Review: Dinner at the Planet Hollywood Observatory in Disney Springs
That’s right friends, we headed back to Planet Hollywood Observatory for a night of dinner, drinks, and random movie memorabilia!
Planet Hollywood Observatory
Some of you might remember that our first trip to the reimagined restaurant was…less than amazing. In fact, pretty underwhelming! You can read the whole review here. But we always enjoy heading back to restaurants time and time again to re-review and see if anything has changed.
Atmosphere
We’re going to go pretty light on the atmosphere description here because we KNOW you’re really excited to see what we thought of the food this time! In our previous post, we’ve got lots and lots of photos to check out if you’re curious about the inside of the restaurant, which is three stories tall and features this GIANT 4500 ft. screen!
Screen
One thing that is always a treat, however, is looking at the movie memorabilia. Like the actual dress Judy Garland wore as Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz!
Dorothy Dress
Or one of the R2-D2 droids used in Star Wars!
R2D2
When we asked our server if they had anything from one of our favorite films, Titanic, he showed us to this masterpiece — it’s the wooden door Rose floats on after the ship sinks! Which now that we’ve seen it in person, we can confirm that Jack TOTALLY could have fit on too. But we digress…
Door from Titanic
One of the quintessential parts of dining at a Planet Hollywood is being surrounded by movie memorabilia, so make sure you take a stroll and look through the display cases. And if you have a favorite movie, make sure to ask a server if they have a prop for you to see!
Eats
Now onto what you’ve all been waiting for…the food! Well really, the drinks, because that’s what we started off with. 
Planet Hollywood has an extensive drink menu, with signature cocktails, wine, and beer. Their outdoor bar Stargazer’s also has a unique list of over 15 Florida Craft Beers, but you can only get them outside. (Odd?)
We decided to try a few of the signature cocktails that we hadn’t before — the Luck of the Irish Mule and the It’s Showtime Mojito. The Luck of the Irish Mule is a twist on a classic Moscow Mule, but instead of vodka, it features Jameson Irish Whiskey along with the ginger beer and lime juice. It’s a good cocktail overall, and you can really taste the ginger beer.
Irish Mule
The It’s Showtime Mojito is Bacardi Superior rum, fresh lime juice and Reà l blueberry syrup with fresh blueberries and mint. This was a very refreshing drink and the blueberries were a fun twist on a classic mojito.
It’s Showtime Mojito
We also couldn’t resist giving the Supernova shakes another try. These monster shakes feature candy, cake, and other treats on top of a milkshake. There are three varieties — the Strawberry Big Bang, the Cosmic Cotton Candy, and the Chocolate Comet. They are each named after the milkshake flavor, which means yes, that is a Cotton Candy flavored milkshake in the middle.
Drink Menu
Once again, these are a letdown. Don’t get us wrong — they are incredibly pretty and very “Instagramable”(which might be the point) — but they aren’t going to blow you away taste-wise. The milkshakes themselves are still more icy than creamy, and the toppings taste store-bought and generic. But hey, if you want a pretty drink that will make your Willy Wonka dreams come true, then by all means!
Supernova Shakes
Now onto actual food — first up appetizers!
Appetizers Menu
For a healthier start, we kicked things off with the Hummus trio. The trio is made up of garlic, black bean and red pepper, and edamame hummus. It’s pretty good as far as hummus goes, but nothing fancy to look at, hence no photo. If you know what hummus looks like…it’s that.
We also wanted to get our hands on the World Famous Chicken Crunch. This was one of our personal favorites from the OG Planet Hollywood before the renovation, and it now is served in a cute chicken basket.
Chicken Crunch
These are chicken tenders, breaded in a sweet crispy coating (which we’re 99% sure contains Cap’n Crunch), and served with a side of Planet Hollywood’s creole mustard.
Chicken Crunch
We personally really like them, but they are sweeter than we remembered. The spicy mustard does help balance the flavor though! Overall they are pretty good chicken tenders if you’re ok with the sweetness.
The World Famous Chicken Crunch is also part of the High Roller Appetizer Sampler, which we also tried.
High Roller Sampler
The sampler serves four, and comes presented on this large wheel (which does not spin. We tried!). In addition to the Chicken Crunch, the High Roller comes with Texas Tostados, 5- Cheese Dip, Fried Shrimp, and Buffalo Wings.
First up, the Texas Tosados. These were another favorite of ours from the original Planet Hollywood, and I am happy to report they still hold up. These are Crispy gyoza skins topped with BBQ chicken, sautéed onions, cheddar and Monterey Jack cheeses, pico de gallo and drizzled with sour cream and BBQ sauce. Is there anything incredibly special about these? No. But it’s still a winning Tex-mex flavor combo that we’d eat again.
Texas Tostados
The Fried Shrimp are jumbo shrimp that are accompanied by slaw and a spicy Sriracha mayo. Previously, these were called Peri Peri Shrimp, and they came tossed in an unexpectedly spicy sauce. It seems as though Planet Hollywood has toned down the heat though — now it’s just a generic fried flavor if you don’t add the spicy mayo. Honestly, this was a letdown because we preferred the heat from before.
Fried Shrimp
The buffalo wings were tossed in a standard buffalo sauce and honestly were very under sauced. These were pretty meh this meal, as they were last time.
Buffalo Wings
Lastly the 5 Cheese Dip which is Swiss, Mozzarella, Provolone, Parmesan, and Asiago with spinach and artichoke hearts. It is served with toasted pitas and tortilla chips. Thoughts? It’s melted cheese times five. Obviously, it’s delicious.
