Sunday Brunchies and Crunchies: Sweet Cream Cheese Pretzel

13 May 2012

Churros, popcorn, funnel cakes-what did you think of? Carnivals? County fairs? Disney World? Food has such a connection with our memories of summertime events and destinations that just the mere mention of a food brings you back to the season and the fun times had while enjoying such food. Walt Disney World serves all of those great snacks, but also has its own assortment of go-to Disney summertime snacks like the infamous Dole Whip, the classic Mickey Premium Bar, and one of the newest Disney snacks, the Mickey Mouse Soft Pretzel.

Soft Pretzels have been present at Walt Disney World for a long time, though the usual Super Pretzel found at ballparks and movie theaters had less appeal to me for a theme park snack. That all changed when I heard about the Sweet Cream Cheese Pretzel. I've had multiple friends tell me about its existence, though I never had the chance to have one because apparently they are only sold in certain locations in the parks. Upon further research, the Cream Cheese Pretzel is also available in Epcot at the Fife and Drum Tavern, the small snack stand in front of the American Adventure. They've also been seen at the seasonally opened Pretzel Garden on Streets of America and my friend Aaron recently saw them listed on the menu at the pretzel cart at the exit of Great Movie Ride. Though I know for sure you can find them at the Magic Kingdom in Rockettower Plaza beneath Astro Orbiter at the cleverly named quick service food stand, The Lunching Pad.

These elusive pretzels have been dodging the grasp of my hunger for weeks since I heard about them. When hanging out with my friends, we tend to end up in Magic Kingdom at nighttime since typically it is the park that stays open the latest. So after fun frolics in Fantasyland or sailing through the stars in Space Mountain, we realize it's time to recharge with Disney snacks. At this point someone in the group remembers that you can get Cream Cheese Pretzels in Tomorrowland. With hunger in our bellies and a sweet treat in our mind, we would proceed to rush to the Lunching Pad-only to find out it is closed. For reasons beyond our control, this dining location decides it should close an hour or two before the park does. It certainly lives up to its name, as lunchtime is far from over at this hour.

So for this week's Sunday Brunchies and Crunchies, I was determined to finally have one of these pretzels and I knew the only way I could was to actually have lunch at the Lunching Pad. While half of the group headed to the nearby Cosmic Ray's Starlight Café, our very own Hidden Mickey Monday writer Alex and I bolted for Cream Cheese Pretzels.

FINALLY!

The pretzel arrived hot and fresh with an odd sort of crumb coating. I had trouble trying to decipher what it was because it had no particular kind of flavor at all. Visually, I'd guess it was either a cookie crumb or streusel coating. If it was the latter, perhaps it was more flour than sugar. Either way, I'm thinking its presence is to help distinguish this pretzel between the regular ones.

Upon first bite, you find the pretzel certainly lives up to its name and then some. Cream cheese filling filled every bite, though my first impression was that the filling was not the overly sweet cream cheese taste one normally finds with cream cheese frostings and fillings. It was sweet, but only just enough to add a light background of sweetness for the main star of the soft pretzel and cream cheese. Alex and I both felt like it was more of cream filled bread than the dessert like pastry we were expecting, which was not a bad thing at all.

Creamy cheese filling

The Sweet Cream Cheese Pretzel is somewhat of a misnomer as sweetness is not the first descriptor one would think of. If your goal is to have a sweet treat, you may be a bit disappointed with this pretzel, but for others, it satisfies in many ways. It's a great alternative to the other sweet treats of Disney and also an interesting twist to the regular salty pretzel!