Pizza Planet at Disney’s Hollywood Studios is one of those restaurants that people either love or hate. Personally, I get the dislike that people have — the pizza is not the best, the arcade games are just ok, the setting looks nothing like the film. However, it’s always been a favorite for our family. I don’t mind the “awful” pizza, I don’t play the games, and while the setting isn’t spot on for what you see in the movie, I still think it’s a fun atmosphere.
Pizza Planet will be seeing a refurbishment here beginning January 19, so to help celebrate what it has been, I decided to make a stop there this past trip.
When Guests walk in, they are welcomed by the standard set up found at most counter service locations. Guests are able to choose a cashier to walk up to, they place their order with the Cast Member, and then walk to the end of the line to wait for their food. Once they get their food, they can choose to sit in one of three different locations. You can sit downstairs, amongst the games, upstairs, or outside. My personal favorite choice to sit down at was always upstairs. It was never very crowded, so I could always find a seat.
Speaking of seating, I always felt that for the size and popularity of this restaurant with many tourists (the name alone frequently brought Guests here) that seating was pretty sparse. I felt like people were always hunting for a place to sit downstairs or outside and that there were rarely open tables here. This aspect is expected to be adjusted in the future.
The theming overall though is very basic, with not a lot of fluff to it. The overall feel of the restaurant is very 90s Disney. It’s very bright, colorful, whimsical, and features lots of larger than life pieces. Maybe that’s what draws me to the restaurant so much…it reminds me of the Disney that I grew up with.
A lot of this should be changing with the lengthy refurbishment. When the restaurant reopens, it will still serving the popular pizza and salads, though it is unknown whether the pizzas will remain the way they were or if the restaurant will serve the ever popular flatbread that is seemingly everywhere across property now. The restaurant will also gain additional seating and registers, taking care of my previously mentioned problem, looking to accommodate even more Guests and give them the opportunity to dine in this location.
Rumors have been discussed that this restaurant will not be named Pizza Planet when it reopens, what with the upcoming Toy Story Land that is being created for the park. Nothing official has come out about that yet though.
So, as I mentioned, I went to pay tribute to Pizza Planet this past trip. I ordered my cheese pizza, which as you can see, is mostly just dough. There isn’t a lot of sauce or cheese and while the dough is delicious, even I will admit that it’s a lot of extra bread. The pizza itself tasted as it should…cheesy and delightful. It was exactly what this Disney fan expected. It was a decent meal, but never did wow.
I know that it doesn’t sound like a ringing endorsement, but no matter now. We’ll just have to wait and see the changes that occur going forward. How will it change visually? How will the food change? And will the name remain the same? What will the future will hold for this location when it reopens in late 2016? Time will tell.
Was Pizza Planet one of your family’s favorites? Or did you tend to avoid the restaurant? Let us know in the comments your thoughts.