Over the past few years, Italy has become one of my favorite countries in Epcot. They have the best pizza in Disney World, a little tiny canal to remind me of wandering around Venice, a fun mask painter, and, of course, gelato.
View from Italy
The little gelato stand in Italy is easy to walk by without noticing. It looks like several other plain kiosks in Epcot — the ones that sell coffee and those ubiquitous cookies and pastries (which aren’t bad, but they don’t hold a candle to what I’m about to show you).
But when you get a little closer and check out the menu, you’ll notice that you’re in for a little surprise. When I stopped by this kiosk recently, I had no intention of getting any gelato. But as soon as I saw those gelato “creations” in the middle, I knew I had no choice! It was on! You can’t call something a “creation” and think I’m gonna just walk on by! 😉
Italy's Gelato Menu - click image for larger version
I was stuck between the Amicizia and the Delizia, but ended up going for the latter — I loved the idea of cookies and cream gelato with strawberry sauce!
Gelato Selections
This incredibly rich, shareable treat has three scoops of gelato: cookies and cream — which reminds me of one of my favorite flavors from my Italy backpacking days: stracciatella, Fior di Latte — which is a milk-flavored gelato (thanks for setting me straight on this one, J Hayes!), and strawberry!
This is all topped with a thick strawberry sauce, a pile of whipped cream, and whole strawberries! And it looks a little something like this!
Delizia Decadence!
Gorgeous, isn’t it? And HUGE! This is one treat that I felt truly conspicuous eating in the middle of the World Showcase. It’s so big that it puts many table-service restaurant desserts to shame; and I don’t think too many people know that these monstrosities are available at the gelato kiosk, so when you see someone walking through the Showcase eating such a huge sundae, you really do start to wonder where that thing came from!
Anyway, once I got over my shyness about it (which happened pretty quickly — I’m getting used to eating huge amounts of food in front of shocked onlookers at this point ;-D), I realized how yummy it was! While sweet, you notice the richness and the decadence of the gelato before anything else. In my experience, good gelato is an incredible dessert when its naked — add in all of that strawberry sauce and creamy whipped cream goodness and it becomes quite a statement of a dish.
Delizia Cross-Section -- cookies and cream gelato
And while I didn’t finish the delizia (sadly, I was on a solo trip and had no one to help me!), I can highly recommend skipping dessert at your World Showcase restaurant and heading over for one of these huge sundaes…especially if you’re in the mood for ice cream!
Or, you can take full advantage of your vacation, have dessert at the restaurant, then walk the long way around the Showcase to pick up one of these! 😉
Have you tried one of the gelato sundaes at Italy’s gelato kiosk? I’d love to hear your reviews! Let us know in the comments below!
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Sorry, fior di latte is milk-flavored gelato, it has nothing to do with fior di latte mozzarella, which is cheese made from cow’s milk.
J Hayes — Ha ha! Thanks for the info! I did a bunch of research and still fell flat on my face, eh? 😉 Will update the post.
I think it was Kim who had a blog post in August here about the green tea ice cream, she had said the gelato over in the Italian pavilion wasn’t even gelato, I’m confused…are there different types? Loved it in Italy and this looks amazing.
This is another one of those places that we always seem to pass-by when we aren’t looking for a dessert. We are either going to dinner or leaving dinner (and dessert) . I’m usually Luke warm to such sweets but this one looks so tempting. I mean, strawberries and gelato… come on.
Love the cross section!
I have NEVER seen one of these before!!! I would definitely be staring at you if I saw you strolling around Epcot with one of those.. actually, I’d probably walk right up and ask you where you got it!
I don’t see the DDP logo. Are any of these available as snack credits?
I’ve also NEVER seen these, but my gosh…that looks delicious! Have to have it now.
WOW this looks amazing!
