Disney World News: Restaurants Reopening & Staying Closed, Park Hours “Glitch”
It’s time for a recap of all the latest Walt Disney World news! In this post, we’ll share details about dining at Walt Disney World–specifically what’s opening and staying closed. We’ll also address some comments about the reduced park hours for September and October, including a big concern about hours for November 2020 and beyond.
Let’s start with Walt Disney World’s restaurant roller coaster. Executive chef at Epcot’s France pavilion, Bruno Vrignon, announced that he was retiring after 38 years in an interview with Scott Joseph. The article is mostly just a retrospective, with Orlando’s foodie scene–not Walt Disney World fans–as the intended audience.
The original version of the article ended with this: “Asked when the restaurants would reopen, Eric Weistroffer, JBI’s executive director, mused that the real question was if they would reopen. Most of the French staff members, including almost all of the servers, returned home when Epcot closed. Although the theme park has opened, its attendance numbers have not been sufficient to fully reopen all the culinary operations, he said, or to bring back the furloughed staff.”
The first sentence made the rounds on social media, and fans went wild with it. Walt Disney World’s PR team was presumably not happy about the unflattering picture painted by that off the cuff comment, as a “correction” was quickly made to the interview with the note that the statement was made “jokingly.”
Regardless of whether or not it was an actual joke, the reality is that times are rough for the restaurant industry. You’ve no doubt seen the grim forecasts–or perhaps already experienced local dining spots shuttering. Per one (of many) recent forecasts, roughly 231,000 of the nation’s 660,000 restaurants will close permanently this year.
The decade of Walt Disney World expanding its dining lineup is almost certainly over. Locations that are ‘temporarily unavailable’ could close permanently, resulting in a contraction. However, this is more likely to occur at the resorts and Disney Springs before it happens in the parks. Even if the third party operators can’t reopen, Disney will find a way to bring back popular, high-profile restaurants like Chefs de France and Tutto Italia.
Speaking of which, Cast Members have been called back to Teppan Edo, which is now preparing to reopen on August 24, 2020. At this teppanyaki restaurant in Epcot’s Japan pavilion, chefs typically prepare dishes in front of guests, bringing a show component to the meal.
It’s unclear whether this will return right when the restaurant reopens, or how Teppan Edo will handle what was previously communal seating. (It’s worth noting that Biergarten in the Germany pavilion has already reopened, successfully modifying its operations to accommodate physical distancing.)
Although not a restaurant, the House of Good Fortune shop has reopened in the China pavilion. Despite the setback of Tangierine Cafe re-closing, it seems like things are starting to trend in the right direction at Epcot. Aside from guest demand and viability, a big hurdle right now is likely staffing.
We’re optimistic that other stores (the ones open are seeing plenty of guests) plus restaurants like Tokyo Dining and Nine Dragons will return at some point soon. Options like Takumi-Tei and Monsieur Paul might be a bit further away.
In another minor quick hit from the resorts, Tambu Lounge is tentatively scheduled to open in the next week at Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort.
The hotels that are operating have been fairly busy–due to a combination of shorter park hours and guest consolidation–so we’d expect this trend of opening more drinking and dining spots to continue.
Finally, we want to quickly revisit our Cuts to Fall Hours at All Four Walt Disney World Parks post. This proved to be a hot topic, for all of the wrong reasons. Comments on the blog were about what you’d expect, but very different on Facebook, where many fans defended the decision on a couple of bases.
The first is that right now it’s unnecessary to spend 10 hours in any of the parks (how long they’re currently open) in order to do every operating attraction. This is factually correct, and is worth reiterating. You can “finish” any of the parks in around 5 hours, some significantly less. We’ve managed to do every attraction in Disney’s Hollywood Studios (save for Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance) in the last two hours that park is open.
Our expectation is that Walt Disney World’s crowds will be lighter in September and October than they are right now, meaning that it’ll be even easier to accomplish everything in a short period of time. (That is, unless Disney finally fixes the issue with AP availability.)
