Disney World Announces BoardWalk Restaurant Permanently Closing
Walt Disney World has confirmed that another restaurant at Disney’s BoardWalk Resort will be going out of business in 2024, the third such permanent closure during the phased reopening. This post shares dates & details, along with the interim replacement planned for the ‘Showplace of the Shore’ along Crescent Lake.
Let’s start with the meat of the story, which is that Big River Grille & Brewing Works will have its final day of operations on January 21, 2024. The restaurant will end its nearly three-decade run and be permanently closed as of January 22, 2024. To the best of my knowledge, Big River is an opening day BoardWalk original, and first opened in 1996. (I’d be surprised if it’s changed much since then.)
For those who were unfamiliar with it, which I’m guessing is a lot of you as it was never particularly busy, Big River Grille & Brewing Works was the only working brewpub at Walt Disney World. The third party table service restaurant served American bar fare, such as barbecued ribs and burgers. Big River had a rather large indoor dining room along with a waterfront outdoor patio.
Most notably, Big River Grille & Brewing Works had a large menu of award-winning, handcrafted ales and lagers brewed on the premises. Favorites included the Big River I.P.A and the seasonal Sweet Magnolia American Brown Ale. An extensive selection of wines, margaritas and specialty cocktails are also available. Guests could also watch the onsite brewmaster craft 5 specialty beers through floor-to-ceiling glass windows.
Big River Grille & Brewing Works was one of the slower to return restaurants at Walt Disney World during the phased reopening, opening its doors again in February 2021 after a nearly year-long closure. While slow by the standards of WDW as a whole, it arguably outperformed the average at BoardWalk, which lost ESPN Club and Ample Hills Creamery on the other end of the promenade.
On this end, Jellyrolls and Atlantic Dance Hall seem to be hanging on by a thread, which was the case even prior to the events of March 2020. Meanwhile, Trattoria al Forno is doing just fine on the other side, but its beloved Bon Voyage Character Breakfast has yet to return.
For the last year-plus, Walt Disney World has been undertaking a quasi-reimagining or refresh to the BoardWalk, which has already included the additions of BoardWalk Ice Cream (replacement for Ample Hills) and BoardWalk Deli (replacement for BoardWalk Bakery). Other stuff has happened inside the lobby and guest rooms, all of which is beyond the scope of this post.
Next up is Blue Ribbon Corn Dogs, which is a small but beloved quick service spot. Then comes the big one–The Cake Bake Shop, which will maybe/hopefully open sometime in 2024 as the permanent replacement for ESPN Club. All of this is relevant as context to the commentary below, which discusses the viability of businesses on the BoardWalk.
Word first emerged on social media that Big River Grille & Brewing Works is going out of business, via a notice sent by the third party restauranteur to its employees. Between that, notifying them that the restaurant would be closing in only a few days’ time, and Walt Disney World seemingly being caught flat-footed by the news, it’s quite clear that this was not preplanned and coordinated. It was, however, a long time coming. We’re honestly surprised Big River lasted as long as it did.
Obviously, there’s no word yet on any plans for a permanent replacement for Big River Grille & Brewing Works. Frankly, we wouldn’t expect to hear anything from Walt Disney World for months. It wouldn’t surprise me the least if there’s no announcement until 2025.
In the meantime, Walt Disney World has indicated that a rotating selection of food trucks will offer lunch options at Disney’s BoardWalk Inn starting February 22, 2024. I’m a bit surprised even by this, so perhaps I’m being too pessimistic with my prediction of no news on a Big River replacement this year.
It’ll be interesting to see what replaces Big River Grille & Brewing Works in the long term. If we’re thinking about this logically, what makes the most sense is another brewery. A sports bar & grille that’s like a mix between Big River and ESPN Club would be perfect, and fill a vital role that’s now conspicuously absent from this area.
There are a lot of dads and other sports fans who enjoy watching “the big game,” and there’s not a great option for that that’s easily accessible from the parks. Big River Grille & Brewing Works is walkable from EPCOT and Disney’s Hollywood Studios, and also is within Skyliner distance of a ton of resorts. A family-friendly(ish) sports bar makes a lot of sense here.
