TEAM SPACE - STANZA XII - Aviator's Lounge

Perched on the 2nd floor of The World Above Pavilion, The Aviator’s Lounge provides a more complete dining experience compared to the quick service Tastemosphere in the lower level. Harkening back to the 1950’s, the so-called golden age of commercial aviation, the restaurant aims to provide a top to bottom dining experience for guests/travelers making their way around the park.

Guests arriving for lunch are greeted by the club director who will take their name and check in for seating. No membership required here! Cast uniforms are standard for the park, with a bit of pilot influence, especially in the tops. A small lounge area offers a few seats for any patrons that need to wait for a table in the restaurant.

Simulating a high-end airport lounge from the 50’s, the design of the restaurant itself is unique to be sure and a bit of a time capsule. Taking cues from the older art deco style, the space offers mostly clean lines in the floor and wall patterns, save for a few accent pieces (to draw guests’ attention) hanging from the ceilings, and a few aviation related items. Various shades of red and yellow are used to make the space pop.

Thanks to its location in one of the “wings” of the pavilion on the 2nd floor, the restaurant offers floor to ceiling windows on one side, with portions of the ceiling curved matching the shape of the outer shell of the pavilion. Spaced around the room are various destination travel posters. Many of these are mockups from the World Showcase, with a few specially created ones for various Disney attractions like Tumbleweed with Big Thunder Mountain and Hawaii with the Tropical Serenade. Occasional announcements can be heard announcing departing flights and gate changes to complete the mood, though not enough to be obtrusive to the meal.

With the World Showcase Pavilions already offering a variety of foods from around the world, The Aviator’s Lounge offers a range of food for a simple palette yet cooked to perfection. Due to the exorbitant cost of airline travel at the time, the food options provided in flight would boggle today’s travelers’ minds. Many of those options at the time, a beef carving station, steak, and lobster all find their way onto the menu. Several alcoholic options ranging from champagne to wine are also available to complement the meal.