I love theme parks and my job covering them for CinemaBlend allows me to visit them on a fairly regular basis. I still love going on my favorite rides, but what has become my favorite thing to do on any park visit is eat. While there are usually new Disney World attractions to enjoy, there is always delicious food on offer and so many parks have so much great food it’s impossible to eat it all in one trip. Disney World parks have great food, but one location, which was already on my bucket list, just showed the world it has some of the best food in the theme park industry. It’s too bad I’ll probably never eat there.
Walt Disney World has so many great restaurants between its theme parks and resort hotels that it’s difficult to keep track of them all, but there is one that has stood heads and shoulders above the others for years. Victoria & Albert's, located inside the Grand Floridian Resort & Spa, is the premiere dining location in all of Walt Disney World. It has the finest food and the finest wines and now it has something no other U.S. theme park restaurant has: a Michelin star.
Disney's World's Victoria & Albert's Has Earned A Michelin Star
The Michelin star is like the Academy Awards of Food. To earn one is to be among the best restaurants, for both food and service, in the world. The best restaurants on the planet have three stars, but to earn even one is a major achievement. Many have wondered in the last few years if Victoria & Albert's might achieve a star, but it has been passed over, until now.
I’ve always known that Victoria & Albert's had the best food and wine at Disney World, so it’s always been on my list of places to go. Now that it has a Michelin star, the food and the service are officially top-tier, making me want to go even more. But I find it hard to believe I ever will. Getting reservations is tough on its own, but, as you can probably guess, being the best restaurant at Disney World also makes it the most expensive restaurant at Disney World.
Victoria & Albert's Is One Of The Most Expensive Meals At Disney World
Victoria and Albert’s basic offering is a prix-fixe tasting menu that costs $295 per plate, with a $155 optional wine pairings. And I’m not a heathen; if I go there, I’m getting the wine pairings. Add in taxes and tips, and you’re looking at a dinner approaching $600 for a single person. And that's the basic option, the price goes up from there. I’m not even saying the dinner isn’t worth $600, I’m just saying that’s a lot of money to pay for dinner, and considering what else you can buy for that money at Disney World, I would have a hard time coughing up that cash.
By comparison, I’ve dined at Disneyland Resort’s Napa Rose restaurant at the Grand Californian Resort & Spa a few times. I usually order the Vinterner’s Table menu, a similar prix-fixe menu with optional wine pairings, and yes I get the wine pairings. It is, in my opinion, the best food at Disneyland. It’s not cheap, it's more than I should probably spend, but it comes in at less than half the cost of the V&A's basic menu. Of course, Napa Rose doesn’t have a Michelin star.
There are places to eat at Disney Parks that are even more exclusive, Club 33 requires membership, or that you at least know somebody, to even get in. There are places to eat at Disney Parks that are even more expensive. 21 Royal at Disneyland costs $15,000, though that does include dinner for 12 people. But these places are literally impossible for most of us to get into. Victoria & Albert's is, technically, more accessible.
Maybe someday I’ll have enough money burning a hole in my pocket to make dinner at Victoria and Albert’s worth it. I certainly will try to convince myself of that. It's an experience that I dream of. Can you lend me a few bucks?
