In the past month Liberty Inn, in the American Adventure portion of the World Showcase, has closed and will be replaced with Regal Eagle Smokehouse: Craft Drafts & Barbecue later this year. Liberty Inn was a prominent location not only because you could get kosher quick service meals there, but because the options usually included some of the more acceptable options: hamburgers and hot dogs. And while some readers reported they were told about the alternative location a number of weeks ago, we were waiting for confirmation from Disney itself to confirm any new locations for quick service at the World Showcase.
Well, we are happy to report that Disney has finally updated us that kosher will still be available at the Electric Umbrella in Future World and now Sunshine Seasons in Future World will also serve quick service meals.
This is notable to us for two reasons: 1) that means, for now at least, there will be no kosher quick service options available in the World Showcase 2) it took Disney at least 2 weeks longer to find out the answer to our question than someone who asked a cast member on site. Both of these developments are disappointing and we hope Disney will remedy these situations quickly. But for those of you who constantly question why Disney doesn’t open a full-time, or even seasonable, fresh kosher food location at Walt Disney World; both of these are good indicators that Disney clearly doesn’t see the business for kosher that some think it does. Surely some of that has to do with the quality, but with tens of millions of people visiting Disney every year the kosher population is most probably a small enough minority Disney doesn’t feel the need to cater to it.
People have often asked me how we can change the kosher options at Disney. There are three options as I see it:
- Write (not email, old school snail mail) the Walt Disney Corporation about the desire for fresh kosher options
- Organize a campaign for these options (anyone interested in helping with this effort can email us)
- Ask about kosher options when
on site , even if you know already. Raising awareness makes a difference.
You may also be aware that The Electric Umbrella itself is also scheduled to close in the near future for remodeling. It is possible when the remodeling is complete that The Electric Umbrella will no longer serve kosher quick service at all, as that is what happened after the renovations at Pizzafari. We will keep everyone posted if and when another kosher quick service location is announced in its place one way or another.
I visited both Sunshine Seasons and Electric Umbrella today. At Sunshine Season, I had to wait for a chef to be called and once he took the order, he said to come back in 40 minutes. At Electric Umbrella, you order like everyone else at the register and the food was ready in under 10 minutes. So I would stay away from Sunshine Seasons.