Immersive Dining! The Best Themed Restaurants in Walt Disney World
Every restaurant at the Walt Disney World Resort features its own unique menu and theming to transport Guests to different physical locations around the world, as well as fictional settings, and even back in time. The theme of each restaurant is extremely important in setting the scene for what the Guests can anticipate from their meals, fully immersing them in a culinary experience.
While every restaurant does have its own theme, some go above and beyond to completely immerse Guests in stunning settings that create everything from a 1950s home kitchen to a storybook forest. Let’s check out some of the best-themed restaurants at the Walt Disney World Resort and see just what makes them so immersive!
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Space 220 Restaurant
EPCOT is home to many popular Disney dining locations, including a popular table service option in World Discovery that is literally out of this world. Space 220 Restaurant can be found adjacent to Mission: SPACE and rockets Guests hundreds of miles above the Earth to enjoy a menu of creative, futuristic options. Some menu highlights include Starry Calamari, Galactic Salmon, Centauri Burger, and Spaceghetti & Shrimp.
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After entering the lobby of Space 220 Restaurant, Guests board a special elevator and can watch through various windows as Central Florida and Earth disappear below and the restaurant approaches from above. After emerging inside the restaurant, Guests can enjoy futuristic, metallic finishes, bright pops of blue, and massive windows that look out into space with stunning views of the Earth. Those who look closely can even spot various spacecrafts including the X-2 Deep Space Shuttle from Mission: SPACE.
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Sci-Fi Dine-In Theater Restaurant
Disney’s Hollywood Studios is all about immersing Guests in their own big screen adventures, and Guests are given the opportunity to check out a unique theater setting at the Sci-Fi Dine-In Theater Restaurant. Located in the Commissary Lane area of the Disney Park, this table service restaurant seats Guests in vintage cars and serves up American favorites like Crispy Onion Rings, Salmon Burger, and Buffalo Chicken Salad.
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The vintage cars at the Sci-Fi Dine-In Theater are all situated around a massive screen where Guests can enjoy a montage of sci-fi clips and skits underneath a dark sky twinkling with stars. With a perpetual nighttime setting and completely unique theme, the Sci-Fi Dine-In Theater Restaurant is one of the most immersive dining experiences at the Walt Disney World Resort.
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Storybook Dining at Artist Point with Snow White
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is a beloved Disney animated film with many memorable scenes that take place in a forest. The forest itself is brought to life in beautiful detail at Storybook Dining at Artist Point with Snow White found at Disney’s Wilderness Lodge. This table service restaurant has quickly become a favorite of many Guests and serves up a menu of delicious themed items such as Hunter’s Pie, Royal Prime Rib Roast, and Brother’s Grimm Herb Chicken.
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Immediately upon entering the dining room at Storybook Dining at Artist Point with Snow White, Guests are placed inside the enchanted forest with lush green branches filled with twinkling lights creating a canopy above. Throughout each meal, the immersive experience is even more reinforced with appearances by Snow White, several of the Dwarfs, and even the Evil Queen herself!
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Biergarten Restaurant
EPCOT is well known for its amazing dining options throughout World Showcase, including the Biergarten Restaurant in the Germany Pavilion which welcomes Guests for lunch and dinner each day. This table service restaurant brings the celebratory spirit of Oktoberfest to life and invites Guests to dig into an extensive buffet of traditional German cuisine including schnitzel, sauerkraut, nudel gratin, and more.
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Biergarten Restaurant transports Guests to a village square in a small town in Germany, and they are seated at large picnic tables with other parties, all centered around a stage and dance floor. Surrounded by charming buildings and traditional German architecture, Guests absolutely feel like it is Oktoberfest as they enjoy live music and entertainment from an oompah band and even are invited to dance, toast, and sing along throughout their meals.
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Be Our Guest Restaurant
Another beloved Disney animated film is brought to life at a popular table service restaurant in the heart of Fantasyland in the Magic Kingdom. Be Our Guest Restaurant allows Guests the chance to step into Beauty and the Beast and dine on traditional French cuisine like French Onion Soup, Center-cut Filet Mignon, and Herb-salted Pork Tenderloin inside the Beast’s Castle.
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The chance to enter into the fictional location is absolutely wonderful, and Guests who dine at Be Our Guest Restaurant can be seated inside the opulent Grand Ballroom where the duo shared their famous dance, the West Wing where the Beast spent his cursed time, or the Castle Gallery where portraits of favorite characters line the walls. With stunning details from the film including the enchanted rose and massive windows looking into the French countryside, Be Our Guest Restaurant is a completely immersive and unforgettable dining experience.
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50’s Prime Time Café
Echo Lake in Disney’s Hollywood Studios is home to one of the most unique and popular table service restaurants at the Disney Park that literally takes Guests back in time. The 50’s Prime Time Café transports Guests back to the 1950s and invites them to dine on American classics like Cousin Megan’s Traditional Meatloaf and Aunt Liz’s Golden Fried Chicken in the heart of a family home.
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The dining areas of the 50’s Prime Time Café are themed to feel like vintage kitchens from the 1950s, and Guests can settle in at Formica tables and check out classic décor lining the walls, bright pops of pastel colors and patterns, and retro television shows playing on small sets scattered all around. The Cast Members who work at the restaurant also add to the theme, acting as cousins and reminding Guests to keep their elbows off the table and finish their vegetables to avoid getting punished!
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San Angel Inn Restaurante
One of the most immersive and romantic restaurants at the Walt Disney World Resort can be found in EPCOT’s Mexico Pavilion in World Showcase. San Angel Inn Restaurante whisks Guests back to the seventeenth century and invites them to dine at twilight in a charming hacienda. The menu focuses on traditional Mexican cuisine with options such as Guacamole, Tacos de Rib eye, and Carne Asada, and Guests will feel relaxed and serene in the soothing atmosphere.
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San Angel Inn Restaurante can be found inside the Mexico Pavilion’s ancient pyramid, and the dining area overlooks a charming marketplace and courtyard on one side and a gently flowing river with lush vegetation, smaller pyramid, and smoking volcano on the other. With romantic lighting, the soothing sound of water, and perpetual twilight, San Angel Inn Restaurante creates a beautiful experience that Guests will want to visit time and time again.