It’s kind of unfortunate that this didn’t happen a few years ago. Big River seems like it’s been on life support for ages, and there’s a part of me that wonders whether Cake Bake Shop would be going in here and ESPN Club would still be operating had Big River gone under back during the closure when Ample Hills did.
Honestly, I’m more wondering if anything will replace Big River Grille & Brewing Works, rather than what. While it’s fun to speculate about the possibilities, it’s probably also worth examining the reality that Disney’s BoardWalk isn’t the counterprogramming to Downtown Disney (now Disney Springs) that it was envisioned back in the 1990s.
There are still times when BoardWalk is absolutely hoppin’, but it certainly isn’t a huge hangout for locals. (Walt Disney World’s restrictive resort parking rules have seen to that!) Not only has this area not lived up to its full potential and doesn’t see the foot traffic needed to sustain a restaurant row, but there already are a lot of dining options. BoardWalk, Yacht & Beach Club all have a lot of options, and that’s not to even mention Swan & Dolphin, Swan Reserve, all of the Skyliner resorts, or World Showcase.
While I think the circumstances were unique that led to the closures of Ample Hills and ESPN Club, I can’t help but wonder if Walt Disney World is going to have a difficult time luring another third party into this space. I guess it’s possible that Disney will open its own restaurant in this location, but that’s difficult to see given everything else they’ve done (or not done) on the dining front in the last several years.
If you’re a third party with the option of going into Disney Springs, World Showcase, or here…which would you choose? The Big River spot–on the ‘dead’ end of BoardWalk–would be a really tough sell for me. It would almost have to be a unique and popular concept that knows it can rise above the location, fill tables regardless, and would prefer the lower rent. (Like the Cake Bake Shop!) But I’ve never been in charge of any tier of restaurant above a Subway sandwich shop, so what do I know.
On a personal note, most of my memories of Big River Grille & Brewing Works are fuzzy but fond ones from the mid to late 1990s and early aughts. This was the type of restaurant that was right up my family’s alley when I was growing up. Coming from a small town that got its first “big” restaurant (Applebee’s) the year I left for college, we absolutely loved stuff like this. Big River, Planet Hollywood, All Star Cafe–those were our go-tos. They were novel and fun, serving up huge plates of approachable food.
While I don’t purport to be an expert on this sort of thing, I’d say that Big River Grille & Brewing Works was ahead of its time, for a time. Since then, time has passed it by. Stated differently, Big River was a forward-thinking concept in the mid-90s before the craft brewpub really became “a thing” you could find in virtually any city. The idea was an interesting one, but Big River failed to evolve and stay fresh. Which is precisely why, I assume, a lot of you reading this–even Walt Disney World fans–will have never even heard of Big River, much less dined here.
While “researching” this article, I was going through the DTB archives trying to figure out when the heck was that we last dined at Big River Grille & Brewing Works. I seemed to recall being there a couple of times within the last decade, but my photo archive did not corroborate that. Then I found this tidbit in a trip report about, as it turns out, our final experience at Big River:
After being seated [at Big River], I realized this is not what I remembered. At all. Now I know how Brian Williams feels, because I remembered the environment being totally different. There’s no way that’s a result of the interior being redone in the interim–that interior was easily 10 years old.
Anyway, we were one of 4 parties in the entire restaurant, which would normally be nice, except we were seated between two tables of families, both of which had crying children. Families with crying children do not bother me, particularly at Walt Disney World, where that comes with the territory.
However, I think I speak for literally the entire universe when I say that I do not find children’s cries to be a harmonious melody. I assume parents must agree with this, or else they would encourage their children to cry more, instead of less.
The point being: if 85% of the tables in your restaurant are open, why on earth are you going to seat a couple without kids right next to two tables of crying kids? I don’t care how the restaurant is divided up for servers, that’s just poor service.
We figured we’d just ask to be re-seated when our server came, but after that took an inordinate amount of time, we started to re-evaluate what, exactly, had led us to Big River Grille. Clearly, my memory of the place was suspect. Almost no one else was here. The decor would’ve been tired and dated by the standards of a real-world strip mall in Pennsylvania. At this point, we just decided to bail.
