Guide to Starbucks at Disney World

Walt Disney World has Starbucks stores in Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Animal Kingdom, and Hollywood Studios, plus two locations at Disney Springs. This guide covers where to find them, info & order tips, souvenir mugs, payment options, and the newest coffee shop at WDW.

The first thing you need to know about in-park Starbucks locations at Walt Disney World is that they aren’t explicitly named Starbucks. They will, however, show as search results for “Starbucks” in the My Disney Experience app. For a mix of thematic reasons and to quell Disney fan outrage, these coffee shops all have different names–in most cases, they’re simply the existing name of the legacy venue that Starbucks took over.

Before we get going, let’s dispense with that outrage. As you might imagine, Walt Disney World hasn’t always been home to Starbucks. For ages, the parks served Nescafe, which is an affront to good coffee. With the relaunch of DCA, Starbucks debuted inside the parks and was seamlessly integrated. Nevertheless, when it was announced that these locations would spread elsewhere, it sparked a colossal backlash. So intense that it prompted me to write “In Defense of Starbucks on Main Street.” Anyone interested in knowing more about the controversy should read that post and the sometimes intense comments.

Naturally, what outraged some Disney fans was popular with the general park-going public. The lines at each of the in-park Starbucks locations are among the longest dining waits at Walt Disney World. The line for Magic Kingdom’s Main Street Bakery, in particular, often spills out the front door.

The first hour or so of the day is (unsurprisingly) when the wait is longest at Main Street Bakery. More surprisingly, lines are quite lengthy at and around park closing, too. (Who drinks caffeine that late?!) We’ve found that, in general, the lines are shortest in mid-afternoon, particularly during (but not immediately after) the Festival of Fantasy parade.

In part, this is because Starbucks is still the best coffee served in the theme parks at Walt Disney World. We’re hardly Starbucks zealots, but there’s not much competition (Joffrey’s is infinitely better than Nescafe, but it’s still not as good as Starbucks). This makes Starbucks the default option for many guests wanting decent or better coffee inside the theme parks at Walt Disney World…

Walt Disney World Starbucks Locations

Since we’re already discussing it, let’s start with the Magic Kingdom Starbucks, which is located in the Main Street Bakery. This is on the right side if you’re facing Cinderella Castle, about halfway up Main Street. The marquee says Main Street Bakery and the sign is the throwback brown Starbucks siren logo, rather than the modern green logo.

Main Street Bakery is one of two in-park locations at Walt Disney World that opens before rope drop. This means that you can enter Magic Kingdom before official park opening time, purchase Starbucks coffee and/or breakfast snacks, and then head to Cinderella Castle to join the Stampede to Seven Dwarfs Mine Train.

We’re fans of Main Street Bakery not for its coffee (although we do routinely stop in our an afternoon fix to get our second wind) or for the breakfast sandwiches. Rather, we love the giant cupcakes here.

What’s offered varies from season to season, but there’s often an oversized cupcake served at Main Street Bakery. These have included the Poison Apple Cupcake, Cinderella Castle Cupcake, and the Hocus Pocus Amuck Cupcake–our personal favorite, which is pictured above.

The Starbucks at Disney’s Hollywood Studios is Trolley Car Cafe. This is located at the intersection of Hollywood and Sunset Boulevards–it’s the red building you’ll see immediately before rounding the corner towards Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster or the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror. This is another bygone era venue, with the classic brown Starbucks logo.

Trolley Cafe Cafe is another venue that opens before official park opening. The exact time varies, but it’s usually serving guests as soon as the turnstiles open for Early Entry. As long as these early openings continue at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, Trolley Car Cafe will continue serving guests before official park hours begin.

Without question, our favorite snack at Trolley Car Cafe is the Carrot Cake Cookie, which makes our list of the Best Snacks at Disney’s Hollywood Studios.

Other seasonal snacks and desserts are offered throughout the year, but not on a consistent basis. Same goes for the Butterfinger Cupcake (also known as PB Crunch Cupcake), which used to be a staple of the menu–but hasn’t been spotted in a while.

Disney’s Animal Kingdom’s Starbucks location is Creature Comforts. This coffee shop is on the left side of the path as you head from the park entrance towards Africa, past Pizzafari and the entrance-way to Pandora – World of Avatar.

This one is pretty easy to spot, as it’s a standalone building that uses the modern green Starbucks logo and normal trade dress. Don’t get us wrong–it’s still themed, it just sticks out much more than the Starbucks locations at Magic Kingdom and Disney’s Hollywood Studios.

