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Great Places to Rest at Disney World – A Guest Article!

by Guide4WDW

by: guide4wdw – Collin

Great Places to Rest at Disney World – A Guest Article!  

Today, we’re sharing something a bit different and featuring a friend of ours in this Disney community by sharing an article shared with us by Patty over at WDWVacationTips.com. We’re happy to share this content and hope it gives you all a little something out of the ordinary to enjoy opposed to our typical articles.

Whether you are overheated or someone in your group is on the verge of a meltdown, there are just times when you need to pause during your vacation and take a break. If you think about all the walking and standing you are doing over the course of a day at Disney World it really makes sense that these down moments are necessary. Here are our recommendations for places to rest in Disney World listed by park.

Magic Kingdom Rest Spots

Hub grass magic kingdom disney world

  • Hub Grass– There is no better view than stopping and taking in Cinderella’s castle at the Magic Kingdom. Disney has several areas in front of the cast filled with Astroturf, lovingly called hub grass. This is a perfect spot to stop and relax or have a snack or even let your kids run wild. At night these areas become the firework viewing areas.
  • Storybook Circus– Head to the back of Storybook Circus area of Fantasyland. You are looking for the covered area between the train station and Big Top Treats. This spot serves as a character meet and greets area during special events at the Magic Kingdom. Otherwise, it is a shaded area with seating and spots where you can charge up your devices!
  • Tom Sawyer Island– So many people skip over this area of the Magic Kingdom. This makes for a nice and quiet area where you can relax. Covered with lots of trees, ample amounts of shade can be found here there are even benches and rocking chairs. There are lots of caves and paths for kids to run around and explore the island. Note: this area does close at sunset.
  • Main Street USA Train Station– When you get to the train station head upstairs. There is both indoor and outdoor seating here. I recommend sitting under the covered area and looking down Main Street USA. People watching is an overlooked fun thing to do at Disney World. Plus the background music is great in this area. You may even catch a set of the Dapper Dans. It’s even a great idea to hop on the train and take a full loop around the park.
  • Columbia Harbour House– If you are okay with a seafood smell then this is a great place to grab a refreshment and relax. The second story here is always fairly quiet and you can get some great views when look out over Fantasyland. There are also some bathrooms up here too!

Epcot Spots to Take a Break

China pavilion Epcot Walt Disney World

  • World Showcase – There are so many nooks and crannies throughout all of the World Showcase. America is an exceptionally good stop to relax in the air conditioning. If you are lucky you could even catch a show of the Voices of Liberty. I recommend heading over to the United Kingdom. Behind the stores, you’ll find beautiful gardens, benches and a large area at which you can rest.
  • The Land– This isn’t a quiet spot due to the popularity of Soarin but there is loads of space, air conditioning, and tables. Sunshine Seasons food court is right there as well so you can enjoy a meal, snack, or drink.
  • Imagination Pavillion – Head in through the shop and head to the back where they have various activities set up.
  • Behind Club Cool– There is a giant breezeway behind here and some spots to charge your phone. The air conditioning is always nice and cool and it’s a great spot to park the stroller and let your kid take a snooze.

Hollywood Studios Spots to Take a Break

Star Wars launch bay hollywood studios

  • One Man’s Dream– Head through this attraction to learn some back history on how Disney came to develop his famous theme parks. They also host previews of new or recent enhancements in Disney World.
  • Star Wars Launch Bay– Stop in the Launch Bay and catch a movie that takes you behind the scenes of Star Wars. Once the movie is out there is a large area to lounge or to meet and greet with various Star Wars characters.

The Animal Kingdom Spots to Take a Break

  • Conservation Station– Head back to Rafiki’s Planet Watch. Not only is the train ride nice and relaxing there is plenty of places to sit and chill when you get here. They have fun exhibits about the animals and they even have a look at the veterinary setup they have. You may even see a procedure happening when you head out there. There is also a petting zoo for the kiddos if they need to let off some steam.
  • Pandora– The land is full of details and lots of small areas to explore. By the exit of Flight of Passage, there is some shade and benches. You can grab a snack or beverage at Pongu Pongu to enjoy as well. If you are looking to stop for a quick meal I would head to Satuli Canteen, take a break and enjoy a meal.
  • Tree of Life Oasis– This area that surrounds the Tree of Life at the Animal Kingdom. The area is filled with cool caves and quiet benches that can easily become napping places.

Bonus Places to Rest in Disney World

  • Disney Resorts– All the Disney World Resorts are open to visitors. They all have their own unique benefits and perks. But the lobbies of every resort definitely have crashing spots where you can sit and chill. My favorite is a rocking chair in front of the massive fireplace at the Wilderness Lodge.
  • Monorail– If you are close by, a ride on the monorail is always a nice way to relax and get some sightseeing in at Disney World.

There are so many resting spots to be found at Disney World. The list above just covers the highlights at each park. Of course, you can always go to a longer indoor attraction or show to get a short rest midday. If you are visiting in the summer check out some awesome ways to stay cool it will help with needed less rest breaks. Does your family need to take breaks on your Disney days? If so share your favorite places to rest in Disney World spots in the comments below.

Your Thoughts


As always, if you have thoughts, concerns, questions, or even some tips of your own to share, don’t hesitate to reach out to us on Facebook or your favorite social media platform. Give us a follow while you’re there, and we’ll keep the conversation going in the future. We’re not the largest Disney community, but we’re one that’s there and one that listens. Thanks for reading and have a wonderful day wherever you are!


Need a Travel Planner?


If you want or simply need a little bit of planning help to make your Disney vacation dream a reality, check out the quote request form below this article for our friends over at Destinations to Travel. They’ll let you do as much or as little of the planning as you’d like and may even save you some money along the way! As always, thanks for supporting those who support us.


Ready to Plan?


Last but certainly not least, if you’re starting the planning process, a great place to start are with some of our top planning articles! Looking for dining? Check out Disney World Dining Tips For 2018. Want to start with some more tips? 44 Excellent Disney World Tips for 2018 or Disney World Planning Guide and Tips For 2018 are a great place to begin! Looking to save money on tickets? Check out our friends over at The Official Ticket Center for great deals that even made it into our 2018 Discount Disney World Ticket selections and another great way to help us create more content through your contributions at no additional cost to you! You’ll probably even save money along the way.

A Shockingly Good Counter Service Meal – The Polite Pig

by Guide4WDW

by: guide4wdw – Collin

A Shockingly Good Counter Service Meal – The Polite Pig 


A few short weeks ago we had the chance to check out one of the many counter service offerings at Disney Springs that we had wanted to try for quite some time, The Polite Pig. Truthfully, the day we arrived at Walt Disney World we didn’t entirely know what time we would actually make it onto Disney property. As a result, a table service reservation was kind of out of the question, but at the same time we were excited to try something new at Disney Springs in the realm of counter service offerings. We’ve toured the area many times throughout the construction and had previously had the chance to check out D-Luxe Burger and Morimoto Street Food counter service offerings along with the Boathouse, Homecomin Kitchen, and T-Rex (not so new) in the table service variety. So, on this particular day, it lined up quite well to try out The Polite Pig.


When we arrived at the restaurant, located near Uniqlo, we had a pretty good idea of what to expect. A few readers had encouraged us to try it out and see what our thoughts were on the food and many had even mentioned how enjoyable their own meal was when they dined there. As a result, I went into this meal with somewhat high expectations for the level of food and array of menu offerings. However, be aware that this is not a Disney owned restaurant but they do in fact accept the Disney dining plan.   

The Order Process   

As with any counter service offering at Disney Springs, be prepared to wait in line a few minutes before placing your order at the counter. With the volume of guests moving through the Springs, it quite honestly is an inevitable part of any counter service meal in the area. However, despite the length of the line spilling out the door, this particular process went by quite quickly and the staff did an excellent job of keeping the line moving and processing orders much quicker than we anticipated at first glance. 

After we left the counter, we faced something else that is typically a challenge at these more popular restaurants, seating. Again, it was pretty much a non-issue here. The staff cleaning the tables were right there when a guest left to wipe down the table and clear the plates. We looked around for a table for maybe 3 minutes or so and quickly found a seat. Less than 5 minutes later our food arrived at the table. Considering the amount of guests in the restaurant, it was impressive to say the least. Also worth mentioning is that this particular meal was on a Saturday night at around 6:30pm in the summer. Crowds on property were at their highest and we were genuinely impressed with the service. 

The Food 

Here’s a quick tip before we really dive into the food in more detail. Try not to over order. Considering we had never eaten here before, we opted to try quite a range of different menu items and even picked up an appetizer (or “shareable” as the menu calls them) which is a little unusual for us when we travel. Not only will splitting meals save you from vastly over eating, but it will likely save you a bit of money along the way as well. This isn’t really a “budget friendly” meal or a way to save money opposed to a table service offering, but you could cut back on a lot of what we ordered and save yourself a good amount of money. 

