Loaded Crab Fries at Hurricane Hanna’s: Are They Worth the Walk From EPCOT?
We tried the Loaded Crab Fries at Disney’s Hurricane Hanna’s, crab, cheese curds, bacon, and bisque for $11.79. Here’s our review plus what to know before you visit.
Have you ever had a craving for crab meat and some fries? Clearly, this is how the concept of Loaded Crab Fries came into existence. What would they taste like?
Vacation calories don’t count, which is a medical fact we invented the moment we laid eyes on a boat of loaded crab fries at Hurricane Hanna’s at Walt Disney World. This wasn’t a snack; it was a structural hazard. We’re talking a mountain of piping-hot crinkle cuts buried under a blizzard of lump crabmeat, dripping in a neon-orange cheese sauce that looked radioactive enough to grant me superpowers. Old Bay seasoning was dusted over the top with the subtle restraint of a sandstorm.
First Bite
We took our first bite while standing near a splash pad, protecting my seafood mountain like a gladiator in Bermuda shorts. The crab was tender, the cheese was aggressively rich, and the fries were fighting for their lives under the weight of pure indulgence. Three bites in, we had cheese on our chin, Old Bay under our fingernails, and absolute euphoria in our soul. A passing seagull locked eyes with us, assessing whether it could take us in a fight. We stared back with the terrifying intensity of a man who has paid top dollar for park admission and will defend his starch-and-seafood pyramid to the death. The bird wisely backed down.
By the time we scraped the last cheesy, crab-flecked fry off the soggy cardboard tray, we were officially 70% crustacean. We couldn’t ride a roller coaster for at least four business days, but as we waddled blissfully toward the lazy river, we knew we had conquered the theme park experience!
Okay, none of that reflects our experience at Hurricane Hanna’s at Walt Disney World. However, it hopefully made a good narrative. Enough with the nonsense…
The Actual Loaded Crab Fries Review
Let’s get the important stuff out of the way first: Hurricane Hanna’s offers Loaded Crab Fries as a menu selection, and we are once again reminded that some of Disney World’s best snacking happens far away from the parks. This happens at a pool bar you have to actually go looking for. This is not an Epcot restaurant. It’s a resort pool bar with a menu that occasionally forgets it’s a resort pool bar and starts throwing crab meat at things. We respect the ambition.
For the uninitiated: Hurricane Hanna’s sits in the common area outside Stormalong Bay, the elaborate shipwreck-themed pool shared by Disney’s Yacht Club and Beach Club Resorts, and it’s an easy, breezy walk from Epcot’s World Showcase if you’re willing to leave the park for a bit. Basically: if you’re already orbiting the Epcot resort area, this is a very reasonable detour. If you’re at Magic Kingdom wondering why your crab fries haven’t arrived yet, we cannot help you.
Now, onto the fries themselves. The crab meat is genuinely good. It is good enough that our resident crab expert on this taste test would happily order it again, and that’s not a title we hand out lightly. The bisque poured over the top is well-made and has real seafood flavor, without going full “clam chowder tried to become a sauce” on you. It’s rich, but it doesn’t punch you in the face, which we consider a compliment in the bisque world.
The official menu description reads, “with Crab Meat, Cheese Curds, Bacon Pieces, and Crab Bisque.” The fries are not mentioned in that description. They are standard Walt Disney World shoestring fries. We would have preferred a different more sturdy fry.
Loaded Crab Fries as a Group Project
Texturally, this dish is a group project, and like all group projects, not everyone pulls their weight the whole time. Fresh out of the kitchen, the crab, cheese curds, bacon, and bisque work together beautifully. Give it a little time sitting on a patio table in Florida humidity, though, and the fries start to surrender to the bisque. By the end of our order, we were less “loaded fries” and more “crab bisque with a fry-shaped memory.” Order these to eat immediately, not to admire.
Loaded Crab Fries: Value at Walt Disney World?
At $11.79, this is a legitimately fair price for a crab-topped appetizer at Disney World in a category of menu items that usually requires a small loan. The portion is generous enough that splitting it makes sense, though we’ll warn you now: sharing a plate of Loaded Crab Fries is a contact sport. There is exactly one “best bite” zone where the crab-to-bisque-to-fry ratio is perfect, and everyone at the table knows it, and no one will say it out loud.
Bottom line: we would not suggest leaving Epcot specifically to hunt these down. However, if you’re already in the World Showcase resort orbit, killing time before Illuminations… sorry, Luminous, or just wandering the Boardwalk, these are a smart, shareable, reasonably priced snack stop. Just eat them fast.
What You Need to Know Before Visiting Hurricane Hanna’s
Hurricane Hanna’s isn’t hiding, exactly, but it’s also not going out of its way to introduce itself. Here’s the rundown before you make the trip:
- Location: It’s tucked into the common walkway between Crescent Lake and Stormalong Bay, directly across from the resort’s iconic shipwreck, at Disney’s Yacht & Beach Club Resorts.
- You don’t need a room key: Only Yacht & Beach Club guests can swim in Stormalong Bay itself, but anyone, resort guest or not, is welcome to order food and drinks at Hurricane Hanna’s.
- Seating is casual and mostly outdoors: Expect a bar, a covered patio with umbrellas, and high-top tables. There is no dining room and no A/C escape hatch. There’s also a separate outdoor dining area outside the fenced pool for walk-ups.
- The menu leans classic pool bar: burgers, a chicken sandwich, a seafood roll, salads, kids’ meals, and a rotating cast of specialty items like the Loaded Crab Fries.
- Kids’ meals come with a bonus toy: they’re served in a small sand bucket with a shovel, which doubles as pool equipment for Stormalong Bay’s shallow end afterward.
- Hours run late: Hurricane Hanna’s stays open until 10 p.m., making it a solid option for a late bite after a long day in Epcot.
- Mobile ordering usually works here: you can place your order through the My Disney Experience app and skip the line entirely.
It’s genuinely walkable from Epcot: if you’re touring World Showcase and want a change of scenery, this is a comfortable stroll rather than a whole excursion. We will get them again.
Additional Disney’s Yacht Club Articles:
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