Keeping Kosher at WDW

Passover Meals (from previous years)

All WALT DISNEY WORLD® Resort table service restaurants which accept Advance Reservations can accommodate Kosher needs if requested at least 72 hours in advance at 407-WDW-DINE. A Credit Card is required to guarantee your meal. The full price of ordered meals will be charged if you are a no-show.

Kosher Meals Available without Advance Requests at the following locations:

Animal Kingdom - Pizzafari
Disney's Hollywood Studios - ABC Commissary
Epcot: Liberty Inn - American Adventure
Magic Kingdom - Cosmic Ray's Starlight Café - Tomorrowland
All Star Food Courts: World Premiere (Movies)
Intermission (Music) and End Zone (Sports)
Caribbean Beach - Old Port Royale Food Court
Pop Century - Everything Pop Dining
Port Orleans French Quarter - Sassagoula Floatworks and Food Factory
Port Orleans Riverside - Riverside Mill Food Court

Kosher meals not offered at Garden View Afternoon Tea, Teppanyaki Dining Room, Gulliver's Grill, Palio, House of Blues, Planet Hollywood, Fulton's Crab House, Portobello Yacht Club, Yak & Yeti, Rainforest Cafe, Shula's Steakhouse, Todd English's bluezoo, and Fresh Mediterranean Market.

Prices for entrees are the same for adults and children except when ordering a kid's meal entree.

Dinner Show Prices: Guests are charged the regular dinner show prices. Guests will only receive one meal, this will not be all-you-care-to-eat.

Buffets and all-you-care-to-eat locations: Guests will only receive one meal, this will not be all-you-care-to-eat. Guest will be charged Kosher Meal price.

Credit Card Guarantee: Credit card is required as a guarantee. Full price of ordered meals will be charged if guest no-shows.

Packages: 1 appetizer, 1 entree and 1 dessert per guest apply to package plans (including Deluxe Magic, Grand Plan, etc.)

PACKAGING: Entrees are plated on an ovenable three compartment plastic dish, wrapped in a Kosher labeled ovenable bag. Entrees include a vegetable and starch accompaniment, two dinner rolls and stainless utensils. Pasta shells include only the vegetable, no starch. Meals are individually boxed.

VENDOR INFORMATION: Weberman products are Glatt Kosher and are certified by Orthodox Rabbinical Council of South Florida (O.R.C.) and by the National Koshruth organization (N.K.)

For menu pricing and menu specifics, please contact 407-WDW-DINE.

A very helpful reader, Eli, tells me that there is a kosher restaurant right off WDW property called Kosher Korner and it is off I-4 at exit 27 (Lake Buena Vista exit) and is under the rabbinical supervision of "HABAD".

READER FEEDBACK

Help other Vacationers by
Sending us Kosher Dining stories

Louis Gamerman, April 2008: I was recently at Walt Disney World (March 2008) and wanted to share my experiences with the kosher dining at WDW.

First off, as some have said, the kosher entrees at the parks can vary a little bit from park to park (a good thing!), so you may have a
chance for a pleasant change of pace if you eat at the different parks.

To give an example, I was able to get a pre-packaged, double-wrapped personal pizza at Pizzafari in Animal Kingdom, while a slightly different set of option was available at Cosmic Ray's in Magic Kingdom. So, it can vary, at least at places that provide kosher meals with no advance notice required. (All the table-service places seemed to have the same options, regardless of park).

Be aware that the hot dog and hamburger entrees are more like bagel dog and hamburger knishes, rather that what you might be expecting.

I highly recommend bringing a pair of small blunt child's scissors with you wherever you go, as it makes it dramatically easier to open the packages. The only place where they provided scissors for me was at the Hoop Dee Doo Revue (it seems the chef there must get a lot of
kosher requests, since he actually sent it out with the meal, without my even asking).

Be aware that the experience of chefs with preparing the kosher meals varies from restaurant to restaurant, and you may have to give
explicit directions about your expectations before they preppare the meal, if you want to avoid some surprises.

In particular, be aware that only the soups and main entrees appeared to be double-wrapped, but not the accompanying buns or dessert. Often, one of the chefs would try to be helpful and heat up the buns (or even sometime the strudel dessert) in the oven. In once place I'd eaten, the bag with the buns had actually burst from the heating and arrived opened (I hadn't throught to request that the chef specifically not put the buns in the oven, since other places hadn't done it previously).

