OK, I gotta tell you about this! We heard about another interesting update to the Le Cellier menus in Disney World’s Epcot and had to check it out!
We reported recently on the fact that Le Cellier has now gone to an all-day menu — but guests will have another surprise to explore when they arrive!
Here’s the new light-up menu!
This is a great option for darker restaurants like Le Cellier — the perfect way to see your menu with out eye strain. The menu itself is lit from behind! Here’s the menu — dark — just as you’re opening it…
…and here it is as it lights up automatically when you open it all the way!
I can’t wait to see these myself! Thanks to our Disneyland columnist, Heather Sievers, for capturing this awesomeness to share with us!
I’m headed to Le Cellier in April and look forward to playing with these new “toys.” 🙂
UPDATE: Thanks to some of our commenters for letting us know that the menus are lit from behind and are not electronic!
Have you been to Le Cellier and experienced the new menus? Let us know what you think!
Our handy (and portable!) ebook guides make sure you get the best deals and can plan a vacation of a lifetime.
That is so cool I loved the menus at Skyline on the Dream and it looks just like them (like you said) I am dining there next week and cannot wait!!! For the food and the menus 🙂
Wow, I have been in a few restaurants where this would have come in handy, but not in LeCellier, because I know that I always want the filet mignon over mushroom risotto. I never even have to look at the menu! (Well maybe for dessert. LOL)
The really interesting thing about this: this should allow the chefs at Le Cellier to constantly update/change the menu without having to worry about printing new menus, which could be costly and wasteful.
All they would have to do is “sync” them where ever they program the menus. Imagine having menus refreshed seasonally depending on what’s available or even specials themed to Limited Time Magic/Food and Wine Festival (they could feature particular pairings for example)/Flower and Garden/Holidays, etc.
I ate at Le Cellier twice last week during our visit and got to experience the new menus. They appear to be a piece of paper that the menu is printed on over a background light. The paper menus can get grease spots from food that is dropped on it. So they will still need to print new pages when they want to change the menu.
Bryan, it isn’t e-ink, it is regular paper with a backlight I believe.
I didn’t know these were new when we had lunch there earlier this month! We thought they looked awesome!
I had always wanted to try Le Cellier and it was a great experience!
Keep in mind it’s not a fancy display; it’s just a piece of white paper placed over a backlight. They would still need to print menus the old-fashioned way.
I could be wrong, but I think I remember the menus being backlit paper, not electronic like a kindle. We had the light up menus when we dined in January. They were cool and we did play with opening and closing then a few times to see them light up.
La Boheme, at the Grand Bohemian in downtown Orlando has these backlit menus as well. Just to be clear though, it is still a printed menu, it’s just a backlit piece of paper times two panels (i.e. Light-Brite without the pegs).
IMHO – I don’t think you’ll see them popping up everywhere. At $50-$60 FOB per menu for the size we’re talking about and a practical battery life of 6 hours, you’ll need at least your room’s seating capacity to run from 12pm to 9pm, enough charging stations to go around, you’re not supposed to get the panel or the battery compartment wet, no hard detergents, they’re not exactly drop-proof… and at the end of the day, you’re still printing menus to stick in them.
Metaphorically, blinking ice cubes are cool, until you have to pay for them. I’d rather have an extra tablespoon’s worth of mushroom risotto.
I wish they’d light up those footballs at Shula’s! 😉
Oh, okay…
I assumed they used a Nook/Kindle like tech (but really slim). I thought that way ’cause the first time I’d even heard about “e-ink” or “e-paper” was at a display years ago at Epcot’s Innoventions (long before Kindles were an every day thing).
I wish they’d use these at San Angel Inn, easily the darkest restaurant in WDW. Then, I wouldn’t have to pull out my phone to use it as a flashlight to read it!
The light up menus were fun at lunch, but we’d rather have the old lunch menu back 🙁
It also eliminates the ask-to-take-home-a-menu souvenir!
My DW and I did have a chance to experience the new light up menus on our last visit in January. Like Marlene, we miss the old lunch menu. Those higher dinner prices will help to recover the cost of the new menus quickly unless the lunch prices scare people away. 😉 The day we dined there, Le Cellier was half-empty at 4:30 PM. I bet they were accepting walk-ups that day!
I loved those illuminated menus. I think that this is a great idea. It really help people like me that have a hard time reading in a dim light. I saw them in a restaurant in Toronto and they were from a company called ILED menus.