Big River Grille & Brewing Works, you will be missed. Not by me, but probably by someone. Like Ace Ventura Pet Detective (an all-time classic), I’m perfectly happy with my fuzzy and fond–but probably very rose colored–memories. There are some things better left in the past, and for me, Big River is one of those.
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Your Thoughts
What do you think of Big River Grille & Brewing Works permanently closing? Will you miss it or are you excited for whatever’s next? Think that something will take its place on that end of the BoardWalk anytime soon? What would be your ideal replacement for Big River? Expect other concepts on this end of the BoardWalk to go out of business at some point in the not-too-distant future? Do you agree or disagree with our assessment? 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 loved this place and ate there every time we stay at Boardwalk or nearby hotels. It was cheaper than Disney restaurants, had a great (cheap) children’s menu, good beer, reliable food (with good vegetarian options for me and ribs for my husband) and you could get reservations for large parties 8-12 people easily. It was usually full when we went (probably with other last minute people). The tables itself were falling apart when we are there last summer though…
We love this place and had plans to eat there twice at the end of the month…January 28th, our arrival date, and also on our last evening later that week. We are sad about it.
We loved being served outside on the Boardwalk. It’s a beautiful viewing spot. And you get a break from all the overpriced Disney restaurants.
Ob-la-di…ob-la-da (Beatles)
I’d love to see a higher end Food Hall on the BoardWalk, such the ones in many larger U.S. cities that include options such as Eataly and the like. This would have to be much smaller … maybe just 3 different options, but would be a way to bring efficiency and variety without cannibalizing the full service restaurants.
We dined there 3 or 4 times over the years when in that area. mostly, because the prices were a little cheaper than elsewhere nearby. Our last visit was in April 2024. The food quality was not as good as on previous visits although the service was fast and friendly. Never had a problem parking there. I always just told the gate attendant that we were there to eat lunch and walk around the boardwalk and they always let us through. From there, one can get a meal, go for a nice walk, check out some shops and resorts, go for a boat ride and/or get on the Skyliner nearby and ride it too. all free of charge. That place could benefit from a restaurant that did not charge an arm and a leg for everything.
Another problem is that I think the company that owns Big River is struggling as a whole. Their Gordon Biersch brewery in a Annapolis, MD closed a couple of years ago and the Gordon Biersch in Washington, DC closed a long time ago.
I’m probably the target customer for this place. Disney nut, Beer snob, sports tv watcher. I was happy this place existed, but really never got around to going.
Reasons? Food pretty ordinary – not fatal in and of itself. Family not all that interested in any of these things, the tv, beer or food.
I never felt the need to fight the family on this since , like the article says, these restaurant/brewpubs are all over the place now. Nothing particularly special about this one.
This sort of thing needs to be at Springs now.
Tom, do you have any clue on how they choose the food trucks? Seems like a lot of larger theme parks are going that route. Wondering if they are subcontracted or Disney owned. Thanks!
Make it a market with three to five (whatever the space allows) restaurants that are currently at Disney Springs. Quick service with a scaled down menu of what they do best.
That’s a shame. We often stopped there walking between Epcot and Hollywood Studios. The beers and the food were quite a bit cheaper than the prices in the park.
One of the YouTubers I watch just did a review on this restaurant this week. He said it was possibly the worst restaurant in the greater Orlando area. 4 people ordered different entries & all said the food tasted like it was frozen food nuked in a microwave.
This is why I never went. Poor reviews online everywhere. And I love breweries.
I suspect the only replacement that could guarantee good traffic would be another character meal or IP themed restaurant. I’m not sure what the right IP tie-in would be based on the overall theme of the area, but it has to be something strong enough to compete with what’s already in the area AND draw folks in from Epcot and DHS, since it’s too much a hassle to be a destination for most locals.
How busy are Jellyrolls and Atlantic Dance Hall these days? If they’re dead (which is my impression), then would there be a concept that would be a big draw that could combine that whole end? I was thinking something along a Dave & Buster’s type thing combining sports bar and arcade? Keep the kids busy while parents watch the game?
These Disney deluxe resorts don’t have a counter service location that’s not a bakery, a lousy pizza window, a bar (coffee or otherwise), or a glorified gift shop. A fast causal location (a nice, slightly more expensive fast food place) is desperately needed here. I hope that’s the direction that WDW is headed, because they would need to change the parking situation *and* have had the Skyliner stop closer if they wanted to build up the area otherwise.
