Best Outdoor Dining at Disney World
Looking for a Walt Disney World restaurant with outdoor seating, a waterfront view, or al fresco ambiance? In this post, we’ll share the best dining options for eating outside in Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Hollywood Studios, and Animal Kingdom, with tips for what you can expect from the experience. (Updated November 20, 2023.)
There’s something serene about enjoying the Sunshine State’s outdoor ambiance, pairing fresh air with fresh food for a fantastic experience. This is especially true with a view, whether it be of Cinderella Castle, Expedition Everest, World Showcase Lagoon, or some other large lake at Walt Disney World.
Of course, this is only the case when it’s not sweltering outside, as Florida’s heat and humidity can make dining outside a non-starter for much of the year. From May through September (and sometimes beyond), dining outdoors may not exactly be the aforementioned pleasant experiences.
Eating outdoors is not only a pleasant experience at Walt Disney World during the winter months, but it’s also a way of mitigating risk. As discussed in our Tips to Avoid Getting Sick at Walt Disney World, we try to dine outside as much as possible this time of year. In fact, it’s our #1 piece of advice and the best way to reduce the chances of catching a respiratory virus.
The U.S. flu season is already underway, and the CDC has posted new flu data showing very high activity last week in the South, including Florida. This should hardly come as a surprise, as respiratory illnesses are seasonal and are often fueled by family gatherings and congregating indoors. So when you break bread over Thanksgiving dinner, a meal might not be the only thing you’re sharing!
Based upon all of that, many visitors to Walt Disney World might consider dining outdoors as a way to get fresh air and reduce the chances of a respiratory illness ruining their trip. It’s the single best way to mitigate risk of airborne transmission if you’re visiting Walt Disney World during the winter months when these viruses are more likely to spread.
We originally put this list together based upon the limited number of restaurants that would be operating at Walt Disney World upon reopening. In the years since, we’ve done many outdoor meals–including in summer and fall when the weather was hot and unpleasant.
Recently, more restaurants have reopened at Walt Disney World and readers have asked for an updated list of recommendations. There’s really not much to speak of–Disney’s outdoor dining roster is fairly underwhelming, and mostly unchanged in the last several months. With that said, we have tweaked our advice and added more Table Service To-Go options, which have expanded of late.
Accordingly, here are our picks for the best outdoor and waterfront dining at Walt Disney World as of Christmas 2023…
In-Park Restaurants
Animal Kingdom: Nomad Lounge/Tiffins – Both of those spots on the path towards Pandora – World of Avatar are open at Animal Kingdom. Only one–Nomad Lounge–offers outdoor seating. We’ve had hit or miss results ordering from the Tiffins menu while at Nomad Lounge, but even if you can’t, the small plate options at Nomad Lounge are pretty solid.
Failing that, pretty much every counter service restaurant at Animal Kingdom offers outdoor seating. Our obvious choice here is Flame Tree BBQ, which offers a waterfront view of Expedition Everest. Satu’li Canteen is another option, but the outdoor seating area here gets crowded.
Hollywood Studios: BaseLine Tap House – There are no table service options at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, but this is the closest. This lounge is a great pick for drinks and light bites–I’m an especially big fan of the Coffee-rubbed Rib-Eye Beef Puff.
On the counter service front, there are a variety of options. We like Backlot Express for the huge outdoor seating area, but the menu leaves something to be desire. Docking Bay 7 Food & Cargo has significantly better food, but that outdoor seating area is small and Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge is popular.
EPCOT: Spice Road Table – One of our best dining experiences at Walt Disney World in the last year has been at Spice Road Table. The breeze off World Showcase Lagoon, the waterfront and promenade views, and the exceptional menu all make it a winner. (Read our most recent review.)
Our “honorable mention” for the #1 slot at EPCOT is Via Napoli Ristorante e Pizzeria in the Italy pavilion. When the park first reopened, Via Napoli was not using its outdoor seating area. It is now…sometimes. That’s dependent upon staffing, which usually means that it’s available during the day (especially on weekends) but they usually stop seating outdoors by around 6 pm. That makes booking an ADR here a gamble, but you can always cancel and go elsewhere if they won’t seat you outside.
