A Review of Trail's End Restaurant Lunch and Dinner by Mealtrip posted Thursday, July 3, 2025

If you order any of the "Enhanced Menu" items – Trail's End is a hidden gem and a great value (just don't get the pizza).

The Trail's End Restaurant is located near the "Bay Lake" side of Disney's Fort Wilderness Campsites complex. If you know where the Hoop-Dee-Doo Musical Revue building is — you're in the right area, Trail's End is right next door. Technically, I think it's all one giant building, but that's for the property tax people to figure out.

Trail's End had been a buffet for a very long time. Back in the day – buffets were thought of as being an inexpensive way of "filling up on grub" — and the dining format kind of fit in with the communal, campground, mess-hall type theming at the resort.

As dining options kept getting more and more expensive at Disney, buffets couldn't stay at the bottom as the "low price option". Grab-and-go counters and Counter Service locations now occupy that spot – and so (this is all just conjecture on my part), as the adult buffet price increased closer to the bottom tier price of Hoop-Dee-Doo — it just wasn't an enticing option for most guests staying at the campsite anymore.

The modern-day Trail's End as a "Counter Service" location makes so much more sense – especially when you take mobile ordering into account. Now, pretty much anything you can order and eat in the dining area – can also be ordered as take-out, and eaten back at your own RV or cabin.

A Caveat — Split Food and Value Review Score

A few weeks before we ate here, I expanded Mealtrip's "Experience" category by splitting our "Counter Service" category in two. There was a growing divide between counter service restaurants that were just serving "standard issue theme park food" (burgers and pizza, etc.) and counter service locations that are serving food that comes very close to "Table Service" quality levels. For example — it's difficult to compare the Magic Kingdom's Cosmic Ray's Starlight Café with something like Epcot's Katsura Grill — even though they're both Counter Service locations. To more easily highlight the difference, I split the category into "Counter Service - Common Menu" and "Counter Service - Enhanced Menu" categories.

Hey look... a hidden Mickey!!! This hidden Mickey is hanging on a wall between the beverage station and the Mobile Order pickup counter. There's also a broom and a telecommunication plug – but those probably aren't for guests.

The burgers, fries, and pizza places would be "Common Menu", but any location where the menu featured 60% or more "unique offerings" than burgers, fries, and pizza — would be called an "Enhanced Menu" location. It all seemed like a good idea, until we ate here at Trail's End — which honestly — is split right down the middle 50/50.

Not wanting to keep everyone in suspense, we got one common thing off the menu and one unique thing off the menu — and unsurprisingly ... the common thing was quite forgettable, while the unique thing was actually really great. I decided to put Trail's End in the Enhanced Menu category — because I suspect all of those those unique items on the menu are really, really good — and it's easy enough to say "just don't get the pizza or anything that's served with fries".

Smokehouse Pizza

{{House-smoked Brisket, Sausage and Pepperoni}}
{{{price at time of review : $11.79}}}
{{{{item score : 2/10}}}}

The description sounds really great, right? How could "House-smoked Brisket" not taste great on a pizza? Well, mostly because you can't taste it over all the sausage.

The Somkehouse Pizza at Trail's End is no different in quality or size – than any of the other slices of pizza that you can get at any "Counter Service - Common Menu" location on Disney property.

Aside from having all the normal blandness of a typical Disney slice of pizza — and having that flippy-floppy, mall food court texture — you really couldn't taste anything on this, except for the sausage.

There really wasn't any cheese flavor, tomato sauce flavor, or yeasty crust goodness (except maybe in the actual "crust" part that you hold onto) — how could something like the bold flavors of House-smoked Brisket and Pepperoni be sidelined? It's mostly because upon closer inspection — there's a lot of sausage on the "Smokehouse Pizza". I mean — a lot.

On closer inspecition – the Smokehosue Pizza does have a lot of "meat crumbles".

