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It wouldn’t be a trip without imbibing in one of my favorite foods, ice cream. I decided that during this trip I would try three ice cream places I haven’t tried before.
Vivoli
Have you watched I’ll Have What Phil’s Having yet? If not, and you like food/travel, I highly recommend the show. It was my favorite new television show this fall. The show is heart warming, hilarious, and has a nice touch of class without an ounce of pretension. Phil’s level of food enthusiasm is wonderful, and he will tell you where you can get the best hot chocolate in France, or gelato in Italy.
My mouth was salivating as I watched Phil taste Vivoli’s gelato in Italy. A trip to Italy wasn’t in cards for this year, or even next year for us, but by what seems to still be a strange turn of fortune, Vivoli, the same place in Italy, now has a shop at Disney Springs.
Per Phil’s recommendation, we got the Crema. I also got a scoop of the Brandied Cherry.
It was a taste of creamy heaven. I cannot emphasis how creamy this gelato was, yet it wasn’t heavy. The flavors were simple and light. And fresh, especially the cherries in the brandied cherry. If this is Italy, I need to get there soon.
Vivoli has nice outdoor seating so you can enjoy your gelato while people watching and listening to the live bands play.
I’ll Have What Phil’s Having is free on Netflix and Amazon Prime. Go check it out.
L’Artisan des Glaces
I must thank The Disney Dream Girls Podcast for this recommendation. Ever since they extolled the virtues of the Croque Glace, I have wanted one. Running out of time to have this treat was one of my biggest regrets of our 2014 trip, so this time I was fiercely determined.
Located in Epcot in the France pavilion, L’Artisan des Glaces is as charming to look at as it is fun to say.
Since we had sampled several offerings from the Food and Wine Festival throughout the evening, we decided to share a Croque Glace.
What is a Croque Glace? It is ice cream, topped with either chocolate, raspberry or caramel sauce, sealed inside warm brioche. It’s a French take on the ice cream sandwich. Never have we had such a hard time choosing a flavor of ice cream. Did we want chocolate with raspberry sauce? Coffee with chocolate sauce? The pairings took a lot of consideration. In the end we went with a seasonal flavor, apple pie, with caramel sauce.
The making of the Croque Glace is art.
The warm buttery brioche, the ice cream that is softened just a touch, and the fresh caramel sauce, blended beautifully. Shannon liked it, but said that he thought half was enough. I smiled and nodded but honestly, I could polish off an entire Croque Glace if needed. If you are in Epcot, you need to try this at least once.
The Plaza Ice Cream Parlor
Nothing helps to ease the depression of a trip almost over quite like ice cream. Before heading out of Magic Kingdom to catch our plane home, we stopped at the Plaza Ice Cream Parlor.
I loved the old-timey vibe.
I was delighted to see peanut butter sauce up on the board, so I got the All- American Sundae with the slight change of getting all vanilla ice cream instead of the chocolate and vanilla combo.
The sundae had chocolate and peanut butter sauce, topped with a mound of fluffy whipped cream. The peanut butter chips sprinkled along with chocolate chips were a nice touch.
Shannon wanted something more refreshing, so he got a root beer float.
We had no trouble finding an outdoor table. The air was warm, the sun was shining, and smiling faces strolled up and down Main Street. It’s a cute, lovely little spot. As we were sitting there, people started lining up for the afternoon parade. I realized that if you didn’t need to be right up front, sitting down at a table at the Plaza Ice Cream Parlor while sipping a root beer float would be a fantastic parade viewing spot.
I loved all three of our new ice cream choices this trip. I can’t wait to see what new ice cream treats I discover the next time.
