I’m about to bring down the hammer on a popular Disney World restaurant…
Cosmic Ray’s
If you are planning your next Disney World vacation, you could be thinking about which restaurants you want to dine at and which ones you should avoid. Over at Magic Kingdom, you can find plenty of dining options — from snacks to quick service and table service restaurants. There is one quick service restaurant in particular that we can usually find packed, but to be honest, it’s a BIG skip for me. I’m going to tell you why you should skip it and where you should eat instead.
Cosmic Ray’s Starlight Cafe is a quick-service restaurant located just beyond Cinderella Castle, situated between Fantasyland and Tomorrowland. They serve burgers, chicken strips, salads, and similar American fare. I feel like it’s one of the most commonly visited Magic Kingdom restaurants due to its location and simple offerings… but I have a real problem with eating here.
Cosmic Ray’s Starlight Cafe
First, the food is mediocre at best, with the quality of the items being average. The fries are often tasteless to me, and they give me “high school cafeteria” vibes. We recently picked up the Flame-broiled 1/3 lb Angus Burger topped with bacon, American cheese, and Sonny Eclipse’s signature sauce on a brioche bun, served with French fries for $13.99. We found it to be just ok and your standard theme park burger. We KNOW that there are more delicious options found at this park, but we’ll get there!
Flame-broiled 1/3 lb Angus Burger
Next, it is crowded here, especially during peak meal times. While this restaurant offers TONS of seating –indoor and outdoor — it’s still not enough during busy times of the year. I have even witnessed guests eating on the floor around the Christmas season. It is also pretty noisy in here due to the sheer number of people and the large open rooms. If you need a break from the crowds, this is not the place to escape to.
Cosmic Ray’s Seating
Alright — I know this is controversial — but it is still not worth eating here to see Sony Eclipse. Sonny Eclipse is an animatronic vocalist who performs throughout the day at Cosmic Ray’s Starlight Cafe. I’ve been coming to Disney World since I was little, and Sonny is one of my favorite memories as a kid. However, it’s still not enough for me to sit and have a meal here. When I find myself missing Sonny, I just do a quick walk-through to say hello and then off I go.
Sonny Eclipse
So… where should I dine instead to avoid these issues? Columbia Harbour House. This nautically themed counter-service restaurant is not talked about enough.
Columbia Harbour House
You can find lobster rolls, shrimp, salmon, and salads here, and they usually deliver great quality. It has a lot of indoor seating that is broken up, allowing for more space and lower noise levels. It’s also convenient to get to in Liberty Square, and it has the luxury of Mobile Ordering. If you haven’t been here before, check it out on your next trip!
Columbia Harbour House
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Disney dining, even at the quick service locations is just getting too expensive.. lunch for 4 can easily tally over $80 which is too much, plus the food is just not that tasty. Most meals are much more expensive, add entry tickets and your day easily approaches $500.00 for a family for one day. The Disney burgers in the 1990’s were much better tasting and we now choose not to eat in the parks. As a family, we just do not eat in the parks any more. Disney is pricing themselves out of our vacation budget.
Remember when Cosmic Rays had rotisserie chicken? It was a solid meal option then. I think they had ribs too. Now it is nothing special.
I’m sorry your meal was not to your liking, but the fact that you comment on how busy the place is all the time. Could mean that your in the minority. The food here is so good. There is always plenty of seating. I have come at all season and have never found anyone eating on the floor. Not sure what you saw but I have a feeling there was a good reason for someone sitting on floor. Our compliment to the chefs that keep putting out so much great, hot,and juicy food.
We prefer Columbia Harbor House, but we have from time to time had dinner at Cosmic Ray’s. The menu used to be much more interesting, with roast chicken meals, chicken noodle soup, and a nice fixings bar. But we have often found CR close to empty later in the evening, so we may stop for a burger, chicken strips, or salad as a late meal while we watch the fireworks in air-conditioned comfort! Dessert gets picked up on our way out of the park and we can go back to our resort and collapse in our room, fed and ready to rest.
They used to have a good menu. Especially the baked half chicken with veggies. Easily shareable and filling and actually decently healthy. Plus burgers etc. They have I think like 3 different ordering stations which offered different menu entrees. But after covid things changed, and not for the better here, sadly