In Disney World, you can get everything from exotic cuisine to fancy meals that are made with the finest ingredients. But sometimes, you just want to travel back in time to when things were simpler!

There are multiple retro diner-style restaurants in Disney World, but one of our favorites has to be Beaches & Cream Soda Shop. This iconic spot is located at Disney’s Beach Club Resort and we’ve loved it in the past, but we decided to make another trip recently to see if it still stacks up to our standards. Let’s go!

Atmosphere

Let’s start with the location! As we mentioned above, Beaches & Cream is located at the Beach Club, and it’s situated right next to the Stormalong Bay pool with an exterior entrance.

One of the unique things about this restaurant is that it’s also home to a walk-up window. Here, you can order some of the popular milkshakes to-go.

And there are a few tables outside to sit and enjoy your treat as well!

But if you’re heading to dine inside the restaurant, you’ll need to check in at the host’s stand in front of the door. You can check in here in person or through the My Disney Experience app if you made a reservation in advance. (Which you should probably do because this place is popular!)

Inside, the area is well-lit thanks to some giant windows, and everything is bright and pastel-colored. Definitely giving off the beach vibes!

The dining room isn’t massive, but there are both booths and regular tables spread throughout the room. It’s pretty much one open space separated by some half-walls.

You can see the chefs in the kitchen cooking the hot food, and there are even some seats at the counter where you get an up-close view.

But one of the most exciting things about this restaurant is the Kitchen Sink Sundae! It’s made with scoops of vanilla, chocolate, strawberry, cookies ‘n cream, and mint chocolate chip ice creams topped with pretty much every topping in the kitchen. It’s a hefty ice cream challenge, but when someone orders it, the whole restaurant celebrates.

Lights on the ceiling will start flashing and a Cast Member will come out holding the sundae, announcing it to the entire dining room. (Did you know it comes with a WHOLE CAN of whipped cream on top?!) It’s really fun detail that sets this restaurant apart.

Now that we’ve covered the atmosphere, let’s talk about the menu!

Menu

The menu here is filled with classic diner-style food as well as a large selection of ice cream treats. You can start your meal out with one of the “fountain favorites” or a hot coffee, and they also have adult beverages to choose from.

When it comes to hot food, they’ve got burgers, sandwiches, and three different kinds of loaded tater tots. You can get anything from a French Dip to a Reuben to an order of Chili & Cheese Tots. (Plus, they have some soups!)

But the real kicker here is dessert. Besides the Kitchen Sink we mentioned earlier, they also have several smaller sundaes (although they’re definitely not small!), milkshakes, floats, and malts. Flip to the Specialty Shakes section of the menu to see which over-the-top milkshake creations you can order.

With so many good options, however will we choose?!

Eats

We ended up settling on the Reuben Sandwich for our entree, which is available for $19. It’s made with corned beef, sauerkraut, swiss cheese, and Thousand Island dressing on marbled rye bread.

This was a highly recommended sandwich according to our server, and now we see why! This thing is piled HIGH with corned beef, and it’s a pretty decent size. The bread was toasted beautifully with butter, adding a little crispiness to the outside but not cooked so long that it got crunchy.

The beef itself was a tad overwhelming because there was so much of it, but we think you could start out with a knife and fork to make those bites a little easier to handle. The taste was absolutely delicious though — the kraut wasn’t too strong (we think that sauerkraut haters might not even mind it!) and the cheese was mild and held everything together well. The dressing was creamy and added a little extra flavor that we appreciated.

It comes with a side of french fries and they were served hot and yummy! They were crispy on the outside but nice and soft on the inside. Your table is set with ketchup and mustard, but you can ask your server for other dipping sauces if you would like.

For dessert, we decided to try the Strawberry Shortcake! It’s made with vanilla shortcake, strawberry compote, vanilla ice cream, and whipped cream, but we were told by our server that you could substitute any ice cream flavor on their menu if you’d like.

For $8 you get a pretty huge portion of this dessert! That was one of the biggest (and THICKEST) scoops of vanilla ice cream we’d ever had. The ice cream itself is so smooth and has a gentle vanilla flavor — it also didn’t melt very quickly, which was nice for holding our dessert together.

The cake base was fluffy but dense enough to hold the weight of the ice cream. It was a little on the dry side, but we thought that it was actually a really good thing because the cake is meant to soak up some of the strawberry juice in the bottom of the bowl, and it didn’t get mushy. The strawberries were soft and sweet with enough tanginess to add some depth to the dessert.

The whole thing is topped with a pile of whipped cream and sprinkles. We actually really enjoyed the sprinkles because of their crunch!

Nosh or Not?

Travel back in time to the days of soda shops if…

• You’re looking for a classic meal with crowd-pleasing eats. The menu here is simple and there are a variety of eats for different palettes. It’s not too overwhelming, and you’ll just get some delicious, classic American food.
• You want some larger-than-life desserts! Whether you’re here to take on the Kitchen Sink Sundae challenge or just try a giant ice cream treat, there are plenty of delicious and photo-ready desserts to try at Beaches & Cream.
• You’re visiting one of the locations nearby. Beaches & Cream has a great location at Beach Club because it’s close to EPCOT, BoardWalk, Beach Club, Yacht Club, and the Swan and Dolphin. It’s also just a short Skyliner or Friendship Boat ride away from Hollywood Studios.

Pass on this retro diner and eat elsewhere if…

• It’s out of the way. If you’re not staying close by or in EPCOT or Hollywood Studios for the day, it could be a challenge to get to and from this restaurant since it’s at a resort.
• You’re skipping dessert and you want unique eats. Dessert is probably the most unique thing about this menu — otherwise you’ve basically got sandwiches and burgers. If you’re not interested in the ice cream and you’re craving something more “exotic” there are plenty of great options next door at EPCOT.

We’ll definitely plan to return to Beaches & Cream in the future, and this just solidifies its place on our list of favorite restaurants. We understand why those reservations can be hard to snag!

Overall

Well, did we leave Beaches & Cream feeling satisfied? Of course we did! We had a delicious and hefty sandwich, as well as a classic dessert served with some yummy ice cream. It was a meal that was quite near perfect, honestly! Our only slight complaint is that the sandwich was so big it was a little challenging (and very messy!) to eat. But seriously, we’re totally okay with getting some hefty portions!

That’s our full review of Beaches & Cream at Disney’s Beach Club Resort! We had a great time, and some truly spectacular service from the Cast Members as well. We can’t wait to go back!

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Have you ever been to Beaches & Cream? Tell us in the comments!

The post There’s a Reason It’s Hard To Snag a Reservation at This Disney World Restaurant first appeared on the disney food blog.