Refreshment Outpost

Refreshment Outpost: dining at EPCOT — location and planning data on MouseHub.

Visitor sentiment

4.3· 35 Google ratings

The MouseHub take

Refreshment Outpost is a walk-up window on the World Showcase promenade between the China and Germany pavilions, standing on a pad Disney set aside for an African pavilion that never got built. It has been a snack bar there since June 11, 1983, and it plays the part: a canopy over the ordering area, weathered crates stacked around it, a vintage vehicle parked under camouflage netting, and a set of drums kids are welcome to hit. The board is shorter than the theming suggests. Soft-serve in a waffle cone is $6.29, a frozen slushy the same, and three frozen cocktails run $16.50 apiece, including the Frozen Brown Elephant, frozen Coca-Cola with Amarula Cream Liqueur.

Treat it as a breather rather than a meal. Visitors stop for something cold, get out of the sun under the canopy, and keep walking. Adults after a strong frozen drink do well here, and so does a family with a kid who wants a cone and five minutes on the drums. Anyone hungry leaves that way, since the menu lists no food beyond ice cream and the countries on either side do this better.

At a glance

Best for
Families and adults partway around the lagoon who want something cold, a patch of shade, and a few minutes off their feet
Skip if
Anyone looking for a meal, a table, or an African pavilion rather than a stand dressed as one
Worth ordering
Soft-serve in a Waffle Cone, Frozen Brown Elephant, Mango Rum Freeze, Outpost Lemonade
Reservations
Nothing to book and no Mobile Order. It is a quick service kiosk with one window and a walk-up line, open 11:00 AM to 9:00 PM
Value
Snacks are cheap and the alcohol is not. Soft-serve and a frozen slushy each run $6.29, but the three frozen cocktails are $16.50, which overshoots the price band Disney prints on the page by itself

The good

  • The soft serve does its job
    Pineapple and cherry soft-serve in a waffle cone costs $6.29, and visitors keep coming back to it as the fix for a hot afternoon on the promenade.
  • The frozen cocktails carry a punch
    Adults single out the Frozen Brown Elephant, frozen Coca-Cola with Amarula Cream Liqueur, and the Mango Rum Freeze made with STARR African Rum. Both are $16.50.
  • Draft beer is the cheap pour
    Bud Light on draft is $10.00 and the rotating Seasonal Beer is $12.50, which undercuts anything frozen and alcoholic on the same board.
  • The line moves faster than it looks
    A menu this short makes for a quick window. Visitors report short waits even when a dozen people are ahead of them.
  • Kids get something here
    The Frozen Slushy comes in Coca-Cola or Minute Maid lemonade for $6.29, and fountain drinks start at $4.79, so nobody in the party is stuck watching the adults drink.
  • The canopy is half the reason to stop
    A canopy covers the ordering area, and visitors name the shade as what made them pull over rather than walk on to Germany.
  • Kids can play the drums
    A set of drums sits with the crates beside the stand, and children are meant to hit them. It buys a parent the length of the line and then some.

The bad

  • Ice cream is the only food
    The menu runs soft-serve, slushes, fountain drinks, and alcohol, with no food section at all. Disney's own page advertises a hot dog the board does not list, so do not walk over expecting one.
  • A frozen drink costs $16.50
    Visitors balk at the price for a plastic cup of slush, and Disney's own page files this location under a snack band of $14.99 and under, which three of its drinks blow straight past.
  • There is nowhere to sit
    Seating is scarce and goes fast in a crowd. Groups end up eating standing near the trash cans with a melting cone.
  • The line waits in full sun
    The cover reaches the windows and not the walkway. Anyone more than a few people back stands on open concrete in the Florida afternoon.
  • The props promise more than the board
    Disney dressed the stand as an African outpost and calls it an African Quick Service Kiosk, then sells Coca-Cola, Bud Light, and a pineapple and cherry cone. The rum in one drink and the Amarula in another are as far as it goes.

Veteran tips

  • Order the Frozen Brown Elephant first
    Frozen Coca-Cola with Amarula Cream Liqueur is the drink adults name most often here, at $16.50.
  • Drink beer if you are watching money
    Bud Light draft at $10.00 or the Seasonal Beer at $12.50 saves you several dollars over any of the frozen cocktails, all of which are $16.50.
  • Get the slushy for the kids
    The Frozen Slushy is the alcohol-free version of the same idea, Coca-Cola or Minute Maid lemonade for $6.29, and it costs the same as a cone.
  • Do not plan a meal around this stop
    Save your appetite for China or Germany, both a short walk away. This is a drink stop with ice cream attached.
  • Eat the cone under the canopy
    A waffle cone loses to the Florida sun quickly. Finish it in the shade rather than carrying it down the promenade.
  • Photograph the camouflaged vehicle
    The vintage vehicle under netting sits right by the stand and makes a better backdrop than anything else on this stretch of the promenade.
  • Check the board for seasonal items
    The beer slot rotates, and EPCOT festivals add items the standing menu does not list. Read what is posted rather than what you remember.
  • Come after 11 in the morning
    The window runs 11:00 AM to 9:00 PM, so an early lap of World Showcase reaches a closed stand.

MouseHub editorial, written from visitor reports and official Disney sources. Last reviewed .

Sources