New Summer Menu Items at Hollywood Brown Derby

 by Beth Keating

Review

DisneyBizJournal.com

June 29, 2024

 

It’s hard for us to review new items at the Hollywood Brown Derby at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, because our love for their traditional “Famous Cobb Salad” ($25.00) means that we rarely step foot in the restaurant without ordering the historic (and delicious) dish.  Honestly, sometimes we don’t even look at the rest of the menu. 

Be that as it may, the Brown Derby has a few new items on their “summer menu,” and our cast member/server enthusiastically pointed them out to us on a recent trip.  We were convinced to try one of the offerings on our latest outing, even though the Cobb Salad is, itself, a crisp and cool choice in the heat of a Florida summer.

The new dish that caught our attention was the Pan-roasted Halibut with a Thai Coconut Sauce ($48.00).

 
The halibut was a nicely prepared fish, not too heavy for a theme park day, but still a pretty substantial meal.  The fish was crispy outside with a moist interior, and though it was billed as “pan-roasted,” it definitely came across with a grilled flavor and texture.  The halibut was served closer to a “steak” thickness (more like a salmon cut), rather than the way flakier, thinner white fish are served.

    
The accompanying Thai sauce was both sweet and spicy at the same time.  It was an intriguing flavor combination because the sauce started out sweet, but after a few seconds on the tongue, had a spicy kick to it.  It was a welcome amount of spice to the diner who chose the dish, but was a bit too spicy for the other diner who snuck a bite to taste. You can never be sure what Disney means when they say “spicy.” Overall, though, the sauce was a good complement to the milder  fish.

Diced heirloom tomatoes tossed in olive oil and braised white asparagus were served alongside the fish, and gave the plate a pretty look. Fresh green herbs garnishing the top added to the freshness.

And if you aren’t a fan of eating fish, there’s also another very summer-sounding dish on the menu right now… a Root Beer-brined Pork with Creamy Polenta, Pickled Corn, Herb Chimichurri, and Barq's Root Beer Lacquer ($40.00).  If root beer doesn’t scream summertime to you, your mom obviously wasn’t making you ice cold root beer floats with vanilla ice cream once school was out!  We’re planning on heading back to try this one before the summer is over. Root beer for grown-ups!

 

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Beth Keating is a theme parks, restaurant and entertainment reporter for DisneyBizJournal.

 

Get The Disney Planner: The TO DO List Solution by Ray Keating. More information at

https://raykeatingbooksandmore.com/shop/ols/products/disneyplanner.  A PDF version is available here.  And please listen to the Daily Dose of Disney with Ray Keating podcast. 

Alien Pizza Planet Truck Popcorn Bucket Acquired!

 by Beth Keating

Theme Park Life

DisneyBizJournal.com

June 11, 2024

 

Last week, Ray wrote an article entitled “Why Does Tokyo Disney Get All the Cool Stuff?”   And for a long time in our house, we’ve bemoaned the fact that Tokyo Disney always got the best stuff – best rides, best animatronics, even the best popcorn buckets. Hello, Peter Pan light up!

Occasionally, Disneyland in California also joined the Tokyo club.  For example, at Pixar Fest this year in Disneyland, there were THREE great popcorn bucket designs, and we jokingly toyed with the idea of jumping on the new $89 Breeze Airways flights to go acquire said buckets.  There was the Pizza Planet Delivery Truck, Dug from Up, and even a guitar shaped bucket from Coco.  Yes, we know we have a popcorn bucket problem  - and Disney knows we’re not the only ones. (Who’d have thought we’d all get so excited over a piece of molded plastic?)

You’ll be happy to know that one of the coveted buckets from Pixar Fest has finally made its way to Disney World, and yes, we were there on its debut day (June 10) to purchase one for our house.  The adorable Alien Pizza Planet Truck ($26.00) has made its way to Florida!

  
Whether Disney has finally cracked the code to debuting new popcorn buckets without 6 hour waits, or they ordered a sufficient quantity to supply the number of guests wanting one, the sale process on day one was very smooth.

