Seven Disney Restaurants We Miss
In heartbreaking news, Trail’s End Restaurant recently closed.
Disney officials suggested that it’ll return. However, the restaurant will convert from Table Service to Quick Service.


Photo: Disney
Also, we have no assurance that the new place will keep the old name.
Even if it does, we know from places like Boatwright’s Dining Hall how much a dining experience can change, even when it keeps the old name.
Disney promises to improve all its offerings over time, something we as fans appreciate. Still, we sometimes feel melancholy about what we’ve lost.
Here are seven Disney restaurants we miss.
Concourse Steakhouse


Photo: Disney
In a time before Contempo Café, this same space hosted a markedly different dining experience.
Guests could watch the monorail while they dined on steak! And who wouldn’t want to do that?
Throughout the history of Disney’s Contemporary Resort, several restaurants have undergone changes.
In 1994, Disney added a new steakhouse whose name aligned with its location, the Grand Canyon Concourse on the Contemporary’s fourth floor.


Photo: Disney
This place remained open through 2008, but it outlived its usefulness when The Wave… of American Flavors opened.
While that now-defunct wasn’t a steakhouse, it served the same target audience of diners. Hilariously, it has since closed in favor of…Steakhouse 71.


Photo: Diskingdom.com
So, all the restaurant ideas at the Contemporary tend to come full circle.
Fireworks Factory


Photo: Orlando Sentinel
Oh, how I miss the delightful theming at Pleasure Island.
According to Disney, Merriweather Pleasure used Pleasure Island for many ventures.


Photo: Walt Dated World
Regrettably, one of them was a fireworks factory. It was regrettable because Mr. Pleasure loved a good cigar. You can see where I’m going with this.
BOOM!


Photo: Disney Springs
Yes, the fireworks factory exploded, forcing Pleasure Island’s tourism board to come up with another use for the space. They settled on an aptly named restaurant.
Guests came here for the – I kid you not – “explosive specials.”


Photo: Walt Dated Disney
The Fireworks Factory represented Disney at its most ridiculous, which is what we all loved about Pleasure Island.
As for the food here, diners started with racks of ribs cooked on an authentic applewood grill. Then, they ended with Tollhouse Cookie Sundaes. Sounds yummy, eh?
Kouzzina


Photo: WDWMagic
Former Iron Chef Cat Cora has owned and operated several restaurants over the years.
Arguably the most famous of them didn’t last long, though.
Disney announced Kouzzina to much fanfare before its 2009 opening. Sadly, the Mediterranean restaurant only lasted five years, though.
Disney and Cora released a joint statement that indicated they had mutually agreed to part ways.


Photo: Disney
I’ve always suspected the restaurant lacked popularity given the presence of similar, cheaper food at the World Showcase.
However, that wouldn’t explain why Kouzzina’s replacement, Trattoria al Forno, has done so much better in the same space.
Minnie’s Menehune Breakfast at Papeete Bay Verandah
Okay, this example doesn’t align with the others in that the replacement was demonstrably better.
Believe it or not, ‘Ohana wasn’t always the dining option in its current location at the Great Ceremonial House.
Before then, people ate at Papeete Bay Verandah, which also served Polynesian delicacies.
Guests could order exquisite South Seas offerings like Chicken Pago Pago, Keiki Lipa (you don’t want to know what this is), and Polynesian Braised Pork.


Photo: Main Street Gazette
Meals here were a foodie’s dream long before foodie was even a term.
The most memorable meal came at breakfast, though. The thematic Minnie’s Menehune Breakfast was among the first character meals at Walt Disney World.


