Open & Closed Restaurants at Disney World (February 2023)

This list of open & closed restaurants at Walt Disney World covers what’s operating in Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom, Epcot, Hollywood Studios, and resort hotels. We update this regularly, with info on what’s coming soon, newly reopened, and more.

The good news is that the vast majority of noteworthy dining options at Walt Disney World have now reopened. Last year, restaurants reopened on a near-weekly basis. This included several Signature Restaurants, hidden gem counter service spots, and even some buffets. On top of that, table service restaurants started filling more tables, improving their efficiency, and seating more guests per day.

Notable recent developments include the resumption of buffet service, expanded operations, and restoration of many ‘missing meals’ at many character dining experiences. In addition to this, a handful of niche Signature Dining establishments have returned or are reopening soon, albeit with massive price increases and prix fixe menus. (Presumably, these are ‘star-chasers’ now that there’s a Florida Michelin Guide.)

On another positive note, Walt Disney World’s culinary teams aren’t quite as understaffed as they were last year. This is one of the big reasons why restaurants are able to fill more tables and increase their capacity.

The same is also true at character dining experiences, where tables were removed to allow more clearance between characters and guests. That’s good news for those trying to score Advance Dining Reservations or walk-up availability.

To be sure, most Advance Dining Reservations are still much more competitive than pre-closure. (See What’s Up With ADR Availability? for more details about that.) Many restaurants have ADRs so elusive that you won’t have much luck scoring them unless you book bright and early 60 days beforehand–and even that might not be good enough. These include Space 220 Restaurant, Sci-Fi Dine-In Theater, California Grill, Be Our Guest Restaurant, and many more locations.

If you don’t make ADRs that far in advance, check out our Top 10 Tips for Difficult ADRs at Walt Disney World. With the exception of new or newly-reopened restaurants, we make the vast majority of our ADRs only a few days in advance (or even the same-day). This covers some of our hacks for reserving restaurants on shorter notice.

With that out of the way, let’s start with some other updates…

Permanently Closed

• ESPN Club
• Spirit of Aloha Dinner Show

Recently Returned

• Dinner at Akershus Royal Banquet Hall
• Buffet Service at Disney Junior Play n’ Dine at Hollywood & Vine
• Buffet Service at Minnie’s Seasonal Dine at Hollywood & Vine
• Buffet Service at Tusker House
• Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner at Crystal Palace: A Buffet with Characters featuring Winnie the Pooh and Friends
• Minnie’s Beach Bash Breakfast at Cape May Café
• Monsieur Paul
• ‘Ohana Best Friends Breakfast featuring Lilo and Stitch
• Takumi-Tei
• Top of the World Lounge
• Victoria & Albert’s

Coming Soon

• Buffet Service at Chef Mickey’s – March 1, 2023
• Characters at Cinderella’s Royal Table – February 28, 2023
• Cake Bake Shop – 2023
• Summer House on the Lake – 2023
• Rosa Mexicano Restaurant – 2023
• Toy Story Land Roundup Rodeo BBQ Restaurant – March 23, 2023

The newest developments on this list are the return of princesses in the dining room at Cinderella’s Royal Table and the buffet service at Chef Mickey’s. The latter had been a family-style meal, which was well-regarded among guests and an upgrade over the previous buffet; here’s hoping upgrades are made to elevate the cuisine quality. As for Cinderella’s Royal Table, the roaming princesses will return to the dining room, joining Cinderella, who already appears in the lobby.

With almost all restaurants having reopened at this point, the biggest changes on the horizon for 2023 will be like those occurring at Cinderella’s Royal Table and Chef Mickey’s. There are still several restaurants that need to restore “missing meals” and going from regular restaurants to character dining experiences, as was the case pre-closure. Expect this to happen largely by Spring 2023.

The implication from Walt Disney World is that more character meals will return in the months to come. The major impediment to this is staffing shortages, which remain an ongoing issue and probably will throughout 2023. Fortunately, Cast Member morale is starting to improve and turnover is decreasing, so Walt Disney World should finally be able to hire and retain enough Cast Members to restore operational normalcy.

