Walt Disney World has announced temporary & permanent closing dates for dining options around Animal Kingdom. This explains when the restaurants permanently close, menu changes, operating hours extensions and other operational updates around the park.
Let’s start with the why of this, which is preparation for the extinction level event of DinoLand USA, DINOSAUR, Restaurantosaurus, and more. With that entire land going extinct, other operational changes have been necessitated throughout Animal Kingdom to pick up the slack.
More changes are undoubtedly on the horizon, so consider subscribing to our free Walt Disney World newsletter, where we’ll share instant updates as soon as they’re announced. To that end, Walt Disney World has shared an updated timeline, revealing the extinction dates for Trilo-Bites and Dino-Bites Snacks, plus the temporary closing of Harambe Market, and a wide variety of dining updates for the rest of Animal Kingdom to accommodate these changes. Let’s dig in!
Harambe Market Temporary Closing Date
Harambe Market will temporarily close as of October 20, 2025 as work begins to update the location in order to serve new menu items.
Just last week, Walt Disney World filed a new construction permit for work on Harambe Market. The permit lists longtime Disney vendor MLC Theming as the contractor with a scope of “General Construction,” and an expiration date of May 29, 2026. (Work should be done way before then given the stated timelines.)
That construction permit doesn’t really tell us anything, but it does confirm that something is actually being done to Harambe Market necessitating the closure. It isn’t a matter of shuttering locations seasonally due to a lack of demand. They’re presumably updating kitchens and adding equipment necessary to serve standard theme park fare. Speaking of which…
Staples from its menu (burgers, chicken strips, etc.) will move over to Harambe Market to accommodate guests when it reopens. The updated Harambe Market is slated to reopen in early 2026.
One thing that’s unclear at this point is whether Harambe Market will absorb the menu of Restaurantosaurus in addition to its existing menu, or if the old Restaurantosaurus menu will replace the current Harambe Market menu, or if it’ll be a mix of the two. Walt Disney World’s verbiage has been vague on this point, leading other sites to read between the lines.
Our guess is that the new menu at Harambe Market will mostly be crowd-pleasing fare from Restaurantosaurus, perhaps with a legacy item or two carrying over from the old menu. Our hope is that the existing menu sticks around, and is simply supplemented by burgers, chicken, etc. That does seem somewhat unlikely, as it would be difficult for this location to efficiently serve double the dishes.
In the meantime, Kusafiri Coffee Shop & Bakery in Africa will be open for lunch starting October 20, 2025.
During the closure of Harambe Market, the bakery will serve more substantial dishes, such as the Harambe Chicken Rice Bowl, Harissa Chicken Wrap, and plant-based Picadillo Rice Bowl.
Perhaps that will end up being the permanent solution–an expanded menu of ambitious dishes at Kusafiri, with Harambe Market becoming the crowd-pleasing spot. Longer term, this would also open the door for the new hacienda in Tropical Americas serving more adventurous cuisine. That’s the best-case, everyone wins scenario.
Trilo-Bites & Dino-Bite Snacks Closing Date
Trilo-Bites and Dino-Bite Snacks in DinoLand USA will serve their final guests on October 19, 2025 before permanently closing as of October 20, 2025. These closures are occurring in order to accommodate a growing construction perimeter as continues on the upcoming Tropical Americas.
We’re happy to report that enjoyers of the fan-favorite Buffalo Chicken Chips at Trilo-Bites don’t need to mourn this food kiosk’s demise. This delightful snack will move over to Eight Spoons Cafe on Discovery Island. I would argue that this is one of only two (2) food items in the entirety of DinoLand USA worthy of human consumption, so this is great news.
With the demise of Dino-Bites, guests will need to visit Tamu Tamu Refreshments and Anandapur Ice Cream Truck for soft-serve ice cream, floats, and sundaes. Dole Whip floats will be served at the Warung Outpost in Asia following the closures.
Walt Disney World has indicate that hand-scooped ice cream will return at Disney’s Animal Kingdom in February 2026. For the record, the second of two (2) food items in DinoLand USA worth ordering is the Ice Cream Cookie Sandwich. I’ll miss not getting the Christmas version this year–looks like the Spiced Molasses Cookie Ice Cream Sandwich is the last incarnation that’ll be available before extinction!
Restaurantosaurus Permanently Closing Date
Walt Disney World previously announced that Restaurantosaurus will close as of February 2, 2026. Its last day of operations will likewise be February 1, 2026. (The Dino Institute Shop, Restaurantosaurus, and Restaurantosaurus Lounge will all close on this day.)
With the latest update, Walt Disney World has not stated any changes for Restaurantosaurus. This is good news, especially with the off-season now in the rearview mirror. If Restaurantosaurus didn’t need to reduce hours in September, it definitely shouldn’t in November or December. Restaurantosaurus will almost certainly remain open daily, and with full operating hours, until Winter 2026.
Still Unknown: 76th Annual Dino Institute Holiday Party
Despite several operational updates in the last couple of months, Walt Disney World still has not confirmed the status of the 76th Annual Dino Institute Holiday Party.