I'd call it a "Meat Lovers" pizza before calling it a Smokehouse Pizza — and if you like a good, solid mouthful of "pizza quality meat" in every bite — this slice has you covered. But the flavor profile of most typical spiced pizza sausage is going to overpower all other flavors quite quickly — when used in this quantity. If you're wondering about the Pepperoni — I think it's on there... it's just "diced pepperoni" and not little circles.

At the end of the day, I guess Disney's "Common Menu" pizza is fine. It's edible. While it's never going to be the "wow" item you remember after you've gone home — it's also (probably) not the worse slice you'll ever have.

While I didn't sample the Bacon Cheeseburger or the BBQ Pork Sandwich — I did see a couple go by — and they looked just as forlorn as any of the other standard issue theme park, quick service, food items I've tried. I have no reason to believe they would be any different tasting here at Trail's End.

The Big Menu Secret at Trail's End

So how do you get great food here at Trail's End and why did I decide to categorize them as an "Enhanced Menu" location? Remember up at the top of this review where I inferred that "... I think Trail's End and Hoop-Dee-Doo all one giant building"? As it turns out — I'm pretty sure these two restaurant share one giant kitchen space.

If you look at the Hoop-Dee-Doo menu, they offer stuff like Crispy-fried Chicken, Smoked BBQ Pork Ribs, Green Beans sautéed in garlic, Yukon mashed potatoes, coleslaw, and cornbread. Then look at some of the Trail's End menu items ... "Fried Half Chicken Meal served with cornbread, coleslaw and Yukon mashed potatoes" or the "BBQ Ribs Half-Slab Meal served with cornbread, coleslaw and mashed potatoes with gravy" ... sound familiar?

Here's a look at the Trail's End Menu for "Breakfast" and the combined "Lunch and Dinner" periods. Photo was taken early summer 2025.

You'd be hard-pressed to convince me that the Crispy-fried Chicken, the BBQ Pork Ribs and all the sides — aren't the very same ones that they're serving at Hoop-Dee-Doo — and that's not a bad thing — not at all. If you order one of these unique entree items off the Trail's End menu — you're basically getting Disney Table Service quality food, at Counter Service prices. Sure — it's served "all you care to eat" style over at Hoop-Dee-Doo, but heck ... you could get one of each here at Trail's End and still be at a third of the "per adult" ticket price at Hoop-Dee-Doo.

We ordered the Trail's End Meatloaf — which is served with some of the same side items (green beans and mashed potatoes), and because it's unique. You don't actually see Meatloaf on too many Disney menus these days ... which means it's something special that this kitchen has to keep up with and order ingredients for – every day.

Trail's End Meatloaf

{{Served with Yukon Mashed Potatoes, Green Beans and Cornbread}}
{{{price at time of review : $14.49}}}
{{{{item score : 10/10}}}}

This was one heck of a good value ... probably the best value for what was on the plate that I've found all year at Disney. For starters, the plate was heavy and everything was piping hot.

This Meatloaf entrée is something you don't find – on many (if any) other counter service menus at Disney right now. That is generally an indication that it's going to be really good.

The meatloaf was not quite as dense as a ground beef patty (like a hamburger) and had just the right amount of fluff (usually provided by breadcrumbs) — and was also not dried out. It was a perfectly cooked, tender meatloaf. The sauce on top was more like a smoky ketchup than a bbq sauce — and that also seems like a really good decision to me. While a bbq sauce on meatloaf is nice, it has a tendency to cover up the flavor of the meatloaf, while the ketchup compliments the flavor.

This Meatloaf at Trail's End had just the right weight and texture – not too fluffy and just dense enough to give you a really solid bite. The smoky sauce on top is a little more ketchup-like than a bbq sauce – but to me, that strikes just the right balance between the two. If it were a darker bbq sauce, you wouldn't be able to taste the "meat".

Those green beans were also pretty amazing — because they were sautéed with the correct amount of garlic. Many times recently – I've tasted food items at Disney where you can tell they're using good, quality base ingredients — but they're just under flavored – with too little sauce, or spices, etc. to really make them something special. These green beans were something special — I'm not even really a fan of green beans — but I'd give these a 10 out of 10 for being perfectly cooked and layered with flavor.

