Grab Some Convenience Store Finger Food – Without Leaving the Magic Kingdom
The Magic Kingdom Spring Rolls Cart is actually a small flotilla of various carts and podiums that are located just before the entrance to Adventureland. There's a couple of wheeled keep-warm display ovens (for the Spring Rolls), a couple of wheeled cooler carts (for the dipping sauces and beverages), and some register podiums (where you order and pay for your rolls) — all pushed together to form a new dining location!
The Adventureland Spring Roll Carts are actually a collection of different mobile platforms – beverage coolers, keep-warm display ovens, etc. – while the register stands are a little more permanent looking.
I kind of got sucked into the blogger hype on this one. I kept seeing and hearing about how the Magic Kingdom Cheeseburger Spring Roll would change my life, and how it would become "the" reason I went to Disney because it's the "best Spring Roll ever". Not to bury the lead but ... just meh. More on that in a bit.
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Technically, I think they named this one the Adventureland Spring Roll Cart, but in my head – Adventureland doesn't start until you get on that beautiful wooden bridge with the Adventureland sign overhead. The cart we're talking about is located just before that bridge — kind of where the Central Plaza Hub converges with a bridge to Liberty Square, a bridge to Adventureland, and a bridge to the Crystal Palace. It's an area I call — Bridgeland!The Bridgeland area is super sunny, unless you're there very early in the morning or after the sun has gone down. There are umbrellas around the carts themselves, but if the line is long, there's a good chance you'll be standing in the sun – for a little while anyway.
Only two of the three registers were open on the day we visited. The line was wrapping around the planter a little bit – I'd say there were maybe a dozen guests in front of me when I joined the line. It took longer than I was expecting to work my way through the line – I'd say almost 15 minutes, which is a little hard to understand since there's only really two things on the menu. You should already have a really good idea of what you're going to get before you make it up to the payment register.
There are umbrellas in and around the carts because it's a very sunny location. Unless you're there very early or after the sun has gone down – there's not much shade cover around.
The only comparison I have is for something like an Epcot Food & Wine booth – those lines feel faster than what I experienced here ... with the same number of people in line.
Since it's high-traffic area, connecting the Main Castle Courtyard Hub to Adventureland (with a walkway coming in from the Crystal Place on one side and Liberty Square on the other) — after you've been handed your order, you just kind of feel like you're standing in everyone's way. Which – you are because the line more or less dumps you out into the middle of the main walkway.
I'd recommend finding "a place to be" and have one or more people from your party stand there, while another person waits in line, just so you know where to go after you pick up your order. Unless of course you're just going to eat these on the run, as you make your way to your next destination.
What's The Seating Like
I do think the concept around the Spring Roll carts is a "walk around / finger food" type of idea, because there's not really any place to sit after you pick up your Spring Rolls. I'm not really coordinated enough to walk and eat, so I'm always looking for a ledge or seat or some place to "be" when I get food. There's not really any place like that around here.There are a couple of large concrete planters nearby ... in fact, the line to get to the Spring Roll cart wraps around the back of a good sized planter ledge – but because the location is so popular, those seats and standing areas are usually already taken.
If you walk into Adventureland, a couple of steps past the bridge – there's some additional planter-style seating and standing ledges around the Sunshine Tree Terrace location (the Dole Whip shop). There's not really much else available nearby.
The Cheeseburger Spring Roll
Two Spring Rolls filled with Ground Beef, Diced Pickle, Onion, and Melted Cheese served with Dipping Sauce
price at time of review : $9.50
item score : 6/10
So these were okay. They definitely didn't "change my life" as some Disney bloggers have proclaimed. I'm not sure I'd even really call these "crave worthy" - but they were a fun, mostly good, quick bite. They're on the level of what I'd expect to find at any gas station convenience store like Wawa or 7-Eleven.The Cheeseburger Spring Roll is a good (pre-made) food-service product that you can buy in bulk, heat up, and serve like grab-and-go finger food, or maybe as an appetizer if platted a little differently. They did taste like a Disney Cheeseburger – all the flavors were there – ground beef with warm cheese, some pickles and onion bits. The roll wasn't overstuffed to the point where anything is going to fall out when you bite into it – but at the same time, it wasn't under stuffed either. There really was a good roll-to-stuffing ratio.
