Disney World Dining Reviews - April/May 2025!

[Tink9721]

Hi everyone! This is a little late but I thought I'd post some dining reviews from my late April/early May trip!

This was a mother/daughter trip and we were both celebrating birthdays - we're one day apart. My 32nd and my mom's 70th!

It was a 9 day/8 night trip, staying at the Wilderness Lodge - our favorite!


Day 1 - April 24th

We took Mears to the Lodge and arrived in the early afternoon, checked in, and grabbed lunch at Roaring Fork.

We each had a house-smoked turkey sandwich. Not pictured, but it came with house-made chips. My mom got fries instead.





This was delicious and actually very filling. Neither of us finished ours. We easily could've shared one with maybe an extra side order of chips or fries.

We spent the afternoon/evening at MK and had dinner at one of our favorites - Liberty Tree Tavern!



This salad was different from our last trip in 2022, and it was delicious!



The rolls were good, but nothing special. I still miss the old rolls they had, several menu changes ago. I would easily put away 2 or 3 of those before the rest of the food showed up, so it's probably a good thing they're gone



The turkey and pot roast were delicious. I'm not a big pork person, but I had a little bit and it was fine.



As always, the mashed potatoes and stuffing were perfect. The green beans are always good too. I'm not a fan of the cranberry sauce, but that's just because I've always preferred the jellied stuff from the can



The mac & cheese was amazing



And of course, possibly the best dessert on property

Overall another excellent meal at LTT!

 

[Tink9721]

Day 2 - April 25th

For our first full park day, we spent the day at Epcot!

But first, breakfast at Whispering Canyon Cafe! We always stay at the Lodge and have at least one breakfast here every trip.

We both got the same thing (this happens a lot ) - the Belgian waffle with bacon.



I had this on our last trip too, and it was delicious both times. Crispy on the outside, soft on the inside. The bacon was good too.



It did come with a berry topping (plus syrup and butter) on the side. I forgot to take the "after" picture

We weren't planning on lunch this day. My plan was to enjoy some festival snacks. But it was very hot, and I badly needed an A/C break. Plus I was hungrier than I thought I'd be around lunch time. So we got lunch at Connections. We ate there for the first time on our previous trip and really enjoyed it.

I had a burger and fries.



This was very good, especially for quick service. I know a lot of people aren't fond of Disney's quick service fries, but I always enjoy them.

My mom had cheese pizza, which she really enjoyed.



I really like Connections. They have plenty of seating and it's a nice place to take a break. Plus the food has been good both times we've eaten there.

For dinner, we had reservations at Via Napoli. We hadn't been here in probably ten years, just because we were trying other places.

Neither of us are big drinkers, but we had a few drinks during this trip. My mom had a glass of wine, and I had a Sicilian Sunset, which was very good.



My mom had a mushroom pizza which she loved.



And I had this delicious pepperoni pizza



We loved our meal here and we'll definitely be back on our next trip. It was a great experience all around.

We skipped dessert because we were planning a trip to Les Halles later that night.

I didn't get a picture, but my mom had a chocolate chip cookie which she said was good.

I got this amazing chocolate mousse!

 

[Tink9721]

Day 3: April 26th

Today was an Animal Kingdom day!

We decided to try Rainforest Cafe for breakfast. We've done lunch/dinner before, but never breakfast.

I had the Breakfast of Bandits. I'm pretty sure my mom had the same thing, but I'm not positive. I didn't take a picture of her plate, so probably.



This was fine. Everything tasted good, but it was nothing special. We probably won't be doing a repeat here, at least not for breakfast.

We had a late lunch at Yak & Yeti.

My mango daiquiri, which is good every time



Again, we had the same thing - the honey chicken with fried rice.



We're boring people, we eat at a lot of the same restaurants every trip and usually order the same things every time. But we don't go that often these days, and I order what I know I'll like Anyway, this was just as good as always! I love this meal.

We shared an order of the Fried Wontons for dessert. This is the perfect shareable dessert!



We went back to the hotel for a break and then went to DHS in the evening to see Fantasmic. When we got back to the Lodge that night, I grabbed a Mickey Rice Krispie treat for a late night snack.



This was good, but I wish I had taken a side profile picture. These things are definitely thinner than they used to be.

Stay tuned for day 4!

