ABC Commissary (Disney-MGM Studios)

Located at Disney-MGM Studios, the ABC Commissary is a recommendable eatery to grab lunch at.  The design definitely lends itself to the park’s theme, as it feels you’re eating at a catering mess hall on a soundstage in a studio somewhere.

This type of set-up is used by several eateries at the different Disney World parks – it’s a pretty straightforward process, and rather painless, especially for those with a little patience.

The menu’s not very extensive, but offers up a decent selection of lunch options.  I went with an ABC Special Cheeseburger (their terminology, not mine) and fries.  Now, generally speaking, a hamburger and fries is a fairly safe dish to order anywhere.  Occasionally, like this time, you’ll be surprised; as, a familiar dish can sometimes taste better than ever.  Needless to say, I really enjoyed my lunch.  The bun was ample, the lettuce fresh, and the burger hearty.  I was glad that unlike several other eateries on the cheaper end of the spectrum, ABC Commissary didn’t serve McDonald’s fries.  I much preferred this variety, as they are bigger, and texturally superior.

Amanda got a Cuban sandwich with black bean salad.  Amanda is pretty particular about what she likes and doesn’t like, so for what I suspected to be a decent yet unmemorable lunch, I was surprised that she really enjoyed her meal as well.  I thought the black bean salad was a unique side dish, one that I was glad to see offered, and had a very pleasing taste.

Here’s Amanda getting ready to take her first bite.

Here I am, cheesing out, getting ready to devour my lunch.  I really did enjoy this place.  As you can tell by my surroundings, amidst all the excitement elsewhere in the park, this place has a comforting calmness about it; or, at least it did on our visit there.  There are photos and memorabilia from past and present ABC television shows everywhere, too.  As far as a quick and inexpensive lunch goes, in the four Disney World parks, you’ll not likely find a better place than this.

Overall Grade: B+ 

Restaurantosaurus (Disney’s Animal Kingdom)

How exquisite to find delectable dining right alongside prehistoric pissers and dinosaur dig sites.  Disney’s Animal Kingdom, while being the biggest of the four Disney World parks, offers the least eating options.  If you want to grab some fossil fuels for you and your crew, but don’t want to spend too terribly much, consider stopping by Restaurantosaurus.

Inside is a hustling bustle of hungered humans craving their calories and carbonated beverages.  There’s nothing quite like ordering your lunch underneath the fossils of a pterodactyl.

Here’s Amanda picking up our order – this was a mid-day snack, so we planned to save some money and stomach space for later by sharing one meal.

Once away from the main ordering area, there’s a spot where you can personally garnish your gargantuan sandwich.  Don’t worry; you can be generous with the onions, nobody’s watching.

Our snack consisted of a vegetarian burger, McDonald’s fries with barbeque sauce, and Diet Coke with lemon.  The veggie burger was certainly edible, but still retained that particular panache that carefully crafted faux meat has.  But, the lady likes them, so I went along, and ate my ersatz burger.  The fries were your typical McDonald’s fare, slightly salty and made much more pleasant when dipped in tangy barbeque sauce.  While I don’t drink much diet soda when I’m at home, it became a companion on this trip; with prices so high, we usually opted to share beverages, and Diet Coke was an agreeable compromise.

There’s several scattered sections inside the restaurant to eat in, all decorated differently.  Ours was a small corridor, which went heavy on the archeology theme.  Overall, this was satisfying for the purposes it served, a quick meal to give us energy to continue exploring.  It’s a good spot to stop at for lunch, especially if you have kids, but definitely not a dinner destination.

Overall Grade: B-