In terms of recommended snacks here, we don’t have any. This location typically has an animal-themed cupcake (last we saw, it was “Bugs ‘n’ Grubs” and didn’t look particularly appetizing), but we haven’t had a good one of these in well over a year.

We should note that if you head a few minutes farther up the same path, you can get a “Colossal Cinnamon Roll” from Kusafiri Coffee Shop & Bakery. (See our Best Animal Kingdom Snacks for our other recommendations on that front.)

Over at Epcot, the Traveler’s Cafe Starbucks near the Canada side of World Showcase has closed. This was a temporary location that replaced Fountain View, which was demolished to pave the way for the massive reimagining at the front of Epcot.

While disappointing for those who spend the bulk of their time in World Showcase or want a centralized location for coffee, the very good news is that the permanent Starbucks has opened inside Connections Cafe & Eatery, which replaced Electric Umbrella.

This new Starbucks is conveniently located at the the front of Epcot, more or less between Spaceship Earth and Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind.

It’s absolutely colossal, convenient at park opening, chaotic during midday, and chill in the evening. Not that you need caffeine at night, but it’s a great spot to decompress at the end of a long day at Epcot.

Disney Springs has two Starbucks locations. Unlike the in-park locations at Walt Disney World, these are corporate Starbucks coffee shops, similar to what you’d find in the real world. These don’t have Disneyfied names and they’re not themed–they’re just regular Starbucks stores.

Consequently, everything about the experience, including ordering, payment, rewards, and menus is consistent with your local Starbucks coffee shops. (With the only exception being the occasional Disney-specific or seasonal item.)

If you’re a hardcore “Starbucks Stan,” the location for you is on the West Side of Disney Springs next to the Aerophile balloon and somewhat across from the AMC Dine-In 24 Theater and Planet Hollywood Observatory. This is a full-sized Starbucks with in-store seating, merchandise, and specialty beverages.

On the opposite side of Disney Springs, there’s another Starbucks in the Marketplace. This is actually part of the World of Disney complex, near the Lego Store. This Starbucks is simply a walk-up window with no seating; despite the smaller size and limited nature, it’s even busier than the West Side location, which we strongly prefer.

All of the Starbucks locations at Walt Disney World accept MagicBands or Disney gift cards for payment, with all also participating in the Disney Dining Plan (temporarily unavailable).

Almost everything on the menu is a snack credit on the Disney Dining Plan, which makes those extravagant specialty drinks a great use of a Disney Dining Plan snack credit, as they could otherwise cost $7+ out of pocket, depending upon what you order.

Starbucks gift cards are accepted at all Disney World Starbucks locations and you can pay through the Starbucks app at all locations. You also earn Starbucks rewards points (or stars) at all locations.

Unfortunately, you may only redeem these rewards at the two Disney Springs Starbucks locations. Additionally, if there’s some sort of “Bonus Stars” or other special rewards shenanigans happening, the in-park locations are excluded from that.

All Walt Disney World Starbucks coffee shops sell location-specific mugs feature each park. The Disney Springs stores also sell Florida and Orlando versions of the Been There mugs. Walt Disney World Annual Passholder and Disney Vacation Club discounts are available on merchandise like the Been There mugs, but not on food or drinks.

That should cover everything you need to know about Starbucks at Walt Disney World. While we are not Starbucks zealots, we don’t hate the presence of Starbucks in the parks, either. We’re somewhere in the middle, frequenting Starbucks at Walt Disney World on occasion for our caffeine fix. We find it superior to all other coffee in the parks and the stores tastefully integrated with their surroundings. Of course, reasonable minds may differ on both of those notions!

Planning a Walt Disney World trip? Learn about hotels on our Walt Disney World Hotels Reviews page. For where to eat, read our Walt Disney World Restaurant Reviews. To save money on tickets or determine which type to buy, read our Tips for Saving Money on Walt Disney World Tickets post. Our What to Pack for Disney Trips post takes a unique look at clever items to take. For what to do and when to do it, our Walt Disney World Ride Guides will help. For comprehensive advice, the best place to start is our Walt Disney World Trip Planning Guide for everything you need to know!

Your Thoughts

What do you think of Starbucks being in the parks at Walt Disney World? Do you find their coffee superior to Joffrey’s or other options at WDW? What about the Been There mugs or other merchandise? Have a favorite snack at the Starbucks stores in Walt Disney World? Do you agree or disagree with our advice? Any questions we can help you answer? Hearing your feedback–even when you disagree with us–is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!