 

[erinch]

Lovin it so far!

 

[pooch]

Me too!!

 

[Tink9721]

Lovin it so far!

Me too!!

Thank you both!

 

[Tink9721]

Day 4: April 27th

We spent day 4 at MK! We started the day with breakfast at Crystal Palace.



Those churro waffles are amazing I do really miss the puffed French toast, but the waffles were a pretty good substitute. I'd be happier with both though

Everything else on the plate was also delicious. The pastries were good. The eggs were eggs - I'm not a huge fan of eggs but I like to grab a little bit for some extra protein. The sausage and bacon were good too. I feel like the bacon at Disney buffets has improved a lot in recent years.

We spent the morning and afternoon at MK, then went back to the Lodge for a break. On our way out, we stopped at the Confectionary to try the "create your own popcorn mix."

My creation - butter popcorn, dark chocolate drizzle, milk chocolate M&Ms, marshmallows, and crushed oreos.



My mom's creation - butter popcorn, dark chocolate drizzle, milk chocolate M&Ms, and snickers.



We loved these and munched on them for the rest of the trip. I do wish they had a smaller size option, these were huge and the popcorn was a little stale by the end of the week. Neither of us ended up finishing ours.

Another photo of mine later in the week, munching on our balcony one morning



After our break we went back to MK for the evening, but we mobile ordered dinner from Roaring Fork first. Our original plan was to eat in the park but neither of us felt like dealing with park quick service at that point.

I didn't get a picture of my mom's food, but I think she had a burger.

My chicken tenders and fries, which were delicious! The BBQ sauce on the side was very good too.

 

[Tink9721]

Day 5: April 28th

Today we went to DHS for the morning/afternoon and then After Hours at MK!

But before hitting the park, we went to Cape May Cafe for breakfast! We ate here once over a decade ago, and then again on our last trip. I was super impressed with the food when we went last time, especially for a buffet. Everything was fresh and tasty. We had the same experience this trip!

The delicious bread



POG juice I love this stuff and make it a point to go to at least one or two restaurants that serve it every trip.



Mickey waffles, tater tots, bacon, sausage, potatoes, and fruit - all delicious!



I'm also obsessed with the little crepes they have there



We spent the next several hours at DHS, and before heading back to the Lodge for a break, we had an early dinner at 50's Prime Time Cafe, another one of our favorites.

Vanilla shake! One of these days I'll try the PB&J shake. I've heard a lot of good things, but I haven't been able to tear myself away from the vanilla yet.



We got an order of onion rings for an appetizer. These are always delicious!



We each had a chicken caesar salad for our entree. I've had this salad before and I love it every time. It was way too hot to eat any of the heavier meals here. The salad was just enough to fill me up without overdoing it.



No dessert - we were saving room for the free ice cream and popcorn at After Hours later that night

 

[Tink9721]

Day 6: April 29th

Mom's birthday!

We slept in a little bit after our late night at After Hours, and then started the day with breakfast at Roaring Fork. We each had Mickey waffles with bacon.



Delicious as always! I also had some tater tots which were crispy and wonderful.



After breakfast we went to Animal Kingdom for the Up Close with Rhinos tour! I was very happy to score this reservation since it's so hard to book. The tour was fantastic and we got to pet one of the rhinos

Now, my mom and I have taken a lot of Disney trips together, and since I was a teenager, I've always been the planner. We do collaborate on our table service meal choices, but mostly she's perfectly happy to just show up and go along with whatever I planned. This included her big 70th birthday plans I asked her several times if she had any requests. She didn't care about which park(s) we went to, but her ONE request was dinner at 'Ohana. So I was up bright and early 60 days out and made sure I booked that first.

So, we spent a couple more hours at AK, and then went to the Poly for an early dinner. We always try to eat at 'Ohana as early as possible so we have time to digest and walk it off after We had a reservation right when they opened and were one of the first families seated. We got a great table right against the window with a beautiful view.



Time to eat! And drink

My mom had a glass of wine, I had a Pina CoLAVA.



This bread was amazing. I don't know if it's changed since my last trip, but I don't remember it being that tasty before. I ate almost an entire loaf



Yummy salad! Photographed pre-dressing.



My favorite things at 'Ohana are the dumplings and the noodles, and they didn't disappoint The chicken wings were good too, and the veggies were fine. But who goes to 'Ohana for the veggies?



