Trail’s End, the long-time favorite buffet at Disney’s Fort Wilderness Resort and Campground, will reopen on July 17. Closed since spring 2020, the popular western-themed restaurant will now serve meals family-style. At WDW, that means that large servings are brought to your table instead of your getting up and going to pick and choose from the buffet. It is unknown whether this is a temporary (maybe COVID-related) experiment or permanent change.
Breakfast, at $19.99 per adult, will include a skillet with brisket, eggs, bacon, sausage, potato casserole, waffles. This price also includes yogurt parfaits and pastries (croissants, sticky buns, muffins). Compare this to somewhat similar breakfast skillets at Whispering Canyon (Wilderness Lodge) at $22 per person.
PHOTOS: Family-Style Reopening Menu Released for Trail’s End in Disney World https://t.co/VyyPU8PBPg pic.twitter.com/N72Vrlg2M1
— AJ Wolfe (@DisneyFoodBlog) June 30, 2021
The dinner skillet, priced at $29.99 per adult, will feature brisket, rotisserie chicken, andouille sausage, potatoes, green beans, and corn on the cob. The meal will also include breads (the legendary sweet cornbread, goat cheese chive biscuits, hushpuppies), and a salad that appears to be quite similar to the salad served at Hoop Dee Doo for decades. The grand finale is a “covered wagon sundae” – just in case you’re still famished.
But oh-so-very conspicuously MISSING from the 2021 supper menu is the fried chicken. The fried chicken is the reason that many wanna-be cowpokes travel far and wide from other resorts to Trail’s End. That and the nearby petting farm . . . Oh wait, never mind.
Of course, DisTwitter is fit to be tied about this and other changes.
Legit stormed in the bedroom while my husband was working to inform him of the egregious crime of fried chicken no longer being on the buffet at Trail’s End. He was just as upset as I am. This cannot stand.
— Katie Stutts (@MrsStuttsy) June 30, 2021
And now, the Old West, and one of Walt Disney World’s classic hidden gems: Trail’s End Restaurant.
It’s where cowboys start the day with oven-fresh pastry baskets and berry granola yogurt parfaits.
— Tim Weston (@timweston) June 30, 2021
If you daydream about the barbecue ribs, don’t despair – they are still available. But this time they are accompanied by an upcharge of $9.99 for a half slab. Peel-and-eat shrimp is also on the dinner add-on menu for $8.99.
The good news for those crying fowl is that fried chicken appears to still be on the menu at P & J’s Southern Takeout. It’s basically a kissin’ cousin to Trail’s End (same building) – and a to-go meal of 8 pieces of chicken with two sides (feeding 3-4) is $23.49.
It’s really better to get reservations as Trail’s End is quite popular. They are available online through My Disney Experience.
Related: Where to Eat at Disney For A Special Occasion (Take This Quiz)
We’ve never eaten at Trail’s End. Do you need reservations? Thanks in advance
Hi Zoey, That’s a great question! Except during slow times, it’s better to make reservations because it can fill up. I updated the article with that information. Thank you for reading!
Once again another Di$ney take away. I loved FW. Annual Pass holder. Trails End was the best but here we go again. It’s getting to be a no fun vacation because each day at WDW I seem to encounter another thing that is reduced, taken away, changed and never never ever for the better. Plus it costs more. WTF. Family style? Really? No fried chicken? Ahhgg. You want something else. Well that is now an extra add on charge. Turn off the Hoover will ya. Thanks again you *#@$%* bean counters. No way will I go there. So now I can walk by that restaurant and get mad and upset as I am reminded how the Trails End we all loved and remembered is now successfully destroyed. Just turn it into a McDonals and get it over with. We know you have absolutely no interest in how your guests feel about this. I want it back the way it was !