As others have mentioned, the full entree meals should come with caterer provided silverware, and if they are missing, something is
wrong. (In Epcot, one restaurant misplaced the silverware, but was able to provide plastic ones as a replacement.)

At the resorts and take-out places, you'll need to specifically ask to see the kosher menu, as it's usually just a sheet of paper, shown
to guests upon request.

One interesting tip I hadn't considered, but which was very useful, was that even the value resorts had the full set of kosher meals from
the caterer, available on demand, at virtually any time, as long as they were open. For example, one night, I was able to grab a late
kosher meal around 11pm at the Everything Pop dining, which doesn't close until late. They had almost every kosher option that was available - soups, fast food entrees, dinner entrees, desserts, etc.

Lastly, I was actually at a WDW resort of Shabbos, so I had an interesting experience. Although I had brought along the LaBriute-style auto-heating meals and a hot water pot for instant ramen, oatmeal, etc. - I took advantage of the Everything Pop kosher meals to order my Shabbos night meal. I ordered it about a half-hour before candle-lighting, and the plastic kept it nice and warm until needed (also, you can get inventive and use a bed conforter as an insulator blanket, placing them over a LaBriute meals, if you brought any, and they also stay very warm until needed). For Shabbos day, I had some muffins and breads I'd brought with me from home. Since I didn't opt for $10 a night fridge in my room at Pop Century, I filled the resort-provided complementary ice bucket before Shabbos, and brought over some of the little butters (OU-D) and jellies from the Everything Pop dining. The ice bucket did a nice enough job keep the butter cold and ready for use as a Shabbos brunch.

Also another side tip for Shabbos observant guests - the resorts can often provide mechanical keys upon request, if you specifically ask
for them, allowing you to avoid issues with the electronic locks on Shabbos. (That being said, the Pop Century resort, where I stayed, had
rooms that opened directly into the outside, without a common lobby or inside hallway, so this didn't help me much, but might be useful at a more conventionally laid out Disney resort hotel).

Andrew G, October 2007: My family and I are strictly kosher -- with that in mind, we have learned that Disney is very, very accommodating for kosher diners.

We have stayed on site a number of times and even used the dining plan-- just keep a few things in mind:
Order in advance - for character meals, dinner shows or table service make your reservations early. It does take time and you will be asked to "order" your meal from a few choices of soups, entrees and deserts (different for adults and kids)weeks in advance while making the reservation. Food is provided by Weberman's of Miami. In addition to the meal, new silverware (from webermans) and papergoods are provided.

The staff is very accomodating and in many cases, the chef came out from the kitchen to ask us for specific directions (could we have drinks, did we want paper cups, fruit, etc.) --all in all, they try their hardest. During one character meal, Goofy made a big deal about the food we were eating as opposed to everyone around us - the kids loved it.

For counter service meals, each theme park and many on site hotels have meals available all the time-- the selection varies but meals (which are served heated and sealed) are quite good. My kids love them. It can take a while to get them once ordered. In Magic Kingdom, note that counter serivce meals are located in Cosmic Ray's but each "bay" only has one type of meal. It is listed on the overhead menu- if you want to order different meals, you must order at each bay.

Finally, many of the snacks and ice cream within the park are under relaible supervision. The carts even have the supervising agency listed.

All in all, you have to give Disney a lot of credit for their kosher meal service-- its come a long way.

Sara, February 2006: : I keep strictly Glatt kosher and just returned from my WDW vacation and wanted to give some, hopefully, valuable feedback. I stayed at POFQ and the chef there was wonderfully accomodating. She let me know that the kosher foods are all frozen and that all of them would take some time to prepare. I ordered the chicken strips. They were quite good. The potatoe croquettes were okay and the roll was good, the best I ate all week, I think the Chef prepared it the best. Although when I made my advanced dining reservations and was told that the Fantasmic Dining Package would only be the price of the kosher meal, at the Brown Derby, I was charged the Fantasmic price. I did complain and they took down the price a bit. I had the brisket with potatoes and mixed vegetables. It was really good and happens to be my favorite of all the dining choices I tried. I find that some of the CMs have experience with kosher diners and others have none. It is
important to state what your needs are up front, i.e., that they should not unwrap any of your food, etc. At Liberty Tree Tavern, I had the salmon with rice and carrots. It was okay and at first put me off since it had a really strong fishy smell. But I tasted it and it was fresh. It
was my least favorite meal. At Hoop Dee Doo, I had the brisket again. They charge you the regular Hoop Dee Doo price, just so you are aware. They did offer me a kosher dessert but since I don't do sugar, they gave me a piece of fruit, which was nice. I had the chicken with couscous and ratatouile at Restaurant Marrakesh. It was fair. I did have trouble with the CM understanding my needs but realized they probably rarely get any kosher customers there. I wanted to eat there for the fun atmosphere and was not disappointed. I also had the counter service hamburger at the American Adventure in Epcot and it was okay. I do find opening the packages to be a bit daunting at times, especially the soups. And speaking of soups, I had both the chicken matzo ball and the vegetable and both were good.

