L’Originale Alfredo Di Roma in the Epcot Italy Pavilion is closing this August. When it does another little bit of what makes Epcot a unique experience will fade away. The Rome restaurant was the the place where Fetticine Alfredo was created. A restaurant so famous in the 50s an 60s that Hollywood Stars would fly across the sea just for dinner.
I never experienced the Epcot version of Alfredo’s in what must have been its prime. My first visit was last year during the holiday season when Disney was including its Dining Plan for free with extended hotel stays. The restaurant was over crowded, the service rushed, and the food barely edible. This was a less than magical experience for my family and our out of town guests who were visiting the park for the first time.
I can’t say for sure why the famous restaurant is moving out now. My guess is that Alfredo’s fell victim to the expanded use of the
Disney Dining Plan. This plan has two evil side effects. First, it
requires a hurried service approach as you have to churn more guests
per hour to earn the same profit you earned when everyone paid full
price for the meal. Second, it requires a much simplified version of
the menu to prevent guests from taking too long to decide what to order. I suspect that the owners of Alfredo’s felt that the guest
experience no longer reflected on their brand in a positive manner. That was certainly my experience. With a restaurant in New York and one opening in Las Vegas, Alfredo’s management couldn’t afford to risk the brand image like that.
I’m sure the Disney Dining Plan is a money maker for Disney. But it’s seriously cutting into the show quality one expects to get when dining at a sit down restaurant in Walt Disney World. Hopefully Disney will figure out what fixes are needed to return to full menus and a casually paced dinner in a setting where the party sitting next to you isn’t so close you can smell the garlic on their breath.
Finally, for your entertainment look below the cut to see the cast member fact sheet if a guest has questions regarding the changeover:
Read More »Alfredo’s to close at Epcot, victim of Disney Dining Plan?