It's great to be back here at Cosmic Ray's Starlight Cafe'!

On our last trip to the kingdom we ate at one of our favorite spots, Cosmic Ray's Starlight Cafe. Cosmic Ray's is just another counter service restaurant in Tomorrowland, but once you walk in it's a whole different world. If you have not been to The Magic Kingdom in a while you may not remember it, but the building has been here since opening day 1971. Back then it was called the Tomorrowland Terrace and it served up some choices like Orbit Burgers and Space Dogs to go along with the Sci-Fi seen of that land. It is said that it was the largest fast food restaurant until 01/31/1990 when McDonald's opened up the new largest fast food restaurant in Pushkin Square, Moscow. I read this on a couple of sites but cannot get a confimation.

What is really cool about Cosmic Ray's is the stage. When the building was built they put in a stage that appears from the bowels of the park. So say a high school band is coming to play, they would enter from the Utilidors and rise unto the stage from below. In 1994 the entire land got a makeover and was revamped into the New Tomorrowland. At this point the Tomorrowland Terrace was temporarily closed and when the "Pardon Our Pixie Dust" walls came down Cosmic Ray's Starlight Cafe emerged from the rubble. The Tomorrowland Terrace moved to the entrance of Tomorrowland where the Plaza Pavilion used to be. 

When the doors opened in 1995 there was a new atmosphere a new menu and a new alien about town. The atmosphere was you are in a space station and the type of food you want is in the different "Bay" areas. The menu is now in Bays, Bay 1 is Chicken burgers and Chicken sandwiches, Bay 2 Burgers and Hotdogs, Bay 3 Soup Salads and Sandwiches. All three Bays have coke products for drinks. The great part about this food joint is the free condiment bar. Sauteed mushrooms, onions, relish, lettuce, tomatoes, ketchup, mayo, mustard, and my favorite hot cheese sauce. Why you can practically eat from just the bar. Now side note in the early years of the Starlight cafe they had colored condiments, but those have gone the way of the dodo. Speaking of Dodos the biggest difference to the place is Sonny Eclipse (voiced by Kal David) an alien lounge singer. Sonny is on the stage and performs a 25 to 30 minute show that runs almost on a loop. Sonny tells jokes and sings rat pack style tunes with his never seen backup singers the Space Angels. He plays on the original Terrace stage, when they have a special band or show the stage still rises and Sonny takes five out of sight above the stage.

Sonny is an alien from Yew Nork on the planet Zork and is employed by Cosmic Ray who he does reference in his act. While you eat he plays music and tells corny jokes. Now interestingly enough Sonny is not the only Zorkian employed by the Disney company. That's right Sonny's cousin Captain ZZZYXX he is also from Zork but not Yew Nork, the Captain is from Joo Nerzey. He works as the baggage screener at Tokyo Disneyland Star Tours. Below is a shot of the Captain, and above is Sonny you can see the family resemblance.

So the next time you are hungry and near tomorrowland, stop by for a bite and see if Sonny will dedicate a song for you on his amazing Astro Organ. Till next time, I gotta get back to the Utilidor.