Published April 2026. A newly filed City of Anaheim building permit answers the question guests have been asking all week: what is that mystery structure going up near the Matterhorn? The answer is a significant expansion of Edelweiss Snacks in Fantasyland, and the details reveal more than a simple facelift.
If you have walked past the Matterhorn Bobsleds in the last week, you have likely noticed a new metal structure rising behind construction walls near the Fantasia Gardens lagoon. Fans have been speculating about it since photos started circulating on social media. Enchanted Insider has reviewed the answer in a newly filed building permit with the City of Anaheim: Disneyland is moving forward with a major remodel and expansion of Edelweiss Snacks, one of Fantasyland’s most beloved and most congested quick-service locations.
What the Anaheim Building Permit Reveals
The permit is classified as a Tenant Improvement project. The official description reads as follows:
DLR – Fantasyland – Edelweiss Snacks – Tenant Improvement: Create new walk-up window for existing restaurant and install 168 sq. ft. shade canopy, 518 sq. ft. prefabricated structure for outdoor dining and new equipment enclosure. With electrical.
Four distinct elements are confirmed by the permit. A new walk-up window for the existing restaurant. A 168 square foot shade canopy. A 518 square foot prefabricated structure for outdoor dining. And a new equipment enclosure with electrical upgrades. Each of those tells a meaningful story about what Disney is building here and why.
Breaking Down What Each Element Means
The New Walk-Up Window
This is the most significant guest-experience change confirmed by the permit. Edelweiss Snacks has long suffered from a fundamental throughput problem: a high-demand menu anchored by the turkey leg and bratwurst, served through a tight ordering setup that pushes lines directly into the Matterhorn walkway. A dedicated walk-up window changes that equation entirely. It creates a separate ordering channel that can handle high-volume items independently from the main service line, which is exactly the kind of infrastructure change that makes mobile ordering function properly rather than creating a second bottleneck at pickup.
The electrical upgrades included in the permit are likely tied to the ordering and payment infrastructure needed to support a proper walk-up window with digital menu boards and integrated mobile order fulfillment.
The 518 Square Foot Outdoor Dining Structure
This is the “ghost structure” that has been visible from the Matterhorn walkway this week. The metal framing guests have been photographing is the skeleton of a 518 square foot prefabricated outdoor dining structure going in at the Fantasia Gardens seating area near the lagoon. For context, 518 square feet is a meaningful footprint for an outdoor dining space, roughly equivalent to a comfortable one-bedroom apartment. This is not a minor addition of a few tables. It is a permanent, structured dining area designed to handle real capacity.
The Fantasia Gardens seating area sits on the former dock of the Motor Boat Cruise, a Disneyland attraction that ran from 1957 to 1993. That space has served informally as overflow seating for Edelweiss Snacks for years, but without permanent structure or weather protection. The new prefabricated structure is a genuine upgrade to a space that has been underutilized relative to its potential.
The 168 Square Foot Shade Canopy
Anyone who has eaten a turkey leg in direct Anaheim summer sun while trying to find somewhere to stand near the Matterhorn walkway understands why this permit detail matters. The shade canopy covers the ordering area, which is the most critical point in the guest experience. Making guests comfortable while they wait to order and while they wait for pickup reduces the friction that causes people to abandon the line on hot days. It also signals that Disney is thinking about this space as a destination rather than just a pass-through snack window.
The Equipment Enclosure
The new equipment enclosure suggests Disney is planning for a more operationally robust setup than what currently exists. Equipment enclosures at quick-service outdoor locations typically house refrigeration, cooking equipment, or back-of-house infrastructure that supports a more diverse or higher-volume menu. Combined with the electrical upgrades, this component leaves room for the possibility that the menu at Edelweiss Snacks gets more complex once the walls come down, not just faster to access.
Why This Expansion Is Happening Now
Edelweiss Snacks has been in an unusual construction cycle for the better part of a year. Scaffolding and scrim first appeared on the front of the building last summer, with little noticeable result. In February 2026, Disneyland announced a full refurbishment closure, and the location reopened on March 5 with cosmetic changes but an unchanged menu and no visible structural updates. The walls went up again shortly after.