Of course, this assumes that Walt Disney World is just a collection of attractions and “doing” the parks is only checking off every ride. But the point stands that crowds are so low and lines so short that accomplishing whatever you set out to do takes less time than normal. That’s an undeniable plus of visiting right now. No amount of spin can make reduced park hours “better,” though.
For many people, the Walt Disney World experience is holistic. We’d assume this is the case for the vast majority of readers on sites like this one; attractions are great, but most Disney fans are not simply ride junkies. There’s also the principle of the matter. Paying full price for an already reduced experience, that is then further eroded by cutting park hours, understandably rubs people the wrong way.
The second point being made is that Walt Disney World always cuts hours in the fall, and this is factually incorrect. To the contrary, I cannot recall the last time before this year that Walt Disney World took posted hours and reduced them across the board. Usually, hours are only extended–not reduced–once posted.
It is true that hours are typically shorter in September and October than they are in July and August, but they start out that way and are not changed for the worse after people book trips. In a normal fall, the parks open at around 9 am and close at 9 or 10 pm, which is a far cry from what’s happening now. That’s also before Extra Magic Hours, which are not happening this year. (Last year, Extra Extra Magic Hours further extended those morning opening times.) In short, it’s both inaccurate and disingenuous to call this cut “normal.”
Additionally, there were a couple of concerns frequently raised by readers in the comments to the park hours post that are worth addressing. First, Advance Dining Reservations after park closing times. By and large, you should proactively rebook these while there’s availability or they’ll be cancelled. Some Epcot restaurants are actually honoring reservations shortly after park closing, but don’t count on that.
Second, those of you with Disney Park Pass reservations for November 2020 and beyond might notice that your My Disney Experience plans show the new park hours. This has caused many of you to worry that Walt Disney World has already quietly cut hours for this holiday season, but just hasn’t yet announced the reduction. We highly doubt this.
This might be hard to believe, but Disney IT is not the best. (I’ll give you a moment to collect yourselves after being knocked off your feet by this revelation.) Disney’s system likely just reflects the current hours for all dates going forward–this is almost certainly a glitch. In some spots, this issue was concealed by removing the current hours and replacing that with “Park Open – Close” (like the desktop version of My Disney Experience) but that was missed in other spots (like the My Disney Experience app).
The reason we strongly believe this is simply an unresolved/inconsistent glitch is because we made a Disney Park Pass reservation for Magic Kingdom on September 26, 2021. There is literally no way on earth that the park hours are set for that date–they wouldn’t have been in normal times, and certainly not now. And yet, that also shows the hours as 9 am to 6 pm. In other words, don’t fret over this yet. It’s likely a mistake that’ll be corrected soon.
Ultimately, we are concerned about the trajectory of park hours and Walt Disney World’s woes becoming a self-fulfilling prophecy, especially if measures aren’t taken to entice tourists. We’re also annoyed at the lack of evening hours. However, these are simply concerns at this point, not concrete reality or even our actual expectations.
Walt Disney World will likely release general public discounts at some point. They’ll announce plans for the Christmas season, and we anticipate that to include the return of evening hours. Disney will bring things back and scale up operations as it becomes practical and safe. While we don’t love all of Disney’s decisions during this, we also recognize the need for flexibility and understanding given the circumstances. Sometimes it just feels like Disney is expecting almost all of the compromise to come on the part of guests, and isn’t meeting people halfway. As cancellations pile up resulting from the fall hours being cut, we suspect that will change.
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
What do you think about the Walt Disney World restaurant reopening…and not…news? What’s your view on the park hours issue? Think this is a one-off due to abysmal attendance forecasts for September and October, or a trend that’ll continue? Do you have a Walt Disney World trip planned for this holiday season? Will you still go if hours resemble those of this fall? Will shorter hours influence your decision to visit later in 2020 or in early 2021? Do you agree or disagree with our advice and 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!