During recent popcorn bucket releases, Disney has been using a virtual queue, where you could lock in your purchase ahead of time on the My Disney Experience (MDE) app, and then leisurely make your way to a pickup point.  This time, the buckets were being sold at various popcorn carts around Hollywood Studios, and we were skeptical as to how well the management would go.  We got to the park relatively early to assure ourselves they wouldn’t be sold out before we had a chance to get ahold of one, and headed straight back toward Toy Story Land, assuming that’s where the buckets would be. We didn’t need to go that far.  Both popcorn stands in front of Hollywood Brown Derby were selling the bucket, and lines had already started to form.   Uh, oh!

The cast members, however, kept the lines moving, and we spent a mere 15 minutes in line acquiring our truck.  The cast member at our cart had even quickly caught on to the fact that this wasn’t just a popcorn bucket – collectors don’t want the greasy popcorn to ever touch their pristine popcorn bucket because it's impossible to remove the oil from the plastic.  It’ll also smell like pretend melted butter for the rest of eternity!  The cast member laughingly was asking guests “popcorn or no popcorn?” when guests were ordering a Pizza Planet truck popcorn bucket.  She knew!

While we speedily obtained our popcorn vessel, we did check back at a few of the carts around the park before we left around late afternoon, and the trucks were still available.  Throughout the day, we did notice cast members bringing boxes of restocks to each of the carts, and it wasn’t long before the lines of guests at the carts resembled a normal day in the parks.

  
The Alien Pizza Planet Truck is a tiny replica of your favorite reoccurring Pixar vehicle (look for it hiding in the background of other Pixar movies as well.)  It’s a definite nostalgia piece for those of us who remember the truck being parked in Hollywood Studios, in front of Pizza Planet before it became PizzeRizzo.  (We have pictures of our very young children leaning on the truck with a slice of questionable pizza in their hands.)

 
The truck is the perfect movie yellow, and is splashed with fake mud.  Its paint is peeling and dented in a few places, reminiscent of the movie icon.  In the front seat, a little green Toy Story alien wears a Pizza Planet delivery hat and holds a pizza box. The alien is removable as well.  More aliens peek out of the window at the back of the truck. On top of the truck is a Pizza Planet rocket ship that lights up, and the carry strap features graphics from the movie version of Pizza Planet, including the crossed spears galaxy guardians, tiny burgers and pizza slices, and delivery shuttle logos.  The roof of the truck opens to allow for popcorn access.  The only thing that’s missing is an empty soda cup rolling around the rear of the “cargo bay”!

The popcorn bucket wasn’t the only thing to make its way from Pixar Fest.  While we didn’t personally purchase one (we don’t usually collect sippers), there’s also a Slinky Dog Sipper that arrived in Florida the same day as the Pizza Planet truck.  “Slink” is perched on his hindquarters, with his paws outstretched. The straw for the sipper is Slinky’s coil, which wraps around the inside of the clear beverage container so you can see his springs. The floppy-eared Slinky Dog sipper is currently available at various outdoor vending locations around Hollywood Studios.

And if you still need those other buckets?  Pixar Fest runs until August 4, 2024, in California. 

 

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Beth Keating is a theme parks, restaurant and entertainment reporter for DisneyBizJournal.

 

Get The Disney Planner: The TO DO List Solution by Ray Keating. More information at

https://raykeatingbooksandmore.com/shop/ols/products/disneyplanner. And please listen to the Daily Dose of Disney with Ray Keating podcast.

Disney’s Hollywood Studios Celebrates 35th Anniversary

 by Beth Keating

News

DisneyBizJournal.com

May 2, 2024

 

Another Disney World anniversary has come and gone, with very little fanfare from the company itself.

 
On May 1, 2024, Disney’s Hollywood Studios celebrated its 35th Anniversary with a short, barely twenty-minute ceremony in the Theater of the Stars (Beauty and the Beast Theater) on Sunset Boulevard.  It took longer to load the theater than the ceremony itself offered to the excited capacity crowd.

The festivities were hosted by Miss Piggy and Kermit the Frog, who then introduced Disney Ambassador Serena Arvizu. The Disney Ambassador gave a brief look back at some of the history of the Disney-MGM-Studio-turned-Hollywood-Studios, before handing the stage over to Hollywood Studios Vice President Jackie Swisher.  Swisher spoke of the transformational changes at the park over the years, before turning the mike back to Arvizu.  The ceremony wrapped up with a recognition of the 32 cast members who have been with the park since the very beginning.  (Round of applause for those dedicated magic makers!)

