Mouse Extra

Perhaps the most highly publicized tavern at Walt Disney World, Raglan Road opened its doors last year on the grounds of Pleasure Island’s former Jazz Club to much fanfare.   I read stories of the amazing amount of detail and authenticity being poured into this place during the conceptual and construction phases.  After it opened, many in the Disney internet and podcasting community literally gushed over the Irish pub.  I’ve been there more than once, and I certainly will not “gush” in this review.

When I think of the great Irish pubs, I think of places that literally ooze atmosphere.  I think of taverns that are filled to the top with warmth and good conversation, places that make you feel right at home.   Raglan Road has none of these qualities.  It is a loud, sprawling and cavernous space that has all the coziness one finds at Grand Central Station.    It certainly is filled with amazing detail, and beautiful wood fixtures.  In fact, you can literally walk around the place for hours looking at it all.   But in the end, any of the great energy these things could bring to a tavern is lost behind a wall of noise and hidden in the shadows.

The service here is hit and miss.  My first experience was so bad that I had to cut the night short and move to a more hospitable pub.   But after all the hype, I couldn’t leave it at that.  So I gave it another try and found much better results.   It’s the time you choose to go that is the key, but even that is a double-edged sword.  Raglan Road offers terrific entertainment in the evenings.   But more often than not, the evenings are jammed with people screaming over the band and getting a drink can be a long and tedious process.  The early afternoons are quiet and the charm in the details comes out.   But then, you are missing out on part of the experience. 

The food is over priced, but to be fair precious few places in Disney World are not overpriced.  I guess it would be better to say that it is not any more overpriced than other places here, so it’s hard to complain about that.   Luckily the menu is a good one.  There are some interesting offerings and everything I’ve had was well prepared and left me with no quality complaints.

The best quality about Raglan Road is its beer selection.  If you are looking for something interesting on draft, there no better place on property than this place.  From interesting British and Irish beers, to some nice European selections that you don’t find in other places.  The test is what becomes of this variety.   In five years time, will they have the same choices?  Will they change to more “popular” items?  Or will they continue to be adventurous?  That will tell a lot about how serious a beer-lovers places this truly is.

I guess I would characterize my view on Raglan Road as mixed.  Perhaps the hype raised the bar too high for me to fairly consider it, but that is why I didn’t just leave after my first bad experience and hammer away at it as a bad, poorly run place.  It is not bad by any means, and the food and beer are both good.  But don’t expect to be wowed by it.  It may have some great conversation pieces hanging on the wall, and some authentic furniture, but it doesn’t inspire a great Irish pub like one may think.