Disneyland Resort has quietly delayed the reopening of its flagship hotel’s fanciest restaurant, Napa Rose, which closed back in April for a lengthy refurbishment. This shares updated dates & details, plus our thoughts on the fine dining experience and how its changes could be good and bad.
For starters, the Napa Rose refurbishment is part of comprehensive plans announced earlier this year for all three Hotels of the Disneyland Resort. In addition to the Napa Rose reimagining, these new additions and enhancements include two new Club Level lounges, refreshed guest rooms, and luxurious new themed hotel suites.
Ahead of its closure, Disney announced that Napa Rose was slated to reopen sometime in Fall 2025 for its lengthy dining room reimagining. Well, as it turns out, the project will be longer than expected, with Disney quietly updating the restaurant website to indicate that Napa Rose is now planned to reopen in early 2026.
Beyond a few website updates, there haven’t been any new official public-facing updates on Napa Rose in September 2026. Here’s exactly what Disney has stated: “Napa Rose is currently closed for renovation. To deliver the highest quality experience possible, the restaurant is now slated to reopen in early 2026. More details will be announced at a later date.”
One thing we want to underscore is that the language used across Disney’s websites is somewhat noncommittal. One page says “now slated to reopen” and another says “an expected grand reopening in early 2026.” These aren’t exactly firm dates that are worth planning around or putting significant weight on.
In all likelihood, Fall 2025 was an aggressive target date, as Napa Rose is incredibly popular with Southern California families and Disney fans between Thanksgiving and New Year’s. I would hazard a guess that October through December are the biggest months for the restaurant and resort as a whole, and probably by a fairly wide margin.
Accordingly, it’s likely that the goal was to have the grand reopening of Napa Rose occur before Thanksgiving, and then ride that wave to a few highly lucrative months, as opposed to missing out on that business and reopening during the winter lull. (Of course, it won’t be a winter lull now, as Napa Rose is going to see a boost in bookings whenever it reopens–it just may not enjoy quite the same guest spending.)
During the reimagining, construction crews probably encountered unexpected delays or perhaps even expected ones, that precluded a Fall 2025 reopening. I doubt there’s a more exciting or interesting explanation–project delays have become par for the course, and when you couple that with a reopening date that was probably always overly optimistic, the grand opening slipping a few months is the unsurprising end result.
When it does reopen, the award-winning Napa Rose will take its dining experience to the next level with a new look that celebrates Craftsman design with an eye toward modern Californian luxury and approachability. The new-look Napa Rose will have a rustic elegance and will be a tapestry of California’s storied history of wine and wine making.
To make way for these enhancements, there will be temporary updates to dining offerings at Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel & Spa. The restaurant, known for its refined California cuisine made with superb ingredients, will introduce a new menu and will still feature fan-favorites such as the Smiling Tiger Salad, along with an impeccable wine collection of more than 1,500 labels.
When it reopens, the restaurant interior will use natural textures such as reclaimed French oak flooring and columns (a type of wood used to make wine barrels), hand-pinged artisan metals, leathers, deep colors of cabernet, and an eye-catching chandelier inspired by California’s Mission grapevines.
Along with its existing dynamic exhibition kitchen, the restaurant will expand the counters where guests can watch the masters in action. Outside, the patio is being enhanced with more seating for lovely al fresco dining. In fact, here’s newly-released concept art of the exterior:
Just last month during Destination D23, Disneyland Resort culinary director John State unveiled a never-before-seen artist concept rendering of the enhanced patio space from Napa Rose at Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel & Spa.
The outdoor patio is being thoughtfully enhanced to welcome more guests for al fresco dining. Imagine settling into a comfortable seat surrounded by lush greenery and soft lighting, the California breeze enhancing the flavors of your meal. The space invites you to relax and savor each bite while taking in the beautiful outdoor setting.
Two new fireplaces will cast a warm, flickering glow across the patio, adding a cozy and inviting touch to the atmosphere. As the sun sets, you can gather around the fire, reflecting on your Disney day and enjoying the ambiance.
I have mixed feelings about the reimagining of Napa Rose.
Generally speaking, I think aspects of the Grand Californian receive undue criticism about being dated, when really, that’s the Arts & Crafts style. This comes up a lot with Storytellers Cafe, which is richly-detailed and filled with nods to literary legends, California stories, and folklore from the Golden State, all with a heavy craftsman influence. That doesn’t always comport with guest expectations when they’re paying premium prices for a luxury hotel, though.
Napa Rose is a bit of a different beast, and there are elements of its design where it’s difficult to discern where the Arts & Crafts style ends and the early 2000s design sensibilities begin. It definitely needs an update, but I’d probably choose a lighter or less contemporary refresh if I were in charge. But my figurative domain as a blogger only covers this literal domain.
What I fear with this concept art and the accompanying description is that it’s going to trade one distinct style mixed with an era (Craftsman plus early 2000s) for another. The “modern Californian luxury” is one red flag in the announcement, and there are aspects of the concept art that are reminiscent of design-flourishes you’d see when watching some trendy show on HGTV in 2025.
This isn’t to say the concept art looks bad–it’s actually a pleasant surprise–but I’m not sure why Napa Rose needs to chase trends, period. The Craftsman style is timeless, and distinctly Californian. In the end, though, I’m willing to take a wait and see perspective on this, as I could see it turning out well (or not). I just wish Napa Rose wasn’t losing the murals.
Regardless, it’s fair to say that Napa Rose could use a shot in the arm. We’ve dined at Napa Rose countless times, doing everything from Thanksgiving dinner to the superlative Chef’s Counter at Napa Rose.
For the longest time, we considered Napa Rose to be the second-best Disney restaurant at which we’ve dined, behind only Victoria & Albert’s at Walt Disney World. There’s a reason it ranks highly on our our List of the 25 Best Restaurants at Disneyland Resort.
However, Napa Rose’s status had fallen slightly pre-closure and substantially since reopening. Perhaps we’ve just been unlucky, but I’d now rather dine at the next restaurant on this list–along with two others in Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel–over Napa Rose. It’s still worthy of recommendation, but not what it once was, in our view.
That will probably change with the reimagining of Napa Rose, which is a good thing. The bad side of this is the likelihood that, like Victoria & Albert’s, Napa Rose will return from its reimagining chasing a Michelin star. It will aim even further upmarket, going from fine dining to haute cuisine (or whatever is a tier above “regular” fine dining).
All of this is to say that Napa Rose will likely reopen with a fancier and modernized dining room plus a better menu (all good things!) and significantly higher price (bad thing!). I’d be more surprised if there’s a sub-$200 prix fixe menu than I would if Napa Rose breaks the $300 barrier, which would put it on par with Victoria & Albert’s. In which case, we won’t have to worry about all of this, as Napa Rose will be off the table for us!
Planning a Southern California vacation? For park admission deals, read Tips for Saving Money on Disneyland Tickets. Learn about on-site and off-site hotels in our Anaheim Hotel Reviews & Rankings. For where to eat, check out our Disneyland Restaurant Reviews. For unique ideas of things that’ll improve your trip, check out What to Pack for Disney. For comprehensive advice, consult our Disneyland Vacation Planning Guide. Finally, for guides beyond Disney, check out our Southern California Itineraries for day trips to Los Angeles, Laguna Beach, and many other SoCal cities!
YOUR THOUGHTS
What do you think of the delay to Napa Rose’s reopening? Excited for the restaurant’s luxury reimagining or are you fine with the style as it was before? Worried that the new-look Napa Rose will open with a more expensive menu, or would you prefer a Michelin-star experience, even if it’s $300 per person? Do you agree or disagree with our commentary? 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!