Of course, no ceremony would be complete without an appearance by a celebrity – in this case, Sorcerer Mickey himself, who was joined on the stage by several of the studio’s beloved characters, in a confetti-marked salute.

The day was also highlighted by a commemorative guide map (which opens into a 35th anniversary poster), and a merchandise drop available through a virtual queue.  The old Muppets store (Stage 1 Company Store) in the rear of the park was turned into a well-organized tee shirt, water bottle, backpack, pin and ball cap shop with 35th anniversary logos.

Sadly, this isn’t the first time Disney has missed the opportunity to celebrate a moment in its history with a bit of pomp and circumstance.  Some of us even made our own PhotoPass opportunities for the day by asking the Disney PhotoPass photographers to take a shot of us in front of iconic Hollywood Studios buildings with the commemorative guide map opened to the poster page, just so we’d have a remembrance of the day.  (How easy would it have been for Disney to host a few backdrops with the 35th anniversary logo for the event?)

  
Meanwhile, the news out of Disneyland with regard to Pixar Fest has us drooling – and contemplating whether our household budgets could afford a jaunt out to join in the fun.  So many cute foods and fun activities (not to mention excellent popcorn buckets!!).  It surely would have offered a blueprint for Disney World to “plus it up” a bit for their own, very legitimate milestones.   Other international Disney parks have served up drone shows and parades for various landmark dates.

  
Disney fans love their Disney history. (Maybe a bit more than the Disney executives realize.) The family sitting next to me at the Hollywood Studios ceremony had even planned their vacation dates so that they’d be in the park for May 1.  Hope they weren’t too disappointed. If you didn’t get in to the short ceremony at the beginning of the day, it was just a regular day at Hollywood Studios.  Opportunity missed… 

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Beth Keating is a theme parks, restaurant and entertainment reporter for DisneyBizJournal.

 

Get The Disney Planner: The TO DO List Solution by Ray Keating. More information at

https://raykeatingbooksandmore.com/shop/ols/products/disneyplanner. And please listen to the Daily Dose of Disney with Ray Keating podcast. 

 

Bring Disney’s Hollywood Brown Derby Cobb Salad Home For Your Family

 by Beth Keating

Lifestyle – Recipe

DisneyBizJournal.com

April 8, 2024

 

It’s spring, and after a winter of eating veggies from the freezer section (or worse yet, the plastic tasting tomatoes that have been shipped in from elsewhere), the nicer looking greens that have started arriving for fresh salads are a welcome sight.  Particularly post-holidays, when there may have been a few too many chocolate bunnies and one too many handfuls of jelly beans, salads seem like a good idea with the approach of warmer weather.

One of the “go-to” salads that we like to make for dinner at our house is one that you may have had as well… the famed Cobb Salad from the Hollywood Brown Derby.  Over the years, there have been versions of the recipe printed in various places (including Disney Parks Blog’s Disney Eats, here), and they are all pretty identical. And all claim to be the original, original version. (We’ve shared the one we use below.)

If you aren’t familiar with this particular dish, it’s a monster-sized salad with lots of hearty ingredients that has been served up to thousands of diners over the years at the Hollywood Brown Derby ($25.00) at Disney’s Hollywood Studios in Florida (and at MGM Studios before the park’s name change.) It’s probably the dish that the Brown Derby is most known for (or, maybe their signature Grapefruit Cake - $14.00, also a Brown Derby original - but that really is the opposite end of the spectrum, isn’t it?) The Cobb Salad is certainly the dish we order almost every visit to the Brown Derby, whether we eat it inside the restaurant, or at the outdoor lounge.

The Brown Derby's Cobb Salad

Disney’s chefs can’t take credit for the very first Cobb Salad, however.  As the story goes, it’s a nearly exact re-creation of the salad served at the historical (and famous) Hollywood Brown Derby restaurant in California, for which Florida’s Brown Derby is named and modeled, right down to the hand-drawn caricatures of star-studded guests on the walls.

  
The tale’s been told that the Derby’s owner, Robert Cobb, found himself throwing together a last-minute, late night dinner for Sid Grauman (of the equally famous Grauman’s Chinese Theater) one evening near closing time.  He grabbed whatever “leftovers” he had from the night’s meal service, and put together the tossed salad. Sid apparently loved it so much that he came back the next night, and requested it again.  Other diners saw it, and also began asking for “Cobb’s salad.”  Thus, the dish was born.

