Trail’s End at Fort Wilderness is Closed.
Walt Disney World announced that Trail’s End at Fort Wilderness Campground will close in Spring 2023 for refurbishment and reimagining. In this post, we share details plus commentary about our disappointment and the delicate balance between nostalgia and casual guest feedback. (Updated April 22, 2023.)
Trail’s End is now officially closed, with the following appearing on its DisneyWorld.com page: “Trail’s End Restaurant is closed for refurbishment and will reopen in summer 2023. During this time, P&J’s Southern Takeout mobile ordering and The Chuck Wagon food truck are available.”
This closure was not announced in advance by Walt Disney World to the public. There was a statement put out to the media, which was identical to that released to Cast Members at Fort Wilderness. Even that didn’t indicate an official closing date; one was surmised by the (lack of) posted hours and (lack of) ADR availability for Trail’s End. What follows is the original news and our commentary about the closure of Trail’s End…
April 22, 2023 Update: Only a few days after closing, Walt Disney World announced New DVC Cabins Coming to Fort Wilderness Campground. The proposed plans call for more than 350 new cabins to replace the existing cabins at the resort, which will soon be ready for a refresh. The new cabins would be built with an eye toward the environment, utilizing the footprint of the existing cabins and taking advantage of more energy-efficient features.
Additionally, there are a collection of improvement projects already underway at Disney’s Fort Wilderness Resort & Campground that are designed to enhance the guest experience. Examples include proposed pool and walking trail enhancements as well as new expanded dining experiences at Trail’s End Restaurant and Crockett’s Tavern, with more exciting news to come.
It’s now obvious that the closure of Trail’s End is one such “collection of improvement projects” at Fort Wilderness. As will be made clear in this post, we have a tremendous amount of nostalgia and memories for the Trail’s End buffet. However, we also recognize that Fort Wilderness is in serious need of more practical dining options and amenities for serve guest needs and preferences, and this could be a step in that direction.
Our sincere hope is that Imagineering undertakes these updates with care, and in keeping with the character and charm that makes Fort Wilderness such a special place. The campground is beloved by its many fans for its quirkiness. It does need a modernized food court; it does not need one with generic, bland, and uninspired design. Keep Fort Wilderness Weird, Disney.
Walt Disney World has lost something special. We once described Trail’s End as the kind of joint where Chuck Norris and Sarah Connor arm wrestle as the “World’s Most Interesting Man” lies on the floor passed out from moonshine (his drink of choice now that he realized Dos Equis sucks) while Cool Hand Luke and Conan the Barbarian snap selfies with that glorious restroom mural. Trail’s End doesn’t need a ‘secret’ S.E.A. room because The League of Extraordinary Badasses who patronize Trail’s End are egalitarians who dine among the people.
It’s not just fictional film characters who seek sanctuary and shenanigans at Trail’s End. We once saw Baby Sinclair bopping Big Al over the head with a frying pan while he and Sam Eagle were debating the most patriotic dessert. (Bacon-topped doughnut sundae with maple syrup.) None of that is hyperbole–all of that stuff actually happens on a daily basis at Trail’s End, one of Walt Disney World’s hidden gem table service restaurants. Or should I say, happened at Trail’s End.
Up until closing in March 2020, those type of hijinks occurred on the regular at Trail’s End. It was an unpretentious all-you-can-eat buffet consisting of a formidable lineup of comfort food favorites, running the culinary spectrum from ‘potato’ to ‘fried’ to ‘pork’ to ‘dessert.’ Trail’s End was a fever dream of decadence and deliciousness and old timey atmosphere, the quintessential eatery of the original Vacation Kingdom of the World.
I could ramble on and on, and have done exactly that in our three different reviews of Trail’s End (here, here and here). The problems with that are two-fold. One, words cannot do it justice. Trail’s End is one of those if you know, you know type of things. It was lightning in a bottle, the whole being so much more than the sum of its parts. Reading a review today might prompt a “that’s it?” reaction, but I can assure you…that most definitely was not it.
