Mike and I were looking for a place to go for dinner on the Fourth of July. I usually like to grill in the backyard (or in the kitchen if its raining), so I was looking for something similar. We decided to go back to the Whispering Canyon Café for dinner, as we had been in the past and really enjoyed ourselves. The first time we were there, though, we were seated in a corner and didnt get to experience a lot of the fun. This time we were determined that it would be different!
We made the priority seating in May with no problem, at 5:20 PM. Many of the times were already taken up, though. Later on, we made another priority seating for our friends, but for some reason, that Cast Member cancelled our priority seating without telling us! I didnt find out until I called to verify our time on July 4 th our friends priority seating was there, but ours had been cancelled. Our friends werent going that evening, so we took their priority seating over, although it was for four people. Hopefully we would find some Disney magic at the Whispering Canyon Café.
I let Mike know that we would probably need to have our confirmation number for the guard station at the Wilderness Lodge. He gave me an odd look until we drove up and the guard asked for the confirmation number! We were checked off the list, and drove in to park. Since wed been to the Wilderness Lodge twice before, we knew exactly where to park and how to get to the restaurant. We were there before 5 PM, so we went up to the podium to explain our situation. We were told it was no problem, which was amazing to us on a holiday! I also asked about sitting in the middle, and the Cast Member at the podium told me to pick out which table I wanted. I walked to the center of the room, and picked a table. She told me that our server was Heada Lettuce Id heard of her! I was very excited now that we had a table. We wandered off to the pin cart on the other side of the restaurant, and then came back when the dinner bell rang. We heard our party called, and were brought to the table I had chosen before.
Heada Lettuce came over to the table, and we started to chat. She looked at me and said, Are you Forever42? which is my username on the DISboards. Shocked, I replied that I was, and she looked at Mike and said, And youre Mike! You always order a diet Coke. She asked if we knew how she knew us, and I said, You post on the DISboards! She said, Yes, and I recognize you from your pictures. We had a nice laugh at that, and of course, Mike ended up ordering his diet Coke ($2.00), large. The all you can drink shake-of-the-day was orange dreamsicle, so I definitely had to order one of those ($4.39)!
When Heada (I hope you dont mind me referring to you as such, so people can request you as a server!) came back, she threw straws and napkins at us, and a straw artfully landed in my shake. Mike was given a large mason jar glass of diet Coke, and ended up draining it three times during the evening. We had to order the barbecue skillet, of course ($21.99, all you can eat). The dinner skillet contains St Louis style ribs, pulled pork, sausage, baked chicken, corn, mashed potatoes, beans, cornbread, cole slaw, and salad. We asked Heada what else she recommends, and she also recommended the chicken pasta ($16.99. Ooh, roasted garlic chipotle cream?) or the pork chops ($17.99. Teriyaki marinade with maple glaze, yum again!). Well make a special trip back just to try those two entrees.
Even though it was still early, Heada brought our salad and cornbread by very quickly. The salad, Ive heard, has the same apple cider dressing thats served on the frisee salad at Artists Point. We really enjoyed the salad, the dressing was very light, and it had lettuce, tomatoes, carrots, red onions, and croutons. If we didnt have a large skillet ahead of us, we definitely would have wanted more. The cornbread was slightly sweet, crumbly, and delicious. The cole slaw was great creamy and just a bit tart.
When we had finished with that, Heada brought the skillet right out. Along with the skillet came a plate for the rib bones and a little pitcher of barbecue sauce. With how much sauce we use at other restaurants, we almost wished we had a whole bottle! Around this time, I had also noticed the table next to us with a HUGE margarita! I had to find out what it was, and Heada told me that I could get any margarita in the tall glass ($7.95). I decided on the frozen mixed berry one. Unfortunately, it ended up being a little watered down, and Heada replaced it with one on the rocks. Much better! Not as strong and tequila-y as the one at the Maya Grill, but it was sweet and fruity, definitely a fun drink. As for the skillet, we dug right in. I snagged the ribs first and split them between the two of us. Like the last time, the first round of ribs were tender, and the second round was a little chewy. Both were tasty and smokey, though, so the chewiness was worth it. The sausage was always good, with a snappy casing and great flavor. The pulled pork was my favorite of the evening, tender, smokey, and great with or without sauce. There was a tiny bit of fat, but that could be forgiven. Since I dont like meat on a bone, I only had a bit of white meat off the chicken breast, but it was amazingly moist and juicy. The mashed potatoes were nice and chunky, great with a bit of sauce. Mike loved the corn, especially with the butter leftover from the cornbread. The beans were just ok, too saucy for me, but thankfully not as sugary sweet as the ones at the Flame Tree Barbecue.
