Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom opened its gates for the first time since mid-March for a special Cast Member preview ahead of the park’s official July 11th opening and we’ve spent the day exploring every corner to see how it’s changed! We’ve spotted countless characters, hopped on a few rides, and indulged in some retail therapy. We’ve been so busy, we nearly forgot to EAT! JK, you know we NEVER forget that!
With so much to see that’s new, we decided to go for a quick bite. Let’s check out the scene at one of Magic Kingdom’s newly reopened quick-service restaurants.
While some dining locations such as Golden Oak Outpost and Tomorrowland Terrace Restaurant have transformed into relaxation stations (where guests may temporarily take a break from wearing their face masks), other Magic Kingdom eateries are now open for business! Today we stopped by Cosmic Ray’s Starlight Cafe to order up some galactic grub!
We also wanted to stop by and say hello to an old Yew Norker pal of ours — Sonny Eclipse! While the famous crooner wasn’t wearing a mask, he was being kept at a safe distance from the diners. 😉
Placing an Order
Disney World is highly encouraging guests to use mobile order via the My Disney Experience app to order and pay for food. If you have a food allergy or wish to pay cash, you can talk to a Cast Member outside the restaurant and they’ll direct you to a register.
Plexiglass shields have been installed at each of the cash registers as well as at the pick-up windows. Social-distancing markers have been placed on the ground directing guests where to stand while they wait.
We placed our mobile order and went to the pick-up window. Cast Members asked to see our order number on our phone before our food was brought out.
Dining Experience
Before we went to go find a table, we scoped some things out. We noticed drinking fountains were still working.
Individually packaged condiments were available in large tubs for guests to grab.
Meanwhile, the rest of Cosmic Ray’s topping bar (where you normally doctor up your sandwich with lettuce, tomato, pickles, and other fixins) was closed. But don’t worry — you can still customize your meal with your choice of toppings using mobile order. The app will tell you which toppings are already included and you can pick and choose what you want!
We also noticed new utensil dispensers which we’ve previously seen at other newly reopened Disney World restaurants.
Leaving the counter area with our trays, arrows now direct guests down to the main seating area in front of Sonny Eclipse’s stage.
Comic Ray’s has placed special markers on every other table to indicate which ones are unavailable for guests.
It wasn’t long before we were sitting down to enjoy our 1/3 lb Angus Bacon Cheeseburger with French Fries while listening to some sweet Sonny Eclipse tunes! And yes, once you’re seated at a socially distanced table, guests are free to remove their face masks and dig in!
It’s hard to see the juicy patty underneath all that lettuce, tomato, cheese, and crispy bacon. Be we can assure you it tasted out of this world. Cosmic Ray knows his way around a grill and our Bacon Cheeseburger really hit the spot.
We also ordered the S’mores (which we’ve had before), but this dessert just looked too good to pass up trying it again!
It has a graham cracker cookie crust flecked with chocolate and is stuffed with a gooey marshmallow filling as well as more warm and melty chocolate. YUM!
And that about sums up our refueling session! Now that the theme park restaurants are firing back up, we’ll be on the lookout for some new snacks and goodies to review. In the meantime, you can check out our live coverage of everything we experienced on our first day back at the Magic Kingdom!
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Do you have plans to visit Disney World this week? Let us know what you’re looking forward to eating THE MOST in the comments below!
Melissa Phillips says
Quick question….. can you use a gift card for mobile ordering? We want buy disney gift cards for the food purchases.
DFB Sarah says
Melissa, finally yes! Disney recently added gift cards as a form of payment in My Disney Experience for Mobile Orders!
Becky T. says
How are they doing the drinks? Are there still the self serve fountains? I normally fill up my water bottle and wondered if that was even going to be possible?
Dawn Smith says
Any idea when they will open ticketing up again?
Kate Harris says
Hi. How do you scan the menus? I’m not sure if I know where to do that.
DFB Sarah says
Kate, you will want to see if your phone has a QR code scanner or download one.
DFB Sarah says
Dawn, it’s today!
DFB Sarah says
Becky, we were given drinks in a paper cup with our order.