The 50's Prime Time Café is a restaurant at

Disney's Hollywood Studios Disney's Hollywood Studios is a theme park at the Walt Disney World Resort in Bay Lake, Florida, near Orlando. It is owned and operated by the Walt Disney Company through its Experiences division. Based on a concept by Marty Sklar, Randy Br ...

, one of the four main

theme park An amusement park is a park that features various attractions, such as rides and games, and events for entertainment purposes. A theme park is a type of amusement park that bases its structures and attractions around a central theme, often fea ...

s at

Walt Disney World The Walt Disney World Resort is an destination resort, entertainment resort complex located about southwest of Orlando, Florida, United States. Opened on October 1, 1971, the resort is operated by Disney Experiences, a division of the Wa ...

. The restaurant replicates the

kitsch ''Kitsch'' ( ; loanword from German) is a term applied to art and design that is perceived as Naivety, naïve imitation, overly eccentric, gratuitous or of banal Taste (sociology), taste. The modern avant-garde traditionally opposed kitsch ...

of a 1950s

diner A diner is a type of restaurant found across the United States and Canada, as well as parts of Western Europe and Australia. Diners offer a wide range of cuisine, mostly American cuisine, a casual atmosphere, and, characteristically, a comb ...

. The waitresses dress similarly to ''

Leave It to Beaver ''Leave It to Beaver'' is an American television sitcom that follows the misadventures of a suburban boy, his family and his friends. It starred Barbara Billingsley, Hugh Beaumont, Tony Dow and Jerry Mathers. CBS first broadcast the show ...

'' character June Cleaver, and each acts as though she is the mother of the guests she is serving, to the point of scolding and giving (mild) discipline to the patrons if they are "misbehaving" (similar to the concept of themed restaurants such as Ed Debevic's (a 1950s-themed diner in Chicago) and Dick's Last Resort, where the servers are specifically trained to be obnoxious). While eating, guests watch 1950s television shows such as ''Leave It to Beaver'' and '' Topper'' on black-and-white televisions. Menu items include chicken pot pie,

pot roast Pot roast is a beef dish made by slow cooking a (usually tough) cut of beef in moist heat, on a kitchen stove top with a covered vessel or pressure cooker, in an oven or slow cooker. Cuts such as chuck steak, bottom round, short ribs and ...

fried chicken Fried chicken, also called Southern fried chicken, is a dish consisting of chicken pieces that have been coated with seasoned flour or batter and pan-fried, deep fried, pressure fried, or air fried. The breading adds a crisp coating or ...

, meatloaf, and

milkshake A milkshake (sometimes simply called a shake) is a sweet beverage made by blending milk, ice cream, and flavorings or sweeteners such as butterscotch, caramel sauce, chocolate syrup, or fruit syrup into a thick, sweet, cold mixture. It may ...

s. The 50's Prime Time Café opened in 1989. Two years later, another theme restaurant opened at the park: the Sci-Fi Dine-In Theater Restaurant; the 50's Prime Time Café had garnered much success, and Disney hoped that another restaurant that had a strong emphasis on theme would have a similar level of success. The Sci-Fi Dine-In initially received little interest, but, within five weeks of opening, it was serving between 1,500 and 2,000 meals on a daily basis, just as the 50's Prime Time Café was doing. These restaurants are two of the four in the park that offer

table service The foodservice (US English) or catering (British and Commonwealth English) Industry (economics), industry includes the businesses, institutions, and companies which prepare meals outside the home. It includes restaurants, grocery stores, school ...

, the others being the Hollywood Brown Derby and Mama Melrose's Ristorante Italiano. In the book ''Walt Disney World Resort: Also Includes Seaworld and Central Florida'', Corey Sandler writes that the 50's Prime Time Café ties with the Beaches and Cream Soda Shop at Disney's Beach Club Resort for the best milkshakes in Walt Disney World.Sandler (2007), p. 46.

References

Bibliography

* * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:50's Prime Time Cafe Disney's Hollywood Studios Walt Disney World restaurants 1950s in American television 1989 establishments in Florida Restaurants established in 1989 Retro style Nostalgia in the United States Restaurants in Florida