Why do we get so invested in Disney World snacks? The easiest answer is because they’re just SO good. But that’s not always the case, is it? Sometimes, these treats develop a backstory.

They come, they go, they return, they leave again, which has us wondering why??

Plastic Cheese

Let’s start with plastic cheese. Plastic cheese is our affectionate name for the little cups of cheese sauce you can find at some quick service spots around Disney World. It’s not the same as the cheese sauce that you get prepackaged when you buy a Mickey pretzel — it has a richer cheese flavor, and it’s usually served warm instead of cold and goopy.

It’s not actually plastic, either. That’s just a name that we came up with because it looks so smooth and fake once it’s poured into the cup. But it’s absolutely delicious for dipping your French fries or corn dog nugs.

There was once a time when you could get this cheese in a self-service option. There are all sorts of rumors as to why Disney pulled this from all locations. Rumors like lawsuits because a child was burned and other rumors that the cheese was just becoming too much of a hassle for Disney. Whatever the real reason, after a couple of years of being off the menu, they brought it back in 2017 — just no longer in self-service form.

POG Juice

Number two is POG juice — passion fruit, orange, guava. Put it all together, what do you get? POG juice. Now, there was a time, early in 2021, when POG juice began quietly disappearing from our lives due to a supply shortage. It was questionable when or if the fruity concoction would return to restaurants.

Move forward to mid-August, when we stumbled on a POG-based cocktail, the Neo-Rita, at the Barefoot Pool Bar in the Polynesian Village Resort. This became the case for several restaurants that had once sold POG juice. POG juice was still available, but only as an additional ingredient in specialty cocktails.

And then, at the beginning of September, POG juice made its valiant return. Once upon a time, Disney used Minute Maid’s Coca-Cola as their POG supplier, but when the supply shortage happened, they switched over to Nestle to save the day. Now, POG is abundant enough that the Polynesian was able to give free POG samples on Disney’s 50th anniversary. So a happy ending all around.

Condiments

Now, this isn’t really a snack, but back in 2019, Casey’s Corner experienced a massive shortage of ketchup, mustard, and mayo that went on for three days before the packets were replenished. But, when the parks reopened after the 2020 closure, the condiments shortage returned.

To help prevent the spread of germs, Disney World had opted to remove self-service condiment stations and ketchup bottles on the restaurant tables. Instead, restaurants handed out single-use ketchup packets, but the Heinz company was having a hard time keeping up with Disney’s high demand of these packets, hence the shortage.

Fast-forward to today, and the shortage has been curbed, meaning you can find these single-serve condiment packets at many quick-service locations that serve up burgers, hot dogs, and other sandwich-based items, such as Animal Kingdom’s Restaurantosaurus, Magic Kingdom’s Columbia Harbor House, and of course, Casey’s Corner.

Pumpkin Pretzel

Next up we have the infamous pumpkin pretzel. It had the right idea, just the wrong execution. So back in 2019, Animal Kingdom’s Thirsty River Bar and Trek Snacks released a seasonal pumpkin pretzel, which was dipped in orange icing and dusted with pumpkin spice. Now, the way this pretzel was advertised made it look super cute, like a pumpkin, which seemed very fitting.

However, when we ordered it, let’s just say that what we received looked quite a bit different. The icing was clumpy and looked more like curdling plastic cheese rather than pretty orange icing, and the little candy leaves just slapped on the side like an afterthought.

Basically, what happened was that the pretzel was still too hot for the icing, and it just was melting off. Now, we decided to give the snack a second chance later on in the day, just to see if it was a fluke design flaw. Well, the second one we got was drowning in the cheese-looking icing.

We went back for a third time the following week to discover that it had vanished. The pumpkin pretzel was gone, which is a shame because the pretzel itself was actually really good and had a nice pumpkin spice filling. Now, if you’re looking to fill that unique pretzel offering itch, there are other pretzel delicacies around the parks, like the cheddar jalapeno pretzel and the warm cream cheese-stuffed pretzel.

McDonald’s Fries

Next, we have McDonald’s fries. Once upon a time, Disney World sold Mickey D’s fries in their parks and we mean every park.

But what you need to know for now is that McDonald’s fries and Disney quick service locations were the best of friends for ten years, to be exact. Then, the Disney World McDonald’s contract expired, and the partnership fizzled out in 2008.