EPCOT: Rose & Crown Pub – Another solid option at EPCOT with World Showcase Lagoon view tables is Rose & Crown Pub’s patio. We’re including this because it’s more crowd-pleasing comfort food, and one of the more relaxed spots in all of Walt Disney World.
Solid counter service options at Epcot with outdoor seating include Katsura Grill and Regal Eagle Smokehouse. The former is serene, secluded, and small. The latter is much busier…but also bigger.
Magic Kingdom: ??? – Pick your poison. If you want table service dining, your only option is Tony’s Town Square Restaurant. In our Review of Tony’s Town Square Restaurant, we called it “fine dining for dogs” and put it in the bottom 10 dining options at Walt Disney World. However, we have dined here since reopening and had a much better experience–and downright redeeming–experience.
Any counter service restaurant is a potential alternative, as you can Mobile Order, take your food, and go. Of these,
Pinocchio Village Haus is probably the least-bad option because of its outdoor seating area and straightforward menu choices. We prefer both Cosmic Ray’s Starlight Cafe and Pecos Bill Tall Tale Inn and Cafe, but neither are offering their toppings bars.
Disney Springs
The Boathouse – The best overall outdoor dining experience at Walt Disney World is unquestionably at the Boathouse, which is located at Disney Springs. There’s an array of covered patio seating, plus the Dockside Bar on a pier surrounded by boats, nautical decor, and amphicars.
Regardless of your budget or tastes, the Boathouse is great. Suffice to say, we highly recommend doing dinner at the Boathouse after the parks close!
Chef Art Smith’s Homecomin’ – Another crowd-pleaser is Homecomin’, which has a newly-expanded outdoor seating area thanks to its “Shine Bar + Social” patio bar.
We’re huge fans of brunch here, Chef Art’s signature fried chicken, and the legendary Shine Cake. You really can’t go wrong with much of anything on the menu, though. Inventive and ambitious comfort foods that never disappoint!
STK – After giving it some guff the first couple of years after it debuted, we’ve come to love STK, dining here for their lunch and happy hour specials with frequency of late. In fact, STK is the Disney Springs restaurant at which we’ve dined most in the last two years.
We’ve dined at STK once recently, returning for their best-value lunch in all of Walt Disney World. STK doesn’t have a huge outdoor seating area, but it’s not very popular (especially in the summer) so scoring a table shouldn’t be a problem.
Resort Hotels
Bar Riva – Located along the promenade at Disney’s Riviera Resort, this is an excellent option if you want to escape the crowds and chaos of Disney’s Hollywood Studios or EPCOT, as it’s only a short Skyliner flight away from both.
Don’t let “bar” in the name fool you, either. Bar Riva is yet another family-friendly lounge at Walt Disney World, similar in style to several of the bar & grill entries below. While we wouldn’t recommend sitting with children at the actual bar, there are plenty of tables both under cover (it’s an open-air restaurant, so ventilation is not a concern) and completely outside. We’re huge fans of Bar Riva–it’s a great place for a refreshing and healthy-ish meal!
Banana Cabana – A short walk (~5 minutes) from Disney’s Riviera Resort is Banana Cabana at Caribbean Beach Resort. The setup here is almost identical–a covered open air pool bar that’s actually family friendly.
The super power of Banana Cabana is being able to order most of the best menu dishes served at Sebastian’s Bistro, which is one our favorite places to eat in all of Walt Disney World. There are also a few new dishes as of Late 2023–like the Banana Cabana Burger–that are excellent and exclusive to this “bar.”
Geyser Point Bar & Grill – Located along the waterfront at Disney’s Wilderness Lodge, this is both a counter and table service restaurant. We recommend sitting down for the full menu, which includes a glorious Bison Cheeseburger with Garlic Aïoli and Marionberry Barbecue Sauce.
