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Magic Kingdom has a wide array of dining options, perhaps more than the other Disney parks. That makes it harder to decide where to eat. Columbia Harbour House is one of those many options and just might be worth your while.
What makes Columbia Harbour House stand out amidst the sea of other options? And why might it not be the best choice for every family?
This post takes a look at all the ins and outs of Columbia Harbour House to help you make the decision whether this is the right restaurant for your family!
Overview of Columbia Harbour House Restaurant
Columbia Harbour House is a restaurant that is almost lost in plain sight. Yes, there is a sign and everything, but it’s a rather unassuming building from the outside. This hides an absolutely enormous interior!
This is a restaurant that won’t suit everyone’s tastes, but it’s a nice offering and provides options for people sick of eating burgers and french fries.
Where is Columbia Harbour House Located?
Columbia Harbour House is located within the Liberty Square section of Magic Kingdom. You will find the entrance to the restaurant across from the entrance to Haunted Mansion, just before you enter into Fantasyland.
What Type of Disney Restaurant is Columbia Harbour House?
Columbia Harbour House is considered a quick service restaurant. That is Disney lingo which essentially means fast food. But don’t confuse this with McDonald’s.
Basically, the structure is the same as fast food. You order at the counter (or via Disney’s mobile ordering), pick up your food from the counter, and seat yourself.
This restaurant counts as 1 Quick Service credit on the Disney Dining Plan.
What are the Columbia Harbour House Hours of Operation?
Columbia Harbour House is open for lunch and dinner. Lunch starts serving at 11:00a, and the restaurant closing time ranges from 7p to 9p. The closing time varies by day, so always double check.
Note: Columbia Harbour House isn’t necessarily open until park closing. Very often Magic Kingdom doesn’t close until 10p or 11p.
Theme and Atmosphere at Columbia Harbour House
If you’ve ever been to Colonial Williamsburg, you know exactly what’s in store for you at Columbia Harbour House! That’s right, Columbia Harbour House brings you to the time of colonial America.
As such, the Cast Members are dressed in colonial costumes and all of the furniture is in styles that harken back to that time in American history.
Columbia Harbour House is actually enormous. At first glance it looks average in size, but it has a second floor that adds a ton of seating.
In fact, I highly recommend that you head right upstairs once you get your food. The first floor tends to get a bit crowded because people just grab a table wherever they see first.
This is a mistake I made the first time I ate here. Rookie!
Once you head upstairs, the seating area spreads out some more and it’s a lot quieter. The last time I was here there were maybe 5 other families spread throughout the second floor with me.
In addition to the space and the quiet, if you grab a table by a window you’ll be able to look out onto Liberty Square while you eat, giving you a nice peaceful respite while you eat.
Disney Planning Pro Tip: If you are looking for a great place to relax and sit down at any point during your day at Magic Kingdom, the second floor of Columbia Harbour House is a great option. It’s large, relatively quiet, and allows you to people watch from air conditioning.
Does Columbia Harbour House have outdoor seating?
The answer to this is yes, and no. There is a small collection of outdoor tables and chairs outside of Columbia Harbour House. These are shared with Liberty Square Marketplace.
But, you can absolutely sit out here to enjoy your meal if there’s a table available!
Columbia Harbour House Menu
Columbia Harbour House definitely serves non-traditional “fast food”. The options lean heavily towards seafood, which will be a deterrent for a lot of people.
However, don’t let that stop you from taking a look at the full menu.
There is a definite New England feel to the menu, as is fitting for something fashioned after colonial America.
Keep in mind, the menus can change at any time, so make sure you double check Disney’s official menu prior to your trip.
Entrees
- Lobster Roll: Chilled Lobster with a touch of Mayonnaise on a New England-style Bun and served with French Fries
- Grilled Shrimp Skewer Platter: Served with Rice and Green Beans
- Fried Shrimp Skewer Platter: Beer-battered Shrimp served with French Fries
- Fish Platter: Beer-battered Fish served with Tartar Sauce and French Fries
- Trio Platter: Combination of Fried Shrimp, Chicken Strips, and Battered Fish served with Fries and Hushpuppies
- Maple Mustard Glazed Salmon: Served with Rice and Green Beans
- Shrimp Salad: Mixed Greens with Cherry Tomatoes, Mild Pepperoncini, Manzanilla Olives, and Capers topped with Grilled Shrimp
- Chicken Strips: Served with French Fries
- Plant Based Crispy Mushroom Roll: Cornmeal-fried Mushrooms, Plant-based Spicy Tartar Sauce, Lettuce, Tomatoes, and a Pickle served with French Fries
Sides
- New England Clam Chowder
- Black Garlic, Truffle, and Parmesan Fries: French Fries topped with Black Garlic-Truffle Aïoli and Parmesan
- French Fries
- Hushpuppies
- Rice
- Green Beans
- PB&J Uncrustable
Kids’ Menu
All of the children’s meals come with a choice of sides and a beverage.
- Shrimp Skewer
- Grilled Salmon
- Turkey Sandwich Kid’s Pack
- Fried Shrimp
- Chicken Strips (2 pieces)
Columbia Harbour House Gluten Free Menu
As always, I have to give a shoutout to my fellow gluten free eaters! Columbia Harbour House offers a few different gluten free menu items.
