REVIEW: Geo-82 Adds a Chic, Adults-Only Spot for Foodies & Whiskey Lovers to Epcot

If you didn’t know the newest addition to Walt Disney World was there, you’d probably stroll right past it. Located inside Project Tomorrow, also known as the exit of Spaceship Earth, there is a golden passageway to a tiny host station. As of now, there is no signage outside of the building announcing the existence of Geo-82, just a sleek backlit sign next to this mysterious hallway. It’s almost like the Disney World equivalent of a speakeasy and much like the speakeasies of old, you need to know the secret to get in. Instead of a special knock, you’ll need an ADR – Disney-speak for an “Advance Dining Reservation,” and these are very hard to come by right now for this particular lounge.

The hallway to enter the lounge at Geo-82 nods to the original plan for Spaceship Earth's famous geometric tiles: shiny gold.

Once you have secured your elusive ADR and it’s time to check-in, you’ll need to make sure your entire party is present with their IDs before you venture into the golden passageway. There’s no app check-in available like you might find at other Disney dining establishments, presumably so that they can verify that everyone is over the age of 21. They also won’t check you in until they have seen every last ID in your party. Right now, expect a lengthy wait once your reservation time rolls around. There’s currently no time limit on visits to the lounge and so people are taking their time to enjoy this fancy new experience. We were summoned about 40 minutes after our reservation time and led up a tiny staircase beyond the host station. There is also an elevator available.

Once upstairs, you’ll find another host station in a decidedly more upscale and much larger space. The host will offer you a chilled, scented towel, which sets the tone for the elevated experience you are about to begin. After a hot day in the park, a chilly towel is the perfect way to cool down and wipe away the grime and sweat while the calming aroma soothes your senses. Next, you’ll be invited into a fancy waiting room with mid-century modern furnishings and comfortable chairs while your table is prepared for your arrival. It was only a very short wait here before a host welcomed us into the lounge itself – and she was excited to share all the fun details of this new Epcot destination. The hallway that leads to the lounge area is filled with nods to the history of Spaceship Earth, from the sparkling black floors that harken back to the old floors of the attraction to the gold geodesic pattern that matches the exterior (which is currently a silvery white). We learned that the gold represents the original proposed design for the exterior of the attraction, but it was changed at the last minute due to the scorching sun in Orlando, which would have led to blinding glares outside and uncomfortable heat inside. Even the name of the lounge itself is an homage to the attraction’s opening date in 1982. We’re also shown the collection of signed bottles of rare spirits that are on display at the entrance, including the four bourbon whiskeys that can only be tasted at Geo-82 and are available as a flight of 0.75 ounce pours for $49: Uncle Nearest Single Barrel, Woodford Reserve Private Barrel, Blanton’s Gold Single Barrel and Stagg Private Barrel.

If you look at just the right angle, the chandeliers form a hidden Mickey over the bar

The lounge itself continues the mid-century vibe with eye-catching chandeliers that resemble little illuminated Spaceship Earths and appear as bursting fireworks when reflected in the wall of windows looking out onto the park. There are three clustered together near the bar that form a hidden Mickey when viewed from the correct angle. While the seats directly against the windows offer the best views, most every seat in the house can enjoy at least a peak – it’s a very small space. As with the entry, there’s a lot of gold on display. Even the fancy menu book is bound in gold. We sampled nearly all the food items listed inside and several of the cocktails. We’ll add more reviews as we return, but here’s what we have tried so far:

Charcuterie Board ($29)

We loved everything on the board and it’s a great contrast of flavors and textures. This is easily one of the best charcuterie boards in the parks. There’s a soft goat cheese with a pronounced truffle flavor, a rich and mellow blue cheese and a cows milk that has a distinctive funkiness to it which reminded us of the stinky raclette cheese that’s served during Food and Wine and Festival of the Holidays. All three of the cured meats were wonderful and shaved super thin. The breads were light, crispy and flavorful - one was a cranberry harvest bread and the other a sliced baguette. Accompanying the spread of meats and cheeses were honeycomb, a lovely peach chutney, sweet bread and butter pickles and some crunchy praline.

Cannelini Hummus (Plant-Based - $14)

The hummus is very creamy and garlic-forward. The crispy pappadam is nice and light with a little peppery flavor that adds extra kick to the hummus, which has a little spiciness of its own. The sliced Fresno peppers really bring the heat, so those who don’t love spicy treats might want to pick around those. The pumpkin seed pistou and microgreens brighten everything up with a little herby flavor. We liked this one a lot, but it was outshined by the flatbread.