I understand Disney’s fear of media outrage should they attempt to lure people to Florida by offering discounts. I further understand why Universal remains relatively immune to that same media backlash, giving them the freedom to offer discounts without all of the negativity. At the end of the day, I’m not making my plans based on which park I feel the most sorry for during these hard times. Disney will still be there next year or the year after, with early entry and early access to dining and FastPass reservations for resort guests. In the meantime, although Disney has cut these perks for their loyal vacationers, Universal has not. And that’s enough for me to change my mind about ‘never taking a Universal trip over a Disney trip.’ Once Disney finds a way to show me that they value their resort guests, annual Passholders, and loyal DVC members, I’ll be back. Right now, the whole thing just leaves a bad taste in my mouth.
Now is definitely the time to give Universal a shot if you’ve previously overlooked it, for all of the reasons you’ve mentioned.
Additionally, Universal has some truly great hotels and Volcano Bay being open is a big plus for water park fans.
Hi Tom
We have an end of October trip scheduled (Oct 23- Nov 1). We are DVC and Annual Passholders so we have the pleasure of traveling to WDW often. However, we live out of state (Indiana) and I would much rather have a full trip with normal-ish park hours vs the reduced hours Disney just published. Nighttime in the parks are the preferred visiting hours for my family. Do you think we have a good chance of Disney revising the hours for the week in October when we will be traveling or do you think it would be safer to re-book a December trip to ensure PM hours?I was thinking the reduction in park hours would mainly apply to September when the parks are slow anyways, let alone with a pandemic…..
We are scheduled to come at Christmas and are planning to wait and see as long as possible before we decide to pull the plug. A lot can happen in the next few months!! It’s too bad Disney didn’t opt for later opening times and keeping evening hours. Especially with the heat and the fact that it seems like the majority of those visiting at the moment are AP’s and locals coming after work. I wonder if they are trying to save a little money the next few months since everything extra was already cancelled (special events, halloween, etc) so they can go bigger for the holidays? Especially is very few are using those hours. The holidays are their busiest time of the year so we’re definitely hoping things look better by then! It reminds me of the story of the airline that was looking to save money on inflight meals (I’m sure that just dated me as they haven’t served in flight meals as part of regular fare in some time! ;P ). They ended up saving millions when someone suggested they remove one olive from every salad. Maybe this fall is Disney’s “olive” so they can offer a better holiday season? Still sucks for those going right now… Nighttime hours, park hopping and Christmas decorations will all play a part in deciding if we go so hoping for the best!!! I hope we all get our dream Disney Fun Time sooner rather than later! 😀
A part of me wonders if reducing evening hours is to discourage AP’s who are coming after work but using a full day reservation. If it filters out some after work guests, maybe they figure it will help spending and make the AP pool look less horrible. Either way I do hope they don’t keep these hours for Nov and Dec. I think I will send Disney an email in hopes enough people voicing concerns will cause them to rethink Nov and Dec.
That may be true. Although at this point you’d think they’d be begging for guests… I’m hoping for a survey for Nov Dec as well. There are definitely a few things that would make the trip a no-go, but discounts might make things we’re on the fence about seem less important. I’m still cautiously optimistic we might get to go but realistic that it might not work out. My kids told me that’s a non-answer to the ongoing question “are we still going???” 😉
Any guess when Yachtsman will reopen? I’m coming to WDW in December, and I will need some Yachtsman.
Love the website and all the great information.
We should know pretty soon when DisneyWorld.com updates the Yacht Club page. My guess is that it’ll open with the hotel–restaurants at the resorts have been pretty popular due to the shorter park hours.
Tom, there have already been a few changes in the offerings for the Taste of Epcot’s Food & Wine Festival. Do you think more kitchens will open by October? I’m hoping for the Belgium waffles.
I hope so!
The booths are up for the Alps, Spain, Flavors from Fire, and Chocolate Studio (although those last two could end up being anything). I think whether more opens really comes down to demand in the next few weeks, and whether Disney can find ways to drum up guest interest in the booths.
We were thinking about trying a trip in October. But with the hours cut, entertainment cut, etc. without ticket prices being cut, I just don’t think it makes much sense.
