Review: Lunch at Beaches & Cream After Refurbishment at Disney’s Beach Club Resort

Hi everyone!

Beaches & Cream at Disney’s Beach Club Resort reopened this past week after a several month refurbishment. Not only has the restaurant expanded, but the menu has too. The design of the shop is different, but the jukebox is still there and some fun Disney artwork is displayed. Beaches & Cream still feels like a soda shop, it reminds me some of Farrell’s from when I worked there (in the 1980s!). And the burgers are still great. Beaches and Cream is a table service restaurant, if you are on the Disney Dining Plan it will take one credit. Here is a look at the restaurant and the food we ordered.

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It has been a few years since we visited Beaches & Cream. It was a restaurant I frequented over 10 years ago, but the prices went up and it was often busy. Now that we have Tables in Wonderland again – and there is a lot more seating – I expect to head to Beaches and Cream more often.

I’m not sure what the former occupancy was, but Beaches & Cream was very small and I don’t think could have fit much more than 50 guests at a time. The maximum occupancy now is 138. For those who enjoy the food and ice cream, it allows for so much more availability.

Here is the menu. For some reason, both were kind of smudged so hopefully the menus are laminated in the future.

Inside, there are quite a few offerings. A couple of the new items here are the French Dip Sandwich and Salmon Sandwich. However, the burgers have always been a great choice here as well and there is something for almost everyone on the menu – including vegan items.

There are also speciality shakes. With only two of us, we can only eat/drink so much at any given time so we didn’t order one. And with these type of shakes, I generally prefer what is on top of them – a brownie, a cupcake, a doughnut – as dessert.

There are a variety of other drinks as well. I ordered an unsweetened iced tea, which tasted freshly brewed. A Coca-Cola nostalgia bottle is on the menu in a small circle. If you are looking for beer, wine and “Adult Hard Floats”, then those are available too.

This was the view from our seat. It doesn’t look like the former restaurant, but it is bright, airy and feels like a soda shop. I also like that the tables aren’t all squeezed together. The former version of Beaches and Cream was small and not as comfortable for seating.

There is a counter with chairs.

And some seating by the window.

There are new light fixtures.

The Wurlitzer jukebox is back.

There is some really fun artwork on the walls.

Minnie draws Mickey as the new design (I prefer the old style Mickey myself).

Goofy leans against the jukebox.

Donald and Huey, Dewey and Louie enjoy shakes while sitting in soda-fountain style chairs.

Mickey pours a drink.

Pluto looks on as Mickey enjoys a meal. And Donald watches as Goofy holds a large ice cream cone (while Donald dropped his).

Mickey, Donald and Goofy drive away from Disney’s Beach Club Resort.

Normally, I would order the Chicken Noodle Soup as an appetizer because it’s long been a favorite menu item of mine here. But we wanted to try a few new items from the menu, so we went with the Plant-based loaded tots with plant-based chili, cheddar cheese, sour cream, and green onions. Honestly, it’s tots with a little chili on them and not particularly special. They also cost $9 and the portion size was fairly small. We were already going to have fried sides with our sandwiches so it was a one and done as far as ordering, but they are decent enough if you are wanting tots.

On the other hand, the French Dip ($17) was a major winner. I usually would order a burger at Beaches & Cream, so it will be hard to choose next time. The meat was sliced thinly, the swiss cheese a little heavy in one area of the sandwich so I removed some of it. The au jus was perfect here and the sandwich is topped with fried onions. I like the fries, they are not quite as thick as steak fries but close enough. I took half home to enjoy the next day, and the restaurant does have little containers for the au jus.

This was an excellent sandwich both in the restaurant and at home.

Jeff ordered the Cheesburger ($17). On the menu inside, it does not mention fries or any other items coming with the sandwiches. The sandwiches do come with a side, and that is noted on the menu outside the restaurant (I show it at the end of the article). French fries or a fruit cup are included, and Jeff substituted onion rings instead.

Until recently, I had never heard of Cookie Fries ($8). On first bite, I wasn’t sure if I liked them but I adapted very quickly – the texture isn’t what I am used to with a cookie. They taste even better with the sauces, there were three (the Disney Parks Blog mentioned four, but the caramel was not here). I think the cookies especially go well with the marshmallow cream. The other two dips are chocolate and strawberry. I would get this again, although Beaches & Cream is known best for ice cream. We did see a few Kitchen Sink desserts being ordered, that has been a popular staple at Beaches & Cream for as long as I can remember.

Here is a closer look on the Cookie Fries.

There is a dedicated To Go window which was very popular, allowing guests to take away ice cream and drinks.

The line was long on the day we were there.

Here is the menu outside the restaurant mentioning that the “From the Grill” items include a fresh fruit cup or French fries. This information had not been online either and made it a little confusing.

We paid about $63 with discount including tax & tip for our meal, it would have been about $75.00 without discount. Having purchased Tables in Wonderland through 2020, it makes Beaches & Cream a definite “must” again in the near future. $17 is a little high for a burger or French Dip sandwich, but the 20% off makes a big difference. And while Beaches & Cream won’t be your best value on the Disney Dining Plan for table service restaurants, it is a delicious and fun choice.

Beaches & Cream has changed, but in many ways I like it better. The restaurant is much bigger, there are some great new choices on the menu, and the design is cleaner – the decor isn’t nearly as busy. I look forward to going back soon.

We talk about Beaches & Cream in our Mousesteps Weekly YouTube Show #333! It is the first segment.