With that being said, our family of four payed $90.53 for this meal. Interesting to note is that $14 of that was drinks for the group (no alcohol, just fountain drinks) at $3.50 each. The cost is definitely a big factor with this one and something you definitely want to consider before eating here from a guest perspective. We were all adults so you would save some money when traveling with kids, but it’s a touch pricey to say the least, even by Disney property standards.        

Even though the pricing is on the high end of things in comparison to other options, after the meal, every guest in our group agreed that we would likely be back in the future. As mentioned above, we did order quite a bit. First and perhaps my favorite item that we tried was the “Southern Pig” sandwich. Typically the menu item consists of Pulled Pork, Fennel-apple Slaw, tangy Mustard BBQ and Duke’s Mayo served with a Pickle Spear. I don’t really care for slaw on top of barbecue so I opted out of the slaw (I know that may be a “crime” where some of you all are from lol). I then paired the sandwich with their Macaroni and Cheese and the meal overall was pretty excellent. The pork was hot and incredibly flavorful. Also, opposed to some barbecue, it wasn’t dry but rather quite the opposite while retaining lightly textured edges in classic barbecue fashion. The macaroni was excellent as well complete with a bread crumb-esque topping and a warm and gooey cheese sauce. Both items were far larger than they appear in this photo, and even as a 21 year old college guy, I was more than content with the portion sizes. Ironically, we ended up ordering two of this exact combination of menu items for two guests in our group which accounted for $32 of the overall bill. 

Additionally, we opted to try out two of the many salad offering on the menu. Personally, I’m not a huge salad person, but these were supposedly quite delicious and incredibly large, even at the price point. Again, the pictures do the size of this salad no justice, but for reference, the sauce cups in the top right hand side of the image are about one inch in width. This salad was massive and looked like a basketball sized sphere they had cut in half and called a salad bowl. 

The first salad pictured is what the location calls the Barbecue Cobb Salad with Smoked Chicken, Egg, Bacon, Roasted Corn, Tomato, Cheddar, and Avocado-chipotle Dressing. You can order this with or without chicken and the chicken is a $5 add on. However, the individual who ate this mentioned directly to me that the chicken is pretty much what “makes” the salad great. This salad, with everything you see in the photo, ended up with a price tag of $18. The second salad was listed as the Polite Caesar Salad. It was a fairly simple salad, but the individual who ordered this paired it with a massive Hop Salt Pretzel with Beer Cheese Fondue and we all ended up trying a piece of that before the meal was over. The Beer Cheese Fondue was excellent. It wasn’t quite what you would expect and was a rather liquid cheese but the flavor was outstanding and the pretzel was soft and quite wonderful as well.    

        

Would I Go Back? 

The answer to this one, as you can likely imagine, is a resounding yes! The pricing is a little tough to wrap your mind around if you go all out when you order, but I would definitely go back in the future. Is it better than a meal at a true Disney owned counter service restaurant?… maybe. Truth be told, you do miss out on a little bit of that Disney cast member “charm,” for lack of a better word, but if you’re looking for a good meal to share with friends or you’re local and simply looking for a great meal on a Friday night, this is a great option. 

If I did go back, and we likely will on future trips to Disney, I would do things a little differently. If I were going with family or a friend I’d order one entree, one side, and one of the giant pretzels. It would be plenty of food for two and would likely save you a little money along the way. Also, there’s no chance I’d order a fountain drink here again to have with the meal. I’m perfectly content with water and it would cut $3.50 per guest off of the overall bill. 


Your Thoughts

As always, if you have thoughts, concerns, questions, or even some tips of your own to share, don’t hesitate to reach out to us on Facebook or your favorite social media platform. Give us a follow while you’re there, and we’ll keep the conversation going in the future. We’re not the largest Disney community, but we’re one that’s there and one that listens. Thanks for reading and have a wonderful day wherever you are!

Need a Travel Planner?

If you want or simply need a little bit of planning help to make your Disney vacation dream a reality, check out the quote request form below this article for our friends over at Destinations to Travel. They’ll let you do as much or as little of the planning as you’d like and may even save you some money along the way! As always, thanks for supporting those who support us.

Ready to Plan?

Last but certainly not least, if you’re starting the planning process, a great place to start are with some of our top planning articles! Looking for dining? Check out Disney World Dining Tips For 2018. Want to start with some more tips? 44 Excellent Disney World Tips for 2018 or Disney World Planning Guide and Tips For 2018 are a great place to begin! Looking to save money on tickets? Check out our friends over at The Official Ticket Center for great deals that even made it into our 2018 Discount Disney World Ticket selections and another great way to help us create more content through your contributions at no additional cost to you! You’ll probably even save money along the way.

Whispering Canyon Breakfast – A Closer Look and Review

by Guide4WDW

by: guide4wdw – Collin

Whispering Canyon Breakfast – A Closer Look and Review

I am not a food critic. Truthfully, being born and raised in Kentucky, I’ve grown to really enjoy some of the simpler southern meals in life and that likely plays a role in how much I enjoy eating at Whispering Canyon. This restaurant, has been and likely always will be one of our favorite dining locations on property and one that we really do consider one of the rare unspoiled hidden gems of Walt Disney World today. Breakfast is no exception to that rather bold statement for a variety of reasons.    


With that being said, don’t go to Whispering Canyon expecting the same or even a similar experience to what you would find at a California Grill Brunch. If you do, you’ll likely be comparing apples to oranges for all intensive purposes. One is certainly no “better” than the other but expectations play a role in the experience and how you tend to perceive it. Whispering Canyon is unashamedly casual, especially at the breakfast meal time. At the same time, it is one of the most value oriented table service breakfast options on all of Disney property. 

What Does It Cost?


If we’re talking strictly breakfast you can expect the pricing to fall in the $15-$25 per adult guest category assuming everyone orders a drink (you can save a lot of money if you drink water). In our case, each of the four guests in our party opted for what is called the Canyon Skillet. The restaurant offers a “skillet” for every meal time and essentially its an all you can eat family style feast. If you run out of an item on the skillet just ask for more and it will arrive at your table momentarily. The cost of that particular option plays out to $19 per person and does not include your drink. It’s the highest priced entree on the menu but is closely followed by other options like Belgian waffles, Eggs Benedict, Banana Bread French Toast, and many other which you can check out in depth here. Each of those other items cost anywhere from $11-$15 and are typically fairly good sized portions a vast majority of guests will be happy with. 

Overall, you’re looking at a pretty budget friendly meal in the world of Disney prices. Something interesting to note is that this is far cheaper than other locations on property for a somewhat similar meal. The Canyon Skillet lays out unlimited scrambled eggs, country potatoes, bacon, sausage, Mickey waffles (which are always incredible!), Buttermilk Cheddar Biscuits (very subtle cheddar flavor), and sausage gravy. If that’s not a good start to your day I’m not entirely sure what is. Interesting to note is that this is a fairly similar meal to what is served at some of the buffet and table service breakfasts at other more popular dining locations on property and the price is far more reasonable. If you’re looking for good food, and not too overly concerned about having to have characters at your meal, this is a top notch offering. 

Location


Location is likely the sole reason Whispering Canyon has stayed somewhat of a “hidden gem meal.” Many guests are looking for two things out of breakfast at Disney. 1. That it is in the parks. or 2. That there are characters at the meal. Whispering Canyon does not check either of those boxes.

In my opinion, this isn’t an issue. If you plan your Magic Kingdom day or even an Epcot day carefully, it is extremely easy to get to Whispering Canyon for a good breakfast. Sure, you are looking at a 10-30 minute travel time inconvenience compared to a Crystal Palace breakfast or even a Garden Grill Breakfast, but at the same time the cost and experience make up for it.

Whispering Canyon is a lot of fun and with speculation of changes and potential impending adjustments to the location in time, now is a better time than ever to head over there and give it a shot. At this point, the happy go lucky, playful, and comical environment created by a clever and witty staff keeps guests excited and involved in the meal time festivities more so than many other dining experiences. It’s a fun environment if you can take a joke in good fun and in a family friendly way, while providing great food at a fair price. I am happy to report that not quite as many changes have occurred as social media exploded about a few weeks ago. Here’s a closer look at our first hand report on the “changes.” 

As an added bonus, you get to experience the truly breathtaking “wow factor” of the Wilderness Lodge lobby and the spectacular views the resort encompasses. It’s a little piece of nature right in the heart of Walt Disney World. On a side not… it’s also my idea of “camping”… that is, in a villa or deluxe resort with all the furnishing of a luxury hotel experience with a touch of nature thrown in the mix. Obviously, I’m not really the Fort Wilderness “camping” type as unique as that similar (yet different) property is. 

