Theme parks aren’t just about the biggest roller coasters; there are so many other classic or popular attractions waiting to be discovered. Similarly, the best treats and drinks at any given park may also not be something obvious, nor something heavily advertised.
In fact, many parks and attractions offer unique or signature culinary delights, just waiting for you to discover them. In some cases, these have been created to stand out, or to fit into a themed zone or attraction. At the same time, some parks have just been around long enough for certain items to have simply gained somewhat of a legendary reputation on their own over the years.
Many of these items have since become “a must-have”. Guests will seek them out on most visits, sharing the experience with family and friends they are traveling with. Simply put… these are the kind of items that have become part of the overall experience. A visit to the park is just not complete without them.
See also: The 12 best theme park dining experiences
The best theme park snacks
A big part of this may be the complicated link between your sense of taste and smell and your brain, especially when it comes to memories of past experiences. And yes… these links are even more potent than those involving sights and sounds.
According to the science behind it all, sensory input of sights and sounds must first travel through the thalamus. In contrast, the sensory data from the things you smell and taste have a direct, hardwired connection right to your brain’s emotional and memory centers.
Your sense of smell may be the most powerful triggering sense of all. Once the information hits your olfactory bulb, it is then directly sent to your brain’s emotional hub (the amygdala) as well as your memories (via the hippocampus).
This extreme connection is then actually able to trigger a memory before you are even consciously aware of it. It leads to a sudden, involuntary flood of memory recollection and emotion, often referred to as the “Proust Phenomenon”.
So with all that in mind, I’ve put together a list of the 15 most popular theme park signature snacks.
15. Nathan’s Famous Hot Dogs at Coney Island – New York, USA
Yes, the classic Nathan’s Hot Dogs sold in stores and at food stands across the world actually started out right here at Coney Island. So, snapping into a classic Nathan’s dog while visiting is a rite of passage for many. No matter if it is your 1st visit or 50th.
The original Nathan’s location still exists at the corner of Surf and Stillwell in Coney Island. It began in 1916 as a simple stand selling hot dogs for just a nickel.
14. Pronto Pups at Indiana Beach – Indiana, USA
A spin-off of the carnival favorite, Corn Dogs, Indiana Beach came up with its own take on the concept. It swapped out the traditional cornbread batter used for corn dogs and instead dipped the dogs into something that is more like pancake batter, before deep-frying them.
13. Potato Patch Fries at Kennywood – Pennsylvania, USA
A staple signature food for Kennywood is actually just a tray of fresh-cut fries, though you can get them topped with cheddar cheese, bacon, vinegar, and brown gravy, along with an assortment of different seasoned salts.
Simple but effective, Kennywood’s guests order thousands of trays of these each season. It’s almost a requirement to sample the dish during each visit.
12. Happy Friar at Cedar Point – Ohio, USA
Much like Kennywood, Cedar Point’s Happy Friar serves fresh-cut fries with an assortment of toppings you can choose to add on. For instance, chilli, cheese, chill-cheese, and hot garlic parmesan.
The Happy Friar doesn’t end here, though. The stand also offers other fun theme park fried foods like fresh dipped in batter fried hot dogs and cheese on a stick, and mini corn dogs
11. Blue Ice Cream at Kings Island – Ohio, USA
The origins of the strange blue soft serve ice-cream treat at Kings Island go back to 1982. The blueberry-flavoured ice cream was first introduced as a treat themed to the Hanna-Barbera cartoon character, Huckleberry Hound.
As time went on and the Smurfs were introduced into the park, they too became early mascots of the park’s blue frozen treat.
10. Gator Bites at Knoebels – Pennsylvania, USA
The family-run Knoebels Amusement Resort has become well known for various popular food items over the years.
One of the most unique items at the park would be the Gator Bites. As the name suggests, they are made from Alligator meat, which has been breaded and deep-fried. They are served from the park’s International Food Court eatery.
9. The Pink Thing at Six Flags over Texas – Texas, USA
The original Pink Thing was a weirdly shaped frozen treat on a stick, wider at the top, sort of like an upside-down cowbell. The cherry-flavored treat was popular with kids. It was often promoted in the early days as having a “treasure” attached to the stick in center, a figurine kids could collect.
Eventually, the original Pink Thing was discontinued for a time. This was rumored to be due to the demise of a local company that exclusively produced the treat for the park. However, other vendors were found to produce the items on and off over the years.