Funghi Flatbread ($15)

This is wonderful and one of the best flatbreads we have tried at Disney World. Even though the dish has “funghi” in the name, the mushroom is more of a supporting player here. The star is the blend of cheeses and miso that creates a rich, salty and creamy base to the rest of the flavors - from the earthy roasted mushroom to the sweet black garlic molasses to the zippy pickled red onion. The flavors are so well-balanced and the flatbread itself is fresh, crunchy on the edges, chewy in the center and delicious all the way through.

Jumbo Lump Crab Gâteau ($25)

This dish is almost entirely made from fresh crab and topped with caviar, so it is definitely more for the seafood lovers. The smoked cheddar flavor pretty much disappears into the dish, but the pickled mustard seed-lemon vinaigrette adds an acidic contrast to the fishier flavors of the gâteau itself. The half of Ear Scouts that loves seafood really enjoyed this dish, but the other half couldn’t get past the fishiness. Even avoiding the caviar didn’t help much on that front.

Note the Spaceship Earth design on the ice cube – a delightful little detail

Brown Butter Old-Fashioned ($28)

Disney has been experimenting with unique old-fashioned flavors (like the delightfully unique Banana Old Fashioned at the Polynesian’s new Wailulu Bar & Grill) and they are really hitting them out of the park. This brown butter version tastes like a rich, buttery blondie was somehow infused into a decadent bourbon, which happens to be a double-oaked Woodford Reserve. It’s ever-so-slightly sweet, but not overpoweringly so - a beautifully well-balanced cocktail that will be a memorable treat for bourbon cocktail fanatics.

Electron ($23)

While not as good as the old-fashioned, this drink also does a good job of showcasing its star spirit, in this case mezcal. The other flavors are very subtle – you mainly get the smoky booziness of the mezcal itself, though it is mellowed a bit. The pink peppercorn adds an interesting pop of flavor that pairs well and also serves as a unique aromatic.

Strawberry and Coconut ‘Right Hand’ ($25)

This was our least favorite of the cocktails. It had an artificial strawberry flavor that was reminiscent of Kool-Aid on the front end with a botanical bitterness on the finish. We didn’t detect the coconut, primarily because the Campari overpowered all the flavors other than the strawberry. Judging from the quality of the old-fashioned and the focus on the bourbon flight, it seems like the mixologists may be more skilled with the whiskey side of the menu. We’ll plan to try more whiskey drinks on our next visit.

A Walk Through the Garden (Zero-Proof - $17)

This drink is altogether odd. No one would mistake this for an actual alcoholic beverage. It’s more like a lightly sweetened lemon seltzer with a vegetable bouillon cube dissolved in it. Imagine V-8 minus the tomato with a lemon Pellegrino in its place. Surprisingly, we were split on this one – one of us really enjoyed the unique flavor profile and the other was done after a few sips. We both agreed; however, that there is no way this drink is worth $17.

One benefit of our late seating was that we were able to enjoy the fireworks show, Luminous: The Symphony of Us, while finishing up our meal. The vibe shifts dramatically as the sun sets with a slowly evolving light show inside the restaurant that shifts the color temperature from warm and brassy to cool and blue. As the show began, the music was piped in and crystal clear while the lighting was set to near total darkness. It seems that this was not appreciated by all the patrons who were still enjoying their food and drinks because the lights kept getting brighter incrementally throughout the show until they reached their normal level just before the big finale. This was unfortunate since the lights caused a great deal of glare on the windows, especially the chandeliers that looked like fireworks which were now competing with the real fireworks behind them. Geo-82 offers a special prix fixe menu of light bites, desserts and champagne for viewing the fireworks in the lounge, but we’d recommend one of the other fireworks packages that are available instead. Even if the lighting had remained dim, this is not a great spot to view the show. We much prefer spots closer to the water or high above like the view from the terrace at Topolino’s at the top floor of the Riviera Resort.

Geo-82 is definitely not our favorite spot to watch Luminous: The Symphony of Us

Aside from the disappointing fireworks view, we really enjoyed our evening at Geo-82. The service from the entire team of Cast Members was exceptional: everyone was friendly and eager to point out all the lovely little details that made the lounge and menu offerings special. We will definitely return for the flatbread, charcuterie board and whiskey offerings. While we enjoyed all the food, it’s important to note that these are all pretty small plates. Even the flatbread was about half the size of the typical flatbreads you can order in the other restaurants around Walt Disney World. This is probably better as a snacks and drinks spot rather than for a full meal, but it is certainly worth adding to your itinerary if you are in the mood for an upscale, kid-free break in your Epcot day.

For more on Geo-82, check out our Ear Scouts LIVE chat and upcoming video review on our Patreon community.