To get to Whispering Canyon you can do one of essentially three things. First, if you have a car you can always drive. Simply tell the cast member working the gate you have reservations and they’ll point you in the right direction (no parking fee required). Second, if you don’t have a car you can always make your way to any park and hop on a Wilderness Lodge bus. Perhaps the easiest way to get there is a boat from the Magic Kingdom. It’s a short ride and a surprisingly picturesque view of the Seven Seas Lagoon and Bay Lake. Be aware of park opening times and consider trying this meal on an early entry day so that you can enjoy some attractions in the park early on then as the crowds build you can “escape” to a later breakfast. Lastly, you can combine monorail and boat transportation. If you’re at Magic Kingdom you can ride the monorail (or walk) to the contemporary, head downstairs and grab a boat to Wilderness Lodge. If you’re at Epcot, the monorail will get you to the Transportation and Ticket Center, where you can switch to the resort monorail and head to the Contemporary or Magic Kingdom to board a boat/bus to Wilderness Lodge. There are a ton of options to get here for breakfast, none of which are too overly complicated and all of which are free to use. 


Why We Ate Here And What I Recommend 


Truth be told, we ate here for three reasons. First, it’s kind of a tradition in our family to eat at Whispering Canyon at some point during our stay… mostly for the food. Second, we were already staying at the Boulder Ridge Villas of Wilderness Lodge so we were just a short walk away. For more of our thoughts on the room itself, check out our Disney’s Boulder Ridge Villas at Wilderness Lodge – An Excellent Villa Option post. Last, and perhaps most importantly, we were looking to see what changes had been made to the Whispering Canyon experience overall with the reports starting to surface of changes. 
However, that’s not necessarily why I recommend this location. Sure, it’s a fun environment and it’s pretty budget friendly, but more importantly, it’s a multifaceted experience. When you walk into Wilderness Lodge there’s a certain smell, a beautiful lobby, and a wow factor that is truly hard to describe in words. Pictures really do it no justice. There’s a warmth to the whole experience. 
Here’s what I recommend doing. If you’re going on a budget friendly trip, use this as a starting point for resort hopping on a non-park day. It is the perfect starting point. You can grab breakfast then catch a boat to Fort Wilderness or the Contemporary, and if you make your boat selections carefully or ride the monorail from the Contemporary you can make your way around to 5 different resorts quite easily to experience a little piece of each of them in one afternoon. Cap off the night with a spectacular view of Magic Kingdom’s Happily Ever After fireworks from the Contemporary or the beaches of the Polynesian and you’re set for a truly spectacular day, even if you don’t plan on going into the parks. 
Long story short, is this meal worth your time? In my honest opinion, the answer to that is a resounding yes! Go check it out, experience the resort, enjoy the meal, and I highly doubt you will be disappointed! 

Your Thoughts

As always, if you have thoughts, concerns, questions, or even some tips of your own to share, don’t hesitate to reach out to us on Facebook or your favorite social media platform. Give us a follow while you’re there, and we’ll keep the conversation going in the future. We’re not the largest Disney community, but we’re one that’s there and one that listens. Thanks for reading and have a wonderful day wherever you are!

Need a Travel Planner?

If you want or simply need a little bit of planning help to make your Disney vacation dream a reality, check out the quote request form below this article for our friends over at Destinations to Travel. They’ll let you do as much or as little of the planning as you’d like and may even save you some money along the way! As always, thanks for supporting those who support us.

Ready to Plan?

Last but certainly not least, if you’re starting the planning process, a great place to start are with some of our top planning articles! Looking for dining? Check out Disney World Dining Tips For 2018. Want to start with some more tips? 44 Excellent Disney World Tips for 2018 or Disney World Planning Guide and Tips For 2018 are a great place to begin! Looking to save money on tickets? Check out our friends over at The Official Ticket Center for great deals that even made it into our 2018 Discount Disney World Ticket selections and another great way to help us create more content through your contributions at no additional cost to you! You’ll probably even save money along the way.

How Our Party of 4 Guests Ate At T-REX for $15! – Disney Springs Dining

by Guide4WDW

by: guide4wdw – Collin

How Our Party of 4 Guests Ate At T-REX for $15! – Disney Springs Dining 

Today is a rather interesting article in my opinion. As many of you know, I tend to try and save you all as much money as possible on Disney trips whenever I can. This post is certainly no exception to that rule, however, this is one particular tips will likely work out better for locals or repeat visitors to the Disney parks and resorts. With that being said, we didn’t have any “magic” offer when we ate at T-REX in Disney Springs for $15 and we weren’t asked to try it for media reasons. Also worth mentioning is that we are not affiliated with the Landry’s group in any way shape or form (even though that would be awesome). Rather, we found a neat opportunity and made the most of it. 


The whole “science” behind this deeply discounted meal is largely based off a program the Landry’s group (the parent company of T-REX, Yak and Yeti, Rainforest Cafe, and many others) have developed called the Landry’s Select Club. Truthfully the club is no secret and is typically debuted in a pamphlet on your table at many of their dining locations. The club itself has a $25 enrollment fee but 24 hours after you enroll you automatically receive a $25 welcome reward. So, if you’re going to be eating there anyway, sign up and you basically get your money back automatically. As you dine at their vast array of restaurants, you also accumulate points for purchases. After you reach 250 points you get another $25 reward. 

Additionally, when you arrive at any of their restaurants you essentially gain front of the line access. In our specific case, we arrived at T-REX at around 6:30 and while the restaurant had a rather long wait list, we were told simply to walk up to the seating stand/hostess area and were seated within 5 minutes of arriving at the restaurant. We’ve used this to our advantage time after time at Rainforest Cafe as well. So, in essence you’re not paying anything for the card, you get priority seating, you get rewards for your purchases, and on top of all of this you get a $25 reward every year on your birthday. 

At this point you’re likely wondering how we ate for $15 when dining with a party of four guests. Well, to be quite honest it’s rather simple. When we arrived at the restaurant we had full intentions of just ordering appetizers and then moving on to another Disney Springs area restaurant for dessert in order to try a few different locations all in one night.

In doing so, we ordered a Supersaurus Sampler which includes Chili con Queso Dip, Bruschetta, T-Rexadillas, and onion rings (you can add pork spare ribs for an extra $7.99). That particular item is designed to be an appetizer for four and it did not disappoint. It came to our table as a huge multi-tier display with plenty to eat for all four of us. We also opted to order a Colosso Beef Nacho which was listed as “for two” but could easily feed 3 or more guests without issue. The sampler priced out at $19.99 and the Nacho ended up being $17.99. Per the usual, our group all ordered water to drink because in the Florida summer heat there’s really no better option and it’s free so why not? The grand total came out to be right around $40 including tax. 

Obviously that’s not the $15 your read in the title, however, remember those gift card rewards we told you about earlier? This is where those come in handy. Before we chose to dine here we were emailed a $25 no questions asked reward for the birthday of the card holder. We applied that towards our meal and the total dropped to a shocking $15. Of course, we left a pretty decent tip as a result, but the experience overall was excellent. The food was great, but keep in mind it’s not necessarily designed to be a “luxury” experience. We had a ton food and we literally just ordered appetizers. So much food in fact that we decided to hold off on going to another restaurant for dessert and went to the Polynesian hours later for a Dole Whip instead. (please excuse the poor quality food photos, it was rainy this particular day so I left my Nikon DSLR in the room and just happened to have a photo of the entrance from another day of the trip).  

(Flash photos are the worst… lol)


Sure, it may not be a full meal for everyone, but $25 free once a year in your birthday month just for setting up a rewards card is something you don’t really want to pass up. Also worth mentioning is that Landry’s locations truly span the United States (over 600 locations) and chances are if you live in a relatively populated area you’re within driving distance of at least one of their locations. If you live in Orlando, there’s at least 4 on Disney property, and two or three more a few minutes away from Disney Springs.   

If you are interested in joining the plan, don’t feel obligated to do so because of me. The only reasons I share this is because we joined around 5 or 6 years ago when it was only $10 or $15 dollars to join and it has been worth it’s wait in gold. If you do want to join, you can do so at this link: Landry’s Select. Again, it makes no difference to me if you join or not, I don’t get kickbacks from them and really just wanted to share a neat program that many guests may be unaware of.   

Your Thoughts

As always, if you have thoughts, concerns, questions, or even some tips of your own to share, don’t hesitate to reach out to us on Facebook or your favorite social media platform. Give us a follow while you’re there, and we’ll keep the conversation going in the future. We’re not the largest Disney community, but we’re one that’s here and one that listens. Thanks for reading and have a wonderful day wherever you are! My email is always open, so don’t hesitate to send a question or feedback my way! – guide4wdw@gmail.com 

Ready to Plan?

Last but certainly not least, if you’re starting the planning process, a great place to start are with some of our top planning articles! Looking for dining? Check out Disney World Dining Tips For 2018. Want to start with some more tips? 44 Excellent Disney World Tips for 2018 or Disney World Planning Guide and Tips For 2018 are a great place to begin! Looking to save money on tickets? Check out our friends over at The Official Ticket Center for great deals that even made it into our 2018 Discount Disney World Ticket selections and another great way to help us create more content through your contributions at no additional cost to you! You’ll probably even save money along the way.

