A few years back, I took a trip to Universal Studios Orlando Resort with my friend Hannah to visit the Wizarding World of Harry Potter.
The day was perfect. A slightly cloudy sky set a moody tone for an afternoon in the enchanted town of Hogsmeade Village. Surprisingly, the lines for attractions weren’t long, and we were in good spirits. Until we came upon the Butterbeer cart.
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Hannah, a longtime Harry Potter devotee, is vegan. She had been looking forward to a frosty glass of Butterbeer, hyping up its sweet, butterscotch flavor during the four-hour-long drive from Miami.
But, the “froth” in Butterbeer contained dairy and without the froth, Butterbeer is, well, extremely sweet cream soda and tastes more muggle than magical.
The rest of the day, Hannah encountered much the same issue, with very few vegan options. Disney World’s theme parks proved not much better, as we learned while trying to find a place that offered nut-based milk for our coffee the next morning. For much of the weekend, Hannah lived on giant soft pretzels, popcorn, Dole whip, and the occasional Impossible burger.
Lately, theme parks are now offering more and more vegan options. Along with Butterbeer, Universal Studios (both in Orlando and Hollywood) has introduced plant-based Irish stew and shepherd’s pasty pies. In addition, Universal Orlando is offering a mushroom pie platter.
Over at the home of the mouse (Disney), vegans are still mostly relegated to fries, though there are some tasty options. Over in Pandora at Animal Kingdon, hungry vegans should seek out the Satu’li Canteen for a chili-spiced crispy fried tofu bowl with charred onion chimichurri.
And, if you’re at Galaxy’s Edge at Hollywood Studios, those blue and green milk drinks you see everywhere are actually coconut milk-based, so they’re vegan, as well.
Disney restaurants even offer vegan and gluten-free Mickey waffles — so ask for them (they’re available only upon request).
The search for vegan food at theme parks is so popular, there’s even a website devoted to it. It’s a good resource if you’re planning to visit the parks in Florida and California with a vegan (believe me, it’s not fun doing a search for vegan food while hangry, sunburnt, and tired).
The growing popularity of vegan food at theme parks may be a side effect of the growing number of “Disney Adults”. These are grown people who frequent the parks without children, and who sometimes “Disney Bound” (dressing not in costume, but to “hint” at a Disney character — think wearing a red polka dot skirt and yellow shoes as an homage to Minnie Mouse or sporting an orange turtleneck and blue hat a la Goofy).
Or it may be because savvy consumers are no longer satisfied with eating hot dogs of unknown origin and half-raw turkey legs.
Either way, it’s a happy day when all people — vegan and non-vegan, wizard and muggle — can know the pleasure of getting a Butterbeer “mustache” at Hogsmeade.
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