The more prominent problem is that this is all past-tense. When it finally reopened, Trail’s End returned as a family-style restaurant with a perplexing menu that swapped out fan favorites for uninspired options that were similar to other modified menus of the phased reopening era. We and other Trail’s End fans railed against this, but sadly, our voices were not as loud as ‘Ohana noodle aficionados.
We didn’t mince words denouncing the modified menu, and refrained from doing the family-style meal at Trail’s End as a matter of principle. Nevertheless, we held out hope that the regular meal service would return alongside Hoop-Dee-Doo Musical Revue. After all, the two share a kitchen and previously had partially overlapping menus. It only made sense to restore the former glory of Trail’s End when that dinner show returned last summer. Sadly, that never occurred.
We’ve continued to hold out hope since then, assuming that Trail’s End diehards were likewise rejecting this family-style meal service. With each new announcement of restaurants returning to normal buffet service, we figured Trail’s End wouldn’t be far behind. Now we know that won’t be the case.
Walt Disney World has announced that Trail’s End Restaurant is going to close for refurbishment sometime in Spring 2023. There are currently available Advance Dining Reservations for both breakfast and dinner through April 2023, so it doesn’t appear it’ll close before then.
Trail’s End does not have hours scheduled starting April 17, so it appears that the restaurant will close after the peak of spring break season, which ends on that Monday. Accordingly, the last day of operations for Trail’s End at Fort Wilderness appears to be April 16, 2023. This has yet to be officially confirmed by Walt Disney World and is subject to change.
In any case, the location that’s currently Trail’s End will reopen later in 2023 as a “marketplace concept with expanded quick service options” according to journalist and Disney insider Scott Gustin. Train’s End will no longer by a table service restaurant. (For those curious, the connected Hoop-Dee-Doo Musical Revue will not be impacted.)
From what we understand, the decision to transform Trail’s End from a table service restaurant to a marketplace is in response to common feedback from guests who stay at Disney’s Fort Wilderness Resort & Campground. That’s probably a long time coming, and should perhaps be unsurprising given the proliferation of food trucks at Fort Wilderness over the last several years.
For me, Trail’s End is a good representative example of the chasm between regular guests and diehard Walt Disney World fans. This is something we’ve touched upon from time to time when it comes to resort room reimaginings, but it’s worth discussing in greater depth here.
Normally, we’re skeptical of Disney using the lines “by popular guest demand” or “in response to feedback from our guests” as shields to justify unpopular decisions. It’s worth noting that this is not the case here–Walt Disney World has proffered no rationale for this change. Rather, it’s what we have heard–and isn’t a particularly new development.
There’s no reason to doubt that this is true. Again, Fort Wilderness has seen an increasing number of food trucks, and had tweaked its approach with the undersized P&J’s Southern Takeout (which we also love and have tried to draw more attention to over the last few years).
All of these were band aid solutions, attempting to address the issue but not fully resolving it. If you were to tell me that Fort Wilderness scores poorly for dining, and that the most common complaint from guests is the lack of convenient counter service options, I’d absolutely believe it.
This is at odds with the feedback from fans like us, who are absolutely devastated by this news. Trail’s End has been the source of many fond memories for me, from my parents taking me as a small child to us taking them in more recent years. It’s been a place we’ve frequented with friends after runDisney races, Destination D23 weekends, and fan events.
For us, Trail’s End was an integral part of Walt Disney World history; dining there felt like stepping back in time and visiting the Vacation Kingdom of the World. A rebuff to the notion that you can’t go home again. Similarly, it was a source of history; the setting of memories we made with family and friends. If laughter were the measure of a restaurant, Trail’s End would be the undisputed champ for us.
It’s not as this is unique to our family and friend circle. We know there are many others who have indelible memories from and of Trail’s End, and this news is sure to be met with an outpouring of grief and fond farewells from a small segment of the fan community. To be sure, it will very much be a vocal minority–Trail’s End doesn’t have the fanbase of ‘Ohana. Rather, it’s a restaurant that is very important to a very small number of fans.
