Magically Fatty Disney World

Disney World is a dangerous place in a post-op world. If you are not familiar with the dining plan or the restaurants in the parks and at the resorts it can be very difficult to get the proper protein you need and be able to enjoy your vacation. I am an experienced Disney World patron and I knew what I was getting myself into and which restaurants would be best for me but unfortunately getting reservations isn’t always possible. I was there for a week and sometimes I had no choice but to slip up or else I wasn’t going to have anything to eat again until the next morning.

 The number one rule about maintaining your diet while trapped in Disney (Yes, you are trapped unless you drove there or want to pay for expensive cab rides off the property.) is to avoid Quick Service meals. This is Disney’s answer to fast food, they may not have a McDonald’s but the food is just as bad and very hard on the digestion system. With the Deluxe Dining plan everything comes with an appetizer, entrée and desert. If you are post-op like me, a lot of food will be wasted. I hate the thought of wasting food but they are insistent on giving you everything you paid for so whole plates may go untouched. Having knowledge on what the menus look like, which parks are offering extra magic hours and what you tolerate is the key to success. All hours and menus can be accessed at http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/ if you click on the park and the dining options it will show you all the restaurants including Quick Service restaurants. It is important to find at least one Quick Service for emergency dining. For me, Magic Kingdom restaurants did not really offer anything I can eat and getting a reservation at Cinderella’s Castle and the new Be Our Guest restaurant is very difficult. I came up with Pinocchio Haus as my one Magic Kingdom dining contingency plan. There, I had the meatball sub and just ate two meatballs off the bread and nothing else. The meatballs were a bit dry and I did have to sip some water with them even though I am not supposed to drink with my meals. Small sips were better than risking getting a dry meatball stuck. My stomach was very uncomfortable afterwards but if I didn’t eat I would have had to wait until morning because the restaurants don’t stay open as late as the parks do.

On the dining plan you can eat at any Disney Park restaurant that accepts the dining plan, three great recommendations: The Brown Derby in Hollywood Studios (Make reservations.), The Crab House in Downtown Disney and Planet Hollywood in Downtown Disney. The first two are signature dining restaurants and will deduct two points off your dining plan but are completely worth it. The Brown Derby offers an array of fine dining protein from a delicious snow crab appetizer to chicken and steak (If you are up to that in your post op stage.). The Crab House has a large variety of delicious high in protein crab and lobster, if you are with non seafood eaters their dinner menu also offers a great variety of steak, chicken and pasta for them. Also, I recommend their tomato, goat cheese and chicken pasta (Eat around the pasta.). Planet Hollywood also offers a variety of things you can pick on; the chicken tostadas have a delicious shredded chicken you can eat off the top as a filling appetizer or the tomato and mozzarella is also a hearty appetizer. I had the LA Lasagna which is deep fried lasagna tubes filled with sauce and ricotta. I only ate the insides. Be prepared for wait staff at most restaurants to say something about not finishing your plate or the way you picked through your food. My response is, “I eat like a five year old, I have to separate and examine everything.” It gets a laugh and gets them to leave you alone. I tried to avoid most deserts or ordered something small that I could give the impression that it was touched. Epcot also offers a great variety of restaurants in their World Showcase. The Mexican restaurants are excellent and it is very easy to separate the chicken from the enchiladas and everything typically comes with black beans. Don’t be afraid of Disney dining, just do your research and you won’t have a problem getting the protein you need. I’m still not a breakfast eater so I packed a six pack of Boost shakes in a hard suitcase and was able to get V8 on the premises.

I was nervous about rides and roller coasters. I still have a fear I might pop a stitch or bust open my new stomach but everything was fine even on Splash Mountain. I was happy that I fit on rides better than I did last year but I did get slammed around a lot more because I am smaller so be aware of that possibility.  I do not recommend going to Disney if you are not on solids yet or still healing. If you are still on the liquid diet or mushy portion it is going to be very difficult. Hold off any Disney planning until you are into your solid portion and know what you can handle. I would like to be able to tell you whether or not I have lost weight during my vacation but I must admit that I am nervous about weighing myself. I don’t want to see those numbers even go up by a pound even though my portions were small, Disney food is just so fattening. I’m working up the courage to weigh myself but for now I’m just going to enjoy the memories.