Making your must-get snack list for Disney World? Well, take this critical piece of advice — be CAREFUL.
Disney World menus change a lot. Sometimes that can be a great thing, with the addition of NEW menu items for you to try. But other times, the changes may result in the removal of a snack you had your heart set on trying. In 2022, a number of food changes hit restaurants inside and outside of Disney, with some popular items like the Choco Taco even meeting their end. Today we’re taking a look at some of the food that DISAPPEARED from Disney World in 2022!
A Quick Note on Menu Changes
As we noted above, Disney World’s restaurant menus are constantly seeing changes. So, while the items below have disappeared for now, there’s no telling if they might reappear in the future.
In other words, you should go into Disney World expecting these foods to be gone, but you may be pleasantly surprised to find they’ve suddenly reappeared! Be sure to check the restaurant menus ahead of and during your trip for all of the latest details.
1 — Turkey at Garden Grill (EPCOT)
If you’re looking for a relaxing, fun, and delicious character meal, look no further than the Garden Grill in EPCOT. This restaurant has it all — farmer Mickey, a family-style meal, and a seating arrangement that slowly spins around scenes from Living with the Land.
But in 2022, one of this restaurant’s signature items went away. The all-you-care-to-eat family-style “Harvest Feast” here used to include sliced turkey breast with turkey gravy, but you’ll have to look elsewhere for that Thanksgiving-feeling dish for now. (We suggest a stop at Liberty Tree Tavern in Magic Kingdom, where you can get Thanksgiving dinner EVERY SINGLE DAY!)
Instead of turkey, the Harvest Feast now includes Barbecue-Roasted Chicken with a sweet and tangy barbecue sauce. We found the chicken to be fatty, but it was cooked really well (moist, not dry!) and we liked the barbecue sauce flavor (we just wanted more of it).
To be honest, we like the turkey a bit better — but we’d rate the chicken higher if it had more meat (less fat) and a more pronounced barbecue flavor throughout (rather than just with that sauce sitting on top).
Note that the other items on the family-style meal have generally remained the same, with the salad, grilled beef with chimichurri, mashed potatoes, macaroni & cheese, Southern-style spoon bread, and more still on the menu. Despite the menu change, we still think Garden Grill is a fantastic spot to eat and is highly underrated — see if it’s something that would fit your plans/budget for an upcoming trip!
Click here for our FULL REVIEW of the updated meal at Garden Grill
2 — Endless Crab Legs at Cape May Cafe (Beach Club)
This is a little less of a menu disappearance and more of a menu change, but it’s still something we wanted to bring to your attention! MANY Disney fans absolutely adored stopping by the dinner buffet at Cape May Cafe (in Disney’s Beach Club Resort) for their endless supply of crab legs. While crab legs are still technically available, they’re sadly not endless anymore!
Your dinner will come with endless access to the buffet line which includes salad, soup, a carving station, fried seafood, a New England Traditional Steam Boil, and more. But if you want the crab legs (Snow Crab Legs, to be specific) you’ll have to pay an additional $29 per pound to add them to your meal.
We will say, the crab legs we got were delicious, easy to break, and had a good amount of meat. But having them separated from the rest of the buffet made us realize that the rest of the buffet is…just OK. It was good and fresh, but the crab legs are really the STAR of the show. So if you’re wanting the “full” experience, get ready to fork over some extra cash.
Click here for our FULL review of the Cape May Cafe dinner buffet
3 — Monte Cristo at The Plaza Restaurant (Magic Kingdom)
The Plaza Restaurant is a classic, highly underrated Magic Kingdom spot. While it has several delicious eats (don’t skip on the Plaza Loaded Fries!!), one especially tasty item that arrived as part of the 50th Anniversary of Disney World was the Monte Cristo sandwich. This little piece of fried goodness had Deep-fried Funnel Cake Batter, Bacon, Roasted Turkey, and Provolone sprinkled with EARidescent and Powdered Sugar, and YES, it was as delicious and greasy and cheesy as it sounds and looks.
But sadly this sandwich didn’t stick around permanently. In May of 2022, the sandwich was removed from the menu due to a “turkey shortage.” We were told (a bit later in May) that only a limited number of these beauties were left for guests to request. Though you never know when an item might reappear, Cast Members weren’t exactly hopeful that this one would come back — one Cast Member even told us that the sandwich was done and wouldn’t return.