5 Cheese Dip
Now, time to taste a few entrees!
Guy’s Burger Menu
First up, we tried the Bacon Mac-n-Cheese Burger from the Guy Fieri Big Bite Burgers Menu. This out of control burger has Applewood-Smoked Bacon, Six Cheese Mac-n-Cheese, Cheddar, LTOP, Onion Straws, and Donkey Sauce. For those who don’t speak Guy Fieri, LTOP is lettuce, tomato, onion, and pickle. It’s also served with Triple Fries, which means you get regular fries, waffle fries, and potato rounds in the same bucket.
Bacon Mac N Cheese Burger
This is a big, hunkin’ burger so we definitely recommend coming hungry or sharing. Overall, it’s a pretty good burger, though the Mac-n-Cheese is drowned out by the bacon and other flavors. The Triple Fries are seasoned nicely, and a fun twist on only being served ONE shape of potato.
Next up, something from the Grille Specialties.
Grille Specialties
We chose the BBQ Ribs, which we are happy to report are still served on the super cute tiny picnic table!
BBQ Ribs
Truthfully, these were the biggest let down of the night to us. They look very tasty (and again, adorable), and they are fall-off-the-bone ribs. But for being advertised as “smothered with BBQ sauce”, they were very under sauced, which is an important staple of winning ribs.
We also wanted to revisit a final Planet Hollywood dish off the pasta menu, the L.A. Lasagna.
LA Lasagna
This unique twist on the classic Italian dish is Fried Fresh pasta tubes filled with ricotta and Bolognese meat sauce topped with roasted garlic cream and tomato basil sauces. The garlic cream sauce is very tasty, and the only real critique is that the noodles are a touch chewy after being fried. This is certainly a fun way to present pasta, and it’s a very rich dish that would be easily shareable. If you’re looking for an authentic Italian dish, this is not going to fit the bill, but if you’re looking for a unique and indulgent meal, then we do enjoy this one!
Did you think we were full after drinks (including milkshakes) and entrees? GUESS AGAIN! It’s time for dessert.
Dessert Menu
We dove first into the Sticky Toffee Pudding which is topped with vanilla ice cream and caramel sauce.
This was tasty, and we’d certainly eat it again, however it doesn’t crack our list for the best bread puddings in Walt Disney World, which include the Ohana Bread Pudding and the Toffee Bread Pudding at House of Blues.
We also tried all three of the Star Jar Desserts — Banana Pudding, Brownie Cheesecake, and Key Lime Pie.
Star Jar Desserts
The Banana Pudding was excellent, and we recommend this one if you’re a banana pudding fan. They do not skimp on the vanilla wafers, which are obviously the best part of banana pudding. The Brownie Cheesecake was meh, with it tasting more like a brownie and whipped cream than brownie and cheesecake. And finally, the Key Lime Pie was again a winner with its creamy key lime layers and abundance of graham cracker crumbs.
Finally, we treated ourselves to the Brownie Sundae Martini (we do this for YOU, people!!).
Dessert Menu
There’s a reason this is listed as shareable…
Brownie Sundae Martini
…it’s gigantic! The martini glass was as big as our faces. It comes piled high with TWELVE brownie chunks and six scoops of ice cream (vanilla and chocolate), and is topped with caramel and chocolate sauces, whipped cream, and a cherry. Overall this is another very photogenic dish, but it tastes like a generic brownie sundae. It’s not BAD…just not outstanding or special (besides the fact that it’s massive.)
Overall
Turns out our second impression, was just about the same as our first. While we had excellent service this go-round, (thanks again for showing us where the Titanic door was!) there just isn’t anything special or unique about the menu. It can be fun to check out the memorabilia, but to us, that’s not enough of a reason to make this a must-do.
There are good items here — and they seem to be the same ones that Planet Hollywood has had around forever, such as the Texas Tostados and the L.A. Lasagna. We liked the Hummus Trio and the Key Lime Pie and Banana Pudding Star Jars as well. Both of the cocktails tried were good, but not the most amazing cocktails we’ve ever had.
It seems that Planet Hollywood Observatory is overpriced and outdone by other locations in Disney Springs. We do really like the Chicken Crunch, but we’d still rather get tenders at Chicken Guy!. Same goes for the Bacon Mac-n-cheese Burger — we’d rather grab D-luxe burger for significantly less money. For the price range of the entrees at Planet Hollywood Observatory, you could dine at outstanding Disney Springs locations such as Homecomin‘, Wolfgang Puck Bar & Grill, or The Edison.
We said it before, and we’re saying it again — just keep walking past Planet Hollywood Observatory. Sorry, guys.
Have you dined at the new Planet Hollywood Observatory? What did you think? Let us know in the comments!
Disclosure: In nearly all circumstances, Disney Food Blog writers and photographers pay full price for their own travel, hotel, food, beverage, and event tickets. We do this because it’s important to us as journalists to ensure not only that we give you unbiased opinions, but also that you can trust us to do so since we’re paying our own way. On rare occasions, when we are invited by a company to attend a preview as media, and when we choose to accept that invitation, we will always make you, our readers, aware of that situation. Today, we were invited by Planet Hollywood to attend a media dinner at Planet Hollywood Observatory. Note that when we attend events as media we are 1) Not required to review that event/food on any of our channels, and 2) Not required to review that event/food favorably. You can always count on DFB to give you a 100% unbiased and honest review of any event that we attend, food that we eat, or beverage that we drink. You can see more in our Disclosure Policy. Thank you for reading. — AJ
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