Tag: Dining

Our New Favorite Disney Dinner Buffet – Cape May Cafe

by Guide4WDW

by: guide4wdw – Collin

Our New Favorite Disney Dinner Buffet – Cape May Cafe 

As many of you may know, when I travel to Disney food is inevitably a big part of the experience. We’ve had our dining favorites for years, but recently we stepped out of our comfort zone and typical restaurant picks to try Cape May Cafe at Disney’s Beach Club Resort. This was, without a doubt, a last minute reservation. During our stay we happened to be spending some time at the pool at Disney’s Boulder Ridge Villas (an excellent resort) and decided we would check and see what dinner reservations we could come up with for that particular night. In the past we’ve had fairly decent luck securing truly last second reservations and this was no different. We ended up settling for a 5:15 reservation in hopes that we could skip lunch and just enjoy a nice dinner instead. Long story made short, it was a near perfect meal for our situation.  


Who Is Cape May Best Suited For?  

Truthfully, this isn’t a restaurant I would consider for families with very young children at the dinner meal time. The food is largely seafood based and while there are a fair amount of options focused on kids, they are far less numerous than other Disney buffets at a similar price point. 

However, it is without a doubt what I consider the best buffet for adults on Disney property at this point in time (July 3rd 2018). It’s upscale enough to be a great “night out” and a night away from the busy nature of the parks but at the same time casual enough that you don’t feel out of place in a pair of shorts and a t-shirt. The atmosphere makes you feel as if you’re at a beachside restaurant and almost makes you feel as if you walked out the back of the resort you’d be standing on a sandy beach. It really is expertly themed and if you do want get that beach feel, there is even a man made beach just steps away from the main lobby and this dining location. 

The surrounding resort area is truly spectacular and lends itself to some of the most picturesque sunsets you’ll find anywhere in Florida. If you catch the right night with those beautiful Florida sunsets, the scenery alone will make the meal worth your time and money.


What’s on the Menu? 

As with any Disney buffet, menu items will likely change slightly from time to time. Thankfully, this is a buffet offering, so if something that was once previously there is gone, there’s always something else to try. 

The highlight of the offerings in my opinion are the all you can eat snow crab legs. If you enjoy crab legs as much as I do, it’s a dream come true (lol). The crab legs are steamed to perfection, always hot and ready, and there are plenty to go around! On top of that excellent offering, there’s an assortment of breads (the cornbread is delicious), an assortment of different pastas (all of which were great), mashed potatoes, macaroni and cheese, a carving station, seasoned vegetables, an excellent mixed salad, salmon, fish bites (I can’t remember what type of fish they were, but it was fresh made and fried white fish), a type of soup, a selection of cheeses, ribs, pizza, clams, mussels, a large assortment of desserts, and more that I likely overlooked. The desserts even included a top your own cake section with chocolate sauce and caramel available. (See the array of photos below for buffet options. These photos do not include everything, but there is a massive variety. Pardon the image quality, we didn’t want to freak anyone out with a DSLR at the buffet so we opted for iPhone photos.) 



Everything we tried was excellent and our server was attentive and a top notch cast member. At the end of the meal you’re even brought a warm and slightly damp towel to get rid of the “fishy” smell before returning to the parks or heading outside to enjoy the views or even the festivities of the neighboring Boardwalk Resort. Truthfully, this is a little known and highly enjoyable meal that is easy to get a reservation for and an excellent option for those looking to step away from Epcot for a little while to enjoy a meal or escape the heat for even a short amount time. 

What Does It Cost?

If there’s one down side to this meal it is inevitably the cost of the experience. For our group of four adults the price came out to $191.70 before the tip (around $45 per person). It’s not cheap by any stretch of the imagination, but the quality of the food and the level of the experience is ultimately worth the cost in my opinion. If you compare it to other dinner buffets at the parks and resorts, it does come in at slightly above average from a pricing standpoint, but if you have kids or a smaller party, your bill will be inevitably lower. 

I’m a bit bias because we have been to the parks many times, but personally I see the cost of this meal well worth what you receive and the overall experience. To me, it is the perfect night at Disney. A great meal, great company, a picturesque view and live entertainment just steps from the restaurant, and quite possibly a short walk over to Epcot for the fireworks. I can’t really think of anything that would be more enjoyable. It’s a simple night, but sometimes those simple moments with those we care the most about are what really stick with you for years on end. It isn’t always about the attractions, or even the grand shows and special events. Sometimes, something as simple as a meal and a casual walk around Crescent Lake is all it takes to create memories of a lifetime. 


