Ed
03-26-2008, 02:46 PM
After 10 years as the source of burgers, salads, cheesecakes and other food at DisneyQuest, The Cheesecake Factory is pulling out of Walt Disney World's five-story, high-tech arcade in Downtown Disney.
The Cheesecake Factory Express restaurant there will be transformed into a Disney-owned and operated counter-service eatery called FoodQuest in late May. The California-based Cheesecake company informed state officials that its 55 employees in Downtown Disney would be laid off, though all may apply for new jobs at other Cheesecake locations, and at the new FoodQuest and other Disney World restaurants.
Cheesecake senior vice president Howard Gordon said his company signed on back when Disney had considered building many DisneyQuests, with The Cheesecake Factory Expresses inside, around the country. When that did not happen, Cheesecake wound up with an "express" prototype at Disney World, but without plans to build more like it. So Cheesecake officials decided to withdraw from DisneyQuest when the 10-year lease expired.
A DisneyQuest ticket costs $31 for children ages 3-9 and $37 for ages 10 and up.
There's been talk over the past couple of years that Disney World plans to close DisneyQuest and replace it with an ESPN Zone. Disney has strongly denied the talk in the past, noting that in 2006 the company spent millions to upgrade DisneyQuest. The rumors continue though. A Disney spokeswoman said the restaurant change indicates nothing except a change in operators of the restaurant.
The new menu will be similar to what is offered now, she said.
The Cheesecake Factory Express restaurant there will be transformed into a Disney-owned and operated counter-service eatery called FoodQuest in late May. The California-based Cheesecake company informed state officials that its 55 employees in Downtown Disney would be laid off, though all may apply for new jobs at other Cheesecake locations, and at the new FoodQuest and other Disney World restaurants.
Cheesecake senior vice president Howard Gordon said his company signed on back when Disney had considered building many DisneyQuests, with The Cheesecake Factory Expresses inside, around the country. When that did not happen, Cheesecake wound up with an "express" prototype at Disney World, but without plans to build more like it. So Cheesecake officials decided to withdraw from DisneyQuest when the 10-year lease expired.
A DisneyQuest ticket costs $31 for children ages 3-9 and $37 for ages 10 and up.
There's been talk over the past couple of years that Disney World plans to close DisneyQuest and replace it with an ESPN Zone. Disney has strongly denied the talk in the past, noting that in 2006 the company spent millions to upgrade DisneyQuest. The rumors continue though. A Disney spokeswoman said the restaurant change indicates nothing except a change in operators of the restaurant.
The new menu will be similar to what is offered now, she said.