Roundup Rodeo BBQ Review (A Fun But Expensive Meal for Toy Story Fans)

Roundup Rodeo BBQ is a Toy Story-themed restaurant in Toy Story Land at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. When the restaurant was initially announced, I was a bit perplexed. I remember thinking, seriously, have we already forgotten Pizza Planet? Even my hairdresser still complains about the loss of the arcade-themed restaurant that sold cheap pizza. Our kids loved that place, and we boy moms love these memories of our children, don’t we?

Since then, I’ve dined at Roundup Rodeo BBQ multiple times. I’ll be honest. I have mixed feelings about it. I love the restaurant’s interior and think that Toy Story fans should dine there on that aspect alone. The food is okay–we’ll get to that. But after all this time, I’m still left wondering why this restaurant doesn’t have characters. Even if the characters only walked through and waved to guests, it would make all the difference. It would also be an incredible opportunity to have a rotating lineup and have rare characters like Bo Peep, Bullseye, and Lotso appear occasionally. (It doesn’t make sense!)

Roundup Rodeo is a table-service restaurant immediately past Toy Story Land’s main entrance. In the picture below, you can see a statue of Woody, where guests first step foot into Andy’s Backyard.

When we arrived at Roundup Rodeo, Kristen checked us in on the My Disney Experience app. She immediately received a text notification confirming our arrival. We waited approximately ten minutes before receiving another text that our table was ready. Soon afterward, a cast member greeted us and gave us the low down on the experience. She told us that we were all honorary toys when we entered Andy’s room (the restaurant) and would be asked to participate several times throughout the meal. It was essential to pay attention to cues in the music and lighting. She escorted us to our table, where a server almost immediately greeted us.

Roundup Rodeo BBQ is a family-style meal that costs $49.00 per adult and $27.00 for children ages 3-9 years old. Soda, water, iced tea, and children’s drinks are included in the price. Specialty drinks are an extra charge. You can preview the current menu and pricing here. (Updated)

Since this meal is considered all-you-care-to-eat, you can enjoy as many selections as you want. However, our server asked that we finish our initial choices before making extra requests. He told us that, in most cases, guests didn’t realize how much food would be brought to the table. Often, when they see the enormous initial servings, there’s no need for anything extra. So he asked us to pick out four sides, and in the meantime, he would bring out a few things to get us started. Little did we know what we were getting into!

We’ll tour the restaurant before we get to the meat of the matter. Since we had one of the first reservation times for the day, the restaurant had yet to fill up, so it was an ideal time to walk around and take a few photos. While it resembles the Toy Story Mania queue, the restaurant was much larger than I expected. Naturally, the size of the interior helps it pull off the scaled feel of being a toy in Andy’s bedroom. Bo Peep and her sheep sit in the center of the dining room toward the back of the restaurant.

We’ll start with a few of the seating arrangements. Most of the dining room consists of tables and chairs. Banquette seating is provided around the perimeter of the room. Many of these styles feature traditional bench seating with a regular table and stand-alone chairs on the opposite side. Toward the center of the room, there’s a mix of tables and chairs, including two-tops, four-tops, and six-tops.

Each table had a set of glass dishes that looked like paper picnic plates! We all noticed the plates and thought they were a fun element. Three BBQ sauces were also available: spicy, classic, and sweet.

Here are a few photos of the restaurant:

When I returned from taking photos, I was surprised to see that we still hadn’t received any food. However, as soon as I sat down, the server brought our first item.

The Prospector’s Homemade Cheddar Biscuits with Sweet Pepper Jelly

These biscuits were good, but I don’t think any of us thought they were anything to write home about. However, we thought the sweet pepper jelly was an interesting choice and were surprised to find it agreeable.

Soon after, more food arrived. The next three items are referred to as “Get a Wiggle on your Greens!” So the bread service and initial three starters are all included. However, these are not the same as the side items we selected to accompany the barbecue.

Rootin’ Tootin Tomato Salad

Unfortunately, I’ll leave this one up to you to decide. Tomatoes and cucumbers are not my thing, but other guests in our group enjoyed this dish. This dish combines cucumbers, pickled red onion, and white balsamic vinaigrette per the menu.

Rex’s Romaine and Kale Salad

This salad was delicious and an excellent starter. According to the menu, it’s a mixture of kale, pumpkin seeds, apples, cranberries, and Green Goddess dressing. However, when you see what’s yet to come, you might agree it’s difficult to conceive where you will put all this food.

*This salad is no longer on the menu.

Wheezy’s Watermelon Salad

Lastly, we had watermelon salad. Per the menu, this is watermelon with fresh-torn mint leaves. Unfortunately, this is when I realized how wasteful this meal would be. As someone who regularly seeks out watermelon for a snack in the park and purchases it for my home, I know it is somewhat expensive.

Since there were six of us, we received two servings of every dish. The same dishes were repeatedly dropped off at each end of our table, which was convenient. However, none of us wanted to start our meal with watermelon. This would have made an excellent dessert. Unfortunately, our almost full servings of watermelon were removed long before we reached that point in the meal.

Not long after diving into our starter course, other items began to appear. Sides were dropped off on each end of the table. There were eight side items in total, and we had been asked to select four upfront. Here’s what we chose.

Mean Old Potato Salad

I didn’t get around to trying this item. It is a mayonnaise-based potato salad. So, if you don’t care for the white stuff, you might elect to get another side.

*This item is no longer on the menu.

Force Field Fried Pickles

One of our favorite items of the entire meal was the fried pickles. These were long spear pickles deep-fried in a crunchy batter.