You see, I recommend this restaurant not only because the food is great or even because the cast is excellent, but rather because of the night it helps develop. You can eat here, skip a lunch, or even skip a park day, and enjoy every minute of the experience. Sure, the meal is expensive, but if you couple this night with a pool day or even a short walk over to play some miniature golf at Fantasia Gardens (free vouchers are typically included with some on-property resort packages), you can skip the parks and save a bit of money to make up for the cost of the meal. Some of our “resort days” have created some of the most incredible memories out of our multiple Disney vacations over the years. If you’re on the fence about this one like we were, give it a shot and I can almost guarantee you wont be disappointed. This is not a character meal at dinner (it is at breakfast), but it’s still well worth your time! I highly recommend it and we’ll definitely be back soon.       

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 Disney Hidden Gem Dining Location – Geyser Point Bar and Grill!

by Guide4WDW

by: guide4wdw – Collin

A Disney Hidden Gem Dining Location – Geyser Point Bar and Grill!

The quick service dining locations at Disney World resort hotels are what I consider one of the more overlooked aspects of a Disney vacation. Geyser Point at Disney’s Wilderness Lodge is the perfect example of a unique food location that so many guests completely overlook unless they’re staying at that particular resort. The location is perhaps a hidden gem simply because of the limited “press” or even the desire by those who eat there frequently to keep it a secret (and I can’t blame them). It truly is a memorable and fairly budget friendly dining location. 

Geyser point is perched right on the edge of Bay Lake with a shockingly picturesque and panoramic view of the Contemporary all the way across to Fort Wilderness. The dining area subtly blends in with the landscape and theming of the resort as a whole but remains minimalistic and open-air allowing guests to take in the views with little to no obstruction. It is, without a doubt, one of my favorite places in Disney to just go sit and escape for a few minutes. You can enjoy a nice meal, share some conversation, and simply enjoy “being there” in the moment at a property so many of us know and love. 

The food is great and even though I’ve spent most of meals here carrying them away from the walk up counter, there is table service style dining available. The seating is fairly limited for table service and bar style lounging, but if you get there early enough it’s a great place to enjoy a few hours relaxing on the edge of the lake enjoying the views as the sun sets over the water.


How Is The Food? 

The food is nothing short of excellent for the money. It is a touch pricier than Casey’s or something similar in the parks, but the location and the benefits of the place itself tend to make up for the cost, especially if you take advantage of the semi-table service, almost lounge-like dining option. Again, I can only really speak to the walk up section of the location  but at the same time we have thoroughly enjoyed a few separate meals over the last few years at Geyser Point. 

As far as food specifics, I am notorious for trying burgers at Disney, because to be quite honest there aren’t that many great places to pick up a cheeseburger. There are a ton of good places to get a burger but very few that are “great.” I’m happy to share that the burger here with Bacon, Tillamook Cheddar, Lettuce and Tomato served on an Artisan Roll and choice of Multigrain Salad or Waffle Fries is one of the best meals for your money at the Disney resorts. It’s a great sized burger that’s not too filling but not overly small either. It’s the perfect lunch or dinner size for those looking to get full but not necessarily over eat in the process. The waffle fries paired with the burger are also quite outstanding. The fries are crisp and always seem to be made fresh for each guest. As a result, you do tend to have to wait a touch longer here for your food than other counter service locations, but the typical time frame is less than 10 minutes at the walk up window.

Another item we tried on our last visit was the smoked turkey sandwich topped with Lettuce, Tomato and Cranberry Mayonnaise served with choice of Multigrain Salad or Waffle Fries. The multigrain salad is a bit strange and truthfully included a few things in it that I didn’t entirely recognize so again, we opted for the fries based on past experiences. The sandwich was good, but the individual who ate a majority of it did say that they would order the burger next time instead of that particular meal item. The burger was a touch more expensive at $12.49 compared to the turkey at $10.49 but the rich in flavor Tillamook cheddar cheese on the cheeseburger really sets it apart and has made it our top pick here.           

