One Disney World restaurant has been closed for a while now, and we’re wondering what’s going on!
Tomorrowland Terrace seating
Over the years, we’ve seen quite a few Disney World restaurants shut down, but often, they’re quickly replaced with something new and fresh. Of course, after the pandemic in 2020, some restaurants never reopened or returned to their original form, without any kind of explanation. And today, we’re here to discuss one that’s still confusing us — Tomorrowland Terrace!
Tomorrowland Terrace, if you’re not familiar, is the restaurant located on the corner of Main Street, U.S.A., and Tomorrowland. It has an open-air atmosphere in a covered terrace, and provides a STUNNING view of Cinderella Castle and the castle hub area.
Beautiful view from Tomorrowland Terrace
Now, if you haven’t been to Disney World in a while or you’re not a regular, you may not be familiar with this spot. Back in 1971, when Magic Kingdom opened, Tomorrowland Terrace Restaurant was actually the name of the spot that is now Cosmic Ray’s Starlight Cafe. It was renamed in 1994.
The current Tomorrowland Terrace opened in 2004, replacing what was formerly the Plaza Pavilion Restaurant. At that time, it was known as the Tomorrowland Terrace Noodle Station. It was open seasonally and offered an Asian-inspired menu.
The counters are covered up.
However, sometime in the 2010s, the menu switched to become more American-inspired dishes like burgers, sandwiches, salads, and even some pasta. In the following years, they rotated through some additional, more interesting items, like sauced chicken strips and lettuce wraps, but with seasonal operating hours, this place never stood out too much.
Tomorrowland Terrace
After the parks reopened from the pandemic, Tomorrowland Terrace was open for a while as a great option where you could social distance and sit outdoors in fresh air. Columbia Harbour House was getting a refurbishment at that time, so the seafood-inspired menu moved over here to Tomorrowland, and it seemed that this rarely-open spot actually had some of the best quick service food in the park.
Columbia Harbour House Eats
But once Columbia Harbour House began operating again, Tomorrowland Terrace closed during the daytime and was mainly just in use in the evenings for fireworks dessert parties. These days, the upper level is open for seating during the morning and early afternoon, then it’s blocked off sometime midday for fireworks dessert party preparation to begin. You’ll only be able to dine here if you carry food over from another quick service restaurant early in the day or if you book one of those dessert parties at night.
When it closed back down after Columbia Harbour House reopened
We haven’t seen it open as a restaurant (even seasonally) in quite a while — a couple of years, in fact. So what gives? Why isn’t Disney using this space? Well, Disney hasn’t shared a reason explicitly, but we can hazard a few guesses.
Desserts at the Fireworks Dessert Party
The first reason could be that Disney doesn’t need to use this space. In the past, it was only open when the parks were at their busiest — think weekends, Christmas holiday season, Spring Break, or summertime. (Coincidentally, this was also how Aunt Polly’s on Tom Sawyer Island operated — RIP.) With so many other quick service restaurants and snack stands around Magic Kingdom, as well as several places at the nearby resorts, it’s possible that Disney already has enough dining capacity to take care of the guests that Magic Kingdom has each day.
The view from Tomorrowland Terrace
The other main reason we could think that this might be closed is that it’s more trouble than it’s worth to open it. The restaurant would likely only be able to operate for a few hours a day since it has to close to prep for the fireworks dessert parties, and Disney would have to get staff over here, make a new menu, order supplies, and keep everything going. It’s another task to add to the operations list.
Fireworks View from Tomorrowland Terrace
And if Magic Kingdom needs a quick service restaurant to use seasonally, there’s actually a better option over in Adventureland. We’ve seen Tortuga Tavern operating on and off since the pandemic, and we’ve actually had a few truly delicious meals there in the past. Since it’s not home to a fireworks dessert party at night, it’s a bit more flexible of a location.
Tortuga Tavern
Whatever is going on here, the space still remains a nice spot to sit and relax in the shade if you’re in need of a break in the morning or early afternoon. So if Disney does decide to reopen it in the future, we hope they introduce a replacement relaxation zone! 😉
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This sad excuse for a restaurant just adds to the blight that is tomorrow land-so glad Walt Disney didn’t have to see how this land has become such an eyesore. I never care if we bypass Magic Kingdom on our vacation.
Disney should re-open Tomorrowland Terrace as a breakfast or brunch spot. That’s what’s currently missing in Magic Kingdom, and this would be the perfect location for it. They could serve pancakes, breakfast sandwiches, even the traditional Bounty Platter, as well as some simple deli-style sandwiches and snacks. This way they could be open from early entry until 1 or 2pm and still have plenty of time to set up for the dessert parties.
Just a thought!
First place I ate at MK was the now Tomorrowland Terrace, where Pooh and Tigger danced on a little stage and we had a hot dog combo meal. Many years later we enjoyed a Fireworks Party the first year it was offered (too expensive now) and we’ve even grabbed a Cheshire Cat Tail and coffee in the morning and used some of those empty seats. My late husband loved the noodle bowls they used to have. I think Disney is missing out by not offering those somewhere in MK. They could use a vegetable broth as a base with noodles that could be topped with beef, chicken or tofu and I bet they’d have a line for those wherever they put them. Or how about offering Hawaiian plate lunches to go with Stitch?