Shrimp. We should've just asked to skip this but neither of us thought of it. I'm not a seafood person and my mom isn't a big fan of the peel-n-eat shrimp.



The beef was delicious!



I forgot to grab a picture of the platter of chicken but here's a piece on my plate. This was very good.



To be continued in the next post...

 

[Tink9721]

Time for dessert!

Bread pudding, pre-sauce...



Bread pudding with the caramel sauce



They also brought out this birthday dessert. Two macarons and two pieces of chocolate (the second one is hiding behind the flower in this photo)



I know a lot of people haven't been happy with 'Ohana in recent years but we've always enjoyed it. This meal was delicious and we had a great time. It's definitely pricy, but I was able to cover it with Disney Visa reward points, so that was nice! Most importantly, my mom was very happy with her birthday dinner!

After dinner, we went to Epcot for a little bit. I was able to grab lightning lanes for some of my mom's favorites, so we did those, and then she went back to the hotel to relax. I stayed out a little bit longer to ride Guardians and do some shopping. My mom can't do coasters and she hates shopping, so she had a better time relaxing at the Lodge

I also treated myself to an Orange Slush, which I've been wanting to try for years. I loved this



Next up, my birthday!

 

[pooch]

We get the lemon one every trip!

 

[Tink9721]

We get the lemon one every trip!

I'll have to try that one next time!

 

[nursejackie]

Love reviews with lots of photos. Thank you

 

[ThreeBoyMama]

Looks like a delicious trip!

 

[Tink9721]

Love reviews with lots of photos. Thank you

I'm always happy to supply food photos! I love looking at food pics when I'm planning a trip!

Looks like a delicious trip!

It definitely was!

 

[Tink9721]

Day 7: April 30th

My birthday! Today was a Magic Kingdom day, followed by After Hours at DHS!

We started the day with another Roaring Fork breakfast. I don't need to share my mom's Mickey waffles or my tots again - they looked exactly the same as the day before

I also had a nice fruit cup...



And a delicious chocolate croissant



The cross section



Later on, I celebrated my birthday with Winnie the Pooh, as every 32 year old should The Pooh characters have always been my favorites, and Crystal Palace lunch was my first ever character meal on my first trip when I was 6 and it's always been a favorite. We've been doing it twice a trip for a while now. There was one year I couldn't get a lunch reservation so we planned on breakfast instead. I ended up being able to book lunch too, but at that point I had gotten so excited about the breakfast, we just did both. And we've done that every trip since My mom prefers the breakfast and I prefer the lunch, so it works.

Food time! I always love Disney chicken nuggets. I also grabbed a beef quesadilla and mac & cheese from the kids' section - they were both delicious. The mashed potatoes at Crystal Palace are always amazing. The pasta dish was also good, and the little roasted potatoes. I also had some fruit and a little salad but that's not very exciting



I always love their dessert section. And it was my birthday, so I wasn't holding back on desserts today On this plate there was a delicious chocolate chip cookie. Some kind of little parfait that I wasn't crazy about, but it was okay. A yummy strawberry cupcake. And I think the little square with the bee on it was some kind of flan.



I always have to get a little bit of ice cream from their soft serve machine



And then when I was chipping away at all that dessert, my server brought out a birthday cupcake I was too full at that point; I think I ate about half of it, but it was good!



After lunch we spent a couple more hours in the park, then went back to the Lodge for a break before heading out for After Hours.

Several hours after lunch, when I had digested all that dessert, I grabbed myself another birthday snack. My favorite treat from Roaring Fork - the campfire cupcake

This thing is so cute, and so yummy. The perfect birthday treat for this chocolate lover





That's it for my Disney birthday! Stay tuned for our last two days of food!

 

[Haygar2]

Years ago we had a strawberry lemon cupcake from Roaring Fork. If I remember correctly it was a strawberry cupcake with a lemon curd. All I know is it was delicious! I need to try the campfire cupcake. It looks amazing.

 

[pooch]

Ok i’m in a carb coma!!!

 

[DLo]

Thanks for taking the time to review . Looking forward to reading the rest .

 

[Tink9721]

Ok i’m in a carb coma!!!

Yup, we definitely didn't hold back on the carbs this trip