A Review of the Rainforest Cafe at Disney Springs

During your Walt Disney World vacation, there might come a time when you find yourself at Disney Springs. If you don’t have reservations or are dining with children, you might consider a restaurant like Rainforest Cafe. The large-capacity restaurant is almost always able to take walk-ups. In this review of the Disney Springs Rainforest Cafe location, we’ll discuss our dining experience and what to expect.

The Rainforest Cafe is located in the Marketplace section of Disney Springs. It sits at the very end of the venue behind Goofy’s Candy Shop. If you take a resort bus to Disney Springs, you’ll exit at Town Center. Once you enter Disney Springs, you’ll take a right and continue in that direction until you reach the restaurant. When you get close to World of Disney, you’ll be able to see the occasional bursts of fire erupting from the volcano.

My family has eaten at Disney Springs Rainforest Cafe since the early 2000s. It was one of my son’s favorite restaurants, so we visited it nearly every trip. He’s an adult now, but we still like to visit the restaurant now and then.

Here are a few quick reference details for the Rainforest Cafe at Disney Springs.

Rainforest Cafe	Disney Springs
Location:	Marketplace
Type of Service:	Table Service
Type of Food:	American
Disney Dining Plan	Yes
Annual Passholder Discount	10%
Menu	Rainforest Cafe Menu

Disney Springs Rainforest Cafe Review

The fun begins as soon as you arrive at Rainforest Cafe. According to the sign, it’s a wild place to shop and eat.

Several menu boards are posted outside the restaurant. The restaurant menu has a wide variety of items. It’s broken down into appetizers, soups, salads, entrees, desserts, and kids’ meals. You’ll find anything from cheese sticks to blackened fish tacos. There’s something for everyone.

You’ll find an oasis inside the Rainforest Cafe. It’s the perfect place to retreat when temperatures are scalding. Here are a few photos of what to expect.

While you wait to be seated, you can enjoy the tropical saltwater aquariums throughout the front of the restaurant.

The dining rooms feature animatronic animals throughout. It’s always fun to see where you’ll be seated.

The animals move and make noises from time to time. Most children enjoy the interactive elements. However, it could be scary if your child doesn’t care for sudden movements, dark surroundings, or loud noises. During the experience, the restaurant turns from night to day. So, at times, it will be significantly darker.

Toward the back of the restaurant, a seating area has a waterfall with rainbows and a statue. We have sat close to this area in the past and enjoyed it. The running water provides a nice sound buffer.

Here’s a closer look.

No matter where you sit, you should have some form of entertainment within the immediate area.

You’ll find anything from a family of gorillas to cheetahs and other animals hidden in this rainforest-like setting.

A separate bar is available toward the front of the restaurant, with larger-than-life mushrooms growing overhead.

The bar area takes walk-ups. Each barstool is themed to look like an animal.

Back outside, you’ll see a separate entrance to the Lava Lounge.

This area has covered outdoor eating areas that face the lake, looking back toward Disney Springs. If you would prefer to dine outside, this location serves the full restaurant menu and is considered a bit of a hidden gem.

Regarding food, we have tried a variety of items over the years. My son has multiple food allergies, which can make dining out difficult. But the Rainforest Cafe has plenty of items. So, it’s a place where a chef can easily alter a menu item to accommodate his needs.

On this visit, he ordered grilled chicken fingers with a side of fries. While this is a pretty straightforward meal, it’s the kind of thing that feels like a lifesaver when you’re hungry and have specific dietary needs. When it was time to order, the chef came to the table and made several suggestions.

On this visit, I ordered the China Island Chicken Salad. This was a pretty plain salad that consisted of grilled chicken, mandarin oranges, mixed greens, sesame seeds, carrots, rice noodles, and wonton strips. It came with China Island Dressing. I appreciated the nice serving of protein and was pleased to find something that leaned toward the healthier side of things.

If you’ve ever spent an entire week dining at Disney, you likely know what it’s like to get burnt out. At some point, the body starts craving healthy food.

After our meal, we spent some time browsing the shop at Rainforest Cafe. You might enjoy doing this while you wait for your table. But since we’re Landry’s members, we are almost always seated upon arrival.

Landry’s Card Benefits at Rainforest Cafe

So, what is a Landry’s card? We’ve been Landry’s Select Club members for longer than I can remember. You can pick up a card at any Landry’s location or order one online. The card costs $25.00, and you’ll receive a $25.00 credit toward your first visit.

Here’s how it works:

• On your initial visit (or online), you pay $25.00 to join. But they immediately give you a $25.00 credit toward your first meal, which balances out the one-time membership fee.
• For every $1.00 you spend, you’ll receive one point. When you reach 250 points, you’ll get a $25 credit.
• Every year during the month of your birthday, you’ll get a $25.00 credit toward a meal. Tip: You can select any celebration date you choose if your birthday isn’t convenient.
• As mentioned above, you get priority seating with no reservations. When you arrive, walk up to the side of the check-in where it says Landry’s and let them know you are a member.

At Walt Disney World, you can use your Landry’s card to dine at the following locations:

• Rainforest Cafe at Disney’s Animal Kingdom
• Yak and Yeti at Disney’s Animal Kingdom
• Rainforest Cafe at Disney Springs
• TREX at Disney Springs

We also enjoy eating at these other restaurants. But our favorite is Yak and Yeti at Disney’s Animal Kingdom. You might also enjoy T-REX at Disney Springs if your children love dinosaurs. It’s a unique experience with decent food and great service. You can read more about Landry’s Club on their site. They have a list of other destinations where you can use their card.

Overall, we love Rainforest Cafe at Disney Springs. Sure, it’s not the fanciest of places to have a meal. But the menu offers something for everyone, and they have an excellent selection of kids’ meals that your children will probably enjoy. It’s also the kind of place that’s relaxed enough, where you don’t have to worry if your children are a little loud. The restaurant’s background noise will help in that department.

For more of the best restaurants at Disney Springs, you might enjoy the following:

• The Polite Pig Review
• D-Luxe Burger Review
• Chef Art Smith’s Homecomin’ Review
• Wolfgang Puck’s Bar and Grill Review
• Blaze Fast Fire’d Pizza Review
• Chicken Guy! Review

You might also enjoy our entire Disney World Dining Guide.

In the Comments

Have you ever dined at the Rainforest Cafe at Disney Springs? Do you enjoy this kind of meal? What are your thoughts? Would you plan a meal here? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.