Anyone ever had a really bad experience at Whispering Canyon?

[3DisneyNUTS]

We have been 3 times. Our first time was Thanksgiving 2004 and that was FANTASTIC!!!!!!!! DH, Me DS4... Great server great fun. Then we went back with SIL and her family on a different trip. Food was great and the waiter was awesome. Her kids are a little shy so it was awkward when he tried to interact with my neice 6 and nephew 4. My son 4 a complete mimicker would get excited but seeing his cousins not into it made him hold back too.

We went back again this past Sept kids a year older, with SIL her family, my in laws and our family and the food was overcooked (dry) and the service wasn't that great. No real interaction from the server.

But we would definitely go back maybe try breakfast next time. We are heading down in May and will probably go. I would definitely try it once. Don't let the neg reviews discourage you when it is 'on' it is awesome!!!!

 

[jann1033]

we had an outrageously fun time for breakfst ( liked skillet) and a good time for dinner( husband thought skillet was "ok", i loved my pork chops) however like every other wdw place i 'm sure many hate it

and from my Boma experince( disappointed for sure in the place for breakfast after hearing months of rave rave rave) you need to take all reviews with a grain of salt. what is exotic or fun to one is blah or stupid to another. from now on i figure, see what they say then go anyway and find out for myself

 

[Vijoge]

We ate at WCC for lunch in Feb. The skillet was good-ribs were tender but a bit overdone, corn was sweet, baked beans were ok- but as I have posted before there was no antics/interaction. The place was dead. Service was prompt and courteous but there was nothing fun about it. I was really disappointed because that's one of the reasons we went there. In the entertainment department it was really a dud and the food wasn't good enough (albeit better than Hoop Dee Doo) to make us go back.

 

[toyman70]

Oh my god YES
First I asked the waitress for a drink refill and she seemed annoyed.
So I asked if there was a problem and she said what is it of your business ,then
she spit in my drink and punched my daughter in the face and kicked me in the nuts then smashed the skillet over my wifes head.To top it all off a week later
she showed up at my house and ran my doggy over with her rent-a-car.
Glad I only left a 10% tip. But the food was good

 

[KNEIPPK]

Oh my god YES
First I asked the waitress for a drink refill and she seemed annoyed.
So I asked if there was a problem and she said what is it of your business ,then
she spit in my drink and punched my daughter in the face and kicked me in the nuts then smashed the skillet over my wifes head.To top it all off a week later
she showed up at my house and ran my doggy over with her rent-a-car.
Glad I only left a 10% tip. But the food was good

 

[bigbabyblues]

We're not exactly an interactive-dining-type family and have always steered clear of PMC, WCC, etc. However, the reviews of WCC have always been so great here that I went ahead and booked a dinner ADR for May. It's been posted that if you'd rather observe than participate much, you can let your server know and it's okay. I hope this holds true! I just hope DH and DS10 (shy) esp. don't eat their whole meal with knots in their stomachs, worrying that they're going to be forced to perform in some way!

Karla B.

Don't let this keep you away from 50's PTC! We aren't the 'performing' type either, but we love PTC! I guess the servers we've had could just tell, they didn't play much with us. Last year, we had a good server, Brenda I think, can't swear to it. She was really playful with other tables, and a little bit in the way she talked to us, but she didn't even mention that I'd only eaten 2/3 of my chicken and green beans when she brought my s'more.

Steph

 

[Wendy1953]

Let me start off with it was only one time, and we've been there many....but, in 2001 we were staying Concierge Level for our 25th anniversary....our anniversary actually is in June...but didn't want to "enjoy" the heat and crowds, so we chose to postpone the celebration til October...then 9/11 came...petrified to fly, but did so anyway.....we had dinner ressies, got there on time, waited to be seated......seated and waited for a CM to come to the table.....once they did....waited for the beverages we ordered.....waited, waited, and waited some more....finally got our cokes.....then we waited, waited, waited, waited and waited some more.....couldn't understand why it was taking so long for our appetizers to arrive...well....they never did...they actually tried to serve us dinner, but DH and I were so frustrated by the service....we paid for the cokes - ..no appetizers, no meal ..so no tip. I think we just went on an off night for them.....haven't really been back since though...but did have wonderful times there, good food, and good fun before that trip.......I guess we'll have to try it again for dinner and see...we've never had a problem with breakfast however! always fun, good food, and good service! Got any ketchup?!!!!!

