My Kosher Experience January/February 2020

Here is my analysis of the kosher food I was provided at Walt Disney World in Florida in January and February 2020.

At table service restaurants, I always made an advance general reservation online via the Disney website/app, and then, close to my trip, called to request a kosher meal. For each restaurant, I was told a choice of appetizer, entree and dessert, and I chose these all in advance of my trip.

The meat products were all glatt. The dairy products were all OU-dairy (not chalav Yisrael).

Everything arrived at each table properly double wrapped and not tampered with. I was brought wrapped, new, approved silverware. I don’t know if the silverware was immersed. I relied on the kashrut company to determine if this was necessary.

These were my taste preferences:

The beef was excellent, like the kind we normally have in Israel on a holiday. The chicken and the salmon were not bad but not great, both a little dry.
The pizza was too crunchy and oily, but tasted good.
The vegetarian lasagna was gooey and inedible.
The cheese blintzes were excellent. The applesauce they were heated with was boiling hot but good.
The cheese omelet and potatoes were very good.
The vegetables (corn, peas and carrots) were tasty with a good texture.
The bottled orange juice and apple juice were good.

The vegetable soup was excellent, except for the one time it arrived spoiled. I could smell that it was off even before I opened it and then I took a little taste and it was bad. My server agreed that it smelled very off. I was not charged for it, and I was compensated with an extra kosher dessert.

The matzo ball soup had a yummy matzo ball, and the broth was just so-so.

The challah rolls were good (hamotzi).

The chocolate cake had very good frosting, and the cake itself was just so-so.

The parve cheesecake was yummy.

I was usually served or offered more than one kosher beverage with my meal. Either bottled or a Coke product in a clean glass. I was asked if it could be put into a glass.

Twice I had ice cream, at Beaches and Cream on the Boardwalk and at a stand at Disney Springs, pretty sure it was Ben & Jerry’s. At each place they patiently showed me every single item (ice cream flavor, syrup, topping) listed in a book with its kosher sign or they checked the product and came back and told me its kosher sign. They served me exactly the combinations that I requested.

There was a special early morning, separately paid for event that included a buffet breakfast. When there, I explained that I keep kosher, and they substituted a kosher meal for me at no extra charge. They were sorry that they only had kosher lunch items, not breakfast items, but that was fine with me.

At Pop Century’s food court, there was cut fruit for sale. The pineapple was excellent. The melon and grapes weren’t peak, but they were pretty good.

The food courts also sold a few packaged OU candy bars and crackers and cookies, as well as milk and chocolate milk. The coffee is a kosher brand.

At every location, I felt respectfully and cheerfully and efficiently accommodated.

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Glad to hear they took care of you!

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Thank you for sharing your experience! There is a lack of comprehensive information out there about how to keep kosher at Disney World.

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I know, right? I guess it’s because things change. They’ll switch catering companies or a food court or quick service will carry only some options but not all. That’s why I noted the dates of my visit.

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I almost plotzed when I saw the phrase “matzoh ball soup” and WDW in the same post. Although we once found Matzoh at YC club level at Pesach

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Thanks for sharing your experience. I found Disney difficult for kosher vegetarian food and we prefer to go off property to the couple of kosher restaurants in Orlando. We have liked both of them. For what it’s worth, at Disney, I thought the lasagna and mac 'n cheese were not good, but the pizza was ok. My husband tried a chicken dish once and thought it was terrible. We never tried breakfast. We love that there are so many ice cream and ices options, plus fruit cups.

