I like that you can get alcohol like this Bud Light beer at Captain Cook's at the Polynesian Resort at the Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida near Magic Kingdom

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Let’s face it, the food at the Walt Disney World Resort is not exactly the resort’s strong point.  But that doesn’t mean there aren’t great dining options.  There are plenty of great dining options around the resort.  Some of them are at the hotels at the Walt Disney World Resort.

And that is the case for Captain Cook’s.  Capt. Cook’s is a restaurant at Disney’s Polynesian Resort.  It is a quick-service dining option.  This means you can order your food ahead of time and then pick up your food and eat it there.  So it is not a sit-down table restaurant where your server brings you out food.  So it is a bit more affordable than a sit-down restaurant.

Capt. Cook’s serves breakfast, lunch, and dinner.  It is a great option if you are staying at Disney’s Polynesian Resort.  By the way, if you are staying at Polynesian or are planning a trip to Polynesian, check out our tips for staying at the Polynesian Resort.  And here is a virtual tour of the Polynesian Resort:

Getting to Captain Cook

But I think Captain Cook can be a great dining choice even if you are not staying at the Polynesian Resort.  And that is because of its location on the monorail line.

Because let’s face it.  Dining at Magic Kingdom isn’t as good as the dining at, say, the World Showcase at Epcot.  There are very few sit-down restaurants at Magic Kingdom.  And with the few there are, it can often be hard to get a dining reservation.  A lot of the quick service restaurants at Magic Kingdom often have few seats available, too.  And there’s not a huge variety of food at the restaurants at Magic Kingdom.  Also, not all restaurants at Magic Kingdom offer alcoholic beverages.

But Captain Cook’s gives you another dining option – and one with alcoholic beverage options.  All you have to do is get on the resort monorail line after a morning or evening at the Magic Kingdom.

Contemporary, Polynesian and the Grand Floridian Resort & Spa at Walt Disney World in Orlando all have monorail access to the Magic Kingdom

Then, you get off at the Polynesian Resort.  You can even do a mobile order on your phone while you are on the monorail.

You can enjoy your meal at Captain Cook’s.  And then when you are done with your meal, you can get back on the monorail line.  This is perfect if you are staying offsite and you need to get back to the Ticket & Transportation Center (or TTC).  Because the resort monorail line has a stop at the TTC.

It’s also convenient if you are staying at Grand Floridian Resort & Spa or the Contemporary Resort, because they are also on the monorail line.

Otherwise, you can go back to Magic Kingdom and take a bus or boat to your hotel.

Additionally, if you have lunch here and you want to park hop after lunch, you can take a bus from the Polynesian to the next theme park.  My family did this once after we had breakfast at Ohana (see our review of that experience here), which is also at the Polynesian Resort.  After our meal, we took the bus to Animal Kingdom.

So you can easily get to Captain Cook from anywhere at the Walt Disney World Resort.

Captain Cook Decor

So part of the reason I love going to Captain Cook’s is the great decor and atmosphere.  There are posters up of the different Polynesian Islands represented at Disney’s Polynesian Resort.

Capt. Cooks at Polynesian Village at Walt Disney World

See signs for Moorea, Fiji & other islands at Disney's Polynesian Resort's quick-service dining option, Captain Cook's

My family loves the decor and atmosphere at Captain Cook's restaurant at Disney's Polynesian Resort

A picture of the great decor and atmosphere at Capt. Cook's, a restaurant at the Polynesian hotel at the Walt Disney World Resort

In addition to views of the posters, you also have great views of the pool at Polynesian.  You can also get great views of the entire Polynesian Resort, which I think is one of the prettiest hotels at Disney World.  And you can get great views of the Polynesian Resort by sitting at one of the tables outside!

I love the views you can get at Captain Cook's a quick service restaurant at Disney's Polynesian Resort in Orlando, Florida

Disney's Capt. Cook quick-service restaurant has great views, atmosphere and decor

Captain Cook's at the Walt Disney World Resort near Magic Kingdom has outdoor seating

Captain Cook Breakfast

But enough about the decor, atmosphere, and how to get to Capt. Cook’s.  Ultimately, why bother going if the food isn’t good, right?

But that is not the case with Captain Cook’s.  It is great no matter what meal you have here.

But let’s start with breakfast.  I love the breakfast options at Captain Cook’s.  It’s a really great way to start your morning at Disney World.

You can go with classic Disney breakfast options, like the Mickey waffles.  Because what is a more iconic Disney World breakfast than Mickey Waffles?

Mickey waffles are one of the many breakfast options at Capt. Cook's at the Polynesian hotel at the Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, FL

You can also get a great Bounty Breakfast Platter.

French toast, biscuits, eggs, bacon, and breakfast potatoes are some of the foods you can get at Capt. Cook's in the Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, FL

This is a great option for anyone (like myself) who loves breakfast foods.  You can get a bit of everything with this option, like Scrambled Eggs, French Toast, Bacon, Breakfast Potatoes, Sausage, and a Biscuit.

