The Magic Kingdom Restaurant Hack You Need to Know BEFORE August

Where are you going to eat when you go to Magic Kingdom? And more importantly, WHEN?

Be Our Guest restaurant in Magic Kingdom

Scheduling your meals during your Disney World park days can be a challenge when you’re navigating around park hours, Lightning Lanes, showtimes, and sometimes, special events. But recently, one of our followers shared their favorite dining hack for Magic Kingdom, and we just HAD to pass it along!

On our website, we have an entire section dedicated to reviews of locations around the theme parks! Here, you can leave reviews for Disney World attractions, entertainment offerings, hotels, and yes, restaurants. Over the years, we’ve gotten loads of thoughtful feedback from our readers, and recently, someone left a review for Jungle Navigation Co. Ltd. Skipper Canteen at Magic Kingdom that had some pretty solid advice!

Skipper Canteen

Rating: 7.8/ 10 Recommended By: 81%

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Leave a Review of Skipper Canteen

Reviewer NickVurva gave Skipper Canteen a 10/10, saying, “My family and I love this restaurant. We try to go here every time we attend a Holiday party so that we can sit down and fill up with some delicious food before a long night of fun.”

And you know what, Nick? That’s GREAT advice! Magic Kingdom offers two seasonal holiday parties each year, and the park closes for those events at 6PM, with the parties starting at 7PM.

During the event, a few dining locations around the park will remain open with specialty food and beverage options, but we don’t often want to spend our party time eating a full meal, since you have to pay extra for a ticket.

Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party (typically runs from August-October) and Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party (typically runs November-December) both follow this model. Since the parties end at midnight, if you don’t eat dinner beforehand or during the event, you’ll be STARVING at the end. And one thing we’ve struggled with in the past? Finding solid meal options in Disney World after midnight! They do exist, but they’re few and far between.

So honestly, Nick’s plan is a great one! Make a dinner reservation for one of the sit-down restaurants in Magic Kingdom before the park closes for the day (this will probably be the 4-6PM window for your reservation start time). Then, eat your meal leisurely and fill up some of the “dead” time before the party events kick off.

Even if you’re only coming to Magic Kingdom for one of the parties and not doing an all-day ticket, you should be able to pull this off. Guests with party tickets can enter Magic Kingdom at 4PM, even though the park doesn’t close to day guests until 6PM and the parties don’t start until 7PM.

That often leaves those visitors with 3 hours of time where you can shop, ride attractions, or grab your pre-party photos. If you’re looking for something to do during that window, eating is a GREAT way to fill the time.

Garlic Bread at Tony’s Town Square Restaurant

This way, you won’t have to stop to eat a meal during the party, and you can spend that entire time enjoying the entertainment, meeting characters, going on rides with short waits, or just feeling the holiday spirit.

If you have any thoughts on Disney World restaurants, rides, shows, hotels, or other offerings, make sure to check out the AllEars Reviews section of our website and leave your rating! We’d love to hear from you.