Whispering Canyon – What’s Changed and What Hasn’t? – A First Hand Report

by Guide4WDW

by: guide4wdw – Collin

Whispering Canyon – What’s Changed and What Hasn’t? – A First Hand Report 

As many of you likely saw on our Facebook page, last week we got the chance to stop by Whispering Canyon and see what’s changed at the dining location since changes were somewhat officially announced by Disney in comments on social media a few weeks ago. A week or so ago, I shared a few thoughts in a post I called Whispering Canyon Cafe Changes – A Few Thoughts About the Location’s Future. While I do continue to stand behind my predictions for that location in the coming months and years, at this point I can confirm from my experience that very little has changed. 

Now, in all reality, I can only confirm these things for the breakfast meal time as of June 10th of 2018. However, there are a few changes, but albeit minor changes more than anything else. 


First off, I can’t say that I noticed any decrease in noise level and what is heard from the lobby area overflowing from the restaurant and the “antics” of the cast. You could still hear the cast interacting with guests, and for the most part it was still (as always in my opinion) a pleasant lobby area experience. Is there a noticeable decrease in noise? Not at all. 

Once we were seated there were a couple things that I noticed right off the bat. The coasters that were on the table off and on for a period of time were gone, straws were still humorously strewn across the table, and there were a lot of familiar faces still in the lineup of waiters and waitresses of the cast. The coasters were originally an idea introduced to allow guests to choose if they wanted to “sit on the fence” and watch the antics, or if they wanted to participate in them. Truthfully, the choice of the guest was usually glanced over and the experienced changes very little despite what you chose in my opinion. 

Another question many guests had were in reference to the giant drinks and off hand funny remarks of the cast. I think I can sum that up pretty easily. The first thing our server did was take our drink order for the table. We all ordered water and as a slight joke, the server brought us each a water but also brought one giant water promptly stating that it came straight from Bay Lake! It wasn’t necessarily the classic way they would have brought out the big glass for those who were getting multiple refills with 5 plus straws jammed together making a spectacle of it, but it still remained rather humorous just in a lighter way. 

Now, for the big question and a better answer. Do they still yell for Ketchup?? Yes, they absolutely do. While we were there the table behind us ended up with 32+ bottles of ketchup and it was a pretty humorous spectacle as always! 

Lastly, the stick horse races for kids are still a thing, and while the overall atmosphere may have been a touch less exaggerated with yelling or blatantly drawing attention to guests (which I used to love), very little else had changed. Truthfully, if nobody would have made a big deal about the changes on social media and such, I probably never would have noticed a difference in the experience. 

“What do I make of this?” This was the exact same question I asked myself when I left the restaurant. Truthfully, at this point, I think this could have been a chance for Disney to test the waters and see how the guest response would shake out in a round about way. Sure, changes may be coming, but my best guess is that the social media outcry could have played a slight role in the overall dampening of the changes. I will say though, that in my opinion this still signals upcoming changes of some type. Disney’s going to find a way to make this location more profitable and finding ways to fill more reservations is going to be a pinnacle concern going forward. The restaurant has been too stagnant for too long in regards to filling all of their reservations. When these changes will take place, I’m not entirely sure, but don’t be surprised if changes are still on their way. For now though, go enjoy the meal because very little has changed! 

If you’re looking for a review of our breakfast here, check back in the coming days because it was and continues to be one of our top hidden gem breakfasts on Disney property.

Your Thoughts

As always, if you have thoughts, concerns, questions, or even some tips of your own to share, don’t hesitate to reach out to us on Facebook or your favorite social media platform. Give us a follow while you’re there, and we’ll keep the conversation going in the future. We’re not the largest Disney community, but we’re one that’s here and one that listens. Thanks for reading and have a wonderful day wherever you are! My email is always open, so don’t hesitate to send a question or feedback my way! – guide4wdw@gmail.com 

Ready to Plan?

Last but certainly not least, if you’re starting the planning process, a great place to start are with some of our top planning articles! Looking for dining? Check out Disney World Dining Tips For 2018. Want to start with some more tips? 44 Excellent Disney World Tips for 2018 or Disney World Planning Guide and Tips For 2018 are a great place to begin! Looking to save money on tickets? Check out our friends over at The Official Ticket Center for great deals that even made it into our 2018 Discount Disney World Ticket selections and another great way to help us create more content through your contributions at no additional cost to you! You’ll probably even save money along the way.

Disney’s Boulder Ridge Villas at Wilderness Lodge – An Excellent Villa Option

by Guide4WDW

by: guide4wdw – Collin

Disney’s Boulder Ridge Villas at Wilderness Lodge – An Excellent Villa Option 

Wilderness Lodge has been and likely always will be one of our favorite resorts in all of Walt Disney World. So, when a great deal presented itself, as you can read about in our article we called Disney World Discount – How We Saved 27% With One Phone Call, we had to take it and check out these deluxe villas for ourselves. While we have stayed at Wilderness Lodge many times over the years, this was our first time staying in the Boulder Ridge Villas. 


Interestingly, as we checked into the resort, and I shared a few quick photos of the area, questions and requests to review the property started rolling in. So, before we jump a little deeper into the details and events of our trip, I thought I’d start here with one of the more requested articles. 

(Boulder Ridge Cove Pool) 


Quite honestly, this has been a “wish list” resort for me personally for quite some time. The kind of tucked away nature and depth of the theming found at the Boulder Ridge Villas has always captured my interest and truly felt welcoming in a unique way. This stay met any and all expectations I had for a vacation here. I know that may “spoil” the review but at the same time, it only touches the surface of what this resort has to offer. 

For those of you who may not know, the Boulder Ridge Villas are a portion of Disney’s Wilderness Lodge Resort. These particular villas are not housed in the main building but rather remain tucked away on the right hand side of the resort in a separate building with a slightly different theme. Some guests may dislike not being in the main lodge but to me the proximity is so incredibly close that it was nice to be near the amenities the main lodge offers while enjoying the slightly quieter and more reserved atmosphere of the villa wing. The theming is also slightly different. In the villas, there’s a subtle push away from the outdoorsy nature of Wilderness Lodge as a whole and more of an influence on early railroads and the surrounding nature of that earlier era of history. At the same time, there’s an even more subtle nod to Walt Disney through the Carolwood Room of the Boulder Ridge lobby that really brings things full circle in the realm of theming. Overall, the combination is incredibly welcoming and hopefully that “feel” manifests itself in the photos of this article. 

The villa lobby really sets the stage for the villa section experience. The high vaulted ceilings, boardgames set up in the surrounding seating areas, large fireplaces add a spectacular warmth to the building and even the smell (which is so incredibly hard to convey) welcomes you into the heart of the resort. It’s similar yet different to the larger iconic Wilderness Lodge lobby but no less spectacular in the level of detail maintained. 

Our Boulder Ridge Stay

We arrived at Wilderness Lodge on a Saturday afternoon and were immediately checked in at the main Wilderness Lodge lobby without any form of wait and very few questions asked of us. As always, I opted to avoid online check in because I like to see how the resorts each handle the check-in experience. To me, it is a memorable part of the experience and one aspect that really sets the stage for your stay. In this case, everything went quite flawlessly, but interesting to note is that the new parking fees were not mentioned to us at check in, but rather were added without notice to what we payed at check out. It was a little frustrating even though we fully expected to have to pay the fees. Other guests may not ever consider it if they do not follow Disney news and it could be an unwelcome surprise at the end of the stay. Also worth noting is that we were required to pay taxes on the parking fees for each individual day. 


Our actual stay at the resort lasted 6 nights and on this particular stay we decided to spend more time a the resort and surrounding areas rather than going to the parks every day of our stay. We did go to the parks two days, but spent a good deal of time exploring our resort, hanging out by the pool, doing some resort hopping and dining elsewhere, all while remaining mostly in the “Disney bubble.” It was an excellent trip and a style of touring Disney that I highly recommend if you’re looking for a less hectic Disney vacation. Plus, the savings of cutting out a couple park days in favor of exploring other aspects of Disney property can save you a lot of money in the long run. For us, it was more about trying new things and enjoying a few of the more overlooked aspects of Disney property this trip and it  played out quite nicely in the end. 


The One Bedroom Villa

Truth be told, we kind of lucked out on our room. On top of securing a discount we didn’t expect, upon checking into the resort and finding our room we walked into a spectacular view. Our specific villa was on the 2nd floor of the building facing out towards the Boulder Ridge Cove pool and Bay Lake. The view was a touch surprising because we didn’t remember booking a preferred room, but it certainly felt like a room that would have fallen in that category. 

