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 the shortened hours if the parks aren’t busy, after all some savings in overhead makes sense. I wonder, though, if they’d be better opening later in the morning and have the parks open later in the evening. This would help with dining reservations, keeping crowds in check at DS and mini golf, and people can sleep in, use resort gyms and pools, and relax more in the a.m.
This is the 1st time I am getting really scared about my trip in November. I have tried to justify that I would be ok with the hours but now this thing about not being able to get food to eat is disturbing. I think somebody in Disney is sitting on their brains. I don’t want to go off property to eat because I have a gift that couldn’t be use on dining plan. If nothing is open I can’t do that either. I am near tears. Can’t get refund because using DVC points for BLT. I am too old to wait another year but would be happy to wait until feb or march if I could. Don’t mean to whine but I have kept cheerful and not being able to eat fo 7 day is definitely taking away the cheerfulness.
Barbara, it saddened me to read you are near tears over worrying about going hungry. I just returned from a solo trip and had some of my best (Disney) meals ever. Disney is requiring reservations for table-service locations. No walk ups. Review the menus on My Disney Experience or DisneyWorld website and make your reservations 60 days in advance. As far as quick service, I used mobile order at Docking Bay 7 (HS), Regal Eagle (lots of indoor and outdoor seating) and Primo Piazza at Riviera Resort where I was sole patron at 5:00 pm. Since you’re at BLT, consider all restaurants at other monorail resorts as well as Wilderness Lodge. On my MK day, I had a lunch reservation at Whispering Canyon at Wilderness Lodge. Took boat from MK and enjoyed mid-day break from park. Lucked into some Disney Magic because maintenance crew was working in Whispering Canyon, so lunch was served in nearby Artist Point.
Enjoy your trip, whenever that may be.
Tom, on the subject of hours being cut from the evening/night, instead of the morning, I wonder if this is because it may be more difficult to maintain the distance/masks rules when cast members can’t clearly see the park-goers?
Meaning, would limited visibility potentially make it less safe to be in the parks than their safety standard currently is, thus Disney’s rationale?
There’s a lot of people clamoring for nighttime views and experiences in the park, but perhaps they aren’t able to execute that safely for everyone right now.
We have a trip booked for mid October (our original trip was planned for March but we had to reschedule). With the new times posted we are finally debating if we really want to visit this year – although the thought of smaller crowds is very enticing. Several people commented about how hard it was for them to find available spots or open restaurants. I’d be very curious to hear of other people’s’ experience trying to find meals on property…
I just got back from a solo trip and visited AK, MK, and HS. Finding TS was impossible and the quick service options were meh. Ordering on the Mobile app is great, but finding AC if you want it is almost impossible. I also was very frustrated at the lack of cleaning between tables. The only place I had a good experience was at Docking Bay 7 in HS. There wasn’t anyone else at the counter when I picked up my meal, and they had someone escort me to an open table that had been cleaned was well distanced from other tables. Dining is a HUGE problem right now, in my opinion.
I’m just disappointed by the lack of hours at night. All 4 parks (without even thinking about fireworks) are truly magical at night in some way or another. Walking around all the parks at night (and riding the outdoor rides) is almost like an extra experience in and of itself. To me, that’s a big hole in the Disney Experienceto be missing out on.
With that being said, if I suddenly found myself with an extra week of vacation and had the money, I’d be booking a trip for September with the family. We are very mask and social distance conscious – and this lack of crowds is truly a unique opportunity to “do the parks” (as Tom likes to say) multiple times in one day.
I think it would be nice if you did a post on whether right now is worth your money. I understand that to you the glass is “half full ” but looking at families who are traveling across the country for their first Disney world experience, do you honestly see the glass half full? We went to Disneyland in February, and although the crowds were fewer, we missed out on fantasmia, fireworks, parades and longer hours. We had the time of our lives, and it was worth it. But the reality was that we sacrificed some experiences for smaller crowds. I don’t think I would want to do that again. To spend a bunch of money on flights, would it be worth booking a place for 7 nights and living it up at our resort and a Disney world resort. Or would you say that it is better to wait? I’ve never been to Disney world, and I would miss more than fireworks and parades. I would miss the performaces! While yes, if I lived near Disney world and was almost bored of the shows, I would definitely celebrate small crowds for rides. isn’t Disney more than just rides? You’ve been there countless times. Put yourself in the average Joe that saved for this trip. Is the glass still half full?! I want honestly. which I know you are.
