Fantasmic! returned to Disney’s Hollywood Studios in November, and now, guests can book dining packages at select venues. One of the new restaurants to offer this package is 50s Prime Time Café.
Exterior
50s Prime Time Café is in Echo Lake next to Hollywood & Vine, near the Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular.
Interior
50s Prime Time Café brings you into a midcentury home to eat “Mom’s home cooking.” The dark woods, pastel accents, and geometric designs of the era are heavily present.
Retro-style televisions play old footage of Walt Disney and Disneyland from the 1950s and ’60s.
50s Prime Time Café Fantasmic! Dining Package – $51 for Adults, $22 for Kids
The Fantasmic! Dining Package here includes an entrée and your choice of an appetizer or desserts, plus a non-alcoholic beverage.
Appetizers
Fried Herb and Garlic Cheese – $10
Served with Raspberry Sauce, Grapes, and Apples
The cheese isn’t the mozzarella you are used to. This is more like a ricotta, so no stretch, but it’s well seasoned and delicious. Plenty for our table of three to share so we can double up on desserts.
Roasted Tomato Soup – $9
Savory Blend of Plum Tomatoes, Onions, Herbs, Garnished with Focaccia Croutons
The soup flavor is inexplicable. We caught a little bit of tomato on the back end. It’s not bad, but it’s not phenomenal. We didn’t have this today, but we recently reviewed all the new menu items here at 50s Prime Time Café. We’ve included our overall thoughts for every item we’ve reviewed so you can plan your Fantasmic! package visit, but click through the item name for the in-depth and video reviews.
Entrées
Aunt Liz’s Golden Fried Chicken – $26
Served with Roasted Garlic Mashed Potatoes, Chicken Gravy, and Seasonal Vegetables
The fried chicken is well-seasoned, perfectly cooked, and expertly presented, as usual. Two of us thought it tasted like Hoop-Dee-Doo fried chicken. This is a solid staple that won’t steer you wrong.
A Sampling of Mom’s Favorite Recipes – $28
Golden-fried Chicken, Fork Tender Pot Roast, and Traditional Meatloaf with all the fixin’s
The ideal option if you want a little bit of everything on the menu.
Grandpa Jean’s Chicken Pot Pie – $24
A Traditional Pastry Crust Filled with Chicken, Potatoes, Carrots, Celery, Onions, Corn, and Peas
The chicken pot pie is deconstructed which is interesting. We loved the puff pastry. There is plenty, allowing you to have some bread with every bite. It’s more like phyllo than a traditional pastry crust. The whole dish is savoury and filling, with a very generous portion size. Very much a “home-cooked meal” like Mom used to make. While it’s not something we would want to eat on a hot day, it’s great on a cool Orlando evening. Definitely satisfying and although not out-of-this-world incredible, you won’t be disappointed.
Desserts
Dad’s Favorite Chocolate-Peanut Butter Layered Cake À la Mode – $10
This one is always a crowd pleaser. Chocolate and peanut butter are such a natural pairing and the ice cream enhances the flavors.
Lemon Meringue Pie – $9
A lemon curd in a flaky pie shell topped with a toasted meringue and garnished with a raspberry sauce
If you like lemon meringue, it’s great.
Pineapple Upside Down Cake – $9.50
Yellow cake soaked in a pineapple juices topped with caramelized pineapples and maraschino cherries garnished with whip cream and caramel sauce
Exactly what you expect from a pineapple upside-down cake. We’d get this again.
Grasshopper Bar – $8
Mint white chocolate mousse with chocolate chips on a chocolate chip cookie topped with whip cream and chocolate chips
It looked amazing and the texture was perfect, but the flavor wasn’t there. Our minds wanted to taste mint, but it was not predominant, only showing up quietly on the backend.
Fantasmic! Seating
Your server will give you the voucher used to redeem your seating. It should have your showtime and date on it. Ours were missing the showtime.
Seating opens 90 minutes before showtime, and you have to arrive at least 25 minutes beforehand, or they will start to seat other guests in the reserved area.
The queue for dining package guests uses the old FastPass queue.
There are Cast Members stationed with directional signage to ensure you get to the reserved area.
The reserved areas are the center sections of Mickey and Scar.
This is the view if your seat is in the center of the center.
And this is a view if you are stage left in the reserved area.
Overall
The vibe of the restaurant is the best. The theming does involve a level of audience participation, so to speak. They take “when you’re here, you’re family” to another level. The servers introduce themselves as aunts, uncles, or cousins, and they expect you to do your fair share. One of us even set the table. If you’re comfortable with it, it’s a fun time.
We thought the package was worth it, especially if you go with some of the pricier items on the menu to get the full value. We recommend arriving about 45 minutes in advance of your showtime. You’ll still have to wait, but it will be while seated in the amphitheater rather than enduring standby.
Check out the new scenes featuring Moana, Elsa, and more in our full show video here.
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