In the last nine decades, Disney has produced some of the most iconic films in Hollywood history. While many have become theme park attractions, comparatively few have inspired restaurants at the company’s theme parks and hotels, despite many featuring environments that seem to be begging for it!
Each of these films features an in-universe restaurant or food environment that would fit so well if faithfully (take note of that term, because it’ll come up a few times) recreated at one of Disney’s theme parks or resort hotels.
Want to learn more about the Disney+ streaming service? Check out these posts:Join the AllEars.net Newsletter to stay on top of ALL the breaking Disney News! You'll also get access to AllEars tips, reviews, trivia, and MORE! Click here to Subscribe! |
The Hunchback of Notre Dame
While Disney’s 1996 classic film doesn’t have a specific restaurant that’s central to its plot, it does have a massive celebration sequence: The Festival of Fools!
How much fun would it be to attend an immersive dining experience themed to the festival, complete with a delicious spread of foods and a troop of performers led by Clopin? This could potentially be a headline dining experience at Hollywood Studios or the France Pavilion at World Showcase. It could even work on a future Disney cruise ship, in the same vein of the Frozen and Coco dining experiences on the Wish and the Treasure.
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
Given the fact that Disney’s first full-length animated feature has been an integral part of the company’s theme parks since the day Disneyland opened, it’s a bit of a surprise that there *isn’t* a full dining experience themed to Snow White.
It’s doubly supposing since the film essentially has the perfect environment for it. The Dwarfs’ cottage could be whimsically recreated, complete with detailed furniture, and a character could feature all 7 of the titular Dwarfs, and perhaps even Snow White and her animal friends preparing the meal. It could fit so well in EPCOT’s Germany, or the Magic Kingdom’s Fantasyland.
Toy Story
Okay, I can already hear you yelling. Yes, there have been several Toy Story-themed restaurants – – including the Roundup Rodeo BBQ at Hollywood Studios – – but there has never been a faithful (see, there’s that word) recreation of the film’s Pizza Planet location.
Sure, there have been locations that have used the name at both Disneyland and Walt Disney World, all of those were bluntly pizza locations with minimal at-best theming. What I would love to see is a full-scale recreation of Pizza Planet from the film, both the massive facade on the outside as well as the themed arcade on the inside, perhaps with the “real” Toy Story toys scattered about. The restaurant could work at the entrance to Toy Story land, and its exit could even serve as the transition when guests become toy-sized.
Lilo & Stitch
For several years now, many Disney fans have lamented the loss of a nightly Luau show at the Polynesian Village resort. Well, the answer to getting one back could lie in the 2002 animated classic Lilo & Stitch.
While I’m sure there would be some that lament an IP show being added to the hotel, the film itself provides the perfect set-up to integrate a real celebration of Hula with the film’s characters.
Ratatouille (In the U.S.)
Much like Toy Story above, this one has a bit of a caveat. Back in 2014, the Walt Disney Studios theme park at Disneyland Paris opened a full area dedicated to Ratatouille. It included the Ratatouille: L’Aventure Totalement Toquée de Rémy attraction and the Bistrot Chez Rémy restaurant, which is based on the restaurant featured in the culinary-centric film.
The ride was cloned over to EPCOT’s France Pavilion as Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure in 2021, however, the restaurant didn’t follow suit with a U.S. clone. While it can be argued that EPCOT’s France already had one-too-many restaurants and another would be redundant, the whole Ratatouille area of the park feels a bit incomplete without it.
These are simply some of the many environments from Disney films that could make a fantastic themed dining experience! Stay tuned to AllEars for more thoughts on Disney’s theme parks!
5 Disney Shows I Can’t Believe Don’t Have Rides
Join the AllEars.net Newsletter to stay on top of ALL the breaking Disney News! You'll also get access to AllEars tips, reviews, trivia, and MORE! Click here to Subscribe!
|
Which of these restaurants would you most like to see? Let us know in the comments below!
The Ratatouille restaurant in Paris is fabulous.
I guess you don’t consider Storybook Dining with Snow White at the Wilderness Lodge to be a “faithful” recreation. Is that because Disney used a preexisting restaurant and incorporated a theme as opposed to creating a Snow White-themed dining establishment from scratch?
Story Book Dining at Artist Point in Wilderness Lodge is a wonderfully immersive experience into Snow White’s world. As to the luau, I’m all for bringing it back with a LILO & Stitch theming. If that’s what it takes to get the luau back, so be it. But where would they put it? The Polynesian Resort is saturated with buildings, ever since they replaced Luau Cove with the DVC Tower.
Definitely Pizza Planet.