Walt Disney World recently overhauled the menu at Pecos Bill Tall Tale Inn and Cafe, which we considered a huge win even prior to eating any of the new dishes. It’s obvious just from the photos and descriptions that they’re far more ambitious than the old menu, which prompted us to pen “The Death of Pecos Bill.” Suffice to say, that is not a puff piece about how much we loved the old menu.
Somehow, Pecos Bill was not the worst counter service restaurant in all of Magic Kingdom even when it was “dead to us.” That’s really saying something…and not a good thing. Rather, Pecos Bill was the dining spot with the most squandered potential. A high-capacity venue that could’ve been good and, at one time in the not-too-distant past, actually was the #1 counter service restaurant in Magic Kingdom. We ate there often.
The reader comments to that post were a good reminder of why Magic Kingdom’s dining scene is subpar. While the sentiment was mostly positive, there was a higher-than-expected number of comments lamenting the changes. Ironically enough, Walt Disney World fans were basically saying that Pecos Bill was now dead to them because it’s too adventurous and doesn’t offer anything for the picky eaters in their families.
While I can sympathize to an extent with this perspective, I also can’t help but think that literally every other counter service restaurant in Magic Kingdom (save for maybe Columbia Harbour House?) caters specifically to picky eaters, and pretty much only picky eaters. It doesn’t seem like too much to ask to get one restaurant with a mildly ambitious menu of food that isn’t bland and boring.
But this was a good reminder that Walt Disney World’s culinary team has to contend with actual guest preferences and behavior. If the reaction among higher-knowledge Walt Disney World fans is disappointment (rather than thinking, “I’ll just go to one of the other dozen spots serving standard theme park fare”) then it’s potentially even worse among average guest demographics.
This could explain why Magic Kingdom can’t get Disneyland or EPCOT-caliber cuisine–because it’s simply not what the overwhelming majority of guests want. Anyway, I’d love for that to be wrong–and for the actual explanation to be that it’s a vocal minority of fans complaining about the new menu at Pecos Bill–but fear that menus might be mediocre in Magic Kingdom because that’s what “normal” guests want. Just some food for thought.
Also as previously covered in our review of the new Be Our Guest Restaurant menu for Halloween, the seasonal options there are markedly better–and there’s more variety–than the regular prix fixe menu.
The all-day prix fixe menu at Be Our Guest Restaurant has become a bit tired. It’s also incredibly lazy given the prices they’re charging, as well as its status as a 2-credit Signature Restaurant on the Disney Dining Plan. We’ve had generally positive experiences at Be Our Guest Restaurant, but it needs to be more ambitious given the cost.
My hope is that there’s a repeat of this for Christmas, and that these new seasonal menus prove so popular that Be Our Guest Restaurant sees permanent changes in early 2025. It’s not that popular anymore and cannot continue resting on its laurels that were established back in ~2012 to 2017. It hasn’t been that restaurant for a while now…and has gotten a lot more expensive during the intervening years!
Moving along, we have more positive food news from around Magic Kingdom…
The top update comes courtesy of another menu tweak (not a fully-fledged change) at Sleepy Hollow Refreshments.
As you might recall, there was a Scandal at Sleepy Hollow over the summer. In case you missed it, some brainiac at Walt Disney World decided to mess with the one (and probably only!) Magic Kingdom menu that didn’t need any changes, and decided to make some major ones.
Out went the waffle sandwiches, in came Mickey Mouse shaped waffles. But that wasn’t all. The Fresh Fruit Waffle Sandwich came with bananas, berries, and chocolate-hazelnut spread, whereas it was replaced by two separate Mickey Mouse waffles: one with the berries, and one with the don’t-call-it-Nutella and bananas. It was either-or, not both. And that was a real problem, because what’s even the point of eating fruit if it’s not slathered in Nutella?!
The real solution to this was simply hitting the “undo” button and going back to the old handheld waffle menu at Sleepy Hollow. Don’t fix what isn’t broken and all that. If Walt Disney World were really listening to guest feedback, that’s what they would’ve done, because next to no one was happy with that change.
