Sunday Brunch - That's a Wrap for Min and Bill!
21 August 2011

As you enter Disney's Hollywood Studios, you may notice the glitz and glamour of Hollywood not as you see it today, but in the exciting age of the 1930s and 40s. From the start of the park, you are in the 1930's and as you travel closer to the Grauman's Chinese Theater and the Great Movie Ride, the parks architecture gradually evolves into that of the 1940s and 1950s (finishing up at the very 1950s architecture of 50s Prime Time Cafe). Part of this architecture is the crazy, random steamboat docked on the edge of Echo Lake, opposite Dinosaur Gertie's. Well, if it's not an attraction, a store, or cleverly designed restrooms, then at Disney, the last thing it could be is a place to eat!

Min and Bill's Dockside Diner is a terrific little counter service restaurant serving up quick meals and snacks. The diner's namesake actually comes from a 1930 MGM film Min and Bill starring Marie Dressler as Min, an innkeeper, and Wallace Beery as Bill, a fishing boat captain. Put the two characters occupations together and you get the Dockside Diner! In keeping with the popular Hollywood architecture of the times, Min and Bill's steamboat diner is designed to be 'California Crazy,' an architectural style that gets your attention because of its ridiculousness (another great example is the Hollywood Brown Derby or for Kissimmee fans, the giant Orange souvenir shop). It probably inspired Walt Disney's concept of the weenie, a structure to grab your attention and draw you near it.

Though named a diner, you won't find all of your diner favorites. Min and Bill serve a menu of various sandwich wraps, milk shakes, hot and cold beverages, frozen lemonades, beer, chips, and cookies. The wraps are very interesting because rather than a traditional sandwich wrap in some sort of soft tortilla, the wraps come in a tube of bread. There's no other way to describe it! The wraps available are the Chicken Caesar Salad Wrap, Italian Sausage Wrap, and Frankfurter in a Pretzel Roll. Today we'll be sampling the Frankfurter in a Pretzel Roll!

I've heard from friends and even other people in line that this was one of the coolest things they've ever had at Disney and I'll have to admit, I haven't seen it anywhere else in the park, but in life I've seen variations. More on that later, but onto the pretzel frankfurter! The treat comes with a bag of Disney sea salt, kettle cooked potato chips and the actual pretzel frankfurter is more like your Super Pretzel type of soft pretzel and a generic hot dog. There is also Dijon Mustard already put onto the hot dog.

Critiquing this food item objectively was difficult as I'm not a big fan of mustard, among other reasons soon to be discussed. After getting past the piercing sting that is mustard, I'll have to say the amount of mustard was tolerable for those like me who do not like mustard, and hopefully adequate for those who do. The hot dog was generic, not all beef Ballpark frank, which was a bit disappointing considering how great the hot dogs are at other quick service locations like Casey's Corner. Also, as I said before, the pretzel was very Super Pretzel like, fluffy bread inside and a shiny, glazed over, crust, but still eatable nonetheless. I enjoyed it, especially with those delicious sea salt, kettle cooked Disney brand potato chips! I can't complain too much as this is an obviously outsourced product, not as fresh as it could be, but quick and easy and overall interesting. I've only found these hotdogs at Min and Bills and along with the other sandwich wraps, they make the dockside diner a unique eatery in the resort.

The concept of a hot dog in a pretzel is not new, but for many who travel to Disney World it's a brand new experience. If you haven't encountered the pretzel hot dog (not counting Auntie Ann's version at your local mall'that's just a hotdog in a pretzel wrapper, not quite a real pretzel), I definitely recommend trying Min and Bill's Frankfurter in a Pretzel Roll.

Vinylmations love Potato Chips too!

Now with that review said and over with, I have to admit, this was not and will never be a great hotdog in a pretzel because I've grown up with the best hot dog in a pretzel, made by a group of fantastic Amish farmers and entrepreneurs straight from Lancaster, PA. For some odd reason, they choose to come every weekend to Williamstown, NJ to set up a farmer's market. That's a story for another time, another blog, and actually reported by another member of the Days of the Week Staff (Albert G) in a different blog. Though, I cannot discuss Disney's Frankfurter in a Pretzel Roll without giving you a visual taste of Suzie Ann's Pretzel Dog:

 
Now doesn't that just look delicious? A soft pretzel poppin' fresh right out of the oven with real American cheese and an all-beef hot dog.

Now that you've salivated enough over the Pretzel Dog, hop on over to the Dockside Diner or your local Auntie Ann's and try and get the worthwhile attempt at a Frankfurter in a Pretzel Roll. Min and Bill will be happy to see you and you'll be happy to get a little taste of Hollywood in its heyday.

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