Quick-service restaurants at Walt Disney World offer guests fast cafeteria-style or counter-service dining at the parks. All of the Walt Disney World parks have quick-service dining locations, but they’re not created equal.
Which park has the best quick-service restaurants? Which park has the worst quick-service restaurants? Check out our rankings below.
4. Magic Kingdom
We’re going to be honest here – Magic Kingdom has the worst quick-service restaurant lineup of any Walt Disney World theme park. It’s not even close. That might be surprising considering it’s the most popular park at Walt Disney World and the most-visited park in the world. Unfortunately, the dining options at Magic Kingdom fall a bit flat.
The quick-service restaurants at Magic Kingdom fall into what many would label as standard theme park food. Cosmic Ray’s Starlight Café is the largest of the bunch, serving burgers, chicken tenders, fries, and other familiar staples. Other restaurants, such as Pinocchio Village Haus and Pecos Bill Tall Tale Inn also have relatively basic menus with pizza and Mexican, respectively.
Guests visiting Magic Kingdom shouldn’t expect any out-of-this-world tastes and flavors at the park’s restaurants. While Skipper Canteen breaks this mold and offers something different as a table-service location, the majority of restaurants at Magic Kingdom are either experience-based (Cinderella’s Royal Table) or simply just get the job done (Cosmic Ray’s).
3. Disney’s Hollywood Studios
The quick-service scene at Disney’s Hollywood Studios greatly improved with the additions of Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge and Toy Story Land. The park already has a rich roster of outstanding table-service restaurants (we love the experience at Sci-Fi Dine-In Restaurant), and the menus at Docking Bay 7 and Woody’s Lunchbox really help round out the park’s dining options.
Docking Bay 7 in Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge is a personal favorite with a a great selection of entrees that have a twist on familiar items. The Fried Endorian Chicken Tip Yip elevates the boring (but still delicious) chicken tenders. Woody’s Lunchbox over in Toy Story Land has an extremely small menu that hits all the right notes.
We can’t give Disney’s Hollywood Studios full marks because we’ve had some very underwhelming meals at the park’s other quick-service locations. We’re not even jumping on the PizzeRizzo hate bandwagon. It’s not that bad! However, Rosie’s All-American Cafe and Backlot Express have been decent – at best – with some pretty “meh” meals in our experience.
There’s still room for improving the quick-service scene at Disney’s Hollywood Studios.
2. Disney’s Animal Kingdom
Disney’s Animal Kingdom narrowly edges out Disney’s Hollywood Studios on our quick-service list. You could really make a case for either park. That said, Disney’s Animal Kingdom has some outstanding options.
Satu’li Canteen at Pandora is arguably the best quick-service restaurant in all of Walt Disney World. The bowls are delicious. Satu’li Canteen is high quality and one of the best bangs for the buck. Bonus points for the great Avatar soundtrack playing throughout the themed dining room.
Meanwhile, Yak & Yeti is another strong quick-service option (great Asian options like the Honey Sesame Chicken), and Flame Tree BBQ is an enjoyable spot for BBQ fans. We’re also going to give a shoutout to Restaurantosaurus. It has a traditional menu of burgers, chicken nuggets, and sandwiches, but it has always been a reliable and quick meal for us. Bonus points for the fun theming, plenty of seating, and great music. We’d really like to see Restaurantosaurus bring back its Family Style offering because it had some of the best burgers we’ve had at Disney.
Overall, Disney’s Animal Kingdom doesn’t have a ton of quick-service restaurants. That said, what it lacks in quantity it more than makes up for in quality.
1. EPCOT
EPCOT is a foodie’s paradise. Some guests visit EPCOT strictly to eat and drink around the world in World Showcase. The park hosts festivals almost all the time (there’s very few non-festival days) and that means food kiosks around World Showcase. These kiosks have small bites and drinks that make trying a variety of unique cuisine options a breeze.
Beyond the festivals, World Showcase also has some top-tier quick-service restaurants in Mexico (watch out for the strong margs), in France (Les Halles Boulangerie-Patisserie is a bakery that’s great in the morning), and more. The beauty of World Showcase is there’s something for everyone. High-quality food can be found without a table-service reservation – though we’ll always recommend Via Napoli every chance we get.
We also have to point out the underrated Sunshine Seasons in the Land Pavilion, which serves many of the vegetables guests see while riding on the Living with the Land attraction. Creations Cafe is also a nice step up on the usual burger and fries menu that continues the tradition of Disney elevating quick-service restaurants as first seen in Pandora and Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge.
Summarized, you won’t have a lack of tasty options at EPCOT.
Agree with our rankings? Think we’re crazy? Let us know in the comments below.
