Cake Bake Shop at the BoardWalk is now open

[GADisneyDad14]

Thanks for the review @GADisneyDad14. You’re always open minded & your reviews are unbiased & balanced, so I definitely value your views. I think it’s 1 thing for a casual place like Applebees to use those devices on the table, but not what I expect t a fine dining restaurant. I’m hoping there’s a paper bill & receipt, not just the device? I usually use gift cards & like the paper trail to keep track of spending. Did the room you were seated at have only parties of 2, or was it varied?

Yeah, I totally agree on casual dining vs. fine dining with those devices, in my humble opinion! Or even lunch vs. dinner. He did ask if we wanted a paper receipt, so that should be readily available I would assume.

Don’t quote me on these exactly but in my immediate area the tables along the Boardwalk windows were a mix of four and six tops. There’s another row of windows that forms the wall from this outer room to the inner carousel room that had two-tops. It’s been mentioned on this thread but tables were relatively tight, although this personally doesn’t really bother me as that’s the style/trend in a lot of places.

BTW, hopefully fixed over time with experience to balance HVAC zones, but the ‘outer’ Boardwalk window facing room we were in was freezing! Bring a sweater!

 

[GADisneyDad14]

What time was your reservation? For example: before 6 PM or after 8 PM?

5:30pm. We checked in around 5:05-5:10’ish (acknowledging we were well early and didn’t expect to be seated right away), seated around 5:40pm’ish.

 

[emilymad]

When you have a time constraint you should share it with your server when they first stop at your table. We often ask to order or apps and mains at the same time and when they bring out the main entrees we ask for the bill.

Dave

Well, I am not sure if I have a time restraint. My reservation is at 3:15 and we need to be over at HS by 5:30. We have a car so this seems like plenty of time but with a new restaurant I am not sure. An hour and 45 minutes seems plenty I think.

 

[NYCgrrl]

Yeah, I totally agree on casual dining vs. fine dining with those devices, in my humble opinion! Or even lunch vs. dinner. He did ask if we wanted a paper receipt, so that should be readily available I would assume.

Times are a’changing.
You can now find the devices in question at fine dining establishments. They tend to be used for payment but not to choose your dishes or beverages. Paper menus still exist for that. They also tend to be less obtrusive looking - not like you are playing a game of Crush in the middle of your meal.

 

[J-Dog]

Dining reviews are so subjective and largely irrelevant from person to person so I hesitate to post, but had dinner at CBS last night so wanted to chime in with my two cents. While I have been following the fun commentary and banter on this thread, I really hadn’t read/paid much attention to blogs, etc as I wanted as clean an opinion as possible.

First off, I can fully appreciate off nights, bad nights, training, etc. One experience does not a restaurant make and I’ll give it a second chance, but of course first impressions are powerful.

Second, personally I think the prices are fine and generally consistent with vacation dining options or nicer restaurants in general. That part doesn’t bother me at all. But with price does come some level of expectation, for me at least.

Third, it was a busy Saturday night and the restaurant seemed full if not nearly full.

Fourth, I’m glad the reviews posted here seem to be more positive than mine, so that tells you it’s likely an anomaly, or me! You can take your pick.

Unfortunately we didn’t really love our experience, primarily due to the service. It was slow - 10 minutes for anyone to first come to the table, 60 minutes from ordering for entrees - some may like that kind of timing, but for us it was slow. Drinks, refills, and the general flow just seemed to take forever with a few “I think he forgot” moments throughout. Tables who were sat and ordered after us got their food before we did, making me wonder if there had not been some sort of technical error. I don’t totally mind if things drag, but at least an acknowledgment of some sort goes a long way.

Food wise, we got the Shrimp Remoulade app which was fine, but not a flavor or texture I appreciated. For entrees we had the gumbo and burger. All were fine (although the gumbo portion was a little small, in my opinion) but nothing we’d be clamoring to go back for.

