Review of Walt’s – an American Restaurant During the Disneyland Paris 30th Anniversary

This article is also available as a podcast episode that you can listen to here:

Walt’s – an American restaurant is perhaps one of the most unique restaurants of any Disney park. The elevated eatery is located on Main Street U.S.A. in Disneyland Park. You can find it on the left hand side when walking from the gates towards the castle. 

While the ground floor houses the restaurants reception area, the dining rooms are on the first floor. This is your only opportunity go upstairs in any of the Main Street U.S.A. buildings. It’s a table service restaurant that specializes in American food with a French touch. 

Walt’s is also one of the best places to watch the parade go by (if you happen to be sitting by the windows). Be sure to take the art filled stairs up and the elevator back down.  Or vice versa, both are stunning to look at.

The elevators interior is ornamental with several gorgeous stained glass windows depicting bowls of fruit, as well as a mahogany ceiling. It also uses manual double doors which have to be opened and closed by hand. Which is something one might encounter in very old European buildings. 

A Museum Dedicated to Disneyland Paris

Not only is the American food with a French touch beautifully presented but Walt’s feels like a museum with tons of old pictures of Walt Disney and loads of Disneyland Paris concept art. 

There are several dining rooms and each of them is dedicated to a section of Disneyland Park. 

While we’re sure we haven’t seen all photos and pieces of art, here are some highlights to look out for. 

When you arrive upstairs, there is a bird cage in the welcome area. This little bird – which is likely a replica – was the instigator of Walt Disney’s audio-animatronic obsession! 

When Walt visited New Orleans, he found the antique mechanical singing bird in a classic golden cage. The cage is there for a reason as it was an important piece of inspiration for Disney’s attraction development. 

Another historical detail is the picture of Walt from the mid-1930s in the lobby on the back-wall. Beside Walt you can see a shadow of his most famous creation, Mickey Mouse. It’s an official photo from Disney Photo Archives. 

Not only the art is historically significant, but the ingredients used in the dishes of Walt’s as well. Several dishes use cream or butter sauce from Isigny, France. The Isigny butter sauce refers to Walt Disney’s ancestors who came from Isigny.

We’ve discussed Walt’s on AirMagique before, especially in how it is intended to be a Club 33 for everyone. Recently Imagineer Eddie Sotto shared that one primary motivation for designing Walt’s was pent up frustration of only looking at photos of Club 33 as a child. 

While the park is famously covered in hidden mickeys (check out our hidden mickey’s episode for more). Walt’s is full of hidden and not so hidden “WD” Walt Disney monograms. 

Some places to look out for the monograms are the glass doors of the elevator, the cash railway and even custom gas light keys cast members use. 

Also be on the look out for the Discovery Bay concept art by Tony Baxter. Which shows an early version of Discoveryland, serving up much more of a steampunk harbor / maritime vibe. Similar to what was realized in Tokyo Disney Sea. 

The Adventureland room also features several pieces of Pirates of the Caribbean concept art by Marc Davis. What’s fun about these is that they act as a link to Captain Jack’s – Restaurant des Pirates in Adventureland. You can find the exact same pieces can be found hanging in the waiting area there. 

All About the Food

Walt’s – an American restaurant has an adult and child menu. The adult menu consists of 3 courses and can be ordered with or without  wine. Most beverages are charged separately while annual pass-holders qualify for a free non-alcoholic welcome drink. 

The kids menu is comprised of 3 courses and includes a soft drink. 

As for the selection, there are 4 starters, 5 mains and 5 desserts to choose from for adults. Kids have 3 choices per course. 

Not an extremely extensive menu but enough variety for omnivores. Vegetarians also have a few options 2 out of 4 starters are veggie, 1 out of 5 mains and all 5 desserts of course. 

Niels tried the Waldorf salad with Roquefort cheese as a starter. He enjoyed it as he is a big French cheese fan. Eric ordered the Chicken Pot Pie as a starter. It is served in a crispy dough shell and is nice and creamy. The Chicken Pot Pie is accompanied by a Mickey shaped puff pastry and raw vegetable salad. Definitely and excellent choice Eric would order again. Eric’s husband Florian had the vegan Fruit Slaw with Carrot Coulis, which looked good and tasted fine. 

