What will dining be like at Disneyland when it reopens on April 30? There will be a lot of familiar and favorite options, but don’t expect it to be quite the same as the last time you visited the parks. For starters, there will be a lot of closed establishments. Let’s take a look at the reopening plans, what will be open and closed, and how the menus have changed.
Update 5/17/21: The article has been updated with restaurants that are now open or that have a reopening date ahead.
Open Dining Experiences
Many of your favorite restaurants and quick-service food locations around Disneyland and Disney California Adventure will reopen with the parks on April 30th. As of our writing last night, the following establishments had listed hours and menus.
20 Disneyland Restaurants/Food Service Reopening:
22 Disney California Adventure Restaurants/Food Service Reopening
Just a reminder, some restaurants, dining experiences, and offerings may be modified, limited in capacity, and subject to availability or closure. So you’ll need to be flexible when visiting the parks in those early days of operation.
What Disneyland Dining will be Closed?
The park is planning on resuming dining in a two-phase operation. The restaurants and eateries in the above section will all be open, but there are a handful of locales around the parks that will reopen at a later date. We don’t have a specific date for when these locations will be operational again, but we imagine that as Disney continues to call staff back to work more restaurants will resume business again.
20 Disneyland Restaurants/Food Service Remaining Closed
- Alien Pizza Planet
- Carnation Cafe
- Clarabelle’s
- Daisy’s Diner
- Docking Bay 7 Food and Cargo
- Edelweiss Snacks
- The Golden Horseshoe
- Harbour Galley
- Hungry Bear Restaurant
- Kat Saka’s Kettle
- Maurice’s Treats
- Oga’s Cantina
- Pluto’s Dog House
- Rancho del Zocalo Restaurante
- Refreshment Corner
- Royal Street Veranda
- Tiki Juice Bar
- Tropical Imports
- Troubadour Tavern
- Blue Bayou
Although Blue Bayou won’t be reopening until a later date, there is some interesting news. Recently it was announced that the Blue Bayou will be adding adult beverages to their menu! To read more about the changes ahead, take a look at the article below:
Blue Bayou Dining to Add Limited Adult Beverages When it Reopens
14 Disney California Adventure Restaurants/Food Service Remaining Closed
- Bayside Brews
- Boardwalk Pizza & Pasta
- Carthay Circle Restaurant
- Clarabelle’s Hand-Scooped Ice Cream
- Corn Dog Castle
- Fairfax Market
- Fillmore’s Taste-In
- Jack-Jack Cookie Num Nums
- Lucky Fortune Cookery
- Mendocino Terrace
- Pacific Wharf Café
- Schmoozies!
- Wine Country Trattoria
What’s odd about the choices of closures is that many of the locations have large outdoor patios that would be ideal for social distancing, like Hungry Bear and the Paradise Garden Grill. That said, if Disneyland is operating at 25% capacity, we believe that the listed establishments will be enough to meet guest demand. As the resort increases capacity, more eatery locations will be added to deal with the added demand. Also, although it serves fewer guests overall than Disneyland, California Adventure will have more restaurants open and fewer closed than Disneyland.
Update:
Since the original publication of this article, several dining experiences have been reopened or now have a reopening date. Here are the restaurants you can enjoy again soon.
Paradise Garden Grill – Reopened May 13
The quick-service location at the back of DCA has reopened with a limited menu. You can find favorite items from the previous food event A Touch of Disney like Pepperoni Pizza Egg Rolls and Asian-Style Barbacoa Tacos.
Legacy Passholder Alfresco Tasting Terrace – Opening May 20
The Alfresco Tasting Terrace will be a Legacy Passholder-exclusive location that features drinks and light snacks. Reservations for the Alfresco Tasting Terrace will begin May 18.
Storyteller’s Café and Napa Rose – Reopening May 28
At the Grand Californian Hotel & Spa, both the Storyteller’s Café and Napa Rose will be returning to all guests, not just hotel guests, starting May 28. Storyteller’s Café will be open for breakfast and dinner, while Napa Rose will exclusively be serving dinner. Reservations for both restaurants will open May 18.
What’s Changing with Disneyland Dining?
Now that we’ve covered what’s open and closed, let’s examine what’s changing. Menus across the Disneyland Resort will be streamlined a bit. Some spots will trim an item or two for now. But you’ll still be able to get popular items such as the Monte Cristo Sandwich from Cafe Orleans or Fried Chicken from Plaza Inn.
The most drastic change will be no more bread/bowls— at least for the time being. Although the French Market’s menu has been pared down to just a handful of offerings, the notable change is that the New England-style Clam Chowder will be served in a bowl with a Potato Roll instead of the signature Sourdough Bread Bowl. And the Beef Stew in a bread bowl has been eliminated entirely.
If you’re wondering why there won’t be a freshly baked Sourdough Bread Bowl for your gumbo, well it’s simple… the Boudin Bakery, where all those bread bowls are made, won’t be reopening with the resort. Hopefully, as the resort expands operations this location will resume baking soon! Until then, we’re expecting that a bowl of soup with a roll will be the norm.
You can find all the menus now on the Disneyland website.
Dining Reservations
Beginning April 22nd, guests will be able to make dining reservations for table service restaurants. It looks as though you’ll be able to book 30 days in advance.
Mobile Order
The biggest change for guests will be a push for all guests to mobile order. While you may still be able to order in person at many restaurants, Disney wants you to use the app for a number of reasons (social distancing, contactless payments, and lowered staffing).
If A Touch of Disney taught us anything it’s that Disney isn’t quite ready to move all orders to Mobile. Even with the VERY LIMITED tickets sold for a Touch of Disney, waits to order food and pick it up were unacceptably long at times, sometimes well over an hour.
Our tip, order early and be flexible. While your favorite place may not have an order window within the time frame you are looking for, another establishment might have immediate availability. Set your expectations correctly so you aren’t disappointed.
Disney Travel Deals
(Discount Theme Park Tickets and Travel Packages)
It’s time to give the family something to look forward to. Our travel partners at Get Away Today are here to help you with that by planning a future theme park vacation. There are all sorts of new theme park tickets and travel deals, including a 2 free days offer at Walt Disney World, hotel discounts, ticket deals to various theme parks, and SOON TICKETS TO DISNEYLAND: More details and to get a quote (HERE)
Special MiceChat Deal: HoJo Hotel Offer
We’ve worked with our partners at Get Away Today and the Howard Johnson Anaheim Resort to reserve the lowest rate on rooms across the street from Disneyland FOR YOU!
All you need to do is follow our link and then use the special code mentioned below.
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- Be sure to select the MiceChat rate.
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Let’s Hear From You
As you can imagine, there will be all sort of operations changes at the parks when they reopen. But luckily, there will still be Disneyland’s favorite foods for us to return to.
Were you surprised by any of the eateries staying closed at the Disneyland Resort? Will you miss the bread bowls? Are you worried about the efficiency of Mobile Order on a large scale? We’d love to hear from you in the comments below.