Two Signature Restaurants & More Reopening at Disney World!

Walt Disney World has announced the reopening of two high-profile Signature Restaurants, plus the return of arguably the biggest counter service restaurants that were still closed at Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom! In this post, we’ll offer opening dates, Advance Dining Reservation timeframes, plus what else we can expect from WDW dining for the next few months.

It’s fantastic to see more dining locations returning at Walt Disney World–especially three that we absolutely love. Before taking last week off (presumably to let the news of several shows and a nighttime spectacular returning have the spotlight), this had become a weekly occurrence over the last month or so.

In fact, if you look at the List of Open & Closed Restaurants at Walt Disney World, there really aren’t a ton of noteworthy ones still shuttered. It’s mostly a mix of lesser known snack spots plus Signature Dining at this point. As we’ve noted previously, it has felt to us like more is closed than is actually the case, but that’s in large part because I’ve been salivating at the prospect of embarking upon our highly anticipated Steakhouse World Tour. Well, some good news on that front…

Let’s start with the biggest and most exciting (for me) news first: Yachtsman Steakhouse will soon be reopening at Disney’s Yacht & Beach Club Resorts. For the better part of the last year, I have been anxiously awaiting this, kicking myself for cancelling an ADR shortly before the closure.

Per Walt Disney World, Yachtsman Steakhouse will be “stoking the flames of their oak-fired grills so we can again savor their premium, grain-fed steaks or the dry-aged Duroc pork chop served with heritage grits, broccoli rabe, and apple-cognac gastrique.”

In addition to the great steaks and chops at Yachtsman Steakhouse, the Chilled Admiral’s Tower for Two (consisting of Maine lobster, snow crab, tuna tartare, jumbo shrimp, mussels, scallop ceviche, and charred octopus salad) is back as well.

So too is the signature creamy Lobster Bisque and the delicious Yachtsman’s Chocolate Cake for Two with dark chocolate mousse, chocolate decadence cake, mixed berry curd, peanut butter crunch, and mousse.

Yachtsman Steakhouse opens August 5, 2021. Advance Dining Reservations will become available on July 29, 2021.

We are beyond excited about this–seriously. (“We” might not be entirely accurate–I suspect Sarah is just humoring me because I won’t shut up about this.)

Back when sharing our ideal “normal” day at Walt Disney World, I said it entailed staying at Beach Club, breakfast at Cape May Cafe, lunch at Sci-Fi Dine-In Theater Restaurant, then heading back to the resort to float around the lazy river in Stormalong Bay for a couple hours, before dinner at Yachtsman Steakhouse and recovering from my meat sweats and/or food coma with Impressions de France, and ending the night with a post-show stroll around World Showcase. It is time. IT. IS. TIME!!!

In other huge (again, to me!) Walt Disney World dining news, Toledo — Tapas, Steak & Seafood will soon reopen, with delicious small plates and dishes inspired by the flavors of Spain.

Lighter options will include the Charred Octopus, Pan con Tomate, and Flight of Four Pinxtos. Other Entrees include the Char-grilled Steak with olive oil-potato purée, forest mushrooms, date jam, and sherry vinaigrette and the the Rioja-braised Chicken with grapes, sherry vinegar, and roasted tomato bomba rice.

Also returning is the signature Chuletón Bone-in Rib Eye with tomatoes, onions, and choice of two sides (we conquered this and it was glorious!)

The dark chocolate “Café con Leche” Choux is the perfect sweet ending to any meal.

Toledo — Tapas, Steak & Seafood in Gran Destino Tower at Disney’s Coronado Springs Resort opens August 5, 2021. Advance Dining Reservations will open for booking on July 29, 2021.

With these two major steakhouses returning, we can now cross off #4 on our 2021 Walt Disney World Bucket List–the Steakhouse World Tour. I’d love to go really big and do both Toledo and Yachtsman Steakhouse on the same night, but not sure I want to make the Guinness Book of World Records as the “youngest person to have a heart attack at Walt Disney World.”

In counter service news, Pizzafari is the final piece of the puzzle at Animal Kingdom. After serving as a Relaxation Station for many months post-reopening, it’ll soon return to service the park’s pizza needs.

Pizzafari will reopen on August 2, 2021. While “pizza rules in the jungle” (fact check needed), you can also order a Chicken Parmesan Sandwich, Green and Grains Salad, and the “Spaghetti and Meatball” Cupcake.

In a park with a formidable counter service lineup, I’m not personally overly excited about this one, but understand that it’s a crowd-pleasing option geared towards families.

Plus, the more people who dine at Pizzafari means shorter waits and less crowded seating areas at Flame Tree BBQ and Satuli Canteen. Win-win!

Finally, Magic Kingdom’s counter service scene will soon be less awful. After serving as a backstage break area and Peter Pan’s Flight overflow queue for the better part of the last year, Columbia Harbour House will reopen on August 5, 2021.

Seafood favorites are back, including the Lobster Roll and Trio Platter with a combination of fried fish, fried shrimp, and chicken strips served with hushpuppies and french fries or green beans. If you’re craving something other than seafood, try the Lighthouse Sandwich (hummus with tomato and broccoli slaw on multigrain bread) or the Harbour Salad (mixed greens, shredded cheddar, apples, onion, apple cider vinaigrette, topped with chicken strips).

Not that anyone out there cares, but the return of Columbia Harbour House will allow us to cross off #10 from our aforementioned 2021 Walt Disney World Bucket List: eating upstairs at Columbia Harbour House.

Seriously, sometimes it’s the little things that mean so much. Walt Disney World is about the memories and nostalgia, and we have a lot for the upstairs of Columbia Harbour House! It’s probably not the exciting choice, but that’s the frontrunner for our dinner on October 1, 2021.

Now, if we could just get Be Our Guest Restaurant to resume its quasi-counter service breakfast and lunch. Those two seemingly little moves would be huge, and dramatically improve the culinary landscape at Magic Kingdom.

Ultimately, this is probably way more exciting to me than most of you–I’m truly over the moon. With that said, this should be great news to all Walt Disney World fans, as more normalcy everywhere is better for everyone. We should continue to see restaurants return on a near-weekly basis at Walt Disney World, but that’ll probably slow down in the not too distant future as we near the end of the list for what can most easily return. As we’ve pointed out repeatedly, there’s more than enough demand to bring back every single closed restaurant—and to fill more tables at the locations that are already open.

The biggest impediment is that operational locations are short-staffed and ones that have yet to reopen need to hire and train new Cast Members. We won’t further rehash that here since we bring it up in almost every dining post. Suffice to say, fresh-faced College Program participants are now all around Walt Disney World with more on the way once the new semester starts and regular hiring/training also continues. In the last week or so, we’ve also noticed more tables being filled as new employees gain more experience and management is more comfortable increasing capacity. Things are getting better!

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 of this news of restaurants reopening at Walt Disney World? Excited for the return of Yachtsman Steakhouse and Toledo — Tapas, Steak & Seafood? What about Pizzafari and/or Columbia Harbour House? Looking forward to the return of more Signature Dining at Walt DIsney World? Any restaurant reopening announcements that you’re still anxiously awaiting? Hoping for more ‘restored normalcy’ announcements in the near future? Planning on going to Walt Disney World for the start of the 50th Anniversary celebration? Does this have you optimistic or pessimistic for more dining to reopen at Walt Disney World? 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!