The food is excellent, but the serene and secluded atmosphere on the shore of Bay Lake takes this to the next level, and makes it feel like you’re actually in the wilderness at Walt Disney World. (We’ve seen armadillo in the brush here–twice.) That is, until the Electrical Water Pageant floats on by–complete with its 50th Anniversary finale! Here’s our post-reopening review of Geyser Point.
Three Bridges Bar & Grill – Located at Coronado Springs Resort, this one is very similar to Geyser Point above in that both are hidden gems and neither accept Advance Dining Reservations. (The former is at least partially because of the latter.)
We highly recommend the Three Bridges Signature Burger, Harissa Lamb Chops, and the Warm Churros are a must-order for dessert. You really can’t go wrong here.
BONUS: Ravello – Located at Four Seasons Orlando, which is tucked away on Walt Disney World property near Golden Oak and Fort Wilderness Campground is Ravello. This is a modern Italian restaurant and, while good, is something most guests won’t (and shouldn’t) normally seek out.
However, it’s home to the only character meal at Walt Disney World right now that has outdoor seating. Read our Good Morning with Goofy & Pals Modified Character Meal Review for details, including whether it’s worth the high price tag.
BONUS: Mobile Order Table Service To-Go – This feature is accessible via the My Disney Experience app, and allows you to order to-go meals from select table service restaurants. That means you can take your food and eat it wherever–outdoor counter service seating areas, on your hotel room balcony, etc.
Mobile Order Table Service To-Go is thus far available at the following locations:
- Sanaa at Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge – Kidani Village
- Kona Cafe at Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort
- Steakhouse 71 at Disney’s Contemporary Resort
- Olivia’s Cafe at Disney’s Old Key West Resort
- Three Bridges Bar & Grill at Disney’s Coronado Springs Resort
- Geyser Point Bar & Grill at Disney’s Wilderness Lodge
- Ale & Compass Restaurant at Disney’s Yacht Club Resort
- Trattoria al Forno at Disney’s BoardWalk Inn
We’ve had a number of great experiences with Table Service To-Go at Walt Disney World and highly recommend it!
WILD CARD: Chef Mickey’s – This location is technically indoors, but located in the open-air Grand Canyon Concourse of Disney’s Contemporary Resort, and immediately below two large openings in the building through which the monorails glide (and along with them, breezes of fresh air). It’s definitely not as well-ventilated as the truly outdoor restaurants, but it’s much better than entirely indoor ones.
For now, that’s the extent of our list. It’s worth noting that there are a range of good options at Disney Springs not listed here, including but not limited to Frontera Cocina, Paddlefish, Terralina–even Blaze Pizza and D-Luxe Burger. Almost anywhere you go there has some degree of outdoor seating. In the parks and at the resorts it’s a different story, so plan accordingly!
Planning a Walt Disney World trip? Learn about hotels on our Walt Disney World Hotels Reviews page. For where to eat, read our Walt Disney World Restaurant Reviews. To save money on tickets or determine which type to buy, read our Tips for Saving Money on Walt Disney World Tickets post. Our What to Pack for Disney Trips post takes a unique look at clever items to take. For what to do and when to do it, our Walt Disney World Ride Guides will help. For comprehensive advice, the best place to start is our Walt Disney World Trip Planning Guide for everything you need to know!
YOUR THOUGHTS
Will you try to dine outdoors on your next visit to Walt Disney World, or would you rather just stick to the comfort of air-conditioned indoor seating areas? Wish more WDW restaurants would offer outdoor seating? Any other recommendations that didn’t make our list? Will you be attempting to visit Walt Disney World this holiday season, or are you waiting until 2023 or beyond? Do you agree or disagree with our commentary? Any questions we can help you answer? Hearing your feedback–even when you disagree with us–is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!
