Walt’s – An American Restaurant Review
Walt’s – An American Restaurant is a fine dining table service restaurant located on Main Street in Disneyland Paris, themed to Walt Disney and the various lands of Disneyland. This review features food photos, a photo tour of the restaurant, and our thoughts on whether it’s worth the time and money to dine here during your Disneyland Paris vacation.
Walt’s is widely considered to be the nicest restaurant in Disneyland Paris, and is probably the Paris equivalent of Club 33 in terms of design. Although it does not require a membership, it is quite popular, and the decor in Walt’s is arguably superior to Club 33. We visited Disneyland Paris during a relatively uncrowded season, and Walt’s was still very busy–we almost weren’t able to dine here. Reservations are highly recommended.
The rooms in Walt’s – An American Restaurant are as follows, each of which are upstairs: Fantasyland Room, Frontierland/Thunder Mesa Room, Discoveryland/Tomorrowland Room, Adventureland Room, Disneyland Hotel Room, and Grand Canyon Room. Per Wikipedia, there also used to be rooms downstairs for Walt and Lillian Disney, as well as Main Street, USA. Now, the entire lobby seems to be themed to Walt and Lillian’s lives prior to Disneyland.
Before we head upstairs, let’s take a look at the lobby…
As you can see, the lobby alone is gorgeous and has a ton of cool details. Even if you aren’t able to score reservations, it’s worthwhile to pop inside to check out the various pieces of Disney history on display. You probably won’t be able to go upstairs without dining at Walt’s.
Now here’s a look around the various upstairs dining rooms of Walt’s – An American Restaurant:
While these photos show the rooms at large, they skip a lot of the details that really made the rooms cool. Next time we dine at Walt’s, I’ll make sure to grab photos of all the details, as they are a big part of what makes dining there so great of an experience!
Now, let’s turn to the review portion of the post. Let me preface this review of Walt’s – An American Restaurant by saying that I do not believe our experience at Walt’s was the norm. Our meal at Walt’s was awful. DisneyFoodBlog’s review was glowing. It’s a 4-star restaurant on Yelp, which is a very good score, as its reviewers are notorious for turning their noses up at Disney dining. Same goes for TripAdvisor. MousePlanet reviews are also positive. Now, there are some other lukewarm reviews out there, but we seem to be in the minority on Walt’s.
I present these other reviews because our word isn’t the gospel, and to help explain why even though we didn’t care for the food at Walt’s – An American Restaurant, we would highly recommend it as our top dining pick for Disneyland Paris. Why? It has nothing to do with dining, and everything to do with the amazing decor, ambiance, and general experience. If you make your way to France and are a Disney fan, it’s an absolute must-do. As stated above, it’s on par with Club 33, except you don’t need a membership or “know someone” to get in!
With that said, let’s take a look at what we ordered, along with some thoughts on our food.
Before we dig into the menu, a word to those soda addicts planning a trip to France…I would say our biggest “surprise” expense in Europe was soft drinks. I consume copious amounts of Coke on our trips to help me stay awake well past the time when any sane person would’ve gone to bed, and my Coke habit was costly on our visit to Disneyland Paris!
Europeans don’t guzzle soft drinks like Americans, which meant that most places served Coke in small bottles, with each bottle costing around $2-4 in restaurants. A little bottle doesn’t have the amount of caffeine I need to function, so at some meals early in the trip, we were spending $10 or more on Coke. Like a wise drug addict, by the second day, I switched to the more potent and cost-effective stuff: coffee.
The menu at Walt’s is set up to “encourage” guests to order a three-course meal. It’s like their own sneaky version of the Disney Dining Plan. We planned on having three courses anyway, so we ordered from the Menu Grand Classique rather than doing a la carte.
I didn’t think to take a photo of the menu, and the Walt’s – An American Restaurant menu online seems to differ from what we had. I can’t remember the exact appetizer names, but Sarah had a cream soup and I had a three-part appetizer, the highlight of which was salmon. (Based on the menu that’s currently up, it sounds like I had the Discovery Platter (tartare of crab, smoked salmon and langoustine) and Sarah had the Cream of Bolotti beans served with Parmesan foam.) The appetizers were actually good, but not great.
Appetizer photos:
I ordered the Walt’s Gourmet Burger, which was a plain burger topped with pan-fried foie gras, roasted peppers, red onion and lettuce, served in a granary roll with waffle fries.
This turned out not just to be a bad burger, but one of the worst I have had at a sit-down restaurant in my life. I didn’t even finish it, and I love burgers. The foie gras was good, but not good enough to save the dry, overcooked burger. This is partially my own fault for ordering a burger when I had been warned not to. Plus, with so many great things to try, who orders a burger at a nice restaurant in France?!
Sarah ordered the Filet of Grilled Beef, which was definitely a much better option in a fine dining establishment. Hers wasn’t terrible, but it wasn’t exactly tender and flavorful. Still, not what you’d normally order in France, but this was an American restaurant (actually, almost every single restaurant in the park served standard American fare).
Entree photos:
Dessert consisted of crème brûlée, warm chocolate fondant, fresh fruit salad, and a mini macaroon. Dessert was probably the best part of the meal, especially the crème brûlée and warm chocolate fondant. Still, it didn’t even begin to compare to some of the decadent desserts we’d later have in downtown Paris cafes and bakeries.
