Wednesday with Walt: Chocolate Soda Please

Walt Disney was a warm, sincere, friendly and fun-loving guy. He liked to entertain more than he liked being entertained. I think that was because of his giving spirit. Walt and Lillian weren’t into the Hollywood social scene. Rather than being found out on the town at any lavish soiree or cocktail party, they were more likely to be at home with close family and friends playing games. Walt liked relaxing with people he was comfortable with and he liked entertaining his guests.

Walt is said to have had a giant sweet tooth (I can sympathize) and as such he had insatiable cravings for ice cream sodas and candy bars. He was known to have colorful jars of candy to share all over his studio office and his pride and joy at his Holmby Hills home (aside from his train) was the soda fountain in his club room, complete with all the extras and attachments. Walt loved playing soda jerk for his family and friends. He would make ice cream sodas and the biggest banana splits anyone ever saw, according to those who were lucky enough to benefit from his sweet tooth genius. One such person was Disney Animator, Ward Kimball, who said, “Walt would get behind the counter of his soda fountain, which was his boyhood dream come true. He’d have all these different flavors of ice cream, and he’d make these big tall things with whipped cream and cherries. They’d be a mile high!”

Walt was also happy about the fact that the club room was a fun place for his girls to entertain their friends. His daughter, Sharon, said he was known to make gooey concoctions of all kinds. Walt would “gripe” about supplying the whole neighborhood with sodas at his expense. Truth be known, he was happy his daughters were at home and had their friends visit there where he knew they were safe.

True to Walt’s style, his trying to “plus” one concoction after another sometimes developed into creations that no one would try, not even him. He did have a favorite though, a chocolate soda. During the planning phase of the 100 Years of Magic Celebration at WDW in 2000, several Disney chefs were asked to come up with recipes for Walt’s favorite desserts. Unveiled at the celebration, which was held in honor of what would have been Walt’s 100th birthday, was this recipe for the sweet soda treat Walt enjoyed so much. Chef Wendt Welcovitz of The Plaza Restaurant came up with the recipe. I hope you will try it at your next gathering of family and friends too — maybe you can sip it while enjoying a great Disney movie!

Walt’s Favorite Chocolate Soda

Served at: The Plaza Restaurant
Servings: 2

Ingredients:
1/3 cup chocolate syrup
2 scoops vanilla ice cream
6 ounces soda or seltzer water
Maraschino cherry

Instructions:
Pour chocolate syrup in the bottom of an 8-ounce milk shake glass.
Smoosh in 1 scoop of ice cream.
Slowly pour in soda water almost to top of glass.
Perch another scoop of ice cream on top.
Add a cherry and a colorful straw or two.

Nutrition Information: Serving Size 1 (171g); Recipe makes 2 servings

Calories 280; Calories from Fat 76; Total Fat 8.5g; Saturated Fat 4.5g; Monounsaturated Fat 3.0g; Polyunsaturated Fat 0.3g; Trans Fat 0.0g; Cholesterol 16mg; Sodium 207mg; Potassium 301mg; Total Carbohydrate 48.5g; Dietary Fiber 1.7g; Sugars 32.2g; Protein 3.6g; Vitamin A 160mcg; Vitamin B6 0.1mg; Vitamin B12 0.3mcg; Vitamin C 0mg; Vitamin E 1mcg; Calcium 98mg; Iron 0mg. Weight Watchers Plus Points = 8.

Related articles

• The Best Ice Cream at WDW – Downtown Disney’s Ghirardelli Soda Fountain (chipandco.com)
• Top 10 Irresistible Ice Cream Treats at the Disney Parks (chipandco.com)

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