Let’s face it, hours fluctuate because of FIREWORKS. During the summer, the sun sets later so for fireworks the parks must remain open later. In the fall that changes. However, since there are now NO fireworks (even with reduced crowds) there is no “need” to stay open later.
Doing all the rides and attractions is not why we go. We love to spend a leisurely day enjoying the parks. Lighter crowds will allow rides to be easier to accomplish and help with the overall experience, but reducing hours will cut into that leisure time.
And don’t get me started on the AP limitations. Disney needs to come up with more than a month’s extension for how they are preventing AP holders from going, particularly those of us from out of state who have to plan our visits more carefully.
“Let’s face it, hours fluctuate because of FIREWORKS. During the summer, the sun sets later so for fireworks the parks must remain open later. In the fall that changes. However, since there are now NO fireworks (even with reduced crowds) there is no “need” to stay open later.”
I don’t think that’s entirely it. There’s plenty of precedent for parks not having nightly fireworks/spectaculars, yet also not closing before sunset. That was true at Disney’s Hollywood Studios for years, and even remains the case during the off-season at Disneyland.
I don’t have a time that I do a Disney park. I do some rides I like , but also become immersed in my surroundings. Have lunch or dinner where I am. Most evenings I am at Epcot.
I usually do Disney solo, so the reduced hours would leave nothing to do at night. I would spend the night alone in a hotel room with nothing to do. I would never go with those circumstances. I am booked again for September 2021, hopefully the pandemic will be gone and Disney will be normal again. If not I will cancel yet again until all is normal.
We have a trip planned for Dec 6-11 at Caribbean. If this was our first trip, I would without a doubt cancel it. As semi-frequent visitors (we are up in Minnesota and my husband is a Disney Authorized Vacation Planner), we know how to maximize the time at the parks to still make it “worth it”. I agree with your comment that Disney seems to expect the guests to make all of the sacrifices simply because it’s Disney- with all of the current cancellations, I am hoping for some big hotel discounts to make up for it. Disney recently announced to their Authorized Vacation Planners that a new Walt Disney World Travel Agency Appreciation Program offer is now available through 2020 (discounted hotel stays). I would expect public discounts to follow shortly.
“Disney recently announced to their Authorized Vacation Planners that a new Walt Disney World Travel Agency Appreciation Program offer is now available through 2020 (discounted hotel stays).”
Interesting, thanks for the heads up!
It seems that Walt Disney World is quietly offering plenty of great discounts right now–just not to the general public. Like you, I’d expect the public ones shortly–as soon as WDW is comfortable that they won’t prompt negative headlines.
Has anyone successfully downgraded a hotel package to a ticket package without having to re-make park pass reservations? If discounts don’t come out eventually, we will probably switch to Swan and Dolphin. Taking a wait and see approach (trip planned end of December, so hoping park passes don’t fill for a while but it is still holiday season then).
Hi Tom and Sarah,
Well we leave tomorrow.
The number of hours is fine by us. We don’t go to just do the rides but to soak in the loveliness of the Parks, admire the architecture and the incredibly overwhelming fantastic nature of each resort, land and world.
If you have the time I’d appreciate your advice. I read all your blogs and have followed your suggestions on arranging roughly 30 meals. My question is about six indoor spots.
Have you any inside info or an opinion knowing these restaurants as well as you do on whether Grand Floridian Cafe, La Hacienda de San Angel, Liberty TreeTavern, The Plaza or Chef Art Smith’s would be ok to eat on the inside? And Will the Hollywood Brown Derby allow us to take our meal to the outside area? If not, safe on the inside?
Looking forward to getting out of the house and someplace nice and romantic.
I agree evening hours would be nicer, cooler, probably better attended but I suppose the electric bill would be considerably higher.
I don’t think any of those restaurants would be any better or worse than the others in terms of indoor dining. With that said, Homecoming does have covered outdoor seating.
Liberty tree tavern extended their seating into the Diamond Horseshoe, which is where we were seated when we went. Tables were spaced nicely and it was nice to have the extra open air above.