Dessert photos:
Overall, Walt’s – An American Restaurant was a huge letdown for us, but only in terms of cuisine. Obviously, this is a big part of the restaurant experience, but the other elements so compensate for the subpar food that we don’t for a second regret dining at Walt’s. Moreover, because so many others have reported such better meals, we are inclined to believe that we simply had bad luck. It happens at even the best restaurants, and we are firm believers that one anecdotal experience–especially one that is not in line with others’ experiences–should not be enough to write off a restaurant. While our meal left a lot to be desired, the general consensus on Walt’s is so positive that even we would dine there again (and for us, seeing all of the cool pieces and decor isn’t as big of a ‘pull’ as it would be for a first time guest). In other words, ignore this review and instead look at the photos of the restaurant. A meal at Walt’s is an experience, and well worth doing!
For the basics of planning a visit to Disneyland Paris, check out our Disneyland Paris Trip Planning Guide. Want to see more photos or read about Disneyland Paris in agonizing detail? Check out our Disneyland Paris Trip Report! Have you ever experienced Walt’s – An American Restaurant? Did you like your meal? Are you interested in Walt’s? Your comments are half the fun, so please share any questions or feedback about Walt’s Restaurant at Disneyland Paris that you have in the comments!
Hi, would you take a 4 year old child to Walt’s for dinner? We are going to inventions the day before and only there for 2 days. I suspect my daughter would much prefer to go again to inventions, but the adults are tempted to go somewhere else! Tricky!
I love the themeing in Walt’s, but unfortunately I agree with you that the food is terrible, I don’t think your experience was a one off . Considering Paris is known for its incredible fine dining, it’s really disappointing what they manage to serve up at Walt’s.
Little fun fact about the memorabilia, we did the walking tour with a private guide for our anniversary and she told us something so cool! The little animatronic bird that’s in the lobby window was bought for Lillian by Walt. She loved it and Walt was so fascinated by it he ‘borrowed’ it and gave it to his imagineers and told them to work out how it worked (then put it back together for Lillian). It was the mechanics of that bird that inspired all of the animatronics in disney parks. According to our guide the one in the window is the real original bird!
How cool is that? The guides are worth their weight in gold for disney facts (and legends!).
Just a little tip on drinks…
When eating at Lucky Nugget, you get free soda refills when eating a menu. And when eating at some counter service places like Hyperion, you get a ticket to get a free soda at different places, like Casey’s Corner throughout the day.
Really? I ate at Lucky Nugget a few months ago and nothing about free refills was mentioned. Perhaps I should have asked. Regardless, thanks for the tip!
You are welcome 🙂 We are going back in 2 days and are hoping to be dining at Walt’s…
I just found your website via a link from Disney Food Blog and decided to read all your reviews from outside the US (where I’ve never been but would love to go). I just had to laugh at your comments about the price of a Coke. My aunt was stationed in Germany 30 years ago when I was a kid & we visited her for 2 weeks when I was 8. I drank lots of soda during that trip but was never allowed to have a “real” Coke because of how much more expensive it was than other local sodas. I was allowed to have the cola that Coke makes for Germany (you used to be able to try it a Epcot’s Club Cool but I don’t think it’s still available).
Great review and pics! I feel obliged to say in DLPs defence that the practice of offering a ‘prix fixe’ menu isn’t really a sneaky way of pushing you toward ordering a three course meal, but a ubiquitous practice in France. French diners expect it and tend to prefer it. A ‘fine dining’ establishment that only served a la carte would be unheard of, so that’s why Disney has adopted the model. It is a shame they can’t quite make their food measure up to their cultural sensitivity though…
I too was disappointed with my food. I ordered the sirloin and it was one of the worst steaks of my life. However, I in no way regret my decision to eat at Walt’s and would probably give it a second shot if I found myself in Disneyland Paris again. The service and atmosphere were amazing and we got a window seat for the parade.
I have a goal to get to all the Disney parks in the next 10 years, and will be making my first visit to WDW in January, with California probably happening in 2 years time. I’m so grateful for all the reviews you are doing on all the parks, but especially Paris and Tokyo so I can get an idea of what those parks are going to be like! Even with your bad experience, I definitely want to go here anyway! We might even get to Paris before California! Tokyo, HK and Shanghai will not be until 2017 and we might do them all in one really long trip!
Have you ever done a Disney Cruise? Or been to Aulani? I have been looking at both of those as well, but not sure if they would be worth it, when you can get the same trip at a different resort/ship for less $$
You have some exciting plans! Let us know what you think of WDW after your January trip! Glad you have found the reviews helpful. 🙂 We have yet to enjoy a Disney Cruise or visit Aulani. However, both are on our Disney bucket list!
Walt’s has certainly dropped in standards over the years. Your meal is on par with what I’ve eaten here lately. Silver Spur Steakhouse, California Grill and the Steakhouse(Disney Village) are far better from a food point of view. But don’t have the same grand design.
Finally! I have never understood why everyone loves this restaurant. The food is horrible. from my one experience there. The decor is amazing though. I will be looking forward to the review of the Brown Derby which is one of my favorites at WDW.
Check it out Heather =) https://www.disneytouristblog.com/hollywood-brown-derby-review/
Thanks Mitch! 🙂
I consider myself to be quite knowledgable about the disney parks, but for some reason I’ve never even heard of Walt’s! Seems like Disney has an endless supply of awesome experiences around the world. If I only experienced one “expensive” meal in DLP, this would probably be where I’d want to dine. I’ll take themeing and atmosphere with mediocre food over great good and mediocre atmosphere any day when I’m at a Disney park. Of course at Magellan’s in Tokyo, I could have it all!
I wish WDW had a restaraunt themed similarly to Walt’s, but I am looking forward to trying out Hollywood Brown Derby and Jiko for the first time as I check more signature disney restaraunts off our list.
Your pictures of the restaurant are great and I think dining there is spectacular. I have had the pleasure of being there 3 times and the food was amazing each time.