There are some really great desserts out there in Disney World, and most of them won’t make you wince as you pay the bill.
Grapefruit Cake from Hollywood Brown Derby
There are some fancy desserts in table service restaurants that come with high price tags, though! Don’t get us wrong, some of them are worth it, but more often than not, you can find something just as good, if not BETTER, for much cheaper around the parks. Here are some of the fancy desserts we DO NOT recommend, and what to get instead!
Do NOT Get Tony’s Spumoni Tart from Tony’s Town Square Restaurant
This is a flourless chocolate cake made with pistachio cream and dark cherry mousse for $9. The cherry is VERY tart, and while we didn’t hate that, it did take us by surprise.
Tony’s Spumoni Tart
The pistachio cream was somewhat savory, but the whole treat was just okay. Not worth $9 in our opinion.
Instead, Get The Tiramisù Cannoli from Tony’s Town Square Restaurant
Good news, there’s a better option in the same location! We suggest grabbing the Tiramisù Cannoli instead.
Tony’s Town Square
The cannoli has a house-made filling with hints of espresso, chocolate, and mascarpone cheese. Is it more simple than the other desserts? Yes, but it’s trustworthy and delicious!
Do NOT Get Any Dessert at Rainforest Café in Animal Kingdom
Listen, Rainforest Café may be an okay option if you’ve got a super picky eater and they won’t eat any of the slightly more adventurous food in Animal Kingdom (although the Cheeseburger Pods from Satuli’i Canteen are usually a win for many picky eaters), but please, get dessert inside the parks!
Rainforest Cafe outside of Animal Kingdom
Rainforest Café is a chain that can be found all across the United States. The food inside the park is much more interesting, and that includes the desserts!
Instead, Get A Dessert from Tamu Tamu Refreshments
We suggest stopping by Tamu Tamu Refreshments instead and getting one of their delicious Dole Whip desserts like the Simba Sunset or the Colossal Mickey Cinnamon Roll to share with your family.
Simba Sunset
This is the only spot you can grab Dole Whip in Animal Kingdom, so if that’s a favorite of yours, you know where to head!
Do NOT Get A Lunch Box Tart from Woody’s Lunch bBox
This one is a little controversial, but we wouldn’t recommend getting a Lunch Box Tart. These are “fancy poptarts” essentially, but they’re not always worth the higher price tag.
4th of July Lunch Box Tart
Some of these are seasonal treats while others are around full time. However, they are majorly hit or miss! We’ve had some great ones, and then try the same flavor on a different day and it’s not great. So beware of these!
Instead, Get A Carrot Cake Cookie from Trolley Car Cafe
Instead, we recommend grabbing one of our favorites — the Carrot Cake Cookie!
Carrot Cake Cookie
This is a MASSIVE treat for such a low price. It’s two slabs of carrot cake with cream cheese frosting in the middle, and yes, it’s just as delicious as it sounds. It’s also totally shareable!
Do NOT Get Warm Pecan-Brown Butter Tart from Le Cellier
The Warm Pecan-Brown Butter Tart is delicious, don’t get us wrong, but Le Cellier is NOT a cheap restaurant.
Warm Pecan-Brown Butter Tart
No really, we need you to know that this treat IS delicious, and if you’ve got the money to spare, grab away. But otherwise, we have another suggestion that will save you big.
Instead, Get the Butter Bar from Karamell-Kuche
If you’re looking for a cheaper alternative that’s also delicious, head into Karamell-Kuche and grab yourself a Butter Bar!
Butter Bar
This is one of the cheapest snacks on property that we recommend over and over again because it really is that good. There are also tons of other delicious treats inside Karamell-Kuche that you could grab (like the popcorn) — it’s hard to walk out of there without something in your hands.
Do NOT Get The Decadent Chocolate Cake from Hollywood Brown Derby
Are you going to dislike the Decadent Chocolate Cake from this fancy restaurant? Not necessarily, no, but it will hurt your wallet.
Hollywood Brown Derby
This is one of those desserts where you’ll sit there and go “Okay, that was good, but was it worth the price tag?” To avoid that altogether, we have a solution.
Instead, Grab The Jack-Jack Num Num Cookie from Neighborhood Bakery
This year, the iconic Jack-Jack Num Num Cookie finally made its return to Hollywood Studios!
Num Num Cookies
It had been gone for quite some time, and while you may look at this and think it’s “just a cookie,” you’re missing two words — it’s a GIANT, DELICIOUS cookie!
WE KNOW – there are SO many great snacks at Disney World! How do you choose (we don’t want to choose but will blow our budget on Day 1 otherwise)? We’ve got you covered! We have reviewed nearly EVERY snack available at Disney World, and we’ve written a series of DFB Guides about them! Check out our DFB Guide to Walt Disney World Dining + Snacks Bundle for all the details you need to plan your snackin’ and spending. You can even download them to your smartphone – it’ll be like we’re right there with you in the parks!
The DFB Guide to Walt Disney World Dining 2023
As always, be sure to stay tuned to DFB for all the latest and greatest Disney snack news and tips!
These are the BEST desserts in Disney’s Hollywood Studios!
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The Grapefruit Cake at Brown Derby is an acquired taste and it the original recipe and now that the Brown Derby is closed in LA it’s the only place you can get it. But you are spot on with the rest of them, especially the Decadent Chocolate Cake at Hollywood Brown Derby. That and the “Banana’s Foster” (freeze dried bananas on a normal spice cake with some cheap caramel sauce on it, not even close to the real thing) had to be the most disappointing deserts I have ever had on property. The saddest part was it replaced what was the best desert on property, a Baked Alaska that was well worth the price as part of the cost cutting they did a year or so ago.
That butter bar…… Just thinking about it gets my mouth watering.
The butter bars are good to make at home, too! You can make them with a bag of Werther’s caramels. They make good Christmas cookies or good anytime treats!