Holiday treats at Disneyland

The weather in Southern California is finally getting colder, and Disneyland has the perfect beverage to warm up for this chilly weather.

Even though it is available year round, the Hot Cocoa is the ideal drink to celebrate the Holidays at the Disneyland Resort. 

Delicious Hot Cocoa

This was my first time trying the Hot Cocoa at Jolly Holiday Bakery Cafe, and I was happy that I did. 

At first sip, I felt like I was drinking my mom’s homemade hot chocolate sitting in front of the TV, watching Christmas movies.

It had just the right amount of whipped cream on top to cool it off a bit. 

Sometimes hot chocolates do not taste very good, but Disney knew exactly how to make it feel homemade.

To add-on, I decided it would be best to accompany the hot cocoa with the Pumpkin Cheesecake. After trying the Pumpkin Spice Shake, and the Pumpkin Muffin—I was unsure of what to expect from this dessert.

Pumpkin Cheesecake

When I took a bite of the cheesecake, I was amazed at how delicious it was. It had a sufficient amount of pumpkin, and it was not too sweet either.

Disney completely redeemed itself after the first two pumpkin fails. The Pumpkin Cheesecake was my favorite treat from Disneyland this year.

These treats got me excited to celebrate Christmas this year with my extended family. 

All photos taken by me.

Pumpkin Fever at Disneyland

The fall season is the perfect time to visit pumpkin patches and try everything that is pumpkin flavored at Disneyland.

The “bland” Pumpkin Muffin

My friend Jizelle and I went to Jolly Holiday Bakery Cafe on Main Street U.S.A. to try the Pumpkin Muffin.

Let me just say, I did not like it as much as I wanted to.

Presentation-wise, it is very bland to look at. It looks like a plain muffin with hard icing on top.

There was not enough icing on top to make it look presentable, and also the icing was a bit hard. When I tapped it with a spoon, it felt hard as a rock. It completely fell apart when I took a bit of icing.

I was disappointed when I took the first bite because the icing looked really good, but it was too hard to enjoy with the muffin.

The flavoring of the muffin by itself was good — it did not have too much pumpkin flavor like the Pumpkin Spice Shake, a pumpkin spice beverage that I tried last month, but did not enjoy.

The Pumpkin Muffin with “hard as rock” icing

However, the muffin was dry, so I could have enjoyed this more if it was a bit more moist. 

Overall, I would not recommend this treat. Fortunately, Disneyland has other pumpkin flavored treats, so maybe third times the charm.

All photos taken by me.

Halloween Time ends with Maleficent’s Curse

The Mistress of Evil is back, and she is ready to share her themed churro at Disneyland.

The Maleficent Churro can only be found in front of Sleeping Beauty Castle.

My friend Jizelle and I were excited to try this churro for two reasons. One because the new Maleficent: Mistress of Evil movie just came out in theaters, and two because we love churros.

The Maleficent churro “casting a spell” over Disneyland
(photo taken by me)

At first glance, it just looked like a black churro, but as we took pictures we realized it had green sugar on top to give it that Maleficent touch.

To fully enjoy this churro, buy the $1 marshmallow dipping sauce.

It is delicious either way, but we recommend with the dipping sauce.

When I saw that it was marshmallow dipping sauce, I was a bit hesitant to buy it. My main concern was that it was going to make a sticky mess, like maple syrup.

Fortunately, I was wrong because I do not like eating sweets that get too sticky, and all over my hands.

The thing I liked the most about the dipping sauce was that it was not overpowering. The combination of the churro and marshmallow dipping sauce worked well together.

Original Oreo cookies
(photo courtesy of Flickr user Torben Hansen)

On the menu, it says that the churro is covered with chocolate cookie crumbles, and it is not wrong. 

However, at first bite, you can instantly tell it is Oreo cookie crumbs. I am not saying there is anything wrong with that since I love Oreo cookies. 

It was worth the $5.75 because it had a great taste, and it was not too sweet either.

The only too sweet item I had this Halloween season was the Pumpkin Spice Shake. It was way too sweet for a shake.

Disney has become infamous for its churros, and nowadays, no Disney trip is complete without a churro. 

In the summer of 1985, Disneyland Food and Beverage’s Jim Lowman was responsible for making churros a Disney staple. 

For Halloween and Christmas Time, Disney Parks always brings themed churros for guests to enjoy.

This year, there were a total of ten churros to celebrate Halloween Time. 

The Haul-O-Ween churro
(photo courtesy of Flickr user Laika ac)

Some of the churros I would have liked to enjoy were the Bride churro, Haul-O-Ween churro, and the Horchata churro. It would have been a great way to enjoy The Haunted Mansion’s 50th anniversary and Día de Los Muertos at Disneyland.

Unfortunately, I only had time to enjoy the Maleficent churro. 

Regardless, it was delicious, and I am excited to see what Disney-themed churros will come for the holiday season.

Chills and Thrills with Minnie Witch

Halloween Time is once again coming to an end at Disneyland.

The best way to end the spooky season is by eating a treat inspired by a classic Disney character, Minnie Mouse.