But there are other great options on the menu at Captain Cook’s.  They have some really great side orders.  Side orders are great because you can save money by ordering a side item rather than an entree.  Our favorite is the breakfast potatoes.

Captain Cook's at Walt Disney World Resort has surprisingly affordable breakfast potatoes for under $5 you can share with your family

Right now, it is only $4.49, which is cheaper than most breakfast items you can order at Disney World (or other restaurants, honestly).  And they don’t scrimp on the portion size, as you can see in the picture.

And the breakfast potatoes are delicious, too!  Other sides you can get if you want more meat in your breakfast are sausage and bacon.  You can even order multiple sides and share them with your family.  And since you can do a mobile order, you don’t have to worry about a judgmental glance from your server for only ordering sides, either!

Lunch & Dinner

So, here’s one negative I will say for this restaurant.  And that is that I really miss some of the items that used to be available here.  Prior to 2020, I loved coming here and ordering a Hawaiian pizza.  It was really delicious and had onions, pineapple, and ham.

But unfortunately, they no longer offer those pizzas.  Their menu is a lot different now.

But that’s not to say the menu is bad.  There are some great items on the menu.

One cool thing about their menu is that there are both Polynesian entrees and American entrees.  This means you can get more unique foods if you are looking for a change from the small handful of food items you can get at Magic Kingdom.  Here, you can get more unique items like an Aloha Pork Sandwich, Thai Coconut Meatballs, and Pan Asian Noodles and Vegetables.  These are not available at your standard restaurant at the Magic Kingdom.

But they also have non-Polynesian items, too, like Walt’s Favorite 1958 Chili.  One entree I like is that they have Chicken Breast Nuggets.  I know this sounds like a small thing, but it’s actually really cool you can get chicken nuggets here.  Most chicken options at Magic Kingdom are chicken strips, but I like chicken better in nugget form personally.  And the chicken nuggets here are really good.  You can get French Fries or homemade chips with it.

One of the only places in or near the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World to get chicken nuggets is Captain Cook's., a quick service restaurant at Disney's Polynesian Resort

They also have some great Chicken Wings here, too.  You can choose your dipping sauce.  You have a choice between Korean Barbeque Sauce, Buffalo, and Parmesan Black Pepper.  I chose Parmesan Black Pepper, and it was so delicious!

I thought the chicken wings at Disney's Polynesian Resort's Capt. Cook's restaurant were delicious. Flavorful but not too spicy.

It was flavorful but at the same time wasn’t too spicy.  I was kind of expecting a dipping sauce and there wasn’t, but that didn’t matter at all.  It was really good.  I love the way they were made.

And as I mentioned before, you can get alcohol here.  Enough said.

I like that you can get alcohol like this Bud Light beer at Captain Cook's at the Polynesian Resort at the Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida near Magic Kingdom

Refillable Mug System

Speaking of drinks, Captain Cook participates in the refillable mug system at the Walt Disney World Resort.  This is where you can buy a mug and then during your vacation, you can refill it for free at any of the Disney hotels.  So if you are staying at another Disney hotel and you buy this mug, you can bring it along with you and use it here.

We did this during our last stay.  You can see it for yourself in the previous picture.

We bought our refillable mug during our stay at Disney’s Riviera Resort.  I then rinsed them out and put them in a Ziploc bag and put it in my backpack.  And then we were able to use our mugs when we ate here.

Dessert

My grandfather thought no meal was complete without dessert.  So of course I had to mention the desserts!

There are a lot of great desserts available here.  One of my favorites is the cupcakes.  They always have great cupcakes available that are wonderfully Disney-themed.  When I was there, I got one Moana-themed cupcake, which makes sense since it is the Polynesian Resort, after all.

I love the Moana cupcakes you can get at the Polynesian hotel at the Walt Disney World Resort

The other was themed to the Walt Disney World Resort 50th Anniversary.

My family loves the special cupcakes you can buy at Captain Cook's at the Polynesian Resort like this Walt Disney World 50th Anniversary one

You can order these ahead of time with mobile ordering or just pick one out of the refrigerator and buy it there.

I can’t guarantee you will get these cupcakes as the dessert options often change.  But these are the type of creative cupcakes you can get here, and I think it adds to your overall meal.

Conclusion

Capt. Cook’s is a great restaurant at the Walt Disney World Resort for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.  It is more affordable than other dining options, especially by using our tips like ordering side items and using a refillable mug.  You can easily get to Captain Cook’s from Magic Kingdom via the monorail.  And unlike with most dining options at Magic Kingdom, you can order alcohol with your meal.

So if you take a vacation to the Walt Disney World Resort, we highly recommend visiting Captain Cook’s!