Café There are not many sit down restaurants in Disney Animal Kingdom so if you’ve run out of choices and want to stick to something themed for the day, try T-REX Café at Downtown Disney.  After visiting Dino Land in Animal Kingdom we headed over to our reservations at the T-REX Café.  It was birthday girl’s choice so that’s really the only reason we went to this restaurant.  Plus, it is new so I was curious what it was like.  If you’ve been to the Rainforest Café, you’ve got a 99.9% idea of what the T-REX Café is all about. 

There are a few locations, but the T-REX Café we visited is located in the Downtown Disney Marketplace.  Park admission is not required and there are no parking fees at Downtown Disney.  It’s usually very difficult to find a parking spot so it may be wise to take the Disney bus from the theme park or Disney hotel to Downtown Disney if possible.  A parking spot won’t necessarily get you near the restaurant, so allow plenty of time to arrive if you have a dining reservation.   

I tried to make our reservations on Disney’s website but it said none were available.  I really wanted to eat there, so I called the restaurant directly at (407) 828-TREX (8739) and had no problem making a reservation for the day I wanted.  All the restaurants in Downtown Disney stay busy so it’s worth a call for reservations before heading over. 

We arrived early to our reservation so we built a dino while we waited.  Build-A-Dino is inside the restaurant.  It is presented by the Build-A-Bear Workshop and set up exactly the same way.  The guest chooses one of many dinos, adds their own stuffing, chooses an outfits if they wish, and print out a certificate for their dino.  No need to bring your Build-a-Bear discount coupons because they’re not accepted at this site.  The prices are comparable to the Build-A-Bear Workshop locations.  We got out of there 30 minutes later and $30 lighter.   I must stay, the dino was adorable and one of the more memorable souvenirs.  The Build-A-Dino can be accessed from the outside so you don’t have to eat at T-REX Café to shop there.     

There are other things to do in the restaurant while you wait as well like an archaeological dig for younger kids and a dino store with cute but overpriced souvenirs.  Once we were at our table we had the opportunity to walk around the restaurant and look at the unique décor in each room.  The restaurant is a spitting image of Rainforest Café right down to the menu.  The kids were really intrigued by the atmosphere and they were excited to walk around to see the different rooms.  The lighting was really good for ambiance and there were a lot of realistic dinosaurs throughout the restaurant.  All seats are a good seat.  It was almost sensory overload.  In addition to the visuals, there were tons of background noises and at least once during dinner service (about every 20 minutes) you’ll experience a meteor shower and the room will turn red and the dinosaurs move.  This is very cool and not at all scary.  Yes, kids will eat anything on the menu, but I noticed many parents were having a hard time getting their kids to eat because the kids were distracted with the environment. 

The food is labeled cool names to add interest.  For instance, we ordered the onion rings which were called Artifact Stack.  They came in a fun cone shaped dish with dipping sauces at the bottom for $9.  The menu is American cuisine and is pretty basic with hamburgers ($17), dinner salads ($17), basic pasta dishes ($18), other sandwiches ($15), and larger plates like steak, chicken, or fish in the $20-$30 range.  Yes, the prices are a lot for simplistic food, but the serving size is rather large. I had the Paleonzoic Chicken Sandwich which was fried pizza dough with grilled chicken, lettuce, bacon, pepper jack cheese, avocado, tomato and lemon aili for $14.99.  It was really interesting and not like anything I had ever had before.  I didn’t care for the fried dough and had to take it off because it was too greasy.  The ingredients on the inside tasted good.  We tried picking something small so we would have room for dessert but couldn’t eat another bite.  The desserts are $9 or $15 and sound very tempting.  I had my eye on the chocolate extinction but didn’t have room for it.  

Chocolate Extinction – A gigantic portion of chocolate fudge cake served with ice cream, fresh whipped cream drizzled with fudge and caramel sauces and sprinkled with Butterfinger crumbs.  Enough for two or more.  $14.99

The lunch and dinner menu is the same and I’m glad there’s an option for both sandwiches and plated dinners.  The kids got an individual pizza for $7 each.  The drinks are not included and are an additional $2 for milk, soft drink, or apple juice in a souvenir cup.  My kids wet for the discovery blast:    

Discovery Blast – a non-alcoholic frozen blend of fruit layers in a bone-chilling glass that’s yours to keep $4.99

The restaurant definitely has a large kids selection:  pizza, macaroni, pasta with sauce, dino-shaped chicken, pork ribs, rotisserie chicken, popcorn shrimp, or corn dogs. 

A menu can be found online at trexcafe. 

Most waitresses in the Disney area are good, but this one was particularly outstanding.  She was fast, described dishes really well, and very attentive without hovering.  The other waiters and waitresses in the area were moving quickly as well.  It was a great experience and everyone in the restaurant seemed to be enjoying themselves. 

There were a lot of happy birthday songs dished out while we were there and many of the guests were large groups.  We took lots of pictures and they all came out really well which is surprising since the restaurant is dark overall.  It would be a great place to celebrate a birthday or something special, but the restaurant is very loud.  It would not be my choice for a date or catching up with friends. 

Dining plan is not accepted at this location and neither is Tables in Wonderland.  Annual pass holders can get a 10% discount.   


My Recommendations

I’m guessing you’re going to need to bring younger kids with you (both boys and girls love it) to get any value out of this dinner service.  The meals are expensive, even for kids, but it is comparable to other Disney restaurants.  

T-REX Café is not on the dining plan which will rule it out for some.  This place is always packed and not so easy to get to so make sure allow plenty of time to arrive and even with a reservation plan on waiting.  Adults may be walking out with what a rip off feeling as American food isn’t really worth what it cost here and the target audience is the kids, not adults.  Adult groups and those with older kids should probably skip this restaurant as there are tons of more unique food options in the area. 

If you want to dine at more restaurants than you have time for and you’ve already been to the Rainforest Café at some point, you’ll probably want to skip this one.  I also think eating at the Rainforest Café and T-REX Café in the same week might be overkill.  Then again, if you're a huge Rainforest Café fan, this is a must-do.   

Build-A-Dino by Build-A-Bear Workshop is totally worth a look as it is a rare find and does not require dining at T-REX Cafe.  

Recommended: Yes