At long last, 2020 has come to an end! It may be hard to believe, but December has come and gone, leaving us with a belly full of new and seasonal snacks from around Disney World.

But which snacks stood out for all the right AND wrong reasons? Let’s look back on the month of December and review the five BEST and the five WORST things we ate (and drank!) in Disney World.

The Five Best:

Coffee Cake Cookie — Gideon’s Bakehouse

No surprises here, the newly opened Gideon’s Bakehouse in Disney Springs reigned supreme as a standout snack destination in the month of December! We attended its soft opening to try a little bit of everything off their menu, and our team had LOTS to say about each item!

Ultimately, the one cookie that stood out as a consistent favorite was the Coffee Cake Cookie. Crumbly AND gooey, this cookie struck the perfect balance in everything we come to expect and love in a great cookie without being too sweet!

Other cookies at Gideon’s were well-received by our team, including the Original Chocolate Chip, Santa’s White Christmas, and Cookie Von Krampus!

Click here to check out our opening day coverage of Gideon’s Bakehouse!

Peanut Butter Cold Brew — Gideon’s Bakehouse

Gideon’s Bakehouse isn’t all just about the cookies (although it was a hard task to not give every spot on our “Best” list to their sweets!). Another one of our favorite items we had this month was the Peanut Butter Cold Brew!

Peanut butter fans will instantly notice the flavor in this beverage, but those on the fence shouldn’t find the flavor too overpowering! Just like the Coffee Cake Cookie, this cold brew was “just right” in terms of not swaying too strongly in either direction.

Click here to read our review of EVERYTHING we tried at Gideon’s Bakehouse!

Gingerbread Spice Cupcake — BoardWalk Bakery

If you’ve been following DFB for any length of time, you’ll know that we love a good cupcake. That’s why we will search high and low across Disney World when we hear of a new cupcake release in our quest for a new favorite — and we certainly achieved that in December!

Over at the BoardWalk Bakery, the seasonal Gingerbread Spice Cupcake may not only be a December favorite of ours but a favorite of the ENTIRE holiday season. Period.

Maybe it was the gingerbread mousse filling or the equally delicious gingerbread cookie garnish, but this might be the dessert we’ll have the hardest time saying goodbye to when the holiday treats disappear from Disney World.

Click here to read our review of the Gingerbread Cupcake from BoardWalk Bakery!

Raspberry Dole Whip Float — Pineapple Lanai

Frankly, the Dole Whip is among our favorite snacks EVERY month of the year, but we found a new twist on a classic Dole Whip flavor at Pineapple Lanai for New Year’s Eve — just in time to be a December favorite!

Not only was this Raspberry Dole Whip one of the PRETTIEST ones we’ve seen recently, but it was also super tasty, too. This float included raspberry soft serve and Rosa Regale Sparkling Wine, garnished with dried raspberries and rose petals! Sparkling wine and Dole Whip? What could be better?!

We can’t think of a better way to end 2020 than with a boozy Dole Whip float! We wish this treat wasn’t a limited-time offering but we’re ecstatic that we ran across this treat at the Polynesian.

Click here to read our review of the Raspberry Dole Whip Float!

Apple Tart — The Artist’s Palette

Our fifth top pick of the month was a pleasant surprise that also snuck in JUST in time to be a December 2020 favorite! On a trip to The Artist’s Palette at Disney’s Saratoga Springs Resort and Spa, we came across an unassuming Apple Tart. We aren’t ones to say no to any new sweet that comes our way, so we gave it a try — and boy are we GLAD we did!

This reminded us more of an apple pie than a tart, but it was delicious all the same! The streusel was crumbly and sweet, just as it should be. The filling is a colorful mixture of spiced cranberries and apples.

Don’t let the fact that it’s served cold deter you — this was a dynamite snack. But imagine just how MORE incredible it would taste if it was served heated up! Hopefully, this item continues to be available throughout winter, as it’s the perfect seasonal treat.  

Click here to read our review of the new Apple Tart at The Artist’s Palette!

BONUS Favorite: ‘Ohana Bread Pudding — Tambu Lounge

We have a final SURPRISE favorite from the month of December, which isn’t a new item at all — in fact, it’s one of our all-time FAVORITE Disney World desserts that we were able to revisit this month! Since ‘Ohana has yet to reopen, we’ve been finding ourselves heading to Tambu Lounge more and more to get our Polynesian food fix!

This month, we learned that you can order a similar version of the ‘Ohana Bread Pudding at Tambu Lounge! It’s not EXACTLY the same as its OG ‘Ohana counterpart, but it’s still pretty darn tasty. This version doesn’t come with a scoop of ice cream, and you won’t find bananas in the caramel sauce, either. But any slice of Bread Pudding will rank HIGH on our list of Disney snacks any given month!

