Actress Reese Witherspoon joined Planet Hollywood founder Robert Earl and landlord Mickey Mouse to officially open the new Disney Springs restaurant Friday. The three participated in a ribbon cutting ceremony on the red carpet in front of the recently refurbished restaurant, which now resembles a large planetarium.
Since opening, the restaurant has been going by the name Planet Hollywood Observatory, but don’t be surprised if the company drops the Observatory from the name — it will just be referred to as a Planet Hollywood that happens to be housed in an observatory, to fulfill a Disney Springs storyline. And technically, it’s a planetarium, and an impressive one, given the massive screen that shows music videos to the diners. But Planet Hollywood Planetarium sounds redundant.
Following the ceremony, Earl took Witherspoon to a private reception on the restaurant’s second level, where he introduced her to media and local VIPs. When they passed me, Earl told Witherspoon that I was a restaurant critic, “And he’s trashed me several times.”
Only twice, I told her.
By the way, the video projections since I reviewed the restaurant recently have gotten more elaborate and impressive. There’s a medley of numbers by the Beatles with cartoon visuals that is worth going in for all by itself.