 

[Mike N Kathy]

We love whispering canyon ! Lots of fun and great Food!

 

[KJHawley]

I guess the servers we've had could just tell, they didn't play much with us.
Steph

I think this is true for WCC, and for every CM / guest experience at WDW- for the good CMs, at least. This goes for characters, street performers, waiters, you name it. It doesn't take them long to tell who wants to play along, and who doesn't.

 

[Cruz Family]

We tried for the first time last summer, and really didn't care for it. The service was pretty bad- DH and I ordered drinlks that never came, and we saw our waitress once when she took our order, and then a second time after we had to ask another server to find her so we could get our check. I know you're not supposed to expect any of the antics to happen, but all the surrounding tables had a lot of interaction with their servers, and we got zip. The food was only so-so. we won't be eating here again.

I agree, only I thought the food was much worse then so-so. Three of us had that skillet dinner, there was not much to begin with then god forbid you ask for more ribs and sausage. The waiter seemed very unhappy then just brought us two ribs. NEVER AGAIN, NOT IF IT WERE FREE!!!!

 

[bicker]

We had the completely opposite experience. The server was more than happy to get us anything we wanted more of in our skillet.

 

[JMCDisneyBound]

Our first time was Thanksgiving 2004 and that was FANTASTIC!!!!!!!! !!!

We are arriving Thanksgiving Day this year and are trying to find the perfect place for Dinner that evening. Sounds like you would suggest Wispering Canynon? We have never been and it is on our list of places to go this trip!
Thanks!!

 

[phyllis1966]

We've been there twice for dinner, on two different trips. We had different servers each time, and had a great time both times, even though DD is very shy in situations like this. Had the skillet both times, and the servers were very attentive and fun, and happily brought us seconds of whatever we requested. BJ even went out of his way to find some chocolate ice cream for DD when it wasn't on the dessert menu! By the way, BJ is pictured in the photo in zurgswife's sig. WCC is a must for us!

 

[RedRuby]

We're making our first ADR of the trip at WCC. Anyone ever had a bad experience there? How was the food?

Thanks!

Not sure if it's classify our visit as "bad" but it wasn't great. I had heard so much about it here, specifically that it was a fun meal not to be missed. The adults in the group found the restaurant too noisy and (most) didn't appreciate the humour of the server throwing straws, banging the serving tray down, yelling to other tables, etc. The kids **loved** it -- from the Lincoln Logs out front (we had a long wait despite making ARs), to the ketchup trick to the pony rides, and the general hustle-and-bustle of the restaurant.

So, kids were happy and that's what counts! But, we all felt the food fell a little short. (I tried to convicne my DH that this would be an excellent place to split a dining credit, but he insisted on getting our own. Part way through the meal, he agreed that we should have split! Just wasn't worth 2 credits to us.)

So, I'd say consider what your preferences are, and whether a rowdy fun atmosphere is more important to you than great food. If so, this coudl be a good match. (It just wasn't for us....YMMV). I'd do it again for milkshakes for instance, so the kids could get a taste of the atmosphere without 'blowing' a whole meal there.

 

[LBAK]

We've been there 3 times and are heading back again! We love it. We're basically a quiet family but we end up in the thick of things there and have a great time. I learned about the ketchup thing here and I knew what was coming but I didn't tell DH or DD about it. Their faces were priceless! DH drank his lemonade so fast they came back with a refill in this HUGE jar and 5 straws stuck together. Too funny! The food was good and the service fine for us. Go and have a blast.

 

[sleepydog25]

We're making our first ADR of the trip at WCC. Anyone ever had a bad experience there? How was the food?

