And just like that, 2021 has come to a close!

Perhaps for the first time all year, we don’t have a single entry this month from a theme park on either our best or worst list. Every item we’re covering today came from outside of the parks, and the majority (with the exception of one) came from the resorts!

The Best

Gingeraffe from The Mara

We’re kicking off our “Best” list from December over at The Mara in Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge. We enjoyed a pair of festive treats there this month, but it was the Gingeraffe that totally stole our hearts!

Not only was this gingerbread treat super tasty, but it was an awesome deal, too. Coming in at $4.99, you sort of secretly got a two-for-one deal with the massive giraffe cookie placed on top of a second large Christmas tree gingerbread cookie!

Click here to read our full review of holiday treats from The Mara!

Wild Mushroom Bisque from Story Book Dining

One of the highlights from December was the reopening of Story Book Dining at Disney’s Wilderness Lodge! On top of being able to dine with Snow White, the Evil Queen, Dopey, and Grumpy, we got to dine on some super tasty menu items like the Wild Mushroom Bisque!

It’s important to note here that you DO need to love mushrooms in order to love this soup, but if you are a fan of mushrooms, you’re REALLY in for a treat! This rich and creamy soup checks off all the right boxes, including the fact that it’s presented in a mini cauldron. The prix-fixe menu costs $60 per adult and $39 per child.

Click here to read our full review of the recently reopened Story Book Dining!

Mardi Gras Fritters from Boatwright’s Dining Hall

Another dining spot that recently reopened is Boatwright’s Dining Hall over at Disney’s Port Orleans Resort Riverside! Their Mardi Gras Fritters are Panko-covered, deep-fried pimiento cheese topped with pepper jelly.

At $12, these are a tasty appetizer that we suppose you could share with your friends, but we would gladly keep all of them to ourselves (like, come on, it’s deep-fried cheese!). The jelly on top was the surprise star of this dish, however. Do not skip on your next visit to Port Orleans Riverside!

Click here to read our full review of the recently reopened Boatwright’s Dining Hall!

Reindeer Peppermint Mousse from Le Petit Cafe

We’ve tried a lot of holiday treats over the past couple of months around Disney World, but the Reindeer Peppermint Mousse from Le Petit Cafe at Disney’s Riviera Resort may be the cutest one we came across.

Cuteness aside, it was also very tasty! At $5.99, this dessert was made with a dark chocolate mousse with a peppermint mousse inside. The mousse is sitting on top of a brownie, and it’s decorated with dark chocolate antlers and a red nose made of white chocolate. Added together, we found this dessert to be rich, moist, tasty, and overall decadent!

Click here to read our full review of the Reindeer Peppermint Mousse!

Filet Mignon with Macaroni and Cheese from Steakhouse 71

We’ve been shouting from the rooftops over how impressed we’ve been with Steakhouse 71 since it first opened in time for Disney World’s 50th Anniversary Celebration. We went back for lunch (honestly we would go back every week if we could) and we were able to order an entree off of the DINNER menu: the 6 oz Filet Mignon. We paired it with their Macaroni & Cheese with Applewood-smoked Bacon and Jalapeño.

Note that there’s no guarantee you’ll be able to order a dinner item off of their lunch menu, so be sure to check with your server once you arrive! We were super pleased with our lunch, however — both the Filet and the Mac & Cheese were delicious!

Click here to read our full review of our recent trip to Steakhouse 71!

The Worst

Everything Donut from Everglazed Donuts & Cold Brew

Alas, not everything we eat in Disney World is a winner. For the month of December, we’re starting our “worst” list at one of our favorite new sweet spots in Disney World: Everglazed Donuts and Cold Brew. While there are plenty of donuts we’ve loved throughout 2021 from this location, their Everything Donut is not one of them. This is a classic glazed donut (yum) topped with Boursin buttercream, everything bagel seasoning (which typically includes salt, poppy seeds, sesame seeds, onion, and garlic), and freshly chopped chives. Wait…wait?

Sweet and savory combo snacks can often be runaway hits, but that wasn’t the case with the Everything Donut. Perhaps if it was with a plain donut it would have worked better! It’s available for $6.50. 

Click here to read our full review of the Everything Donut!

Peppermint Mousse from The Artist’s Palette

While the Reindeer Peppermint Mousse was one of our favorite things we ate in the month of December, this Peppermint Mousse from The Artist’s Palette at Disney’s Saratoga Springs Resort & Spa was one of our least favorite! At first glance, this beautiful dessert looks like it’ll be a hit…

…but once we took a bit, things took a turn south. The gloss on top as well as the filling had more of a jelly-like texture that we didn’t particularly enjoy, and the presentation was a letdown when you consider how pretty this treat was on the outside.

This seasonal treat was available for $5.99!

Click here to read our full review of the Peppermint Mousse!

Moana Cupcake from Capt. Cook’s

Another item that totally lost us on the filling was the Moana Cupcake, which you could find at either Capt. Cook’s or Kona Island at Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort. This treat is a chocolate cupcake with morello cherry, buttercream icing, and chocolate Moana décor.

The key ingredient here are those morello cherries — we say ‘cherries’ because there were SEVERAL when we bit into the cupcake. They had a very tart flavor to them, which oddly made this cupcake more sour than sweet.

This limited-time treat was available in the month of December for $6.

Click here to read our full review of the Moana Cupcake!

Playful Penguin Cupcake from World Premiere Food Court

While the previous two treats got some points knocked off for their filling, our final entry on the worst things we ate in December got points deducted for having no filling whatsoever! The Playful Penguin Cupcake at World Premiere Food Court certainly looks adorable and tasty at first glance, but this Red Velvet Cupcake with Cream Cheese Buttercream Frosting turned out to be a big disappointment.

While we totally appreciated the fact that there was more thought put into this than your standard vanilla or chocolate cupcake, the strong flavor of Red Velvet and Peppermint left us wondering how many people would actually be fans of this dessert! It would have probably gotten way more brownie points from us if the Cream Cheese Buttercream frosting continued as a filling! This limited-time treat is available for $5.49.

Click here to read our full review of the Playful Penguin Cupcake!

That’s a wrap on the best and worst things we ate in Disney World for the final month of 2021! Be sure to follow along throughout 2022 as we continue to bring you the latest food news and updates, as well as our thoughts on what the best and worst things there are to try across the parks and resorts!