Joe Cool Cafe closing

My family and I were at the park yesterday and ate lunch at the the Joe Cool Cafe. The hostess was telling us that this would be the last season for the restaurant, and that it would be closing to make way for an expanded employee dining room. Very saddened to hear this as that's one of our favorite places to eat in the park, and I think it's the absolute best place to go when you have younger kids. I'm hoping they replace it with something similar somewhere else, but I'd have to say I'm not optimistic of that.

Or just new dorms? ;)

I thought the food there was pretty awful. They had some kind of pasta "alfredo" there that was some watered-down food service sauce over wet noodles. Really terrible.

We just go there for the pizza Jeff, which is pretty good, and reasonably priced. Not many places in the park you can do lunch for a family of 4 for less than $25. Honestly, I've never had anything there but the pizza.

I'm willing to bet there'll be another sit-down place opening. I don't think that place has been anything other than average even when it was Macaroni's, and that's being generous.

Both Kings Island and CP could honestly use some more and better sit-down dining options. CP has Famous Dave's and that's honestly the only good true sit-down place I can think of between both parks.

My only experience eating there was pretty terrible both in terms of food quality and service. I won't be heartbroken to see it go.

Having said that, CP is sorely lacking in the area of a big sit down air conditioned food center with multiple entrees available. Something like Festhouse at KI or Harmony Hall at Carowinds would have made a killing somewhere near the new dive coaster. I expected Cedars to leave and some if its land to be used for the layout of Valravn and then a food building to be built in that area of the park. They're leaving money on the table as far as I'm concerned and they sort of used that big chunk of land in a rather unimaginative way if you ask me. They could still bulldoze coasters and those ugly tables in front of it and maybe do something in the way of food there, but I am not sure if there's enough room to do it right.

I hope that isn't true. They just re-did the employee cafeteria for the 2014 season. Not to mention, instead of wasting more time upgrading the one they already have in the front of the park, they REALLY need to put one in the back of the park for the employees who work back there.

However, if Joe Cool's cafe closes, I can see a new restaurant taking its place over by Blue Streak and Valravn possibly.

I think they re-did the cafe in a way that made it more like a Starbucks with cute/small tables etc, but since they got rid of the big school cafeteria type tables, they probably don't have enough capacity in there. Just a guess. I haven't experienced it. I retired long ago from CP. :)

The tables are different, but still accommodate the same amount of people.

It's interesting to see different reactions to this. IMO, none of the sit downs inside the park are four star places but I guess I don't expect them to be. Service wise, I've never had any worse service at Joe Cools as anywhere else, and like I said, we just get pizza there so I obviously have no opinion of the other food. I do know my kids like the food there, and my daughter enjoys watching the Peanuts episodes so it creates a nice break for us parents. That being said, change is inevitable, and I'm sure CP has something in mind. I just hope it's something along the same lines as what is leaving. Who knows-maybe we'll get something better a la tearing down Disaster Transport to build GateKeeper. :)

I think Joe Cool's food is equivalent to Chuck E Cheese's. Adults despise the food, but the kids love it. Fortunately, I must be a kid at heart because I actually like Chuck E Cheese pizza.

It's hard to screw up pizza, although Dominos seems to find a way to do it consistently.

Something like Harmony Hall would be amazing at Cedar Point, so long as the food quality was even half as good.

Bret said:

... none of the sit downs inside the park are four star places but I guess I don't expect them to be.

Restaurants at most parks are restaurants I don't expect much from. Going in, I assume a park's restaurants will be Golden Corral quality at a McCormick & Schmick's price, and I usually don't eat in parks for that reason (unless I'm there for an enthusiast event and have already paid for food with my registration).

Now, at Cedar Point and Kennywood, french fries are required on any visit. And there are a few places at WDW that I enjoy, and Epcot's Food & Wine Festival is a wonderful thing.

I would agree Noggin except I would replace "most" with "all". :) The only exception to this in my experience is Epcot. And I'd actually be happy if they could rise to the level of Golden Corral. lol

I never ate there and don't plan to, so this doesn't really bother me. And I agree that most park food is low quality with a high price. That's why I just usually get snacks in the park to hold me over until I leave and go somewhere to eat on the way home.

To be fair, I love Golden Corral and McCormick & Schmick's. (I always take advantage of M&S's Happy Hour menu, though.)

There are a few exceptions to my "rule" -- Knoebel's, for instance. But usually I follow Thabto's example. Visits to SF Great America include a meal at Culver's or TGI Friday's rather than dining in the park.

Bring back Macaroni's!

Could part of the Coliseum be repurposed for a Harmony Hall-esque area? I haven't been in there in a few years so can't recall the size of the area, and I've never been upstairs.

Cedar Point has quite a few sit down places just outside the park. They have the one under Raptor, and could probably use one in Frontier Town. That would be fairly balanced across the park.