Next up on our list of restaurants to review is the Rainforest Cafe, which can be found at both Downtown Disney and outside the entrance to Disney’s Animal Kingdom. We ate at the Animal Kingdom location last June, so let’s take a look at it in greater detail.
The Rainforest Cafe is a fun restaurant to eat at. We have eaten at the Cafe just once before at Walt Disney World, and that was at the Downtown Disney location with some good friends of ours way back in 2005. We had never eaten there since because of two reasons. One, we have eaten at Rainforest Cafe’s in other locations, so eating at one at Walt Disney World seems kind of silly. The second reason is because until last year, the Rainforest Cafe was not on the Disney Dining Plan, and for many of our trips we were using the dining plan for our meals. The Rainforest Cafe now accepts the Disney Dining Plan, and it is a one table-service credit per person. Reservations are recommended.
Whatever the reason, we had not eaten at the Cafe in quite a while, until we were invited to do so last June for a late breakfast. The one thing that the Cafe does well is outfit it’s restaurant! The theming in their is incredible, and if there is one place that the Rainforest Cafe really fits in, it’s at the Animal Kingdom! If you’ve never eaten there before, try to picture in your mind walking through a jungle to a table located by an elephant, or a lion, or primates of all shapes and sizes. Then, while you are eating, periodically the lights flicker, the restaurant changes temperature, and you are immersed in the beginnings of a really incredible thunderstorm that is passing through the forest. The animals get agitated, the skies darken, and then it passes on for a while and everyone calms down. Take a look at some of the pictures we took while inside the restaurant.
One of the hidden treasures of the restaurant is that you can go in through the gift shop, look around (or not), and then exit at a special gate that will allow you to enter the park. If you do this, you may be able to enter the park much quicker then if you go through the main gates. Has anyone done this? If so, how did it work out for you? We did this after we had eaten, but the park was already open, so it wasn’t like there were hundreds of people waiting, so I don’t know if there was a real difference.
For food, I had a french toast that reminded me of the world famous Tonga Toast. The menu that Disney displays on their website is a lunch and dinner menu, so it doesn’t have any breakfast items listed.
In summary, do I need to eat here every time? No, I don’t. However, it is a fun little restaurant, so if you are looking for something different, give it a try? Have you eaten at the Rainforest Cafe? If so, tell us, what did you think of it? Please let me know in the comments! Thanks for reading!
Our family LOVES the Rainforest Cafe, and it is a must do for us! We live in Portland Oregon, and the closest RC is up by Seattle, so it's not a restaurant we see all the time. My kids love the atmosphere, and all the animals. The menu is really diverse, even for the kids IMO, and the Volcano dessert is ah-mazing! I highly recommend taking your family to experience the restaurant, but be forewarned just like everything in Disney, we usually will end up with a bill close to or over $100 (6 of us) so we are VERY excited that the RC is now on the Dining Plan!!
Thanks for commenting! I'm glad that you are able to enjoy it, and can now get it on the Disney Dining Plan!
Wow! Thanks for sharing us this information. Now it wouldn't hard for us to enter the park for we know where's the short cut. I'll share this to my friends as well.
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