Cosmic Ray’s Starlight Cafe Review
Cosmic Ray’s Starlight Café is a counter service restaurant in Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World. This review will offer food photos from Tomorrowland’s most popular dining option, as well as our thoughts on dining here. For starters, some basics. Cosmic Ray’s has a menu consisting mostly of stereotypical American theme park food, and is organized into three bays for ordering. It participates in the Disney Dining Plan, and it offers excellent value on the Disney Dining Plan thanks to its diverse menu.
The restaurant is the highest volume locations in Walt Disney World, and has expanded twice in the last couple of years. Rumors swirl that Cosmic Ray’s is the ‘busiest restaurant in the world,’ although I have no clue if this is actually true. I’m inclined to believe it, though. If you’ve ever dined at Cosmic Ray’s during the midday rush, you probably do, too.
Our opinion of Cosmic Ray’s has changed over time. While it may not sound like anything special, it is. Cosmic Ray’s Starlight Café is a super galaxy franchise. The menu is from outer space, including the fries! Seriously, it’s one of the coolest places to eat in all of Walt Disney World. However, this has very little to do with the food…
Rather, it has everything to do with the entertainment. Cosmic Ray’s features arguably the most interesting unique present-day Walt Disney World character, Sonny Eclipse.
Mr. Eclipse is from the planet Zork (Yew Nork, specifically) and he plays the Astro Organ, with back-up vocals from his amazing Space Angels.
In “reality,” Sonny Eclipse is an Audio Animatronics alien figure who performs his musical act in a loop for guests in the main dining area.
Sonny Eclipse’s full show lasts about 25 minutes, at which point he repeats it for new guests. Check it out:
We enjoy Sonny Eclipse’s performance so much that the full show is one of my most played songs in our iTunes libraries. Entertainment-wise, no other restaurant in Walt Disney World can compete with Sonny Eclipse. He performs an entertaining 20-some minute loop of music that is infused with corny jokes.
It’s actually quite catchy, and he’s great entertainment in what is otherwise a lightly-themed restaurant. Try to grab a seat somewhere in the restaurant where you can hear Sonny Eclipse (which is most seats) or on the other side of Cosmic Ray’s with a view of Cinderella Castle.
Due to the relatively sterile theming beyond Sonny Eclipse, Cosmic Ray’s can be a bland experience if you don’t eat in one of these spots.
With that said, it’s probably abundantly clear that our review of Cosmic Ray’s may not be the most unbiased in the world. We have a soft spot for Cosmic Ray’s because of Cosmic Ray’s, and because it’s where we ate most of our meals when we were broke college students traveling to Walt Disney World.
Speaking of which, thanks to the toppings bar, you can customize your burger and make it substantially larger than the average burger at Walt Disney World. In itself, the burger at Cosmic Ray’s is nothing special. It’s not awful, it’s just nothing to write home about. The toppings bar is what makes it a solid meal, especially for the value-conscious. So, it scores points for that.
The menu at Cosmic Ray’s is incredibly unambitious. This is the place to go because you want a restaurant that will be a crowd-pleaser among picky eaters, not because you want a meal that’s actually good.
Things like the Barbecued Pork Sandwich, Chicken Club Sandwich, Half Rotisserie Chicken, and Greek Salad are all fine–but are nothing special.
A few years ago, Disney experimented with the menu at Cosmic Ray’s to give it some unique options. One of these options was an atrocious Angus Pizza Burger (pictured below).
I tried this once, and while I give Disney points for experimenting with the menus, this burger tasted like something Cheech and Chong made at about 3 am after raiding their freezer. It was unquestionably bad and I actually became sick after eating it. It was quickly removed from the menu.
This is probably our biggest complaint about Cosmic Ray’s–the current menu is boring. There’s nothing on it that you can’t find at a ton of other restaurants around Walt Disney World.
There’s nothing wrong with menu options that are boring-but-crowd-pleasing, but there should at least be a few fun and interesting choices mixed in, too. At the very least, it would be nice to see a “signature” burger added to the menu at Cosmic Ray’s like many other restaurants have had added in the last couple of years.
As of right now, the “signature” burger of Cosmic Ray’s is a “toppings bar special,” which isn’t exactly on the menu.
Honestly, if that’s what you’re after, you should instead opt for Pecos Bill in Frontierland, as they recently added new items to their toppings bar, making it far better than the one at Cosmic Ray’s.
