Downtown Disney Struggles to Impress: What Needs to Change

If you love visiting Walt Disney World Resort, you probably love taking a trip or two to Disney Springs. The massive area is home to dozens of shops and delicious dining spots. In fact, the dining options are one of the things that make Disney Springs so unique.

Not only are there amazing sit-down spots like Wine Bar George, The BOATHOUSE, and The Edison but there are great quick-service and snack spots, including The Polite Pig and Everglazed Donuts. And don’t forget about the great dessert spots like Gideon’s Bakehouse, The Ganachery, and Amorette’s Pâtisserie.

Related: New Hotel and Restaurant Complex Coming to the Disney Springs Area

However, unlike its counterpart, Disney Springs at Walt Disney World, which boasts a variety of exclusive dining experiences and retail options, Downtown Disney Disneyland struggles to offer the same level of innovation.

Downtown Disney at Disneyland Resort — also home to Disneyland Park and Disney California Adventure — is undergoing significant renovations, which have prompted both excitement and apprehension among guests. The current phase has seen the demolition of several existing structures to make way for new shopping and dining locations.

Related: Disney Reveals More Details on 16 New Attractions For Huge Expansion!

Despite the challenges, new additions and offerings are on the horizon for Downtown Disney Disneyland. At the 2022 D23 Expo, Disney Parks Chairman Josh D’Amaro said that Downtown Disney would be seeing the addition of the world-renowned Chinese restaurant, Din Tai Fung. A Porto’s Bakery would also be going in.

Porto’s Bakery and Café is a popular California chain, but the Downtown Disney one will offer sit-down service for the first time. The bakery is known for its signature Cheese Rolls and Potato Balls, yet many local patrons can find similar items without entering the Disneyland Resort.

In fact, there is a large Porto’s just about ten minutes away from the Southern California theme park, and it is possible the prices at the Disneyland location will be slightly higher, as there tend to be theme park markups.

Related: Disneyland Shuts Down Iconic Spot with No Reopening Date in Sight

The popular Asian restaurant Din Tai Fung opened this past summer. Guests have raved about its delicious offerings, but those who have dined at the restaurant’s other California locations have noted a definite price markup. There are seven other Din Tai Fung restaurants around the state, and they are all cheaper.

What makes this problematic is that many people who visit Disneyland are local to the area — also known to Disney as an “unfavorable attendance mix”. If so many of these Guests can get that exact same food elsewhere, why would they eat there at Downtown Disney?

What Downtown Disney Is Getting Right

In April 2019, Black Tap Craft Burgers and Shakes opened in Downtown Disney. It serves mouthwatering burgers and milkshakes big enough to feed an entire party.

Last year, Disney announced several new restaurants would be coming to Downtown Disney, in addition to Porto’s and Din Tai Fung. One of those restaurants will be Arthur & Sons Steak and Bourbon, the brainchild of Michelin-starred chef Joe Isidori, one of the chefs behind the creation of Black Tap.

The new steakhouse will serve classic offerings like prime cuts of beef, fresh seafood, sandwiches, and salads. And, of course, as the name implies, there will be an extensive cocktail list, including several bourbons.

Related: Stunning New ‘Sleeping Beauty’ Lounge Opens at Beloved Disney Hotel!

This will be the first steakhouse to open on property since Steakhouse 55, located at the Disneyland Hotel, closed permanently due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Pearl’s Roadside BBQ will also open in Downtown Disney at a later date. Disneyland guests absolutely loved Big Thunder BBQ, but the dining spot closed in 2016 so Disney could build Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge. Since then, guests have been waiting for a delicious barbecue spot to take its place. And that’s where Pearl’s Roadside will come in.

While this new restaurant will not be a sit-down location, like Arthur & Sons, it will still offer great seating and even cocktails! Guests will be able to purchase barbecue favorites like pulled pork, beef brisket, and smoked heritage turkey with house-made sauces.

In true Southern style, guests will also be able to purchase craft beers and cocktails featuring moonshine.

Another relative “plus” in the changes category is the expansion of Marceline’s Confectionery, which, upon reopening, will be called Disney Wonderful World of Sweets. The store is being expanded and will now take up what was once the Disney Dress Shop.

The new sweet shop will continue to offer guest favorites like candy apples, churro toffee, cupcakes, crisped rice treats, and cake pops. But it will also offer freshly made Werther’s Original Caramel Popcorn. We can cross our fingers that they might also offer customizable popcorn, like Kernel Kitchen in the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World.

Disney puts so much effort into giving Walt Disney World Guests truly unique dining experiences. The lines are so often out the door at places like Amorette’s, Gideon’s, and The Ganachery. Guests are constantly raving about the incredible options at places like Art Smith’s Homecomin’ and Wine Bar George. So, Disney has proven that it can do something extra special.

Why don’t Disneyland Guests get that same kind of effort? Why does Disney insist on giving Disneylanders things that they can get if they drive just 20 minutes down the road? So, come on, Disney. Guests visiting Disneyland are just as willing to spend their money as people who visit Walt Disney World. So, why can’t you give them something unique?

While Disney is making some positive changes to the Downtown Disney District, there is still a lot of work to be done. Downtown Disney has the opportunity to be a smaller, but still wonderful version of Disney Springs. Disney just needs to decide that it is worth the effort.

Say it with me. We want Amorette’s! We want The Ganachery! We want Art Smith’s Homecomin’!

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are the writer’s and may not reflect the sentiments of Disney Fanatic as a whole.

Do you think Downtown Disney has too many chain restaurants? What would you like to see come to the area? Let us know in the comments!