“Here you leave today and enter the worlds of yesterday, tomorrow, and fantasy.” And while you’re in them, you’ve got to eat, right? From the very beginning, dining at Disney Parks has been more than just part of the experience; it’s been part of the story. When you eat hand-pulled taffy on Main Street, indulge in a Dole Whip beneath the torches of Adventureland, pop a beignet and mint julep on the wrought iron patios of New Orleans Square, or saddle up for some barbecue in Frontierland, you’re seeing Disney’s culinary imagination at work.
And in many regards, considering dining as part of the story was fully fulfilled in 1967, when Pirates of the Caribbean opened at Disneyland. There, as guests cast off from Lafayette’s Landing, they encounter one of the ride’s most ingenious moments. Drifting at first beneath the cloudless night sky and alongside firefly-lit marshes, guests suddenly find the swamp’s still waters illuminated by the reflection of paper lanterns strung up over the waterside patio of a stately, remote plantation house on the bayou’s edge. It’s alive with subtle jazz music… and waterfront diners. But they aren’t Audio-Animatronics; the hustle and bustle of the ongoing evening dinner party is real thanks to diners at Disneyland’s most exclusive public restaurant, The Blue Bayou.
The Blue Bayou gave guests the opportunity to dine inside a ride, beneath perpetual night skies as silent boats sail by in the darkness. It wasn’t just novel; it was magical both for riders and diners. Arguably, Disney’s never topped that initial, perfect fusion of ride-and-restaurant (though both Paris and Shanghai’s Pirate rides have followed the formula). Hints of the formula have popped up, like in Magic Kingdom’s Village Haus (overlooking “it’s a small world’s” boarding) and, at Epcot, The Land’s Good Turn Restaurant (with views of Listen to the Land), the San Angel Inn (which closely mirrored the Blue Bayou with Mexico’s El Rio Del Tiempo waterway), and The Seas’ Coral Reef Restaurant.
But the idea of truly placing a restaurant within (or at least, in proximity to) a ride hasn’t really happened in quite a while… Which is why we’ve cooked up some ideas for ride-restaurant pairs that would be amazing to dine in. Are these spatially possible? Practical? Of course not! Consider this more of a conceptually exercise than a concrete one. But if you can join us in temporarily forgetting space constraints, ignoring blueprints, and thinking Blue Sky, consider how great these dining experiences would be…
6. The Ghostly Ballroom inside Haunted Mansion
One of the earliest concepts for the Haunted Mansion was drafted by Disney Legend Rolly Crump, who proposed a tour of international oddities, eerie and otherworldly effects, and downright unsettling sights. (We looked into the concepts of his so-called “Museum of the Weird” concept in our in-depth look at the ride that eventually ran with the idea – the Modern Marvel: Mystic Manor.)
Walt liked Crump’s “Museum of the Weird” but apparently suggested that maybe it ought to be set aside and used for an in-ride restaurant, like the Blue Bayou that was then under development for Pirates. And we could imagine a living restaurant of strange props and ghostly artifacts as its own restaurant, even if it doesn’t quite jive with the eventual tone of the Haunted Mansion. After all, the “Museum of the Weird” concept was long before the ride had adopted its final scenes, its story (or lack thereof), or even the Omnimover ride system.
Even today, though, there’s one dream shared by many Disney Parks guests: dining in the manor’s Ballroom. Of course, it’s neither possible nor practical. But imagine for a moment if the ride had indeed been set up to feature its own Blue Bayou equivalent ride at the ride’s peak. Imagine if Madame Leota was truly speaking to you when she offered “your presence is wanted at this ghostly ball.” Imagine being led by ghastly hostess down supernaturally stretched hallways, emerging at last in the Ballroom to partake in an eternal wedding feast with ghostly deserts aplenty. Yes, the haunted equivalent of “Be Our Guest Restaurant” would be the hottest ticket in town to this day… But wait…
Imagine if you had a choice: dine in the soaring Ballroom itself… or step onto the other side of that massive pane of glass and into the Regions Beyond. While it may not be as pretty, dining in this one-story black box would have its benefits: with rising and falling lights aimed at your table, you – yes, you – would appear to the Omnimovers processing along the balcony above to be a spectre, humming in and out of existance at a paired Ballroom table using that spectacular Pepper’s Ghost effect that’s powered the party for decades. Where else can you dine dead?
5. Harambe House overlooking Kilimanjaro Safaris
When Disney’s Animal Kingdom opened in 1998, its headlining anchor attraction was Kilimanjaro Safaris; about as “true-life” as any Disney Parks adventure has really been. Driving across an African serengeti that’s literally the size of Magic Kingdom, aspects of the ride have changed many times as Disney balances guests’ desire for “adventure” and “story” and “special effects” with the ride’s true star: the animals! The ability to see African animals up close (and in as close to their native habitats as is practical for many of us) made Kilimanjaro Safaris a hit… and, soon after, made the Animal Kingdom Lodge’s Savannah Views worth $800 a night). Disney’s definitely figured out how to monetize giraffes, zebras, and lions. But they’re missing one thing.
