4 Dining Experiences We Wish Would Come To Walt Disney World

By: Amanda Dwyer

Saturday, March 4, 2023 - 03:12

On March 23, Walt Disney World will welcome its newest immersive dining experience with Roundup Rodeo BBQ at Disney’s Hollywood Studios within Toy Story Land. The fast-approaching opening of this Toy Story-themed dining experience brings up the question: What other Disney dining experiences do we wish we could experience at Walt Disney World?

There are already so many incredible dining locations, but there are a few missing that would be incredible to experience. Here are four Disney dining experiences that exist at Walt Disney World (and a few honorable mentions).

1. Tiana’s Palace

Image: Disney

We already know that Tiana’s Palace will be opening at Disneyland this year. The French Market Restaurant, which closed earlier in February, is currently being rethemed into Tiana’s Palace. This location will feature many New Orleans-inspired dishes as a quick service option. It will be the perfect accompaniment to Tiana’s Bayou Adventure opening next year.

However, no such restaurant is planned for Magic Kingdom. This is a missed opportunity for Disney to offer an additional unique dining option at Magic Kingdom (which some believe to have the worst food options of the four Walt Disney World parks). Not to mention, a way to bring those amazing Mickey beignets into the parks. It would be even better if Tiana’s Palace at Magic Kingdom were a table service location, possibly even a character meal.

Magic Kingdom is known to be the most popular park for families, especially those with smaller children. Offering another character dining at this park would be a great investment and give families another option for meeting with their favorite characters. With the opening of Tiana’s Bayou Adventure, a Tiana-themed restaurant would fit in perfectly in Frontierland.

2. Julieta’s Kitchen

Image: Amanda Dwyer

It is no secret that Encanto has been extremely popular over the last year and a half. However, there is still very little Encanto representation at the parks. We have seen a couple of Mirabel meet & greets, and the Vibrante & Vivido: Encanto Cocino booth at EPCOT’s Festival of the Arts. Encanto and Colombia could be represented is a much bigger way.   Imagine if you will, walking into a replica of Casita, and having the opportunity to taste one of Julieta’s healing meals.

Okay, so maybe Disney can’t offer recipes that are remedies for real, but they could definitely offer a Colombian inspired quick service dining location that operates under the guise of inviting you into the kitchen of Casita where Julieta does her cooking. We could find different varieties of arepas, empanadas, and even sweet treats.

While it might be difficult to decide where Colombian cuisine would fit within Walt Disney World, it is possible that the cuisine could be tailored to highlight the Caribbean region of Colombia and fit in perfectly within Disney’s Caribbean Beach Resort. They could also retheme Dinoland USA at Disney’s Animal Kingdom into South America giving the land the perfect home for such a restaurant, perhaps even where Restaurantosaurus currently sits.

3. Massimo’s

Image: Disney

There have been mixed reviews about the addition of IP to the World Showcase of EPCOT. Ever since the addition of Frozen Ever After guests have been divided on if Disney IP should be included within the World Showcase pavilions. However, if the IP showcases and respects the country’s culture, isn’t it a great way to introduce these different cultures to younger guests?

One such way this could be done is to retheme Tutto Italia Restaurant in the Italy pavilion into Massimo’s. Yes, Massimo from the Disney/Pixar film, Luca. In the film, Massimo is the father of Giulia and while he spends most of his day as a fisherman, he makes delicious-looking animated pasta. Now, this theming should be approached subtly. This would be similar to the theming at Regal Eagle Smokehouse in the American Adventure pavilion. Many guests may not even notice that Regal Eagle is subtly themed to the Muppets, mainly Sam Eagle.

Massimo’s could maintain the overall ambiance of a traditional Italian restaurant, but with small nods to the film within the décor and menu. It could even be fun to hide Luca and Alberto in various locations (in their sea monster form) for children to find while dining. This would offer the appeal of more upscale cuisine for adults, but a fun theme for children to enjoy without it being overwhelmingly covered in IP.

4. Gusteau’s

Image: Amanda Dwyer

When EPCOT added the expansion to the France pavilion that includes Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure, they should have also included Gusteau’s. It is possible, the argument against including this restaurant focuses on the fact that France already has a table service restaurant in Les Chefs de France. They also have the much more upscale Monsieur Paul Restaurant. Without either, retheming Les Chef de France or removing it altogether, an argument can be made that adding a restaurant like Gusteau’s would be redundant.

However, we could imagine a restaurant in which guests are treated to a look into the kitchen. Much like Turtle Talk with Crush or Animator’s Palate on the Disney Cruise Line, guests could interact virtually with Remy, Linguini, and all the staff as they cook up some delicious creations. Kids could learn precisely what goes into creating each dish, and even provide feedback to the rodent chef himself. It would be a dining experience unlike any at Walt Disney World currently.

Honorable Mentions

There are a few memorable Disney food items that don’t quite have the ability to serve as an entire restaurant but could make a great snack offering. The first of those would be Nick’s Pawpcicles from Zootopia. Those cherry-flavored ice pops could be an excellent addition to each Walt Disney World ice cream stand.

Also in the category of sweet treats would be Anna & Elsa’s chocolates. We know from Frozen, that these sisters love chocolate, and a few specially themed chocolates offered at Kringla Bakeri Og Kafe in the Norway pavilion would be a great addition.

Image: Disney

Finally, when it comes to sweet treats, you can’t pass up Sugar Rush from Wreck-It Ralph. This could be a candy shop offering everything from lollypops to different flavors of marshmallows. It might even fit in great at Magic Kingdom if we could ever get a Sugar Rush retheme of Tomorrowland Speedway.