A physical attribute of the restaurant I found interesting - we were seated in the “outer area” in a semi-circular room that faces the boardwalk. Tables in this room have glass tabletops whereas the rest of the restaurant looked like it had white tablecloth tables. This felt like a room I’d want to be in during the day for tea/lunch/brunch enjoying the views and good times with friends, not for a nice dinner. The room with the carousel and rest of the restaurant had more of a nicer dinner vibe, IMHO.

This is kind of picky. I know it’s the way of the world with many restaurants these days and is common in many parts of the world, but personally I don’t love the setup where servers enter your order on a device. Standing over our table for another 30-45 seconds after we order while you enter everything seems weird to me. Likely a training thing that improves over time one would think. And of course with this setup comes the hover while you pay/enter the tip (with the three obligatory % suggestions). I may be being too old school with this opinion, not sure.

Sadly, as we weren’t totally feeling the vibe and service, we didn’t order dessert. Probably missed the best part, I guess!

TLDR: Busy Saturday night dinner, service sub-par and perhaps a result of the newness of the operation, didn’t enjoy the setting of the “outer” room, food was fine. WDW has a lot better ‘elevated’ dinner options around property in my humble opinion, but I could see this being a solid brunch/lunch/tea/drink spot. I’ll give it a second chance.

Thanks for the review! Like you said, maybe this yours was an anomaly or maybe "growing pains", but to me, the food choices seem very mundane - which is fine if they the food is done well.

But if the food wasn't great and the service was poor, that would be a One-And-Done for me for the price.

 

[Lewisc]

But if the food wasn't great and the service was poor, that would be a One-And-Done for me for the price

Makes sense. Over priced mediocre food is easy to find at WDW.

 

[reluctantredhead]

I’ve seen quite a few posts regarding reservations at the restaurant but what about just picking up items from bakery side? Is there a “best time” to go or just a long line all day? I don’t see option to use mobile order.
Update: I just called the Cake Bake Shop and was able to make reservations for 12/6 and 12/11.

Given that you were able to get a reservation for 12/11, I just called back to see if I could get one, since I'll be at WDW at the same time as you. I was told that now they're only taking phone reservations for 7 days out because as of tomorrow, reservations will be available on MDE. I questioned this, saying that I called on Saturday and was told they were booking 25 days out, and she just repeated that as of tomorrow they'll be on MDE. Growing pains I guess...and I guess I'm getting up at the crack of dawn tomorrow to try to get a reservation!

 

[PrincessKL]

I watched a new video on YouTube about this restaurant and they enjoyed the food, but did not like the desserts at all. These people said they had run a bakery or a restaurant and they think the actual cake part is not freshly made. They liked the icing in the cake, but the cake tasted like fudge because it was too old. Also the buttercream in Marie Antoinette was still frozen. This just seems unacceptable to me for that price. Maybe they are still working on estimating how many cakes they need in stock each day and it will get better later.

By the way, the afternoon tea menu is on MDE app now.

 

[North of Mouse]

Times are a’changing.
You can now find the devices in question at fine dining establishments. They tend to be used for payment but not to choose your dishes or beverages. Paper menus still exist for that. They also tend to be less obtrusive looking - not like you are playing a game of Crush in the middle of your meal.

I, for one, love the devices on the tables. Never have to wait for your ticket when you are ready to leave. It's all on MY time!! And yes to the regular ordering from paper menus.

 

[Robber Baron]

I, for one, love the devices on the tables. Never have to wait for your ticket when you are ready to leave. It's all on MY time!! And yes to the regular ordering from paper menus.

I love them too. I never was a fan of people carrying my credit card back in the kitchen and not seeing where it went for 5 minutes.

I especially like when they give you a check with a QR code so I can just scan it and Apple Pay. It seems every time we use this the waitress comes by and says she got the payment.

I'd rather tap or scan rather than passing my card around.

 

[Minnie1222]

I assume this place accepts Magic Band payments like other Disney restaurants? I don't carry my credit card on Disney property.