The layout of the villa was quite nice. As with other villas on property, the kitchen is a huge bonus and offers up a greater variety of dining options for many guests. We only really used the kitchen for breakfast and a few snacks throughout the week but it was nice to have a larger refrigerator and freezer along with a full oven and normal size microwave. Glassware, plates, and other necessities were also provided. 

                  
The theming of the room was quite pleasant. It had a subtle woodsy nature but to me felt a bit more upscale than the standard rooms of Wilderness Lodge (which are also quite nice). The living room area featured a roll out couch (a nice one, not the ridiculously thin ones), a very nice television which we hardly even turned on, and a nice little table in addition to a counter area with stools to sit at. Four of us (all adults) stayed in this villa and it was quite comfortable and we all had a little bit of personal space to spread out. As a result, this would be excellent for a family with small children that need that little bit of extra space to spread out and enjoy the added bonuses of the villas accommodations. 

     
The bedroom is also quite nice with plenty of room surrounding the King size bed. Given that we were traveling with four adults in our group, we did decide to bring an additional air mattress so that no-one would have to share a rollout and because a member of our family snores terribly (lol). The bedroom was so large that the twin size inflatable mattress easily fit between the window and the bed and was easily stored away during the day. For many, that wouldn’t be necessary but is good to know if you’re traveling with a group and want to try something similar. The bedroom was also home to an unexpected detail that many hotels overlook, outlets. I know that sounds ridiculous but when you travel with a computer (or two), three camera batteries to charge, a phone, and still have everyone else in your family to contend with, it makes a huge difference. This villa had tons of power outlets! 

The bathroom was typical of what you would find in most Disney villas. There was one room with a sink and a large tub. A second small room housed a stand up shower, sink, and toilet. All of the above were quite nice and very clean which is what we’ve grown to expect from Disney resorts. Just outside the bathroom there is a relatively full size washer and dryer stacked in a small closet which is great to have if you plan on doing any laundry during your stay or happen to get soaked in a rain storm and need to dry out a few things.       

The Resort Pools 

Without question, the pool here and in particular the Boulder Ridge Cove pool is one of my favorite resort pools on property. We were lucky enough to experience it many months ago about a week before the resorts updates officially debut and loved it then. This trip was no different. We spent a few hours here most days that we weren’t in the parks and the zero entry style design is excellent for both kids and adults. It is a quieter pool and does not have lifeguards on hand, but couple that with the food and drink service from geyser point that will  be brought right to your pool chair and you’ve got a winning combination. On top of that, we never had to look for a pool chair. Between the two resort pools, there were always a few available without having to look long. The second and main pool called the Copper Creek Springs pool is the better pool for children. That particular area features a slide and activities in the afternoon like bingo and music to entertain guests which is a nice addition. 

  (Copper Creek Springs Pool)

Transportation

As many of you may know from previous articles, transportation tends to be a big deal for me because I tend to get carsick in a variety of situations. Boat transportation is always a bonus for me over bus transportation because of the smooth nature of the ride to the parks. At this particular resort, you can catch a boat directly to Magic Kingdom and if you really dislike bus transport you can even catch a boat to the Contemporary and ride the monorails to Epcot as well. Every other location requires you to catch a bus, but our experience with bus transportation was quite positive on this particular trip. 

Resort Dining 

Dining, in my opinion, is one of the many strong points of this resort. During our stay we tried three of the four restaurants housed on the property and were quite impressed with all of them. Whispering Canyon is what I would consider the “main” family dining option for a table service meal. We caught breakfast there and it was great and has been great nearly every time we’ve eaten there over the years (more on that in an upcoming article). Additionally, we ate at Roaring Fork (the counter service location) and Geyser Point (a new concept). They were both excellent but we did face a rather long wait for food at Roaring Fork later at night. Roaring Fork is one of the better resort dining counter service locations and offers food that is recognizable like cheeseburgers and chicken but also manages to incorporate more unique offerings such as chicken and waffles. This is also your refillable mug refill location and an excellent place to pick up a cupcake or pastry during your stay. 

Geyser Point is probably the most unexpected favorite of the group for a few reasons. First, it’s a mixed concept. You can sit down and dine similar to table service accommodations near the bar area and surrounding seating or you can walk up to a counter and get an excellent meal from the counter service window to take with you. The seating area here is a huge bonus. If you can get there when there isn’t a wait, you can sit around in big comfy chairs and enjoy the sunset. It’s perfect for those fall or summer nights with the open air environment and the views are simply spectacular. If you’re just looking for a good place to hang out, especially in the morning before they officially open, this is your spot. We met up with a friend here and the warm morning air and the shade of the seating area provided a great spot to just sit back and talk for a bit before the hottest temperatures of the day rolled in. The slight breeze off of the water is exceptionally hard to beat!  


Overall Experience

All things considered, I would be beside myself if I didn’t recommend this resort to guests traveling to the parks. It is one of my favorite resorts overall and the villas have been and likely always will be near the top of my list of favorite resorts rivaled closely by the Boardwalk Villas for entirely different reasons. It’s a spectacular resort without a doubt and perhaps is one of the most welcoming resorts I’ve ever stayed at. I do not know if it’s just a style of resort I like do to my somewhat southern roots in Kentucky, but it’s near impossible not to be overwhelmed by the shocking “wow factor” of Wilderness Lodge as a whole. 

Truthfully, this is not necessarily a budget friendly resort, but at the same time isn’t entirely in the same league (in regard to price) as the most expensive resorts on property. I see it more as a hidden gem deluxe resort. The villas are rarely talked about and are likely one of the better kept “secrets” of Walt Disney World. The location is excellent, the price is a bit more manageable than other Bay Lake and Seven Seas Lagoon properties, and it has a way of transporting you to a different place in a way that is very difficult to put into words. So, do I recommend this resort and who do I recommend it to? If you can make the finances of it work, I say go for it! If you’ve never stayed in deluxe accommodations, the property as a whole is a great place to try as your first “step up.”                            
  


Your Thoughts

As always, if you have thoughts, concerns, questions, or even some tips of your own to share, don’t hesitate to reach out to us on Facebook or your favorite social media platform. Give us a follow while you’re there, and we’ll keep the conversation going in the future. We’re not the largest Disney community, but we’re one that’s here and one that listens. Thanks for reading and have a wonderful day wherever you are! My email is always open, so don’t hesitate to send a question or feedback my way! – guide4wdw@gmail.com 

Ready to Plan?


Last but certainly not least, if you’re starting the planning process, a great place to start are with some of our top planning articles! Looking for dining? Check out Disney World Dining Tips For 2018. Want to start with some more tips? 44 Excellent Disney World Tips for 2018 or Disney World Planning Guide and Tips For 2018 are a great place to begin! Looking to save money on tickets? Check out our friends over at The Official Ticket Center for great deals that even made it into our 2018 Discount Disney World Ticket selections and another great way to help us create more content through your contributions at no additional cost to you! You’ll probably even save money along the way.

Looking Back – Legendary Cast of The Disney Parks: Richard Gerth and His Lasting Impression On Guests

by Guide4WDW

by: guide4wdw – Collin

Today, I’m sad to share that legendary cast member Richard Gerth has lost his fight with an illness at an advanced age. Richard was 92 years old, but age was nothing but a number for him and his impact on guests day after day. He was and always will be the face of the Grand Floridian and that welcoming smile that greeted thousands of guests year after year. While this isn’t good news in any way, I share this post for a few reasons. First, I want to create a place where you can share your memories through photos. I don’t want this to be an article that ruins your day, but rather one that makes you remember the memories he helped so many of you create over the years. If you want to share a photo here, feel free to share it with us on social media and we’ll happily add it to the list. Let this be a place to share the moment and create a list that brings a smile to the face of everyone who reads this post.  

Richard truly was an icon of the Grand Floridian and one that has left his mark in so many incredible ways. By helping guests and creating that Disney magic we’ve all grown to love, Richard was a person who embodied what a cast member should be. He was a man that I know Walt would truly appreciate and one that made a difference for so many guests. Many guests thought of Richard as a part of their family and have created traditions centered around simply meeting the man year after year. He was, for lack of a better word, an “attraction” of the Grand Floridian and one that will be completely and entirely missed. 

The second reason I share this post is to share a personal story. If you read one of our recent articles, you likely saw where I touched briefly on this story. In August of last year I shared the original article (listed in full) below. After a couple of hours of the post being live on the site a reader dropped a comment on Facebook mentioning that they were at the Grand Floridian and he happened to be there that day. Then they took things a step farther in what is still one of the more memorable gestures I can recall that any reader has done throughout the life of the site. They took this article and read it aloud to Richard and they happened to mention that he had a smile from ear to ear as they read. It seems so simple but it’s one of the greatest highlights I’ve had in this writing journey. It wasn’t that fact that I happened to get lucky and make a difference to someone, but rather that this community of Disney fans could reach that far and create such a last memory for both me and hopefully the reader along the way. It may have brightened Richard’s day in a little way, but it was completely unexpected than he’d ever even get the chance to see the article. Truth be told, the little moment likely put a larger smile on my face than it did Richard’s. That’s the key to it all though. Richard was a man that created a moment for guests that they would remember and took an incredible pride in doing so day after day. That’s the true spirit of Disney and one of the many reasons his daily presence will certainly be missed. 

