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. (Updated June 21, 2022.)
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!
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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!
Wish they offered the Parks versions of the Been There mugs at Disney Springs, as those only appear to be available in the parks. Also wish that they all had a merchandise only line…I’ve passed on buying a mug before because of the 15-30 minute wait.
In November, we took a very early flight and went to MK right away. By mid afternoon we were dragging so we went to Starbucks to get coffee. After half an hour we had only made it inside the door! We waited another 15 minutes and gave up because of the crazy line in front of us. We didn’t want to waste any more precious Disney time standing in line for a certain kind of coffee. In Adventure Land, we only had to wait for three people and we had fine coffee and the orange dole whip. (Amazing!) For those who are able to go to WDW often and have time to burn, wait in line. For others who just need something hot to help you keep going, head to Adventure Land, enjoy, and go have fun!
Nothing better than grabbing a coffee and a snack in Magic Kingdom before rope drop and taking in the sights and sounds in the Hub. Some of the best memories of our trips
Hello,
How do you enter the park before rope drop? I read somewhere else you could do this for Starbucks at Hollywood Studios and Magic Kingdom but it did not provide details.
Thank you!
At Magic Kingdom and Hollywood Studios you can usually get through the security check point and touch points 30-45min or so before “rope drop”. At Magic Kingdom this allows you to get onto Main Street before the park technically opens.
One of my kids’ favorite things about Disney is using snack credits for Frappuccinos from Starbucks. I don’t buy them often, when at home, so it’s a treat. They’re gonna be bummed when they find out out Epcot has moved their location. We always take pictures of them, by the fountain, holding their Starbucks.
What’s in the baby Yoda frapp? Can you do a review on it?
DFB did a review a while ago-It is green tea based with a caramel drizzle.
Does the WDW Starbucks have a Disney themed gift cards? I love how SB makes different gift cards for different locations.
I was thrilled when Starbucks came to the parks. I hated the coffee in the parks up until then and quit buying it. Also thrilled that it’s a snack option.
When I am the parks I will always get a coffee at the Starbucks location. I always order the freshly brewed Pike Place coffee. It’s given at the cash register and you don’t have to wait another 15 minutes before your name is shouted. It is also much cheaper then all the rest on the menu. And pike place is just good coffee! I am always in and out in 10 minutes even with long lines.
Best coffee on property in my opinion is Java over at the Swan. It’s specialty coffees we had last fall were as good or better than anything Starbucks offers. The best part though is the array of snacks they offer from healthy to ridiculously sweet. If you are staying at Yacht or Boardwalk, I recommend a nice morning stroll over to Swan. You’ll thank me later.
Not sure about the other locations at WDW but I do know that the Springs location near the World of Disney store has unique drinks that are Disney themed. Great idea since you can only get those there!
I’m not into big breakfasts so we tend to get the Starbucks breakfast sandwiches which when outside the park are kind of a splurge but when in the park, are quite a bargain compared to Disney prices.
One extra point about Starbucks Card acceptance: in standard Starbucks stores in the US, international Starbucks cards are accepted by way of a real-time currency converstion. This applies to the two stores in Disney Springs, but not to the stores in the parks.
I am a Starbucks zealot, but not for coffee. I am a tea drinker. However, what everyone fails to mention is the water. Free-and TRIPLE FILTERED. So when you get that coffee or tea or whatever is your drink or snack of choice, you should always get a big ice water. Definitely beats anything you get for free at any other location in any other Disney park. No need to add anything to disguise the taste to a Starbucks cup of ice water!
My favorite coffee in Disney and out. Before they added Starbucks you couldn’t get a good cup of coffee. And the stuff in the rooms is undrinkable. I not really into sweets in the morning at any rate mention time I’m trying the huge warm cinnamon bun.
Do they have the Joffrey’s huge DONUTS in the parks????
My most favorite snack at Creature Comforts is the giant Mickey cinnamon roll. Oh, it was so good. It was right up there with the carrot cake cookie from Trolley Stop. I was there in the Halloween time-frame and also had the cinnamon roll from Main Street, but they put a chocolate spider web on it. I like the cinnamon roll better plain from Creature Comforts. It was big, warm and delicious. Definitely shareable if you are in to that sort of thing.
Best cinnamon roll on property……..Luv Em!
I’m so excited to try the carrot cake cookie! I LOVE carrot cake! I will say, as silly as it sounds, drinking my Starbucks as I walk down main Street was always a bucket list thing. Two of my favorite things together. Finding a time that wasn’t super busy so the kids wouldn’t lose it while I was waiting while they know all the fun that’s RIGHT THERE was hard. I got my mug took the basic pic (I know I know…..) And checked the list lol. I’m just as satisfied with a iced coffee from Cheshire cafe. I do tend to hoard the jofferys coffee we have in the cabin to bring home when I need that taste of Disney a few months after our trip. It’s definitely not the best coffee I’ve ever had, and I think part of that has to do with that awful Disney water…..but it definitely tastes like Disney when we are away!
While the only disagreement I have with this is the concept that Joffrey’s is somehow clearly worse than Starbucks, we can all agree that the details on the map on the following link is next-level bonkers: http://joffreys.com/disney-parks-resorts/
Look for the locations of the Joffrey’s coffee stand, find maps of every boat transportation link and the location of Italy Storage Shed 3.
(Also, you can’t get spiked Starbucks.)
The Butterfinger cupcake has long been my “favorite snack” in all of WDW. It’s current state is quite sad, though – probably half the size (at most) of the previous cupcake while being quite a bit more expensive! On the bright side, that finally got me to try ti famous carrot cake cookie. Even though I do not like raisins, it was very good.
I wish they were faster/more efficient. It’s no wonder they have some of the longest lines in the park. Ordering the cookie, a pre-made sandwich that needed heated for 30 seconds, and 3 glasses of water took us nearly 10 minutes.
Overpriced swill, no thanks.
🙂