Instead, they made two successive half-measures. First, they added a Mobile Order option to buy a side of berries for the Nutella waffle, thereby creating a ‘build your own’ waffle like they one they took from us. More recently, they just made this a standalone menu option, presumably due to guest complaints and/or because so many people were ordering the side. (Either way, that should’ve told them everything they needed to know about the menu change and how it was being received by guests!)
The end result is a waffle very similar to what they took with us, except shaped like Mickey Mouse.
Honestly, the Mickey Waffle with Chocolate-Hazelnut Spread, Bananas, Berries, and Whipped Cream is fine. Downright delicious, even!
If I never had the old waffle sandwich and this Mickey Mouse Waffle were simply added to the menu at a funnel cake stand, I’d actually be excited about it. The combination of fruit and Nutella is perfect, as-always, and adding a Mickey Waffle to the mix makes it next level. And maybe this is what Walt Disney World is counting on–first timers trying and loving this more photogenic snack. (Is it more photogenic, though?!)
The problem is that I have the burden of knowledge, so to speak.
This isn’t my first waffle rodeo. I ate dozens (and dozens) of the old waffle sandwiches.
If this new Mickey Mouse Waffle is an 8/10, those were both 10/10 snacks. Don’t get me wrong, 8/10 is magnificent by Magic Kingdom standards, where all food is graded on a curve and everything above 5/10 is good. (Grade inflation is an epidemic, and sadly enough, the world’s most popular theme park is not immune.)
The big problem here is that batter or something about the waffle has changed. The sandwiches were far more durable, and had a chewy quality (in a good way–it reminded me of ube minus the flavor) perfectly befitting of a handheld snack. The new Mickey Mouse Waffles have no springiness. I’m not sure what’s up with them, but they get soggy and collapse quickly. They’re not even like the crispier mini-Mickey Waffles served at the breakfast buffets, which would be better for this as they’d withstand the toppings better.
The bottom line is that you should still give this Mickey Mouse Waffle a shot, as it’s well above-average by Magic Kingdom snack standards. Just don’t go in expecting the old waffle, but in the shape of Mickey Mouse. It’s not that–at least, not yet. Here’s hoping more tweaks to the recipe or preparation are on the way.
For the next option, we head back to Main Street to stop at Casey’s Corner.
Casey’s Corner has added a few new items that are all similar (there are also hot dogs and french fries). Above is the Chipotle Barbeque Pork and Street Corn Mini Corn Dogs Mini Corn Dogs topped with Fire-roasted Corn, Queso Fresco, Jalapeño Ranch, and Cilantro.
I love elote, and the toppings here approximate it quite nicely. With that said, there’s simply too much going on with all of this added to the corn dogs. They’re still good, don’t get me wrong, but this is not the optimal order.
Instead, I’d recommend doing the hot dog or french fry varieties.
I found the foot long hot dog version to be much better. The Chipotle Barbecue Pork was still unnecessary and there was too much going on, but not as much as the corn dogs. (Disneyland did an elote hot dog a few years ago that was fantastic–I’d love to see that simpler option come to Casey’s Corner.)
I didn’t order the french fry variant, but I did end up scooping up some of the toppings with the fries. That was also fantastic. I was also better able to control the BBQ pork bites and the elote bites with fries, which I found to be the superior option.
On a related note, it’s been a while since I’ve “plugged” Casey’s Corner at park closing.
Like the rest of Main Street, Casey’s Corner is open after park closing. Officially, this is 30 minutes most nights, but I’ve seen them close the door slightly later from time to time.
One of my favorite pastimes is heading to Casey’s Corner right around last call after riding Seven Dwarfs Mine Train at the end of the night (which I guess will be TRON Lightcycle Run going forward), ordering some corn dog nuggets, and enjoying my fourth meal (or fifth…or sixth…) while gazing at Cinderella Castle and waiting for the crowds to clear out for empty park photography.
This is one of my all-time favorite Magic Kingdom experiences. It’s such a satisfying way to decompress at the end of a long day and soak up the late night atmosphere, and I swear those nuggets taste better late at night. Words cannot do it justice.