The Minnie Witch Ice Cream Bar

This sugary sweet is named the Minnie Witch Ice Cream Bar, and is available at Clarabelle’s Hand-Scooped Ice Cream in Disney California Adventure.

It is a vanilla bean ice cream bar that is dipped in dark chocolate. The iconic mouse ears are created with two chocolate discs.

To add some personality to the dessert, it is topped with white, green, black and orange sprinkles.

No witch is complete without their pointy hat. Since Minnie is known for her big bows, her hat is purple with an orange bow.

Vanilla is my favorite ice cream flavor, and the taste was really good, which was expected. 

The dark chocolate was also very tasty, and it also did not melt so fast. It obtained its shape until I was done eating it.

However, as the saying goes, “appearances can be deceiving.” I am specifically talking about the Minnie hat, it is very cute, but it tasted like fondue and strong food coloring.

To add on, I took one bite and the entire hat fell off.

My friend and I enjoying our ice cream!

The appearance is adorable, but if you do not want to eat the bow then maybe considering not getting it.

All photos taken by me.

Happy Haunts at Disney California Adventure

R.I.P. (Rest in Peace-Strami) Fries are haunting Hollywood Land at Disney California Adventure.

These eerie fries are available at ​Award Wieners​, known for its variety of hot dogs and fries. The Rest in Peace-Strami Fries are filmstrip fries topped with thinly-sliced pastrami, caramelized onions, pickles and mustard sauce.

Halloween Time specials at Award Wieners

My friend Jizelle and I were concerned the fries plate would be too big, so we only ordered one. However, we were surprised at how small the plate really was.

On the menu, it looked like a huge mountain of fries with pastrami, but the moment we got them, we knew it was overpriced.

For something so small, spending $8.99 was not worth it.

Furthermore, a miscommunication occurred where we were charged $10.29 for something we did not order. After we explained what happened to the cashier, we got our order right.

Despite the mix-up, the fries were tasty.

It was obvious that the cooks took time to adorn each plate as it is pictured on the menu.

Detailing of the R.I.P-Strami Fries

The pastrami pieces were sliced thin, and cut into tiny pieces on top of the fries. At times, I thought a couple of the onion pieces were pastrami, but it added flavor to the fries.

The mustard sauce was drizzled across the treat to give it some character.

As far the pickles, there were not many and it had about one in each corner of the plate.

I am not a big fan of pickles, so when I saw that it had pickles, I was afraid it would ruin the meal.

However, the pickles did not affect the flavor at all. When I took a bite, I did not feel the sour taste that I usually get when eating pickles.

The overall taste was satisfying and I liked that all the toppings mixed well together on top of the fries.

The only thing that fell short was the distribution of the toppings.

When we took our first bites, it had an even amount to enjoy with the fries. Though when we got towards the end of the meal, the only thing left were the plain filmstrip fries.

It was the same issue that I had with The Slow Burnin’ Mac ‘n’ Cheese Cone, everything was dumped on top of the meal.

Our Halloween-themed meal

They should learn how to spread the toppings across evenly so that every fry gets at least a little bit of flavor to it.

Overall, despite its price and uneven distribution of toppings, I would recommend eating the Rest in Peace-Strami Fries, they are simply to ​die for.

All photos taken by me.

Spicy Treat returns to Disneyland’s Halloween Time

Ka-Chow. Lightning McQueen and Tow Mater are serving up a spicy treat for those visiting Cars Land at Disney California Adventure.

The Slow Burnin’ Mac ‘n’ Cheese Cone is a returning treat at Halloween Time, and its spiciness does not disappoint.

The Slow Burnin’ Mac ‘n’ Cheese Cone

This was my first time having spicy mac ‘n’ cheese, and let me just say that I would definitely eat it again. 

The picante treat has spicy red pepper cheese sauce topped with crushed chile-cheese puffs served in a bread cone.

It reminded me of Hot Cheetos with nacho cheese that people sell in Mexican food trucks. The only difference is that the Hot Cheetos are crushed on the top. 

I was really excited about trying this because I love Hot Cheetos. It is my all-time favorite snack, and I knew I would enjoy the mac and cheese. 

The black bread cone was delicious too. When I finished the mac and cheese, there was leftover cheese sauce inside the cone, creating a savory taste that kept it from being dry.

Unlike the Hades Dog, it was not messy, and I did not drop all the condiments on my plate. 

The Cozy Cone Motel Halloween specialty

It was spicy, but I could eat it without burning my mouth. 

If spicy food is your favorite, or even if you just love Hot Cheetos, you will savor this treat.

All photos taken by me.

Oui, Be Our Guest

Bon Appétit. Lumière has something delicious and no, it is not the grey stuff.

The Red Rose Taverne has introduced two new desserts to welcome Halloween Time at Disneyland.

The Black Rose Dessert is a black (dark chocolate) truffle mousse with a raspberry filling, crunchy center and topped with edible glitter.

The “Enchanted Black Rose” (photo by me)

It was really soft to eat, and the dark chocolate with the raspberry was a nice combination. I am not a fan of raspberries, but I found myself enjoying each bite.