This is why, for example, Akershus Royal Banquet Hall has reopened but is only serving dinner and not breakfast. There’s more than enough demand to sell out of ADRs for all three meals well in advance–Disney is not voluntarily leaving money on the table; they don’t have enough Cast Members to work the shifts necessary to open for breakfast and lunch.

With all of that out of the way, here’s what’s open & closed at Walt Disney World as of February 2023…

Magic Kingdom Open Restaurants List

• Adventureland Spring Roll Cart
• Aloha Isle
• Auntie Gravity’s Galactic Goodies
• Be Our Guest Restaurant
• Casey’s Corner
• Cinderella’s Royal Table
• Cheshire Cafe
• Columbia Harbour House
• Cool Ship
• Cosmic Ray’s Starlight Cafe
• Crystal Palace
• Diamond Horseshoe
• Frontierland Churro Cart
• Gaston’s Tavern
• Golden Oak Outpost
• Joffrey’s Coffee & Tea Company
• Jungle Navigation Co. LTD Skipper Canteen
• Liberty Square Market
• Liberty Tree Tavern
• Lunching Pad
• Main Street Bakery
• Pecos Bill Tall Tale Inn and Cafe
• Pinocchio Village Haus
• Plaza Ice Cream Parlor
• Plaza Restaurant
• Prince Eric’s Village Market
• Sleepy Hollow
• Storybook Treats
• Sunshine Tree Terrace
• Tony’s Town Square Restaurant
• Tortuga Tavern
• Westward Ho

Note that even though Be Our Guest Restaurant has returned, it’s using an ‘all-day’ table service menu previously reserved for dinner. That means breakfast is discontinued, as is the counter service lunch.

This 3-course dining experience is $67 for adults (ages 10 and up) and $39 for children (ages 3 to 9). Tax and gratuity are not included. You can read more about this experience in our Be Our Guest Restaurant Prix Fixe Dinner Review.

Magic Kingdom Closed Restaurants List

• Aunt Polly’s Dockside Inn
• Tomorrowland Terrace

Both of these are seasonal anyway, so not big losses. Normally, these would open for the weeks around peak season dates. That’s probably possible again for Easter 2023, but unlikely before then.

Animal Kingdom Open Restaurants List

• Anandapur Ice Cream Truck
• Creature Comforts
• Dawa Bar
• Dino-Bite Snacks
• Dino Diner
• Eight Spoon Cafe
• Flame Tree Barbecue
• Harambe Fruit Market
• Harambe Market
• Isle of Java
• Kusafiri Coffee Shop & Bakery
• Joffrey’s Coffee & Tea Company
• Mahindi
• Mr. Kamal’s
• Nomad Lounge
• Pizzafari
• Pongu Pongu
• Rainforest Cafe
• Restaurantosaurus
• Satu’li Canteen
• Smiling Crocodile
• Tamu Tamu Refreshments
• Terra Treats
• Thirsty River Bar & Trek Snacks
• Tiffins Restaurant
• Trilo-Bites
• Tusker House Restaurant
• Warung Outpost
• Yak & Yeti Local Food Cafes
• Yak & Yeti Restaurant

Not much commentary to offer here, as most of Animal Kingdom’s most popular dining options are returning. Animal Kingdom is probably the park most unscathed on the dining front. Everything still closed is a snack spot, many of which were not open regularly, anyway.

Disney’s Hollywood Studios Open List

• 50’s Prime Time Café
• ABC Commissary
• Anaheim Produce
• Backlot Express
• BaseLine Tap House
• Catalina Eddie’s
• Docking Bay 7 Food and Cargo
• Dockside Diner
• Epic Eats
• Fairfax Fare
• The Hollywood Brown Derby
• The Hollywood Brown Derby Lounge
• Hollywood Scoops (Seasonal)
• Hollywood & Vine
• Joffrey’s Coffee & Tea Company
• Kat Saka’s Kettle
• KRNR Rock Station Food Truck
• Mama Melrose’s Ristorante Italiano
• Milk Stand
• Peevy’s Polar Pipeline
• PizzeRizzo
• Ronto Roasters
• Rosie’s All-American Café
• Sci-Fi Dine-In Theater Restaurant
• Sunshine Day Bar
• The Trolley Car Café
• Tune-In Lounge
• Woody’s Lunch Box

It’s a similar story at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. Almost every single noteworthy restaurant has now returned. Many have scaled back menus or show elements (in the case of 50’s Prime Time Cafe), but everything “important” is available.

