Following up the flushing success of the Tangled Bathrooms at Walt Disney World–arguably the very best bogs wherever–Imagineering has doubled down on Rapunzel with extra than simply restrooms. This Snuggly Duckling evaluate and photograph tour takes you contained in the second in-park restaurant devoted to Blondie and Eugene Fitzherbert.
The Snuggly Duckling is a counter service restaurant in Fantasy Springs, the brand new port-of-call themed to Peter Pan, Tangled and Frozen at Tokyo DisneySea. Considerably like New Fantasyland over a decade earlier than it, Fantasy Springs blends a number of mental properties right into a single land in approach that works. See our Fantasy Springs Assessment: Nice Land, Good Port for extra on that.
Rapunzel’s Forest is the smallest space in Fantasy Springs, transporting visitors into the world of the Walt Disney Animation Studios movie, Tangled. On this miniland, visitors can take pleasure in Rapunzel’s Lantern Competition, the primary Tangled attraction wherever on the earth to carry the story of Rapunzel to life in what is likely to be Disney’s most romantic trip ever (as mentioned/debated in our trip evaluate).
The opposite spotlight of Rapunzel’s Forest is the Snuggly Duckling restaurant, which is impressed by the tavern frequented by the ruffians within the movie. Regardless of the Tangled space being smaller than its counterparts impressed by Frozen and Peter Pan, that is the biggest restaurant of the bunch in Fantasy Springs, with a colossal 620-seat capability.
This model of the Snuggly Duckling builds on the thought of the unique Tangled Tree Tavern at Shanghai Disneyland and expands upon it considerably, with a number of indoor and outside seating areas. The perfect comparability might be Gaston’s Tavern, both the model in Magic Kingdom or the bigger one subsequent door at Tokyo Disneyland. The Snuggly Duckling is considerably bigger than all of these eating places, however the concept of a ‘Tangled Tavern’ is analogous.
The Snuggling Duckling is like stepping onto the ‘set’ of Tangled, with the outside completely pulled from the movie. The tavern’s facade is hidden behind the foliage of a large tree that’s partially rising into the constructing, with the long-lasting Snuggly Duckling signal by the doorway welcoming visitors inside.
As soon as inside, you’ll discover loads of inventive liberties taken, as this can be a high-capacity counter service restaurant inside a hangout for ruffians. The order and pickup areas alone are most likely in regards to the measurement of Gaston’s Tavern in Magic Kingdom. Talking of which, visitors want a Cell Order simply to enter the Snuggly Duckling restaurant, and there’s no ordering on the money registers inside.
We’d count on this to alter in the end, as we’ve seen that Cell Order hasn’t actually caught on at Tokyo Disney Resort (strides have been made, however Japan isn’t a cashless nation). For now, demand exceeds provide–regardless of the Tangled tavern’s large measurement–so Cell Order spots are filling up.
There’s no substitute for seeing inside your self, so let’s begin with a glance across the numerous eating rooms of the Snuggly Duckling:
There’s no two methods about it–the Snuggly Duckling is a large mess corridor. It’s one of many largest eating places at Tokyo DisneySea, behind solely Zambini Brothers and Casbah Meals Court docket. Additionally like these colossal counter service eateries, it manages to really feel rather more intimate because of distinctive themed design work and the area being damaged up into a number of eating rooms.
There are a complete of 4 such seating areas–3 indoors and 1 outdoors–together with the huge ordering space. Every have a defining thematic factor (this jogged my memory of Be Our Visitor) that units the tone. One has a piano for Hook Hand to play, one other encompasses a hearth and exquisite bear chair, and the ultimate room is highlighted by a shocking murals and art work painted by Rapunzel.
Very similar to the ruffians and the tavern within the movie, the Snuggly Duckling affords a pleasant dichotomy of manly males and female enjoyable. You’ll spot weapons caught within the partitions, partitions broken from roughhousing and various antics, kegs and casks, skulls and bones–that type of stuff. Then you definitely’ll see magical unicorns, flowery princess work, and so forth.
