Open & Closed Restaurants at Disney World (Summer 2022)
This list of open & closed restaurants at Walt Disney World as of Summer 2022 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 returning, and more. (Updated May 12, 2022.)
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.
The biggest recent development is that normal character dining has returned to Walt Disney World. This means hugs, autographs, five highs, and applies to both fur and face characters are back at those restaurants. Presumably, this also means the reopenings of Akershus Royal Dining Hall and 1900 Park Fare are on the horizon, plus the return of missing meals at Crystal Palace, Cape May Cafe, and many other restaurants.
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 will also soon be 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. 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.
With that out of the way, let’s start with some other updates. First, the bad news. Disney’s Spirit of Aloha Dinner Show is gone for good. This fun-filled luau featuring traditional Polynesian dances, live music, and an all-you-care-to-enjoy tropical feast is being replaced by a New DVC Tower at Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort. It’s highly unlikely that resort will offer a luau once it opens, as the space simply will not exist for it.
Next, Walt Disney World has shared that Victoria & Albert’s will be opening its doors once again at Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa “later this year.” For what it’s worth, the reimagined Citricos restaurant pulled all or most of the Cast Members from Victoria & Albert’s when that reopened in order to fully staff that location. One of our servers told us that the plan is to reopen Victoria & Albert’s sometime this summer.
More bad news, depending upon your perspective, is that the ESPN Club is permanently closed. Walt Disney World announced this along with news that the BoardWalk is receiving a reimagining and new restaurant. Speaking of which, that’s the Cake Bake Shop by Gwendolyn Rogers, a new table service restaurant and bakery that’s hugely popular in the Midwest.
The only other news in terms of reopening dates comes from Fort Wilderness, where Hoop-Dee-Doo Musical Revue will return this summer with some script and scenery changes to the popular dinner show. That should make a lot of longtime Walt Disney World fans happy, as we received tons of questions about Hoop Dee Doo!
Permanently Closed
- ESPN Club
- Spirit of Aloha Dinner Show
Recently Reopened
- Connections Cafe & Eatery – Epcot
- Flying Fish – Disney’s BoardWalk Inn
- Jiko: The Cooking Place – Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge
- Spyglass Grill – Disney’s Caribbean Beach Resort
- Turf Club Bar & Grill – Disney’s Saratoga Springs Resort & Spa
Coming Soon
- Cake Bake Shop – Sometime in 2023
- Hoop-Dee-Doo Musical Revue – June 23, 2022
- Top of the World Lounge – Summer 2022
- Victoria & Albert’s – Summer 2022
Nothing else has specific dates or even seasons, but the implication from Walt Disney World’s character announcement is that Akershus Royal Banquet Hall in Epcot and 1900 Park Fare at Grand Floridian will both reopen by Summer 2022. However, with the vagueness of the press release, that’s not a foregone conclusion.
Beyond that, our expectation is that we won’t see much movement again until around Memorial Day. Between now and then, Walt Disney World might restore more ‘missing meals’ (see below) than closed restaurants.
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 $62 for adults (ages 10 and up) and $37 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 Summer 2022
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
Animal Kingdom NOT Open List:
- Caravan Road
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
- 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
- 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
- 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:
- Akershus Royal Banquet Hall
- Monsieur Paul
- Restaurant Marrakesh
- Takumi-Tei
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–more than all of the other Walt Disney World parks combined. The bad news is that some of the park’s culinary all stars–like Takumi Tei and Monsieur Paul–still have not announced reopening dates. On a positive note, Takumi Tei has started doing private events on select weekends, like whiskey tastings.
There are a couple of explanations for the ongoing closures. First, without Cultural Representatives, World Showcase’s restaurants are short-staffed. Even though non-International Program Cast Members are being allowed to work in World Showcase temporarily, that’s obviously not as simple as flipping a switch.
Second, most of these restaurants are operated by third parties, some of which were hit hard by the closure. These operating participants lack Disney’s resources and getting back up and running may be more difficult.
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
- Hoop-Dee-Doo Musical Revue
- Top of the World Lounge
- 1900 Park Fare
- Garden View Tea Room
- Victoria & Albert’s
- Cape Town Lounge & Wine Bar
Missing Meals
- Be Our Guest Restaurant – Breakfast
- Be Our Guest Restaurant – Counter Service Lunch
- Cape May Cafe – Character Breakfast
- Cinderella’s Royal Table – Fairytale Princess Dining
- Crystal Palace – Breakfast
- Crystal Palace – Character Dining
- Garden Grill – Chip ‘n’ Dale’s Harvest Feast Breakfast
- ‘Ohana – Character 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 Summer 2022. 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? Will you be attempting to visit Walt Disney World in early 2022, or are you waiting until after that when things (presumably) get back to normal? 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!
We are really hoping that with cultural ambassadors coming back soon, that will allow other food service staff to be shifted around to cover some of the meals that haven’t returned. Specifically, we are really hoping that Garden Grill’s breakfast will return by our December trip.
Hi all
We have a trip coming July 28-August 6
When is the soonest I could book Hoop De Doo ???
Also, why is it that I never see Topolinos come up when I do random searches for ADRS?
