Those that speak about how the Wizarding World at Universal Orlando changed the central Florida theme park equation continue to be amazed by this phenomenon. A prime example of this can be seen with the amazing well-themed beverage “Butterbeer.” Most Wizarding World fans dream of enjoying this beverage. The queues for this beverage can become lengthy on most days. No matter what creative concoction other theme parks attempt to market, they continue to lose to butterbeer. Some experts would suggest that the sale of butterbeer alone enables Universal Orlando to do so many additional projects. If you are unfamiliar with the butterbeer phenomenon, you can acquire it in cold (original format), frozen, and hot varieties. This beverage is non-alcoholic in case you were wondering.
Yet, this beverage displayed one major weakness. Sure, this sugar filled creation might not be diet friendly. Still, that fails to be the weakness I reference. The major weakness involved the foam. All butterbeer in Wizarding World comes with a delicious foam on top. Why would delicious foam be an issue?
In simple terms, the foam on top, though tasty, fails to be vegan friendly. I have often joked that no witches and wizards must follow a vegan diet. Now, many rumors floated around about the reason that guests could not receive a butterbeer without foam. Until very recently, this policy controlled butterbeer sales. As confirmed by Shelby Castle, of Universal Orlando Vegans Facebook group, that all varieties of butterbeer beverage can now be purchased with foam. For the record, hot butterbeer still fails to be vegan friendly even without the foam. Your vegan options are cold and frozen since those use similar formulas.
Vegan diners should rejoice at this news. I heard on two other occasions that this change was happening. Still, in both of those cases, the change never happened. Though Universal Orlando has shown great desire to create better vegan dining options, butterbeer remained a stumbling block. This recent change eliminates that issue. With some decent vegan dining options in the two Wizarding World quick service locations, the ability to get a vegan butterbeer should bring joy to people enjoying a plant-based diet. I guess I need to add one more thing to my list of food/beverage to try out in August. When Shelby Castle posted this information, she gave thanks to Universal Orlando and The Protego Foundation. I also wish to thank them. Also, this makes this beverage available for those with dairy issues too.
If the foam topping on butterbeer kept you from enjoying this great beverage, enjoy this good news. As always, eat (or drink in this case) like you mean it!
Pirates & Princesses (PNP) is an independent, opinionated fan-powered news blog that covers Disney and Universal Theme Parks, Themed Entertainment and related Pop Culture from a consumer's point of view. Opinions expressed by our contributors do not necessarily reflect the views of PNP, its editors, affiliates, sponsors or advertisers. PNP is an unofficial news source and has no connection to The Walt Disney Company, NBCUniversal or any other company that we may cover.