Howard Kaplan, January 2006: Our trip was in 1/06, we stayed at a non-Disney timeshare in the International Drive area. We ate one fast food meal at the Liberty Inn (American Adventure) in Epcot World Showcase. My daughter and I got the chicken tenders, my wife and son got the burgers. (Hot dogs are the 3rd choice).They all came with "potato croquettes". All in all not bad. The chicken tenders were better than the burgers, although they can't be crispy since the steam inside the plastic wrapping keeps things moist. We ate one sit-down dinner at the Yacht Club Galley. We pre-ordered two brisket dinners, one cheese lasagna, and one kids' mac n' cheese (before you flip out about the milk-and-meat thing, it doesn't matter. Each meal is totally sealed by itself, so it doesn't matter what anyone else is eating). The meal is served with sealed silverware, so you don't have to use plasticware. There's lots of leftover plastic wrap, though, once you're done opening your meal. We also got the vegetable soup, which tasted homemade. Everyone liked their food at this meal, except for the side dish which came with the lasagna (Asparagus kugel). We all shared one portion of chocolate cake for dessert. Each sit-down adult meal was $18 for the main course, $5 for soup, $5 for dessert (figures are close, not exact)... We had one more sit-down dinner at Hollywood & Vine in MGM, as part of the "Fantasmic Dinner Package." It was nice because drinks are served free since it's a buffet restaurant, although kosher patrons are served the pre-wrapped kosher meals. We had some confusion about the pricing structure. They normally charge a flat fee per person for the Fantasmic package (I think it's $22 per adult) for the all-you-can-eat treife buffet. When I made the reservations, I was led to believe that kosher patrons could order a kosher main dish, soup, and dessert for the same flat rate. After we ate, we were given a bill that was itemized for each individual kosher item, which added up to quite a bit more. When I politely explained to the waitress that we had been told otherwise, she checked with her manager, then very graciously reduced the bill. She explained that the person who took our reservations was mistaken, and that the kosher items were always itemized. At this meal my son and I had the glazed chicken breast, which came with couscous and ratatouille (I loved the sides, my 12 year old son hated them). My wife got the salmon, which came with rice and carrots. My daughter got the kids' hot dog, which came with potato croquettes (the same as at the fast-food stands). The area Publix supermarket had a very nice selection of kosher foods, including frozen Empire chickens, frozen ravioli, blintzes. pizza, etc.

Liz Fontek, January 2006: My husband, children and I were excited to try the kosher food at Cosmic Ray's. Figuring WDW had really upgraded the vegetarian options (we had a WONDERFUL experience thanks to the chef at Cinderella's Royal Table), we thought the reviews here for kosher food may be a bit outdated. Unfortunately, no staff member warned us how bad it was. My children cried over the soggy, wet, over-microwaved "chicken nuggets." My husband and I laughed at the chicken and pastrami sandwich. Lucky for us, keeping Glatt kosher is not our only option and we threw out the meals and went and ate veggie burgers and fries!

To add to kosher dining feedback: my husband decided to try the kosher lunch at Cosmic Ray's in the MK last December. We should have heeded the worries of the staff that it was not exactly as described and were we sure we wanted it. The whole thing came sealed correctly in plastic, but the meat (pastrami?) was covered with an unpleasant coating, the little roll over-steamed and dry simulataneously.

Luckily kosher was a choice, not a necessity, so he could have had something else, but it was a waste of $.(My chicken and mashed potatoes with carrots were fine as were our son's chicken strips.) So fruit and salads or off-property looks like the best way to go, at least in the parks. Try the vegetarian tips on AllEarsNet.com. (Sandra Givens, 3/2005)

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here is a kosher restaurant north of Orlando called Amiras. They now have a package (I am not sure of the price), where they will deliver 3 meals a day for a set price (I do not know if they are delivered on a daily basis or all at once). They will also do a Shabbat dinner as well. They have a flyer which I am sure can be sent upon request. The phone number is (407) 767-7577. They also have a store at the same location. Judy Segelin, 6/2003

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We just returned after a New Year's week in Disney 2002. The kosher menu offered by the restaurants at Disney has expanded since our last visit. We had the vegetarian pasta dish (shells), the chicken dish and the salmon dish. All were edible - of course each restaurant nukes the meals and sometimes the times vary and they might get overdone. They also had children's meals - we had the hotdogs and macaroni and cheese. I would pass on the mac and cheese unless your child isn't too picky and the hotdogs were fine but the buns get overdone in the microwave.

