There are some Walt Disney World restaurants we revisit again and again, especially quick-service dining spots that offer great bang for buck. I’ve already eaten at both Pecos Bill and Columbia Harbour House multiple times this year in Magic Kingdom, along with plenty of other spots ‘for research.’
Over at EPCOT, frequent favorites are Sunshine Seasons, as well as the bakeries in France and Germany, and even Connections Eatery or Regal Eagle in a pinch. And that’s in addition to festival booths, which have become our de facto counter service replacements most of the time. We admittedly don’t spend as much time in Animal Kingdom, yet have managed to do solid numbers at Satu’li Canteen (especially with breakfast back).
Disney’s Hollywood Studios is a different story. I’ve long said that DHS has an underrated culinary scene, and is an underappreciated food park among Walt Disney World fans. There are several restaurants here we really like and recommend. At least, on paper. In practice, we’re also among the fans doing the underappreciating. We routinely Park Hop between DHS and EPCOT, and eat at the latter at least three-quarters of the time when we do. On the increasingly rare occasions when I’m doing all-day Lightning Lane testing at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, I’m eating the exact same meal at ABC Commissary. (There hasn’t been a “need” to research other restaurants, is my excuse.)
Cutting to the chase, the result has been that we’ve largely found excuses to avoid the second-best in-park option on our list of the Top 20 Counter Service Restaurants at Walt Disney World. We’re talking about Docking Bay 7 Food & Cargo, which is the large-scale quick-service spot in Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge, located between Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run and Ronto Roasters. And honestly, almost every time I’ve gone to Docking Bay 7 in the last couple of years, I’ve ended up eating something from the Ronto Roasters menu, a spot that doesn’t even make the ‘best of’ list!
The reasons for this are pretty simple. Whenever mulling over a meal at Docking Bay 7, I see the menu prices and am reminded that every dish I love is at least $17 (or only available at Disneyland). I also remember that the last few times we’ve dined here during the post-reopening era, I’ve left hungry.
Price increases and portion cuts are nothing unique to Docking Bay 7. I would say that almost no restaurant has been safe from both, with a few rare exceptions. That’s why the somewhat surprising picks of Pecos Bill at Magic Kingdom and (especially) both Regal Eagle and Connections Eatery in EPCOT made the list above. Same with Satu’li Canteen, albeit to a much lesser extent (it’s hit or miss).
You might recall the exact moment when this trend started. Dearly departed CFO Christine McCarthy was asked on an earnings call about the impact of inflation on Walt Disney World. That’s when she made this infamous comment: “We can adjust suppliers. We can substitute products. We can cut portion sizes, which is probably good for some people’s waistlines.” So really, we should all be thankful for these smaller portions. This isn’t about “shrinkflation!” No, it’s about Disney doing us a solid and trying to help us slim down. C’mon everyone, can’t you see it?!
Don’t worry, I can’t either. And that’s precisely why I don’t eat much at Docking Bay 7 anymore. As much as I love the food there, I do not love dropping $17 or $18 on a counter service entree…only to leave hungry. That’s happened more times than I can count at the Star Wars restaurant. To be fair, it’s happened plenty of other places, but it seems to occur more there than just about anywhere else. Flame Tree BBQ is probably #2 in that regard, and that’s why I also don’t eat there much anymore.
Anyway, I still like the menu at Docking Bay 7 and think it’s one of the best counter service restaurants at Walt Disney World, and easily #1 at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. But all of that is on paper or in theory. In practice, I eat at Ronto Roasters (or the Ronto Wrap from Docking Bay, if it’s later) more often–and ABC Commissary or Woody’s Lunchbox most frequently at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. Both have filling guilty pleasure that I crave. It’s funny–the indulgent comfort foods generally haven’t gotten much smaller due to cheaper ingredients in the first place, so the things that are worst for my waistline are just as big and bad as ever!
I would eat at Docking Bay 7 a lot more frequently if we were on the Disney Dining Plan, but we almost never use it anymore. This is despite the Quick-Service Disney Dining Plan being a much better objective value than the regular DDP, and my ability to easily break-even with it, even without ordering any alcohol.
Between the freedom and flexibility that paying out of pocket offers, and the practical reality that interest in our resources about the DDP has plummeted since its return, there just hasn’t been the desire or demand for using the Disney Dining Plan.
I suspect that’s going to change next year thanks to the Kids Eat FREE All Year in 2026 at Walt Disney World perk. In case you missed this, guests staying at one of Walt Disney World’s more than 25 on-site Disney-owned resort hotels throughout 2026 will get a FREE Disney Dining Plan for their kids (ages 3 to 9 at the time of travel) when purchasing a Disney Dining Plan as part of their package for the other members of their party (ages 10 and up at the time of travel).
Unlike regular Free Dining, which has seen its popularity plummet, there’s no catch or fine print. This is a fantastic special offer for regular guests because it will be stackable. Walt Disney World has announced that the Kids Free Dining Plan can be combined with “other select special offers,” meaning you may still be eligible to take advantage of other deals that roll out later in 2026.
In an unprecedented move, it’ll even be available for free on Disney Vacation Club stays, which is unprecedented and huge for us. This means we’ll be using the DDP more starting in late 2026, and will be eating a lot more expensive entrees, especially quick-service ones. We’re guessing that so will many of you!
With all of that in mind, I figured it was worth revisiting Docking Bay 7 during a recent LLMP field testing day because there might now (probably? hopefully?) be more reader interest in these higher-priced entrees. Expensive counter service meals are among the best ways to maximize value on the Disney Dining Plan, even if they are poor picks when paying out of pocket. Let’s dig in…
For my first entree, I ordered the Batuuan Beef and Crispy Topato: Smoky Beef braised in Tamarind Sauce served with Harvest Vegetables.
