Sunday Brunch: Flat Breads Fall Flat

3 February 2013

On a recent trip to Pinocchio's Village Haus, I noticed the interior seemed a bit'refreshed! With a new paint job, vibrant colors, the 41 year old dining establishment seemed brand new. I'm not quite sure when this refurbishment occurred as I have been avoiding dining at Pinnocho's due to another change that occurred in 2012. Opening with the park, Pinocchio's Village Haus has had many menu changes through the years, with pizza being the main star in recent years. Last year, the menu had changed again and while the pizza did not go away, its original recipe had.

'New' Menu

In previous articles, I took notice to some of the new healthy food menu revamps across the property and I do firmly believe this is a wise move on Disney's part as many guests often complained of the theme park junk they find around every corner. In my experience I found one of the most common of these healthy changes was the use of flat breads. Flat breads are considered healthy because they contain less bread. Less bread means fewer calories and in today's world, less calories is unfortunately deemed as healthy in our culture of overeating, overweight, but always hungry Americans. Nearly every deluxe resort offers a flatbread food option at their quick service location and those pesky flavorless crusts found their way into Pinocchio's.

Pinocchio used to serve the same fluffy, saucy, cheesy cafeteria style pizza we know and love from Pizzafari and Pizza Planet. Now we are stuck with sauce and cheese on cardboard.

Okay, they're not that bad, and some people do like flat breads. Pinocchio even serves some interesting and mature flavors like the Caprese (Mozarella, tomato, balsamic and basil) to the crowd pleasing Barbecue Chicken Flatbread. As for me, I prefer the fluffy crust, even if it does mean more calories. Those pizzas were more filling, even in small portions. Now a kid's size pizza (and yes I understand, what business does a grown young man have ordering a kid's meal) is barely anything at all. In the workout that is walking around Walt Disney World, people need to realize sometimes the large portion sizes are necessary to provide enough energy to peruse the parks.

In most restaurants in this country, healthy food options are an additional choice in a menu, sort of like a bonus. Even within Disney World you can tell which entr'e at a quick service location was put in the menu to please the health conscious guests (and remind the bulk of the remaining guests of the glutton they are being by ordering that Double Angus Cheese Burger with bacon and onion straws). At Pinnochio's you can't choose for that delicious fluffy crust one finds in the other quick service pizzerias around the resort. You've only got the flat bread and you're stuck with that. True this can be a circular argument, if you really want that fluffy crust just go somewhere else. Pinocchio's menu is always changing, deal with it. Though the point is within restaurants in Disney, the healthy option was always a choice along with the you-know-its-bad-for-you-but-oh-well-I'm-on-vacation choices. At Pinocchio's you can't make that bad decision, Disney's already decided you're going to eat healthy.

Puny kids pizza. Yes, those are French Fries on the side.

So just don't eat there. Yep, that's what I've decided. I'm going to be a glutton in Disney World to simply fuel me for the day's adventures. So when I want pizza I won't be visiting Disney's most famous Italian character. Sorry PiNOTcchio's Village Haus, you can take away my crust but you can't take away my right to choose. Pizza Planet, you may not have theming on your side, but I'll always return for your superior pizza.

Editor's note: I believe the BBQ Chicken Pizza is easily one of the best pizzas found throughout Disney property and HIGHLY recommend it! In my opinion it's great to have a quick service pizza found within the park that is different from all the other park pizza. In my opinion it's a extremely welcome change and is actually one of my favorite meals on property.