After our first round, we went for another round of the ribs, pulled pork, sausage, and beans. It was brought out quickly and hot. As I said before, only the ribs slightly disappointed this time around, but we expected it from our experience last time. And we had to go for one last round of both the pulled pork and the sausage. As Ive said before, in the Ohana review, its not gourmet, and it may not impress barbecue snobs, but the food was plentiful and delicious.
As for the fun, we saw plenty of ketchup exchanging hands, baskets of crayons making their ways around the room, pony rides, the Hokey Pokey, birthday serenades to young boys by all of the young girls, and the oath not to go to Universal or Seaworld. The last part cracked up a lot of the parents around the room! We werent involved with too much of it, but we had tons of fun sitting with it all around us. Unfortunately Mike wasnt bad, so he wasnt put in jail.
We were definitely too full for dessert, regretfully, as everything at the front looked great. We had to save a tiny bit of room for the Kona Cafés desserts after the fireworks that evening, though. Heada brought by the bill, and we received our Disney Dining Experience discount, even though it was a holiday. It almost seems like the holidays that the discount isnt given on are chosen randomly out of a hat! We never felt rushed, though, and Heada came by to check on us even after she brought the bill.
We ended up having a wonderful time that evening. For our personal ratings, Whispering Canyon Café was elevated to a must do for families or for anyone looking for a fun, interactive meal. Not only is there great entertainment for both parents and children, but the food is great, as well - we love those all you can drink shakes (though we never get very far!). Go for a special event, especially if the person likes to be in the center of attention! I almost wish that Mike had proposed there it would have been a hoot. I also love all the little touches things like the bandana/napkins, the Western accents on the lighting, or the Lincoln Logs setup in the tiny lobby area. We definitely recommend asking for Heada Lettuce when you eat dinner there. Shes a lot of fun, a very nice person, and seems to have a lot of fun working at the Whispering Canyon Café. She also happens to be suzannews on the DISboards, so say hello to her!
Thank you, Suzanne, for giving us such a great evening.
PS: is the Little Nutty Salad still on the lunch menu?
Photo gallery
We made the priority seating in May with no problem, at 5:20 PM. Many of the times were already taken up, though. Later on, we made another priority seating for our friends, but for some reason, that Cast Member cancelled our priority seating without telling us! I didnt find out until I called to verify our time on July 4 th our friends priority seating was there, but ours had been cancelled. Our friends werent going that evening, so we took their priority seating over, although it was for four people. Hopefully we would find some Disney magic at the Whispering Canyon Café.
I let Mike know that we would probably need to have our confirmation number for the guard station at the Wilderness Lodge. He gave me an odd look until we drove up and the guard asked for the confirmation number! We were checked off the list, and drove in to park. Since wed been to the Wilderness Lodge twice before, we knew exactly where to park and how to get to the restaurant. We were there before 5 PM, so we went up to the podium to explain our situation. We were told it was no problem, which was amazing to us on a holiday! I also asked about sitting in the middle, and the Cast Member at the podium told me to pick out which table I wanted. I walked to the center of the room, and picked a table. She told me that our server was Heada Lettuce Id heard of her! I was very excited now that we had a table. We wandered off to the pin cart on the other side of the restaurant, and then came back when the dinner bell rang. We heard our party called, and were brought to the table I had chosen before.
Heada Lettuce came over to the table, and we started to chat. She looked at me and said, Are you Forever42? which is my username on the DISboards. Shocked, I replied that I was, and she looked at Mike and said, And youre Mike! You always order a diet Coke. She asked if we knew how she knew us, and I said, You post on the DISboards! She said, Yes, and I recognize you from your pictures. We had a nice laugh at that, and of course, Mike ended up ordering his diet Coke ($2.00), large. The all you can drink shake-of-the-day was orange dreamsicle, so I definitely had to order one of those ($4.39)!
