Trail's End Restaurant and Crockett's Tavern to reopen July 27 at Disney's Fort Wilderness Resort

Jul 25, 2023 in "Trail's End Restaurant"

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Trail's End Restaurant 2023 food and drink

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Posted: Tuesday July 25, 2023 10:50am ET by WDWMAGIC Staff

Trail’s End Restaurant and Crockett’s Tavern will reopen from refurbishment on July 27 at Disney’s Fort Wilderness Resort & Campground.

Trail's End Restaurant 2023 food and drink

Both dining locations have a fresh new look with warm wooden furnishings, beamed ceilings, and rustic accents.

Trail's End Restaurant 2023 food and drink

Trail’s End Restaurant has been reimagined to a quick-service restaurant. The refreshed marketplace concept now includes an on-stage pizza station offering a smokehouse-style pizza topped with house-smoked brisket, sausage, and pepperoni; a roasted vegetable pie and a classic pepperoni and cheese are still available.

Trail's End Restaurant 2023 food and drink

The Hot Grab and Go section features pecan-smoked whole chicken or brisket, a rack of pork ribs, and fried chicken. Sides will be available by the pound including macaroni & cheese, plant-based cowboy beans, and mashed potatoes.

Trail's End Restaurant 2023 food and drink

You can also order classics like cheeseburgers, plant-based vegetable burgers, chicken nuggets, and french fries. For some comfort food, the Homestyle Meals feature cornbread, coleslaw, and mashed potatoes with gravy and your choice of half a slab of barbecued ribs or two pieces of fried chicken.

There are also a variety of beverages and snacks on the go, like the new Chicken Wrap featuring the new house-made blueberry BBQ sauce or the returning favorite Pioneer Berry Salad.

Desserts on offer include Banana Pudding, Carrot Cake Cupcake, Blueberry Bread Pudding, and the legendary Strawberry Shortcake from Hoop-Dee-Doo Musical Revue, which will be available in a single serve portion. The plant-based Lemon-Blueberry Trifle is filled with layers of lemon curd, fresh blueberries, and whipped ‘cream.’

Trail's End Restaurant 2023 food and drink

Crockett’s Tavern has been refreshed as a lounge with expanded seating, both indoors and outside, giving you a beautiful view of Bay Lake. Located near Trail’s End Restaurant, the food and drink line-up has been enhanced with a collection of elevated lounge-style snacks to accompany the array of new and returning beverages and specialty cocktails.

Trail's End Restaurant 2023 food and drink

Inspired by the Fort Wilderness Railroad that once ran throughout the resort, the All Aboard! Moonshine Cocktail Flight is a sampling of our favorite moonshine cocktails featuring the Gullywhumper, Blackberry Lightning, and Spiced Appleberry Shine.

Trail's End Restaurant 2023 food and drink

The Bear-y Buckle combines Uncle Nearest 1884 Small Batch Whiskey, pure cane sugar, lemon juice, bitters, Fever-Tree Ginger Beer, and muddled blackberries for a touch of sweetness in this cocktail. The team is pleased to be serving Uncle Nearest 1884 Small Batch Whiskey, which honors the world’s first-known African American master distiller, Nearest Green.

The Camper’s Coupe features Laird’s Applejack Brandy, orange and lemon juices, and a hint of maple syrup.

The lounge will be serving up a rotating selection of old fashioned cocktails. The summer version will be a Clementine Old Fashioned with Angel’s Envy Bourbon, Hella Cocktail Co. Orange Bitters, and cane syrup garnished with a clementine wheel and Luxardo cherry. This sip is a nod to Clementine Beach at the resort.

Tequila fans will be pleased to try two beverages on the menu. A nod to one of the historic camping loops at Fort Wilderness, the Quail Trail Paloma serves up Teremana Blanco Tequila with Hella Cocktail Co. Smoked Chili Bitters, grapefruit soda, and a chili-lime rim.