At Cosmic Ray’s, the toppings bar contains lettuce, tomatoes, pickles, onions, relish, green peppers, mushrooms, grilled onions, BBQ sauce, mayonnaise, mustard, ketchup, and cheese sauce, and really helps you get great bang for your buck if you order a burger.
One new upside as of Spring 2017 to Cosmic Ray’s is that the separate bays for Chicken, Burgers, and Sandwiches that once only serve those things now all serve everything.
This means that families with parties wanting different options no longer have to wait in separate lines. This used to be a big deal with readers (just look at older comments below), and is likely going to appease many families.
However, depending on the attitudes of your fellow party-members, getting a little break from the other people in your group may not be such a bad thing, so this may now be a downside. 😉
Few things are as satisfying as sitting in booth at Cosmic Ray’s Starlight Café, in the heart of Tomorrowland, late at night during Evening Extra Magic Hours, scarfing down a mushroom, tomato, onion, cheese, etc. laden burger while the symphonic sounds of Sonny Eclipse cascade into your ear drums.
That experience alone makes this place a “Must Do” on a trip for us, and jettisons Cosmic Ray’s rating out of this world onto the planet Zork! If you’ve only ever eaten at Cosmic Ray’s during the lunch or dinner stampedes, you owe it to yourself to experience it during this tranquil time of day.
Overall, Cosmic Ray’s Starlight Café provides great ambience, a great location, and potentially good value, depending upon what you order. Sonny Eclipse is like an attraction all by himself (one of our favorites at Walt Disney World!). On the downside, the food is only so-so at best, and the menu is one of the most uninspired in all of Walt Disney World. Additionally, there is no busier restaurant in all of Walt Disney World during the lunch and dinner rushes. This can make for a stressful and unpleasant experience at mealtime, which can otherwise make a nice break from the crowds and chaos of Walt Disney World. If you want a relaxing meal, Cosmic Ray’s may not be the best choice for you. However, for a pretty cool show to go along with an off-hours meal, Cosmic Ray’s is a fun option.
Your Thoughts…
What do you think of Cosmic Ray’s? Are you a fan of Sonny Eclipse? Any additional tips to make the Cosmic Ray’s dining experience more enjoyable, or to help avoid the crowds? Any order recommendations? Hearing from you is half the fun, so please share your questions and thoughts in the comments!
I had heard so many things about this place and I went twice. Both times were horrible. Now after reading this I realize I was a victim of the Angus Cardboard Burger. It was beyond horrible!!! No amount of toppings helped it.
I’m going again in Dec. Perhaps we shall try again.
On another note no one in my family, and we’ve gone at different times, has ever seen “the show”.
Probably the only decent counter service meal I had at the parks, mostly because of the vegetable side included with the meal. Most of the counter service meals were pretty terrible to downright inedible. If you’re a healthy eater, the only choice is to bring your own snacks and make sit down restaurant reservations. (and even many of those were “ok” by any foody’s standard)
It’s a GREAT place to eat but like it was said, they’re always super crowded. It makes it sometimes hard to find a seat and because of all the people you sometimes run into problems like wasted mustard packets on counters. Also, the noise can be a bit much. Sonny Eclipse (the alien keyboardist/singer/comedian) is hilarious but most people cant hear him or they aren’t paying attention. The food is good though. I’ve been there every time I’ve gone to Disney and don’t regret it. It has a great location, near the tea cups and across from a frozen dessert place. You can even see Cindarella’s castle from most spots and there’s a neat little spot where princess Merida comes out during different times during the day. A very value priced meal, you really can’t go wrong with eating at Ray’s but I think the best time to visit him would be during a low tourist season.
Yeah, low season or off-hours. I wouldn’t want to be at Cosmic Ray’s during spring break or Christmas season!
We love Cosmic Rays! Our girls did to! Excellent value, not to crowded. I only wish they had better desserts .
Totally agree about the desserts. They’ve tried a couple new things recently, but it’s still lacking in the dessert department.
I love Cosmic Rays! On my first trip to Disney World in 1986, I ate at this restaurant by pure chance. Now I eat there on every visit! Back in the 80’s and 90’s they had Philly Steak-style sandwiches with the topping bar. They were wonderful. On our last trip (October 2012) I had the turkey sandwich, which was great, for lunch, and went back for a burger for supper. I agree that the burgers are fine but not amazing, but the toppings bar makes a big difference. Lastly, of course, I love Sonny!
