In celebration of the newly opened Tiana’s Bayou Adventure, the Magic Kingdom has quite a few new snacks available now through September 6th! The Gold Oak Outpost, located in Frontierland and to the left of Tiana’s Bayou Adventure, has four new menu items, and we, of course, had to try them all!
Most notable on the menu is the return of Tiana’s famous beignets! This time with a new look, more similar to her recipe from the movie. There are also two Cajun-inspired sweet potato fry bowls and Bayou Lavender Lemonade to cool you off during this very hot summer season.
Shrimp Gumbo with Sweet Potato Fries for $11.99. The base is shrimp and andouille sausage gumbo and topped with Cajun-spiced sweet potato fries.
I was thrilled to see gumbo arrive at the Magic Kingdom, in hopes we too can have a Tiana’s Palace one day! The gumbo was flavorful and had a good consistency. I was even impressed to see it had plenty of okra. The sweet potato fries were also great – fried perfectly with the right amount of spice! Even though I enjoyed dipping the fries in the gumbo, it was a weird one to eat. I would have preferred this same gumbo served over rice and maybe the option to order a side of fries. Better yet, New Orleans “debris fries” would be incredible.
Just like in the movie, I added a few dashes of hot sauce and then it was the “bee’s knees”! Pro-tip for this summer, take your food to eat in Pecos Bill right across the way. You’ll have air conditioning and plenty of hot sauce. Or if you’re like me, make sure you’ve got your Mama Odie’s Hot Sauce in your bag!
Hot Honey Chicken with Sweet Potato Fries for $9.99 – made with chicken nuggets tossed in hot sauce-honey and topped with New Orleans olive relish and Cajun-spiced sweet potato fries.
At first, I wasn’t sure how the honey would pair with the vinegar from the olive relish, and even though it was weird, I liked it! I would have loved more of the hot honey, though. Ultimately, this was Disney chicken nuggets with a side of sweet potato fries. I would have really loved to see the olive relish used for a more traditional dish like a muffuletta.
Bayou Lavender Lemonade for $4.29 – made with Minute Maid lemonade and lavender syrup. There wasn’t anything overly special about this lemonade but combined with lavender on a hot day, it was heavenly. It also gets an extra point for presentation!
You can also find it served at Dockside Diner in Hollywood Studios, The Plaza Restaurant and The Friar’s Nook at Magic Kingdom, Amorette’s Patisserie at Disney Springs, and the pool bars at both the Grand Floridian and Port Orleans French Quarter.
Tiana’s Famous Beignets for $6.99. Just like Tiana’s, these beignets are topped with powdered sugar and drizzled with honey.
While I liked the previous version of Tiana’s beignets for Celebrate Soulfully, they were more cronut and less beignet. These, however, were pretty close to the beignets you would find in Tiana’s home of New Orleans. They weren’t very fluffy like the description said, but hopefully, that had more to do with the batch I had and not the recipe. I was very happy to see Tiana’s famous “man-catchin” beignets make a glorious return! These were very popular during my visit, but kudos to the hard-working cast members for keeping the wait very short.
And just like any good beignet, everything was covered in powdered sugar, including our new souvenir. Be sure to visit Golden Oak Outpost before September 6th and let us know in the comments what you think about the “new” beignets!
