"Just as long as there aren't too many character meals." :D Dining Review 6/14-6/21

[JenLynn]

Grammy and Pop are taking the family on a fun family trip! Grammy loves when the whole family is together. Pop's one request was that we don’t eat at tons of character meals (he suggested 2 at most) – we are eating at 4!

DSis and I are both teachers (and DD is a high school athlete) so going over summer break was our only real option. We will be there for 8 days. Staying at Boardwalk Villas for the first time. On the Disney Dining Plan (DDP) for my first time. This will be our first visit using MagicBands and FP+. This is DH's first time on a Disney vacation. Hmm … lots of firsts for us this trip!

JenLynn/ Me (42) – Loves food; loves Disney; trying to eat at as many WDW restaurants as possible; loves to scrapbook & take pictures of food!

DH (26) – This will be his first real visit to WDW! Loves to cook (and is very good at it!); loves food; originally from South Africa so loves bold flavors

DS (16) – Been to WDW many times; loves chocolate; loves ice cream (and can eat it by the gallon and has *never* gotten an ice cream headache!)

DD (14) – Been to WDW many times; doesn’t like to experiment with new foods (but does love to complain that everyone picks on her unfairly in typical teen-girl fashion)

Grammy (63) –Been to WDW many times; loves to try new restaurants; loves having the family together

Pop (64) – Been to WDW many times; one of the more adventurous eaters in our group

DSis (38) – Has meticulously planned this trip for everyone; has been experimenting with a gluten-free diet lately; been to WDW many times; DVC member

DBrother-in-law (38) – Loves burgers, fries, and soda!; been to WDW many times; DVC member

DNiece1 (9) – Been to WDW several times; healthy appetite; a brilliant princess!

DNiece2 (6) – Been to WDW several times; healthy appetite; the adorable baby of the family (and she knows it!)

Can't wait to share our dining reviews and lots of pictures!!!!

 

[JenLynn]

Reviews Posted:

Cheshire Cafe - Snacks

Whispering Canyon Cafe at Wilderness Lodge - Table-service dinner

More Reviews Coming Soon!

Beaches and Cream Lunch (OOP; ADR) – Planning on getting lunch and then the kitchen sink!

Be Our Guest Lunch (DDP; FP+) – Counter service – those cupcakes for dessert look delicious!

Tony’s Town Square Dinner (DDP; ADR) – This was DD’s pick (she loves Tony’s!)

Akerhaus Storybook Princess Breakfast (DDP; ADR) – New restaurant for me [Character breakfast #1]

Biergarten Dinner (DDP; ADR) – My pick (been there before and it has always been a fun meal!)

Tusker House Character Breakfast (DDP; ADR) – New restaurant for me [Character breakfast #2]

Whispering Canyon Dinner (DDP; ADR) – New restaurant for me - Do they really have bottomless milkshakes????

Chef Mickey’s Character Breakfast (DDP; ADR) – Can’t wait to swing my napkin and sing with Mickey! [Character breakfast #3]

Cape May Café Character Breakfast (DDP; ADR) – Been there for dinner before; will be our first time for breakfast; (And another character meal just for Pop!) [Character breakfast #4]

Plus additional counter-service meals and snacks from each park!

 

[chocolateMinnie]

Have an amazing trip - can't wait to hear all about it and YES WCC do have bottomless milkshakes. Think that the strawberry one is very sweet but the chocolate and caramel are amazing. the best thing of all is that you don't have to stick to the same flavour. As long as you empty one you can order the next in any flavour at all :

Think you will love Akershus. Sad that my two kids refuse to go any more When they are older I'm sure they will agree to return and if not I will be returning alone

 

[klacey1]

Subscribing! Biergarten is one of our favorites!

 

[poohangel]

can not wait to hear more. Sounds like fun

 

[JenLynn]

Have an amazing trip - can't wait to hear all about it and YES WCC do have bottomless milkshakes. Think that the strawberry one is very sweet but the chocolate and caramel are amazing. the best thing of all is that you don't have to stick to the same flavour. As long as you empty one you can order the next in any flavour at all :

Think you will love Akershus. Sad that my two kids refuse to go any more When they are older I'm sure they will agree to return and if not I will be returning alone

Thanks for the info for the milkshakes! DH and DS are both going to be in heaven! My teenagers wouldnt be interested in going to the Storybook breakfast either, but going with their young cousins is the perfect excuse!