  
And in a second tie-in, the building at Hollywood Studios that initially was home to the Great Movie Ride (R.I.P.), and is now Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway, is itself a replica of Sid’s “Grauman’s Chinese Theater.” It’s a nice design feature that the two historically-linked buildings are diagonally across from each other in Hollywood Studios. The California version of the Chinese Theatre is nearly 100 years old now, and does, indeed have the hundreds of handprints and autographs of the stars embedded in the cement at its entrance, just like Disney’s Florida version.  Small but important details… Thanks, Imagineers!

Beth's Version of the Cobb Salad

This recipe serves 4 to 6.

 

OLD-FASHIONED FRENCH DRESSING

• 2 tablespoons water
• 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• 1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1/2 teaspoon salt, or to taste
• 1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
• 1/4 teaspoon sugar
• 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground pepper, or to taste
• 1/8 teaspoon dry English mustard
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 2 tablespoons olive oil

 

SALAD

• 1 cup finely chopped iceberg lettuce leaves
• 1 cup finely chopped chicory leaves
• 1 cup finely chopped tender sprigs watercress, additional sprigs for garnish
• 1 pound poached turkey breast, finely chopped
• 2 medium-size ripe tomatoes, seeded and finely chopped
• 1 avocado, peeled, seeded, and finely chopped
• 1/2 cup crumbled blue cheese
• 6 bacon slices, cooked crisp, drained, and crumbled
• 3 hard-boiled eggs, peeled and finely chopped
• 2 tablespoons snipped fresh chives
• 1/2 cup Old-fashioned French Dressing
• Watercress springs, for garnish

 

FOR DRESSING:

1.    Whisk together water, red wine vinegar, lemon juice, Worcestershire
sauce, salt, garlic, sugar, freshly ground pepper, and dry mustard in
small bowl until well blended.

2.    Whisking constantly, add the vegetable oil and olive oil in slow steady
stream until the dressing is emulsified.

3.    Store covered and chilled until ready to serve. Whisk dressing to blend
just before serving.

 

FOR SALAD:

1.    Toss iceberg lettuce, chicory, and watercress together and arrange in a
salad bowl.

2.    In straight and separate lines, arrange turkey, tomatoes, avocado, blue
cheese, bacon, and eggs on top of greens.

3.    Sprinkle the chives in two diagonal lines across the salad.

4.    To serve, present the salad at the table, toss with the dressing, and place
on chilled plates with watercress sprigs as garnish.

 

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Beth Keating is a theme parks, restaurant and entertainment reporter for DisneyBizJournal.

 

Get The Disney Planner: The TO DO List Solution by Ray Keating. More information at

https://raykeatingbooksandmore.com/shop/ols/products/disneyplanner. And please listen to the Daily Dose of Disney with Ray Keating podcast. 

New Scenes to Debut at “Star Tours – The Adventures Continue”

 by Beth Keating

News

DisneyBizJournal.com

March 6, 2024

 

Star Wars fans, mark your calendars!  Starting April 5, 2024, “Star Tours – The Adventures Continue” will be adding new scenes to your flights to hyperspace.  The Star Tours  3-D flight simulators at Hollywood Studios at Disney World, Disneyland California, and Disneyland Paris will all be adding the new scenes, bringing the possible story combinations to more than 250.

The new scenes will feature characters and locations from the Disney+ series Ahsoka, Andor, and The Mandalorian.

  
If you’ve never had the opportunity to board a Starspeeder 1000, you’ll grab your 3-D glasses, and settle in for your flight. Protocol droid C-3PO takes the controls, but then things go terribly awry.  You are intercepted by Imperial or First Order forces, who are searching for the Rebel spy.  Is it you?  C-3PO will help you try to escape, but the trip is going to be a bumpy one.

The plot twists to the ride are randomly generated, so you never know what planet you’ll be heading to, or what Star Wars saga characters you may encounter along the way.  You just might run into Princess Leia, Darth Vader, Kylo Ren, Master Yoda, Boba Fett, or Poe Dameron on your daring journey.