You can also find Bread Pudding over at Kona Cafe, giving you a couple different options to enjoy this classic dessert while we wait for ‘Ohana to reopen at Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort!

Click here to read more about Tambu Lounge serving up some ‘Ohana Bread Pudding!

The Five Worst:

Holiday Trio — Nomad Lounge

Oh, how we wanted to love the Holiday Trio from Nomad Lounge. This is one of our favorite spots in Disney’s Animal Kingdom, so you can imagine our disappointment when they had not one, but THREE chances to deliver…and they were all misses.

We suppose not EVERYTHING can be a runaway hit, but we were incredibly bummed when none of the three desserts included in the Holiday Trio had us doing backflips. In reality, the little gingerbread cookie that came as a garnish to the Gingerbread Mousse was our favorite part.

We were a bit surprised since Nomad Lounge is no stranger to serving awesome desserts, as their Churros are a favorite of ours! 

Click here to read our review of the Holiday Trio from Nomad Lounge!

Santa Eggnog Crepe from AristoCrepes

We experienced both hits and misses this holiday season at AristoCrepes in Disney Springs. While we loved their Cherry Jubilee Bubble Waffle, their Santa Eggnog Crepe fell flat (pun somewhat intended).

Eggnog is a polarizing flavor, and the flavor in this crepe was STRONG. Even if you consider yourself to be an eggnog aficionado, you might find that the filling in this crepe was too intense. And while this crepe was cute, we also can’t help but see a deflated Santa Claus when we look at this crepe.

One less than stellar crepe cannot tarnish our love for AristoCrepes, however, and it continues to be one of our favorite dessert spots in Disney Springs!

Click here to read our review of the Santa Eggnog Crepe from AristoCrepes!

Rum Rum Reindeer from Petal’s Pool Bar

Holiday cocktails are one of our favorite things to try, and there are PLENTY of options out there in Disney World each and every year. Luckily, that means that there is a holiday drink out there for just about everyone! For us, however, the Rum Rum Reindeer over at Petal’s Pool Bar at Disney’s Pop Century Resort didn’t make it onto our Nice List.

Depending on how you like your cocktails, this drink could totally be up your alley (for example, this might be a good choice for ginger beer fans). For us, it packed just too much of a punch to be all that enjoyable, and for $16, we want to be WOWED. 

If you happened to have stayed at Pop Century and were looking for a refreshing poolside sip, it could have been worth a try. Otherwise, we wouldn’t choose to make the trip over again for this particular drink.

Click here to read our review of the Rum Rum Reindeer from Petal’s Pool Bar!

Pizza Bun from YeSake

We have a history of loving bao bun-inspired treats in Disney World, namely the Cheeseburger Steam Pods from Satu’li Canteen in Disney’s Animal Kingdom. So when we heard YeSake over in Disney Springs was taking a PIZZA and putting it in a bao bun, we were sold before we took our first bite. Unfortunately, our first bite was a bit lacking.

In YeSake’s defense, the major flaw with our Pizza Bun was that that the cheese was MISSING from the filling! Cheese happens to be our THING at DFB, so we were quite bummed! Our fingers are crossed that when we try it again, we’ll enjoy it more with cheese in tow, but without it, it just tasted like a meatball as opposed to a pizza.

We will say that this is definitely one of the more unique snacks we tried this month, however, amidst all the Christmas cupcakes and gingerbread galore.

Click here to read our review of the Pizza Bao Bun from YeSake!

Santa Mickey Mousse — Creature Comforts

We’re heading to Animal Kingdom for our final let down of December. Santa Mickey Mousses have been mostly misses with us in the past, so we hoped this would finally be the year we enjoyed one. Would Creature Comforts be the answer to our prayers?

Well, we were hoping we just had back luck with our Mousse, because it wasn’t a win! The brownie was really tough and difficult for us to eat. Eating desserts should be anything BUT laborious! We also found the peppermint flavor to fall a little TOO far on the light side, leaving fans of this seasonal flavoring disappointed and wanting more.

We have a feeling we’ll see another Santa Mickey Mousse appear in 2021, and hopefully, then we’ll be able to add it to our “Best” list instead!

Click here to read our review of the Santa Mickey Mousse from Creature Comforts!

Be sure to follow along as we give you more of our favorite and least favorite selections each month! While we’re expecting the snack scene to change drastically in January with the conclusion of the holiday season at Disney World, we can’t wait to see what new treats arrive in the coming weeks! We’re also looking forward to the start of the Taste of EPCOT International Festival of the Arts, which we’re sure will be filled with some interesting snack finds!