Welcome to the next installment of Tasty Tuesday! This week’s focus is on Sunshine Seasons in EPCOT. If you read my post on The Garden Grill way back when, it will be no surprise to you that I would be covering the other restaurant in The Land pavilion in EPCOT. Sunshine Seasons is a quick service restaurant in EPCOT and is located downstairs in the pavilion next to Soarin’. Like The Garden Grill, Sunshine Seasons gets many of the its ingredients fresh from the greenhouses in the Living the Land ride, also located in The Land pavilion.
In addition to the fresh ingredients, Sunshine Seasons also has some of my favorite allergy friendly quick service food at Walt Disney World. You can see from the menu above that there are many different (and healthy!) options for people to choose from. You can ask for the allergy friendly menu at the cashier, who should have an allergy friendly menu for both breakfast and lunch/dinner.
When the grill is open, my favorite menu item to get is the rotisserie chicken, which comes with rice and beans. The last time I ordered this meal, I subbed in green beans and potatoes instead of the rice and beans because I wanted more veggies and fresh carbs with my meal, but both options are delicious. What I like most about this meal is that both the chicken and the potatoes are always seasoned well, and the green beans are only cooked in a little bit of oil and garlic. Everything in this meal dairy, gluten/wheat, and egg free as well. Ugh, my mouth is watering just looking at this picture!!
On my last trip, the grill was not open, and so I opted to try the sweet-and-sour chicken. This meal is dairy and egg free, and so I knew going into this meal that I may have a little bit of a stomachache from the wheat/gluten used in the dish (usually found in the sauces used to make the dish, i.e. soy or teriyaki). However, the sweet-and-sour chicken was delicious! I was surprised about how fresh it tasted, as it had fresh chicken, fruit (pineapples), and veggies mixed into the dish. Minor stomachache aside, this was another win for Sunshine Seasons!
Another benefit to Sunshine Seasons is that the restaurant usually has an allergy friendly dessert option as well that is NOT only sorbet. I honestly could make a whole post about all of the Walt Disney World restaurants that only have sorbet as an allergy friendly dessert option, but I digress. I had seen on several social media sites that Sunshine Seasons had a vegan cupcake that I did not want to miss out on. At the time I took the picture of the Sunshine Seasons menu, this cupcake had not yet made its debut, and so it is not listed above. However, as you can see, there are several others options available to those who have food allergies.
The vegan cupcake is super cute and was a complete home run for me! The cupcake is beautiful, meant to replicate a sundae. I am not a huge fan of maraschino cherries, so I put that off to the side. I loved the combination of the vanilla frosting mixed with the fudge-y chocolate topping, and the vanilla cake was yummy, but slightly dry. The best part of the cupcake, in my opinion, was the surprise filling on the inside: pineapple and coconut! The filling added a bit of moisture that the cupcake itself needed, and it balanced out the whole dessert. Overall, I was very pleased with the vegan cupcake and will definitely order it again the next time I am at Walt Disney World. (NOTE: The cupcake is only vegan and not gluten/wheat free.)
Thank you foe reading my review of Sunshine Seasons! And here’s to living our best and most delicious lives. <3
~ Meagan
Meagan has been living with many food allergies and sensitivities since she was 19 years old. She is currently a Personal Vacation Advisor for Magical Vacation Planner, specializing in helping her guests book trips to Walt Disney World and Universal Orlando Resort. Meagan enjoys researching fitness and nutrition and has taken a special interest in finding allergy friendly options at Walt Disney World.
Interested in having Meagan help you plan your next trip? Send her an email at m.slone@magicalvacationplanner.com or get a free quote at https://magicalvacationplanner.com/staff/meagan-slone/!
