Buffets & More Coming Back to Disney World!
Walt Disney World has announced the return of select buffets, reopening of restaurants, more Cinderella Castle dining, and early debut of added Epcot Food & Wine Festival booths. In this post, we’ll offer opening dates, Advance Dining Reservation timeframes, plus what else we can expect from WDW dining for the next few months.
As always, you can refer to our List of Open & Closed Restaurants at Walt Disney World to track where the dining scene’s return to normalcy stands. Even before today’s announcement, things were looking pretty good, with mostly minor locations left in the closed column, which is a pretty significant shift as compared to even a month ago.
Earlier this week, Walt Disney World announced the reopening of Boma — Flavors of Africa at Animal Kingdom Lodge for breakfast and dinner via a Tweet rather than the normal “Foodie News” updates. As we noted, that was an odd move that was inconsistent with past practice–it was already an open secret that Boma would be returning (today!) as a buffet.
As we teased in that Boma announcement, that was one of several dining updates (all of which are improvements that will be well received among fans!) that are slated to be occurring in the very near future at Walt Disney World. Another was the mostly-restored menu at ‘Ohana.
Several more changes have now been announced today–this time via Walt Disney World’s normal “Food News” update…
We’ll start with what might be the biggest news of this roundup for families. Breakfast is coming back at Cinderella’s Royal Table inside the castle at Magic Kingdom!
Cinderella’s Royal Table breakfast resumes on August 27, 2021. Advance Dining Reservations will be available beginning August 24. (Now, if we can just get counter service breakfast and lunch back at Be Our Guest Restaurant!)
Over at Animal Kingdom, Kusafiri Coffee Shop and Bakery reopens on August 29. The eatery will have new entrées–here’s a look at the menu additions:
- Spiced Potato Hand Pies — Vegetables and potatoes wrapped in pastry served with harissa aïoli and coriander chutney
- Marinated Chicken Flatbread Sandwich — Marinated chicken topped with cucumber—tomato salad, tahini sauce, and greens served with house-made chips
- Red Chili Hot Dog — Spicy hot dog topped with cucumber—tomato salad and harissa aïoli served with house-made chips
Next, Dockside Diner at Disney’s Hollywood Studios will open August 22, 2021. This walk-up counter service restaurant has plenty of outdoor seating along Echo Lake and is a convenient, centrally-located option.
Check out the new offerings at Dockside Diner:
- Shrimp Salad Roll — Shrimp, arugula, tomatoes, pickled shaved fennel, and sliced radish tossed with rémoulade sauce on a brioche butter bun served with seasoned house-made chips
- Chipotle Chicken Salad Roll — Roasted pulled chicken salad with red onions, celery, tomatoes, and watercress tossed with chipotle aïoli and topped with fried onions on a brioche butter bun served with seasoned house-made chips
- Smoked Fish Dip served with seasoned house-made chips, celery, carrots, jalapeños, and pickles
- Seaside Brownie — Chocolate brownie topped with white chocolate ganache and seaside garnish
- Blue Sea Margarita — Tequila, blue Curaçao, and sweet-and-sour
As previously shared, the 2021 Epcot International Food & Wine Festival runs longer than ever before–a total of 129 days. Because of this, Walt Disney World is effectively splitting the event into two phases, with the festival kicking into high gear on October 1, 2021—which is not coincidentally the start of Walt Disney World’s 50th Anniversary Celebration.
In day’s announcement, Disney indicated that the Festival Team decided to open seven marketplaces early–Ireland, Spain, the Alps, Kenya, Lobster Landing, Mac & Eats, and India. This isn’t due to “popular demand” among guests–Epcot is pretty quiet right now. It’s another fruit of Walt Disney World’s aggressive efforts to hire and train more Cast Members. (Again, something covered in the Boma announcement.) We should see many more fruits of this in the weeks to come.
Finally, the main news–more buffets will be gradually returning around Walt Disney World.
Beginning August 29, Biergarten Restaurant in the German pavilion at Epcot will offer a buffet experience for lunch and dinner. Enjoy your favorite German dishes: pretzel rolls, bratwurst, spätzle, schnitzel, and a variety of desserts, including apple strudel, and black forest rolls.
Following that, the Crystal Palace at Magic Kingdom will return to its buffet service starting September 12 for lunch and dinner. You can feast on Parker House rolls, create-your-own fresh garden salad, seared pork tenderloin, fire-roasted prime rib, braised beef short ribs, and more.
This is some great news, especially as Crystal Palace was widely regarded as the worst modified meal of the last year at Walt Disney World. Opinions vary widely on the buffet quality at Crystal Palace (our personal experiences there have run the gamut), but we’re very pleased by this news. Expect these to be among the first of many buffets returning to Walt Disney World in the next ~2 months.
Not everyone is happy about the return of buffets, which is likely why Walt Disney World’s announcement of Boma’s reopening occurred without fanfare earlier this week. Given the optics of Disney continuing its steady march towards normalcy in the face of current circumstances in Florida, that makes some sense.
To be sure, there are legitimate concerns about buffets that predate last spring. However, when it comes to current risk assessments, surfaces are not a major source of transmission. Indoor dining itself poses a significantly higher objective risk, making it difficult to grant online hand-wringing about buffets much weight when coming from those who are dining indoors. (If you’re only dining outdoors, this is a moot point–there are no outdoor buffets at Walt Disney World.)