I have had reservations since Dec 2019 for the week before Thanksgiving 2020. We have had to change from our beloved PORS to Caribbean Beach, park hoppers canceled, dining plan canceled, MVMCP canceled, etc. Not one discount has been offered. We were still going to bite the bullet and go. Thinking ok with the decreased crowds we can take our time and ride the rides several times. The grandkids have missed out on sooo much already this year (this was their Christmas present last year). If Disney doesn’t offer a deep discount or increase the park hours in the next 60 days we will be postponing/canceling our trip. I no longer feel we are receiving the same value for our money.
We aren’t. The value has been substantially lowered.
I have rescheduled our WDW trip twice and am now on the third iteration. Currently scheduled for Oct.8-12 at POP Century Resort. I am considering canceling altogether instead of just moving my reservation date. Disney has a lot of my money, and I am not sure that the value is there with so many of our favorite restaurants and attractions closed and the reduced hours. We like the idea of the short lines, but not sure it makes up for the reduced experience.
We normally visit Disney world in October from the UK alas not this year , we are ride junkies, park hoppers so enjoy being able to move around freely but we also enjoy the evening atmosphere In all the parks so closing earlier than normal would be devastating , this covid has a lot too answer for !!
If Disney would provide a decent discount, I would take my son on an airplane to the parks. We would stay at a Magic Kingdom resort.
But Disney is only offering discounts for Florida residents or annual pass holders. With the current poor responses by Disney, I cannot expect the parks will be operational for the next 12 months to plan three trips.
If Disney would open up Discounts, I would book a trip in September or October.
Post Rant: At this point, a discount is required. I might still book a trip somewhere because of the cheap airfare. Why are airlines able to discount but Disney will not?
“Why are airlines able to discount but Disney will not?”
It’s a matter of PR. Walt Disney World got lambasted when the parks reopened in mid-July right as cases spiked in Florida–lots of negative headlines even though obviously none of those cases were caused by Disney’s reopening (to the contrary, positivity and cases in Orange County have been dropping since the parks reopened). Now imagine if Walt Disney World also released discounts around that same time, “luring” more tourists down to Florida. The media would’ve had a field day.
With things starting to turn around in Florida, I’d expect Walt Disney World to release general public discounts in the near future. That is, unless area schools reopening causes another spike.
Any idea when Disney will start selling annual passes to Florida residents? We moved to the Tampa area (along with 200+ families) and we would all love to purchase our passes for our family members. Unfortunately, we have been told we can only purchase the flex pass… any insight???
I don’t have any insight into that–sorry!
You moved to Tampa with over 200 other families? What led to such a large group migration?
What are your thoughts on traveling Dec. 10-15 and crowd levels? I know what they typically are but wondering your thoughts on this.
This post covers what we’re expecting crowd-wise for the rest of 2020: https://www.disneytouristblog.com/low-crowds-reopening-months-disney-world/
Very disappointed in the early closing hour at Epcot. We had just read your entry on the pleasures of walking around the World Showcase in the evening. We are new annual pass holders with three park dates reserved in late October. We want to reserve at Caribbean Beach resort, but no discount appears yet for October. That will likely drive the decision. We usually save money by a hotel stay off property but a 40% discount would give us the chance to stay in the Disney bubble, and use the skyliner transportation.
We so enjoy your blog Tom! It’s been so helpful planning in all things Disney!
So the fact that you an go through a park in five or less hours is even more of a reason to be irritated that I have paid full price for three four day tickets for October. I don’t know about others but when I drive all the way from Virginia, I want a full 10-12 hours in each park. I like to ride rides more than once and I like to leisurely walk around the parks and take lots of pictures. I think the shortened hours is ridiculous and even more so with having to pay full price.
I agree. I would just really like to know their reasoning behind this.
Why are all the hotels still so freaking expensive if everyone is canceling?
I was wondering the same thing!
Good question! I would like to know that too
I assume you mean on-property hotels. They are very high. Off-site hotels, though, are super cheap. I’m heading down this Thursday, got a suite at one of the Marriott properties for I think $75/night.