When Heada (I hope you dont mind me referring to you as such, so people can request you as a server!) came back, she threw straws and napkins at us, and a straw artfully landed in my shake. Mike was given a large mason jar glass of diet Coke, and ended up draining it three times during the evening. We had to order the barbecue skillet, of course ($21.99, all you can eat). The dinner skillet contains St Louis style ribs, pulled pork, sausage, baked chicken, corn, mashed potatoes, beans, cornbread, cole slaw, and salad. We asked Heada what else she recommends, and she also recommended the chicken pasta ($16.99. Ooh, roasted garlic chipotle cream?) or the pork chops ($17.99. Teriyaki marinade with maple glaze, yum again!). Well make a special trip back just to try those two entrees.
Even though it was still early, Heada brought our salad and cornbread by very quickly. The salad, Ive heard, has the same apple cider dressing thats served on the frisee salad at Artists Point. We really enjoyed the salad, the dressing was very light, and it had lettuce, tomatoes, carrots, red onions, and croutons. If we didnt have a large skillet ahead of us, we definitely would have wanted more. The cornbread was slightly sweet, crumbly, and delicious. The cole slaw was great creamy and just a bit tart.
When we had finished with that, Heada brought the skillet right out. Along with the skillet came a plate for the rib bones and a little pitcher of barbecue sauce. With how much sauce we use at other restaurants, we almost wished we had a whole bottle! Around this time, I had also noticed the table next to us with a HUGE margarita! I had to find out what it was, and Heada told me that I could get any margarita in the tall glass ($7.95). I decided on the frozen mixed berry one. Unfortunately, it ended up being a little watered down, and Heada replaced it with one on the rocks. Much better! Not as strong and tequila-y as the one at the Maya Grill, but it was sweet and fruity, definitely a fun drink. As for the skillet, we dug right in. I snagged the ribs first and split them between the two of us. Like the last time, the first round of ribs were tender, and the second round was a little chewy. Both were tasty and smokey, though, so the chewiness was worth it. The sausage was always good, with a snappy casing and great flavor. The pulled pork was my favorite of the evening, tender, smokey, and great with or without sauce. There was a tiny bit of fat, but that could be forgiven. Since I dont like meat on a bone, I only had a bit of white meat off the chicken breast, but it was amazingly moist and juicy. The mashed potatoes were nice and chunky, great with a bit of sauce. Mike loved the corn, especially with the butter leftover from the cornbread. The beans were just ok, too saucy for me, but thankfully not as sugary sweet as the ones at the Flame Tree Barbecue.
After our first round, we went for another round of the ribs, pulled pork, sausage, and beans. It was brought out quickly and hot. As I said before, only the ribs slightly disappointed this time around, but we expected it from our experience last time. And we had to go for one last round of both the pulled pork and the sausage. As Ive said before, in the Ohana review, its not gourmet, and it may not impress barbecue snobs, but the food was plentiful and delicious.
As for the fun, we saw plenty of ketchup exchanging hands, baskets of crayons making their ways around the room, pony rides, the Hokey Pokey, birthday serenades to young boys by all of the young girls, and the oath not to go to Universal or Seaworld. The last part cracked up a lot of the parents around the room! We werent involved with too much of it, but we had tons of fun sitting with it all around us. Unfortunately Mike wasnt bad, so he wasnt put in jail.
We were definitely too full for dessert, regretfully, as everything at the front looked great. We had to save a tiny bit of room for the Kona Cafés desserts after the fireworks that evening, though. Heada brought by the bill, and we received our Disney Dining Experience discount, even though it was a holiday. It almost seems like the holidays that the discount isnt given on are chosen randomly out of a hat! We never felt rushed, though, and Heada came by to check on us even after she brought the bill.
We ended up having a wonderful time that evening. For our personal ratings, Whispering Canyon Café was elevated to a must do for families or for anyone looking for a fun, interactive meal. Not only is there great entertainment for both parents and children, but the food is great, as well - we love those all you can drink shakes (though we never get very far!). Go for a special event, especially if the person likes to be in the center of attention! I almost wish that Mike had proposed there it would have been a hoot. I also love all the little touches things like the bandana/napkins, the Western accents on the lighting, or the Lincoln Logs setup in the tiny lobby area. We definitely recommend asking for Heada Lettuce when you eat dinner there. Shes a lot of fun, a very nice person, and seems to have a lot of fun working at the Whispering Canyon Café. She also happens to be suzannews on the DISboards, so say hello to her!
Thank you, Suzanne, for giving us such a great evening.
PS: is the Little Nutty Salad still on the lunch menu?
Photo gallery
Oops!...I'll have to accidently hit someone's silverware off the table!!