Unfortunately, humans are notoriously poor at objectively judging comparative risks, something that the last year-plus has laid bare. We often overestimate certain types of threats–including ones that are visible or draw from our recollections. It’s thus unsurprising that tangible things like “serving utensils” would generate more of a response than an abstraction like “air in a poorly ventilated room.”
It’s like swimming in the ocean, and being fearful of shark attacks but not drowning. It’s true that sharks pose a non-zero threat to humans, but the danger they present is often given outsized emotional weight because sharks are big and scary. This isn’t to say you shouldn’t fear sharks or buffets–Chef Mickey’s still haunts my nightmares. It’s just an attempt at perspective.
Ultimately, this attempted “perspective” is unlikely to change many minds, so this is the last time I’ll bring up the comparative risk of buffets. You’re all adults who are going to assess your circumstances, risk tolerances, and other information to make your own personal decisions. Whether you feel comfortable dining indoors, eating from a buffet, or even visiting theme parks is your own prerogative–unlikely to be predicated on what some random blogger says.
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YOUR THOUGHTS
Looking forward to more buffets returning at Walt Disney World or think it’s still “too soon” for them to come back? Or, would you be fine with buffets disappearing altogether, for other reasons entirely that predate the last year? What do you think of this news of restaurants reopening at Walt Disney World? Any restaurant reopening announcements that you’re still anxiously awaiting? Hoping for more ‘restored normalcy’ announcements in the near future? Planning on going to Walt Disney World for the start of the 50th Anniversary celebration? Does this have you optimistic or pessimistic for more dining to reopen at Walt Disney World? Any questions we can help you answer? Hearing your feedback is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!
We really miss the Crystal Palace breakfast ! We never hear a peep about it! Any info on if/when it will return? Thx.
My granddaughter is a pretty fussy eater and the buffet seemed to offer more choices including the ice cream bar. Since the choices right now are limited, especially for kids, unfortunately chef Mickey is off the table- The cost way too expensive for a child who has limited choices. The current menu is surprisingly unappealing and not geared for a child. It’s really too bad since it would be fun for the gray to have dinner with the characters
@Tom I know you’re looking in the mirror and not pointing at me on that last point. I had fish for lunch! Sure, it was fried and in taco form as the Lord intended, but it had salad in it, kind of.
@Lissa that’s the best statement I’ve heard yet. Watch your own personal hygiene and keep up with those supplements. That will go a long way to avoid sickness. In fact I am now thinking of taking a fistful of those el cheapo vinyl food service gloves to use for handling serving utensils at a buffet. Our annual infection control classes we take for our work in hospitals keeps getting more involved every year.
When we started taking longer trips several years ago, we noticed one or more of us might start feeling ill towards the end of the trip. I started taking extra zinc before and during the trip, washing hands even more before eating, and most of all trying to avoid touching handrails, especially with the inside of my hand (fingers and palm) that might go near my face. That helped a lot pre-covid and is what we did in Paris and Germany last March when this was all starting to ramp up. Just wish I’d had the foresight to open a testing lab! I’d be rich…
Not to mention eating a healthy and well-rounded diet (bad example in a post about buffets, but the point stands), getting exercise, plenty of sleep, and just generally making lifestyle choices to improve your physical health.
Does anyone know if Chef Mickey’s will become a buffet again?
Tom, did not see the Cape May Cafe Buffet return listed? The dinner one?
Any news on if Be Our Guest will be returning to normal anytime soon? We have a trip planned for October and I’m not a fan of the signature dining that they offer now.
Wondering if there is any news regarding character meet and greets or if they will soon be able to high five or get autographs?
Tom, Any thoughts on whether the sudden return of buffets may portend a return of the dining plan in the near future? It seems as though having buffets and the large amount of guests they can serve with fewer cast members would be a logical step in DDP’s return.
I’ve heard a LOT of rumblings recently about potential announcements in the pipeline for Walt Disney World, but oddly, nothing about Dining Plans. (In fairness, I also don’t know anyone who would work directly on that—but usually people talk.)
My expectation is still that they’ll be back by October. The staffing and dining capacity are now there to support them, and it’s a “win” for Disney from both a guest satisfaction and revenue perspective. Disney could use that after the Genie announcement.
Hi Tom, Thank you for all your hard work keeping everyone updated. What do you think about dining reservations returning to the 6 month mark?
Buffets have always been a bit risky, with people handling the same serving utensils and not always staying behind the “sneeze screen.” I always made it a practice to get my food, handling the utensil only with my right hand, and plate only with my left, and after putting it on the table, I would either wash my hands, or use hand sanitizer. I used to be laughed at and called a “germaphobe” for taking these precautions. However, having had lengthy training sessions in infection control, and blood borne and airborne pathogens as a healthcare worker (paramedic) I have always been aware and cautious about things like this. Ironically, I am NOT hysterically afraid of Covid, probably because I do know how infection is spread and how simple precautions and personal health measures can easily mitigate the risk enough to be comfortable living life mostly normally. The biggest change I have made is being religious with my dietary supplements that support a strong, health immune system. Other than that, I am living life without fear.