 

[Minnie1222]

Did I miss the launch of Cake Bake on MDE? Nothing is available for all my days in late December.

Oh well! At least we can still go to the bakery.

 

[JoJoGirl]

For those who have eaten a meal here, how long was your visit? We have reservations before Jollywood Nights and I don't think I am cutting it close but this isn't typical Disney. We probably won't have cake since we will want to save room for treats later at night.

1 hour 50 minutes for entree and dessert, no app. I could have shortened that a little had I wanted to. I was neither rushed nor held up by the service, it went at the pace I chose.

 

[JoJoGirl]

This is kind of picky. I know it’s the way of the world with many restaurants these days and is common in many parts of the world, but personally I don’t love the setup where servers enter your order on a device. Standing over our table for another 30-45 seconds after we order while you enter everything seems weird to me. Likely a training thing that improves over time one would think. And of course with this setup comes the hover while you pay/enter the tip (with the three obligatory % suggestions). I may be being too old school with this opinion, not sure.

Hmm, they must be changing things up as they go. My experience last month was different - no device at the table. And my check was brought in a lovely leather folio with a gold pen, so nice I had to take a picture of it! Really made it feel like a signature restaurant. The server did take my card and I filled out the paper receipt with tip the old fashioned way. (The paper receipt in my picture is flipped over for privacy.)

 

[GADisneyDad14]

Hmm, they must be changing things up as they go. My experience last month was different - no device at the table. And my check was brought in a lovely leather folio with a gold pen, so nice I had to take a picture of it! Really made it feel like a signature restaurant. The server did take my card and I filled out the paper receipt with tip the old fashioned way. (The paper receipt in my picture is flipped over for privacy.)

View attachment 912151

Interesting! Yeah, Saturday the server presented the device to me, screen had the total (and maybe I could have scrolled through itemized details, not sure about that). I tapped my card, it prompted with 20%, 23%, or 25% tip options (or a smaller button to customize), all while he hovered over me. Call me old school and not open to change, but your experience is what I expect at a ‘signature’ dinner.

 

[gmi3804]

Interesting! Yeah, Saturday the server presented the device to me, screen had the total (and maybe I could have scrolled through itemized details, not sure about that). I tapped my card, it prompted with 20%, 23%, or 25% tip options (or a smaller button to customize), all while he hovered over me. Call me old school and not open to change, but your experience is what I expect at a ‘signature’ dinner.

This is how checks are processed all over Europe. Right there at the table, on a device. Wish others here would do the same.

 

[GADisneyDad14]

This is how checks are processed all over Europe. Right there at the table, on a device. Wish others here would do the same.

I know and understand that (and acknowledged such in my OP) and I get the whole someone taking your credit card thing, but I still don’t care for it at a ‘higher end’ US restaurant, personally.

 

[focusondisney]

Interesting! Yeah, Saturday the server presented the device to me, screen had the total (and maybe I could have scrolled through itemized details, not sure about that). I tapped my card, it prompted with 20%, 23%, or 25% tip options (or a smaller button to customize), all while he hovered over me. Call me old school and not open to change, but your experience is what I expect at a ‘signature’ dinner.

Absolutely agree. And to use those default amounts is ridiculous.

 

[focusondisney]

This is how checks are processed all over Europe. Right there at the table, on a device. Wish others here would do the same.

Huh, I thought tipping wasn’t customary in Europe. So not the same IMO. I don’t mind paying on a device. But I do mind expecting a payment without providing a copy of the bill to look over & without a chance to decide on the amount I want to tip without the server staring over my shoulder.

 

[gmi3804]

Huh, I thought tipping wasn’t customary in Europe. So not the same IMO. I don’t mind paying on a device. But I do mind expecting a payment without providing a copy of the bill to look over & without a chance to decide on the amount I want to tip without the server staring over my shoulder.

I didn’t say anything about tipping.