Therein lies the rub. It’s undoubtedly exceedingly easy for Walt Disney World management to justify the decision to do away with Trail’s End in favor of a marketplace concept. Again, I don’t doubt that they have the guest feedback and satisfaction survey data to support the change.
Someone more cynical might contend that Disney purposefully undercut the popularity of Trail’s End with the family-style meal to make this change and have it be met with less outrage. After all, Trail’s End is a shadow of its former self; many of its long-time fans don’t have interest in the current family-style meal. (I don’t know if we’ll do one last “goodbye” meal or be satisfied with our memories of the real deal.)
While that ploy is possible, I’m skeptical that Walt Disney World would play the type of long game that involved losing out on profits or unrealized revenue to give cover to an unpopular decision. Disney is perfectly comfortable making changes that alienate and anger fans without undertaking such elaborate pretenses.
Rather, I think there’s probably a fundamental difference in how diehard Walt Disney World fans experience things and regular guests experience them. We would self-describe ourselves as huge Trail’s End enthusiasts who ate there often pre-closure.
What that means in practical terms is that we dined at Trail’s End about once or twice per year. Even when we did multi-night stays tent camping or staying in the Cabins at Fort Wilderness, we typically only did Trail’s End once for breakfast/brunch and once for dinner.
By contrast, a first-timer or infrequent guest staying at Fort Wilderness who is totally uninvested in Walt Disney World history or its culinary scene might eat at an on-site counter service restaurant a half-dozen or more times over the course of their vacation.
A marketplace is something they’d use with regularity, even if they leave with zero fond memories of the cuisine or setting. It would serve a practical purpose, and its absence would be a strike against the vacation and intent to return or recommend metrics.
This is something we also see with Walt Disney World resort refurbishment projects. Some of the most vocal detractors aren’t people who actually book stays at resorts with regularity (to be sure, some do). Rather, most like the idea of themed resorts and want things to remain as they remember them (fondly) from formative stays that first nurtured the nostalgia that now fuels their fandom.
(This conflict between casual and diehard guests is probably a topic worth exploring in greater detail, rather than buried in an announcement about a relatively low-key resort restaurant closure, so I’ll cut this short here.)
From that perspective, I can appreciate Disney’s dilemma and understand the justification for making this change. That doesn’t mean that I accept or excuse it. From my perspective, this feels like Disney taking the path of least resistance–a road taken all too often these days by a company that built a reputation on exceeding expectations.
There are a multitude of venues at Fort Wilderness that could become food courts or marketplaces. There’s also the opportunity to build something new in more centralized location to the campsites and cabins. Just because the campground is lacking in well-rounded counter service restaurants does not mean the only viable solution was replacing Trail’s End.
Likewise, if there’s an issue with the numbers Trail’s End has been doing, other solutions could’ve been proposed and attempted. For one, the buffet could’ve been restored months ago–when Hoop-Dee-Doo Musical Revue reopened, at the latest. If that didn’t offer the necessary boost, Walt Disney World could’ve done something to weave Trail’s End into the 50th Anniversary celebration, especially since few restaurants “speak to” Disney history geeks as much as this one.
Ultimately, that’s really what grinds my gears with the decision to close and convert Trail’s End Restaurant. This is a location with a cult following, and Disney knows it. The company could’ve tried to figure out why it resonates so strongly and built upon that to reach a wider audience. With a location near Magic Kingdom, great food, and a quirky personality, Trail’s End could’ve become a (popular) hidden gem favorite among more than just a passionate subset of the fanbase. The foundation was there–Trail’s End had the beloved qualities you can’t fake or manufacture.
Instead, the company is taking the easy way out. I don’t doubt for a second that the end result will improve overall guest satisfaction metrics. But I also don’t believe for a second that the replacement will forge new fans or be a source of goodwill, or even memories that will last a lifetime. As an organization in the business of packaging and selling nostalgia, Walt Disney World needs to be better about realizing that they need that, too.