According to Scott Trowbridge of Walt Disney Imagineering, “Urgent transmissions from Ahsoka Tano, Cassian Andor, Din Djarin and Grogu may soon be part of your next Starspeeder flight.”

The ride has a height requirement of 40 inches. 

 

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Beth Keating is a theme parks, restaurant and entertainment reporter for DisneyBizJournal.

 

Get The Disney Planner: The TO DO List Solution by Ray Keating. More information at

https://raykeatingbooksandmore.com/shop/ols/products/disneyplanner. And please listen to the Daily Dose of Disney with Ray Keating podcast. 

“Ice Cold Hydraulics” Now Open in Hollywood Studios

 by Beth Keating and Ray Keating

Review

DisneyBizJournal.com

February 25, 2024

 

It’s always fun when something fresh pops up in Disney World, and while the most recent food joint is simply a newly constructed snack kiosk, this one has some “cool” and unique snacks.  We love it when the new locations are more than just a popcorn and soda stand, offering a treat that is a bit out of the ordinary.

“Ice Cold Hydraulics” is the new kid on the block, on the corner of Grand Avenue across from Muppet*Vision 3D in Disney’s Hollywood Studios, and it opened for business this past week.  The Coca-Cola-themed building is small, just two windows, with a half-dozen or so umbrella tables nearby for outdoor seating. 

The theming of the building is vintage Coca-Cola, and the snacks served there also happen to be Coke-themed.   Ice Cold Hydraulics serves up “Candy Painted Cinnamon Rolls” ($8.99), a trio of mini cinnamon rolls topped with Coca-Cola-infused glaze and toasted nuts.  There’s also “Bouncin’ Mini Churros” ($8.99), a dish of bite-sized churros topped with Coca-Cola and bourbon candied bacon, and sriracha aioli, sprinkled with scallions.

On our visit to the new food stall, we tried the Candy Painted Cinnamon Rolls, because, why not?  Who could resist something labeled “candy painted”? 

 

The cinnamon bun foundation was solid.  There was just the right amount of softness to the bun, yet it was sturdy enough to hold up to the glaze without getting soggy. While you might expect something whipped up with Coca-Cola to be sweet, this glaze skirted the balance between being sweet, and not too sweet, with the cinnamon playing nicely with the cola.  While we aren’t always crazy about nuts on top of our baked goods, the nuts on this pastry provided a nice contrast in terms of texture, and in countering the sweet.

In addition to these two fun and distinctive dishes, the kiosk also offers traditional Mini Churros withchocolate sauce ($7.79); a Mickey-Shaped Pretzel, available with cheese sauce ($7.79); and, yes, the usual popcorn in a souvenir bucket ($12.29).  Note to popcorn lovers: You can also get your souvenir popcorn buckets refilled here (as well as at other popcorn stands throughout the parks) – At this stop, a refill is a mere $2.19.  If you want to skip the souvenir bucket, you can acquire popcorn for $5.19.

 

If you are just looking to grab a few of the more typical theme park snacks on the go, Ice Cold Hydraulics stocks cotton candy ($5.19); Nestle Mickey’s Premium Ice Cream Bars ($6.29); Nestle Mickey’s Premium Ice Cream Sandwiches ($6.29); and Frozen Lemonade or Lemonade-Strawberry Cups ($5.99).

 

Now, on to the ice cold drinks – because, after all, this place is called Ice Cold Hydraulics!

Obviously, with the vintage Coca-Cola theming, there’s a plethora of Coke products for sale, including bottled sodas ($5.29); DASANI water ($3.75); and smartwater ($5.75).  But you can also turn those products into Frozen Slushies for $5.79 each: Coca-Cola; Minute Maid Lemonade; and Fanta Blue Raspberry Slushes. (Add some alcohol to your slushies, and they’ll cost $15.00 each – you can add Jack Daniel’s Whiskey with Coke; Bacardi Superior Rum with Coke; or Stoli Vanil Vodka with Coke.

Of course, there’s the usual assortment of beers and wines, including Bud Light Lager ($9.50); Yuengling Lager ($9.50); or Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Moscato, or Pinot Grigio ($11.00).

We tried the Coca-Cola Slushie, which was surprisingly good, and not nearly as sweet as our brains were telling us it would be.  On a warm Florida day, it was refreshing and smooth, with just the right amount of Coke flavoring.  We imagine this is going to be a real winner when the Florida heat kicks in this summer!

