The Hollywood Brown Derby Lounge is back open under a red awning after a summer of construction
The outdoor Hollywood Brown Derby Lounge at Disney's Hollywood Studios has reopened with a permanent overhang, a red awning that matches the restaurant's entrance canopy, ceiling fans and lantern fixtures. Construction began June 29, and the patio is now set with round tables, white tablecloths and red leather chairs. The main dining room stayed open throughout.
The outdoor patio of The Hollywood Brown Derby Lounge at Disney's Hollywood Studios is open again, and it is a different space from the one that closed at the end of June. A permanent overhang with a red awning now covers the whole seating area, with ceiling fans and lantern fixtures underneath, and the planters and construction barriers that walled it off all summer are gone.
Key Details
- What reopened: the outdoor patio of The Hollywood Brown Derby Lounge, Hollywood Boulevard, Disney's Hollywood Studios
- Construction: began June 29, 2026; the patio reopened in early September
- What is new: a full overhang with a red awning, ceiling fans and wrought-iron-style lantern fixtures
- Seating: round tables with white tablecloths, red leather chairs with wrought iron frames in the center, black metal chairs along the edge, plus one uncovered table
- Unaffected: The Hollywood Brown Derby's main dining room stayed open throughout
A patio that no longer depends on the weather
The overhang is the point of the project. Before, the lounge's tables sat on an exposed patio, which in a Central Florida summer meant the space emptied out every afternoon when the rain arrived. The new structure covers the entire dining area. Its red awning matches the canopy over the restaurant's front entrance, and lantern fixtures with wrought-iron-style scrollwork, echoing fixtures elsewhere on the building, hang along its underside. Ceiling fans move the air, which the old setup never had.
The seating has been refreshed to match. Round tables dressed in white tablecloths fill the space. Red leather chairs with wrought iron frames sit toward the center, and black metal chairs line the outer edge along the walkway. One table remains uncovered, for guests who would rather take their chances with the sky.
Guests are back at the tables
The patio reopened with tables set and guests dining under the finished structure, right off the Hollywood Boulevard walkway. That position has always been the lounge's draw: it is the best people-watching seat on the boulevard, and with shade and fans it now works in the hottest part of the day, not only in the cooler months. The lounge menu is a shorter version of the restaurant's, with the Cobb salad and cocktails, and unlike the dining room it does not take reservations, so the patio is a walk-up.
The main dining room of The Hollywood Brown Derby, the park's replica of the 1929 Los Angeles original, never closed during the work. During construction the lounge's walk-up bar moved into the former Starring Rolls space next door, so drinks stayed available even while the patio was fenced off.
How the project unfolded
| Date | Milestone |
|---|---|
| June 29, 2026 | Construction begins on the outdoor lounge; the walk-up bar relocates to the former Starring Rolls space |
| July 17, 2026 | New support columns go in along the patio, with concrete footings that pointed to a covered structure |
| September 1, 2026 | The overhang is nearly complete, with awning, fans and lanterns installed, but the patio is still walled off |
| Early September 2026 | Barriers and planters removed; the patio reopens to guests |
The Buzz
The Brown Derby Lounge has long been the answer to "where can we sit down at Hollywood Studios without a reservation," and losing it for the summer was felt. A covered patio with fans changes what the space is good for: an afternoon escape from the heat instead of a spot that only worked before noon or after a storm passed.
Open now, no reservation needed
The Hollywood Brown Derby Lounge patio is open daily with the restaurant, and seating is first come, first served. Guests looking for a covered table on Hollywood Boulevard in the afternoon now have one, and the single uncovered table is still there for anyone who prefers the open air. Disney has not announced any further work on the building.