As a main course both Eric and Niels selected the Cajun-Spiced Arctic Char. Niels enjoyed it critiquing that there was a bit too much Cajun, but it was still good. The dish is served with coriander, corn, Isigny butter sauce and wild rice. The dish wasn’t Eric’s favorite, it tasted very similar to cooked salmon which he personally doesn’t enjoy and he would order something else next time.  Florian had the Thelma potato, Vegetables and Pepper Coulis. Again the presentation was on point, it looked elevated. Taste wise it was fine but Florian said it wasn’t  his favorite. 

As a dessert Niels chose the Flower Street ice cream. Three different but delicious scoops of ice cream decorated with fruit and of course, Flowers. Flower Street refers to the street where Walt Disney Imagineering is located in California. Niel’s wife had the lemon meringue pie which also looked and tasted really good.

For desert Eric got the vegan Warm Giant Chocolate Chip and Hazelnut Cookie with Caramel Sauce, Maple Syrup Ice Cream with Pecan Nuts. Eric’s expectations were that it was going to be and nice, chewy, soft American cookie but it was rather tough and crunchy. That’s just not his cup of tea so Eric would order something else next time. 

It’s a dining experience we would definitely love to repeat. The atmosphere outshines the food just a little bit. However, overall it’s something really fun to do at Disneyland Paris and a unique dining experience you can otherwise only experience at Club 33 overseas. 

Drinks Inspired by Hollywood Icons

Walt’s offers 3 30th anniversary cocktails at the moment, as well as 2 premium drinks and 1 mocktail. 

Besides cocktails, they have a wide selection of champagnes, wines, aperitifs and some beers, soft drinks, and coffees and tea. 

We tried the Shirley Temple mocktail, which consists of Sprite, ginger ale and grenadine syrup. The mocktail was developed in the 1930s as an homage to hollywoods favorite child actress Shirley Temple. 

During the 1939 Oscars, Shirley Temple handed Walt Disney his Oscar for his iconic Snow White and the Sven Dwarves film. The classic statue was accompanied by seven smaller statures representing the 7 dwarves. 

Eric enjoyed the cocktail, it was fresh and very sweet. It’s something we would consider ordering again. However, the Virgin Colada at Captain Jacks is still our number one Disneyland Paris mocktail. 

We also purchased a Walt’s – an American restaurant commemorative pin which was available for €16 per person. Those are now sadly sold out and as far as we know they aren’t coming back.

How Much?

Yes! The adult menu is €42 or €62 with wine. Please note prices may increase at any time, prices listed are for June, 2022. 

Most beverages are charged separately while annual pass-holders qualify for a free non-alcoholic welcome drink. 

The kids menu is €22 which makes it more expensive than counter service dining option but less expensive then character dining at Plaza Gardens or Auberge de Cendrillon. 

Walt’s – an American restaurant costs about the same price as Captain Jacks, which is excellent as well of course. However Walt’s is a completely different atmosphere and cuisine type. 

The overall service level, the art in the restaurant, the food quality – which isn’t Michelin class but it’s good – and layout justifies the price point in our opinion. Infinity and Magic Plus annual pass holders get their usual restaurant discount here as well.

Disneyland Paris’s Club 33

We would definitely revisit Walt’s – an American restaurant. The dining rooms are all so unique and there’s much more to explore. 

The relatively quiet atmosphere and the Main Street USA view is something we especially enjoyed. It’s makes for a very relaxing break on a busy park day.

Be sure to make a reservation through the app, a hotel concierge, City hall or the reservation hotline. Try to book a time slot that overlaps with the daily Stars on Parade, the Ready for the Ride 30th anniversary show or a seasonal cavalcade. If you get a window seat, you can watch the parade from a unique perspective.

Undoubtedly fans who know a bit about the parks history, and those who are interested in fabulous concept art and historical pieces will have a blast here. Don’t forget to visit the exclusive restaurant restroom which features fun vintage restroom inspired art. 

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