My family LOVES Cosmic Ray’s! They have a chicken and rib combo that my husband and I split ever time. And the kids love Sonny
I loved this review! When i read what you wrote about enjoying a burger late at night during extra magic hours while watching Sonny perform I thought for a second that my husband hacked your site and wrote this review himself 😉 We have have spent many nights doing the exact same thing. And you cant go wrong with a topping bar that offers cheese for your fries! It is definitely underrated in our opinion. Cosmic rays is a must do for us, we love it!
Tom, we are huge fans of Sonny, we stay through his entire set every time. The food is 8/10.
It said your flickr site was private?
That Flickr photo was provided by another user.
My husband I were in WDW in September, my first trip in 20 yrs, his first, ever. We loved the food at Cosmic Rays! The BBQ sandwich was great and my husband raved over the veggie burger. I’m just disappointed that we missed Sonny Eclipse! Apparently, we were so busy eating we didn’t take the time to take in our surroundings…neither of us knew a thing about him until now!
I love Cosmic Rays mostly because of Sonny Eclipse! Where did you find a copy of his music set ? I would love to get a copy.
mousebits.com
Guys,
It’s Walt Disney World, Epcot, Animal Kingdom, The 4 Seas, ETC.
NOt the 5 star French Food Academy. Be happy you are there, eat a burger and shut up. JEESH, you people are tearing the food apart like you are all experts. HARDLY ! I love you but you are all pains! Add some some more mustard and ketchup and STOPYERGRIPPIN!
Meet you there,
Mermaid.
What, exactly, did you expect when you opened a blog post with the name of a restaurant and the word “Review” after it? Isn’t a restaurant review inherently critical?
This idea that you should ‘shut up and be happy’ because you’re at Walt Disney World is ludicrous. Walt Disney World is a business, and guests should not be admonished when the product they’ve purchased fails to meet their reasonable expectations.
Maybe my experience was just crappy then because when I ate at the Cafe, the burgers tasted like school cafeteria food…They were terribly dry, and almost had a pre-packaged taste to them. But maybe it was because I didn’t drown mine in toppings so I could taste that even more…The atmosphere was nice, but i don’t know, the food was just not to my liking.
The food isn’t the best in the world, but I think the burgers have gotten better (there are a few gourmet ones) recently. When did you last eat there?
I love love love cosmic ray i have to go hang with him everytime i go there (many times) i also think it is one of the coolist things at disney…he is so fun to watch the food well over the years its gotten better all of disneys food has gotten better over the years but i would eat dog food if thats all they had at this place cause the show is sooooooo cooooooool sometimes i just get coffee and take a break ok now i am getting sad cause i am in chicago and not at disney
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Cosmic Ray’s is another must do on our list for ALL the reasons you described above! I just read to my husband your description of the Chix/Rib/M-Pot/vege combo…… we are on it!!!!
Catching up on my blog reading and sending a big “AGREE” with eating at Cosmic Ray’s during Evening EMH. Back in September there were maybe four other families in the lower dining area with us. The dimmed lighting was relaxing, and after they ate, my younger two danced around to Sonny’s serenading. Oh, and by the looks of that photo, you weren’t kidding about loading up on mushrooms!
Thank you for the review. I’m not even sure when DH and I are going back to Disney World. However, you inspired me to start a list of things we do when we go back. You convinced me. Cosmic Rays definately makes the list.
When Sarah and I went in 2009, we made a list of the 30 things we were looking forward to the most. It was REALLY fun to make the list and post the photos on Flickr–I highly recommend it. Check out our list here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/tombricker/sets/72157621404301012/detail/
We LOVE Cosmic Rays, too! My wife and I went on a mini trip early January and shared the 1/2 chicken Rib Combo and it is a great value.
BTW, Disney lost money on you taking a close look at the picture of the heaping mound of tomatoes and mushrooms.
The last picture on this review is amazing!
Ha, they might lose money on my burgers, but they more than make that money back everywhere else!
If you like that last photo, click it. It’ll take you to the photo’s Flickr page, where you can download a full size copy.
I was totally pulling for a 10/10.
It came very close. Very close. For me personally, it’s more like an 11/10. But here on the DTB, we have high levels of journalistic integrity, so I looked at the place from an objective standpoint. The 3-bay system plus the frustration of attempting to eat there at lunch bring it down a peg.
Great review! I’m excited to try this place out. Can you tell me if they have any vegetarian options here? I know that Pecos Bills has a veggie burger. Do they have the same? thanks!
I can’t say for sure, but I think every restaurant has a vegetarian option (right?). The burger menu is very similar to Pecos Bills, so my guess is that if Pecos offers it, Cosmic Ray’s offers it.