Table service
Nine Dragons Restaurant
The short answer
The Chinese table-service restaurant in the China pavilion at EPCOT, and the World Showcase booking that is easiest to get. Thirteen entrées, $25 to $36 in September 2026, averaging $30.31 — the only World Showcase restaurant we have priced whose menu actually sits inside Disney's own price band.
- Where
- China pavilion, World Showcase at EPCOT. Left of the Temple of Heaven as you face it, set back from the promenade behind the courtyard.
- Cuisine
- Chinese, à la carte
- Reservation
- Walk up — no problem
- Booking opens
- 60 days ahead, 6:00am Eastern — and if you are staying at a Disney resort, day 60 books your whole stay, up to ten days. Off site, it is 60 days for each date separately, so the same table is gone before your window opens. Work out your date.
- Typical meal
- about $48 a head before tax · average entrée $30.31, dessert $13.00, drink $4.99 on Disney’s menu, read Sep 21, 2026
- Dress code
- Theme park casual
- Noise
- quiet
- Non-resort guests
- Yes — with theme park admission
- Dining plan
- Table-service plan, 2026 — not yet confirmed for 2027 · Disney’s own listing, Sep 22, 2026. Disney Food Blog notes that restaurants not owned by Disney often confirm late in the year. · what a credit buys here
$18.75cheapest$29.47median$47.50dearest
Mean main course from Disney’s own menu. Drinks, sides and tip are on top. Read Sep 21, 2026.
Is it worth the money?
Yes, and it is the most underrated table in World Showcase.
The reputation is poor and mostly out of date — the menu has been reworked toward regional cooking, and Disney now describes it as Cantonese, Mongolian, Szechuan, Hunan and Kiangche specialities rather than generic Chinese-American. It is still not a destination restaurant. It is a reliable one at fair prices in a quiet, handsome room, which at EPCOT is not a low bar.
Two practical advantages over its neighbours. It is the easiest World Showcase table to walk into, often available same-day when the rest of the loop is full sixty days out. And at $25 to $36 for a shareable main, it is the cheapest proper sit-down meal in World Showcase.
The room is quiet, which is the real draw. Set back from the promenade behind the courtyard, it is one of the few places in EPCOT where two people can hear each other at seven in the evening.
Lunch runs 12:00 PM to 2:55 PM and dinner 3:00 PM to 9:00 PM — an earlier dinner start than most of World Showcase.
Who it’s right for
Anyone who did not book sixty days out and still wants a sit-down dinner in World Showcase. Groups of four or more, since the entrées are built to share. Vegetarians, who get two full entrées at the cheapest prices on the menu. Anyone wanting a quiet room and a conversation.
Who it’s wrong for
Anyone chasing the best meal in EPCOT, which is not what this is. Anyone wanting a view or a lively room — it is set back from the promenade by design. And anyone expecting each entrée to arrive with rice, which is charged and ordered separately.
What is actually good
Read from Disney's own dinner menu on 10 September 2026.
Thirteen entrées, $25 to $36, averaging $30.31 — the longest main-course list of any World Showcase restaurant we have priced.
Two vegetarian mains are the cheapest at $25 — Vegetable Stir Fry and Spicy Honey Cauliflower. Both chicken dishes sit at $26. Canton Pepper Beef Stir Fry is $28 and Kung Pao Duo $29. Sweet and Sour Cod and Spicy Ma La Happy Family are $32 each. Glazed Prawns with Pistachios and Kowloon Spare Ribs are $33. Dry-Braised Prawns are $34 and Smoked Duck Fried Rice $35. Sichuan Shui Zhu Beef tops the list at $36.
Nine appetisers run $11 to $16. Sichuan Cucumbers are cheapest at $11. Four sit at $12 — shrimp dumplings, chicken pot stickers, vegetable spring rolls and wonton soup. Cheesy crab wontons are $13, chilli-oil wontons and General Tso's shumai $14, and smoked duck bao buns $16.
Desserts $12 to $14. A separate children's menu runs $12 to $15, with dessert at $6.95.
Disney bands this restaurant $$ — "$15 to $34.99 per adult" — and here the band is a fair description. Only two of the thirteen entrées cost more than that ceiling. That is worth stating plainly because it is the exception: the other World Showcase restaurants we have priced sit a tier above their badge.
Portions
Large, in the Chinese-American tradition, and the entrées are built to share. A table of four ordering three entrées and two appetisers will eat well, which is what makes the per-person figure here lower than the menu prices suggest. Rice is not automatically included with every dish, so check before assuming.
Allergies and dietary needs
The best vegetarian showing in World Showcase by count. Vegetable Stir Fry and Spicy Honey Cauliflower at $25 are both proper entrées and both are the cheapest on the menu, and the Vegetable Spring Rolls at $12 give a starter too. Soy and wheat are unavoidable across most of the menu, and shared woks make strict cross-contact avoidance difficult, so serious allergies need the chef conversation before ordering.
Common questions
- How much is Nine Dragons at EPCOT?
- Thirteen entrées ran $25 to $36 on Disney's own dinner menu in September 2026, averaging $30.31, with nine appetisers at $11 to $16 and desserts $12 to $14. Because the entrées are built to share, a table of four eats for less per head than those prices suggest.
- Can you walk into Nine Dragons without a reservation?
- More often than anywhere else in World Showcase. It is consistently the easiest of the pavilion table-service restaurants to get, including same-day, which makes it the fallback when the rest of the loop is booked out.
- Is Nine Dragons good for vegetarians?
- Better than most of World Showcase. Two full entrées are vegetarian — Vegetable Stir Fry and Spicy Honey Cauliflower, both $25 and both the cheapest mains on the menu — plus vegetable spring rolls at $12 among the appetisers.
- Is Disney's price range accurate for Nine Dragons?
- Here, yes, which makes it the exception. Only two of the thirteen entrées exceed the $34.99 ceiling of its $$ band. At Chefs de France, Teppan Edo and Tutto Italia the same badge sits a tier below the actual menu.
Sources
- Walt Disney World official — Nine Dragons Restaurant dinner menu, read in a browser on 10 September 2026. Thirteen entrées $25–$36 averaging $30.31; nine appetisers $11–$16; desserts $12–$14; children's menu $12–$15. — Disney official · checked
- Walt Disney World official — Nine Dragons Restaurant page. "Asian, Chinese, Casual Dining, a la Carte" in World Showcase at EPCOT; lunch 12:00 PM to 2:55 PM, dinner 3:00 PM to 9:00 PM; described as Cantonese, Mongolian, Szechuan, Hunan and Kiangche-style; price band "$$ ($15 to $34.99 per adult)", which only two of the thirteen entrées cost more than $34.99. — Disney official · checked