In all places you look, there’s one thing to see. The inside itself is precisely what you’d count on of a tavern–masculine woods and rustic allure, with uncovered beams, stone archways, heat lantern lighting, and that kind of factor. The decor is an train in tonal contradictions, there’s plenty of it, and it’s very amusing. Imagineering did a superlative job of balancing the park’s sensible want for rather more counter service eating capability with the expectation that this supply Tokyo DisneySea-caliber design and a spotlight to element. Mission achieved.
With the attractive themed design on the Snuggly Duckling out of the way in which, let’s flip to the menu.
That is the place the Snuggly Duckling goes to go off the rails for many of you.
The Snuggly Duckling is considered one of Tokyo DisneySea’s crowd-pleasing eating places, with a menu consisting of burgers, sandwiches, and even a plant-based choice. I do know what you is likely to be pondering: “Implausible–lastly one thing for my household!” You’re most likely flawed.
That is, basically, American theme park fare as reinterpreted for Japanese tastes. And you know the way folks complain about World Showcase at EPCOT not providing actually genuine delicacies from [insert any of the countries]? Identical concept right here.
Let’s begin with the Fried Shrimp Burger. This may be bought as a sandwich-only, or as a part of a set with a salad or fries and selection of soppy drink.
The fried shrimp patty has a pleasant crunch and texture, the slaw provides a little bit of taste, and so too does the sauce–which struck me as a cross between thousand island dressing and tartar sauce.
This can be a respectable choice should you take pleasure in this type of factor. I like seafood and eat plenty of it in Japan, however would quite have grocery retailer sushi (which is definitely fairly good!) than this. Sarah preferred it even lower than I did. However, I ought to most likely share that each American we all know most popular this to the opposite major choice on the Snuggly Duckling.
That’s the Duckling Dream Cheeseburger. This will also be purchased as a burger by itself, or as a part of a set with salad or fries and gentle drink.
Each American we all know hates this. Each Japanese Disney fan we all know loves it. Each of these statements are just about throughout the board. There’s one huge exception: we considerably preferred this!
And the “we” there isn’t simply me talking for the weblog. I’m most likely going to wreck her wholesome dwelling avenue cred, however Sarah considerably preferred this, too. I can’t even start to explain why–maybe it was that we have been craving American consolation meals after a month-plus of sushi and ramen? I don’t actually know, actually. I usually hate TDR burgers, however I virtually preferred this (virtually). It’s truly edible and borderline fulfilling.
This burger’s sauce is just like the fried shrimp sandwich, minus the tartar sauce. These burger is topped with tomato, a thick slice of highly-processed ham, and slaw. The patty is low high quality, typical of what you’d discover at different counter service eating places round Tokyo Disney Resort. It appears terrible (above is the greatest trying model of this we obtained).
But in some way, it comes collectively and tastes kinda good. Virtually addictively so? Once more, no clue why. My principle is the hunk of ham melds with the sauce and the random chemical compounds which might be absolutely within the numerous elements and in some way–towards all odds–affords a novel and fascinating taste.
Look, I can’t clarify myself and I do know “this appears terrible, is low-quality, highly-processed, and shouldn’t style good…however does; I cannot additional clarify why or how” isn’t precisely compelling critique. However I additionally know this wasn’t a one-off. We ate (I’m virtually embarrassed to say the quantity) 4 of the Duckling Dream Cheeseburgers over the course of our visits to Fantasy Springs.
With that mentioned, there are two huge causes for repeatedly revisiting this dish. First, this burger prices like $6 because of the low worth and trade fee, and the one different full meal different is the rather more costly Frozen restaurant. Second, you may’t precisely come and go from Fantasy Springs as you please proper now as a result of stringent digital queue and timed entry. However for that, we’d’ve solely eaten on the Snuggly Duckling as soon as.
For its specialty drink, the Snuggly Duckling serves up Rapunzel’s Magical Milk Tea.
This milk tea is creamy and candy–a regular sweetened black tea, plus milk, and tapioca balls together with a touch of fruitiness. Sarah discovered it to be a bit too candy, however I assumed it was excellent.
I might get this many times–and in reality, I did. The Trip Bundle contains limitless drinks, and I put down a couple of half-dozen of those puppies over the course of sooner or later. Now that was an excessive amount of sugar.
The primary dessert served on the Snuggly Duckling is the Caramel Duckling Muffin.
