This is the Disney Food Blog, so obviously we LOVE Disney restaurants. However, that doesn’t mean we wouldn’t change any of them…
Cinderella Castle
Magic Kingdom is home to some iconic Disney restaurants, including some we adore. With that said, there is ONE Magic Kingdom restaurant that we have some beef with. The Diamond Horseshoe has us feeling a certain type of way, and it’s not good.
The sister restaurant of Disneyland’s The Golden Horseshoe, Magic Kingdom’s The Diamond Horseshoe is also found in Frontierland. Diamond Horseshoe does have one major difference, however — the menu. Ironically it’s The Diamond Horseshoe’s menu that has us peeved. Read below to find out why!
The Diamond Horseshoe
The Diamond Horseshoe’s menu features an all-you-can-eat meal for $42 for adults and $23 for kids and includes Magic Kingdom’s version of a massive Thanksgiving dinner.
You’d be forgiven if you think that sounds oddly familiar. Over in Liberty Square, Liberty Tree Tavern offers a nearly identical menu at the exact same prices. And Liberty Tree Tavern does it better.
Spot the hidden Mickey?
Six years ago in a review of The Diamond Horseshoe, we suggested dining at Liberty Tree Tavern over The Diamond Horseshoe. We still feel that way. The Diamond Horseshoe can often be mediocre, but does it have to be?
Instead of just being Liberty Tree Tavern Part 2, might we suggest The Diamond Horseshoe shake it up? That starts with the menu and trying something different. There are plenty of thematic meals the restaurant could lean into and, frankly, any step in a different direction would be a welcome one. It’s time The Diamond Horseshoe became its own thing.
Barbecued Chicken Sandwich at Diamond Horseshoe in 2015
Before it served an all-you-can-eat meal, The Diamond Horseshoe offered a limited number of quick-service sandwiches and some other theme park fare, including a barbecued chicken sandwich. The food was really middling and there’s a reason the restaurant went through a complete menu overhaul, but maybe there was something to pull from.
Perhaps leaning into the barbecue aspect was the right play. Magic Kingdom lacks a notable barbecue offering, and imagine if it served thematically appropriate, elevated barbecue cuisine with fantastic entertainment in the background. In the past, The Diamond Horseshoe was a show, and, in 1995, it became an experience where you could walk in during the show and purchase quick-service food. In 2003, it became Goofy’s Country Dancin’ Jamboree until the show aspect was abandoned altogether the same year.
The Diamond Horseshoe stage
Disney loves to move forward, but in this instance, we think going backward could make a positive difference. Returning to the dinner-and-a-show atmosphere while serving great barbecue meals could elevate this now-forgettable dining experience. Really though, we’d embrace any kind of change just as long as this one-time Magic Kingdom staple was allowed to be unique again.
Are we being too harsh on The Diamond Horseshoe or not harsh enough? Let us know your thoughts and stay tuned here at DFB for all things Disney World!
Our FAVORITE Meal at Every Magic Kingdom Restaurant
If you could change The Diamond Horseshoe’s menu, what would you include? What would you omit? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
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Omg, we had the worst experience here, and not because of the food. We love Liberty Tree and decided to try this for an atmosphere change. There was only early lunch reservations available (11am). We were literally only one of three occupied tables in there. They could have sat us anywhere, but decided on a table to the left, directly in front of the bar and door into the kitchen. Because the wait staff didn’t have anyone to wait on yet, they all (including our waiter) were standing around at the bar. Not a big deal if they had been chatting amongst themselves. But they weren’t. They were 6 feet away from us, just standing there watching us eat. I think they were trying to be professional by not talking, but it definitely made it worse, lol! My daughter and I were getting self conscious big time. We didn’t refill anything, opting to get out quickly because it was super uncomfortable 😂
Our family just ate there two weeks ago and we loved it. The tables are more spaced out than Liberty Tree next door so we didn’t have to hear our neighbors conversations. Also, it was the same great food we had at Liberty Tree and the servers has less tables to look after so they were away to get us things faster.
Back yard bbq theme!!! Buffet style. Option of full plates or small plate menu!! And PLEEEEZE!!! Salads!!!!
I love Diamond Horseshoe and Liberty Tree just the way they are! If you don’t like the food there you don’t have to go there. If you don’t like your table and other tables are open , you can ask to be moved! When Disney changed Peco’s Bills that ended this restaurant for a lot of guests because we loved the food as it was not as it is now! I hope Disney doesn’t do that again!
Not just this one but also Pecos Bill!
I’d rather something old west themed, but what?
I do like the idea of a stage show and the concept of share-able plates. And Whiskey, lets have some Whiskey and Shirley Temples.
I agree with you. When we first came to Orlando, My husband and I came to the Diamond Horseshoe once a week for lunch. We enjoyed the atmosphere and the sandwiches were pretty good. So disappointed when it became Liberty Tree 2.0. Liberty Tree is soooo much better. Bring back the quick serve sandwiches!
We ate there at Christmas 2021 because Liberty Tree had no availability and we were looking for a Christmas-type meal. Itt was pretty crowded that day and while the food was good and our server was great it just didn’t have the same ambience as Liberty Tree for that type of cuisine. Having said that I had been wanting to go there for a number of years to try their barbecue dinners but could never get the logistics right. I hope they will return to the barbecue. If they do we will definitely try them.
I have to agree that the Golden Horseshoe both needs and deserves to be unique. I’m old enough and fortunate enough to have been able to visit Disneyland when the original show and cast, including the wonderful Wally Boag, were performing. I believe it was my mom who remarked at the time that it would have been nice to get a full meal instead of the Pepsi an d snacks on offer at that time.
I remember when this place had a menu you could order off of like a regular restaurant and not another all you can eat or prefixed menu.
Disney is hot expensive and exhausting. Why are there so many family style, Buffett, and prefixed menus ???? It just feels like a constant money grab for everything.
I like this restaurant. It’s old and charming and the piano is pretty cool. Bringing back a show would be nice but I really hope they go back to a regular menu with some sandwiches, salads etc.
So over the set prices and over feedings.