EDITOR’S NOTE: Studio Catering Co. closed in early April 2016 to make way for construction of Toy Story Land and Star Wars Land in Disney’s Hollywood Studios.
If you’ve visited any Quick Service restaurants in Hollywood Studios, you’ve likely encountered a few standard dessert options, in addition to some pretty spectacular cupcakes.
Regular options include Chocolate Mousse and No-Sugar-Added Strawberry Parfait, or Vanilla Cake with Chocolate Custard and Banana Parfait. These are often part of the dessert options to include with your Quick Service Meal on the Disney Dining Plan (and, of course, can be purchased on their own as well).
I stopped by Studio Catering Co. where the desserts include the Banana Parfait and Vanilla Cake with Chocolate Custard. You can also find these at Rosie’s All-American Cafe, Catalina Eddie’s, and Fairfax Fare. Let’s dig in so you can decide how you’d most prefer to use that dessert option! (Note that these are also available at Fairfax Fare!)
Studio Catering Co.
Studio Catering Co.
Before placing my order, I couldn’t help but admire the cheerful chalk art on the concrete floor.
Chalk art!
Chalk art!
As you can see, both the Banana Parfait and the Vanilla Cake with Chocolate Custard are part of the “in-a-glass” series of snacks.
Banana Parfait and Vanilla Cake with Chocolate Custard
That’s not an official series, by the way… that’s just what I’m calling it 😉 . You may be familiar with the Cheesecake in a Glass over at Animal Kingdom.
The Banana Parfait is a banana pudding over a crushed graham cracker bottom. The pudding is sprinkled with chocolate-covered toffee bits.
Banana Parfait
Top of Banana Parfait
My immediate thought upon first bite? “Wow… that sure is Banana-y!” I know… go figure, right? But there really are no other words for it. There aren’t actual bananas in the parfait — only the banana-flavored pudding.
First bite of Banana Parfait
I like banana-flavored things, so the fact that the flavor is strong is fine with me (and toffee-bits never hurt anything, either!), but this might not be everyone’s cup of tea… or glass of banana pudding 😉 .
The Vanilla Cake with Chocolate Custard offers three distinct flavors and textures: chocolate cookie crumbles on top, chocolate custard in the middle, and the vanilla cake base.
Vanilla Cake with Chocolate Custard
Layers of Cookie crumbles, Custard, and Cake
I’d hoped the cookie crumbles would lend some more flavor to the fairly ordinary base, but unfortunately that wasn’t the case. The entire thing was rather bland overall. Also, the moisture of the pudding seeped into the cake, making the cake very soggy.
Bite of Custard with Cake
Soggy cake just doesn’t sit well with me. Nothing about this one worked, unfortunately.
If you’re looking at this from an out-of-pocket perspective, I’d put my four bucks and nineteen cents towards something else, due to the small portion size of these desserts. I still say what Hollywood Studios does best in the way of dessert is cupcakes. However, those cupcakes are enormous and some may find them too large on top of a full meal. So, while I wouldn’t recommend the Vanilla Cake, I do like the Banana Parfait as a dessert option with a Quick Service meal at Hollywood Studios on the Dining Plan. It can be a nice little something sweet after polishing off your Spicy Buffalo Chicken sandwich… or whatever else strikes your fancy at Studio Catering Co.!
Looking for the biggest bang for your snack buck while you’re in the Studios?
Check out the newly updated for 2014/15 DFB Guide to Animal Kingdom and Hollywood Studios Snacks e-Book for the low-down on all the treats and snack eats in these two parks!
The hot off the presses Animal Kingdom and Hollywood Studios guide to everything snacks is full of over 250 reviews and color photos to make sure you make the best use of your dollars in Disney world. Get yours today! Or, opt to get our specially-priced bundle of snack guides for all four parks, along with the 2013 DFB Guide to WDW Dining.
What’s your go-to Studios dessert? Please let us know with a comment!
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I’m a chocoholic, however, the choc. pudding over the vanilla cake just looks blah to me. I do like bananas, so if I had to choose one of these I’d make your choice Wendy and go with the banana parfait; like you said toffee never hurts anything!
I was on the Disney quick service dining plan and I can honestly say these desserts were my least favourite the cake in the chocolate was too soggy most of party didn’t even attempt to finish them.