Walt Disney World has updated its calendar with operating hours for Harambe Market, suggesting the counter service restaurant will reopen in March 2026. We explain why this is likely wrong, and should be viewed as a deadline as opposed to a reopening date.
Let’s start with the why of this, which is preparation for the extinction level event of DinoLand USA, DINOSAUR, Restaurantosaurus, and more. With what’s left of that land going extinct as of February 2, 2026, other operational changes are necessary around Animal Kingdom to pick up the slack. Many of these already occurred last October, with the closure of various snack stands and relocation of menu items.
More changes are 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, here’s what Walt Disney World has revealed, including dining updates for the rest of Animal Kingdom to accommodate the closure of Restaurantosaurus. Let’s dig in!
Harambe Market Reopening Date Date (Deadline)
Harambe Market temporarily closed as of October 20th last year in order to allow work to update the location in order to serve new menu items. Based on construction permits filed around that time, Disney is updating kitchens and adding equipment necessary to serve standard theme park fare at Harambe Market.
Previously, Walt Disney World announced that the updated Harambe Market would reopen in early 2026. At the time of that announcement, it was our understanding that Harambe Market would return no later than February 2, 2026, which is the extinction date for Restaurantosaurus.
With Restaurantosaurus permanently closing, staples from its menu (burgers, chicken strips, etc.) will move over to Harambe Market to accommodate guests when the latter reopens. (This is the whole reason for the changes at Harambe Market–DAK “needing” a spot that serves familiar foods to meet guests where they are, so to speak.)
With the latest calendar update, Harambe Market once again has operating hours (10:45 AM to 3:15 PM) as of March 1, 2026 and every date thereafter. This is almost a full month after Restaurantosaurus closes.
Our expectation is that the calendar is wrong, and the intention is still to reopen Harambe Market by or before February 2, 2026. That the goal, at minimum, is to ensure the current Restaurantosaurus menu is served somewhere at Animal Kingdom and that dining capacity (or a portion of it) exists throughout construction. Basically, that there’s uninterrupted counter service ‘coverage’ and not a month-long gap.
It’s always possible that there is an unforeseen delay with the reopening of Harambe Market, but we doubt it. More likely is that the March 1, 2026 hours were entered into the calendar as a default a while ago and they just started displaying as the calendar progressed. That an announcement of the specific, accurate reopening date of Harambe Market along with a menu reveal is still to come.
This might sound odd, but exactly this has happened with the WDW operating calendar on several occasions in the last year. It’s often flat-out wrong or offers a conservative estimate of internal timelines.
For our part, we wouldn’t be surprised if Harambe Market returns in time for MLK Day Weekend. Conversely, we would be shocked if it’s not back long before Presidents’ Day. Winter is busier each year and Restaurantosaurus is the park’s crowd-pleasing restaurant with the highest capacity, so it’s highly unlikely there’s a gap between the respective reopening and closing dates.
One thing that’s still unclear is whether Harambe Market will simply absorb the menu of Restaurantosaurus in addition to its previous 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.
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’s unlikely, as it would be difficult for this location to efficiently serve double the dishes.
In the meantime, Kusafiri Coffee Shop & Bakery in Africa has been open for lunch since Harambe Market closed for refurbishment. During the closure, the bakery has been serving more substantial dishes, such as the Harambe Chicken Rice Bowl, Harissa Chicken Wrap, and plant-based Picadillo Rice Bowl.
Perhaps this will end up being the permanent solution–an expanded menu of ambitious dishes at Kusafiri, with Harambe Market becoming the crowd-pleasing spot. We would be okay with this! Kusafiri has sneakily become one of the better dining spots in Animal Kingdom (amid staunch competition), and it retaining bona fide counter service restaurant status would be a good thing.
Longer term, this would also open the door for the new hacienda in Tropical Americas serving more adventurous cuisine. I would be shocked if that location reverts to being boring and basic when Tropical Americas opens. Usually, new lands and restaurants come with exciting and marketable menus. We’d expect that to hold true with the Tropical Americas hacienda, and a location that rivals Satu’li Canteen and Flame Tree BBQ as the best counter service restaurant in Animal Kingdom…and by extension, all of Walt Disney World!
That’s the best-case, everyone wins scenario.
Dinoland Closing Date Reminder
As noted above, Restaurantosaurus will be extinct as of February 2, 2026. But it’s not just that quick-service restaurant, it’s the entirety of Dinoland USA, or rather, what little is left of it.
Most notably, this means the land’s marquee attraction–and one of the few rides at Animal Kingdom. Walt Disney World announced last fall that the closure date for DINOSAUR is February 2, 2026. Meaning the last day to experience the attraction before extinction is February 1, 2026. (Ditto Restaurantosaurus, the gift shop and everything else.)
The other remaining wild card is the meet & greets. Walt Disney World previously revealed that the current character lineup for Donald’s Dino Bash, including Donald and Daisy Ducks as well as Chip & Dale, will be relocated to other areas of Animal Kingdom.
No official details as to locations, but it’s safe to say they won’t be part of Donald’s Dino-Bash wherever the characters land. Our best guess is that the characters will be dispersed across multiple out of the way locations. It’d be nice if they had unique costumes that fit Animal Kingdom, but we wouldn’t hold our breath on that. Stay tuned for more.
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, Indiana Jones has 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.
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YOUR THOUGHTS
Thoughts on all of the reopening of Harambe Market and other dining changes at Disney’s Animal Kingdom? What’s your ideal scenario with the menus here, at Kusafiri and the upcoming Tropical Americas hacienda? 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!