- Grilled Salmon (adult and kid size)
- Maple Mustard Glazed Salmon
- Shrimp Skewers (adult and kid size)
- Shrimp Salad
- Chicken Strips (4 pieces for adults; 2 pieces for kids)
- French Fries
- Rice
- Green Beans
- Allergy Friendly Brownie
- Allergy Friendly Cookie
The options for the kids’ meal gluten free are essentially just the child size portions of what adults can have.
But look! Gluten free chicken strips! That aren’t just grilled!
Columbia Harbour House Review
On the whole, I think Columbia Harbour House is a solid quick service dining option at Magic Kingdom. That being said, Magic Kingdom actually has a number of solid quick service dining options, so your decision to eat here should all come down to the menu.
I will say from the outset that I’ve only had menu options that are gluten free. And I don’t have any commentary on the other menu options because this menu isn’t one that largely appeals to the rest of my family. So the only times I’ve eaten here were when they weren’t with me.
Though my son has suddenly become obsessed with salmon so that might change!
And that right there is probably the biggest downside for Columbia Harbour House. The menu is a bit more niche than a lot of the other restaurant options.
Not everyone likes seafood. That just is what it is. And if you don’t like seafood, your only other option is chicken tenders. Not that there’s anything wrong with chicken tenders. They are delicious!
So if you like either seafood or chicken tenders, I HIGHLY recommend eating at Columbia Harbour House.
Atmosphere
This might just be one of my favorite spots to sit down and have a meal in Magic Kingdom. It just feels so much calmer here than at the other quick service restaurants.
Cosmic Ray’s Starlight Cafe is hands down the most popular, busiest, and loudest of all of them. Pecos Bill’s runs a close second. In comparison, Columbia Harbour House is an oasis of calm and relaxation. As long as you head upstairs, at least.
As a random aside, I know everyone will ignore this advice, but avoid Cosmic Ray’s. It’s the worst option out of all of them, but the most popular because it serves the traditional burger and fries. But it’s so loud and the food really isn’t that good. Unless you really like dried out burgers.
Seriously, go to any of the others.
Ok, let’s get back on track: Columbia Harbour House’s atmosphere.
I’m a big history geek, so the Colonial American aesthetic appeals to me. The style of the furniture, the decor on the walls, spindles on the stairs, etc., all of it comes together to just scream “American Colonial Design!”.
And this is part of what I love about it. It adds to that sense of immersion that makes Disney World so darn great. I don’t want to eat in an environment that could be in a standard McDonalds when I’m at Disney. I want theme and immersion.
You definitely get that at Columbia Harbour House.
As I mentioned above, the seating options are plentiful, so you really have your choice in where you’d like to sit. Again, just head straight upstairs. Don’t even look at the tables on the first floor.
Food
As I mentioned before, my commentary on the food is limited to what I’ve tried myself because the rest of my family is never interested in going here.
However, what I have had from Columbia Harbour House has been enjoyable. As I’m sure you’ve picked up on from my comments above, I really am not a fan of Cosmic Ray’s so I appreciate the outside of the box options that you can get here. Even my last meal at Pecos Bill wasn’t very impressive.
Both of these factors make Columbia Harbour House even more attractive to me.
Shrimp Skewer Platter
Ok, so maybe the use of the word “platter” is overly generous. That denotes the presence of a plate. As you can see, I didn’t exactly have a plate…
As is typical with any restaurant dish that involves shrimp, you don’t exactly get a lot of them. I guess by that standard, getting 5 of them from a quick service restaurant is pretty good.
This whole dish is fairly straightforward, no real bells and whistles. My green beans have absolutely no butter or seasoning on them. I don’t know if that’s normal or not. Very often, when you order gluten free they tend to do this for some reason. As if butter has gluten in it.
So this might have simply been an oversight. I sure hope it was, because green beans with absolutely nothing on them are not my favorite.
But that’s probably my only real complaint about the dish. It’s a solid choice, especially for someone who wants a meal that’s on the healthier side of things.
Gluten Free Chicken Tenders at Columbia Harbour House
I want to reiterate that these are gluten free chicken tenders, not “normal” chicken tenders. Those days are long gone for me, sadly!
For all of my fellow GF eaters, this one is for you. First of all: gluten free chicken tenders! And these aren’t just gluten free breaded nuggets either.
That is an actual crispy, battered piece of chicken. They were closer in size to nuggets than tenders, but they gave me A LOT of them. This was actually a pretty generous serving size.
My main criticism would be that there was too much of the batter on some of the chicken pieces, making it a smidge too crunchy at times. But as someone who often doesn’t get that sensation, it’s a minor inconvenience for me.
On the whole, I enjoyed these tremendously. Yes, some of it was for the novelty of having chicken tenders for the first time in years. But on top of that, they’re pretty tasty.
Final Thoughts about Columbia Harbour House
As I’m sure you can already tell, I consider Columbia Harbour House to be a solid dining option in Magic Kingdom. Frankly, we often go to Disney these days with the plan to save money by only eating at quick service restaurants.
Magic Kingdom is a great place to do this, and Columbia Harbour House is one of those reasons.
But again, if you are a family who doesn’t like seafood, this is probably not an option for you.
Even if you don’t want to eat here, keep this in mind for a quiet spot to get out of the sun and heat to take a bit of a break. Especially if you target non-prime meal hours, it can be practically dead on the second floor.
Your Thoughts
What do you think about Columbia Harbour House? Do you view it as an option for your family to eat, or just a nice place to sit and rest? Let me know in the comments below.
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