AJ, Do you know how long this Gelato Stand has been there? The last time I tried to find gelato in Epcot’s Italy (I think 2010), it was served at a small ice cream cart and the gelato was in pre-packaged cups. It was not fresh and was definitely not served like this. I am so happy to see this new Gelato Stand and can not wait to try it!! Do you have a photo of the entire stand and it’s location in the pavilion? Thanks!
How is it even possible that I have never eaten here? This will be my very first stop on my next visit. Gotta compare the “Italy” gelato to the gelato I ate in Italy last summer on my Adventures by Disney trip.
I’ll have to add this to my places to try. I love gelato.
Paula B. — I’ll have to check on that post (it was a guest post, I think). This tasted like the gelato I had when I was in Italy.
Alan — This is definitely worth a try, even with that price! You’ll definitely be able to share.
Marci — Disney keeps revealing its edible secrets to me on every trip! So much I haven’t tried yet!
K in Philly — If there’s no DDP logo, then probably not 🙁
Bryan — Let me know which one you get! 🙂
Maryvh — I’m actually NOT sure how long this has been there. There’s a small cart next to it that sells cannoli and other items; perhaps that was the only cart around for a while.
Erin — Yay!! New sweets to try!!
JoAnn — Let me know what you think!
First of all this looks amazing!! Adding it to my list of must try for our Aug trip!
As to answer on Paulas comment, it was me that talked about the green tea ice cream in the new Kabuki Cafe! It was a snack series by Kim and actually just noticed it now thanks to this post and thank you for featuring it. I was comparing it to the old gelato stand in Italy that also had packaged gelato from a little container. This blog has a picture of what I was talking about. http://disneyshawn.blogspot.com/2010/06/donkey-italiano.html
Awesome Venessa — thank you!! 🙂
That is one pricey sundae!
This looks amazing! I knew the cart served gelato but never stopped there and really took a good look at the menu. I am definitely stopping there to get a sundae to share with my hubby! Thanks for posting!
This is great. I do just walk by it….on my way to get some French pastries but I’ll be sure to stop at it now! Amazing! Now, I’ll get gelato on my way to French pastries! 🙂
Next time you need someone to help you finish your ice cream, please call me! : )
O. M. G.
Looks really good! Definitely going to try that on my next trip!
maryvh, I think the gelato (in this manner) is a fairly recent addition. My dad is from Sicily, so when we travel to WDW on an annual basis, we always stop at this location. It originally served just pastries and cappuccino. By the way, I know we’re talking gelato, but I think the cannolis are as close to the ones that my grandmother used to make that I have found! YUM!
LOL. I correct because I care 🙂
J — I feel the caring! 😉
Okay, I’ve got to try this gelato. I don’t know how we missed this on our last WDW trip. After having gelato in Rome and Italy during our Mediterranean cruise, I’m now a big fan. My family will be stopping in Epcot’s Italy for gelato on our next visit. Yum!
Enjoyed a Coppa Delizia for dinner on Saturday. It was almost too pretty to eat. The strawberry sauce was a bit too sweet for me, but the gelato was fab-o!
Looks wonderful. I wonder if they would make you a Delizia with some chocolate sauce rather than just the strawberry?
After seeing this on the DFB (thank you for informing us on this delicious treat) when we went in March I surprised my mum with one and she was amazed at 1) how big and delicious they were, and 2) how people walked past the kiosk! There delicious, big and sickly …..but worth it 😉 People looked at us when we were eating them (probably thinking were did we get them from lol). There a really nice treat when the sun is out and it’s hot 🙂 Oh and eat your strawberries quick cos one of mine fell off and rolled under the plant pots at the Italy pavilion lol.
Colette — Thanks for the great feedback! I’m SO glad you got one and surprised your mom! They’re delicious, aren’t they?!? Good tip on eating those strawberries before you lose ’em!
Its all thanks to this awesome website that we got to try them! She really liked it and when I just showed her the picture of it she was saying how delicious they were!
I wonder if they will continue to serve this in Italy now that the France pavilion has the gelato shop?
Do you have an ingredient list for the Chocolate Gelato at the Magic Kingdom? Thanks