The Cheeseburger Spring Roll is moderately stuffed with chopped ground beef, some diced pickle and onion pieces and melted cheese. The flavors of a Disney Cheeseburger – are all in there.
How good the egg roll is – will depend on how long it's been in the keep-warm display case. The top half of ours was really good, flaky, not super heavy but also strong enough to hold all of those cheeseburger flavors in place. The bottom half however, was oily and a little difficult to bite through. Any juices and cheese sauce that's in the spring roll will get absorbed into the bottom of the roll. This is because they're not placed on keep-warm rollers, but a flat oven sheet. If they were on rollers, they would stay fresh longer because any cooking oil and internal sauces would get absorbed evenly.
I suspect, when these are placed hot and fresh in those keep-warm display cases — they're better than they are if you get one that's been sitting on the flat, keep-warm oven pan for more than 10 minutes. I'd even go so far as to say — if the whole roll was as good as the top half of our Cheeseburger Rolls, my score would be a point or two higher.
Here's a closer look a where the Spring Rolls are kept. Clearly, these are fully heated in a different location, and then walked out to the carts on metal trays – before being placed in the keep-warm oven.
I'm not sure if there's anything you can do to better your chances with the keep warm trays though. The cases aren't that large and there didn't seem to be any method to how they were grabbing the spring rolls from the case. In fact – when I was there, a wheeled food carrier showed up and they were actively grabbing new trays to re-stock the display cases. The thing is... there's really no way to tell how long ago any of them were "warmed up fresh".
The dipping sauce was quite good as well. For me, it was an integral part of the Cheeseburger Roll – it added another flavor and texture profile that made the rolls better. The sauce was more like a salad dressing than a "mayo" ... whipped or aerated oil with a little dairy, maybe some tomato product, paprika, a little turmeric maybe, some additional herbs. It's a really nice dip that pairs well with all the elements of the spring roll.
The sauce that is served with the Cheeseburger Spring Roll is an aerated oil-based dressing. While it is really good paried with the spring roll, it's a little nondescript on it's own. I'm guessing there's a tiny bit of ketchup, powdered paprika and a bit of turmeric for color in there? I couldn't tell for sure... it's a nice, complimentary additional flavor.
Price-wise, if you buy these from a restaurant supplier the per item price would be around a $1.10. Directly from the manufacturer (and if you were able to take delivery of a pallet at a time) you might be able to get the cost down to $0.85 per roll. The dipping sauce might cost around $0.20 tops — so these are right in-line with what we know about Disney retail pricing. Outside the park, from a food truck or a convenience store – I'd expect this same item to retail between $6.49 and $7.49.
Pros and Things I Liked
- It is convenient to pick up some quick-stop, gas station style finger food, without leaving Disney
- The Spring Roll really did taste like a Disney-style cheeseburger
- It is one of the least expensive, "served warm", food items you can get inside the park
Things that Surprised Me
- The Spring Rolls aren't kept on rollers, they're laid flat – so if you get one that's been in the keep-warm oven for a while, it's going to be a little oily and chewy on one side
- Even though there's only two things on the menu, it took a while to move through the line
- It's a super sunny area and there's not really any place to "go to" after you pick up your Spring Rolls
Would I go visit the Magic Kingdom Spring Roll Cart again? Yeah, I actually would. I'd like to try one of the other flavors and see if the egg roll was better or the same. Even though it was cool tasting a cheeseburger inside a spring roll ... I'm not sure I'd order the Cheeseburger Spring Roll again. They usually have a pizza version available – that one might be good.
I think I've identified the manufacturer for these as well, and they have a Taco, Rubin and Buffalo Chicken Spring Roll product, along with a Raspberry Cheesecake and Apple Pie Spring Roll as well — if we see some of those rotate into the Spring Roll Cart – I'd go back and try a couple.
