Whispering Canyon @ Wilderness Lodge

[LilyStar]

Hi everyone

What has everyone's experience been with this restaurant? Is it worth a try??

Thanks!
Jackie

 

[sleepydog25]

I will likely be in the minority, but my experience with WCC has been mediocre at best. My DW, DD4, and I have been twice in the past year, and on both occasions the service, food, and fun factor were below expectations. The first time we had no expectations, actually, having heard not one word of the place since I didn't visit this board regularly. We immediately sensed what the restaurant was all about as the fun swirled around us, but our server seemed a morose and did nothing to make us feel the experience was out of the ordinary. I did get up to sing a song with all the other fathers, though. The service was equal to the server's attitude, so we had long waits for drink refills and food. The food itself--we ordered a la carte--was bland. The chicken my DW and DD had was okay, but nothing you couldn't find in a cafeteria. My nachos had little meat and used the creamy cheese sauce you can get out of a can. I also ordered a fruit smoothie which turned out to be more of a Slushy, so essentially Kool-Aid blended with ice. Strangely enough, we liked the potential of the place and thought that we had caught a server having a bad night and had ordered food not in the kitchen's strength.

Our next visit about nine months later, we again decided to try WCC and figured to order the all-u-care-to-eat skillet meal. The food was moderately better, though nothing was particularly noteworthy, but it wasn't a good value for our dollars since we aren't big eaters (we'll eat anything, just not lots of it). Once again, our server seemed to be standing on the outside of the fun looking in. . .much like we were. I even told the server it was my DW's birthday (which it was). Nothing. DD did get to do the stick pony race, though it was quite subdued. The zest simply wasn't in our server. And she was even slower with refills and the check than our first server had been. I actually sent my family along while I waited over 15 minutes for the bill. . .and the place was perhaps half full at best.

I realize that many love WCC, and that many have had fun experiences and good service along with enjoying the food. However, after two trips and two disappointments, we've taken it off our list of places to eat. That's one of the good things about WDW--there are plenty of places to try, and what works for you may not work for me and vice versa. One man's ceiling is another man's floor (points to anyone who can name the recording artist from whose song I borrowed ). aw:

 

[Msslaydbug]

I will also be in the minority here. We were seating in the back "corner" of the place even after requesting a table in the main part and letting them know I would wait. Our server was great while we were there and tried to involve us as much as possible. Maybe we would have had more fun if we would have been more in the middle of all the action. I also think the food wasn't the best either.

 

[muffyn]

I will likely be in the minority, but my experience with WCC has been mediocre at best.

I even told the server it was my DW's birthday (which it was). Nothing. :

wow...

sorry you had a bad time!
we ate there twice & had a great time each!
no complaints on the food ( & I loved the skillet,,,,,, maybe I'm easy to please??)

we told our server of my inlaws anniversary & they were brought champagne with a strawberry in it! ( in fact we never had a server<at any disney restaurant> NOT bring something when a birthday or anniversary was mentioned,,, & did a BIG deal telling the whole room)

gee , I would have made 'my' dissapointment known....... so sad you didn't get the best treatment.(you certainly pay enough at the disney eateries)

I know at 50's primetime,, you 'should' ask for a server who gets 'into it' if you want the full experience,,,,,,,, & especially tell them if you want to be left ALONE!!! (I know this is not that thread, but we had a ball with my 30+something son being stuffed in the corner twice)

 

[Bracho]

VWL is our home resort and we eat at the Whispering Canyon every trip and have always had a great time. I am always in a good mood when I leave that place so for us, it's a great way to start the day.

I'm sorry to hear of others on the board that have not had a good time there.

 

[OhioTony]

We have eaten there once and were planning on going back this time and then changed our minds .

Not because of the food - it was good - and not because of the experience-- it was great-- but because of the travel time to get there.

If you arent staying near there it can take a great deal of time out of your touring to get there and back not to mention that the meal itself took almost two hours. We are the kind of family that prefers to spend our time in the parks instead of the restaurants.

 

[aengus]

We found the food mediocre but the overall experience great! Very fun place, the kids love it and its lots of fun and loud. Not a place for an intimate meal but a great place to unwind and enjoy yourself!

 

[bonnick98]

I'm going to jump in a say I loved the Whispering Canyon, I thought the food was very good, it was a fun atmosphere and I loved the decor. When we return to WDW for our '05 trip, I hope to eat there again!

 

[maggs]

Absolutely love it - one of the best dining experiences in WDW!

Maggs

 

[sleepydog25]

As I said, I knew my experience and opinion would be in the minority, and it's not as though we had the worst dining episodes ever. . .not even remotely. And some day in the future, we may try WCC again since we usually stay at VWL. At least, the OP can have both sides of the story in order to help make the final decision. aw:

 

[mainewmn]

Sort of off topic question but we would LOVE to try this restaurant on our next trip how do we get there from POP resort?

 

[experiment626mom]

I was not impressed with the food at WCC. It was okay, but nothing I would jump up and down about.

 

[monica31671]

Check out the pictures in the sticky at the top of the forum. I was on these boards a month before I discovered that thread!

 

[Lookn4Mickey]

Is WCC included in the dining plan?

 

[Fire14]

I have eaten her twice and had a lousy lunch with no "fun" and a new server and a great fun dinner with a great server. My friend who was with us for lousy lunch aslso went back for dinner one night and had a great dinner also.
From what I've heard from others on this board and questioning of friends it seems to be best to go for fun during brfst or dinner.

 

[lisadisney2003]

We love it! It is a definate stop every trip. Ketchup anyone?

 

[dis_danny]

Sort of off topic question but we would LOVE to try this restaurant on our next trip how do we get there from POP resort?

We took the bus from POP to MK then took the boat across Seven Seas to the WL and WCC. You could also catch a bus directly to WL from any park.

Our kids had a blast wearing their Universal shirts, doing the pony races and asking repeatedly for K-E-T-C-H-U-P!!!

 

[maxaroni]

We ate at WCC last week and found it to be fun. The whole place was into it and lots of enjoyable people around us that really got into the spirit of it. I can see that if that is not the case, it would not be the same experience. We all enjoyed our meals (1 meat loaf and 2 skillets)....was it the best? No. However, we went for the experience. However, it was far from the worst, as far as food...in our opinion. Now, with that being said, it's one of those 'once is enough' for us. Glad we did it but not a must do again. We felt that way with 50's Prime Time as well. DS wants to try Sci Fi next time but sounds like that may be a once deal as well.

 

[jann1033]

we went for dinner and liked it so much we went againfor brkft( jsut the opposite of Boma for us) dinner: the skillet was not my husband fav. but then he was drooling over my fantastic Pork chops ( which he orders in 90%of any rest. we ever go to so he was pretty ticked at himself) so maybe that had something to do with it. our server was more reserved and hubby would have loved to jump up on the table and hoot an holler but i am more the shy retiring type so watching was fine with me.

Breakfst we both really liked the skillet. the food was fresher than buffet type fare, the bread was really good as were the cute little waffles ( pinecones) the gravy was "ech" but i had plenty without it and they were great with refills..i think that was my pig out meal of the trip honestly. we went for a late seating and it was hysterical...maybe more fun then since people arent' rushing to get to the parks

we plan ongoing back for both meals...my hubby,son inlaw and 1 dd & her bf will love this place and "misbehave" for sure ( other dd is more like me )

 

[jann1033]

as an alternative you can also take a boat from the cont. that's how we got there for brkfast..the driver to MK was nice enough to take us to the contemp( some were going to cm) and we hopped the boat from there to wl or fw