos Bill Tall Tale Inn and Cafe in Frontierland until December 30, 2020.

The Let it Snow Taco was one of the better items we tried. The mousse tasted fantastic, with salted caramel and spiced chocolate being a delightful combination. Eating it without making a mess was a challenge, but we’d still recommend it.

Yuletide Wishes – Chocolate Cake filled with Chocolate Mousse and covered in Chocolate Ganache. Served at Pinocchio Village Haus until ??? (Again, we’re guessing the end of December.)

For the last year, our “yuletide wish” has been that Walt Disney World would bring back the Main Street Bakery Yule Log that was served during Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party prior to last year. This effectively grants that. (Hence the name?!) It’s a dense and richly chocolatey yule log, with satisfying flavor and a generous portion size. It’s not the end-all, be-all of yule logs, but it’s a strong option and better than most alternatives on this list.

That wraps up our reviews of Christmas foods at Magic Kingdom for now. Note that there are a few options we haven’t reviewed here. For one, the Chip and Dale Christmas Churros (gingerbread churros topped with apple pie filling and chocolate chips). You’re on your own for that one. While it sounds decent, we refuse to pay Disney prices for churros.

Next, the Pistachio Chai Tea Float (pistachio soft—serve, spiced chai tea, and a red velvet cake pop ornament). After hating the infamous Cherry & Pistachio Float incarnation last year, we vowed not to let our stomaches be the guinea pigs for this. However, we’ve heard from a few friends that this version is actually good. We’ll give it a try and report back in our next Magic Kingdom update.

Finally, there are also other snacks that Walt Disney World has quietly debuted without adding them to the official menus. A couple of these are of the ice cream variety (namely, Minnie’s Merry Cherry Sundae at Storybook Treats), so of course we’ll be taste-testing them. We’re also hoping that other favorites will return closer to Christmas. Now that the sipper lines have died down at Sleepy Hollow, it’d be the perfect time to bring back the Red Velvet Waffle Sundae that’s normally available during Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party!

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 snacks and desserts at Magic Kingdom? If you’ve already tried some of these (or other) items, what did you like and dislike? If you’ve yet to visit Walt Disney World this Christmas season, 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!

16 Responses to “Magic Kingdom Christmas Snacks: Reviews & Photos”
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