The shape and style also changed a few times, with it turning into a push-pop creation during one vendor switch. Then the park even switched to have an official “Pink Thing” Dippin’ Dots flavor as well. Regardless of the form, usually a Pink Thing can be found in the park in one form or another.
8. Fried Chicken and Boysenberry Treats at Knott’s Berry Farm – California, USA
Long before the theme park came to be, Knott’s Berry Farm started out as an actual farm and berry stand.
There were two claims to fame for the soon-to-be-famous Knott’s family farm. There was the runaway success of their Boysenberry crop. This led to jams and jellies, but has since run wild into the creation of a huge variety of Boysenberry-flavored foods, sauces and even the infamous “Fun Bun”.
While the Boysenberry brought the farm financial success, people would actually come from far and wide for a chance to eat at Mrs. Knott’s Chicken Dinner Restaurant. This has become a go-to destination for locals and tourists alike for decades.
While the combination brought people to Knott’s Berry Farm in droves, it was the desire to give these hungry people something else to do while they waited for a table that led to Walter Knott’s bringing in other themed structures, such as replica Calico Ghost Town buildings, which served as the launching point to keep building and the creation of the theme park itself in 1941, long before Disneyland ever opened.
7. Dole Whip at Disneyland / Disney World – Florida & California, USA
Perhaps one of the earliest examples of a signature treat would be the popular Dole Whip frozen treat. The pineapple-flavored “Dole Soft Serve” was first created by the Dole Food Company in the early 1980s. It was sold as “Dole Whip” at Disney’s theme parks as both a frozen treat in a cup as well as in a “float” form served on pineapple juice.
These days, many parks now serve their own version of the Dole Whip concept. However, the Disney version is still the most well-known.
While Disney has had the Whip for years, it has since struggled to come up with a follow-up as popular. It’s come up with Avatar-themed food and treats in Animal Kingdom, the Blue and Green “Milk” beverages in Star Wars Galaxy’s Edge lands, and FeLou’s Brew at Gaston’s Tavern in the Magic Kingdom (a not-bad frozen apple juice slushy). But none have proven as popular as the original Dole Whip.
Perhaps the only other Disney treat to reach iconic status is the giant Turkey Legs found in most of the parks.
6. Granny’s Apple Fries at Legoland California – California, USA
The origin of Granny’s Apple Fries is apparently Legoland California. The signature treat was first created by fry-cutting Granny Smith apples into the signature shape before deep frying them and covering them with a cinnamon sugar mixture, along with a few “secret ingredients”. The fries are then served with a side of vanilla cream dipping sauce.
The snack took the theme park by storm and quickly spread to the other Legoland parks in the US as they opened in Florida and then New York.
Before you know it, the Apple Fries had also crossed the Atlantic. They began to appear in Legoland Windsor in the UK, as of a couple of years ago, as well as making surprise appearances in a few other Merlin Entertainment parks in the UK, such as Thorpe Park and Chessington World of Adventures.
5. Flavored Popcorn at Tokyo DisneyLand and DisneySea – Tokyo, Japan
While most theme parks serve popcorn as a tasty snack item, the Tokyo Disney Resort parks have taken it to an entirely new level. Different flavors of popcorn are available within each of the park’s various lands. So, you can quite literally walk through the parks and never taste the same flavor twice.
There is Sweet Caramel Popcorn, Soy Sauce & Butter, Milk Chocolate, Curry, Salt, Honey, Black Pepper, Corn Potage, Strawberry Napoleon, Salted Caramel, Cheddar Cheese, White Chocolate, Garlic-Shrimp, Chinese Chilli and even Roast Beef flavored popcorn.
4. Coco Churros and Mickey Mouse Beignets at Disneyland Paris – Paris, France
Disneyland Paris has long been known for its Mickey Mouse-shaped Beignets (filled with Nutella or a Fruit filling) that can be found in the Bake Shop on Main Street for years. But something new has caught the eyes and taste buds of park guests in the past few years.
I speak of the Coco-themed mini Churros you can get in Frontierland. These are served in a paper cone with caramel, chocolate or Nutella drizzle and whip cream, sprinkles and even a Mexican skull-themed sugar cookie.
I’m not sure how long these will be offered, but if you find them, you’ll want to try them while you can still get them. They’re just that good!
3. Toy Story Alien Mochi at Tokyo Disneysea – Tokyo, Japan
While these items started out as an exclusive treat only served at the Zambini Brothers Ristorante in the park’s Mediterranean Harbor, they can now be found across both of Tokyo’s Disney parks.
