Cosmic Ray's -- Dinner -- Quick Service -- Magic Kingdom

*This dining experience took place in March 2016.Cosmic Ray's, located in Tomorrowland in the Magic Kingdom, is a quick service location that I don't tend to frequent very often. It's not that they can't provide good gluten free and dairy free options (they definitely do), but that I don't really enjoy the food here as much as say Columbia Harbour House or even Pecos Bill's. What can I say, I can't help but head to Columbia Harbour House more often than not for the allergy friendly chicken tenders!Cosmic Ray's is your basic burgers and fries kind of quick service location, and like Pecos Bill's, they also have a toppings bar. Toppings bars are great but they are a cross contamination nightmare for those of us with special dietary needs, so if you want any toppings for your sandwiches, let a cast member know to get them from the back for you.When I arrived on this particular visit, I'll admit I wasn't too thrilled to eat here. Brandon and I were attending the Disney Vacation Club 25th Anniversary Magic Kingdom Bash, and literally the only restaurant opened was Cosmic Ray's. I had my heart set on allergy friendly chicken tenders & Brandon had his heart set on the gluten filled but very popular pot roast mac & cheese. Needless to say, we were both disappointed!Cosmic Ray's does carry an allergy friendly menu, which you can find on the menus page here on the blog. There are several options to choose from, and on this particular visit, I ended up getting a cheeseburger. Since I've been adding cheese back into my diet, I thought it would at least jazz up my bacon burger.The wait for my burger wasn't too long, and before I knew it we had a prime seat in Cosmic Ray's to catch a show with Sonny Eclipse. I gotta admit, Sonny Eclipse is the best part of Cosmic Ray's in my opinion. I absolutely love this quirky animatronic show, and I would be so sad if they got rid of Sonny. Cosmic Ray's is not Cosmic Ray's without listening to Sonny and the Space Angels sing Planetary Boogie!For my meal, I would say it was OK and certainly nothing special. The French fries were your basic Disney fries, and at least a decent size portion. My burger was served on an allergy friendly bun (I believe Local Oven) and was nothing to write home about. I ended up just eating it plain with the cheese, as I couldn't find any packets of ketchup or mustard and didn't feel like going back to the line to ask for some.Overall, Cosmic Ray's serves up solid gluten free and special dietary needs options. While I can't say it's my personal favorite place to dine, I'm glad it's available as a safe option in Tomorrowland.Have you been to Cosmic Ray's What did you order when you dined there?

Cosmic Rays -- Lunch/Dinner -- Quick Service -- Magic Kingdom

*This dining experience took place in October 2013.

Ordering area of Cosmic Rays

Cosmic Rays is an out-of-this-world futuristic inspired quick service location in Tomorrowland at the Magic Kingdom. It offers standard quick service fare from burgers, fries, and sandwiches, to soups and salads. It also offers a few other heartier meal options such as rotisserie chicken. The location offers several "Bays" from which to choose these options and there are many choices for gluten free & dairy free diners.On this particular visit, I checked in with a manager who seemed much more attentive than the previous time I visited. On the last visit, I actually chose not to eat at the restaurant because the manager refused to let me look at the ingredient binder!! I was really nervous about this visit given the previous manager's lack of knowledge or accommodation (which is actually rare for Cosmic Rays). I was greeted by the manager who seemed to somewhat knowledgeable. He went over the ingredients binder with me and also said that the French fries were safe (they used to not be, so maybe I missed this? I don't dine at Cosmic Rays often). I ordered a chicken sandwich (grilled) with an Udi's bun. I also asked if I could get condiments made for me, and he suggested the fixins' bar, and I told him that this is a very high risk for cross contamination. I asked for lettuce and grilled onions.

Bay 3, where I ordered my chicken sandwich

It did take a fair amount of time for the food to show up, which was OK but still I wish they had pagers up there. It's really tight in the aisles waiting for food here, and we got in a lot of people's way. In any event, we finally got our food and grabbed a seat. This place ALWAYS seems busy!!

Grilled chicken sandwich with fries and fixins'

One of the things that I always think after I eat at Cosmic Rays is that I'm underwhelmed. It just seems "blah." We had initially planned on going to Be Our Guest, but the line to get in was huge, so we skipped it. We should have gone back to Pecos Bills or Columbia Harbour House in my opinion. The sandwich itself was plain and mediocre. I'm always glad to have a bun, so that's at least nice. The onions were sort of half crunchy and half sauteed, so the texture wasn't great. And the fries were just OK. Later I had a stomach ache, so I'm wondering if the fries were truly safe or if I just ate something that irritated my stomach (this was one of those hard to tell situations).

Chicken sandwich

Overall, I would say that this is an OK choice mostly because they have a lot of options but taste-wise it's not my personal favorite. I will say that it's so-so and that I think there are some better choices in the Magic Kingdom. I also have had a few weird manager interactions lately, so I'm not sure what's going on there.I'd give this a 6 out of 10--for mediocre food & service.

Cosmic Rays -- Counter Service -- Magic Kingdom

 

Simple chicken sandwich and grapes from Cosmic Rays. Yum!

 

I've been to Cosmic Ray's many times. It's simple and usually pretty easy to get in an out of relatively quickly, even when busy. We decided to stop there for a late dinner. I was especially curious, now that they have Udi's buns. 

 

Upon arrival, I checked at the cashier and asked for a manager, who came very quickly. She went over the choices with me, and I asked about the chicken sandwich. I've been having gallbladder problems (surgery likely impending), and I didn't want french fries, so I asked if I could have grapes. Cosmic Ray's has a fixin's bar, so you get your sandwich plain with the option to put on your own condiments. I like this method, especially since I ate mine plain. I only ate the bottom bun with chicken (open face style) and it was very good. The grapes were nice and light and refreshing.

 

Overall, I am enjoying the new Udi's buns because they taste better, but I can see how problematic they can be for people with egg allergies. No fun.

 

I hope in the future they will be able to get a different bread product that will be more inclusive of the top 8 allergens. But I do like them a lot better than Ener-G rolls. There are a lot of changes still going on at WDW, and it will be interesting to see how they change and evolve.

 

**This dining experience took place in April 2012. 

Cosmic Rays -- Counter Service -- Magic Kingdom

We hit up Cosmic Rays at Magic Kingdom for lunch. I had a fabulous manager help me out. I decided on the rotisserie chicken with green beans (which do not have dairy in them, but some kind of oil spray) and potato chips instead of mashed potatoes. I also got my first french meadow chocolate chip cookie. I have not seen them in the past, so I was thrilled to have them. I loooooveee FM chocolate chip cookies! My meal came out relatively quickly, and I was impressed by how they handled the allergy. Everything came straight out of the back and was not in any way cross contaminated with the food out front.

Very good rotisserie chicken, green beans, and chips.

I love these French Meadow cookies! A nice change from the FM brownies.

Overall, the food was good. I liked the chicken and the beans. I ate the chips later, but scarfed the cookie down then! Yum! A solid 8 out of 10 for great service and a lot of food options.