When I visited Disney World as a child, I remember Hollywood Studios (then called MGM Studios) being one of the highlights of the entire trip. I loved seeing all the live-action movie and television sets, scenes and props. The backlot tour is a fond memory, as was touring the Acme factory from “Who Framed Roger Rabbit.” These are all gone now, due largely to the park’s rebranding and the expansion to include the fully immersive Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge and the whimsical Toy Story Land. 

Unfortunately, my favorite Disney ride of all time – the Great Movie Ride – is also now a thing of the past. The park is way different now than when I visited as a child. It’s still a great place to visit, but I do believe it was the low point of our trip. That doesn’t mean that we didn’t get to chow down on some really good food, however! 

For breakfast on Hollywood Studios day, we revisited our hotel’s El Mercado de Coronado. Primarily out of convenience, but also so Katie could enjoy the world-famous Mickey waffles. They’re just … waffles. But for some reason, they’re really good. Is it the Mickey shape? Who knows. I gave them extra props for giving Katie a Minnie Mouse waffle (which I didn’t know they made) and for offering sugar-free syrup. I give these delicious morsels of nostalgia 4 / 5 Leavened, Rodent-Shaped Syrup Receivers.

Hollywood Studios

Our first culinary delight in the park was something we’d been looking forward to (and weirdly enough something Katie and I share an obscene passion for): Corn Dog Nuggets from KRNR The Rock Station Food Truck. Located just outside Aerosmith’s Rockin’ Roller Coaster, I can’t help but feel like eating is NOT on anyone’s agenda either before or after riding, but I’m glad we tracked these down. In our home video, I say “nobody loves corn dog nuggies quite like the Simpsons love corn dog nuggies” and I stand by that firmly. No photo, but these little nuggets of magic receive a full 5 / 5 “Don’t Ever Put Me On That Roller Coaster Again”s.

I really wanted to try Oga’s Cantina while we were in the Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge section of the park, but there was an enormous line and our Disney app more-or-less said “don’t even think about it,” so we didn’t. Instead, we found our way around to Muppet*Vision 3D where we enjoyed a delightfully hilarious performance that was preceded by a round of Cookies-and-Cream Gelatos from a kiosk near the entrance. We weren’t allowed to bring our treats inside so we happily indulged, waffle cones and all, at the front door. We loved this ice cream and gave it 4.5 / 5 Statler and Waldorfs.

Hungry for a savory late afternoon meal, we headed over to Rosie’s All-American Cafe at Sunset Ranch Market because Katie saw an enormous hot dog that she just had to try. While she threw down on her foot-long monstrosity (paired with a Strawberry Lemonade Slushy), I ordered the ⅓ lb Angus Bacon Cheeseburger and a Coke Zero. Her hotdog was A++ but her drink was too tart to drink and my burger reminded me of a high school cafeteria (in a bad way). This spot gets 2 / 5 Enormous Wieners.

Before we bowed out of Hollywood Studios, we decided to spend a snack credit over at Hollywood Scoops where they were featuring a dessert called the Enchanted Rose. This very sweet dessert is a beautiful rose made from dark-chocolate mousse and a cherry-chocolate shortbread cookie with whipped cookies-and-cream “fluff.” It was beautiful but fell flat in the flavor department. 1 / 5 Very Angry Beasts.

Animal Kingdom

By the time our final day in Disney had arrived, we had spent all of our quick-service credits and all but two of our table-service credits. This meant that our tour of Animal Kingdom would involve either paying for our food or utilizing our still large bank of snacks to get by. We started the day with one last visit to El Mercado de Coronado where we spent two snack credits on a massive cinnamon roll and a pink-iced donut that looked like the classic Homer Simpson snack. Both were heavenly and the cashier, in a flustered hurry, neglected to count my iced coffee as a third snack. These sweet treats plus the freebie come together to give this breakfast 4.5 / 5 D’OHs!

Our first indulgence in the kingdom of animals was at food kiosk Isle of Java in Discovery Island. There, we used a snack credit to pick up a Mickey-shaped pretzel with “plastic cheese” and two frozen Rum and Cokes! Did you read that? FROZEN RUM AND COKES!? Are you even kidding me? I told Katie “If we didn’t have to pay $15 a pop for these, I could easily get kicked out of the park because of them.” People who know me well know that rum and Diet Coke is my signature cocktail … and those who have been with me whilst stress eating at Burger King will know that there aren’t many beverages I love more than a frozen Coke. This place puts the two together and it was a beautiful thing. We sucked down those gorgeous frozen cocktails at a picnic table while enjoying the giant flakes of salt and gooey fake cheese soaking our soft pretzel. I give it 4.5 / 5 Very Cold Captain Morgans.

