| PassPorter.com Feature Article Original article at: http://www.passporter.com/articles/disney-soda-fountain-review.html The Disney Soda Fountain and Studio Shop: A Taste of Disney in Hollywoodby Cheryl Pendry, PassPorter Featured ColumnistLast modified 07-26-2013 As soon as I knew we were heading back to Disneyland, I knew there was another Disney venue that we had to visit. I'd seen reviews of it from others, and it looked like a fun place. What is it? The Disney Soda Fountain and Studio Shop. It's hard to find much information out about this place online, although it does have its own mention on Disney's website which gives you an idea of the menu. The big draw here are the desserts, and more specifically the sundaes, with a huge selection of options. The innovatively named black and white sundae is made up of vanilla, and chocolate ice cream, along with hot fudge sauce, and marshmallows. My husband went for the mint chop chic sundae, which as the name suggests, includes mint choc chip ice cream, with more marshmallows, and hot fudge. You can even make your own sundae, but when we visited, my eye was drawn to the pin trader’s delight, and of course it comes with a special Disney Soda Fountain and Studio Shop limited edition pin, but this is another one where you can choose the ice cream you want, and it’s topped with hot fudge, swirled with marshmallow, covered with whipped cream, and Mickey Mouse confetti sprinkles. Oh boy, it was good, so good that I’m getting hungry just writing about it! Now that’s the sign of a good sundae. Other dessert options include floats, shakes, and malts, along with ice cream sandwiches, and frozen banana. If you’re getting the idea that you need to come here hungry, you’re about right. The rest of the menu isn’t bad either, and I thought it was surprisingly wide ranging, given most people will come here for something sweet. There are soups, a fresh fruit salad, hot dogs, sandwiches, wraps, and even chili, and spaghetti with meatballs. If you have a really sweet tooth, you can even get Mickey Mouse Belgian waffles all day long. I went for the cheese lovers’ sandwich, and it certainly was, with plenty of cheese on it. It may not sound that interesting, but when a toasted cheese sandwich tastes this good, who cares if it’s a boring choice? My husband was a little less enthused about his hot dog, saying it was fine, but nothing spectacular. Well, I guess the spectacular part of the menu is really the dessert section… So enough about the food – what’s the atmosphere like here? It reminded me a lot of a quieter Beaches and Cream, with 1950s styling. Like there, everything is made in front of you, and we chose to sit at the counter to see all the activity in front of us. It’s a bit of an odd concept, because as well as having the Soda Fountain, the Studio Shop is literally part of the same open space, so you have shoppers wandering in off the street to browse, which does take some getting used to. Having said that, while we were waiting for our food, we both took the opportunity to have a wander around, and it was nice to be able to do that. I was disappointed not to see more unique themed items on sale here, but sadly I think that’s the way Disney is going these days. There are some lovely touches in here. We spent some time having a look at their wall of fame, which has literally hundreds of photos of stars dining here. I have to confess that, being British, some didn’t mean much to me, but names we did recognize included Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta-Jones, Jodi Benson, Jon Voight, Jamie Lee Curtis, and Andy Garcia. That’s not the only touch of stardom they have here, this is Hollywood after all, and stars are everywhere – quite literally! The Disney Soda Fountain and Studio Store is located on Hollywood Boulevard, right next door to the famous El Capitan theater, and across from the home of the Oscars, the Dolby Theater, as it’s now known. That means it’s on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and amongst the Disney stars we spotted were Tinkerbell, Winnie the Pooh, and appropriately enough, Disneyland, which is right outside the Disney Soda Fountain. Obviously there are plenty of other Disney stars scattered around, but sadly as we had a show to go and see that night, we didn’t have time to go and hunt for them. I could see how that would be a really fun way to spend an hour or two, although I would prefer to do it first thing in the morning, as Hollywood Boulevard is hugely popular, meaning it’s mobbed for much of the day, something to bear in mind if you don’t do so well with crowds. All in all, we felt like our visit here was a really fun Disney interlude, and it was a great way to get a quick dose of the magic, and some good food, in the heart of Hollywood. About the Author: Cheryl is the author of the e-book, PassPorter's Walt Disney World for British Holidaymakers, and is the co-author of PassPorter's Disney Vacation Club Guide: For Members and Members-To-Be. Cheryl and husband Mark live in England and love to travel, particularly to Disney, and they have travelled around the world, taking in a number of Disney cruises, Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Aulani in Hawai'i, Disneyland Paris, Tokyo Disney and Hong Kong Disneyland on the way. Click here to view more of Cheryl's articles! This article originally appeared in the PassPorter newsletter -- subscribe to our popular newsletter today for free at http://www.passporter.com/news.htm Updated 07-26-2013 Check for a more updated version at http://www.passporter.com/articles/disney-soda-fountain-review.html |