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Thanks for sharing! My family and I where also there the last week in January and early February.
Our take on the meals (we had the kids free dining so did a lot of table service and quick service):
Over all the food was decent.
Table service:
Found both the veggie and matzo ball soups to be pretty good. Desserts also pretty good. For mains the brisket and pot roast were most liked then salmon then chicken but all where very edible. We liked the lasagne we got. Our party was mixed on the Mac and cheese and did not like the pizza (see more below in quick service section where I will further discuss kids meals). Sides all pretty good too. Breakfast- we like the eggs much better the the blintzes (but that’s true for us in real life as well).
Servers and chefs where very helpful. Got us lots of drinks as well as whole fruits. At some meals we got an extra entree for free (we did character buffets so where paying full buffet price for a single kosher meal).
Quick service: chicken nuggets pretty good, hot dog was good, burger was dry, pizza was pretty bad (we had liked the pizza from when they used webermans as the caterer, they are currently using sterling), Mac and cheese was so-so (very mixed reviews from our group),
For ppl on the dining plan- there was definitely some mix up with the kosher quick service meals as kid or adult credits but they fixed it each time (and comped is some free meals also).
Our favorite snacks where popcorn, Mickey ice creams and dole whip (they have all the kashrus info in allergy books and even took out boxes for us to look at)- so helpful!!!
Before I went, I had read online that the hot pretzels may be kosher- I tried to find out a few times while there and it seems the Mickey pretzels may be kosher BUT at each place we asked they were cooked in nearby triad restaurant ovens (ie same oven as turkey legs, etc
) and just kept in warmer at the kiosk.
I’m happy to hear you where able to get kosher quick service at EMM. It wasn’t in the budget for this trip but great to know for future reference!

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Bumping this old thread. In 2021 and 2022 I couldn’t find any recent info on kosher at WDW. We ended up eating outside the parks at Kosher Grill and Kosher Eatery and were very satisfied. This facebook group has recent info:

Facebook Link

It’s hard to get specifics out of Disney re Kosher. On the phone, Disney did tell me that QS kosher prices would be the same as comparable non-kosher options. I never had a chance to verify exactly what they offer but the facebook group has some photos.

Here’s what they have on the Disney Web site:

Kosher Meals

Reserve a kosher meal in advance—or find a restaurant that offers a kosher meal with no advance notice.

About Our Meals

  • Our kosher meals are purchased from a certified kosher vendor and come to us sealed.
  • The meals will be prepared and served to you without breaking the seal.
  • Individually wrapped kosher utensils will also be provided.
  • Kosher items vary from restaurant to restaurant and are subject to availability.

Reserve a Kosher Meal

Kosher meals can be reserved at table-service restaurants, and should be reserved at least 24 hours in advance.

While some restaurants may have kosher options available without advance notice (see restaurants listed below), it’s still recommended that you make note of your dietary request in advance.

  • If making your reservation by phone, the Cast Member can discuss your kosher options with you and note your choice within your reservation.
  • If you already made a reservation online, you can add your kosher meal to your reservation by calling (407) 824-1391. Guests under 18 years of age must have parent or guardian permission to call.

Last-Minute Dining Options

Looking for a kosher meal now? Consider dining at one of the following locations that can easily accommodate kosher meal requests without advance notice (subject to availability).

Disney’s Animal Kingdom Theme Park:

Disney’s Hollywood Studios:

EPCOT:

Magic Kingdom Park:

Disney Resort Hotels

  • Disney Resort hotel table-service and quick-service locations have kosher options, subject to availability, without advance notice.
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Bumping to add what I researched from posts over the last year from various kosher FB groups


Most people who expressed an opinion said the Disney-provided kosher food was not good at all.
The current Disney kosher frozen food caterer is Borenstein, out of Jamaica, NY, and all meals are microwaved. IMO this is less good than heating them in an oven. Oven heated is what we had on our cruises, and we thought those frozen meals were ok.

The one report I found of someone who thought the Disney kosher meals were OK said that Epcot restaurants were the most professional in handling their kosher meal prep, and DHS restaurants the least. Kosher food stock level varies and even if you prebook a specific meal selection with a TS rez, they might not have that exact meal when you get there.

Based on this research we’re planning to go out for our dinners at the Orlando kosher restaurants. In addition to Kosher Grill and Kosher Eatery which have been around a long time, there is now also Krembo and Sabbaba Market. The latter is a specialty grocery store with some deli/take-out options. Kosher Eatery is the closest to Disney. Kosher Grill and Krembo are both pretty close to Universal.

