Disney parks in the US are embracing a vegetarian trend.

Over 400 vegan dishes will be available at both quick-service and table-service restaurants at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida, starting in early October this year, followed by Disneyland in Anaheim, California, in spring 2020.

There are over 602 dining locations at Walt Disney World in Orlando and Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, California, most of which feature unique culinary themes related to the park or hotel. Each location will soon have a themed vegan option, such as the Star Wars-inspired "Tatooine Two Suns Hummus" at Disney Studio's Hollywood in Orlando, or "Le Fou Festin" at Disney's Magic Kingdom restaurant, Be Our Guest, also in Orlando.

Previously, menus at Disney parks worldwide had also featured vegetarian options, such as mushroom risotto at Disneyland Paris, stir-fried vegetables with vegetarian dumplings at Disneyland Hong Kong, or caramel banana bread with nuts at Disney Resort Shanghai. But the plan to include at least one vegan item on each Disney menu is a US initiative.

Disney even cautiously referred to these dishes as "vegan" rather than "vegan," as the precise definition of "vegan" has long been a subject of debate. However, the company asserted that all of these dishes would be "free of animal meat, dairy, eggs, or honey," meeting the broadest definition of vegan cuisine.

To help customers easily identify vegetarian dishes, Disney is marking them on the menu with a green leaf icon.

The lack of vegetarian options, coupled with the difficulty in identifying them, has led Disney's vegetarian fans to create their own culinary guides, such as on the Vegan Disney World page. This menu change by Disney has been received positively and enthusiastically by them.

Huong Thao