For 15 years now, Disney Food Blog has been here to rate and review all of Disney World’s newest snacks.
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But we also love to provide insight into what we personally think would be beneficial for Disney to do, or to implement into the parks. And what’s wild is that sometimes, it seems that Disney listens to us! Most recently, the hush puppies were removed from the menu at Columbia Harbour House in Magic Kingdom, and we were devastated. We let you all know, it became known VERY quickly that a lot of people were upset about the change, and within a week or so, the hush puppies were back on the menu! So Disney, if you were listening then, we hope you’re listening now too — it’s been 12 years, but we STILL THINK adding one of these into the Disney World parks would be incredibly useful.
All the way back in 2011, AJ wrote a post talking about how Disney should implement at LEAST one automat into the parks. The concept of automats came from Berlin in 1895, but the first one didn’t open in North America until Joseph Horn and Frank Hardart created one in Philadelphia in 1902 (yes, over 100 years ago!) However, the trend really took off in 1912 when Horn & Hardart Company’s “Automat Lunch Room” opened in New York.
Horn and Hardart Automat
But what IS an automat, you ask? It’s a combination of a restaurant and a vending machine — they provide individual servings of freshly made food that were placed behind little windows. If you wanted something, you’d put your money in the coin slot (imagine things being that cheap — we WISH 😫) and open the window to take out your serving.
Bamn Automat in NYC
Yes, it was basically fast food before fast food restaurants were a thing, but hey, we think these are even COOLER than some fast food restaurants, especially in a place like Disney World! Nowadays, we have the technology to make sure that the window stays locked until your payment is verified, and you could tap a card, pay with your MagicBand instead of paying cash, if Disney didn’t want to go through that struggle.
Automat Photo (c) National Geographic
As fast food chains became more prevalent in the 60s and 70s and people moved to the suburbs to live, automats started disappearing. The last Horn & Hardart automat in New York closed its doors in 1991. While there was a small surge of the automat potentially returning during the COVID-19 pandemic, we haven’t seen them make a major comeback, but the novelty is still there. And THAT’S why, Disney World, we think you need an automat somewhere on property.
©New York Times
Disney World has TONS of experiences that can’t be recreated in “real life” — flying on dinosaurs and going back into time to bring a dinosaur back to present time, dining at a ’50s cafe with servers that make you stand in a corner if you put your elbows on the table, a drive-in movie theater that shows sections of classic science fiction films — the list goes on and on. So we think an automat would work PERFECTLY here. Not to mention that kids would probably be just as excited about the look and the idea, if not MORE excited than the adults! Especially if costs were purposefully kept down to allow for coins to be used, just like old times.
Dinosaur in Animal Kingdom
But if nostalgia isn’t enough for you, you know how the restaurants at your Disney hotel close before you get back from a long park day and you need SOMETHING substantial to eat before you go to bed? BAM. AUTOMAT. No need to staff a whole restaurant to be open late into the night, just a few workers to ensure the freshness of what’s kept inside the automat every few hours. It’s totally possible!
World Premiere Food Court
You could stock the automat with the same offerings you’d find in the grab and go section at your Disney World hotel or at some quick service restaurants because again, those close, but if you get a few temperature controlled automats to offer cold sandwiches, salads, Lunchables, Uncrustables — the options are LIMITLESS. And just imagine how much money this could bring in during those late night hours! (And we know you love your money, Disney…just saying.)
Vending machines offer snacks, but not meals
We think we’ve made a pretty great case, Disney, so we expect to see some Automats popping up over the next few years. You can bet we’ll be first in line to try them! But why do we bring this up now, after 12 years of silence? Because for the next few days we’re embarking on DFB Mega Fest! Since there’s a 3 month long break between EPCOT festivals this year, we decided it’s a great time to take a walk down memory lane to see how Disney parks have changed over the past 15 years, let you see behind the scenes of what happens at DFB, win prizes like a one-on-one call with the one and only AJ Wolfe (she started this all, y’all!), and so much more.
Learn more about DFB Mega Fest!
So be sure to stay tuned to DFB for all the latest Disney parks news, and DFB Mega Fest announcements!
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Great in theory, but my bet is that there would be a token machine that you would swipe you credit card and receive tokens to be used. The conversion will always fall so that the house makes out better in the end. So, let’s say you get 1 tokens for $5, that way 2 “coins” would be needed for a sandwich and maybe 1 for a drink… They might be able to make that work…
An Automat, yes!!!! This is a fabulous idea!!! Please consider an Automat at Disneyland as well! Great idea AJ!
This is a great idea! The cupcake vending machine is basically a small, very specific automat, and think how popular that has been.
What a perfect suggestion! As a native New Yorker (in my childhood) I remember many lunches at Horn & Hardart in NYC. We were give a dollar in change to get whatever we wanted. it was so much fun to watch the coffee come out of a faucet in the wall. I think Hollywood Studios would be a perfect spot for an automat. It would compliment the ambiance of the park’s atmosphere.
I do like the idea of an automat or two on property for all the late flights that come into Orlando. Peek a boo at the Dolphin was always an option being open 24 hours, but they have limited their hours since COVID (bad COVID, naughty COVID!).
Maybe a petition?
OMG! Yes!!! This would be amazing!! Especially at the resorts. I was in a hospital cafeteria last year, that had very limited hours, but they did have a few automats (never knew that’s what they were called, btw) 2 were cold foods and 1 was hot. They had pre-made meals, like meatloaf and pasta that were kept warm. Sandwiches, salads, yogurts etc in the cold ones. They accepted card payments so you didn’t need cash.
Disney has so many holiday parties, After Hours events, etc that often have guests getting back to the resorts long after quick service is closed. I think they would be very much appreciated and used often! And who knows, maybe that would keep people from trying to sneak their air fryers and crackpots into their resort rooms 😂😂
Automats have been featured in both the Loki & Agent Carter TV series. Very quirky. I like the idea.
An automat could be so cute at Hollywood Studios, and it would be a great option at the resorts for when the restaurants are closed, or as an option at those sprawling resorts where some rooms are ridiculously far from any food options. There was an automat between my first elementary school and where I took dance classes after school. I STILL crave the refrigerated, just ever so slightly stale on the edges (from the refrigeration) pieces of layer cake I would get there on my walk in between. We would definitely try this at WDW!