Subscribing! Biergarten is one of our favorites!

I love Biergarten too! At first I wasnt sure about going there again since i am trying to go to new places, but it is such a fun restaurant!

can not wait to hear more. Sounds like fun

It is amazing how time seems to move more slowly the closer I get to our trip! I feel like a 5 year old on Christmas Eve!

 

[Niki Andiokno]

Looking fowrard to your review. So on jealous you are at WDW right now. Have a great time.

 

[sydneysmom]

Count me in too! have fun!!

 

[phabric]

Looking forward to your reviews.

 

[Newsies]

Following along. Can't wait to see your reviews- off to Disney in about 2 weeks and I'm going to quite a few of the restaurants you seem to have gone to!

(BTW, for the record, your pop and my dad would get along. He doesn't like character meals too much either. Little does he know we have ADRs for 5 within the 6 days we're there. #sorryboutit )

 

[JenLynn]

Well we are home from our amazing family trip! We ate at a lot of yummy places and I took tons of pictures of our food! [My family thinks I am nuts, but they play along with me.]

Our table-service meals went according to plan, with one exception. Our flight to Orlando was delayed so we werent able to get to our Beaches and Cream reservation on time and there was no way they could fit us in later in the day. Pop was disappointed since he really wanted to treat DS to the kitchen sink. But Disney magic poked its head (as it always seems to do for us!) and we were able to get into Beaches and Cream on our last day (which was a bonus for Pop since he also got out of the last character meal).

Looking fowrard to your review. So on jealous you are at WDW right now. Have a great time.

Thanks so much! We had an amazing week and tried some things we hadn't done before.

Count me in too! have fun!!

Thanks! I love sharing my Disney obsession with other people ... and I love reading dining reviews and seeing lots of food pics!

Looking forward to your reviews.

Posting the first review today! We have so many fun things to share.

Following along. Can't wait to see your reviews- off to Disney in about 2 weeks and I'm going to quite a few of the restaurants you seem to have gone to!

(BTW, for the record, your pop and my dad would get along. He doesn't like character meals too much either. Little does he know we have ADRs for 5 within the 6 days we're there. #sorryboutit )

Pop is a very good sport and plays along with us. He even sported his new flamingo swim trunks (a gag gift from me) with his "I Survived it's a small world" tshirt my sister bought him to Blizzard Beach. But he gets mildly annoyed at the interruptions that are part of character dining and my sister seems to think there is no such thing as "too many character meals."

 

[JenLynn]

Cheshire Cafe

Cheshire Café at Magic Kingdom
Snacks (DDP)

The stand is easy to find (across from Mad Hatter Tea Cups) and there was no line ahead of us (which was impressive considering how crowded the parks were last week). There are tables and chairs with umbrellas to one side of the stand. On the other side was an alcove that had a narrow ledge where we sat and enjoyed the cool shade.

Queen of Hearts Strawberry Cake Cup – Tasty layers of vanilla cake with strawberries and strawberry frosting. Refreshing and light.

White Rabbit White Chocolate Cake Cup – DH doesn’t like white chocolate so he wasn’t going to try this one, but there was not an overly strong flavor of white chocolate and he also thought it was tasty.

Lemonade Slushie – We enjoyed the one from Columbia Harbour House better (this one was quite tart) but still quite good.

Raspberry Lemonade Slushie – This was perfect! Better than the lemonade slushie (since the raspberry cuts the tartness and gave it a bit of sweetness).

 

[poohangel]

I so want to try those cake cups. They look so good. Cant wait to hear all about your trip.

 

[PrincessDisneyMomx2]

I can not wait to read your reviews!!! We went in May and I am planning our next trip which will be Feb 2016...

