The Space restaurant that is under construction at Epcot is sandwiched between the Test Track and Space pavilions, which means one of the best ways to get a view of the construction is to go for a ride on Test Track yourself. That’s exactly what we did this week.
We have learned the name of the restaurant from a help wanted ad from the company that will be managing the location. The Patina Restaurant Group is calling it ‘Space 220.’ The 220 is assumed to be in reference to the number of miles away from Earth the space station restaurant is orbiting (it’s the average orbit of the existing International Space Station).
The much-anticipated location will take diners via a space elevator that can be accessed from the Space pavilion to a space station in orbit around the Earth. The help wanted ad is recruiting people from Europe because they want the space station staff to have an international flair, like an EPCOT in space.
Guests will gaze out a huge 250-foot curved ‘window’ down to Earth. Outside they might encounter astronauts, space stations, and, of course, an amazing orbital view of a rotating Earth. There may even be some familiar Disney characters (think Wall-E more than Mickey in an astronaut suit).
The restaurant will have a bar, and two main tiers of dining. All together each seating will be able to handle around 350 guests. It’s unknown if there will be a specific show with a defined beginning, middle, and end, or just rotating elements on a loop that you can show up in the middle of. One is like Hoop-Dee-Doo Musical Revue with defined show times and the other is more like Sci-fi Dine In.
In construction you can see a double curved exterior wall. The interior wall will hold the screen that will be digitally projected upon while the outer wall will help deaden the noise from the very nearby located Test Track.
You can also see where they’ve been working to connect the existing Mission: Space building to the new restaurant. Work in the back of the house area is also much further ahead, which isn’t unusual as plumbing and equipment takes longer to set up.
The Space Restaurant is expected to open early in 2020, although if they put a rush on it, which we hear they are, it might open in time for Christmas dinners in 2019.