Y’ALL. 6 Iconic Disney World Restaurants Are Closing Soon and Nobody Is Talking About Them Enough!

Change in Disney World is hard on us all.

2025 is shaping up to be a big year for Disney World. DinoLand U.S.A. is closing permanently, there are brand new shows headed our way, and several of our favorite restaurants are closing but no one seems to care!

There are so many restaurants in Disney World that will be closing soon and, frankly, we just can’t bear it! We can’t believe that soon some of our favorites will be gone for good. First up on our list isn’t super surprising and you might not even know it still exists. It’s Aunt Polly’s on Tom Sawyer Island. 

We’re starting with a bit of an easy one because a lot of people don’t even know this restaurant exists anymore. Aunt Polly’s was a quick service option over on Tom Sawyer Island that Disney has not formally closed just yet but this restaurant only operates during very limited times. It’s just sort of abandoned on the island for now but it used to serve up delicious butter biscuits with pulled pork that we are drooling thinking about.

With the imminent closure of Tom Sawyer Island, Aunt Polly’s too will go. The land is expected to close this year and we are already mourning the biscuits that once were. Over in Hollywood Studios, two of our favorites are on the chopping block next.

If you haven’t heard the devastating news yet, Muppet Courtyard’s days are numbered. This area in Hollywood Studios is being removed to make way for the brand-new Monsters, Inc. Land. We have some complicated feelings about this change but the Muppets are being relocated into Aerosmith’s place over at Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster.

The removal of Muppets Courtyard also means the removal of the two restaurants within the land. The first is the quick service, PizzeRizzo. This Italian-style restaurant serves up pizzas, salads, and meatball subs.

If we’re being totally honest, this isn’t the best place to stop for lunch. The classic Disney puffy pizza isn’t bad per se, it is just an acquired taste. We’ve enjoyed our food when we’ve eaten it but there are better options. However, it doesn’t mean we’re excited to see our rat pizza go!

Right next to Rizzo’s is Mama Melrose’s Ristorante Italiano, a table service option in this area. This restaurant serves up Italian-inspired cuisine and has been a hit or miss in the past.

Our staff has been pretty split over it but this writer has loved it. It was tucked away in the back of the courtyard so many people would miss it meaning there was often walk-up waitlist availability or reservations.

Both of these restaurants are expected to be rethemed to match Monstropolis. We’re keeping our fingers crossed for a Harryhausen’s which we may have spotted in the concept art.  If the sushi is good enough, we might forgive Disney just a bit for this major overhaul. The final three restaurants we’re waving goodbye to are over in Animal Kingdom. 

One land has already started closing in Disney World, DinoLand U.S.A. This land is going extinct all too soon for our liking to make way for the brand-new Tropical Americas-inspired land. Losing DinoLand also means losing its snack stands and restaurants. The first is Dino-Bite Snacks!

This ice cream walk-up stand has been closed for refurbishment on and off recently so keep checking its hours on the Disney World website for the dates you are visiting. The stand has some of our favorite ice cream sandwiches in Disney World and when DinoLand is officially closed, it will close too.

Next up in this land is Trilo-Bites. This is another walk-up snack stand with ice cream, alcoholic beverages, and delicious buffalo chicken chips.

These chips are some of the best bites in all of Animal Kingdom and we find ourselves grabbing them over and over again. With the closing of this stand, we can only hope that these chips will find a new home somewhere in Animal Kingdom.

Finally, we’ll be saying goodbye to Restaurantosaurus! This quick-service restaurant is a huge spot in Animal Kingdom that serves burgers, chicken sandwiches, salads, and more.

The food is your typical Disney theme park fare but what we will miss the most is the amount of indoor seating! It is a huge restaurant and you can almost always expect to find a seat inside even on hot summer days.

Inside Pueblo Esperanza, the new Tropical Americas land, we can expect that this quick service will just be rethemed rather than removed entirely. We’re still waiting on an announcement about the restaurants coming to the new land, but we will certainly miss those big dino bones hanging over the fireplace.

We can’t wait to see what new dining options will take the place of the ones we’re losing but in the meantime, we will be grabbing one more slice of puffy pizza from Rizzo while we can. Don’t forget to keep following AllEars for more Disney news and updates.

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Will you be sad to see any of these go? Tell us in the comments!

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