Nine Dragons Restaurant

Nine Dragons Restaurant: dining at EPCOT — location and planning data on MouseHub.

Visitor sentiment

4.2· 1,244 Google ratings

Guests consistently praise the restaurant for its excellent and attentive service. The calm and immersive atmosphere is also frequently highlighted as a positive aspect of the dining experience. Some reviews mention the food can be bland.

Summarized with Gemini · Report summary

The MouseHub take

Nine Dragons Restaurant is the table-service Chinese room in the China pavilion at EPCOT, open since October 23, 1985, three years after World Showcase opened without a Chinese restaurant at all. Disney calls the cooking Pan-Chinese and names Cantonese, Mongolian, Szechuan, Hunan, and Kiangche-style specialties. A glass etching of two dragons chasing a glowing pearl greets you at the door, and the room past it runs to ornate wood carvings and traditional lanterns. One a la carte menu covers lunch, 12:00 PM to 2:55 PM, and dinner, 3:00 PM to 9:00 PM. Appetizers run $11 to $16 and entrees $25 to $36.

Disney bands both services at $15 to $34.99 per adult, and two entrees clear that. The money is what diners complain about. They say the food tastes like the Chinese place near home, priced like a theme park. What the restaurant has instead is availability. Reviewers report walking up and being seated on days when the rest of World Showcase is booked out, into a room that stays cool and quiet. Families who want a table, air conditioning, and a rest come away happy. Guests hunting the regional cooking the menu advertises usually do not.

At a glance

Best for: Families who need a table, air conditioning, and a short wait more than they need a memorable meal
Skip if: Anyone chasing the regional Chinese cooking the menu advertises, or unwilling to pay $26 and up for a plate that reminds them of home
Worth ordering: Wontons in Chili Oil, Spicy Ma La Happy Family, Honey Sesame Chicken
Reservations: Easier than anything else table-service in EPCOT, by reviewer accounts. Parties report walking up and being seated on days when the rest of World Showcase is full. That happens at the podium: Nine Dragons is absent from Disney's Mobile Dine Walk-Up Availability list, so there is no same-day list to join in My Disney Experience. Disney still calls a confirmed reservation highly recommended for any in-park table-service restaurant, and the general booking window opens 60 days ahead with new windows released around 6:00 AM. The card on the reservation is charged a per-person fee for a no-show or a late cancellation
Value: Poor by reviewer accounts, and the figures are why. Entrees run $25 to $36, appetizers $11 to $16, and desserts $12 to $14, for food diners compare to takeout at home. Disney bands both services at $15 to $34.99 per adult and the top two entrees clear it. The kids' plates at $12 to $15 are the better value on the page

The good

You can usually get a table
Reviewers report walking up without a booking and being seated, on days when the rest of World Showcase is gone. Disney still calls a confirmed reservation highly recommended at any in-park table-service restaurant.
The room stays cool and quiet
Diners come in to get out of the heat and the noise, and they say it delivers on both. It is the break in the middle of a World Showcase lap.
Window tables look out on the lagoon
Disney's own advice is to request a table by one of the windows for a sweeping view of the World Showcase Lagoon promenade. It costs nothing to ask when you check in.
The dragons at the door earn a pause
A glass etching of two dragons chasing a glowing pearl greets diners on the way in, and the room past it runs to ornate wood carvings and traditional lanterns.
There is real heat if you order for it
Sichuan Shui Zhu Beef arrives in a Sichuan chili oil broth with wide glass noodles at $36, and the Sichuan Cucumbers come tossed in Mala sauce at $11.
Kids get their own short menu
Three plates for children ages 9 and younger, $12 to $15, plus soft serve at $6.95 in strawberry-red bean, Ube, or swirl. The printed menu marks the options meeting Disney's nutrition guidelines with a Disney Check icon.

The bad

The food tastes like your local takeout
Diners keep saying they could get the same plate at the Chinese restaurant near home. It is the complaint that recurs most, and it lands on the cooking rather than on the service or the room.
The check outruns the posted band
Disney bands both services at $15 to $34.99 per adult, and two entrees clear it: Sichuan Shui Zhu Beef at $36 and Smoked Duck Fried Rice at $35. Reviewers who would pay that elsewhere balk at it for food they rate as ordinary.
The menu keeps to the familiar
Honey Sesame Chicken at $26 and Sweet and Sour Cod at $32 anchor a list that guests hunting regional cooking find safe.
Dessert is the weakest course
Three items, $12 to $14, and reviewers say the Chocolate Hazelnut Crepe Cake at $13 does not repay the money.
Lunch costs what dinner costs
One menu runs under a single lunch and dinner heading, and Disney bands the two services identically. Eating early to spend less does not work here.

Veteran tips

Keep it as the backup plan
When the EPCOT reservations you wanted are gone, ask at the Nine Dragons podium, where reviewers report being seated the same day. Disney's Mobile Dine Walk-Up Availability list does not include this restaurant, so there is no list to join in the app.
Book the time that is open
Lunch runs 12:00 PM to 2:55 PM and dinner picks up at 3:00 PM until 9:00 PM, off one menu at one set of prices. A noon table and a 7:00 PM table get the same food for the same money.
Ask for a window seat at check-in
Disney points guests at the tables by the windows for the view down the World Showcase Lagoon promenade. Say so when you check in rather than after you sit.
Start with the Wontons in Chili Oil
Shrimp, crab, and chicken in a Sichuan chili broth, $14, and the appetizer reviewers name first.
Split one of the big stir-fries
The Spicy Ma La Happy Family runs beef, shrimp, and chicken for $32, and diners describe the portion as more than one person needs. Splitting it leaves room to eat around World Showcase afterward.
Drink the tea, not the cocktails
Hot Oolong Tea and Dragon Well Green Tea are $5.95 each, against cocktails that start at $14 and reach $18 for the Passion Old Fashioned.
Spend your dessert money elsewhere
Reviewers rate the dessert list the low point of the meal and suggest putting the $13 toward a snack somewhere else in World Showcase.
Cancel in time or the card gets charged
Disney charges a per-person fee to the card on the reservation for a no-show, a late cancellation, or a modification that then needs cancelling. The policy details arrive with the confirmation email.

MouseHub editorial, written from visitor reports and official Disney sources. Last reviewed August 7, 2026.