Credit: Disney
Disney has since replaced Minnie Mouse with Lilo & Stitch, which I’m assured by my wife is an upgrade. At a minimum, it’s a lateral move.
After all, guests may dine with Minnie at Cape May Café if that’s their preference.
Yes, Disney has replaced the Minnie character breakfast elsewhere, and ‘Ohana is unquestionably more popular than Papeete Bay Verandah ever had been.
Still, I hate that this place is gone. Chicken Pago Pago was just plain fun to order.
Pizza Planet


Photo: Playbuzz.com
Sometimes, I really don’t get Disney. In fact, I recently wrote an article about it.
Here’s another one that mystifies me. Many years ago, Disney added a new restaurant close to Muppet*Vision 3D and named it…Pizza Planet.


Photo: Yesterland
As far as mixed messages go, that’s a good one. Disney could have chosen a Muppet theme here, thereby connecting the restaurant to the attraction.
Instead, park officials went with another understandable choice. Disney added a pizza joint named Pizza Planet, just like in the Toy Story franchise.


Photo: Disney
As a reminder, long before Disney built Toy Story Land, Toy Story Mania! entertained guests. A Pizza Planet near it would have made sense.
Instead, Disney put this trashy pizza place near an attraction with an entirely different theme. And a funny thing happened. I loved it!!!


Photo: Steven Diaz
As a Toy Story fan, I didn’t fully appreciate how much I wanted to eat at the Pizza Planet from the movie until I did it. And the accompanying arcade sure didn’t hurt any!
Then, in 2016, Disney closed Pizza Planet for refurbishment. When it reopened, it was…PizzeRizzo, which tied back to The Muppets.
WHY DIDN’T THEY JUST DO THAT IN THE FIRST PLACE???
Disney caused me to fall in love with a pizza place that made no sense.
When they course-corrected to one that did, the pizza got worse, and my heart got sad.
Spirit of Aloha


Photo: Disney
Anyone who knows me would believe that this dinner show experience provided the idea for the list. I swear it’s not true, though.
In fact, I composed a full list of others before I remembered Spirit of Aloha. So, something had to go. Tough luck, Portobello Restaurant!


Photo: Disney
As I’ve mentioned before, my family tried to dine at Spirit of Aloha during every visit. I don’t think we ever went two consecutive trips without dining here.
Performers at Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort would serve virtually the same dinner you’ll find at ‘Ohana. It used the same bread and butter as Kona Café, too!


Credit: TripAdvisor.com
While you dined, performers would act out a show that would have seemed right at home on the Disney Channel.
After true love won at the end of the show, a different group of performers took over…and started fire dancing. It was visually stunning.


Photo: Disney Daily Dime
Plus, the idyllic backdrop at the former Luau Cove enhanced the glow-in-the-dark presentation.
My heart legitimately broke when Disney shut down Spirit of Aloha. If you were following my pandemic updates at the time, you know it’s true.
I took this one personally.
Town Square Café


Photo: Disney
Tony’s Town Square Restaurant may have opened before you were born.
In 1989, Disney converted a previous restaurant into the Lady and the Tramp themed dining room we know today.
However, some of us remember the place that came first, Town Square Café, which opened with Magic Kingdom in 1971.
Before Disney sold stubbornly average Italian food here, sponsors demanded more.


Photo: Disney
This Main Street, U.S.A. eatery offered a porch view of the guests entering/leaving the park.
More importantly, the cuisine was markedly better. During that first decade, Oscar Mayer (!) sponsored Town Square Café. This wasn’t another Casey’s Café, though.


Photo: Oscar Mayer
Oscar Mayer and the second sponsor, Hormel, demanded unique cuisine. Disney served Monte Cristo sandwiches, Catfish, and something called the Main Street Deli Plate.
During the 1970s and 1980s, most guests deemed Town Square Café as destination dining, which makes the Tony’s Town Square status all the more frustrating.


Photo: MickeyBlog
Thanks for visiting MickeyBlog.com! Want to go to Disney? For a FREE quote on your next Disney vacation, please fill out the form below, and one of the agents from MickeyTravels, a Diamond Level Authorized Disney Vacation Planner, will be in touch soon!
Feature Photo:Photo: WDWMagic