If you are on the Disney Dining Plan (DDP), most of the items at this kiosk qualify as a snack credit, except for the alcohols and the souvenir popcorn bucket.  

As far as new snack spots go, this small building offers a few unusual treats, and we think it’s going to be a nice addition to this corner of Hollywood Studios.

 

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Beth Keating is a theme parks, restaurant and entertainment reporter for DisneyBizJournal.

 

Ray Keating is the editor, publisher and economist for DisneyBizJournal.com; and author of the Pastor Stephen Grant thrillers and mysteries, the Alliance of Saint Michael novels, and assorted nonfiction books. Have Ray Keating speak your group, business, school, church, or organization. Email him at raykeating@keatingreports.com.

 

The Disney Planner: The TO DO List Solution combines a simple, powerful system for getting things done with encouragement and fun for Disney fans, including those who love Mickey, Marvel, Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Pixar, princesses and more.

Thumbs Up for Sci-Fi Dine-In’s Pastrami Burger

 by Ray Keating

Review

DisneyBizJournal.com

January 24, 2024

 

Recently, I visited Hollywood Studios on my own and managed to grab a last-minute reservation at the Sci-Fi Dine-In Theater Restaurant.

I’ve long been a sucker for this place. I love the entire vibe of the convertible-car tables located in a 1950s drive in, with amusing movie and news clips from the period running on the big screen.

 

Over the years, however, the food has been uneven – sometimes boffo and other times disappointing.

 

I asked what the Feature Film Burger was that night, and the waitress’s pitch on a pastrami-topped burger won me over. And I’m glad ordered it.

The burger, which came on a brioche bun, was topped with pepper jack cheese, a mustard sauce and thinly sliced pastrami. This Feature Film Burger was excellent. The bun was soft and the sauce rather tasty. But the key was the balance between the pastrami and the burger. Neither was lost or overpowering. They simply complemented each other neatly, with my tastebuds enjoying the mix in each bite.

 

It was a pleasant evening – enjoying my favorite Walt Disney World park at one of my most-liked restaurants thanks, in part, to a darn good burger.

 

In fact, I’m getting a little hungry writing about this burger right now. I wonder if I can grab a convertible at Sci-Fi right now…?

 

__________

 

Ray Keating is the editor, publisher and economist for DisneyBizJournal.com; and author of the Pastor Stephen Grant thrillers and mysteries, the Alliance of Saint Michael novels, and assorted nonfiction books. Have Ray Keating speak your group, business, school, church, or organization. Email him at raykeating@keatingreports.com.

 

The views expressed here are his own – after all, no one else should be held responsible for this stuff, right?

 

Support the Daily Dose of Disney with Ray Keating Podcast at https://www.buzzsprout.com/1724143. Subscribe at the $8 or $10 level, and get The Disney Planner: The TO DO List Solution by Ray Keating. Remain a supporter and you'll get a FREE BOOK by Ray Keating every six months going forward. Thanks!

 

The Disney Planner: The TO DO List Solution combines a simple, powerful system for getting things done with encouragement and fun for Disney fans, including those who love Mickey, Marvel, Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Pixar, princesses and more.

 

Consider other books by Ray Keating, including…

 

• The Pastor Stephen Grant thrillers and mysteries. There are 18 books in the series now.

 

• Order The Weekly Economist II: 52 More Quick Reads to Help You Think Like an Economist. Kindle editions and paperbacks via Amazon here. And don’t forget the first book in this growing series, i.e., The Weekly Economist: 52 Quick Reads to Help You Think Like an Economist at Amazon.com.

 

• Cathedral: An Alliance of Saint Michael Novel is at Amazon. 

 

• The Lutheran Planner: The TO DO List Solution combines a simple, powerful system for getting things done with encouragement, inspiration and consolation from the Christian faith.

 

• Signed editions of Ray’s books are are at www.raykeatingbooksandmore.com. 

 

Also, check out Ray’s podcasts – the Daily Dose of Disney, Free Enterprise in Three Minutes, and the PRESS CLUB C Podcast.