As of the time of the writing of this post, the sandwich is still missing from The Plaza Restaurant’s menu, but we’ll keep crossing our fingers for its return. Until that time, it looks like a trip to Disneyland will be in our future so we can enjoy a Monte Cristo over there!
Click here to read more about the disappearance of the Monte Cristo!
4 — Chicken & Waffles from Olivia’s Cafe (Disney’s Old Key West Resort)
If you love a good pairing of chicken & waffles for brunch, there are a few spots to find it in Disney World (including the Grand Floridian Cafe), but one popular location was Olivia’s Cafe at Disney’s Old Key West Resort. 2022 brought some big changes to Olivia’s, as brunch is now offered there EVERY SINGLE DAY, and new menu items have arrived. But 2022 also took a beloved dish from Olivia’s brunch menu — the Chicken & Waffles.
The dish used to include Buttermilk Fried Chicken, Sweet Potato Waffles, Bacon Jam, Fresh Berries, and Maple Syrup, but it has since disappeared.
On the menu, you can still find the Southernmost Buttermilk Chicken and Mickey-shaped waffles, so you could hack your way into eating some kind of chicken and waffles dish, but it won’t be the same! If you simply must get chicken & waffles, head on over to the Grand Floridian Cafe (as we mentioned above) or consider grabbing chicken and donuts over at Homecomin’ in Disney Springs!
Click here to read more about the disappearance of the chicken & waffles
5 — Some 50th Anniversary Snacks
The 50th Anniversary of Walt Disney World began back in 2021 and won’t end until March of 2023, but some of the snacks that were originally introduced with the anniversary have said an early “goodbye!” For example, over at Tony’s Town Square in Magic Kingdom, both the Five Alarm Wings and Firehouse Doughnuts are gone from the menu.
Plus, the Mickey Mouse Dome Cake from Gaston’s Tavern…
…the Showtime With Jose DOLE Whip float from Aloha Isle…
…the Pecos Bill Widowmaker Sandwich from Golden Oak Outpost…
…and the Not-Too-Late Tea from Cheshire Cafe have ALL disappeared, along with other specialty 50th Anniversary snacks.
In many cases, NEW 50th Anniversary or other snacks took their place, but it serves as an important reminder to consider carefully what snacks you choose to “skip” on your Disney trip and leave for next time. If you’ve got a unique snack that you want to try and it’s only in Disney World as part of a special celebration, you’ll want to prioritize trying it before it potentially disappears!
Click here to see our photos & reviews of ALL the Walt Disney World 50th Anniversary snacks in Disney World
6 — And MORE!
Each week we take a look at all of the menu changes that have taken place recently, including what items have been removed from Disney World restaurant menus. If you’re heading to Disney World soon, be sure to subscribe to our newsletter and look for these posts as they can be especially helpful in identifying what items have disappeared (or appeared!). Here are just some of the items that we saw removed from menus in 2022:
Kusafiri Coffee Shop and Bakery (Animal Kingdom)
- REMOVED: Spiced Potato Hand Pies (but you can get Impossible Empanadas here)
The BOATHOUSE (Disney Springs)
- REMOVED: Gibsons “Sandwich King” Award-Winning Burger (but you can still get a classic cheeseburger here)
Coca-Cola Store Rooftop Beverage Bar
And that’s just a brief look at some of those menu changes we’ve seen in 2022. Again, stay tuned for our upcoming posts detailing ALL of the menu changes in the parks and resorts. Don’t forget that while an item may have disappeared from the menu for now, there’s no telling when it might reappear, so keep your eyes peeled for future menu additions!
Need more help planning your 2023 snack and meal list for Disney World? We’ve got you covered!
- Click here to see the 23 snacks you cannot miss in Disney World in 2023
- Take a look at the 23 restaurants to try in Disney World in 2023
- Here’s our list of the best value fast food restaurants in Disney World for 2023
- Check out our picks for the BEST Disney World restaurants for adults in 2023
- See our list of the BEST Disney World restaurants for first-timers
See our video below for even MORE food info!
And don’t forget to pick up our DFB Guide to Disney World Dining!
Our 2023 Guide is really 3 guides in 1 — with a core guide for the essential things you need to know, a reference guide to get those FULL details on every single restaurant in Disney World, and a printables guide with games, worksheets, and more!
Click here to get the guide!
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What menu items do you hope Disney brings back? Tell us in the comments!
The post 6 Foods Disney World LOST in 2022 first appeared on the disney food blog.