All right, I might as well be honest. When it comes to my food fantasy, I am a little unrealistic. But I am allowed to be because it is my food fantasy right? There aren’t too many people who would wish to be transported into Dr. Seuss’s whimsical world. But when I found myself at Seuss Landing at Universal Studios last summer, I wished I could be transported into this magical world of talking cats, truffula trees, and walking fish.
In my food fantasy the Cat in the Hat escorted me through the Lorax’s psychedelic forest into Seuss Landing. The hilly forest is filled with yellow, bright pink, and red truffula trees. The silky soft tufts are topped with fluffy flowers that look like cotton candy bushes. I reach my hand out and grab one as I walk by and sneak it in my mouth before the Cat catches me. The sticky, sugary, and sweetness of the truffula flower quickly dissolves in my mouth. Before I can grab another bite I have to hop on the Sky High Trolley shaped like a fish that spins and swerves me into the big top tent of the Circus McGurkus. The Circus McGurkus is a magical restaurant where you are able to interact with characters from several of Dr.Seuss’s books. Bright lights are strung across the tent over whimsical architecture. Strange creatures are performing and acrobats are twirling overhead. I am escorted to a long table with red and white linens and truffula flowers on top of vase filled with water while One Fish Two Fish swimming in the centerpieces.
Seated around the table are my favorite characters. I am in company of elephant birds from Horton Hatches the Egg, the Grinch and Cindy Lou Hoo, and Yertle the Turtle. As the Cat pulls out my chair for me, his cohorts Thing1 and Thing 2 pop out of a box near the side of the table. As Thing 1 and Thing 2 try to take my drink order, waiters pass by carrying trays stacked, a fish in a bowl, and a double layer cake. As they jump out of the box they knock over the assortment of dishes and plates that the other waiters are carrying. I could have expected them to be mischievous and clumsy.
It was family style dinner. There is something about the colors and descriptions of Dr. Seuss’s foods that make everything look as colorful as they taste. The imaginative mind of Dr. Seuss dreamed up food that is as delicious as it looks sweet. Who could pass up green eggs and ham? Thing 1 asked me if I liked green eggs and ham. He explained that you don’t just have to eat them in a house, or with a mouse, in a box or with a fox. He even offered me green eggs and ham hamburgers and cheeseburgers. He convinced me to have the green eggs and ham hamburger. There were a variety of other foods to choose from. Plates upon plates of were being passed around of cat in the aat cookies, jello lakes, Thing 1 and Thing 2 cotton candy cupcakes, poodles eating noodles, brown-bar-ba-loots truffula treats, green jello eggs, fish kebabs, wocket pita pockets, three cheese trees, and cat in the hat mallow pops.
It is hard to choose my favorite entrée because they all tasted like desserts. Everything I put in my mouth was a sweet combination of salty of sweet. The truffula treats had multiple layers. Each layer provided a different experience that satisfied a different taste bud. The first layer tasted similar to what heaven would look like, a melted marshmallow dipped in warm chocolate topped with cheesecake bites. Right as I thought my experience was over my tongue was overcome with a new flavor. My second bite provided a salty balance to the sweetness I just experienced. It tasted just like the salty mix you eat off of ranch sunflower seeds, without all of the hard work to get the seeds. The last layer was a fruit flavor I never experienced before. It was a hybrid of strawberry, kiwi, and pineapple that could be found nowhere else. It left my palette refreshed and cleansed so I could eat the next dish.
To wash down my all of this food I ordered Moose Juice. Moose juice tastes like tangerine juice but sweeter with a hint of sour apple. There are other drinks in Seuss Landing to choose from. The zany Pink Yink Ink drink is Two Fish’s favorite drink, which he highly recommended to me. He offered me a sip and it tasted like a mix of strawberries, blackberries, and honey that have a consistency of a smoothie.
After I stuffed my face with food, I asked to speak to the chef to thank him for my meal. I was expecting a jolly plump character to walk out of the kitchen with an apron and a huge smile. Instead I was surprised when the Lorax walked out of the kitchen. This hairy unpleasant man was shortish, and brownish, and oldish, and mossy, and he spoke with a voice that was sharpish and bossy. I asked him his recipe for the truffula treats and he explained that the dish does not require enormous amounts of effort and time but imagination and creativity. Truffula treats call for 2 cups of imagination, 10 cups of sugar and spice, 2 teaspoons of vanilla and nice, a handful of whim, and a dab of silliness. All of these supplies can be found in your heart. You never know when they are going to be ready because it is different for each person because you have to believe in the creation.
The meals served in Seuss Landing are never just about eating. They represent sharing of ideas and a vivacious lifestyle. I was well fed, happy, and relaxed. Laughter fills the air, while Thing 1 and Thing 2 are bouncing off the walls. The intoxicating aromas of marshmallows and melted cheese are still wafting through the tent.
In my food fantasy books come to life. My fantasy is not limited to the food I eat but the overall experience. Dining with in Seuss Landing was definitely one of the most immersive experiences. My fantasy meets the front cover of a storybook where I learn more about Dr. Seuss’s work, creativity, and detail that was put into all of his stories and characters.
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