Walt Disney World Epic Ice Cream Crawl Part One

Walt Disney World Epic Ice Cream Crawl Part One

When your boss asks you to do an ice cream crawl piece, the first thing that pops in your head is Yesssssssssssssssss Sweet!  It has been a couple of weeks and it is not only sweet to have been working on this but also many calories that I will now need to work off. When making the list of where I needed to go I soon figured out I needed help with this, so I grabbed family members and a friend to go along with me.  There is no place better for this assignment than Walt Disney World! Almost every Disney restaurant has ice cream on the menu. There are so many soft serve and hand dipped ice cream locations that they can’t all be visited. Just counting restaurants that serve ice cream and ice cream shops at Walt Disney World, the count is well over 100. I don’t know how many of those ice cream treat carts are out there, but add that to the over 100 restaurants and you have quite a few to visit.  I chose to focus on the big guns of ice cream that is readily available to most Disney guests and are unique in some way.  You are not very far from ice cream no matter where you are in Walt Disney World. Some of the ratings surprised me as I sampled ice cream from places I only dreamed about enjoying before and now got to try.  I hope that you can use this list to find your favorite ice cream!

Magic Kingdom:

 Top Choice (shared with Dole Whips) at Magic Kingdom: Plaza Ice Cream Parlor–Magic Kingdom Main Street U.S.A. – some dining plans accepted, no discounts given.  You have probably noticed a line of people spilling outside onto the sidewalk, especially right before a parade on Main Street U.S.A., and this would be the place they are going to.  This sits on the corner; opposite Casey’s Corner restaurant at the Castle end of Main Street U.S.A. (The Plaza Restaurant is next door and also serves great ice cream concoctions for dessert, reservations required at the restaurant). This little shop puts out a lot of ice cream and has become a must-do for many families. Grab your choice and snag a spot on Main Street to watch the parade from.  We went just before the parade and were very pleased with how quickly our order was filled.  We ordered the All American Sundae $5.39; Mixed Waffle Sundae with chocolate and vanilla ice creams $5.39. and a single dip of strawberry ice cream with hot fudge topping $4.28.  The All American Sundae is old-fashioned vanilla and chocolate ice cream with hot fudge, peanut butter drizzle, whipped cream, and a cherry. There were two people sharing this and they were very satisfied with this sundae and said they felt this was the superior ice cream to any other they had tried that day.  There were two people sharing the Waffle Sundae and were also very satisfied with eating just half of it.  They liked the flavor of the ice cream and the fun of eating the waffle bowl in pieces after the ice cream was done.  I had the strawberry with hot fudge. The ice cream serving of a “single dip” was far more than just one dip and the flavor was really quite good with pieces of strawberries in the ice cream. Plaza Ice Cream is a new passion.  Try it, you will not be disappointed.  Not only was the ice cream the outstanding in flavor and consistency, but this shop is more affordable than most.  It was “way better than Ghirardelli” according to those who ate there earlier in the day.  You do need park admission to get to it, but it is still rated the best value and best in flavor. A very popular item guests get here is the Ice Cream Cookie Sandwich $5.25, two freshly made chocolate chip cookies served with your choice of hand-scooped ice cream. I have had that before and it is big.  The cookie sandwich is large enough for two, especially if it is hot out because it will melt quickly.  Kids can get a special Mickey Mouse ice cream cone with one scoop of vanilla ice cream in a dish with two chocolate discs for “ears”,  for $2.99. Double-scoop ice cream cones with your choice of two flavors is only $4.29. 

The Plaza Restaurant, some dining plans accepted, some discounts available. Magic Kingdom between Main Street and Tomorrowland, serve Hand-Dipped Milk Shakes $4.99, Plaza Restaurant Sundae $5.49: ice cream of your choice topped with choice of Hot Fudge, Strawberry Sauce, Crushed Pineapple, Chopped Nuts, Whipped Cream, Cherry.  Original Banana Split $8.49: ripe banana, three scoops of ice cream(vanilla, chocolate, strawberry) topped with Hot Fudge, Strawberry Sauce, Crushed Pineapple,  chopped nuts, whipped cream, cherry. Brownie Sundae $6.49: vanilla ice cream and a Fudge Brownie topped with Hot Fudge, whipped cream, and a cherry.