 

[jesswindsor]

Nice Review of the Cheshire Cafe!!! I really want to try the Queen of Hearts Strawberry Cake Cup!!! Can't waint to read more!!!

 

[JenLynn]

I so want to try those cake cups. They look so good. Cant wait to hear all about your trip.

The cake cups were very good and I am so glad we tried them!

I can not wait to read your reviews!!! We went in May and I am planning our next trip which will be Feb 2016...

I am trying to figure out if we can take another trip too! Hoping for October 2015 but not sure yet. But I love planning WDW trips so I will take my time in deciding when we go and where we will stay.

Nice Review of the Cheshire Cafe!!! I really want to try the Queen of Hearts Strawberry Cake Cup!!! Can't waint to read more!!!

Glad you enjoyed it!
It is so hard writing reviews - I always wonder if I am telling people what they want to know. I love reading reviews before our trips so I want to return the favor!

 

[JenLynn]

Whispering Canyon Cafe
Wilderness Lodge
Dinner (Table-Service DDP)

To get from the Wilderness Lodge from Boardwalk (our hotel) we took the bus from Boardwalk to Magic Kingdom and then caught the boat from the front of Magic Kingdom directly to Wilderness Lodge. A pleasant trip and we didnt need to wait too long for the boat. Wilderness Lodge was beautiful - we might have to try to stay there at some point.

I had heard that the antics of Whispering Canyon's wait staff were more evident in the main room and things were quieter in the back room. We were seated at a long table between the two rooms. Seating on one side of our table was a long bench/booth seat. The other side was individual chairs. I was seated at the end of the booth near the railing that was behind us and it was quite cramped to get in and out (but I was comfortable while sitting).

Salad (with blue cheese) - DH and I didnt try the salad (he is allergic to blue cheese) but those who tried it said it was good.

Corn bread – Exactly how I like my cornbread – a bit of sweetness, not overly crumbly, served in mini-loaves. I could have eaten 2 loaves by myself but tried to restrain myself to have room for the rest of the meal. Delicious!

Milkshakes came with our meal plan – (clockwise from top left) Caramel, Strawberry, Chocolate, Vanilla – very thick! And yes, they really were bottomless. When DS finished his first milkshake (in the first 3 minutes) the waiter brought him another immediately. DS stuck with chocolate, but our group tried all of the flavors and everyone liked them. They really were very very thick and hard to suck through the straw at first.

All You Care to Eat Skillet – baked beans (pretty good), corn on the cob, mashed potatoes (good), pulled pork (very good), sausage (my favorite - absolutely delicious!), ribs (a bit tough), chicken (rather dry), steak (DH’s favorite), steamed vegetables (nothing special)

The only refill we needed was mashed potatoes and the waiter seemed to anticipate that need since he brought us 2 bowls of mashed potatoes before we even had the chance to ask for it!

(clockwise from top)
Apple Pie ala mode – I had heard good things about this so was excited to order it. It was good, but not over-the-moon wonderful.

Blueberry peach cobbler with vanilla ice cream – wow!! DH and my mother both ordered this and it was terrific! The crust was amazing, filling was not overly sweet. I would go back to Whispering Canyon just to get this cobbler!

Chocolate Gooey Cake with Ice Cream - warm chocolate cake topped with vanilla ice cream (DS liked it but didn't rave)

Overall Impressions:
This was one of DH’s favorite meals.
I was worried because I had heard about the "rude schtick" of the waiters and sometimes it is too much for me. Our waiter was “in character” in a fun way but not an overwhelming or unpleasant way. He threw a handful of straws and napkins at the table so they rained down on us, he was a bit abrupt, gave my BiL a hard time about ordering a milkshake and soda. The waiter wanted to do the ketchup routine but none of us needed it. He was sarcastic and “insulting” (when describing desserts he brought by the tray and said “Cobbler, apple pie, get your own!”) Waiters near us both called for ketchup and there was a parade of people from one side of the restaurant with bottles of ketchup for the table in need. Several times "happy birthday" was sung in a horribly off-key and ill-timed (but fun) rendition. There was a hobby horse parade around the restaurant with the small children which was pleasant.