Step Back in Time at 50’s Prime Time Cafe: A Cozy Nostalgic Dining Experience in Disney’s Hollywood Studios

Ah, it’s good to be back home again! …But actually, you’re at the 50’s Prime Time Cafe in Walt Disney World! This super fun sit-down restaurant is brimming with wholesome vibes and homecooked meals straight from the Nifty Fifties era when Leave it to Beaver was everybody’s favorite show.

With comfort food favorites like fried chicken and mashed potatoes and gravy, you’ll find this cafe always satisfies with a filling meal and incredibly entertaining wait staff. After all, this is a family establishment – so a motherly waitress may just implore you to clean your plate and finish your veggies!

Not only is the 50’s Prime Time Cafe a great option for dining in Hollywood Studios but it can also be selected as part of a Fantasmic dining package, ensuring you get delicious food and guaranteed seats to the best show in Walt Disney World!

Now, don’t touch that dial on the television set – The Twilight Zone is about to come on…

50’s Prime Time Cafe – Serving Up Nostalgia

Part of what makes the 50’s Prime Time Cafe such an enjoyable experience is the over-the-top kitschy theming. Retro wallpaper and blocky black-and-white television sets broadcasting the Mickey Mouse Club helps to set the stage for the dining experience. Several tables act as individual little dining rooms with their own TV sets, cabinetry, and displayed knick-knacks. (There’s also less slightly private booth and table seating, which helps fit more guests.) Regardless of where you end up sitting, you will feel totally immersed in this time gone by!

The servers act as your cousins, aunts, and uncles and are some of the most interactive dining staff to be found outside of traditional character dining experiences. They love teasing you about elbows on the table and tossing out bits of 50’s trivia. If you love to laugh, then this comedy-oriented meal is definitely worth checking out!

As with Disney dining, reservations for the 50’s Prime Time Cafe can be made 60 days before your park visit using Disney’s website or the My Disney Experience app. You can also get into the 50s spirit and do it “the old-fashioned way” with a phone call! Reservations are highly recommended if you’re hoping to get a seat at this popular spot.

If you weren’t able to make a reservation but still want that 50s food, you can try your luck walking into the Tune-In Lounge next door. Seating here is first come, first serve. The atmosphere is similar to the cafe proper, and the full menu is served.

50s Prime Time Cafe Menu: Comfort Food from Mom’s Kitchen

The 50’s Prime Time Cafe menu is chock full of Momma’s best recipes!

Serving up both lunch and dinner, you’ll find prices here to be pretty reasonable (in the world of Disney sit-down dining, at least). This restaurant is cheaper than the Hollywood Brown Derby and in the same range as the Sci-Fi Dine-In Theatre, with entrees ranging from $17.00 to $28.00. The menus for lunch and dinner are identical, so you can pop in any time and find every dish available!

If you have any allergy concerns, be sure to talk with one of the waitstaff, as the cafe has so many great allergy-friendly options! Uncle Fred or Aunt Daphne would be happy to accommodate you.

Whet Your Appetite

Grab a snack from the kitchen cabinet while you wait for Mom to finish cooking… or just order one of the cafe’s amazing appetizers! Choose from something light like Cousin Amy’s Iceberg Lettuce Wedge (drizzled in ranch and sprinkled with bacon and cherry tomatoes), or get something you can sink your teeth into like fried herb and garlic cheese, beer-battered onion rings, or deviled eggs. There’s also roasted tomato soup for something, especially warm and familiar.

Clean Your Plate

With mouthwatering morsels like these, it’ll be easy to clean your plate (and avoid a scolding from your server)!

One classic entree is Mom’s Old-fashioned Pot Roast which is garnished with carrots, celery, and onions and served with a side of mashed potatoes and brown gravy. But you could also opt for Cousin Megan’s Traditional Meatloaf, which is served with garlic mashed potatoes and green beans (yum!). Grandpa Jean’s Chicken Pot Pie is also a wonderfully hearty option! And, of course, we can’t forget Aunt Liz’s Fried Chicken! Crisped to golden perfection, Aunt Liz plates her poultry with garlic mashed potatoes, chicken gravy, and seasonal veggies.

If you want to try a bit of everything (because it’s all delicious!), you can get A Sampling of Mom’s Favorite Recipes, which comes with a helping of fried chicken, pot roast, and meatloaf with all the fixins.

A Piece of Cake (or Easy as Pie)

Dessert is the best part of any meal, and the 50’s Prime Time Cafe is no exception!

Dive into a big hunk of Dad’s Favorite Chocolate-Peanut Butter Layer Cake (with or without ice cream), or opt for something fruity with a slice of Pineapple Upside Down Cake. Warm apple crisp, lemon meringue pie and grasshopper bars are also some truly sweet choices! Oh, and the “grasshopper bar” is mint white chocolate mousse with chocolate chips on a chocolate chip cookie topped with whip cream and even more chocolate chips. No insects in sight! Phew!

1950s Fantasmic Dining

One of the really nifty things about the 50’s Prime Time Cafe is that it can be part of a Fantasmic dining package.

Fantasmic is Hollywood Studios’ end-of-the-night extravaganza where you get to watch Mickey Mouse and Disney princesses fight off nightmares from Mickey’s dreamworld (like dragons and Disney villains), all to the tune of classic soundtracks. The show absolutely dazzles with fireworks, animated projections, and splashy waterworks! It’s one of the most spectacular shows in Disney and certainly the best in Hollywood Studios.

Purchasing the Fantasmic dining package allows you to select a reservation at one of the park’s restaurants, and when you dine there on your visit day, you’ll receive a seating voucher for the show (which puts you in the reserved seating area). Seating for the show opens 90 minutes in advance – if you have a voucher, you’ll still want to show up at least 25 minutes before showtime. Otherwise, reserved seating eventually gets used for overflow.

In addition to guaranteed seating, the dining package includes an entree, an appetizer or dessert at your selected restaurant, and a non-alcoholic drink. For those who select the 50’s Prime Time Cafe for their Fantasmic dining package, prices are $51.00 per adult and $22.00 per child.

The dining package is certainly worth considering if you have your heart set on seeing Fantasmic from one of the best possible viewing spots in Disney Hollywood Studios. (It’s worth noting that if Fantasmic is canceled on the day of your visit, your dining experience will still happen.)

The 50’s Prime Time Cafe might just be the most fun you can have eating in Hollywood Studios!

Have you visited Mom’s kitchen? What did you eat? And did your server hassle you about unfinished green beans? Tell us about your experience in the comments below!

Cover photo: Josh Hallett via Flickr