We love Geyser Point! We will be staying at Boardwalk Villas this tip and have our own car. Will we be allowed to park at Wilderness Lodge to have dinner at Geyser Point? Or will we be turned away for not having a reservation?
Have any more places opened since this was written?
Following too!!
Does anyone know if they take reservations for Geyser Point? It isn’t coming up for me when I search for availability at copper creek and boulder ridge.
Replying to my own question- I see from another comment that they don’t take reservations at geyser point. 🙂
Hi Tom, love reading your blog- so helpful and funny! Just wondering, if you are avoiding indoor eating (us too, so great idea!) how do you feel about waiting in indoor queues or indoor attractions?
So long as the queue is constantly moving, we’re mostly fine with it. However, we still try to be strategic and avoid longer posted wait times.
I’ve noticed some more restaurants are starting to open. Are there any additions to this list? We may be coming in Sept and would love to have some outdoor options.
Additionally, should we be putting in a request from now that we would prefer outdoor dining? Or can that be done when we check in for our reservation? We have no problem waiting a bit longer if necessary.
We did a reply text after app check in once asking for outdoors and were told they received it (they did not send us a response to confirm however).
Our favorites were Geyser Point and Frontera Cucina (opentable let’s you type requests), followed by Tony’s Town Square (The food was surprisingly better and the patio was empty but they sat us there no problem), and Rose & Crown. We did not like Boathouse. I’m normally a fan, but they tried to sit us at a table so close that when I started to pull out the chair I was afraid I was going to hit the man behind. Luckily at the same time I saw a table on a corner and had her move us there but I don’t think I’d go back, as we saw this with other tables and inside as well.
We’d love to eat at Geyser Point one evening, but won’t be staying at Wilderness. Since resorts are requiring reservations to get on property, but Geyser Point doesn’t take them, is it even possible? Thanks!
That only applies if you are driving and parking at the resort. You can still access the resort with disney transportation no problem. It was fantastic btw!
We ate at Rose and Crown specifically for the outdoor dining, and the patio was closed as of July 15. Not sure why they’re not using those spaces.
Rose & Crown’s patio was open as of last week–not sure when they changed that, but we noticed on two separate days. Will check again to confirm this week!
Hi, really glad you guys wrote this. We are of the exact same outdoor dining mindset and I was trying to put together my own list to work from and forgot a couple of these. Have you been able to check in on Via Napoli? Or even Tutto Italia — I’d be interested to know if they opened up the sides on their little patio area
We inquired and Via Napoli confirmed they will *not* be operating their outdoor seating within the next 2 months. No one was at Tutto Italia when we inquired, but there were tables set up outside that appeared they’d be in use. We’ll check back again this week.
For our Sept trip, we are looking to do outdoor dining exclusively. I appreciate your article addressing this need. I am hoping WDW sets up additional tables and chairs, where space is available, to accomodate guests who feel as we do. If anyone can confirm that they ARE doing this in the parks, please post here.
Soooo…based on your recommendations, if you’re a family and have kids that are picky eaters in park dining, if you want to eat outdoors is pretty much limited to Tony’s and Rose and Crown. Not a lot of options.
One thing to consider, especially if you’re going when it’s hot….while outdoor seating is potentially safer, you’re not getting a break from the heat. Yeah, the fans help, but it’s not exactly a break.
Thank you Tom for keeping us distracted and interested . I would suggest dining outside of Captain Cooks @ the Poly Atmosphere galor. Polynesian music, ducks, H2O sounds, and decent food within easy access.
Direct from today’s Mom’s Panel!
https://disneyparksmomspanel.disney.go.com/question/vacation-set-last-week-july-wdw-know-table-quickservice-430013/
When it reopens we absolutely love eating outside at Big River Grille at Boardwalk. My wife, and our 2 boys love the food. On our last stay it’s the only restaurant we ate at twice at WDW.
Great list. I would add two others. Olivia’s Café at Old Key West serves very good food and the view of the flowers and boat dock is quite nice.