At the recommendation of many folks on YouTube, we made sure to stop by the Yak and Yeti Café for an afternoon snack. The place has a very cool facade in the park’s Asia region with ample seating and a good-sized menu for a quick-service café. There, we each got a Fried Rice Snack and a Snack Egg Roll. Both were good but not anything better than we can get at our local Rice King. Good, but whatever – a solid 3 / 5 Yetis and Yaks.

After we’d made our rounds through the animal walking tours and the beautifully immersive Pandora wing of the park, Katie wanted to make sure we spent our last two snack credits on some massive ice cream sandwiches we’d seen on YouTube. Over at Dino-Bite Snacks in DinoLand U.S.A., we scooped up two Dino Dig Ice Cream Sandwiches. When I tell you these were massive, I mean that wholeheartedly. The vanilla ice cream is sandwiched between two big-as-ya-head sugar cookies and topped with sprinkles, cookie crumbs, sugary bones and a white-chocolate dinosaur. These were insane and eating too many of them would make you go extinct, but as one of my trainers recently said, “When in Disney …” We gave these final snacks 4 / 5 Life-Ending Asteroids.

With that, our time in the Disney parks was over, but our culinary adventure was not. In fact, our finale would go on to be one of the best meals of our trip. When looking at reviews of Coronado Springs Resort’s Maya Grill on Google, you’ll see most folks singing its praises, while a good number of naysayers put it down, saying the service wasn’t pleasant, food wasn’t fresh and apparently the in-house guitar player is a phony. I chose to err on the side of the cheerleaders and made our dinner reservations for 7:30 pm that evening and we were SO GLAD WE DID! 

Maya Grill is an elevated Mexican restaurant and to be honest, I wasn’t terribly impressed with the interior. The restaurant decor seemed a little dated and cheap for an elevated establishment, but I was still game as this sort of thing doesn’t usually bother me. I regrettably do not remember our server’s name, though I did give him props through the Disney app because he was the best server we had our entire trip. He was very helpful when it came to describing exactly how our dinner would work since we were utilizing our final two table-service credits on the Disney Dining Plan.

There would be no (free) chips and salsa, which was a little strange for us but we were cool with it, opting to order the Ahi Tuna Tostadas (tuna tartar with avocado, salsa macha, lime aioli and cucumber) which wasn’t included on our plan, but we agreed to pay for. We also ordered a pair of cocktails: Katie’s Piña del Sol (pineapple margarita made with Mezcal and Reposado with a Tajín rim) and my La Luz (rum cocktail made with a mandarin orange rum liqueur). Both of these were the best drinks we had on the entire trip – we ordered two rounds, though round two was not included on the dining plan.

In lieu of ordering two separate entrees, we were allowed to combine our credits to order the sharable Maya Grill Parrillada, which is more-or-less glorified mixed-protein fajitas. But make no mistake – when I say “glorified” I mean that in a very flattering way! These fajitas were made with perfectly-grilled steak (actually grilled to the right temperature), grilled shrimp and crispy grilled chicken thighs. The usual peppers and onions accompanied, as did the side of Spanish rice and refried beans. Everything about this dish was perfect – from the tenderness of the steak and the crispiness of the chicken to the perfectly cooked shrimp (most places overcook it). They nailed it in every regard.

Somehow, the dinner still wasn’t done, but we were. Since desserts were included, we ordered a Cuatro Leches Bizcocho de Maiz (sweet-corn cake soaked in four milks and topped with meringue) and Mexican Choco-Flan (exactly what it sounds like) to go. We’d stash these in the hotel room fridge and scarf them for breakfast before heading to the airport the next day.

Overall, we give Maya Grill 5 / 5 Who Needs Chips and Salsas?

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To say that Disney World has come a long way since I ate the “Yuckiest Chicken in the World” when I was eight would be the understatement of the century. Sure, we encountered more than a handful of duds, but we overall really enjoyed our dining experience while visiting the parks.

Final Scores:

Hollywood Studios: 3.3 / 5

Animal Kingdom: 4.2 / 5

Overall Disney Score: 3.8 / 5

Also, for what it’s worth, as frustrated as I was with the Disney Dining Plan, I do think it’s a great value for what you pay. You’d be wise to read as much about it as you can before traveling so you don’t get taken for a ride like we did on the table-service meals. Also, the Google reviewer who doubted the Maya Grill guitar player’s chops was huffing glue. They claimed the music kept playing even though he wasn’t touching his guitar … it’s pretty obvious he’s playing along with a backing track.

Oh, and to wrap this part up – I didn’t buy Katie the Minnie Mouse comb/brush set, though I definitely wanted to. I don’t think we even looked for one. I might put one in her stocking this year if she’s a good girl.

Ever onward, Disney Adults!