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Thanks for keeping this current. On our last trip in June we didn’t have a car, but I discovered that both Krembo and Kosher Grill deliver. Kosher Eatery does not deliver to the Disney area, best I could tell. We had delivery from Krembo to our resort (Pop Century) several times and ate at the food court. It worked out great. We never tried delivery from Kosher Grill because it didn’t open til 1pm, which didn’t work well for our schedule. However we’ve eaten there in the past and liked it.

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@felicia3333 Thanks for this info!

About how long did it take for your Krembo orders to arrive at your Disney resort?
edit: also, did you order from their website or Uber Eats?

Kosher Eatery now also offers delivery - or so they say on their website, but with disclaimers on delivery time - so was a bit leery of ordering from them.

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I honestly don’t remember how long it took for delivery, but it felt reasonable. It gave you a time when you ordered and you could also schedule for later. It always came 5-10 min earlier than the time we were given. I ordered through the website, which seems to contract with a 3rd party for delivery. That’s exciting that Kosher Eatery now delivers, albeit with disclaimers. Please report back if you try it.

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Update from my trip this week:

We used Uber Eats to order from Kosher Grill and Krembo to WDW and it worked very well.

What I like about Uber Eats is that you have transparency on where the driver is, and can estimate to the minute when they’ll arrive. This is advantageous if you’re on a tight timeline. You can also pay a few dollars extra for priority delivery which is recommended as these 2 restaurants are relatively far from WDW.

On arrival day, we were at DHS in the afternoon and had a tight window for dinner. We ordered baguette sandwiches from Kosher Grill via Uber Eats and had them deliver to bus gate 54 (that’s the current rideshare gate, but that could change in future). I placed my order while in line for RotR, delivery estimate was 65-80 mins but actually ended up coming in 50 mins. Because I had up to the minute delivery updates, I was able to time it and arrive at the rideshare bus gate almost exactly on schedule. At that hour there were very few vehicles or people there, so an easy pickup. They have benches there with umbrellas too, so that’s where we ate. One catch - the default DHS location in Uber Eats is too far from the bus gates for you drop the pin in the correct place. We used the “DHS bus gate” location, which worked.


^rideshare section of the DHS bus gates. Uber Eats delivered here, then we sat on the bench a little ways behind me to eat.

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Great information, thank you. I’m filing it for my next trip. Happy Purim.

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One more DHS kosher tip:
After our meat dinner from Kosher Grill we were in the mood for nondairy ice cream, a rather specific request and we were unsure if we would find any in the park. We went to Hollywood Scoops and asked if they had any vegan options. They were extremely respectful. CM said, one moment sir while I get a coordinator. I was afraid it might take a long time but coordinator was there in 5 mins and asked, can I ask sir, about the reason for your request, is it allergies? I replied, it’s bc kosher, but vegan will do.

Coordinator pulls out a book with nutritional and label info for all flavors, flips through and finds me Tofutti soy based ice cream, and shows me the kosher parve symbol to boot! Wow! I know Tofutti! I get a scoop of choc and a scoop of vanilla in a cup, very tasty. Caveat: although the Tofutti ice cream was kosher certified, the food prep is not. We tend to be lenient on this aspect when traveling but want to mention it so other kosher WDW-ers are aware.

(Note to others: ‘Parve’ is a subcategory of kosher that means nondairy. After eating meat, kosher eaters do not eat dairy for a period of time, hence the need for nondairy desserts.)

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Thanks for the helpful info! I never tried ordering to a park (just to our resort) because I wasn’t sure whether or not it was possible. That definitely opens options for next time.

I had no idea that Hollywood Scoops had kosher ice cream. Is it just the tofutti that’s kosher or do they have other options as well? What do you mean by ‘food prep’? I can’t think of any prep involved with ice cream.

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Yep! Uber Eats to parks might open up options in general, not just kosher. I only tried it to DHS but it probably could work for EP and AK too. MK more complicated bc TTC.

I didn’t ask, but they’re pretty receptive to these kinds of questions - they had a whole binder with a page for each flavor showing food ingredient & packaging labels. For food prep, I meant having special procedures to ensure the kosher flavors don’t get mixed with nonkosher, e.g. separate scoopers. Some kosher eaters are strict about this. I’m lenient on this when traveling.

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