Here’s a few photos from our readers and if you want to add yours, send them our way and we’ll get them added to the list. I’m finishing off the article with this because I always want to try and bring a smile to your face when you read these daily (well almost daily) articles. I don’t want this to be a sad part of your day but one where you can remember the memories spent at this place and hopefully those memories will bring a simile to your face! Each of these photos are from our readers, and I can’t thank you enough for allowing us to use them. Don’t forget to check out the original article featuring Richard below the photos!   

                         



Original Article:


Earlier in the week we debuted an entirely new series here on the site we’re calling “Legendary Cast of The Disney Parks.” After great feedback and a few particular requests, tonight we’re back with an entirely new cast member from the growing list. This particular individual just goes to show that no matter what your role is at Walt Disney World, you can create incredible and timeless guest experiences each and every day. 

(Photo: Disney)

As you’ve likely already figured out from our title, today’s cast member spotlight takes us to the Grand Floridian and the iconic Richard Gerth. Richard has been a part of the magic for many many years and greeted thousands upon thousands of guests from around the world. 

Richard has become a true icon of the Grand Floridian that guests of all ages can truly appreciate and share a moment with. Above all else, he’s a smiling face welcoming you ‘home’ in a way that can’t be faked. You can tell without a shade of a doubt that he loves his job and while he’s 90+ years old, you can honestly tell that each guests experience is important to him.

If you want to meet Richard for yourself, head on over the lobby of the Grand Floridian and you’ll likely find him greeting each guest as they enter the building. He’s certainly not hard to spot and typically dressed to the nines in classical Grand Floridian style. He’s truly spent years in his position, and created a lasting impression on guests each and every day. After working in the position for over 20 years, guests of all ages scramble to see him during their time at Walt Disney World. Personally, I can’t say that I’ve ever met Richard (beyond videos and online write ups) as much as I’d love to do so at some point. Unfortunately the timing has never quite lined up, and according to various sources his days off are typically Wednesdays and Thursdays. 
As an additional role of his position, he does also help with Disney Fairytale Weddings in many cases. He’s truly become iconic in this role as well, even going as far as being featured in mass bridal photos. So, if you can’t find in him the lobby, don’t worry, he may be out working a wedding.  
As a result of his incredible commitment and lasting influence on guests, Richard received the Disney Legacy Award in 2013. As many of you may or may not know, the Disney Legacy Award is one of the highest awards that can be given to cast members. If you’re in the parks, a signifying trademark of the accomplishment is a blue Disney name tag. It’s a subtle difference, but if you ever see an individual wearing one of these tags, be sure to tell them thanks. Without a doubt, they’ve put a lot of heart and certainly a lot of time into their role in the parks and beyond. 
So, next time you’re over at the Grand Floridian, be sure to keep an eye out for Richard. If you’ve met him before and have a fun picture of him or with him, be sure to share it with us on your favorite social media platform! If we can get enough guests to share photos, we’ll add a few here in the article! 
Thanks for reading, and have a great rest of the day! Also, be sure to share with us what cast member you would like to see featured next. Many of these individuals really never get the credit they deserve.  

Your Thoughts


As always, if you have thoughts, concerns, questions, or even some tips of your own to share, don’t hesitate to reach out to us on Facebook or your favorite social media platform. Give us a follow while you’re there, and we’ll keep the conversation going in the future. We’re not the largest Disney community, but we’re one that’s here and one that listens. Thanks for reading and have a wonderful day wherever you are! My email is always open, so don’t hesitate to send a question or feedback my way! – guide4wdw@gmail.com 

Ready to Plan?


Last but certainly not least, if you’re starting the planning process, a great place to start are with some of our top planning articles! Looking for dining? Check out Disney World Dining Tips For 2018. Want to start with some more tips? 44 Excellent Disney World Tips for 2018 or Disney World Planning Guide and Tips For 2018 are a great place to begin! Looking to save money on tickets? Check out our friends over at The Official Ticket Center for great deals that even made it into our 2018 Discount Disney World Ticket selections and another great way to help us create more content through your contributions at no additional cost to you! You’ll probably even save money along the way.

Disney Icon Richard Gerth Facing Health issues – Here’s What We Know So Far

by Guide4WDW

by: guide4wdw – Collin

Disney Icon Richard Gerth Facing Health issues – Here’s What We Know So Far 

As many of you may know at this point, one of the legendary cast members of Disney’s Grand Floridian is reportedly facing some rather serious health concerns. While I cannot and will not state these as confirmed reports until official word from the family is released or shared by Disney, I wanted to put something out to share what we know so far. As the day progresses, I will do what I can to update this post with any new information.

At this point I really only have heard two details of the situation. First, it appears as if Richard is facing a rather serious illness (many are sharing that he is facing pneumonia). Second, based on social media user reports, Richard has been moved to hospice care and could use any support we can show him in this online Disney community.


Unfortunately, at this point, this is all we know. If you have any more information or have heard any official reports on his current condition, please share them. We’ll gladly update the article and share any and all info we can find along the way. 

Richard Gerth has been a huge part of the Grand Floridian cast member family for years on end. Many brides have truly wonderful stories about Richard and his influence in their weddings at the resort. Additionally, his warm and welcoming presence has brought smiles to guests faces year after year as a greeter in the lobby of the Grand Floridian. He’s a man that will put a smile on your face and develop a memory in your mind that will truly never fade away. It’s rather strange to speak of such influence of one man, but a passion for what you do and the experience you want to create for guests truly stands out in the hearts and minds of guests. In regards to Richard, he is the representation of what I think a cast member should look like and is the ideal image of Walt’s original goal with these parks in the very beginning. Richard truly sets things apart, and we wish him well if these early reports remain true. 

A short while ago, we shared a post titled Legendary Cast of The Disney Parks: Richard Gerth and His Lasting Impression On Guests. It wasn’t until that post went live that I fully recognized the extent of his “reach” and the memories he has created for guests. The stories shared in the comments and on social media pages were unbelievable and to my surprise a reader happened to share the article with him in person. They said he had a smile on his face the whole time the article was being read and honestly those are the types of moments where all of this website writing/blogging/etc. starts to make sense in my mind. I never thought that post would reach him or that it would even mean anything if it did. It was a rather simple moment but one that put a smile on my face hundreds of miles away from the parks. This community exceeds my wildest expectations and I really can’t thank you all enough for that.
If you have a photo of Richard you’d like to share here, feel free to share it with us on social media and we’ll get it posted on this page. One last thing worth mentioning is that I will not be attempting to reach out to the family for more information. I do not want to invade their privacy and recommend that we show support in other ways.  

Your Thoughts

As always, if you have thoughts, concerns, questions, or even some tips of your own to share, don’t hesitate to reach out to us on Facebook or your favorite social media platform. Give us a follow while you’re there, and we’ll keep the conversation going in the future. We’re not the largest Disney community, but we’re one that’s here and one that listens. Thanks for reading and have a wonderful day wherever you are! My email is always open, so don’t hesitate to send a question or feedback my way! – guide4wdw@gmail.com 

Ready to Plan?


Last but certainly not least, if you’re starting the planning process, a great place to start are with some of our top planning articles! Looking for dining? Check out Disney World Dining Tips For 2018. Want to start with some more tips? 44 Excellent Disney World Tips for 2018 or Disney World Planning Guide and Tips For 2018 are a great place to begin! Looking to save money on tickets? Check out our friends over at The Official Ticket Center for great deals that even made it into our 2018 Discount Disney World Ticket selections and another great way to help us create more content through your contributions at no additional cost to you! You’ll probably even save money along the way. 

Whispering Canyon Cafe Changes – A Few Thoughts About the Location’s Future

by Guide4WDW

by: guide4wdw – Collin

Whispering Canyon Cafe Changes – A Few Thoughts About the Location’s Future 

Before we begin, as with any post I share like this, I will say that this article is mostly my thoughts. This isn’t a rumor to be spread or information to bank on for your upcoming vacation. In contrast, these thoughts about Whispering Canyon at Disney’s Wilderness Lodge are more of an observation than anything else. So, without putting things off any farther, here are my thoughts for the future of this location that I tend to consider a hidden gem of Walt Disney World. 


For those of you who have dined at Whispering Canyon in the past, chances are you’ve become a huge fan of the locations environment and the entire theming of the experience. The cast over the years has been incredible and this dining location has honestly become one of my personal favorite locations to dine at in all of Walt Disney World. To me, this place has character and the cast develops a welcoming and humorous dining opportunity for guests of all ages to enjoy. Sure, it’s not fine dining by any stretch of the imagination, but the food is great nonetheless. 