Often listed on the menu simply as “Little Green Dumplings”, the themed Mochi treats are decorated with the face of the 3-eyed aliens from the Toy Story films. They are filled with either Strawberry, Chocolate or Custard cream.
Over the years, these sweet snacks have become a must-have item for many theme park guests.
2. Cinnamon Bread at Dollywood – Tennessee, USA
One of the most legendary theme park snacks of them all is Dollywood’s famous Cinnamon Bread. Sweet bread served warm, heavily infused with cinnamon and sugar, fresh out of the oven. It practically melts in your mouth.
You can also buy cups of frosting or apple butter to dip it in. But to be honest, it doesn’t need it. While the secret delight was originally served from the Grist Mill near the center of the park, the popularity and long lines gave Dollywood the reason to expand to selling it in the Bakery near the main gate, as well as from the pastry/coffee shops inside both of Dollywood’s resort hotels.
Here is a little secret, though. They also serve Cinnamon Bread at sister park, Silver Dollar City, because before Dollywood became Dolly-fied in 1986, the Tennessee park was previously known as Silver Dollar City from 1977 to 1986.
The original Silver Dollar City opened in Branson, Missouri, in 1960. It is believed that the origin of the Cinnamon Bread recipe dates back to the Missouri park. Still, reports indicate that both parks began selling it around the same time period in the mid-70s. You can purchase Cinnamon Bread at Herschend’s Kentucky Kingdom park in Louisville as well.
Dollywood also created a second legendary treat in 2010. This one is a massive 25-pound Apple Pie, baked up fresh from 50 apples, served up in the park’s bakery near the entrance.
Only a few of these are made on any given day. While you can buy a gigantic slice of it for about $25-30, the park will also sell you the whole 25-pound pie for about $225. That price also includes the 17-inch cast-iron skillet that they baked it in.
Forgotten theme park snacks
Before I get to the top spot, here are a couple of once-popular treats that have been lost in time.
When the first Transformers: The Ride attraction opened at Universal Studios Singapore in 2011, Universal wanted to create magic twice in a row, after wowing the world with Butterbeer in Orlando in 2010. So, it tried created “Energon”, a bright orange beverage themed to the power source of the Transformers.
The beverage, rumored to have had an Orange Creamsicle-style flavor, was popular for a time in Singapore. Yet it failed to attract any audience a year later when the Hollywood version opened in 2012. Then it never materialized at all when the Orlando version of the ride opened in 2013. At this time, Hollywood was essentially done with it as well. By all accounts, it didn’t last much longer in Singapore either.
Another popular treat was served at Holiday World in Indiana, USA, when the park opened the Thunderbird coaster. As part of a marketing deal with a local ice cream manufacturer (Prairie Farms), the park sold an official Thunderbird-flavored ice cream. It was also sold in grocery stores in the regional markets around the park.
The flavor was described as “Vanilla Ice Cream with Loops of Caramel and Spicy ‘Scorched’ Pecans”. It was very popular when it launched in 2015. But once the licensing deal came to an end, the custom flavor also vanished. This is likely a sign that the grocery store sales were lagging behind those of the company’s other flavors, resulting in it being pulled from the shelves.
Now with those out of the way, let’s get to the top spot and talk about…
1. Butterbeer at Universal Theme Parks – Florida & California, USA and in Japan
The reaction to the flavor was something that really no one could have predicted. When Universal took on the task of bringing The Wizarding World of Harry Potter to life for the first time in Orlando, it knew that it wanted to create a real-world version of the popular literary beverage favored by the characters.
Universal’s executive chef Steve Jayson is credited as being the genius who, with his team, created the unique new beverage. And it took the theme park universe by storm.
Butterbeer can now be had in Cold, Frozen, and Hot forms. It has also been incorporated as a flavor into other popular dessert treats within the Wizarding Worlds. These range from ice cream to fudge to pudding. There are now even Butterbeer crepes in the new Epic Universe theme park.
Universal has been at the cutting edge of creating many new popular themed food and beverage items across all of the parks in the years following the introduction of Butterbeer.
This includes a full Simpsons-themed Krusty Burger fast food restaurant. There’s also actual Duff Beer you can drink in Moe’s Tavern and Nintendo character-themed food within the various Super Nintendo World lands. Plus, there’s now an assortment of other crazy food and beverages served within various worlds of Epic Universe.
New rides are always on the cusp of creation. But new treats, snacks and drinks are now at the forefront of the creative process as well, as theme park operators strive to create that next big thing that you are going to crave when you visit.
Whatever the future holds, it should be delicious!