Slinky Dog’s Mac & Cheese

We also had to go with Slinky Dog’s mac-and-cheese side. This corkscrew pasta was intended to mimic Slinky–which was another fun idea. That said, we enjoyed the dish but didn’t think it was anything other than average.

Cowpoke Corn on the Cob

Our last side was the Cowpoke corn on the cob. This item is similar to grilled street corn. Our corn was perfectly seared and topped with a buttery cheese mixture that added just the right kick of spiciness.

Since these sides were more than enough, we didn’t try the other options. Here is a list of those other sides available at Roundup Rodeo BBQ.

• The Claw! Veggie Slaw
• Campfire-roasted Vegetables
• Buckin’ Baked Beans
• The Married Spuds (loaded potato barrels)

Now it’s time to round up some chow and check out the barbecue selections. When our meat platters (x2) were plunked down in the center of the table, we all had a look of Whoa, we can’t eat all that!

Now, if you’re one of those people who spend five hours at the all-you-can-eat buffet offered on the weekends at your neighborhood steakhouse, this will probably be right up your alley. But as guests who had upcoming Lightning Lanes and other plans for our day, all of this food was a bit much.

Here’s what comes with the platter:

• Evil Dr. Smoked Ribs
• Buttercup’s Beef Brisket
• There’s a Sausage in my Boot (Fire-grilled Pork Sausage)
• BBQ Chicken

As far as the platter, we had no issues with anything we received. Our favorite items among us were the beef brisket and the grilled sausage. I was surprised to find that I enjoyed the sausage more than anything else we tried. Well, except for those fried pickles.

The ribs were pretty basic overall, and our chicken turned out well. However, BBQ chicken can vary greatly, so don’t be surprised if you end up with an order that’s a little more dry than you prefer.

Additionally, plant-based diners are served Trixie’s Plant-Based Trio, which includes the following:

• Combat Carloflower (cauliflower) with Harissa Drizzle and Walnut Gremolata
• Scrumptious Bratwurst
• Rip Roarin’ Rib Chop

You may notice that all of our items had a toothpick, indicating they were allergy-friendly. One of our diners had a tree-nut allergy, so everything was prepared to avoid his specific allergies.

At the beginning of the meal, I noticed the menu listed cedar-plank salmon as available upon request. So I asked the server if we could request this upfront, and he said he would place an order for us. Unfortunately, we ended up receiving three planks of salmon. As you can probably tell from the photo, the plank and glaze had caught fire, and the salmon was overcooked. I can’t say I wouldn’t recommend the salmon because I hope this was a random issue.

As our server began to clear the leftovers, he mentioned he would do dessert a little differently. He said he would bring one of each dessert to the table and let us all try them. Then, if we wanted more, he would happily bring them. We were all looking forward to dessert, but we weren’t sure what to think. Most of us had already picked something from the menu. Our choices were:

• Bo’s Lemon and Blueberry Cheesecake
• Billy’s Chocolate Silk Pie
• Goat’s Apple Pie
• Gruff’s Peach-Strawberry Pie
• Cupcake à la Forky

In hindsight, the server’s suggestion to sample everything first was probably right. After a few of us sampled the mini pie-in-a-jar desserts, we decided we didn’t want anything.

I wished the server had left our watermelon at that point. It would have made for a nice dessert. Of course, I would never have ordered more of anything at that point. Unfortunately, the pie jars were generic, and the Forky cupcake was strange. It had an iced sugar cookie Forky in the middle. As for the cupcake, it was a chocolate cake topped with buttercream. The cake part tasted stale.

Since our dessert was mediocre, I fear this review might leave the same bad taste in your mouth. I would hate for that to happen because we had a wonderful time. Since then, we’ve returned, and the meal was exceptionally better, except for the desserts.

Is Roundup Rodeo BBQ a place you’ll dine at every time you visit Walt Disney World? Probably not. However, I would revisit it if something changed or if I had other friends and family visit who enjoy Toy Story.

The restaurant’s busy antics kept us laughing and waiting for more throughout the experience. For instance, sometimes you’ll overhear Andy and his mom talking. One of the toys will yell, “Andy’s Coming!” At this time, everyone in the restaurant freezes. You’ll hear the door to the bedroom creak open and Andy’s footsteps as he approaches. Within a few seconds, he yells, “Found it,” and races out of the room. Everyone can then resume normal behavior. These things added a lot of heart and a uniqueness that you won’t get just anywhere.

My other issue with Roundup Rodeo BBQ is the price. Considering the amount of food we received, it wasn’t expensive, but I would have preferred to receive less food and pay an agreeable price to reduce waste. A small combination plate with my choice of two sides would have been great. That meal would have been even better if we had a small starter and dessert at the end.

Despite a few negatives, we were impressed with this dining experience. For many of us (boy moms or not), Toy Story will always have a special place in our hearts. So, if you’re planning an upcoming vacation and love Toy Story, it’s well worth seeking a reservation. It might be a one-and-done meal, but at least you’ll know. Or you might love it and look forward to returning in the future.

Let’s face it: Hollywood Studios isn’t necessarily known for having stellar dining options. Of course, there’s always the Hollywood Brown Derby, but that’s in a class all to its own. For more Disney Restaurant Reviews, you might enjoy the following:

• The Best Character Dining at Disney World
• List of Best Restaurants at Disney Springs
• Disney World Signature Dining Guide
• The Complete Disney Hotel Restaurants List

In the Comments

What did you think of this review of Roundup Rodeo BBQ? Will you plan a meal here? Have you tried it yet? What did you think?