What you see is what you get right here, which could truly be reward contemplating the remainder of the menu. This can be a common spice-cake muffin topped with cream and stuffed with caramel. It’s gentle, moist and flavorful. It tastes precisely prefer it ought to, with no discernible faults or psychological gymnastics required for a constructive evaluate.
With that mentioned, it’s a quite simple dessert in a park that has over a dozen spectacular snacks. Regardless that it’s low-cost, there are higher makes use of of your restricted abdomen area until you’re actually into muffins or have like 2 weeks at Tokyo Disney Resort.
Lastly, there’s the Sweets Ever After dessert, which is arguably the flagship menu providing given it’s served in Rapunzel’s signature skillet.
That is wonderful. Let’s be trustworthy with each other–you’re ordering this for the photograph, doin’ it for the ‘Gram, as the youngsters say. Proper? And it’ll fill the function of constructing fellow followers envious.
As for the style, the Sweets Ever After sadly isn’t something particular. It’s topped with tasty strawberry and blueberry, together with a lemon cream that gives a sweet-but-artificial tartness. No complaints about any of this. It’s the pastry itself, which is deflated within the center and approach too chewy all through, that makes this dessert a dud. (I’d fortunately revisit this sooner or later if I see images that look puffy and ethereal, which is how I assume this needs to be.)
In the end, the Snuggly Duckling is an stable addition to the restaurant lineup at Tokyo DisneySea. The park desperately wanted extra counter service eating capability, and that is simply the ticket: a high-capacity and fully-fledged counter service restaurant. It’s principally Tokyo DisneySea’s reply to Tomorrowland Terrace at Tokyo Disneyland, however with a significantly better setting.
The Snuggly Duckling is an effective choice for choosy eaters who discover the park’s different counter service eating places to be unapproachable for no matter cause. With that mentioned, I might see plenty of American palates being put-off by the feel and consistency of the burger and every part in regards to the fried shrimp sandwich. So I assume extra precisely, it’s a superb choice for Japanese choosy eaters, which can not make it easier to a lot should you’re studying this English language evaluate.
Thematically, the Snuggly Duckling can be very sturdy. If this have been a brand new quick-service restaurant at Walt Disney World or Disneyland, we’d be showering it with reward for the lavishness and a spotlight to element. But it surely’s not. At Tokyo DisneySea, that is in step with different large meal halls, however–at greatest–center of the pack general from a thematic perspective.
All issues thought-about, it’s very troublesome to actively suggest the Snuggly Duckling until you’re a hardcore Tangled fan, want a plant-based choice, discover the opposite menus unapproachable, or are caught consuming in Fantasy Springs and don’t wish to splurge on the Frozen restaurant. Regardless that we preferred the burger that everybody else likes to hate, this wouldn’t crack my prime 10 locations to eat at Tokyo DisneySea.
In a really perfect world, you’d use the Trip Bundle to see the within of the Snuggly Duckling and check out Rapunzel’s Magical Milk Tea. Failing that, Cell Order one of many Dream Burgers to share, see if we’re out of our minds, and use that as your ticket inside. The Snuggly Duckling is certainly price seeing, however even with essentially the most charitable attainable opinions of the menu, it’s not price your restricted abdomen area until you’ve got very, very particular tastes.
Planning a visit to Tokyo Disney Resort? For complete recommendation, the very best place to begin is our Tokyo Disneyland & DisneySea Journey Planning Information! For extra specifics, our TDR Resort Rankings & Opinions web page covers lodging. Our Restaurant Opinions element the place to dine & snack. To save cash on tickets or decide which sort to purchase, learn our Ideas for Saving Cash publish. Our What to Pack for Disney publish takes a novel have a look at intelligent gadgets to take. Venturing elsewhere in Japan? Seek the advice of our Final Information to Kyoto, Japan and Metropolis Information to Tokyo, Japan.
YOUR THOUGHTS
Have you ever dined on the Snuggly Duckling? What’d you order? Did you like or hate the meals? Suppose we’re loopy for kinda, sorta having fun with the burger? Ideas on how the Tangled restaurant stacks as much as different choices at Tokyo DisneySea from a thematic perspective? Do you agree or disagree with our evaluate? Any questions? Listening to your suggestions–even if you disagree with us–is each fascinating to us and useful to different readers, so please share your ideas beneath within the feedback!
