Three and a half months is a long time for a signature restaurant to sit dark.Yachtsman Steakhouse closed on May 10 for refurbishment, and for most of the summer, guests staying around Crescent Lake lost one of the better dinner options in that pocket of Walt Disney World. That area is dense with dining, between the BoardWalk, the Beach Club Resort, and the walk over to EPCOT’s International Gateway, but Yachtsman occupies a specific slot that nothing else nearby quite fills. It is the steakhouse. It has been the steakhouse for a long time.The restaurant is known for aging its beef in-house and cutting steaks by hand in a dry-aging room that guests can actually see, which is not a common feature at a Disney resort restaurant. It is also a Signature Dining location with a dress code, meaning it functions as the anniversary dinner, the celebration meal, or the one nice night people build into an otherwise casual trip.So its absence was felt, and its return matters.Yachtsman Steakhouse reopened on Friday, August 28. And it came back with two new items on the menu.Credit: DisneyThe Two New Menu Items at Yatchsman SteakhouseBoth additions sit at opposite ends of the menu, which is a smart pairing.10-oz American Wagyu New York Strip Steak with a loaded baked potato and brandy-peppercorn sauce, $83 per serving.Black Garlic Fettuccine with house-made fettuccine, seared baby squash, heirloom cherry tomatoes, mushroom conserva, and creamy black garlic sauce, $38 per serving.The Wagyu strip is the headline. Yachtsman already offers a 12-oz Prime New York Strip with peppercorn-brandy sauce, so this adds an American Wagyu option in a smaller cut at a higher price point. That is a deliberate move toward the top of the menu, and $83 puts it firmly in special occasion territory.Interesting detail: the new Wagyu strip uses a brandy-peppercorn sauce, essentially the same preparation as the existing Prime strip. Rather than building an entirely new dish around the Wagyu, Yachtsman is letting the beef itself be the difference. For a steakhouse that markets its in-house aging and butchery, that is a reasonable flex.The Black Garlic Fettuccine is the quieter but arguably more useful addition. At $38, it is one of the more approachable entrées on a menu where most of the attention goes to beef, and it gives non-steak diners a legitimate reason to be at the table rather than an afterthought.House-made pasta with mushroom conserva and a creamy black garlic sauce is also a more contemporary dish than Yachtsman typically serves. Black garlic has been showing up on menus across Walt Disney World signature restaurants recently, and this is a straightforward, well-composed use of it.Credit: DisneyWhat Changed PhysicallyThe refurbishment appears to have been more about refresh than reinvention.Guests visiting the exterior after reopening noted that the accessible ramp has been carpeted, which is a small but genuinely meaningful change for guests using wheelchairs or scooters, and for anyone navigating a ramp in Florida rain.The furniture has returned as well, including the blue benches and burgundy chairs that regulars will recognize.The dining room’s core identity does not appear to have changed. Yachtsman remains a New England-style steakhouse built around knotty-pine beams and nautical detailing, with the open kitchen and dry-aging room still central to the experience.What to Know Before Booking Yatchsman SteakhouseA few practical details worth having.Yachtsman Steakhouse is located at Disney’s Yacht Club Resort in the EPCOT Resort Area.It serves dinner only, from 5 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.Disney categorizes it as Signature Dining and lists it in the $35 to $59.99 per adult range for dinner entrées, which is worth noting against the $83 Wagyu strip. That price sits well above the listed average.Because it is Signature Dining, there is a dress code. Clothing should be clean, neat, and in good condition, and swimwear is not permitted. This is not a place to walk into straight from Stormalong Bay.Advance reservations are highly recommended. Same-day reservations are available on a limited basis and are subject to availability; a reopening weekend is not the time to count on walking up.Standard cancellation and modification policies apply, with a per-person fee charged to the card on file for no-shows or late cancellations.And if you are using the Disney Dining Plan, dinner here redeems two Table-Service meals per person. That is a real consideration when budgeting credits across a trip.Credit: DisneyWhy This Yatchsman Steakhouse Reopening Is Worth NoticingThe broader context here is that Walt Disney World has been quietly working through a stretch of restaurant and resort refreshes.Yachtsman is one of several projects moving around Crescent Lake, and it comes as the BoardWalk finally fills long-vacant venues after years of empty space.Getting a signature steakhouse back online, with two new menu items rather than a straight reopening, suggests the refurbishment was treated as an opportunity rather than just deferred maintenance.For guests staying at the Yacht Club, Beach Club, BoardWalk Inn, or anywhere within walking distance, the practical upshot is simple. The steakhouse is back, there is something new on the menu at both the high end and the middle, and reservations are going to be tight for the next few weeks.The post Yachtsman Steakhouse Finally Reopens at Disney World With Something New appeared first on Inside the Magic.