The Batuuan Beef is a dish that was added somewhat recently, and by that I mean post-COVID. When it originally opened, Docking Bay started with an incredibly expansive menu, had that cut back considerably less than a year later during the phased reopening, and then had new dishes added when things went back to normal. There still aren’t as many entrees as there once were, but it has gotten better.
That was over 2 years ago, so this dish isn’t exactly new. It is, however, $1 less expensive than it was when first introduced to the menu. I probably don’t need to explain to you that Walt Disney World pricing typically does not go in the downward direction. So what gives?
Probably the portion size. I would assume that’s been made smaller (for my waistline), or perhaps Walt Disney World recognized that $19.99 was pushing it for a counter service entree, so they reduced this dish to $18.99. Only a dollar difference, but it brings it closer to the other options, and avoids the appearance of a $20 fast food entree.
Regardless, it’s still overpriced.
The beef is middling. Some bites taste great, and it generally is not too fatty–it’s like a tender, hearty and flavorful stew beef. The first problem is that it’s too dry. This meat would’ve benefitted from a sauce of some sort, or any accompaniment that helped add some juiciness, but the dish as a whole is also quite dry.
The accompaniments are excellent, but it’s a similar story–there aren’t enough of them.
The Crispy Topato (anagram of “potato”) is fantastic. These are really unique herbed fries with a great texture, crunch & crispness, and flavor. I love them and could eat a whole entree (or massive side) of just these. The problem is that there aren’t many of them, so they’re not all that filling.
I didn’t do a great job of photographing it, but it’s a similar story with the harvest vegetable medley underneath. This is a modest bed of veggies that taste good enough, but I was still hungry after finishing this dish. I’d have no complaints were it not $19, but for that amount, the whole thing just felt lacking.
My second entree was the Peka Tuna Poke: Raw Tuna tossed in a Spicy Sriracha Dressing and served with Green Papaya Salad, Pickled Mushrooms, Fresh Herbs, and Crispy Garlic.
When it comes to the protein, this is almost the opposite issue as with the Batuuan Beef–too much of the spiracy sriracha sauce to the point that it masked the flavor of the tuna more than I would’ve liked. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed the dressing, but there was just too much of it directly on the fish.
The portion of the tuna was also smaller than I would’ve liked. You can more or less see the entirety of it in the photo above–there’s not more “hiding” underneath. It’s not bigger than it appears. That’s it.
It would’ve been one thing if this were a salad topped with tuna poke. I could’ve dealt with that, having a more meager amount of meat but with salad as filler.
This didn’t really offer that, though. The bed of salad was largely one-note. I was looking forward to the fresh herbs and crispy garlic, but I couldn’t really taste either. Even the ‘pickled’ mushroom didn’t really stand out.
The predominant flavor was sriracha, and the portion was once again small. To be fair, what I could taste of the tuna was very good, but everything else was just fine, at best. A decent dish if you’re in the market for a sriracha dressing, I suppose, but there are probably more cost-effective ways of attaining that without dropping $18.49 for this entree.
Ultimately, I was once again reminded of why I love the idea of Docking Bay 7 Food & Cargo more than the restaurant in practice. This is at least my third consecutive meal at the Walt Disney World location with undersized (in my opinion) portions for the price. After getting what amounted to two oversized chicken nuggets on a bed of mac & cheese last time (for $16), I swore off the restaurant for a while.
I figured we’d come back the next time Sarah wanted the Felucian Falafel and Hummus Garden Spread, which remains the best value on the menu at only $13.29. While I can’t speak to the portion of that as of Spring 2025, it was still going strong the last time we were there.
The Felucian Falafel plus the Ronto Wrap after 3 p.m. remains the out of pocket play at Docking Bay, with a gamble on the Smoked Kaadu Pork Ribs (sometimes the portion is sizeable and the ribs are meaty, other times not so much!) being the move on the Disney Dining Plan. Any of those options are cheaper than what I ordered, and all of them are also better–even the plant-based one!
Instead, I revisited Docking Bay 7 on my own and dropped roughly $40 on these two entrees…and still did not leave full, despite joining the ‘clean plate club’ (twice!) by eating every last bit of the meats and sides. I wasn’t flat-out hungry like I would’ve been had I just eaten one of these dishes, and I do have an abnormally large appetite (especially at Walt Disney World). But I wasn’t stuffed, as I would’ve expected after dropping forty bucks at a counter service restaurant.
It’s not that these dishes were bad–I’ve had far, far worse at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. It’s just that they were mediocre by Docking Bay 7 standards, and for the price paid. Exactly the type of thing that I’d say could maybe be ‘worth it’ on the Disney Dining Plan if you have credits to spare and are intrigued by either option, but definitely not recommended if you’re paying out of pocket. Suffice to say, I’ll be sticking to my favorites at ABC Commissary and Woody’s Lunch Box, ordering more strategically when Sarah wants to eat here…or just bouncing over to EPCOT, which remains the best option of all.
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YOUR THOUGHTS
Have you noticed smaller portions at Docking Bay 7 or anywhere else at Walt Disney World in the last few years? For ~$19 each, would you expect bigger and/or better dishes from counter service restaurants? If you’ve tried either of these dishes, what’d you think of them? What do you think of the food in Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge at Walt Disney World? Agree or disagree with our assessment of the cuisine at Docking Bay 7? Any questions we can help you answer? Hearing your feedback is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!