It seems like the same 25 or so restaurants come up over and over
The return of the cultural reps should make a huge difference in staffing. It takes a massive Food and Beverage team to staff all those restaurants (Akershus, Biergraten, Chefs de France etc) and then presumably that will free up all the permanent staff to move to other areas (1900 Park Faire etc) But training a full team of Cultural Reps also takes a while. Hopefully by mid to late summer.
Thanks for keeping track of all this Tom. Any news on Brunch at the top? I’m not sure if it’s temporarily unavailable because of covid or the 50th dinner or if it won’t ever come back. I’m hoping it will return it was one of our favourite dining experiences.
Restaurants may be open, but the expensive restaurants are not sufficiently staffed to have a good experience. It was so bad at certain restaurants on our last trip (Tiffins, etc) that twice we got up from our table and left before ordering food, because we had been sitting there waiting for a server to come by for 20+ minutes. I get they are short staffed, but then they need to further restrict the number of tables they sit.
Anyone else hear any rumours about retooling Monsieur Paul? I figure the return of cultutal embassadors will allow it to reopen if those rumors are false.
As of early October, Monsieur Paul was totally unchanged inside.
Nothing would surprise me, but it just had a refurbishment a few years ago.
Tom, any rumors going around about the possibility of any of these missing meals coming back before Easter week? We have reservations at a few places (Cape May, Crystal Palace) just hoping for an announcement the characters will be back. Wondering if you’ve heard anything.
Hello we are heading to Disney world in may .big family group of 10 we got up at 3am on the morning we could make ADRs and did not get one place we wanted to eat . I was in tears as this is my postponed 60th bday trip . We have always been able to get reservations at tusker house for breakfast but couldn’t . I check everyday but to no avail. This is very discouraging. We have reservations but not where or times we wanted . Any advice???
Break it up into groups of 6 and 4 or 5 and 5. Get times as close together as possible. Show up early and request to be seated altogether or at least tables close by. Be as polite as possible to the cast members and they *might* be able to help you out.
Echoing Lindsay’s suggestion….we are a family of 6 (DVC members, we go every year) and to secure the best reservations I almost always split us into 2 reservations (party of 4 and party of 2), get closest times (have always been 5-15 minutes apart and sometimes exact same times), always show up early, be extra polite and be willing to wait a bit beyond your time(s) if necessary, and we have always been seated all together at table for 6 or directly next to each other. Good luck!
We are about to go with a group of seven and had similar problems. I called Disney Dining to ask about something and part of the info they repeat while you’re on hold said that due to Covid and social distancing protocols, many restaurants are unable to guarantee seating together for parties of 6 or more. I think for that reason lots of restaurants aren’t accepting reservations for groups larger than 6. I went back and split our group into 3 and 4 and was able to make many more reservations- just tried to get them as close as possible. Even spoke to the front desk at one of the restaurants and they said to just let them know when we check in and likely they’ll be able to seat us together… made it sound like thats what A LOT of people are having to do right now.
We did at least 12 table service meals the last week of Feb/first week of March and I can attest the restaurants are not seating to full capacity. I got ADRs at 60 days, and had alerts for different times so I know they didn’t have walk up or last minute availability. We went in a few places where it felt like 50% of the tables are empty. That includes Space 220 and Brown Derby.
Probably due to staffing, and I understand that, but given the crowd levels they really need to get that capacity up just to absorb people. HS was a mess that week, so was Epcot, that might have made a difference.
The Disney dining plans NEED to return!!! They make planning so much easier.
I agree!!! My Family has Postponed trip 4x since April 2021. Hoping for a Return soon!!! So we get to Experience the Last of the 50th celebration!!
Hoping dining plan comes back SOON.
Also hoping 1900 park fare comes back
I’ve heard that, at Cinderella’s Royal Table, at least Cinderella is quietly being phased back in – for a while she was showing up to wave during lunch, and now guests get to greet her (from a distance) as they come in. Can anyone confirm?
We were there around March 1. She is on a little stage right at the entrance and poses for pictures for a minute or two with each party. Its not even really distanced, there’s just a red robe between her and guests so she’s slightly behind. No photopass photographer.
For not having been there before it felt like a regular character greeting.
Thank you! We’ve never been there before either so my kids won’t know it’s different. Sounds like they’ll get to say hi and that’s good enough for me!
We continue to be confused about ADRs. We were there the first week of this month. Prior to arrival, we tried to get ADRs for SciFi Diner and Space 220 to no avail. During the day we were at the park, the app said standby was full. For both restaurants, we walked up and asked if they had availability. It was a 5 min wait for one and 20 for the other. Also, wait staff at Space 220 said they were at 65% capacity. We’ve given up on reliable ADRs.
Will California Sunday Brunch return anytime soon ?
From your lips to God’s ears! We’re actively praying for California Grill Sunday Brunch to return for May.
We were at WDW 2-6 thru 2-12. Extremely crowded and the food was not what it once was. Having partial meals and high prices makes it a little worse than usual. Crystal palace was the only sit down where our food was real good. Portions have changed and that is fine, but the quality was less than what we have experience over the last 40 years.
Do you think that BOG will return to QS at lunch or stay with the pre-fix? I was thinking that it went pre-fix prior to Covid.