Animal Kingdom in Walt Disney World features very distinctly different lands. You can travel to the Pandora – World of Avatar, then suddenly end up in an African market before transporting into the foothills of Everest in Asia.
One of our newly favorite areas to visit in Animal Kingdom is DinoLand USA. Previously we were indifferent on DinoLand USA, we enjoyed the ride DINOSAUR and Primeval Whirl can be a good laugh, but other than that we just walked in and out. Now with a toddler we have grown to love The Boneyard in DinoLand USA as it features a huge play area, no Honey I Shrunk the Kids from MGM – RIP, and a dig site which is totally shaded and a great place to relax.
During a recent trip to DinoLand USA we decided to check out Dino-Bite Snacks as we noticed they carried Haagen-Dazs ice cream and had hopes of some dairy free options. When asking the cast member she was very confused by my question, which I phrased two ways; “do you have vegan ice cream?” and “dairy free ice cream?” She said no and so I ordered a beer instead, close substitute right?
Luckily another cast member overheard our conversation and she said she would go check for us. She came back within a minute with a whole pint of Vanilla Rice Dream. She asked if we still wanted it, which obviously we did. I asked about a cone because I saw they had waffle cones. She grabbed the allergy binder and found it, it is vegan! So naturally I ordered my Rice Dream vanilla in a cone.
Now it’s been a few years since we had Rice Dream. We always preferred Tofutti when given the option strictly because the Rice Dream we usually got in the parks was very icy and clearly freezer burnt. This was not the case! This ice cream was super creamy and a great vanilla flavor. Call me basic, but I love a good vanilla ice cream! Also this is the first time in years that I enjoyed ice cream in a cone, sorbet from L’Artisan des Glaces in Epcot doesn’t count. The cone was the perfect amount of crunchy and was a little sweet as well.
Dino-Bite Snacks also has vegan Mickey Pretzels if you’re not looking for sweets. Additionally you can get your ice cream in a float! They may have Tofutti or Rice Dream if you go here, the supply often changes.
I just stopped by there today and was informed by a cast member that their “non-dairy” ice cream cannot be classified as vegan because it has some sort of animal fat in it…don’t know if you’ve heard this.
The cast member is misinformed. You can always ask to see the ingredients for yourself. They told someone else this the other week, that person then went back and checked the ingredients and it was safe. They use Rice Dream and Tofutti which are 100% vegan.
They had Tofutti when I was there a few weeks ago, in Vanilla and Chocolate!!
It’s great that they have other options!