With Restaurantosaurus not closing until February 2026, this will likely return. We haven’t been able to 100% confirm this, but have strong reason to believe the 76th Annual Dino Institute Holiday Party will be back for its second and final holiday season.
It’s highly likely that the 76th Annual Dino Institute Holiday Party will return to the back porch of Restaurantosaurus this Christmas. Same goes for the adorable Chipmunk character costumes, decorations in Dinoland (the portions that are open), etc. Christmas 2025 should be a nice send-off to Dinoland USA!
Kali River Rapids Refurbishment Reminder
Kali River Rapids is now closed for its annual refurbishment, which shifted forward this year by a few months and began on October 6th. Kali River Rapids is expected to reopen sometime in December 2025. Stay tuned for a specific date in the future. Our expectation is that it’s back by December 19, 2025 at the latest.
Kali River Rapids closes for an annual refurbishment each winter, which is equal parts maintenance and demand dipping due to winter weather. Since part of it is maintenance, though, it can’t really be skipped. (It can, however, be condensed.)
Animal Kingdom already has a limited ride roster and will be losing yet another attraction when DINOSAUR goes down. As an offset to this and to ensure the guest experience is preserved to the greatest extent possible during Tropical Americas construction, the Kali River Rapids refurbishment is being moved forward from January 2026 to October 2025.
DINOSAUR Closing Date Reminder
Walt Disney World has officially announced that the closure date for DINOSAUR is February 2, 2026. Meaning the last day to experience the attraction before extinction is February 1, 2026.
This is actually a bit later than expected. It’s one year and a couple weeks after Dino-Rama closed back in January of this year, and we expected a repeat of that with DINOSAUR. This type of major change/closure so often occurs on the second Monday in January because that’s after the holiday season, after schools go back into session, and also after the 2026 Walt Disney World Marathon wraps up. It’s the end of the peak season, and start of the winter season.
In actuality, the closure is occurring after all of that, as well as Martin Luther King Jr. Day, but before the popular Presidents’ Day travel period. There’s really no great explanation for the DINOSAUR closing date. Perhaps they wanted to align it with Groundhog Day or National Tater Tot Day. Who knows.
Tropical Americas Land Background
There are also multiple sub-lands or areas within Tropical Americas, which is why/how Walt Disney World is staggering the closure of the existing DinoLand USA over the course of a year-plus. It’s also why/how they might stagger the opening of Tropical Americas along a similarly lengthy timeline.
The first area of Tropical Americas is Pueblo Esperanza, the hub in heart of the rainforest that’s name translates to “Village of Hope.” The Pueblo Esperanza community will feature a large hacienda, which will be one of the largest quick-service restaurants at Walt Disney World Resort (this is a reimagining of Restaurantosaurus).
Pueblo Esperanza will also offer a critter carousel as an attraction. This Village of Hope will replace the Boneyard, TriceraTops Spin, Restaurantosaurus, Dino-Bite Snacks, and Trilo-Bites.
After leaving the Pueblo Esperanza, guests can venture deeper into the rainforest to find not one but two signature attractions. To the left is the Encanto magical Madrigal Casita dark ride, which is likely to be a family-friendly Omnimover–perhaps like an Encanto-ized version of Mystic Manor.
The Encanto attraction will replace all of Chester & Hester’s Dino-Rama, including all of its carnival games, that big roadside dinosaur, Chester & Hester’s Dinosaur Treasures, Donald’s Dino-Bash, and TriceraTop Spin (again–it straddles the Pueblo Esperanza and Encanto areas).
This is the area of Tropical Americas construction where walls have been up since January. We’re expecting the Encanto attraction to go vertical any day now. It’s very close!
Finally, there’s the new Indiana Jones Adventure attraction, which will replace DINOSAUR.
This reimagined ride will be a new twist on IJA that will be different from the existing versions of the attraction at Disneyland in California and Tokyo DisneySea. Both of those are quite different from one another, and this will be the third non-cloned version of the attraction. Obviously, they all bear similarities–but also all tell unique and distinct stories.
In this new adventure at Animal Kingdom, the man with the hat has recently discovered a perfectly preserved Maya temple, and that can only mean one thing: it’s time to explore it. He’s heard rumors about a mythical creature deep within the temple — and he’s got to see it for himself. So, he brings us along on the adventure.
There’s also Dino-Sue and some winding pathways with statues back here, which are expected to be replaced by a new playground as an offset to losing the Boneyard. But for the most part, this area is simply being reimagined from DINOSAUR to the third incarnation of Indiana Jones Adventure.
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YOUR THOUGHTS
Thoughts on all of the dining closures and changes at Disney’s Animal Kingdom? Pleased to see the Buffalo Chicken Chips and Ice Cream Cookie Sandwiches live on at DAK after Trilo-Bites and Dino-Bites Snacks go extinct? Do you agree or disagree with our assessments? Any questions we can help you answer? Hearing your feedback–even when you disagree with us–is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!