While on Main Street, let’s head across the walkway to the newly-refurbished Plaza Restaurant.
Here we’ll start with the Graveyard Milk Shake: Chocolate Milk Shake with a Dipped Graveyard Jelly Doughnut, White Chocolate Tombstone, Gummy Candy, and a Haunted Mansion Straw.
Look, I’ll level with you: I have no idea what I was thinking in ordering this. One of those thoughtless “when the cat’s away, the mice will play” bad eating decisions. It’s not part of the titular “rare wins” for Magic Kingdom. It wasn’t bad or anything–just exactly what you’d expect. A very indulgent, candy-laden, high-sugar drink aimed at children. I regretted ordering it immediately upon seeing it…and proceeded to eat it all.
The real reason I was dining by myself at Plaza Restaurant was for the Ghoulishly Gourmet Burger: Two All-Beef Patties with Pepper Jack and Swiss Cheese, Candied Bacon, Balsamic-glazed Mushrooms, Onion Ring, and Truffle-Buffalo Aïoli served on a Black Bun.
This is an absolute monstrosity of a burger, and is absolutely glorious. Oozing with cheesy goodness, the truffle buffalo aioli is the real star here, giving it an ever-so-mild kick as the mushrooms, bacon, and onion ring add even more stuff to the double burger.
About the only thing these photos do convey is just how messy of a burger this is. Otherwise, they sell it short. I’d highly recommend this if you like heavy and rich indulgences, and don’t mind getting your hands covered in grease, sauce, cheese, etc. (Also, there were multiple parties around me asking if the bun tastes funny–it doesn’t; it’s a normal bun.)
Further accolades for this burger probably won’t move the needle one way or the other, so I’m going to wrap this post up on a different note, ‘disclosing’ the underlying motivation for writing this post in the first place. As you’ve probably seen mentioned, I do a lot of eating at the parks for the sake of “Very Important Research.”
Quite often, the eating part of that research happens, but the writing part is skipped. Other things come up, I forget, don’t feel like I have anything compelling to say, etc. Well, going forward, my questionable food decisions are going to be, ahem, scrutinized a bit more. So when I do eat poorly, I have to justify it.
This is because I recently had my annual physical and the LDL cholesterol level was, well, let’s just say…not good! I know what you’re thinking: “well yeah, dummy, this is why you shouldn’t get annual physicals!” Fair point. I also should’ve been smarter than to schedule the thing right after the start of the EPCOT Food & Wine Festival and a bunch of other menu changes at Walt Disney World. I actually made a very similar mistake back in 2018, and it cost me about a year in the culinary doghouse.
The doctor seemed somewhat surprised by the results, as all of my other stats were solid. Like, I’m obviously no Olympian or anything, but my numbers are “excellent” for a middle aged dude who works on a computer. Especially since, when I explained my diet, I only initially included details about the food Sarah prepares for us at home. That cholesterol number didn’t add up, unless it was genetics.
Then I made the mistake of opening the can of worms that is theme park blogging. Do you want to know how a 60-70 year old doctor will look at you when you explain that it could be an anomaly because you “had” to eat 8 hot dogs last week, professionally, for the sake of research? Heck, for that matter, when you say you’re a theme park blogger, as if that’s a real thing and not just something you made up on the spot to justify the aforementioned eating of that many hot dogs?! Like you’re crazy.
As it turns out, what you just witnessed in this post might have something to do with my high LDL level. Or maybe it is genetics. Who’s to say? But anyway, this is all a long-winded way of saying that the steak, burger and hot dog reviews might be scaled back a bit in the future, with more of an emphasis on salads and stuff. Or at the very least, there will be more restaurant reviews and dining posts, and very little purely recreational eating for love of the game at Walt Disney World or Disneyland going forward. Also, don’t try this at home, I guess. This type of eating should only be performed by a train professional.
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YOUR THOUGHTS
What do you think about the recent menu updates at Magic Kingdom? Are you excited for these changes and additions? Thoughts on any of the new or modified dishes discussed here? Do you agree or disagree with my assessment? Any questions we can help you answer? Hearing your feedback–even when you disagree with us–is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!
