Review: The Edison at Disney Springs Offers Unique Food and Entertainment

Hi everyone!

We were invited to The Edison at Disney Springs for dinner last week for a review and to check out the entertainment.  We had never been to The Edison for dinner prior, but we’ve been on our own for lunch. The food and atmosphere at lunchtime have been great, The Edison Burger is a favorite of mine and The Edison turns out terrific fries to accompany it. We went on a Saturday night for dinner, which is really prime time for the restaurant and it got very busy downstairs. Entertainment information online seems fairly minimal as to what to expect during weeknights, but this is on The Edison’s website: Catch live entertainment from 9:30 PM to 2:00 AM on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays. We arrived at 8:30 p.m., so we had the chance to start on dinner before the entertainment began. At 10:00 p.m, no kids are admitted, but there were still some kids having dinner after 10. On the flip side, when we left at 11:15 p.m., there wasn’t really anything that risqué either and that was almost 2 hours after the entertainment started. The Edison is edgy for Disney Springs, but we were told on a media tour that it was toned down quite a bit from the Los Angeles location. I was really pleasantly surprised by the Disney Springs version and that is coming from someone who doesn’t visit many nightclub type venues. Here is our review.

Since Pleasure Island closed 10 years ago, there haven’t been a lot of nighttime entertainment options – but The Edison is unlike anything else you’ll find at Disney Springs. The Edison is run by The Patina Group, which operates restaurants at Walt Disney World including Morimoto Asia, Via Napoli and Tutto Italia – so the food is as good as you’d expect from that level of restaurant.

The Edison is themed to industrial gothic, and the steampunk vibe for me was even stronger during the day – it is easier to see the theming then, and the walk-around atmosphere character was dressed in exactly what you would expect. When walking into The Edison, this clock is the first visual for this 1920’s themed venue.

The band started at 9:30pm. All of the entertainment was excellent, with jazz that included stylized current music.

The singer was great too, one of my favorite songs she covered was “Careless Whisper” (I grew up in the 80s), but sung in a faster jazz tempo.

The aerialist performed 2 times during our visit. She was on two different pieces of apperatus during that time.

Just like the other entertainment here, she was great – it was really nonstop once 9:30 p.m. arrived. From the band to the singer to the aerialist and dancers…there was also a DJ mixing into that lineup, and eventually a lot of guests ended up on the dance floor. Our table was right where everything was going on, so that is something to think about when requesting a seat.

The singer was out for 2 or 3 sets while we were there.

On to the food and drinks. Jeff began with a Samantha Sterling, which is a tribute to a former character at the Adventurers Club. The Adventurers Club closed with the rest of Pleasure Island in 2008, and was the only club I went to semi-regularly. We both thought this drink was the best of what we tried, with grey goose vodka, lillet rose, watermelon, lime, and cinnamon cordial. It’s on the lighter side, I didn’t really taste much cinnamon but it was a really nice offering. All signature drinks are $14.00.

I ordered a Time Turner. It was also on the lighter side, though not to the extent of the Samantha Sterling. The drink is made with Cruzan white rum, campari, lime, pineapple, orgeat.

We didn’t go with the Deviled Eggs – (smoked prosciutto, crisp potatoes) or Clothesline Candied Bacon (maple, black pepper, sour pickle) because we’ve had those on our own for lunch before. The candied bacon is a favorite here, a signature item at The Edison. Instead, we chose the Guacamole & Chips (California avocados, fresh lime, house-made tortilla chips). It was a safe choice, with a nice amount of guacamole although we had a fair bit left after finishing the chips.

Every month, The Edison has a Burger of the Month. For August, it is The Brat Burger. Jeff ordered this, I didn’t because the only thing I’d eat on it is the burger itself – and The Edison does a very nice burger. The Brat Burger has the signature blend of sirloin, shortrib, brisket and smoked bacon, and then Unibroue beer-braised bratwurst, sauteed onions and spicy mustard.

It is a burger (The Edison burger is already large) with bratwurst sliced in half. The Brat Burger is a lot of food, and it comes with a decent order of fries – and The Edison offers some of the best fries on Disney property, IMHO.

This is a look at The Brat Burger inside. Jeff deconstructed it because it was a big sandwich with everything on it. The burger is already a large portion size.

The Electric Mule comes with Reyka vodka, lemon, strawberry & lemongrass cordial, ginger beer. All drinks are subjective, this wasn’t my favorite of the cocktails I tried. I did ask if The Edison had a sangria and was told no. That would be a nice addition to the menu.

Jeff had a Crooked Can seasonal craft beer. Crooked Can is a local brewery launched in 2014 that became extremely popular quickly – it is always a good choice.

This is the Key Lime Brûlée with whipped cream for dessert. It was a nice, lighter option and a fun twist on a classic dessert.

Kate’s Chocolate Mousse Cake didn’t taste like mousse, it was just a very solid chocolate cake. I like chocolate, and it was a really delicious offering that I couldn’t finish because it was a lot of cake. I would not suggest trying to tackle this one on your own after a dinner, it makes a better shareable.

The aerialist was performing again, each of the aerial performances is probably 5-8 minutes.

We left at 11:15pm and the dance floor was very busy during the DJ times. It also made the table we were sitting at feel pretty crowded, so I personally – if dining during entertainment hours – would want to try to get a table on the top floor looking down on everything. Some guests want to be in the middle of it all, and some were way away from everything. The Edison is a big place, and there are a lot of options for seating. I was thinking the venue would be a little loud for me, but for a nightclub atmosphere, it wasn’t.

There are several bars, this one is upstairs and wasn’t as busy. If you want a drink and don’t want to wait, just walk up and you may find a drink and a place to sit a lot more easily. The downstairs bar was much busier.

Guests wanting to be away from the action can still monitor it around the club.

This is a look at the dance floor when we left, along with tables that surrounded the guests dancing. Our table was just in front of the square aerialist apparatus.

The Edison was a fun night out, with a very different atmosphere than lunch. If you are looking for a family meal with kids, I personally would stick with lunch – but there were a number of families at tables near us and everyone seemed to be having a good time. The food at The Edison has always been excellent when we’ve dined here, whether at this invited meal or on our own. It isn’t inexpensive, but it isn’t much different either than comparable restaurants and offers top notch entertainment on weekend nights.

The Edison is located near the bridge that separates The Landing from The West Side of Disney Springs.

The hours for The Edison are currently Thursday – Saturday from 11:30 a.m. through 2:00 a.m., and Sunday through Wednesday from 11:30 a.m. through 1:00 a.m. Reservations can be made on the Walt Disney World website or OpenTable.

The Edison covered our meal, we paid the gratuity and all opinions are ours.