I would recommend to wait on a first visit. The parks crowd levels are great but the energy just isn’t the same…not to mention wearing a mask all day in the Florida heat will require far more breaks and undoubtedly will make everyone far more tired. The energy and “magic” is worth waiting for, even if it means you will have greater crowds
I just got back from a solo trip… I would wait. I was checking it out to see if my kids would have fun. It was honestly a SAD sight. Yes there was no one in the parks, in fact I took several pictures of literally NO ONE in mk or ak, but it was missing the “feel”. I told my DH that it was too quiet. Where were all the kids with balloons, and light sticks, and squealing b/c they saw their favorite character? Yes, the wait times are low, but I personally felt like it was “off”. I’d hold off until more things come back and it “Feels” like Disney again. It’s a lot of money for not a true Disney experience. Just my 2 cents.
The real losers in all this are the people who normally stay up late and go to the park late morning or early afternoon. I also don’t think the lines are as short as people are saying. We were there this weekend and got to HS right at park open (only because we felt obligated due to shortened hours) and we absolutely did not get to do everything before the park closed. We had trouble finding places to get water because so many stands were closed and they wanted you to have a mobile order to get into a quick service restaurant. I kid you not, I came home 3 pounds lighter due to lost water weight after a 4 day trip and I drank every opportunity I could. Shortening the hours further is going to make bigger crowds for busses at park open and close because more people are going to try to rope drop and stay to close to get their money’s worth due to such short hours. Also, forget about shopping after park close because lines to get into stores were ridiculous. They really need to have some evening offerings with how early the parks close!! And not having the pre-shows for many of the rides diminishes the experience even further. We don’t go to Disney for rides, but for the experience and it was definitely far below what I expected even knowing there would be no shows or fireworks which are my favorite things to do at Disney.
I was previously a public company CFO. I’m also a huge consumer of the Disney parks and resorts. While I don’t like the impact of recent decisions (I’m traveling to WDW in mid-September), I completely understand the rationale. Most companies must make trade offs among consumers, employees, and owners (or shareholders). There are a few times when it is difficult to meet the needs of all of these parties with a single decision. My sense is that Disney wants to be around for a long time and the parks are a key component of that future. This is all hard. Playing armchair quarterback on these decisions does not really help anyone. If you love Disney and feel they are handling the safety components well, visit. It will not be the full-blown experience (I’m thankful for Tom in helping us understand what it will look like), but be thankful you can even go. If you don’t feel safe or are new to Disney, maybe you should hold back. I’m thankful I get to back in September. I look forward to seeing just “some” of the magic.
They are operating in the midst of a setting in which there is basically no precedent. What kind of product do you offer to consumers that possibly are afraid of going to the grocery store let alone a theme park? At the same time, they need to turn a profit. Disney is many things to many people, but at the end of the day they are a publicly traded company that is evaluated on revenue and profit. Who knows how to plan for months down the road when it seems like things are changing week to week. Demand will dictate operations and offerings to the level that it remains profitable to Disney. Perhaps that’s a bit oversimplified, but essentially that’s the basics of every business.
Why in the world wouldn’t they take shours off of the morning instead of removing them from the evening? I’m sure more people eat dinner in the parks than breakfast, and the price point would be higher. Gosh but we give the Disney brain trust way too much credit most of the time
Totally agree. Disney is awesome at night. Disney could also capitalize on people doing breakfast before going to a later opening at the parks. Then finishing up with a nice in park dinner. Do not get the economic logic of this move.