In fact, they need only look down the street to Busch Gardens Tampa Bay, which has its own serengeti (once traversible by safari ride; now just by train and skyride). There, for more than fifty years, the park’s signature restaurant has been so because of its views across the animal exhibit. Beginning as the standalone, public, beloved Tampa restaurant the Old Swiss House before being absorbed into the park’s footprint and African setting as the Crown Colony House (and since 2016, the less problematic Serengeti Overlook Restaurant and Pub), the eatery has all the makings of once-in-a-lifetime dining.
Imagineers would have their work cut out for them in addressing the inherently worrisome aspects of a Harambe House, though. After all, such ornate safari-side clubhouses are predictably problematic, having historically been erected by colonizing British invaders to serve familiar fare to their own gentry while vacationing in Africa for hunting trips. Yikes. Of course, Imagineers have faced the challenge of how to address Africa and Asia’s (and Pandora’s) colonial past in the park before. From the Majarajah Jungle Trek to the Wildlife Express Train and Flight of Passage, Animal Kingdom’s stories are of autonomous peoples who reuse and repurpose evidence of their past colonization. So could an old colony clubhouse be repurposed as a celebration of authentic African cuisine? You bet.
And imagine how exclusive and elite the restaurant would be if it were only accessible via the Wildlife Express train… Yep, if Rafiki’s Planet Watch doesn’t survive the decade, the train could be repurposed as a way for diners to access a far-flung clubhouse with a restaurant and pub set far off in the serengeti. Now that’s a restaurant that would be fully booked every minute of every day.
4. Ornament Valley Dine-In Theater near Radiator Springs Racers
What do Toy Story Land, Galaxy’s Edge, Cars Land, and New Fantasyland all have in common? For one, none of them look exactly like the concept art Disney released before their opening. Unlike Universal (who tends to wait until projects are practically ready for opening before even acknowledging they exist), Imagineering art is distributed around the world early on in a project’s lifetime. So early, in fact, that Disney is pretty notorious for then quietly, inconspicuously going back to edit the original art, airbrushing out the more expensive elements of a project that were dropped during later stages of concepting. Unfortunately, this gives Disney Parks fans the frustrating feeling of knowing what they didn’t get.
From alien dinner clubs and Bantha rides on Batuu to toy barns and tunnels in Toy Story Land, fans can practically be haunted by “what never was.” That’s definitely true of Cars Land, too. Though it almost exactly matches the massive scale and scope originally planned, at least one thing is missing: a Cars-themed, West Coast version of Hollywood Studios’ Sci-Fi Dine-In Theater.
Likely conceived before the Modern Marvel: Radiator Springs Racers had taken on its final form, artwork of the experience showed ’60s style servers fitting the “Car Land” concept that had come before. Today, a mural painted on the side of a building advertises the Drive-In, pointing toward where it doesn’t exist.
Not only is there still space for this restaurant to be built – hidden alongside and behind the Cadillac Range – but it would still be a hit! Without a doubt, this drive-in restaurant will be California Adventure’s “Be Our Guest;” a booked out, filled up character dining extravaganza where instead of meeting cars, you’d eat in them. It’s perfect. That’s why we listed signature dining like this to be among the 16 Disney World Exclusives That Should Make Disneyland Fans Jealous. While a Dine-In Theater wouldn’t be physically inside Radiator Springs Racers, it would be the perfect companion for the ride.
3. Bounty of Mo’ara inside Na’vi River Journey
Okay, so despite fans’ initial excitement at the notion of Disney’s first water-based dark ride in seemingly decades, it turned out that Na’vi River Journey isn’t considered a favorite by many. In fact, we heard plenty of complaints from readers when we didn’t include the ride on our list of the 7 Worst Rides of the Century (So Far)! To say the least, Na’vi River Journey is admittedly… divisive. On paper, it seems like just the kind of ride Disney Parks fans would love: an old-school, tranquil river voyage through physical sets that’s focused on beauty, grace, and music. Along the way, guests continue in their role as eco-tourists, gazing in awe at the glowing flora and fauna of Pandora on a river pilgrimage to the mystical Shaman of Songs. There are no drops. No scares. Nothing goes horribly wrong.
But after the lengthy waits that this companion to Flight of Passage tends to garner, the plotless and brisk trip through the rainforest feels – to some – like a letdown. Would the Na’vi River Journey be better if it were twice as long? Definitely. Could a dip or two have helped make it feel worth the wait? Yep. Is the whole thing a showing of James Cameron’s hubris to think guests clamored for this world? Eh, yeah. But frankly, Na’vi River Journey fulfills a few major needs: it gives Pandora a ride with no height requirement, it meets the land’s need to focus on the value of nature, and it provides Animal Kingdom with only its second dark ride (after the terrifying Dinosaur).
