One of the most highly sought-after reservations in Disney Springs is the Rainforest Café. Yes, this restaurant is part of Landry’s Restaurant corporation. You may have one near where you live. Over 15 of these exist within the Unites States of America. A few more reside outside the USA. The economic and health crisis of 2020 led to many Rainforest Cafes closing. Yet, the two on Walt Disney World property continue to do well. The one located at Animal Kingdom does not have as much demand as the Disney Springs location, however.

The Disney Spring Rainforest Café should be easy to spot with the large volcano structure nearby. The volcano “erupts” on a regular basis. This restaurant, like most Rainforest Cafes, comes with a large gift shop area. The exterior of the restaurant clues you into the type of experience you will have here. For example, once inside the restaurant, you will enter a themed jungle area. The dining area will be filled with large animatronic animals. You will see a presentation of a night sky on the ceiling along with many other well themed features. Yes, every so often a storm happens in this themed jungle setting. These flashes of replicated thunderstorms will either enthrall your child or scare them. The theme within deserves praise. Yet, this falls below Walt Disney World level theming.

During a recent trip to Disney Springs, I decided to use a Landry gift card. The menu here offers lots of choices. You should expect burgers, sandwiches, pasta dishes, salads, steak, chicken, and seafood. One issue with restaurants offering so many menu choices relate to their ability to do each well. I have eaten at many Rainforest Cafes. The food usually compares to a Chili’s or TGI Friday’s in terms of quality. My general concern with Rainforest Café regards their price points for items being so much higher than those other chain places I mentioned for similar food.

On this recent trip to Disney Springs, I decided to use all my gift card on one entrée. I ordered the Ribs, Steak and Shrimp Trio. This cost $38.99, Yes, you read that correctly for the level of food quality I described. In fairness, this entrée combo offers three higher priced proteins so a higher price should have been expected. For your money, you get an iron steak, some Caribbean coconut shrimp, mojo bone ribs, coleslaw, and the Rainforest Café safari fries. In case you are wondering, they taste like standard table service fries.

Starting with the positives, the portion size of each protein item meets or exceeds expectations. At some places, you would pay just this for a 10ox flat iron steak. I respect that the meat quality could be higher. Still, the portion size of the steak and ribs for this price point deserves some praise. The BBQ sauce offered a reasonably sweet BBQ flavor. The sauce with the shrimp also provides a good quality sweet flavor.

On the less positive side, many guests voice that their steaks are prepared poorly and not as they requested. In other words, if you wanted medium rare, you might get medium well. Also, the quality of the steak being used pales in comparison to the steaks being sold at most Walt Disney World Resort restaurants. Thus, my comparison to a Chili’s for example makes more sense if you think of it that way. The shrimp tends to lack proper texture and flavor compared to other restaurants in Disney Springs area.  Also, some guests voice complaints about small portions of fries, shrimp, and slaw.

Based upon price point and the numerous high quality dining options within Disney Spring area alone, this entrée remains hard to recommend. I could see if you came here for your children ordering this for the adults. Depending on your schedule and dining habits, two adults might share this entrée. Let us face it, you visit this place for the theme. If you wanted high quality table service dining at Disney Springs, I would rate at least 17 table service places at Disney Springs above this one. For the record, I would place at least one counter service place over this one in terms of food quality. However, if your children drag you here, this entrée might serve as a viable option.

Like I mentioned earlier, this place presents difficulties getting a table. Sure, you can do walk-ups. Yet, those waits easily reach several hours. You might want to set an alert at MouseDining.com for this place if needed. If you decide to dine here, have a plan. As always, eat like you mean it!