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YOUR THOUGHTS
What do you think of this news of Trail’s End Restaurant closing for refurbishment and replacement by a quick service marketplace? Thoughts on Trail’s End as a hidden gem and source of fan nostalgia and memories? Disappointed by this change, or do you not care about Trail’s End? (It’s okay, not everyone is a fan.) Agree or disagree with our assessment? Any questions we can help you answer? Hearing your feedback is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!
I’ll just be weeping in the corner. We will miss it.
Disney no longer cares about customer satisfaction, all they care about is their profit margin. Slowly they are getting rid of all the experiences we have loved over the years – from restaurants to rides. Pretty soon the Disney that we have loved for many years will be unrecognizable and no longer a place we looked forward to going.
It wasn’t easy to get to. It took time, even more if you didn’t have a car, but it was so worth it. Best value among the buffets and in out opinion it had the best and most consistent food. Trails end was a must do for us, usually a breakfast and at least one dinner, often twice. We never stayed at Fort Wilderness so the time commitment was nothing to sneeze at, but we loved it. Trails End was one of the 2 or 3 WDW restaurants we would go to even if we weren’t doing WDW parks that trip. We literally never had a trip to the Orlando area that did not include Trails End. I didn’t realize that Trails End never restarted the buffet after Covid, but I suppose that should have been a warning to us die-hard fans. We were what another commented called “bread and butter guest” in that we would go to WDW at least once a year, and often more, but we haven’t been since 2016 for many reasons. We still love many things about WDW and just when we start think about maybe going back to experience the new attractions, they make an announcement like this. We were talking last night after first hearing about the Trails End closure, and pretty much decided that our 2016 trip would probably be our last one. Obviously Disney doesn’t care about the kind of guest we were and our not going back will not effect their bottom line. So be it.
I’m both angered and saddened by this news. I will send my usual emails to Disney World expressing my feelings. I know it won’t change anything. This feels like they have been purposely setting this up for failure. It started with not resuming the buffet and getting rid of the exercise trail and resort boats so the foot traffic is gone for any hope of new customers.
I think they could have built the marketplace in Meadows to make it centrally located. I have no idea what the footprint for this project will be as Trail’s End is not exactly big.
We’re planning to make one last visit there to film the interior that we love so much before those unique items end up either at Big Thunder Mountain or worse, at some auction clearance house.
The last magical place that still reflected Walt’s vision is slowly being dismantled bit by bit.
We are very sad and we agree with you: Disney took the easy way out and once again are doing away with an icon.
Your words here really resonated with me. I will miss this place so much. It is a gut punch that really hurts. While I have not always been happy with the changes made at Disney, this is the one that upsets me the most. I feel like it is an end of an era. This was our place to escape the craziness of the Magic Kingdom for a few hours for a wonderful meal and atmosphere. This saddens me more deeply than I can express. I am not sure if I am expressing myself clearly, but you article does that for me very well. Thanks for that.
This made me feel quite emotional – even though I have never been to TE – proof it is a very well-written post! (as always!)
I have never made it to TE, and for that I am a bit disappointed in myself. I have always said I “would” go eventually, so let that be a lesson on procrastination…I would agree with a lot of what others have said however. This feels like another small cut to the “magic” that DW use to represent. Too many decisions seem to inch it towards just another theme park. Disney should tread lightly here IMO as that is what makes it special even vs a place like Universal.
I couldn’t agree more with your observations. Although we’ve never stayed at FWC, we would come over from WL specifically to eat at Trail’s End. I sure will miss that place.
One of our family traditions during our week-long trip every 3 years was to go to the breakfast buffet at Trail’s End. We would trek over from Port Orleans or Caribbean Beach for a break from the hustle and bustle and a reminder of home. My grandparents especially enjoyed visiting. They stayed at Fort Wilderness during their first trips to Disney in the 80s. Ever since reopening, I’ve been anxiously waiting for the breakfast buffet to return. So sad we won’t be able to experience it again. Happy for the memories, though. Thank you for your thoughtful article. I’ve been a faithful reader over the past few years and this is the first time I couldn’t resist commenting!
