ABC Soap Opera Bistro
2001-2002

As the ABC television studio was an important anchor in Disney's bottom line when DCA was planned and built, it was certain there would be a place for the soap operas which brought some many viewers to ABC: One Life to Live, General Hospital, Port Charles, and All My Children. The solution was a restaurant with themed "sets" in all corners of the building. To complete the illusion that visitors had stepped into their favorite soap operas, the hosts and servers took on personas as though they inhabited the fictional world in question. Best of all, actors put on seemingly-impromptu shows within each of the zones at regular intervals, and interacted heavily with the visitors eating at the nearby tables, really drawing them into the story. While this was popular with fans of the soap operas, as were the Soap Opera Weekends (when soap stars from ABC appeared in person to sign autographs), the bistro was doomed partly due to DCA's over-abundance of restaurants, and partly to the concept. Not every diner knew such imtimate interaction was on the menu, and it wasn't always welcome.

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