Typhoon Lagoon was a staple to our vacations growing up. Nothing beats a hot day at a waterpark, especially as a place to wear out your kids as a parent. However, once we went vegan we pretty much stopped going there as there wasn’t much of anything for us to eat while spending the day here. That changed last year when Leaning Palms introduced a vegan/vegetarian menu.
We ended up upgrading our Annual Passes this year to include the waterparks and this menu actually aided in that decision. After October 1st they changed the name to the Plant-Based Options menu and changed some of the previously only vegetarian options to be vegan. We have only tried about half the menu as of now, but will be back to try the rest. So this review we’ll call, the junk food of Leaning Palms.
Now I’m sure you’re like, the junk food? Well see, the menu has about 6 options, and half of them are the standard faux meats, vegan cheeses etc, and the other ones are more plant heavy and creative. We’re gluttons so we went straight for the faux meats this first round.
Ordering was easy as they have an actual menu available on the board which means you don’t have to ask to see it. I did end up running into a slight issue that we’ll go into later on. We ordered the Sausage Pizza, Chili Bratwurst, and Impossible Island Burger. When I ordered the Impossible Burger the cast member asked if I wanted fries and coleslaw with it, I said yes assuming that was normal. We didn’t get a side with the Chili Bratwurst because we were going to have plenty of food for the three of us.
Our food took about 10 minutes, which wasn’t too bad. When it came out I was amazed at the size of the pizza. There was no pricing on the plant based menu so we weren’t sure what we were getting, but the pizza was about $11 and the size of a Blaze Pizza at Disney Springs.
I brought the food to our table and immediately was flagged by this coleslaw. I was expecting it to be a vinegar based one, but I know they have vegan mayo here because of the burger. I took the smallest bite of it and was still skeptical and went back to ask if it was actually vegan. I’m glad I did because it wasn’t vegan. The cast member apologized and the manager offered me another side, I turned it down because we had plenty of food but made sure they know that they need to be careful with these plant based options and serving non vegan foods.
After that was settled I finally got to enjoy my lunch. The pizza, like I said was massive. It was a thin dough that was pretty soft and was topped with vegan sausage, Daiya Cutting Board shreds, grape tomatoes, red and green peppers, and pepperoncini. The size would be easily shareable for two or more people. It tasted pretty good, and I would order it again. The topping ratio was pretty perfect.
The chili bratwurst was fine. It was just a Beyond Sausage topped with chili (the same as the bowl you can get), more pepperoncini, and some unmelted vegan cheese shreds. It hit the spot for lunch but wasn’t anything to write home about. It reminded me of something you would get at Flo’s V8 on a Disney Cruise.
The burger was good. It was the same thing they served at H2O Glow Nights in 2018, but with a vegan mayo now. The burger was cooked a little well done, but I enjoyed the pepper toppings on it. It was also bottoming’d with lettuce and tomato. Also to note, many of the vegan burgers are on Brioche Buns in Disney World, they are an egg free brioche.
We were stuffed with all this food. It was not a cheap lunch, mostly because we got drinks, but our whole meal was about $60. Next time we plan on trying the bowl, wrap, and fruit salad. Similarly, at Blizzard Beach Lottawatta Lodge has a plant based menu, but it is currently closed for refurbishment over the winter. We will be sure to head there in the spring and see what kind of offerings they have!
Price $$
Review from October 2019.
