After spending so many hours on Chat and Forum for the past 8 months, I realized that we have been missing out on a lot of awesome food at the parks in WDW! For example, our family never tried school bread or a carrot cake cookie. So, based on all you wise Liners, I’ve created a pretty good list of fun snacks/special treats and where to get them for our next trip. HOWEVER, I read it over to DH (Type 2 diabetes) last night and his face sort of fell and I realized everything on my list was super full of sugar!
I feel so bad, but it’s no way too late! So I am here to ask you, what do you think are really good, CS snack type, small bite type foods that you would not want to miss while in the parks, that are not chock full of sugar? I told him I would get on it right away and he says TIA too
Oh your poor DH! I’m sure we can come up with a good list.
I know people love WDW popcorn, so that’s a start. I don’t know much about diabetes, so I’m not sure of the parameters. Is it refined sugar he needs to avoid or all carbohydrates?
Thanks @SallyEppcot! While we are on vacation, he will avoid refined sugar. He will watch his carbs, but not be as religious about them as he is at home. No sugar added items are good bets for him also, but the quality varies so much in the "real’ world. Good news is that his diagnosis has helped him slim down a lot! (Now I need to follow suit…but not on vacation haha)
@BearsMom2011, I found myself just taking a bite of my son’s snacks. There are some chocolate covered fruits that I will eat too. My favorite dessert I have ever had anywhere ( in and out of the world) was the no sugar added pistachio cake at Jiko. Most TS have a low sugar, although not always low carb choice for dessert.
One of my favourite snacks is the stuffed pretzels - I like the jalapeño and the cream cheese ones - hopefully these would be ok for your DH. They are quite big, so maybe you could share one (I never do though!)
As far as snacks go it is tough because WDW makes their money off processed items. To avoid all carbs and added sugar you’re looking at fresh produce, nuts, etc… Aka not real super exciting snack stuff. For this reason we really don’t snack in the world. They have GREAT health conscious meals… No-carb/sugar Snacks? That’s a challenge. I Look forward to ideas from liners!!!
He can get by by "cheating’ with carbs on vacation for a week, particularly if they come with a high fat content (weird huh? his doc says you metabolize the fat more slowly or something) so that pretzel would work. Is that at AK? Or all over? I have heard people talking about it in AK. Thanks!
I totally agree! It is easier to be healthy at meal time. He will likely eat very little carbs at meal times and save them for snacks. The trouble with refined sugar is that he has found it is like an addiction. If he falls off the sugar “wagon” he starts to crave it all the time, which is of course really unpleasant to go through.
DH has been on a diet on several trips. I am vertically challenged so if I gain five pounds it looks like ten. I took nutrition for phys ed and try to get five fruits and vegetables daily. You can get fresh fruit and carrot and celery sticks in many food courts.
The Jalapeno pretzel is in the US area of Epcot World Showcase and also in Animal Kingdom.
I’ve also heard there’s a no-sugar-added sorbet of some sort at Cosmic Ray’s in Magic Kingdom, and I think the Plaza Ice Cream shop also serves some sugar-free ice creams. Also in Magic Kingdom, Be Our Guest has some desserts that are no-sugar-added.
Here are a few links I dug up. Sorry it took so long. It’s been a busy day so far.
I have had the jalapeño cheesy one from AK, but also from the American bit at Epcot. The cream cheese one I’ve only had from the lunching pad at MK.
Yes, my friends dad has type 2 diabetes, and I remember her saying, it’s the GI he has to watch, and the fat lowers the overall GI. Anyway, glad that he can relax the diet a bit on vacation, it would get a bit miserable being super careful all the time.
Just browsed these links and the last one “Disney World for Diabetics” is so awesome @SallyEppcot! The first paragraph sounded just like us. If anyone else is interested in this topic, check it out. I like that it is a “review” by a couple who have been on the hunt for fun food for the diabetic DH. I’ll review a few of these snacks for TP too! Thanks again!
Thanks. Seriously though, I really hope he has a wonderful trip. I would think it would help to have a list of his own things to look forward to, especially if eating treats has always been a big part of traveling for him. I imagine the change is VERY hard.
