When you travel to Walt Disney World, be sure to pack your bags with comfortable walking shoes and your loudest tourist attire. Lately, you’ll also want to pack a large appetite as Disney has been upgrade its restaurant game with more to come.
We recently wrote about a new character dining option coming to Artist Point at Wilderness Lodge. The name of the cantina inside Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge was also revealed – Oga’s Cantina. It’s believed there will be at least one other quick-service or sit-down location on the planet Batuu.
At Disney Springs, Terralina Crafted Italian, 4 Rivers Cantina Barbacoa, and Chicken Guy recently opened, and we’re still waiting for Jaleo and a new Wolfgang Puck Bar and Grill location to open. The NBA Experience will also have various dining options. The Polite Pig has turned to to be so popular it’s improving its outside dining area with a new permanent roof to allow for more seating in all kinds of weather.
In EPCOT the Kringla Bakeri has just returned from a major refurbishment that doubled its size. An expanded kitchen will allow them to add more options for food and the congestion of the old guest area is gone with a counter.
Japan getting a new signature dining location. There are already 4 other dining options in the pavilion, but not one that focuses on high quality steak and seafood. While nothing official has been announced that’s believed to be the main theme for the new location. It will be operated by the same company that runs the rest of the Japan pavilion – Mitsukohi.
Oddly, despite the addition of a Ratatouille ride in the France pavilion, Chef Remy will not be opening any new restaurants in EPCOT. This move is to appease the pavilions current 3rd party restaurant operators.
The concept restaurant – Space in Mission:Space over in Future World is being developed by the Patina Restaurant Group (I’m a fan). At least one site (WDWNT) has reported that the project could be delayed as engineers are reporting louder than expected sound and vibrations from the nearby Test Track exterior loop. This might require some adjustments to the plans for a restaurant set in space where the sound of cars flying by every 30 seconds would definitely break the mood.
It’s believed that the new Disney’s Coronado Springs tower will have new dining options, including at least one rooftop dining/lounge. We recently highlighted new concept art for a new bar that will be in the middle of the lake at Coronado Springs that will add more options for the convention heavy hotel.
The new Riviera resort tower will reportedly include not one, but two rooftop dining establishments (perfect for viewing both DHS and EPCOT fireworks shows).
Caribbean Beach’s reworked central facilities will add a table service location called Sebastian’s Bistro. The menu will reportedly include more caribbean dishes.
At the Polynesian, the long awaited refurbishment of the Tambu Lounge is finally underway. Two alternate locations are available on the 2nd floor of the resort.
The Grand Floridian’s main lobby is believed tobe scheduled for a refurbishment in the near future this would include updates to its main building restaurants.
We have a few wishes of our own:
There are still a few opportunities to add more dining at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, especially over by Star Wars Galaxy’s Edge. That part of the park will be slammed for years to come as guests flock to travel to a galaxy far, far away. With extra kitchen facilities over by Mama Melrose’s it probably wouldn’t be too difficult to open another quick service counter over in Muppetland (may I suggest a gourmet Hot Dog and Mac & Cheese stand?).
We also think the America Pavilion in EPCOT is a prime candidate for a new restaurant. We wouldn’t want to lose the quick service Liberty Inn location, but a sit down location that highlights dishes from some of America’s top chefs and regional cuisines, think BBQ, would be a nice addition.
Given the success of Trader Sam’s Grog Grotto, it would be great to see something of a similar level of detail and interaction at another Disney resort or just expand Trader Sam’s so it can accommodate more guests.
Walt Disney World continues to experiment with new ideas in the dining space. From dessert parties (Frozen was just added at EPCOT) to more food at the various festivals and holiday celebrations, even the recent H2O Glow Nights at Typhoon Lagoon had elevated food options. We don’t try and track menu changes here because it would be almost impossible to catch them all. No matter how you spin it, it’s a great time to be a foodie at Walt Disney World!
Some of these new restaurants look phenomenal, at least in terms of theming and atmosphere (so to speak). Epcot has more restaurants than probably any other theme park in the world, but it always needs new restaurants to handle the number of diners. A few more will be a great thing, especially the space-themed restaurant in Future World East. I totally agree that the American Adventure needs a nice table-service restaurant, and WDW really doesn’t have much by way of traditional American BBQ in the parks.
Disappointed that France isn’t getting a new restaurant to go with the new Ratatouille section of the pavilion. The restaurant attached to the attraction at Walt Disney Studios Paris is fantastic. It is cool that Japan is getting another high-end restaurant; we’ve really enjoyed the dining at the other Japanese restaurants over the years, and another nice table-service restaurant will most likely be just as good.
As for the resorts, we do far less dining there. We’ll generally dine in a restaurant in the resort we’re staying in, but we rarely go to a different resort for dining during a trip. I can imagine the possibilities for some really fine dining at the Riviera Resort — especially on the roof — but I doubt we’d ever make a reservation there when we weren’t staying there. Since we almost never stay at non-DVC resorts, I don’t see us dining at Caribbean Beach or Coronado Springs, either.
DHS desperately needs some new food options to go with the upcoming increase in crowds, so let’s hope they decide to build a couple of new places around the park, especially in Star Wars Land. I’ve wanted a Hollywood Tower Hotel restaurant for years, but really any new highly themed restaurant would be great.
Would love to see the new restaurants offer a few more vegetarian items on the menu. I know most sit-down restaurants can work with vegetarians, but often times there is one option, and it seems kind of boring for the entire family to choose the same one option.
Maybe I am just spoiled by the options offered here in New Haven…
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