Despite the “cult-like” following Whispering Canyon has among repeat visitors, it’s hard to deny that it’s no where near as popular as it once was. In the past, lunch and dinner were notoriously busy times to catch a meal and I can even remember a time when a reservation was required weeks, if not months, in advance for specific times. Today, that’s certainly not the case. A Whispering Canyon reservation could quite possibly be made a week before or even the day of your visit. It’s really fallen off in popularity and quite aggressively from my observations. For example, we’ll be catching breakfast at Whispering Canyon next week. If I go on the reservations site and pick the same day as our originally scheduled meal, I’m offered a time of 9:10, 9:25, and 9:45 as alternate options. Truth be told, if I picked any time during the day for just about any meal, the same degree of varied options would remain true. To me, this is a great thing! I can catch a reservation anytime I want! However, from Disney’s perspective, it’s far from ideal. 

That’s how and why I foresee some changes in the future for this great location. In some ways, I think those changes recently started with the change to “ketchup” no longer being yelled across the restaurant and multiple bottles brought to your table. It was a long time staple of the experience, but one that could be signaling larger changes in the future. When Disney was point blank asked about the change on social media, they responded saying that they had asked the cast to “turn down the volume” and a second report cited Disney stating that it was in part due to being considerate to the other guests staying at Wilderness Lodge. 

The first part of that response I can appreciate to a certain extent. When you walk in Wilderness Lodge, you will inevitably hear the cast members and the antics of the restaurant, but I’ve never once been off-put by that. The second response they shared is a little more interesting to me. First, I’ve never heard even one guest complain of noise at Wilderness Lodge. It may be possible if your room is one of the select few bordering the lobby in the main open atrium, but even then this seems like a stretch. I’ve stayed at this resort many times and never had even the slightest concern about noise. Of course, I’m not the only one who stays there so it could happen but again, I see how this could be something to look out for in the future. Changes seem inevitable but at the same time, this could be nothing at all. Maybe the cast members got sick of yelling for ketchup every so often and wanted to see a change? Obviously there’s no way to know for sure, but considering other factors, such as the lower crowds at meal times, it’s hard not to wonder what may be next for this portion of the resort. Right now, the “Ketchup” change is the only classic aspect of the restaurant that has gone away or is being phased out and hopefully it may be the only change going forward.   


Also worth mentioning here is the option they implemented relatively recently (which appears to have possibly been phased back out or is only being used sporadcially) for guests to flip a coaster up to partake in the action and fun times, or to turn it over to signal the waiter that you’d rather sit out from that part of the experience. We’ve seen this actually implemented 1 or 2 visits out of our multiple visits in the last 3 years or so. Truthfully, even when it was in place, it appeared as if the cast went on with their usual “act” no matter what the coaster was flipped to. This could be a big aspect of change in the future if they keep toning down the jokes and antics over time. It’s no secret that a lot of society isn’t quite as open to joking and poking fun at each other as it once was. Personally, I see that as essentially one of those things where if you can’t laugh at yourself or at your own expense from time to time, you’re really going to be missing out on a lot of fun in life. With that being said, a restaurant like this one and even 50’s Prime Time Cafe over at Hollywood Studios isn’t necessarily the best fit for everyone.      

After seeing a few things and a few speculations start to pop up online, it’s hard not to think there’s more to this than meets the eye. Obviously they’re trying to change something or trying to appeal to a broader range of guests. Inevitably, my guess is that they are trying to draw heavier crowds back to this table service option. How far they’ll change things, we’ll have to wait and see to find out. One thing I will say is that it appears the changes inside the restaurant have already begun. 

On our last trip, back in March, we had the chance to speak with the chef and in doing so found that it is an entirely new gentlemen “running the show” in the kitchen. He was incredibly clean cut, and incredibly nice, but still stayed true to a respectable level of humor interacting with the other cast/servers when he was on the floor. When I first saw him and he started talking with our table, I couldn’t help but think that the menu could be changing. At this point, I can’t say that I’ve seen many of the “staples” of the experience changing, like the classic “Canyon Skillet,” but it does appear that some changes are certainly being made over time. We’ll be back over there soon, so I’ll try to update you on how the food offerings may have changed once again. This chef could have just been “new to us” rather than new to restaurant, but we had never met with this same chef in the past.   

Truthfully, I don’t see the Canyon Skillet going anywhere but at the same time, I would not be surprised if we start seeing a move away from the comedy style atmosphere into something that is more subtle and toned down in nature like Ohana at the Polynesian or even Garden Grill (Which we recently named One of the Best Breakfasts on Disney Property) Of course, this is all simply my opinion and may or may not hold true in the future. I legitimately have no “insider” info or anything of the sort on this one, nor do I claim to, but it just makes sense to me that this is likely a change in the works. 

It may not change today, or maybe not even this year, but I can’t remember a single location on property that has faced something like this or has been left unchanged when facing decreased crowd levels. If a change does arrive, here’s my best guess as to what will happen and one or two that I hope will happen: 

1. Things will get quieter (which they already have to a minor extent).
2. Meal offerings may make a move to “higher end” options. 
3. Characters could be introduced (in my opinion this would be great and could really revitalize this place in a neat way – this may be a long shot though). 
4. Physical dining room theming could change slightly. 
5. There could be some cast changes. 

All of the above are simply my opinion, but at the same time, these are typical ways in which Disney restaurants have been revitalized in the past. Without the slightest doubt, I believe that this location has been and always will remain a hidden gem of Disney dining, but the recent changes certainly raise a certain bit of concern. Best case scenario, I wouldn’t mind seeing this place remain the same as it has always been and is currently (even with the recent “Ketchup” change). On the contrary, from a business standpoint, it only makes sense to change in order to draw a greater crowd level to the location. We’ll just have to wait and see what happens! What are your thoughts on this? is it just me that feels like a long term change here is inevitable or do you feel the same way? Be sure to let me know in the comments on your favorite social media platform! If you enjoyed this, don’t forget to share it with friends. Your shares are genuinely the main thing that helps this site grow and we truly appreciate your support.                                                  

Your Thoughts

As always, if you have thoughts, concerns, questions, or even some tips of your own to share, don’t hesitate to reach out to us on Facebook or your favorite social media platform. Give us a follow while you’re there, and we’ll keep the conversation going in the future. We’re not the largest Disney community, but we’re one that’s here and one that listens. Thanks for reading and have a wonderful day wherever you are! My email is always open, so don’t hesitate to send a question or feedback my way! – guide4wdw@gmail.com 

Ready to Plan?

Last but certainly not least, if you’re starting the planning process, a great place to start are with some of our top planning articles! Looking for dining? Check out Disney World Dining Tips For 2018. Want to start with some more tips? 44 Excellent Disney World Tips for 2018 or Disney World Planning Guide and Tips For 2018 are a great place to begin! Looking to save money on tickets? Check out our friends over at The Official Ticket Center for great deals that even made it into our 2018 Discount Disney World Ticket selections and another great way to help us create more content through your contributions at no additional cost to you! You’ll probably even save money along the way. 

Our Top Magic Kingdom Fireworks Viewing Locations for 2018

by Guide4WDW

by: guide4wdw – Collin

Our Top Magic Kingdom Fireworks Viewing Locations for 2018 

With Happily Ever After recently passing the one year mark entertaining guests on a near nightly basis, we’re looking back at a few of our top viewing locations for this show and why we chose those particular locations. Some of these choices will be rather straight forward but at the same time a select few of these may be locations you’ve never even thought about watching the show from. 
Happily Ever After is unique for a few reasons. First and foremost, this Magic Kingdom spectacular features projections and truthfully it relies heavily on them as the show progresses. Second, this show is very brightly colored compared to past fireworks spectaculars. Personally, I see the colors as a huge strongpoint for this experience. For example, just look at the array of colors in the photo below. Prepare yourself for a little amateur photography jargon. The photo itself is a long exposure of about the last 10-15 seconds of the performance. For non-photo people that’s essentially like taking a video of the last 10-15 seconds of the show and compressing it all into one photo… hopefully that makes sense? Either way, it’s kind of beside the point because what I hope to show with this image is just how colorful these burst can be. It’s unique from about every other show I’ve personally seen at Disney or even elsewhere. 
As for the first point mentioned of the projections, if you really and truly want to get the full Happily Ever After experience, you’ll want to have a view of the majority of the castle wherever you’re standing for the show. If you’re not too concerned about all the projection details, or you’ve seen the show many times, there are quite a few options for places where you can get partial views of the projections but incredibly enjoyable and unique views of the fireworks without facing the crowds of Main Street quite as much. 
Last but certainly not least before we start listing locations, it’s worth mentioning that right now (early summer of 2018), Happily Ever After crowds are incredibly high before the show. I’m not talking old wishes-esque crowds where it was tough to get a spot around the partners statue. I’m talking, there will be a sea of people most nights shoulder to shoulder from the front of the castle all the way back to Casey’s corner and beyond. If you want a prime spot, get there early and right now for relatively peak crowds 45 minutes to an hour before showtime is likely what it will take for a fairly “prime” spot. If you want that “perfect” spot (in regards to guest demand), right behind the partners statue, be prepared to get there very very early and stand your ground. People can get aggressive so be patient and it’ll work out.
I’m typically not a person to wait around too terribly long for fireworks unless there’s some special occasion, simply because I find it’s not the best use of my time in the park. If you’re careful and a touch patient you can find a good spot 20 minutes or so before the show and can use the other time you would have spent staking out your spot enjoying an ice-cream at the parlor or even shopping for a while on Main Street. So, while that’s not entirely a comprehensive series of tips for this show, they’re some things you may want to consider before picking out a spot from our list. Also worth mentioning is that this is not an end all be all list. There are so many different spots to view this show that its all in what you want to get out of the experience.

