Rhapsody in Mint

Leaving the elegance of the Grand Floridian behind (You did read last week's Loo Review, right? We publish new one every Sunday, so be sure to look in the archives and get caught up ... ed.), we're going to take a bus back to Disney's Hollywood studios just in time for dinner.

There are so many exciting dining options at DHS: we can cram into a car and watch aliens invade earth on the big screen at Sci-Fi Dine-In Theater, or travel back in time to dine at a 1920's Hollywood landmark, or grab a carrot cake cookie at the soon to be demolished (#sadface) Writer's Stop on Commisary Lane .... In fact, there's so many great dining choices at this one park, we often find it difficult to choose just one. By the way, if you share this problem with us (Do you pack two sizes of shorts for each trip -- a smaller size for the start of trip and a larger for the end?), be sure to visit AJ's Disney Food Blog for the most up-to-date reviews of each restaurant on property.

This week, we've decided to eat dinner at our Uncle Roy's house. That's right, it's time for comfort food at 50's Prime Time Cafe.

Walking into 50's Prime Time Cafe feels so much like walking into our grandparents' home: it's simply steeped in 1950's Americana. The nostalgia is so palpable here it almost tugs at our heartstrings every now and then.

Now, being raised in the midwest, Uncle Roy and Aunt Edna subscribe to fairly traditional values when it comes to dining; and, given that we're all family here, we cousins are subject to their household rules. Thus, before we can sit down to dinner, we all know that a trip to the restroom is required to give our hands a thorough scrubbing lest Edna tug us by the ear to the kitchen sink and do it herself. Luckily, we needed to head there anyway for a review of the local loo!

The restrooms are situated behind the bar. Head straight towards the rear of the restaurant upon entering (you'll see the above kitchen to your left, the Tune-In Lounge -- that's the bar -- to your right).

Make a right at this sign, and you can't miss them:

We're getting closer .... Even the hallway leading to the restrooms screams retro 1950's. Robin's egg blue overload, anyone?

Ah, here we are! The retro style sign for the men's room is mirrored throughout the restaurant in other signs as well. Super cool, yes?

Okay, let's head on in....

Yes! Now, this is what we want to see! The Imagineers hit a home-run with the theming of this loo: mint green as far as the eye can see, checkered white, black and grey floor tiles and an interesting strip of maroon diamond tile residing at eye level throughout! It's worth mentioning that some restrooms on property are very generic -- they do not adopt the theme of their surroundings and look austere, bland. This one, however, firmly sticks with the theme of 1950's home decor and tickles that notalgia in our brain as much as the rest of the restaurant. Bravo, guys and gals! Three urinals (two different styles, even) provide enough options for those of us who have had one too many cherry Cokes ...

... and four stalls (including one ADA compliant toilet) are plenty enough for those of us who've had too much of everything else.

Here's a look inside one of the stalls. Mint green remains in abundance. Isn't it interesting that there's not one, but two holders for those giant rolls of toilet paper? They must have known our kids were coming. In our home (which hosts a family of five), our bathrooms could easily support two of these rolls (and I still would need to replace them at least once a day).

Retro-cool, isn't it? Love this!

Plenty of sink space here. Unfortunately, you can see that the counter wasn't very clean. In fact, there was paper towel and toilet paper on the floor as well. While this was far from the dirtiest loo we've seen on property, it was also far from the cleanest -- which is a shame given that this restroom is super cool. To be fair, we visited right in the middle of the restaurant's dinner service -- no doubt, it had already seen several hours of high volume.

The only other beef we have with this otherwise perfect restroom is the inconsistency of the theming. Namely, the fixtures were all modern in appearance. Look, we are using the restroom at our Uncle's home in the 1950's -- wouldn't it be cool, then, to have handles to flush the toilets, knobs on the sinks? Ditch the automatic sensors on the paper towel dispenser? We get it: these modern advances contribute to better hygeine, and that's undoubtedly important. Moreover, it's easy to appreciate the effort to integrate modern convenience with classic styling. Nonetheless, these advances detract from an otherwise immersive 1950's restroom experience ("immersive 1950's restroom experience" -- we're probably taking this a little too seriously .... ed.).

Finally, as always, let's finish with a baby changing station photo. Look at this: here's another one of those stainless steel stations. It definitely fits with the theme of the room, but those poor babies and their cold backsides!

WDW Loo Review Recap of 50's Prime Time Cafe Restrooms at Disney's Hollywood Studios:

Capacity: Medium (3 urinals, 4 stalls -- one ADA compliant)

Cleanliness: Medium

Traffic: Busy

Changing Station: Yes

Companion Restroom: No

Access: Good

OVERALL RATING: 4/5 urinal wafers

Summary: Less than clean conditions preclude us from giving this otherwise perfect restroom a higher score. That said, if you have the itch to travel back to the 1950's for a truly nostalgic evacuation experience, look no further than 50's Prime Time Cafe! One of our faves!

Thank you, folks, for joining us for another Loo Review. We hope you enjoyed reading this week's article as much as we enjoyed writing it. And, by the way, thank you for your ongoing support: we've cleared 1000 Likes on Facebook (over 400 this past week alone!) -- not too shabby for a blog only 2 months old! Thank you, also, for taking the time to leave comments: we get so excited when you want to chat with us! We love your constructive criticism, your ideas for improving the blog, your suggestions for future reviews and even the occasional thumbs up (thanks, Victor ... ed.)! Your interest and support really prop us up! Thank you!

Have a great week, everyone!

Loo Review Matt

P.S. -- As we walked out of 50's Prime Time Cafe, Symphony in the Stars was about to start. Here's a short video I shot of the magnificent -- and ear-splitting -- finale. We love these fireworks!