Top Choice (shared with Plaza Ice Cream) for Magic Kingdom: Aloha Isle-Adventureland, Magic Kingdom, some dining plans accepted, no discounts available. This is one of the four locations Dole Whips are sold in the World (not just Walt Disney World, THE World!).  There is a cult following of the Dole Whip and even on very cold days you will find us waiting in line for a Dole Whip.  Yes, it is just that good.  A Dole Whip consists of your choice of pineapple, orange, vanilla soft-serve ice cream or any combo of that swirled served in a cup for $3.79.  We cultists search out the Pineapple Float though; it has your choice of soft-serve vanilla, pineapple or orange dole whip with Pineapple Juice.  For me it is pineapple all the way $4.99.  There is nothing like it.  The only other place to get a Dole Whip at Walt Disney World is the Polynesian Resort Capt. Cook’s (No park admission required there though.)

Credit: DisneyDining.com

Auntie Gravity’s Galactic Goodies, Tomorrowland, Magic Kingdom, some dining plans accepted, no discounts. This is my kids favorite soft serve location in Walt Disney World. They are sure it is the best flavor and consistency of all the soft serve locations.  Here you can get a Soft-Serve cone or cup for $3.49 in chocolate, vanilla or twist. You can also get ice cream floats $4.49, Caramel Sundaes $4.59, Hot Fudge Sundae $4.59, or Strawberry Sundae for $4.59. This ice cream shop is also popular for Iced Coffee Floats in three flavors for $4.49 each. One side of AGGG has the name sign, the other simply says “Ice Cream and Smoothies” and adjoins to Merchant of Venus gift shop.

Liberty Tree Tavern: some Disney dining plans accepted.  At lunch you can select their famous Ooey Gooey Toffee Cake $7.49 which is vanilla cake with a gooey toffee filling, caramel sauce and vanilla ice cream. There is a Fruit Crisp $5.49 and Johnny Appleseed Cake$7.49, both served with homemade ice cream. At dinner the only dessert choice is the Johnny Appleseed Cake with ice cream. $7.49

Sleepy Hollow, Liberty Square, serves up several ice cream choices such as: Ice Cream Cookie Sandwich $4.19; Chocolate or Vanilla ice cream cup $3.49. Coffee Floats are very popular here for $4.49 and a special Presidential Sweet $4.49 that is a combination of Blue Raspberry and Strawberry Slush topped with Vanilla Soft-serve Ice Cream.  This location sometimes has limited time flavors; currently they are offering Cookies and Cream Ice Cream.

Storybook Treats in Fantasyland has been a popular stand for ice cream down through the years and is a must-do for many Magic Kingdom guests. They offer a Fudge Brownie Sundae topped with your choice of chocolate, vanilla, or swirl soft-serve topped with Hot Fudge or Caramel topping and whipped cream. $5.19; Hot Fudge Cookie Sundae $5.19: cookie topped with vanilla soft-serve and Hot Fudge; Strawberry Shortcake Sundae: shortcake topped with vanilla soft-serve and strawberry topping $5.19 (the shortcake is more like a piece of cake, not a biscuit in this dessert); Sundae $4.59: chocolate, vanilla or swirl soft-serve with Fudge, Strawberry, or Caramel topping and whipped cream; Soft serve cone or cup $3.49; milkshakes chocolate or vanilla $4.29.

Sunshine Tree Terrace, Adventureland serves up the popular Citrus Swirl $3.49: Orange Slush with Vanilla Soft-Serve ice cream, Floats $4.49 and Coffee Floats $4.49; soft serve cups or cones $3.49.

Tony’s Town Square Restaurant, Spumoni $5.49 is layers of ice cream with pistachio nuts and cherries.

Click Here for Part Two:   Hollywood Studios and Epcot and Animal Kingdom