Hollywood Studios Rustles Up Menu Changes at Roundup Rodeo BBQ

 by Beth Keating

News/Review

DisneyBizJournal.com

January 12, 2024

 

We are 2 for 4 in our family regarding the latest changes at Roundup Rodeo BBQ at Hollywood Studios. Sadly, two of our favorite sides have been eliminated from the menu.

While it’s not unusual for new eateries to change up their menus during their first year after they see what is connecting with their diners and what’s not, Roundup Rodeo is, in essence, changing the way their dining experience is presented. Previously, diners could choose 4 of 8 available side dish selections, served family style, so you had to negotiate with your tablemates to decide which of the dishes looked the most enticing. Now, the cast members automatically bring you the new selections, no choices to be made.

 

We’ve dined at the restaurant, which opened in Toy Story Land in March 2023, three or four times this year in various combinations of family members. We even chose it for one of our meals for a family reunion earlier this fall because the theming (and food choices) would cover a pretty wide range of needs from a 2-year old all the way to a 76-year old. Plus, the immersive décor in the restaurant is so much fun, shrinking yourself down to toy size in the brightly colored room designed by Andy himself, and so very “Disney” for the out-of-town guests in our group. There are tons of Toy Story Easter eggs to find in the room.

You can catch our initial review of the restaurant from its opening here, with a more detailed look at the menu.  While there were some hits and misses, we were generally pleased with most of the food, and the service was upbeat, the banter amusing, and the staff operated at warp-speed.

 
While Rex’s Romaine and Kale Salad has been taken off the “Get a Wiggle on your Greens!” selections, our favorite greens selection still remains. Wheezy’s Watermelon Salad was some of the best and sweetest watermelon we’ve had, and it holds its place along with the Rootin’ Tootin’ Tomato Salad. You’ll get both of those options brought to your table.

Removed from the sides menu, however, were:

 

• The Married Spuds: Loaded potato barrels drizzled with green goddess dressing, cheese sauce, and seasoned BBQ spices
• Force Field Fried Pickles: Jumbo pickle spears coated with a dill-flavored breading
• Mean Old Potato Salad: Homestyle with red-skinned potatoes
• Campfire-roasted Vegetables: Roasted seasonal vegetables (plant-based)
  
  

Instead, the new menu options include plain Potato Barrels (replacing the more jazzed-up Married Spuds potato barrel option), along with the continuing selections of:

 

• The Claw! Veggie Slaw (Plant-based)
• Slinky Doooooooooog’s Mac & Cheese
• Buckin’ Baked Beans (Plant-based)
• Cowpoke Corn on the Cob (Grilled Street Corn)

 

You’ll get all five sides brought to your table, so you’ll be gaining an extra side in exchange for not having the choices to make.

  
For our family, The Married Spuds and the Force Field Fried Pickles were big favorites, and we’re sad to see them ride off into the sunset.  On the new rotation, we have also been pretty happy with Slinky Doooooooooog’s Mac & Cheese, but as for the other sides, well, we could just as soon skip them.

So, with the new menu changes, will we be back to Roundup Rodeo?  Maybe.  The last time we dined there, our dining reservation was almost 45 minutes behind schedule, and the waiting area was jam packed.  While our server was cheerful and welcoming, the meal also felt far more rushed than our initial visits.  Entrées were being sent out to the table before most of our party had even shared the salads around the loop, and while we recognize the restaurant’s need to try and pick up the pace because the reservations were running so far behind schedule, there isn’t any extra real estate on the tables to have all those bowls present at the same time.  At one point, we tried to balance one platter on top of the other to make space, and our own plates were hanging partially off the edge of the table to make enough room to set the serving bowls down.  (If you’ve eaten at Roundup Rodeo, you’ll understand exactly what I mean!)

With a current price of $45 per adult and $25 per child (it’s a fixed price meal), you don’t want to race your way through the experience, especially with so much action happening around you with Partysaurus Rex hosting dance parties, freeze frames with Andy coming, and yard sales abounding.  It’s a fun restaurant to take the family to, and while we are disappointed that we’ve lost some of our favorite dishes on the menu, hopefully the menu reductions will mean better attention to quality for the other foods on the menu.  Reach for the sky, Roundup Rodeo! Make it happen.

 

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Beth Keating is a theme parks, restaurant and entertainment reporter for DisneyBizJournal.

 

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