We've been twice and had mediocre food, service, and fun both times. I wouldn't call the experiences awful, but certainly nowhere near what they advertise. We've tried both a la carte and skillet meals, and though neither was beyond cafeteria-style fare, the skillet meal was slightly better. Our server the first time was reticent and a bit withdrawn, but service was decent. The second time, our server was nicer (though still didn't feel up to any antics though we tried to joke with her and even told her it was my wife's birthday!), but her service was subpar: long waits for refills, food, and especially the check. We usually stay at VWL while at WDW, but WCC isn't in our immediate plans.

That being said, bicker is correct. You really shouldn't read anything into mixed reviews. What is one man's ceiling is another man's floor. Trying WCC for yourself is the only way to find out if YOU will enjoy it.

 

[3DisneyNUTS]

We are arriving Thanksgiving Day this year and are trying to find the perfect place for Dinner that evening. Sounds like you would suggest Wispering Canynon? We have never been and it is on our list of places to go this trip!
Thanks!!

We loved it and it was all the traditional stuff from home cooked american Thankgiving. I would give it two huge thumbs up. It was very magical to be eating Thanksgiving Dinner at WDW plus they know the tips are huge that night so they make it fun. We left a huge tip. It stinks to have to work on Thanks giving even if it is at Disney.

 

[scdisneyguy]

The interaction and the antics were very funny, but the food(both the breakfast and dinner skillets) were basically what you would find at any cracker barrell type restaurant it wasn't really bad but just average in my opinion but I love the atmosphere we stayed at WLV last year and went twice we had a large group and found the antics a great way to get the day started off right at breakfast

 

[bicker]

Cracker Barrel is NOT average. Cracker Barrel is definitely a cut-above.

 

[mommaU4]

Cracker Barrel is NOT average. Cracker Barrel is definitely a cut-above.

Come on over to my house for breakfast. I can make you a breakfast that is way better than Cracker Barrel.

To answer the question we went to WCC on our last trip in Nov of last year. We went with great expectations as we had seen it on the Travel Channel and had heard wonderful things about it here.

I think we had the same waitress as some of the other posters though. She was very stiff and when she tried to have fun it came out forced. The worst part was when my DD asked for ketchup for her scrambled eggs and I jokingly thought "oh no, here it comes," all the waitress did was tell her, "if you want ketchup you have to yell for it." Then she walked away. Actually disappeared is a better word since we didn't see her again until time for the check.

My DD is very shy and was not about to stand up and yell for ketchup, so my DH got up and took some from another table.

When we were almost ready to leave my DH stayed behind while I took the kids out. He said there was a table near ours that had a mom, dad, and a little girl at the table. They had the same waitress and when they asked for ketchup he heard the waitress tell them the same thing. So the little girl stood up on a chair and tried to yell for it. But no one heard her. Poor dear, my DH said she looked so sad. Then the dad stood up and yelled but no one payed attention to him.

Finally the dad asked a bus boy for a bottle of it (low and behold the waitress was gone) and the bus boy got a waiter to get it for them.

We didn't complain but we should have. When we got home I mentioned this experience on the boards and some people said we shouldn't expect too much when you go because not every waiter is an entertainer. Fine. BUT every waiter is a waiter and they have an obligation to not ignore their customers.

If the waitress we had wasn't into the whole routine, that's fine, but do not walk away with a comment like that and then disappear. It's not my job to fetch my own condiments. Bring us a darn bottle of ketchup. I wonder how many complaints she has gotten over time.

Bottom line the food was okay but not worth the price (there were 6 of us and we paid almost $70) and the service we had was lousy.

Should you go though? YES! Surprised? Don't be. It's different for everyone and those who say they had a blast probably did. Here is some pixie dust that you get a great waiter because that will make or break your experience there.

If it's great then it was worth it. If it's not, then chalk it up to an experience. I don't regret going. If I hadn't gone I would still be wondering about it. Now that I went I know we don't like it and won't ever be back.