Christian Rumpler, executive chef of catering event operations at Walt Disney World, has spun gastronomic magic here for more than 30 years. And, if you ever wondered how many culinary events Disney cooks up annually, the answer is an astonishing 11,000! With that kind of experience, it’s no surprise that every bite tells a story. Disney isn’t just about thrilling rides and beloved characters—their meetings and events are bursting with creativity down to every morsel. Here, the catering team turns every menu into an adventure, where chefs become storytellers and guests get a taste of pure Disney wonder.
Rumpler said, in telling those stories, Walt Disney World uses the finest, most sustainable ingredients in all dishes, and while local is good, great food is better.
“That’s why we have purveyors from around the world. We have Norwegian salmon, Dover sole and we have a great relationship with a garden in Ohio that provides micro greens,” he said.
Walt Disney World reaches out to local farms for fresh produce like sweet corn, cucumbers, butternut squash, apples, avocados and okra.
“We get strawberries and watermelon from Plant City, [Florida], and right in our own backyard EPCOT’s The Land has a hydroponic garden where the produce is harvested on Thursday. If we have a special event I can get miracle fruit, herbs, eggplant, purple and yellow striped tomatoes, sugar cane and coffee beans. It doesn’t get more local than that,” Rumpler said.
“One theme we love is Squeeze the Day, using all the citrus Florida is known for," he continued. "We have small, elegant lemon desserts, which are lemon shaped bite size desserts with lemon cake, custard and lemon glaze. We have fresh squeezed orange juice and tangerine cream puffs. We use the leaves and orange blossoms around the room to make things come alive. “
Themes that go hand in hand with Disney characters are a must. For a Toy Story theme, Sheriff Woody’s barbeque station took center stage at one event and there were plenty of Forky’s cupcakes for dessert.
For a Star Wars-themed event, guests could have their pictures taken with Chewbacca, later dining on Moon Rock Rolls with Space Dusted Butter and Galactic Debris Cookies for dessert.
Trends in Meetings
Rumpler said accommodating all sorts of dietary needs is not a problem. “We want to ensure that those with special requests are eating as close to everyone else, so they feel included and have options. And, at all our events we have a chef on staff who can prepare back up items.”
These days, meeting planners are asking for smaller portions and mainstream items with a twist: think potato bars with everything from Idaho to Okinawan potatoes with all sorts of add ins.
Sustainability is a priority, as well.
“We partner with the Monterey Aquarium for our sustainable fish program. Our grouper is local, and we get corvina off the east coast and rock shrimp from Canaveral," Rumpler said. "We look at what we’re doing for the environment, too. Instead of using disposable cups for sides, we’re looking at creating cups from crackers. And our empty wine bottles? We just took eight tons of pulverized bottles and used them on the Fort Wilderness Trail and raised garden beds at Disney’s Yacht & Beach Club Resorts.”
For larger groups, Walt Disney World offers Global Menu Packages that can be tweaked. Planners have been known to request items from any one of 500 eating establishments around Disney.
“We get requests for the Rum Runner Chicken from Shipwreck Beach at Disney’s Yacht & Beach Club Resorts, the cheese soup from the Canada Pavilion at EPCOT and the cheeseburger spring rolls from Adventureland in Magic Kingdom Park,” Rumpler said.
“We have 50 years to pull from and there’s not too many dishes we can’t duplicate.”
For more information, visit DisneyMeetingsandEvents.com.
VANESSA EVANS
Sr. Manager, Public Relations | Walt Disney World Public Relations
(407) 309-8784 | vanessa.evans@disney.com
Sponsored by Disney Meetings & Events