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BocabearAug 02, 2023

It looks perfectly serviceable, he raved...lol

Love Ft WildernessAug 02, 2023

Based on pictures posted thus far, it appears the Davy Crockett (Fess Parker) picture is gone. Does anybody know what happened to it? Maybe it'll show up in an auction?

wdwmagicAug 01, 2023

Here's a look at Crockett's Tavern https://www.wdwmagic.com/dining/crocketts-tavern/gallery/01aug2023-crockett's-tavern-overview-2023.htm

Disstevefan1Aug 01, 2023

Typical whiner here. I am sad they got rid of the buffets. On the bright side, all the buffet haters are very happy.

note2001Aug 01, 2023

I remember the train! Word is they added it as Walt did our would have wanted it, but the Disney team had no idea how to lay rails properly so it kept derailing as they settled into the soft ground. For a few years there they replaced the train with trams, just like those parking lot trams we see now. They were a blast to ride through the winding roads of Fort Wilderness and the drivers were hysterical. I don't think they've ruined Fort wilderness, but rather have been changing it to keep up with the times and demands. The campground is more than double its original capacity. Golf cats are everywhere and no one has time to just rest and enjoy the little things, however the Fort will continue to force you to slow down and take it in. The removal of Trails end as a sit down location is unfortunate, but the campground needed a decent quick dining location. There's not very much theming you can do to pizza ovens unless you're Via Napoli. At least they kept the chicken :)

SaucyBoyAug 01, 2023

Looks fantastic! Of course the typical whiners will always find something to complain about but this is a great refresh.

BocabearAug 01, 2023

I remember when they had a train..... It was an amazing place back in the day. Maybe bringing in the DVC cabins will put some money in the budget for an infrastructure refresh, new themed pools and some of the best of the old stuff rebuilt... It is a shame... it is a beautiful property and could be really spectacular...an extension of the Wilderness Lodge property...but more like living in Frontierland... Whimsical, beautiful and fun...

aladdin2007Jul 31, 2023

I really have issue with what they have done to Ft Wilderness now. It use to have beautiful grounds, a nice petting zoo with large trees and grassy areas before you got to the horse stables. Now they have ripped all that out, left it and let go with nothing but construction fences, not to mention the demise of the mickey backyard brbq area....the place has really been hacked up and left to nothing but a shell of its former self. They have no direction or plans with the place. its pathetic on Disney's part.

BocabearJul 31, 2023

yeah...sad is the word...Looks like a corporate deli in an office building...(not the dining room) the dining room is about the same...there is nothing appetizing about the way that setup looks... not that it looked amazing before but now it is even more commercial looking.... I guess it is Whispering Canyon, too bad it is so loud in there... I will miss this place.

aladdin2007Jul 31, 2023

sad but could have been worse, they kept this one in line with theming. Just miss the restaurant set up. We have so many memories here and Thanksgiving holidays.

wdwmagicJul 31, 2023

Here is a tour of the new Trail's End https://www.wdwmagic.com/dining/trails-end-buffet/gallery/31jul2023-trail's-end-restaurant-overview-2023.htm

BocabearJul 31, 2023

That makes sense I guess... We enjoyed it because it was a place you could get away from the noise and screaming kids at most of the other restaurants...It always seemed quieter there and you could sit down and have someone bring you a drink...without going to a $60+ per person meal...

jaklgreenJul 28, 2023

Not the same at all. The coleslaw gets all in between the pork and makes it a mushy mess. Eww

SpaceMountain77Jul 27, 2023

Thematically it is a win. Carousel Coffee at Disney's BoardWalk Inn does not allow you to "experience the charm and whimsy of turn-of-the-century Atlantic City at this waterfront Resort hotel. (Disney.com)." The Market at Ale & Compass does not allow you to "delight in the formal grace of a grand New England-style yacht club (Disney.com)." Based on the photos, the team that updated Trail's End understood the assignment as it "evokes the timeless beauty of the American frontier." The charm and theming seems to have been retained and extended. Before the pandemic, we had the opportunity to speak to a lead at this location during lunch. The restaurant was not busy and we were approached to discuss our experience. At the time, they were transitioning from hot to cold lunch buffet offerings, which included cold honey stung fried chicken. We were told that it was one of the most unpredictable restaurants at Walt Disney World. Day to day, within the same week, they would oscillate from quiet to slammed. They were making changes to the buffet to account for the unpredictability. I have never worked in the restaurant industry, so I cannot speak to this detail, but moving to more cold offerings was advantageous for unexpected traffic because it allowed buffet items to stay out longer. Guests across the resort travel to Pioneer Hall for the Hoop Dee Doo Revue, but I doubt many were traveling over to eat at Trail's End. Based solely on our interaction with a lead, I would suspect the conversion was because guests of the Fort Wilderness Resort & Campground were not eating at the buffet with regularity.