The Complicated Reason Why This EPCOT Restaurant Is Still Sitting Empty

By Lydia Storks Leave a Comment

There are quite literally dozens of places to eat in EPCOT, so it can be hard to choose where to dine during your visit!

Spaceship Earth at EPCOT

Are you in the mood for Italian? French food? American BBQ? They’ve got it all! But if you’re hoping to eat in one particular World Showcase Pavilion, your options will be a little limited…and there’s an interesting reason why.

The Morocco Pavilion has been a little low on dining offerings ever since the pandemic. Previously, you could dine at Restaurant Marrakesh, Spice Road Table, or Tangierine Cafe in the pre-2020 days.

Morocco Restaurant

But since the park reopened, Tangierine Cafe has mostly been used as a festival booth (with some light options in between festivals), and Restaurant Marrakesh has been “closed,” leaving Spice Road Table as the main offering. But why hasn’t Restaurant Marrakesh returned when so many other table service spots have?

Restaurant Marrakesh

For the past few years, Restaurant Marrakesh has been open sparingly, but only as a lounge…and not the kind that you eat in! We’ve seen it open during the International Food & Wine Festival as a lounge for Florida Blue members, and then again open occasionally in the spring for Annual Passholders exclusively.

Florida Blue Lounge inside Restaurant Marrakesh

During the times when the lounge is open, it usually offers complimentary light refreshments, and sometimes a fun activity or character meet. But it’s rarely crowded during the times that it’s open because it’s so tucked away and hidden in the back of the pavilion.

Restaurant Marrakesh as the Florida Blue Lounge

When Restaurant Marrakesh was operating as an actual restaurant a few years ago, it served Moroccan fare and even offered entertainment in the form of a belly dancer. It was a really unique dining experience in the park, and we’re definitely sad that we haven’t been able to experience it since!

Belly Dancer

So if you’re hoping to dine at Restaurant Marrakesh during your next trip, you might be out of luck. Disney hasn’t shared any information about it possibly reopening in the future, so we’ll just have to wait and see if it ever returns to what we loved before.

Restaurant Marrakesh Dining Room

We’ll make sure to keep you in the loop with any dining news from EPCOT, so stay tuned to DFB!

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