The best outdoor dining and drinking on Disney property is the Three Bridges Bar and Grill. Nearly all of the seating is covered. Service is very attentive. And the food and drinks are very good. Like most outdoor seating in Florida I would avoid July-August months as the lack of breeze and high ambient humidity can be unpleasant.
Three Bridges is at Coronado Springs
We absolutely love Three Bridges (see our review: https://www.disneytouristblog.com/three-bridges-bar-grill-review/ )
The problem is that it isn’t opening until at least October 14, so it’s not eligible for this list (yet).
Does anyone know if the table service restaurants (especially the ones at Disney hotels) will allow guests to order, but then take their meals to go? We have a DVC stay planned and it might be safer that way.
As of Hurricane Irma (a few years ago), they specifically did *not* allow this. We asked at several locations, and none would allow it as a matter of policy. Maybe things have changed since, but I doubt it.
I’m wondering the exact same thing. I’m staying next week (before the parks open) and would love to have some full service restaurant meals to-go.
Ugh-I have reservations for Kona Cafe so that we can enjoy the Poly ambience/grab a dole whip during our stay but definitely didn’t want to eat inside. It seems to me Disney could do better in this regard without too much effort/expense. We live in Safety Harbor, Florida, and our little indie restaurants downtown have put up small tents to accommodate outdoor social distancing and provide shade. Seems like it wouldn’t be that hard for Disney to expand their outdoor seating in a similar way to accommodate to go ordering..
The Boathouse and Flame Tree views are my favorite. My husband was really disappointed about Casey’s not being on the reopening list, but hopefully the tables are out.
I completely agreed with your Tony’s Town Square opinion after the first couple of times we tried it. Neither time did I take more than a few bites and my palate is ridiculously simple. But we went back after the chef changed (saw some good reviews from some of the YouTube channels we follow) and now I really enjoy it. Love the fried mozzarella and ate every bit of my Chicken Alfredo. Service was a bit more spotty, but I loved the outside table…watching people’s faces as they first walked into the park, Magic! I made a reservation there for our July trip as well.
I have turned to your blog so many times, especially since March. I want to say thanks to you both for providing well thought out, helpful, and hopeful information.
I happily report our trip is pretty much all reset with just a few dining hiccups to solve. We have our masks and are ready to follow all the guidelines (except the not visiting other resorts as my cousins family will be in a cabin so we won’t be interacting with other guests at the resort so I’m gonna try to speak with the guard/management to be able to visit and pick them up in our rental). And while I am still trying to stay only cautiously optimistic that the parks will reopen and my flight won’t get cancelled…the excitement builds!
Hi, really glad you guys wrote this. We are of the exact same outdoor dining mindset and I was trying to put together my own list to work from and forgot a couple of these. Have you been able to check in on Via Napoli? Or even Tutto Italia – I’d be interested to know if they opened up the sides on their little patio area
Great article! I wouldn’t be surprised if, when the parks open, we see a lot of outdoor seating (with umbrellas or pop-up tents) added to sit-down restaurants out on the sidewalks. The Plaza as you mentioned, would be ideal, and I would love to see Via Napoli add a temporary patio. We arrive at WDW on July 26. Keep us updated! 🙂
following
Is the Boathouse open? I don’t see it available in the app to make reservations.
Does one need a reservation at the Brown Derby Lounge? And is it possible to order from the full Brown Derby menu or do they have a separate limited menu? I don’t drink, so the lounges kind of confuse me, but it sounds like a better option than most of the food at Hollywood Studios.
The Brown Derby Lounge doesn’t take reservations and we usually stand in line right before it opens for lunch because it’s so popular and hard to get in after that. It’s our favorite place in HS to sit for a cocktail and lunch. We love to rest and people watch from there. It’s very pleasant. Here’s the menu: https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/dining/hollywood-studios/hollywood-brown-derby-lounge/menus/
We ate at Trattoria Al Forno last night and they told us they were not seating people or serving outdoors. So, as of June 30, not yet!