I can’t say why this loss makes me so sad, but it hits harder even than the closing of a beloved attraction. It speaks to the loss of the spirit of a place where I grew up — a place I could always count on to return me to my childhood and to provide a sense of wonder and escape as an adult. My child loved this restaurant above all others (she always called it “Tarzan” as a kid…misunderstanding the pronunciation of Trails End.) This is all very silly, I know…but this one is hard.
Wow! I’m very sad to hear this! We just had breakfast ate Trail’s End on Friday morning. It was very good, and we had a good time. Our server Sarah from England was excellent! We thought it was great having our personal “buffet” with refills of what we wanted. I enjoyed the gluten free ( I have a wheat allergy) mickey waffles. We also enjoyed a little conversation with the people next to us.
I wonder if Crocketts Tavern will be wiped out too. That’s a personal favorite.
With this leaving no table service option it would be a great time to reinstate the bay lake water launch service so guests have better access to nearby resorts and their dining options.
Thank you Tom for the article. My family absolutely loves trails end and have been going there for over 20 years. Like you we have very found memories not just of the food but also the staff – people like Ken who have been at WDW over 40 years and makes dinning there so enjoyable. We already had 2 breakfasts booked there and will enjoy these and look forward to meeting all the fabulous staff again. Overall a real shame and like you we will hold on to the memories …….
Ken was our favorite and is a legend in our family!
but the trail is lost and I reckon maybe it’s time to hang up my spurs, pardner,..
(Sam Elliot voice-over)
What tells me a great deal about current Disney is that, as far as I know, they have not tried to recruit you onto their team in any meaningful fashion,.. am reading DisneyWar on your recommendation and frankly am embarrassed by the petty small-mindedness of the key players. Actually, it’s helping me to become a bit thicker skinned in my personal encounters. Don’t want to Be Like Mike or Jeffrey,..
This is horrible!! When we last visited in May we had a lovely breakfast there and it was one of my favorite memories. I’m sure your recommendations were why we chose it and I’m so grateful for that!
Your last sentence is spot upon on !
We never made it to Trail’s End in all our WDW trips. Dunno why, but there you go. Anyway, I see the Trail’s End marketplace conversion as a continuation of Disney’s hollowing-out of dining in the “middle”–that is, a creative, reasonably priced, table-service meal somewhere between QS and high-end/prix fixe. I can see why Fort Wilderness guests would appreciate more QS on property (although isn’t part of the appeal of staying there the fact that you can cook?), but by getting rid of Trail’s End in its former iteration, Disney stands to continue its alienation of its bread-and-butter guests–the middle-class ones who work hard to get there and want something different other than a takeout burger or burrito but can’t pay $90 for a prix fixe meal with little choice. We may make it to WDW this summer (not sure yet–family schedules are hard to coordinate), and it’s going to be difficult to find places to eat on property. We might be driving off-property a lot this time.
This sentiment exactly. WDW is basically hollowing out the “middle class” services in favor of high end “exclusive experiences”… everyone else can go to the glorified carnival food booths and eat while you stand in lines.
If you do go, try Sebastians Bistro! It’s family style like Ohana dinner but only $35 and the food is amazing. It’s one of our favorites! Also the Pizza at Via Napoli is really good. Yes its expensive for pizza. But for Disney 4 people can eat for under $80 which is similar to QS. There are still decent places out there if you avoid the Space220 and Topolinos of the world
I am very sad about this. I really hate to see what WDW management has been doing as they “reimagine” some of their older, family favorite restaurants and attractions. Let’s just say I’ve been disappointed more often than not with the updates. I loved Trails End and will miss it dearly. Usually ate there for at least one breakfast and/or dinner every trip we took. However, if they create a space similar to Roaring Fork over at Wilderness Lodge, that might not be too bad a replacement (a place we used to take the boat over to several times during each trip – before they took the boat away and have yet to replace). It’s all going to depend on the food choices and quality that will exist at the counter service/market place. And as long as they maintain the seating area and atmosphere of the Fort, I will maintain a stiff upper lip and remain guardedly optimistic.