Hollywood Studios Closed Restaurants List

• Municiberg Neighborhood Bakery

Basically, everything is open at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. Municiberg Neighborhood Bakery is part of the temporary Incredibles area set up in Pixar Place, and it very well may never return.

EPCOT Open Restaurants List

• Akershus Royal Banquet Hall
• Biergarten Restaurant
• Block & Hans Fine American Ale
• Choza de Margarita
• Cool Wash
• Coral Reef Restaurant
• Crepes des Chefs de France
• Epcot Festival Marketplaces
• Fife & Drum Tavern
• Funnel Cake
• Garden Grill Restaurant
• Gelati
• Joffrey’s Coffee & Tea Company
• Joy of Tea
• Kabuki Café
• Katsura Grill
• Kringla Bakeri Og Kafe
• L’Artisan des Glaces
• La Cantina de San Angel
• La Cava de Tequila
• La Hacienda de San Angel
• The Land Cart
• Le Cellier Steakhouse
• Les Halles Boulangerie Patisserie
• Lotus Blossom Cafe
• Monsieur Paul
• Nine Dragons Restaurant
• Pizza al Taglio – Via Napoli Pizza Window
• Popcorn in Canada
• Refreshment Outpost
• Refreshment Port
• Regal Eagle’s Distinctly Patriotic Smokehouse: A Salute to All Foods, But Mostly Barbecued Meats ~ A Sam Eagle Craft Drafts & BBQ Joint
• Rose & Crown Dining Room
• Rose & Crown Pub
• San Angel Inn Restaurante
• Sommerfest
• Spice Road Table
• Sunshine Seasons
• Takumi-Tei
• Tangierine Cafe (festival location)
• Teppan Edo
• Tokyo Dining
• Traveler’s Café
• Tutto Italia Ristorante
• Tutto Gusto Wine Cellar
• UK Beer Cart
• Via Napoli Ristorante e Pizzeria
• Yorkshire County Fish Shop

EPCOT NOT Open List:

• Restaurant Marrakesh

When Walt Disney World first reopened, EPCOT was the park hit hardest on the dining front. That was due to it being the least busy park initially, having the most restaurants to begin with, and many not being operated by Disney.

The good news is that many restaurants have already returned at EPCOT. This now includes Akershus Royal Banquet Hall and Monsieur Paul, and Takumi-Tei. The bad news is that all three–and other restaurants–remain short-staffed and have limited hours as a result.

Now let’s turn to resorts. For these, it’s easier for us to simply list what’s still closed at the operational hotels, as most restaurants have reopened…

Closed Resort Restaurants

• 1900 Park Fare
• Garden View Tea Room
• Cape Town Lounge & Wine Bar

Missing Meals

• Be Our Guest Restaurant – Breakfast
• Be Our Guest Restaurant – Counter Service Lunch
• Cinderella’s Royal Table – Fairytale Princess Dining
• Garden Grill – Chip ‘n’ Dale’s Harvest Feast Breakfast
• Trattoria al Forno – Bon Voyage Character Breakfast

This last list encapsulates why many Walt Disney World guests still find dining to be lacking, especially at Magic Kingdom. There’s no pre-park opening breakfast, many character meals are missing, and Be Our Guest Restaurant is still doing its prix fixe dinner rather than 3 distinct meals.

On top of that, throughout Walt Disney World, character dining is still modified. There are also several Signature Restaurants still closed, and dinner shows are likewise unavailable. So even though the overwhelming majority of restaurants have reopened, it doesn’t always “feel” that way–especially to those who enjoy the unique dining experiences. Here’s hoping more normalcy to restaurants returns in 2023. We’ll keep you posted with regular updates here!

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 this list of restaurants that are reopening and remaining closed at Walt Disney World? Any closures that disappoint you? What about pleasant surprises? 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!