If eating off wow consider Medieval Times. We went recently. Everyone wearing masks and shields– servers. ,social distancing . Very careful. Limited crowd, you go in when your section is called and same when you leave. For those wanting a show it was great. Something to consider. We recently went to Epcot and MK, had a great time and felt safe. MK ate br at the wave and even got reservation for dinner at Liberty Tavern at 4:50. Yes it was Florida hot, but we did ok, also had a little fan to wear around the neck. Plan to go again.
I have a trip planned the first week of Dec. I plan to cancel if a discount is not offered to public. I’m not paying full price for (highly) reduced park hours, limited restaurants and severely cut entertainment offerings.
My wife and I live on the west coast of FL, south of Tampa. We are DVC & FL Annual Passholders. On the average, we get to Disney every 6 weeks or so, usually on weekends. We spent the weekend (Fri-Sun) at the Beach Club DVC Villas. We usually get a studio but stayed in a nice 1 bedroom on the 4th floor to use our points and treat ourselves. What was unique, my wife received a call from a real live Disney person preparing us for what we would find at the Beach Club, ie. closed restaurants and the main pool. You couldn’t get near the Yacht Club due to the NBA with temporary fences and signs blocking that off. We parked over near the DVC villas, and get this, we received a phone message in our room Friday night saying all cars would need to be moved out of there by the end of the day Saturday or get towed! They were going to coat and pave that portion. He actually used the word “Towed.” I didn’t take a chance and moved my car Saturday morning.
We wanted to eat somewhere on property but couldn’t find a suitable reservation on the app in Epcot or any of the resorts. So we had a great idea and headed over to Disney Springs. BAD IDEA! You really hit the nail on the head in a previous column saying how shorter hours will overwhelm Disney Springs. It’s already started. We couldn’t even get into the parking garage. I’ve NEVER seen the traffic so bad, even before when the parking was terrible. We ended up eating off property.
This weekend was terrible for trying to find food. We were at Beach Club the first two nights and on Thursday we tried to get a snack before going to our room only to find everything closed. Tried for a dining reservation Friday night and the only thing open in the entire system aside from a couple places in Epcot (which we couldn’t go to because we were in MK and couldn’t park hop) was two places at Disney springs with reservations after 8:30. Saturday we moved to Pop and there were TONS of people in the lobby waiting to get into the restaurant/store for their mobile orders. We couldn’t even go in to get a snack because the line was ridiculous. I felt like there was nothing to do in the evening. Everything in Disney Springs was closed by 10:00 even though the app said open until 11. Very disappointing for people who are night owls.
I thought the Beach Club was one of the resorts not scheduled to open? We had reservations there and had to call to move them to the Yacht Club because we were told the Beach Club’s opening was postponed indefnitely? Now with your comments I’m more confused than ever!
Heather, the BC isn’t open yet. But the BCVillas are open since they are a DVC resort.
Thank you, Deb! I was getting confused. So when Tim said the Yacht Club was inaccessible due to the NBA players, is that referring only to the villas as well? Or will the NBA players just be gone by the time my September reservation rolls around (I’m assuming Disney would not have rebooked me at the Yacht Club if one of these two weren’t the case)?
Has anyone stayed at a club level room at any of the premium resorts yet? Was wondering if they even have them or function the same way anymore. I have club level reservation at Animal Kingdom Lodge in December, and wonder if it will be worth the significantly higher rate that we reserved last December when we were there.
Thanks ahead of time for any insight
Club level mot currently available.
Did anyone else get the email from Disney yesterday regarding the refunds for Annual Passholders? I’m not 100% sure I understood it. I was wondering if anyone could maybe give me some insight
Our primary takeaway on that message as WDW Florida Resident AP holders was that midnight (EDT?) on August 11th (tonight) is the deadline for deciding to cancel or go forward. As we would receive refunds for payments going back to March 14th, and we were in our west coast summer residence anyway until November, we elected the cancellation option.
The risk is that we won’t be able to purchase new APs right away on our return to Florida in November. Had we kept our AP, which would have expired late November, we could have renewed right away. Since we will miss Halloween decorations anyway, the roughly $400 savings finally swayed our decision to cancel.
Now we wait and hope AP sales resume in Q4 2020. Otherwise, we’re going to go cold turkey on Disney for Thanksgiving – and maybe beyond.