The Yukon mashed potatoes also had a great flavor (Disney still does a really great job with most mashed potato items — sooooo much better than the current "mac and cheese"). I think they probably use the word "Yukon" not only to describe that they're using gold pototates in the recipe — but also that the potatoes are smashed with the peels on — "cowboy" style. These aren't supposed to be silky smooth potatoes — but a little chunky.

The Yukon mashed potatoes were smashed "peels on" and were both dense and creamy, served hot, and had a nice vanilla-esque hint along with some additional light brown savory gravy served on top. The green beans were sautéd with garlic, and had a crisp texture.

The mashed potatoes did have a great texture and flavor on their own, but they were also served with a light brown gravy on top — which didn't really seem to have "much" of a flavor profile on it's own (probably chicken stock based), but added more moisture and a little salinity to the potatoes.

The cornbread – was typical Disney cornbread ... not the worst, but it's also not the highlight of any plate. But in this case, I think the cornbread is fine — there's so many other bold flavors and textures on the plate, that it was nice to use the cornbread as a "palate cleanser" between bites.

The Seating and Environment at Trail's End

The main seating area at Trail's End is raised about a half-floor above the Crockett's Tavern Lounge seating — both locations are under the same roof — which from the inside, is very "log cabin-esque".

This photo shows most of the Trail's End seating area. There's a few more tables to the right of this photo. The dining area is more or less "L" shaped.

The dining area is in the shape of an "L" with most of the tables being located closer to the order/payment registers. If it's not too crowded, this is a good place to sit because you're also close to the self-serve beverage station.

Here's a look at the main dining area inside Trail's End. There's a mix of padded and non-padded chairs in this area.

At the end of the "L" there's a little more room around the tables and chairs and there's also a horseshoe display and various bridles and harnesses decorating the walls.

This side of the Trail's End Restaurant features horse themed accessories – a horseshoe display and various bridles and harnesses decorate the walls.

To me — it feels like you're inside a giant cabin at a campground — so ... "immersive environment" accomplished. It's not really trying to be more than what it is — and I appreciate that. There's no cartoony references to Woody, Bo Peep, or other Disney characters around anywhere. Those characters are great fun, and there's a time and place for them — but it's really nice just getting to sit in a low-key environment — and get a feel for what "vintage Disney" was like three or four decades ago.

There is no "booth" style seating in the Trail's End dining area. All the tables are all the same — coated with some kind of a sparkly epoxy. It's not really "authentic" looking for a cabin — but as a person that really like sanitized tables, these are much easier to keep clean than something like wood. (And the tables were all very clean.)

They do use little "table pagers" here at Trail's End. So once you place an order for dine-in food, they'll give you a little coaster looking object with a number on it. You're free to sit anywhere in the dining area, and when your food is ready, a cast member will bring the food to your table – and take the little "table pager".

The table pager system is used at many of the Disney resort counter service locations. If you ordered any fountain beverages (like coffee, tea, or soda) they'll give you the cups when you place your order. Only the food is delivered to your table.

There's actually two kinds of chairs here — some have open "rack" style backs with zero padding (i.e. you're sitting right on wood) while others have padded backs with padded seats. They are both moderately heavy (the padded versions are heavier than the open back versions). Honestly — I'd say children and the elderly may need help moving those chairs around. They don't exactly slide on the wooden floor easily.

I'm standing at the end of the "L" shaped dining area at Trail's End. The counter service seating area is one-half floor above Crokett's Tavern, which can be seen in the back of this photo and to the left.

From a "what's the crowd level like" standpoint — I've always found the pace at the Fort Wilderness Lodge Campground to be very relaxing. If the parks are open — there's very few people at the campground and a couple of hours spent just walking around and enjoying "old Florida" weather and fauna can be quite nice. If the Magic Kingdom (in particular) closes early, or if Hoop-Dee-Doo has just let out — it can be more crowded and a little hectic. So like most things Disney — timing is half the battle.