In any case, what might warm guests up to the ride is to be able to spend more time inside of it by way of a restaurant. Just imagine Na’vi-made tables under the weeping, glowing branches of the moon’s Tree of Souls; a harvest festival staged to welcome travelers from Earth and to introduce them to the bounty of Mo’ara. Imagine dining on the banks of the glowing river, beneath a canopy of twinkling vines and trees. Perhaps from your tables, you might seen three or four Na’vi animatronics cross-legged at the water’s edge, meditating together to the sounds of nature. Animatronics of Na’vi wildlife may occasionally walk by in the underbrush. Guests, meanwhile, could dine on the bounty of Mo’ara, indulging in alien dishes with vibrant colors and tastes.
If guests’ primary problem with Na’vi River Journey is that their experience in the glowing rainforest just isn’t long enough or deep enough, the Bounty of Mo’ara restaurant could change that while deeply connecting to the land’s existing mythology and the park’s larger themes.
2. The Tip Top Club at The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror
Hollywood, 1939… Okay, you know the drill. In fact, mythology behind the Hollywood Tower Hotel isn’t just one of the most well-known and beloved in all of Disney Parks canon; it’s also practically set up for expansion. Among the Hotel’s more legendary (but never-seen) features is the iconic Tip Top Club, no doubt lofted high up in the landmark hotel’s central guest tower. Forget that rogue lightning strike. Imagine if we were able to visit this swinging nightclub at its peak; imagine lounge singers, Jazz acts, brass bands, and swing dancing in an elegant, lamp-lit 1920s dinner theater for the showbusiness elite, perhaps even with “windows” looking out over old Hollywood and the still-lit “HOLLYWOODLAND” sign.
More to the point, imagine the illusions Disney could employ to take us there. Even if the Tip Top Club needed to be built on the ground floor of an auxiliary showbuilding behind the existing Tower of Terror, think of how they could pull off the effect… Imagineers could concoct the illusion that guests are entering into a celebrity-only back door entrance to the now-dilapidated hotel, where diners would pile into a Direct-to-the-Tip-Top elevator manned by a gaunt bellhop (a la Space 220). As the long-abandoned lift shudders to life, projection effects and that Twilight Zone score could see the dusty, abandoned elevator and its faded bellhop restored to full color, just as the doors open into the swinging club, dazzling in gold and rich red velvet… The return trip could, of course, see the elevator pass back through a time tear so that exiting guests would emerge from a dusty elevator once more at the foot of the decaying hotel, wondering where that restaurant really was, or whether it existed at all… (with bank statements confirming that it did.)
For a while, rumors had swirled that Disney was considering adding a bar somewhere inside the structure, but come on… would you rather buy a beer from a hastily-disguised beer cart wedged in the gift shop? Or ascend into your very own episode of The Twilight Zone in a dinner show you won’t soon forget? And once again, it seems that Disney is practically sitting on a gold mine. Wouldn’t tables at this Twilight Zone eatery be sold out months in advance?
1. The Great Hall in Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey
If it weren’t for the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, chances are that the era of “living lands” we now find ourselves in would look much, much different. Universal’s Wizarding World literally invented the now-de-facto requirements for large scale theme park expansions by plucking a place from the screen and bringing it to life in excrutiating detail with only in-universe souvenirs, in-universe dining, and the total exclusion of illusion-breaking interferences like Coca-Cola (well…), out-of-timeline toys (er…) and big steel roller coasters (until…). So while the Three Broomsticks and Leaky Cauldron in Hogsmeade and Diagon Alley respectively certainly set the standard, they’re practically sideshows compared to the big one: dining in Hogwarts’ Great Hall.
One of the main locations shared between every film, the Great Hall of Hogwarts is iconic. Just the sight of those mile-long tables – one for each of Hogwarts’ Houses – would bring many diners to tears. Set beneath its “enchanted” chapel ceiling of changing weather, rooted owls in its buttresses, and a layer of enchanted floating candles, this restaurant would be rich with banners and tapestries as guests dine on cooked meats, stews, and Butterbeer treats among friends and strangers alike. Where else on Earth would a hostess need to “sort” you into a House before leading you inside? Bar none, this is Universal’s “Be Our Guest Restaurant” equivalent… and then some. (Not to mention, it could be cleared out and projection-mapped for annual up-charge Yule Balls or rented for weddings…)
And like its Disney counterpart, it’s easy to imagine the Great Hall serving as a quick service eatery by day before transforming into a signature, prix fixe table service dining experience in the evening. Through a little wizardry, full-service dinner could include multiple courses, magical moments, encounters with professors, animatronic owls, falling snow between courses, or even “Wizard Duels” on the lofted Headmaster’s table that runs perpendicular to the rest. Sure, there’s nowhere to actually put the restaurant at Islands of Adventure… but in our Blue Sky dreams, this must-have experience would literally be the hottest dining ticket in town, and we’re certain Universal would recoup any cost like magic.
