Review: The Unofficial Disney Parks Retro Cookbook is a Culinary Time Machine to Disneyland and Walt Disney World's Past

There’s nothing quite like being inside Disney Parks, but none of us can be there all the time. There are often those times when you want a little bit of Disney magic, but can’t experience it firsthand. One of the best ways to truly feel like you’re back there is through your sense of taste. Food is one area where Disney Parks offer experiences you can't have anywhere else. As a new cookbook shows, that's been true for decades.

The number of Disney cookbooks on the market is significant. There are books made by Disney itself and those made by others. There are books that can help you recreate your favorite dish from inside the parks today, or create dishes inspired by your favorite films or attractions. Despite not being much of a cook myself, I’ve acquired more than my share of these books, often as gifts from friends and family. I’ve even used them on occasion. 

I've made the occasional drink that I often enjoy at Disneyland as a way of feeling like I'm there, but returning to Disneyland or Walt Disney World through flavors today skips over decades of culinary history. This is where The Unofficial Disney Parks Retro Cookbook comes in.

From travel and theme park journalists Carly Caramanna and Julie Tremaine, The Unofficial Disney Parks Retro Cookbook is a cookbook that celebrates the history of food at Disneyland and Walt Disney World, specifically the dishes and dining locations that no longer exist. It covers 70 years of theme park history with over 60 recipes of food and drink from the earliest days of Disneyland through the opening of Walt Disney World, and even some spots that have only closed their doors in the last few years.

Disney Parks have always traded on nostalgia, but the feeling I often have when walking the parks is called anemoia. While nostalgia is a longing feeling for your own past experiences, anemoia is a longing for a time that you’ve never actually experienced. I've often wondered what it really would have been like to experience Disneyland when it opened. I wish I could have gone on every ride that closed before my first trip. I would love to have eaten in all the restaurants that no longer exist. The Retro Cookbook gives me a chance to do that in some small way.

As somebody who isn’t much of a cook, there was still plenty that I was comfortable trying out. Most of the recipes don’t require particularly unique ingredients or complex timing. These were all dishes designed to be made frequently, and to cater to a wide variety of guests, after all. If you actually know what you’re doing in a kitchen, however, there are plenty more recipes for those willing to put the work in. Some people actually enjoy cooking, from what I understand. 

As somebody who does enjoy any excuse to make a cocktail, the drink options in the book are equally good. Whether you prefer something sweet or more complex flavors, there's something there to wet your whistle and give you an understanding of just what people were drinking in decades past. As somebody who missed out on the Kungaloosh, but had only ever heard good things about it, enjoying this one was especially fun.

But The Unofficial Disney Parks Retro Cookbook isn't simply a book worth using; it’s a book worth reading. Each recipe is preceded by a discussion of the bygone location where the dish was served, and the era in which it was made. This makes the cookbook not only a culinary guide but a historical one. Plenty has been written about Disney Parks' history, but rarely is so much focus given to the restaurants.

Some readers will have visited many of these locations, and even eaten some of this food. For those of us who never had a chance to visit these iconic locations, the historical detail helps set the scene and give the dish context. Does the Tuna Burger actually taste better after reading about Disneyland’s Chicken of the Sea Pirate Ship and Restaurant? You’ll never convince me otherwise.

If Disney Cookbooks are something that’s already filling your shelf, then your collection is incomplete without The Unofficial Disney Parks Retro Cookbook. However, if you only have one Disney cookbook on your shelf, this should be it. 

While i thoroughly enjoyed this book, it doesn’t solve my problem of Disney Parks anemoia. In fact, I think it made it worse. Enjoying a drink from the Disneyland Hotel Monorail Bar still makes me wish I was drinking it in the Disneyland Hotel Monorail Bar. I'm still bummed I'll never have that chance, at least until somebody builds that time machine.

The Unofficial Disney Parks Retro Cookbook is available now.