The Magic Kingdom now has Michelin magic, too.
Victoria & Albert’s at Disney Disney World’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa is the first theme-park eatery to earn a Michelin star.
The restaurant at the “Happiest Place on Earth” offers two menus — a standard bill of fare at $295 and the chef’s tasting menu, which runs $395 per person.
The optional wine or zero-proof pairings start at $155 per guest.
The restaurant also offers water lists, an ornate coffee and tea service and a rare collection of more than 500 wines from 35 regions.
The Orlando spot has a strict semi-formal/formal dress code and doesn’t allow children under 10.
And you can’t buy a Fast Pass for this location: a seat at the fine-dining oasis “is by no means an easy reservation,” according to the Michelin guide.
If you can’t make your exclusive reservation, a $100-per-person fee is applied for cancellations within five days of the reservation.
“The setting is intimate, and the pacing is that of a leisurely, three-hour waltz orchestrated by a gracious brigade of veteran servers,” according to Michelin, which noted that the kitchen is helmed by chef Matthew Sowers, who “cooks with contemporary verve and draws on influences spanning from Asia to the Nordics.”
Although the Michelin judges approved of Victoria & Albert’s, many people online disagreed after learning of the high price tag.
Disney World guests blasted the theme park for jacking up the prices at its most expensive restaurant when it reopened in 2022 after the heights of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I’m sure it’s a great experience and super fancy, but no thanks. I’m out. No chance I’m spending $300 a person to eat some food,” one user wrote on Reddit, referring to the cheapest seven-course tasting menu option.
“Crazy overpriced,” another user griped. “Michelin star restaurants in NYC don’t even cost that much (except the very best, like Eleven Madison Park, which is ‘only’ $335).”
Post-pandemic, Disney raised prices across the board, hiking the cost of admission, parking tickets, merchandise and food.
Customers griped in a recent study that the Mouse House has “lost its magic” as new data showed that tickets to Disney World and Disneyland theme parks have climbed more than 3,871% in the past 50 years — dwarfing increases in visitors’ wages, as well as the cost of rent and gas.
However, the Michelin judges disagreed with Victoria & Albert’s critics, claiming that it offers “a kind of magic rarely seen these days.”