Thank you, but I’m wondering if they are going to lessen the cost of remaining payments for AP’s that are still paying monthly, due to the lack of basically everything that is being “modified “???. I would hope so!!! It hurts a bit to pay for 4 premium passes that can’t be used as intended.
I believe that is the intent of the “adding an extra month at no additional payment” gesture that Disney is offering AP holders if you stay on board. Not sufficient for us, with seasonal pass blockouts and our own travel schedule – basically time we wouldn’t be able to use anyway.
I’m a bit surprised that the Facebook comments seemed more reasonable than here on the blog; I would’ve thought that the Facebook crowd would be hoisting pitchforks and calling for Chapek’s job.
My wife and I are planning to go in mid-October with a couple of friends. At first I was turned off by the shortened hours, but after seeing the reaction with people claiming to be cancelling their trips, I think there may not be a better time to go in terms of crowds. I do love nights in the parks, though, (Pandora is incredible at night!) so this may cause us to skip AK altogether given the relatively small number of attractions.
This will be our friends’ first trip ever to WDW, though, so I’m admittedly a bit nervous. Of the restaurants currently open, is there one that you’d say is an absolute must?
I think even if crowds are lower, a 1 or 2 hr difference affects crowd distribution greatly. Everyone plans around time in the parks. If hours shortened, people will maximize time at parks, and then where do they go? Disney springs, resorts, pools will all feel more crowded. Less dinners in parks mean resorts and springs end up taking all the overflow. This only works if crowds truly do stay very low. That’s my main concern.
Not sure where you are staying, but this weekend there were literally lines at the pools at some resorts and people were turned away from swimming b/c there was nothing else to do with the parks closing early so everyone went to the pool. Disney Springs was also PACKED Not my idea of “magical”
Any insights (or complete guesses 🙂 ) into when new hotel deals will be released? We have a res the first week in October. We aren’t willing to pay full rack-rates for our room (given the limited offerings), so will probably cancel if not released soon….
I am also going the first week of October, but I’m not holding my breath for any discounts. Why would they give discounts to those of us that haven’t canceled yet? We’ve been moved 4 times and for that we got a $100 giftcard. I’m very thankful for it, and the hotel upgrade we got after so many moves, but I think that’s about all we’re going to get…I hope I’m wrong, but my gut tells me I’m not.
Here I am sitting and praying for November.
I never thought I’d be a person who commented both on Disney blogs and Facebook pages of Disney blogs.
I would LOVE a post on what to do with ourselves during the evenings and nighttimes during these shortened park hours. Safety protocols at fantasia gardens? Best walks without having to enter stores?
You are the literal best.
Bummer about reduction in hours but as a So Cal resident, I’m beginning to think Disneyland may not open at all this year. 0 hours.
Our 60 day ADR window for our October visit just opened and with the shortened hours most of the dinner reservations are already unavailable…especially since so many venues are still closed. Guess I will count my blessings…grab some snacks to go and picnic in our room! Thanks for always keeping us informed.
I’m so thankful to this blog because otherwise I would be in the same boat. We’re going in early October and as soon as I saw the post about hours changing I rebooked my ADRs. Most are okay, but we’re going to have one “dinner” at 4:45pm as that was the only time available..
Does DoorDash or UberEats deliver to Disney properties?? If not someone should suggest that to them–they’ll make even more of a killing than they already are!
Hey Frankie,
We too are flying down to Disney World for the 1st week of October. We are staying “off campus” so we’ll have a rental car. There’s some really nice fine dining on I-drive and we’ve book a couple of them (Oceanaire and Capital Grille) because our ADR for EPCOT/MK were cancelled due to the shorter hours. Disney really screwed the Pluto pooch on this boneheaded decision! Closing early means no revenue at their Signature restaurants. Anyway, let’s hope the October weather will be nice and we know the crowds will be minimal with kids back in school (remotely, of course).
Bummer about reduction in hours but as a So Cal resident, I’m beginning to think Disneyland may not open at all this year. 0 hours.