Its crunchy center helped balance out the very soft texture of the dessert, and the inside of the dessert was the most delicious, as it combined all the ingredients into one bite.

So far, it is my favorite dessert from Halloween Time. Also I am somewhat being biased since Beauty and The Beast is my favorite Disney movie, but even if it were not, I would still say it is on the top of my list.

As for appearances, it definitely reminds me of the Enchanted Rose from the movie. Overall, I would highly recommend this dessert, especially if you love dark chocolate.

The second dessert is the Pumpkin Spice Shake, a frozen blend of white chocolate and pumpkin spice with salted caramel and whipped cream.

The Pumpkin Spice Shake (photo by me)

I am going to be honest about this one because I had a feeling I was not going to like it as much. I was right.

The problem was not the flavor at all, nor was it hard to sip. The main problem I had with it was the salted caramel crumbs on top. I do not like biting on something solid when I am drinking a beverage. It was disappointing because the flavor of the shake was really good.

If I could change one thing about this dessert, it would be to definitely remove the crumbs. As I lowered the straw to drink it without crumbs, it tasted a lot better.

Pumpkin Spice Latte (Photo by Flicker user Push Doctor)

Perhaps I am being a bit harsh on the shake since the only con is the crumbs, but I want to be able to enjoy my drink without constantly chewing on something solid.

If you do not mind munching on crumbs, then I would recommend it, but if not then it would be best not to try it.

The next time I am in the mood for a pumpkin beverage, I am going to head to Starbucks instead for a Pumpkin Spice Latte (PSL). I know I am being a “basic white girl,” but if I were choose between the two, I would choose the PSL.

Let’s take a trip to the Underworld.

One of the most infamous and beloved Disney villains, Hades, has a fiery Halloween treat to share with guests.

The Hades Dog is a must-have Halloween time specialty for spicy food lovers.

The Hades Dog accompanied with Lays Classic chips.

This flaming hot treat can be found at Refreshment Corner for only $11.49 (For annual pass holders, it is $10.53)

The foot-long all-beef hot dog is accompanied by harissa aīoli, sauteéd peppers, oven-dried tomatoes, lemon-picked cucumbers and feta cheese.

As a fan of spicy food, I was really excited to try this, but I was only able to eat half of it since it was really spicy.

The first bite was not too spicy, but as you get into the middle of the hot dog, where most of the condiments are, it gets spicier with each bite. The combination of the harissa aioli and the sauteéd peppers is what makes the Hades Dog so flaming hot.

The Hades Dog

Another thing I found a bit disappointing was how messy it was to eat. Every time I took a bite, I kept dropping the condiments on my plate.

Even so, no matter how much I dropped, the spicy flavor always gave me a kick.

I definitely felt like I was eating the fiery sensation of Hades’ hair whenever he gets angry about something.

I would recommend the Hades Dog to anyone who enjoys spicy foods.

All photos taken by me.

Halloween sweets are taking over Disneyland

Chocolate Coffee Yule Log.

It is officially spooky season at the Disneyland Resort, which means Main Street, U.S.A. is decorated with pumpkins, Disney villains are ready to interact with guests and a variety of frightfully delicious treats are available for all to enjoy.

My friend Jizelle and I decided to explore some of these tasty treats to celebrate Halloween.

Our first place was Plaza Inn, a buffet style restaurant which offers breakfast, lunch and dinner. However, this time we wanted to savor the desserts that Plaza Inn has to offer.

This is not our first time here, so we know the kind of quality of food Plaza Inn gives to their guests. We usually get the chicken dinner, which is basic, but very delicious.

Plaza Inn provides three seasonal treats to try: Monster Halloween Cake, Chocolate Coffee Yule Log and Halloween Minnie Mouse Cake.

They are all available to eat for only $5.99, which is not too pricey since it is Disneyland and everything tends to be expensive there. 

We tried the Chocolate Coffee Yule Log first, and while we were impressed with the decorations, it was not as moist as the other cakes. 

I usually like coffee but it was not my favorite thing to eat there. It had a bland taste to it.

Monster Halloween Cake topped with a bat to add a spooky vibe.

The next thing we tried was the Monster Halloween Cake it gave us orange soda flavor at first bite, but it faded away as we kept eating it. Overall, the buttercream took away the flavor of the cake because it had so many cream layers in between. 

We barely felt the taste of chocolate in our mouths.

The last cake we tried was the Halloween Minnie Mouse Cake, and we both agreed that it was the best of all three. We also liked the Witch Minnie Mouse on the top.

In a review in the WDW News Today, Ciara Trexler wrote that “the Bundt cake is a little dry.”

She was right. 

We both agreed that the Bundt cake alone would be too dry, but the frosting on top helped build texture and flavor. 

Even though it was a bad idea to eat all three of them in one sitting, we can both agree that they took a lot of effort in decorating each one. 

Halloween Minnie Mouse Cake.

In the end, Halloween Minnie Mouse Cake was first choice then Monster Halloween Cake and the worst one for us was Chocolate Coffee Yule Log.

If we get the chance to go to Plaza Inn again before Halloween Time is over, we would give these three cakes another chance.

All photos by me.