Disneyland is a bustling hub where each choice comes with a cost. Everything adds up — from the tickets to get in to parking to cooling off on a hot day with ice cream – so you may be pondering how you can save a few bucks on food while you’re there. I recently saw a hack on TikTok where users tried a captivating combination: Pairing the cheesy garlic pretzel bread with the Banyan Beef Skewer. This piqued my interest because, while I usually pack some snacks and sandwiches for my day at the park, I like to live a little, too. After all, I write about food, so it doesn’t hurt to try different items and stay in the loop.
There are plenty of food options and restaurants at Disneyland, and it helps to have inspiration to narrow it down. After walking tens of thousands of steps, you need a little sustenance to keep you going. So, I volunteered myself as a guinea pig to test it out to see if the BBQ skewer bread combo is worth your time and dollars. Let’s just say that I have thoughts on the finished product, but I also have some tips to get the best results if you want to try it. Let’s dig in.
Assemble your ingredients
To create this DIY sandwich, you first have to gather your components. I highly recommend ordering via the Disneyland app to save time waiting in line. This improves your overall experience (who wants to spend more time in lines at the park that don’t result in a ride?) and keeps your food fresher and warmer. There’s no point waiting in line at both locations if you can plan ahead, select a time frame to pick up your food, and assemble your meal.
The spicy Banyan Beef Skewer costs $7.29 and is only available at Bengal Barbecue, but you have two options for the garlic cheesy pretzel bread: Edelweiss Snacks, which is close to the Matterhorn, and Maurice’s Treats, right by the Royal Theatre. The bread, priced at $7.99, was ready right away, but the skewer took a few minutes even after I marked in the app that I was there to pick it up — I’ll give you my tip in the next slide on the best order to do things in.
The two items total over $15, but don’t forget to account for taxes; this adds to the cost (over $1 combined between them), making the meal more than $16 after taxes. If you have a Magic Key, you will receive 10% or 15% off that price based on your tier. Now that we have the cost and logistics out of the way, let’s dive into the execution and flavor.
The result? I was unimpressed and still hungry
I love a good deal, especially if I can save some money at the already-expensive Disneyland, but this hack wasn’t a success. Let’s start with the price. For $16, this doesn’t make lunch less expensive. There are other filling sandwiches that you can get for a similar, if not cheaper price, such as the tuna salad sandwich from Harbour Galley or the turkey on ciabatta from Jolly Holiday.
Then there’s the ratio and flavor. There’s way more bread than meat, so this isn’t all that filling protein-wise. One piece of meat was sinewy and chewy, and a second piece had a burnt shard of wooden skewer stuck in it (yes, even after I removed the skewer). I opted to add soy sauce and sriracha, both of which were available at Bengal Barbecue, to add needed moisture and flavor.
If you do want to attempt this TikTok idea, I have a couple of tips to get the best-as-can-be results: First, order via the app, like I mentioned earlier. Next, pick up from Maurice’s Treats first, and then go to Bengal Barbecue. I made the mistake of ordering from Edelweiss Snacks, and it took six minutes to speed walk from one place to the other. If you walk normally or have small children in tow, this will easily take 10 minutes. My beef skewer was cold by the time I got my piping hot bread. Overall, this hack wasn’t a win in my book.