The Service at Trail's End

This is sometimes difficult to score (in a useful way) at counter service locations, because the dining concept doesn't really present an opportunity to interact with too many cast members. As a point of reference – we were here ordering food around 4:15pm – so the nearby Hoop-Dee-Doo Musical Revue was letting guests in for their first show.

The cast members that were taking food orders and (presumably) the cast that was cleaning up the dining area – generally seemed bored, but were nice to talk to. There were only a couple of guests in Trail's End at the time. The cast member that rang up our order – added too many items to the tally – which then required a "management level action" to back out of the tab ... but again, that all seemed to happen because everyone was just kind of – sleepy looking and standing around. The management team also seemed nice enough.

Oh my goodness – this is why I don't "Mobile Order". Disney's cast members are the best – but these poor folks look bored. I think I'll go order one thing at a time – just to give everyone something to do.

It did take a good while for the food to be delivered to the table from the kitchen ... probably 15 minutes from the time it was ordered. That might seem like a long time for other counter service locations – but I'm okay with that timeframe here.

Hoop-Dee-Doo and Trail's End (probably) share kitchen space and kitchen staff – they were busy getting food out to Hoop-Dee-Doo guests when we were dining here at Trail's End. Those guests ... paid 4x's as much for their dinner – and if you're ordering one of the ribs, chicken, or meatloaf meal here at Trail's End — your basically getting the same, hot, fresh, table-service quality food. So I'm okay with the time trade-off.

The cast member that brought the food seemed the most engaged and was able to answer questions quickly and accurately — which again, is understandable, because this person is probably putting in a good solid shift where they're active and taking care of things. It's the difference between being "in the zone" and just "zoning out" — which is how I would describe most everyone else at Trail's End.

Value and Conclusion

That brings us back to the caveat – where it really depends of what you order here at Trail's End

If I were to order just a slice of pizza and a burger, the value and food quality scores would be low ... but not lower than any other "Counter Service - Common Menu" location.

The Common Menu food at Disney scores just slightly higher than "Grab and Go" food in my experience (which is at the very bottom of my personal list) ... where Enhanced Menu food can (in some case) rival table-service quality — for only a dollar or two more. So why not get something really great to eat?

Click Here to see where "Counter Service - Common Menu" locations rank on my list of "Dining Formats at Disney World".

If I were to order any of the "Enhanced Menu" items here at Trail's End – the ribs, fried chicken, meatloaf, etc. – my value and food quality scores would be high. Very high — in fact, I'd say something like the Meatloaf entree with two sides and cornbread for $14.50 is one of the best deals on Disney property right now.

Since I think the "Enhanced Menu" food quality and value is so good here at Trail's End – my score is based on the later. It's easy enough for me to say "just don't get the pizza or burger" — in fact, that's pretty good advise no matter where you decide to eat at Disney.

As we get a little closer to the building, the Trail's End sign comes into view. Technically, the door on the extreme left of this photo is the "front" door for Trail's End. There is an access ramp on the far right that also leads up to the main entrance.

There's no doubt in my mind that side items and meats are the very same items that everyone over at Hoop-Dee-Doo are eating — and visiting Trail's End while Hoop-Dee-Doo is taking place — is a sure-fire way of getting hot, fresh food — with seemingly very few people around.

Disney doesn't make it easy for guests to get from one resort, to another resort — and that's ultimately the question when thinking about dining here. If I'm staying at Pop Century, is it worth the trip to Trail's End to get the Meatloaf? You're probably going to have to hop on a bus and travel to a theme park or Disney Springs, and transfer to a Trail's End bus. If you're staying at one of the Seven Seas Lagoon resorts — it's a little easier — you can hop on a boat or two, to get over to Trail's End.

Even with all of that — if you're going to get the fried chicken, ribs, or meatloaf — and you're already bored with the menu at your "home" resort's counter service location — I'd say, heck yes. The Enhanced Menu items here at Trail's End are really good, and are a really good value. If you've got a couple hours in the late afternoon or early evening — and want to take a leisurely journey through an old Florida style campground (that's not going to be as crowded as the parks), it's totally worth the trip.