What the permit now makes clear is that the earlier refurbishments were preparatory work for a larger project. The cosmetic work came first. The structural expansion, including the outdoor dining building, the canopy, and the walk-up window, is the next phase. Disney has been staging this project incrementally rather than taking the location fully offline for an extended period, which is consistent with how the park handles improvements to high-demand food locations during the operating season.
The timing also makes strategic sense. Disneyland is heading into its peak 70th Anniversary summer with Paint the Night returning, Hyperspace Mountain running through late spring, and the Galaxy’s Edge timeline expansion launching in late April. Foot traffic in Fantasyland has been elevated since Bluey’s Best Day Ever opened in March and will remain high through summer. Getting Edelweiss Snacks expanded and operationally upgraded before peak season means the location can handle the demand surge rather than becoming a pinch point when the park is at capacity.
What This Means for Your Disneyland Visit
Construction on the outdoor dining structure and canopy is actively underway, which means the Fantasia Gardens seating area near Edelweiss Snacks is partially or fully closed while work continues. If you are visiting in the coming weeks, expect the construction walls to still be up around the lagoon area behind the Matterhorn. The Edelweiss Snacks window itself has been operating through most of the construction period, so turkey legs and bratwurst remain available even while the expansion is being built around the location.
Once the project wraps, the guest experience in this corner of Fantasyland should be meaningfully improved. A dedicated walk-up window means faster ordering. A permanent shaded outdoor dining structure means an actual place to sit while eating. And the proximity to the Matterhorn lagoon and Monorail track makes this one of the better ambient dining spots in the park once it is fully built out.
Enchanted Insider will continue tracking progress on the Edelweiss Snacks expansion and will report when the walls come down and the full scope of the project is visible.
Edelweiss Snacks: What You Need to Know
Location: Fantasyland, near the Matterhorn Bobsleds
Current status: Open during construction with limited seating access nearby
What is being built: New walk-up window, 518 sq. ft. outdoor dining structure, 168 sq. ft. shade canopy, equipment enclosure with electrical upgrades
Permit classification: Tenant Improvement, City of Anaheim
Menu highlights: Turkey Leg, Bratwurst, corn on the cob, and seasonal rotating items
Expected completion: Later in summer 2026 based on current construction pace
Staying up to date on all Disneyland construction and park changes for 2026? The Enchanted Insider Disneyland Itinerary Guide is updated regularly with current park conditions and day-by-day planning for both parks. For hotel and ticket packages, check Get Away Today before you book.
FAQ
A newly filed City of Anaheim building permit confirms Disneyland is expanding Edelweiss Snacks in Fantasyland with a new walk-up window, a 518 square foot prefabricated outdoor dining structure, a 168 square foot shade canopy, and a new equipment enclosure with electrical upgrades. The metal structure visible near the Matterhorn lagoon is the new outdoor dining building currently under construction.
Yes. Edelweiss Snacks has remained open through most of the ongoing construction work. The Fantasia Gardens seating area near the lagoon is partially or fully closed while the outdoor dining structure is being built, but the ordering window has continued to operate. Current status can be confirmed in the Disneyland app before your visit.
Edelweiss Snacks is best known for its Turkey Leg, one of the most iconic snacks in Disneyland Park, along with bratwurst and corn on the cob. The location sits near the Matterhorn Bobsleds in Fantasyland. Once the expansion is complete, the menu may expand alongside the new equipment enclosure and electrical upgrades confirmed in the permit.
Edelweiss Snacks has gone through multiple construction phases over the past year. Scaffolding appeared last summer for cosmetic work, followed by a full refurbishment closure in February 2026 that yielded minimal visible changes. The current project, revealed by a City of Anaheim building permit, is the structural expansion phase that includes the new outdoor dining building, shade canopy, and walk-up window. The earlier closures appear to have been preparatory work ahead of this larger project.
The Edelweiss Snacks seating area, known as Fantasia Gardens, is located adjacent to the lagoon near the Matterhorn Bobsleds in Fantasyland. The area occupies the former dock of the Motor Boat Cruise, a Disneyland attraction that operated from 1957 to 1993. The new 518 square foot prefabricated outdoor dining structure is being built in this same space.