I feel like there’s gotta be a reason why WDW doesn’t do a real counter service food court at Crescent Lake. It feels like this area could absolutely sustain one, but they’ve had chance after chance and keep passing up the opportunity. Not really sure why, though.
Yes to this! We stayed at the Dolphin in November and found ourselves on more than one night wandering around the Boardwalk after being at a park with our small kids, desperate for a fast casual offering.
We did the pizza window one night, we even ended up at Big River Grille one night. The Big River Grille experience was bleak – we were fortunate to have a great waiter but the whole restaurant was just dirty, rundown, and smelled awful. I couldn’t even bring myself to order anything to eat but – like I said, desperate to feed the kids quickly and get them to bed – I ordered them kids meals and suffered through the smell. Definitely cannot say I am surprised to hear it closed and hope Disney could fill in the gap for those of us that love staying in the Crescent Lake area (we love staying at the Beach Club, too!) but need something more than a deli and less than a Trattoria Al Forno.
If they are truly trying to emulate the NJ boardwalk, a quick service restaurant with either Italian or Greek would be the way to go. Disney still doesn’t have a truly exceptional pizza place anywhere. An Italian menu would have things like cheesesteaks, calzones, chicken parm subs/paninis, while if they chose to go Greek they could do gyros and wraps. It would potentially also be a great opportunity to do a barcade or beer garden of some sort, if they wanted to keep it closer to the original.
And honestly I think the idea of food trucks on/around the boardwalk would be fantastic, and a great way for Disney to partner with local businesses.
There’s a lot of potential to revive the boardwalk area, if they choose. Jellyrolls is honestly fantastic but the cover charge is bonkers. Imagine if they used the space in the morning to do a sing-along breakfast!
I love this idea. Given that Trattoria al Forno is (good) Italian, a fast casual Greek spot with a beer garden and televisions (for sports) would be fantastic.
Interesting. We have stayed at Beach Club regularly for the last ten years and often spent time on Boardwalk. We never dined at or even noticed this place. We likely won’t miss it haha But, we will be interested to see what fills the space.
Massive loss for those of us who love craft beer. We are returning to WDW in May and we see this as a significant setback. There’s a brewery a few miles off site near to Disney Springs, so we may end up taking a taxi a couple of times. Disney’s loss is someone else’s gain..
Big River Grille is a Chattanooga area restaurant with the one location at WDW. All the ones in Chattanooga closed last year so it is no surprise to us that they finally closed this one. The quality of food had been going downhill since 2020 at all Big River Grilles and they didn’t fill their staff spots entirely after 2020 so there was slow service at the Chattanooga restaurants. Definitely not going to be missed by us. A fresh new restaurant would be welcomed at Boardwalk and here in Chattanooga to replace them. Maybe a fresh seafood place?!?!?
Thanks for the insight—not a huge surprise, but still unfortunate.
I wouldn’t expect seafood or Italian given what’s already on the other side of the promenade.
A quick service spot specializing in fried seafood, lobster rolls, etc. might still work, despite the Flying Fish being nearby. Those types of places are a staple in New England seaside towns and boardwalks, and the Crescent Lake resorts are sadly lacking when it comes to quick service locations that are more than just a window or gift shop.
Anything new they put in Boardwalk will take years to open, unfortunately .
Dined there several times and never had a bad meal. Loved the outdoor seating; I’ll truly miss it. Let’s see what’s next for the location
We liked going there, not because the food was awesome, but because we didn’t need a reservation, we would go early for dinner, and sit outside and just enjoy the area. We often would stop there too when we walked from HS to EP or vice versa. We would even just pop out of EP sometimes to go there, again because of the lack of need for a reservation and to just sit for awhile in a pleasant setting.to decompress and rest our weary feet. It was also priced sort of reasonably. I hope they put something similar with simple fare, decent prices and outside seating to continue to enjoy the Boardwalk while taking a break from everything.
Big River was one of my favorite restaurants in all of Disney World. The bronzed scallops were a destination meal for me, and I enjoyed almost every beer I tried there. The atmosphere – both inside and out – always seemed upbeat but not over-the-top. Sad to see it go.