The Happily Ever After Viewing “Zones” 

As we start to get into some specific spots in detail, here’s essentially the breakdown of the viewing areas of the show… at least in the way I see them. As always, the thoughts shared about these specific locations are simply my own opinion and yours could certainly differ. Either way, hopefully this gives you a closer look at what to expect from different areas of the park! The goal is that a few of our favorites of the group stand out or at least give you a few ideas for your next trip to Magic Kingdom.      

The Very Front: 

Truth be told, I see this as one of the very worst fireworks viewing locations for a couple reasons. If you’re right up by the stage of the castle two things are going to happen. First, you’re going to wait forever to keep your spot. Second, as the show starts you’re going to be looking straight up at the castle. For the projections that isn’t all that bad but at the same time it isn’t even close to an ideal viewing spot for the fireworks being launched from the rear launch site, because as counter productive as it sounds the castle will be in your way.

Near The Partners Statue: 

As arguably the best view of Happily Ever After, staking out a spot right behind or even near the partners statue is incredibly difficult to do. You’ll be competing with not only guests but likely a few photographers as well who are looking for that perfect shot of the castle. With that mentioned, if you’re patient and willing to wait, this is an incredible spot for this particular show. For the older wishes show it wasn’t all that great simply because there was very little castle involvement with the performance itself. Happily Ever After is the complete opposite. The castle and castle projections are a huge part of the experience and this spot really does blend the “best of both worlds.”

Between the Hub Grass:

If you’ve been to Walt Dinsey World in the last few years, you’re likely aware that the hub grass itself has become incredible viewing locations for fireworks right past the outdoor seating area of Casey’s as you walk towards the castle on each side of the street. However, the area is almost always used for special parties, dessert parties, or as a fastpass+ viewing area. There are a few exceptions and one big exception is Very Merry Christmas Parties.

If you are planning a trip including an official party event be aware that there are typically no blocked off areas for those events and as a result this spot can make for an incredible viewing area. For example, during our 2016 trip to the parks for the Christmas season we were not only able to grab a spot before show time, but we also got to sit back and relax in the hub grass throughout the entire show. Truthfully, that is unheard of. We soaked up every minute of it and it was the perfect spot for the show. Not a single guest stood up and everyone just seemed happy to enjoy the show from a seated position. Obviously that’s not the norm and may be a once in a lifetime experience, but it’s worth noting that this viewing area is open to everyone during special parties and very few take full advantage of it.

The hubgrass area itself is almost always taken, as mentioned, but on a typical day the area of Main Street in between the two grassy spots is open to anyone and can be a great spot because it is a touch higher due to a natural “peak” to the street before it falls just a touch as you move towards the partners statue. I know that sounds crazy, but there is in fact a little ridge as you move towards the castle on your way down main street. It’s hardly noticeable in person but if you google some empty parks pictures you can see the rise in the pavement. It’s a bit of a hidden gem spot and one that tends to fill up a bit later on. This spot offers a fairly good view of the projections and a great view of the fireworks high above you without facing some of the daunting crowds around the Partners statue.    

On Main Street: 

Here’s the thing about Main Street. Personally, I love to watch from here. If you have even remotely good eyesight you can still see the projections (as long as you’re not way down by the train station) and you’re the perfect distance to catch the near ideal framing of the fireworks over Cinderella’s Castle. The main thing about Main Street is that you want your spot to fall between the Plaza Ice Cream Parlor and the Main Street Bakery (now better known as Starbucks… but don’t get me started on that one lol). If you get farther down the street towards the exits you’re going to face a couple of things. First, the buildings are going to infringe upon your view just slightly but more importantly the farther from the castle you get the smaller the projections appear. If you stay in that “sweet spot” I mentioned, you’ll get two major benefits. First, the crowds are lighter as everyone is starting to pick up on the “closer being better” philosophy for Happily Ever After. Second, the views are still pretty awesome. If you like the look of the photos in this article, every single one of them were taken from this exact spot which I managed to find 20 minutes before the show. It does fill in the last 10-15 minutes or so before the performance in the sky but this is a pretty ideal last minute spot.

The Train Station:

This is perhaps the most iconic viewing location on all of Main Street and it does fill up quite quickly. But… here’s the thing. Happily Ever After is not a great show to view from the iconic second story of the train station. Sure, it’s super nostalgic and the view of Main Street is truly second to none, but at the same time the projections are hardly recognizable at that distance and 99% of the year there’s a flag pole tight in the middle of your view. If it was my personal trip and viewing opportunity I’d pick another spot unless its simply tradition for you and your family.

Behind the Castle:

This one seems a bit odd, but give it a chance if you’ve seen the show at least one time before from in front of the castle. The view from behind the castle is incredibly unique. You have the fireworks near the castle bursting up front, but at the same time you can catch the larger bursts from the rear launch site peaking over the top of New Fantasyland behind you if you’re facing the back of the castle. In my opinion the ideal spot back here is near the front of Seven Dwarfs Mine Train and Enchanted Tales With Belle between the castle shaped entrance to New Fantasyland.

When you stand here, or even over a bit closer to Pinocchio Village Haus, the experience is far different than anywhere else in the park. The sounds are second to none and echoing bursts leaving the buildings on each side of the castle is quite the sensory experience. If you’re lucky enough to secure a seat in the outdoor area of Pinocchio’s, you’re definitely in for a treat and a dinner with a show!    

Wrapping Up

As you can see, there are a ton of great locations for fireworks viewing and no one option is going to fit all preferences. Much like other aspects of Walt Disney World, your preferred fireworks view is going vary vastly from the next person you talk to or even pass in the parks. So, what’s my recommendation? Honestly, I don’t have a favorite viewing location. I love the environment of viewing the show from Main Street because there’s just a classic element to the experience, but it’s not necessarily the best view overall. So, if I had to give a recommendation, I’d say to look through the options above and pick what seems most intriguing to you. If that spot is already full when you’re looking for a place in the parks during your trip, try another one on the list. Knowing a variety of options is half the battle when the crowds are heavy and from time to time the area in front of the castle will fill all the way down Main Street. If you run into that situation, you’ve got a few great options still. Behind the castle is a go to spot (as mentioned), but you can also see a portion of the show right in front of Splash Mountain and even a select portion of the experience from the bridge overlooking Tom Sawyer Island. If you’re looking for something a bit more unique, head over to the bridge that leads over to Starlight Cafe or the bridge on the opposite side leading into Liberty Square. It will undoubtedly be a somewhat obstructed view, but still a rather good view nonetheless.  

No matter what, just catching a glimpse of this show from anywhere in the park is certainly worth taking the time to enjoy for even just a few minutes. Fireworks have a weird way of bringing people together and creating a moment that will exceed your wildest expectations. Along the way, Disney fireworks shows will likely ruin all other fireworks shows for you in the future, but we can’t complain too much about that!

Your Thoughts

As always, if you have thoughts, concerns, questions, or even some tips of your own to share, don’t hesitate to reach out to us on Facebook or your favorite social media platform. Give us a follow while you’re there, and we’ll keep the conversation going in the future. We’re not the largest Disney community, but we’re one that’s here and one that listens. Thanks for reading and have a wonderful day wherever you are! My email is always open, so don’t hesitate to send a question or feedback my way! – guide4wdw@gmail.com 


Ready to Plan?

Last but certainly not least, if you’re starting the planning process, a great place to start are with some of our top planning articles! Looking for dining? Check out Disney World Dining Tips For 2018. Want to start with some more tips? 44 Excellent Disney World Tips for 2018 or Disney World Planning Guide and Tips For 2018 are a great place to begin! Looking to save money on tickets? Check out our friends over at The Official Ticket Center for great deals that even made it into our 2018 Discount Disney World Ticket selections and another great way to help us create more content through your contributions at no additional cost to you! You’ll probably even save money along the way.