Stay away from breakfast would be my suggestion. The burrito is not good and the bagels etc are often still frozen. The price is steep for what you get ($24.99) although there is a break on the kids meals at $10 a pop.

We stayed at the Wilderness Lodge where the Roaring Fire Cafe has lots of kosher snacks and the gift shop does as well. The Kosher Korner restaurant also delivers to the resort if you don't have a car and if you do it is worth the 15 min. trip! (Nyspiv, 1/02)

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Kosher Korner has moved! It is now located in Kissimmee in the Quality inn 4944 W Irlo Bronson Hwy close to Wal-Mart. There is another Kosher Restaurant very close to Downtown Disney called the Lower East Side and its located on Palm Parkway Vista Center near Raddison and Comfort Inn just across the street from Sheraton safari. Another great oprion for people who do not have enoght money to eat out every day is to order from a Kosher warehouse called Koshe Katzits located Belle Park Eve, in Winter Springs (just across from the Winter Springs golf course). Phone is 407-696-8873. (Joav Koplowich, 3/01)

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Florence Vogel writes: A word about KOSHER FOOD at WDW. Breakfast and lunch we managed to find enough of a choice of kosher items at the food court at All Star Movies.

For dinner we went to Kosher Korner which is located in the Quality Inn at the intersection of 192 and 535. The food was great, service was good, and the prices were in line with the Kosher restaurants in New York City. Dinner for the three of us was $60.00.

They have a web site 'Kosher-Korner.com'. Alhough they don't officially open till 3:30 if you call in advance and place an order they will have it ready for you to pick up. Our flight was at 3pm so we ordered deli sandwiches for the plane and picked them up on our way at around 1:30; no problem. (2/01)

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Ron writes:

We recently visited WDW and had Kosher meals ordered. The first one we had was supposedly chicken medallions.

Of the four of us (my wife, two daughters and me) *none* of us could finish the meals. The Danziger food is, by far, worse than the worst airline kosher meals we have had.

We ended up eating almost nothing but salad. The good news is we all lost weight ...

I would *strongly* recommend anyone going to WDW to take along a good supply of your own food if you care about kashrut. [get off WDW property if you want kosher dining -- we were unable to do that] Even the salad choices there are barely acceptable to a *liberal* interpretation, and in many places the only food available is meat (read: pork. We had to go half-way around one of the parks once to find something we could eat).

I am disappointed that WDW doesn't have better vegetarian variety.

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Here is what I was told... You can order a kosher breakfast, lunch, or dinner at ANY WDW restaraunt (either in the theme parks or at a resort) as long as you call more than 24 hours in advance. For example, I made priority seating reservations at the Crystal Palace so we could have dinner with Winnie the Pooh. I have an order for 4 kosher meals. Same deal with breakfast at Cinderella's Castle. This is really convenient for those of us who want to have these experiences but need to comply with kosher dietary laws. The caterer is still Danziger from Lincolnwood, Illinois and they are under the Kof-K supervision and are glatt kosher. The food is not airline food....rather, they prepare the meals in Chicago and then freeze them and ship it off to Disney. Alright...maybe it is airline food... (Warren Fendrich, 7/00)

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Lou Kramberg writes:

KOSHER MEALS & TIPS: My daughter keeps kosher so we ordered kosher meals twice during our stay. She found both the salmon and the pepper steak meals to be very good, with the pepper steak to be the better of the two.

Tiffany Car Service gives you a 1/2 hour stop over in a supermaket at no additional cost. Go to Publix where you will find a very good supply of kosher certified foods. We brought an insulated container with ice packs, which we used to store the food. We then arrived at the All Star Movies Resort and checked our bags and the container (now stocked with kosher food) since our room was not ready. We returned that evening (8 hours later) to our room and transferred the food into the preordered refrigerator ($6 a night). And the All Star Movies Food Court has a number of certified kosher dairy and other food items for sale.