You can still order McDonald’s fries in the Disney bubble. There’s an entire McDonald’s located at the intersection of Osceola Parkway and West Buena Vista Drive, which is fairly close to Disney’s All-Star Resorts and Animal Kingdom Lodge.

Or you can nosh on some fries right in Disney World — they just won’t be McDonald’s. We’d recommend The Daily Poutine over at Disney Springs, which features a nice variety of classic and unique poutine concoctions. Mr. Kamal’s in Animal Kingdom has Mr. Kamal’s Seasoned Fries, and Flame Tree Barbecue at Animal Kingdom has pulled pork fries and that famous plastic cheese.

Peanut Butter

Next, let’s talk about peanut butter. Back in 2015, Ghirardelli Ice Cream and Chocolate Shop in Disney Springs completely stopped using peanut butter-based ingredients in their desserts. In 2013, the ice cream company started working on peanut-free desserts to become more allergy-friendly for guests. At first, this didn’t impact already existing sundaes in the Ghirardelli shop. But after a couple of years, sundaes like the Gold Rush that had marvelous melted peanut butter swirled in with vanilla ice cream and hot fudge became obsolete.

So what are you going to get now? Well, Ghirardelli has a Strike It Rich Butterscotch Hot Fudge Sundae that’s made with vanilla ice cream, sea salt, diced almonds, caramel sauce, and whipped cream and they’ve also got their Ocean Beach Sea Salt Caramel Sundae and their world-famous Hot Fudge Sundae.

But if you are a big peanut butter fan, over at Beaches & Cream at Disney’s Beach Club Resort, you can order the No Way Jose, or at the Plaza Ice Cream Parlor at Magic Kingdom, there’s the All-American Sundae.

Poop Candy

Now, let’s talk about the poop candy. The award for the most unsavory-looking snack has to go to this. Back in 2015, Zuri’s Sweet Shop in Animal Kingdom sold match-the-species poop candy.

There were a handful of different poops you could choose from. The elephant poop was made with chocolate peanut butter fudge, sweet rolled oats, and yellow coconut flakes. The giraffe poop had chocolate fudge brownie and caramel. The cotton-top tamarin poop used peanut butter fudge, sweet rolled oat flakes, and chocolate pretzel pearls. And the hippo poop was made of chocolate fudge caramel brownie with peanut butter and rolled oats.

Even though we were subjected to eating something that looked much worse than it tasted, the flavors were actually really good. Very sweet. Now, the candy came with mixed reviews. Some guests found the concept hysterical, and some found it a little too unsavory. In the end, poop candy had a very short lifespan at Zuri’s. Once it sold out, Disney retired the controversial treat. But Zuri’s Sweet Shop still continues to provide unique treats like animal-inspired caramel apples, marshmallow pops, cake pops, and seasonal treats that you can check out the next time you’re at Animal Kingdom.

Docking Bay 7 Sporks

The last one on our list is the Docking Bay 7 sporks. Again, this isn’t a snack, but let’s talk about it anyway because it’s definitely a story.

When Docking Bay 7 opened back in 2019, along with the rest of Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge, you could eat your quick-service meal with a spork and it was a metal space-looking spork. Fans and guests alike were a little too thrilled with these Batuu-based utensils, and it seems like some folks were heavily influenced by the smugglers’ part of Smugglers Run and took it to practice. Disney started noticing their metal spork supply was dwindling, so they stopped handing the utensils out for use.

But that wasn’t the end of the space fork story. The sporks returned to Docking Bay 7, but this time at a price. Guests could purchase these sporks for $10.99 each. The spork came in its own Batuu travel bag. Double prize. All you had to do was access the Docking Bay 7 mobile order section of your My Disney Experience app and tap on the cargo option to add it to your purchase.

Currently, the sporks are no longer available for purchase. But that doesn’t mean Disney won’t bring them back again for future travelers. In the meantime, you can purchase other Batuu-themed merchandise at the Galaxy’s Edge gift shops like Dok-Ondar’s Den of Antiquities and the Black Spire Outpost Market.

While we wish some of these were still around, there are still so many delicious snacks available at Disney World and we can’t wait to see what new snacks Disney will come up with in the future!

For all the latest updates on snacks, stay tuned with us right here!

NEWS: 20 NEW Snacks Are Coming to Disney World Soon!

 

What snacks do you wish were brought back to Disney World? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!

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