Once your food is prepared, if you order it to-go, it’s carefully boxed up in little brown boxes that have a slight waxy texture to them that keeps ketchup and other things you may put in the box from seeping through. It’s not a huge detail, but always a plus if you plan on taking it to your resort room or for grabbing a bite of food on your way to your next location. Also worth mentioning is that if you are staying at the resort food can be brought right to your spot at the pool. 


The Atmosphere  

As many of you may know, I’m a sucker for Wilderness Lodge and it’s theming as a whole. If you’re not familiar with my unhealthy obsession (lol), check out our Disney’s Boulder Ridge Villas at Wilderness Lodge – An Excellent Villa Option post where I rave about that experience in great detail or even our Are Disney World Club Level Accommodations Worth It? post from our stay last year. Setting that aside though, Geyser Point is everything I think a blended dining experience should be. It has “table service” (in a way) for those who want it, a lounge style offering, and even a quick grab and go option. While the menu isn’t all that expansive, it does offer a little something for about every guests preferences. 

The standout aspect of this is, without a doubt, the environment. That view coupled with the right weather is an unbeatable combination. Truthfully, it can be very hot in the middle of the hottest summer days but early morning and late nights paired with multiple fans circulating the air makes for a great setting. 

We spent a morning here (before the bar area officially opened) talking with a friend and simply enjoying the seating. It turned out to be the perfect venue. The weather was spectacular and the quiet nature of the restaurant before the official table service option opened was the perfect combination. If you’re planning on a day of touring the resorts or even taking a break from the parks for a few hours, this is the ideal place to do it. Its a short boat ride from Magic Kingdom, a monorail and boat ride from any of the Magic Kingdom area resorts, and a short bus ride from any other park!  


Would I Recommend Geyser Point? 

As usual, at this point in the article, you likely know my answer. In this case it’s a resounding yes, but only in limited circumstances. If you’re traveling in the heart of the summer and looking for a lunch spot, skip this location! If you’re looking for a casual place to relax in the morning or catch a meal after the sun goes down, this is the perfect place to do so and one that I highly recommend. Breakfast is served here in a limited capacity but only in a counter service format. Truthfully, more than anything else, this is just a great place to hang out with a few friends or family. We’ve really enjoyed it time and time again, and it certainly gets our stamp of approval! 

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.

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.

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 Picks For the Best Disney World Dining Plan Restaurants in 2018

by Guide4WDW

by: guide4wdw – Collin

Our Picks For the Best Disney World Dining Plan Restaurants in 2018


Today, we’re taking a closer look at the Dining Plan at Walt Disney World and what we see as some of the best value for your dining credit offerings in the realm of Walt Disney World dining opportunities. As with anything Disney, every individual guest is going to have their own particular preferences and that’s one of the main reasons I recommend trying any restaurant on property and attempting to do so with an open mind at least once before passing judgement on the particular location. 


Honestly, we’re typically those Disney guests that tend to repeat our favorite dining locations time and time again, but at the same time we strive to try at least one entirely new dining offering each and every time we visit Walt Disney World. With that being said, we are inevitably bias towards a few of our favorites and truth be told we enjoy Disney buffets more than the average guest, but it tends to be what works for us. Of course, we do try various table service offerings in a more classic since and a few even made our list today, but don’t be surprised if you see a buffet or family style offering pop up along the way. Truth be told, that’s really the only foreword we should really add to this post before we dive right in. 

Is The Disney Dining Plan Even Your Best Dining Option

It is worth mentioning that over the years we have largely avoided the dining plan. If you really think about it, most guests are buying the dining plan for one of two reasons (of course there are a few exceptions): 1. convenience or 2. perceived savings. 

The first option is perhaps the most beneficial facet the Disney dining plan expertly brings to the table and quite possibly should be the selling point for of the plan altogether. I will say, more than anything else, the Disney Dining plan is outstandingly convenient. You don’t have to worry about hidden meal costs, or setting aside a budget for that part of your vacation once you arrive at the parks, or even be too concerned about knowing what your dining will cost. Disney sets up the payment for you and essentially you have a set number of what your vacation is going to cost before you ever leave home. It’s incredibly convenient, but also features on major caveat in my opinion. 

Unless you plan on a focus of your vacation being dining, a vast majority of guests will not and likely can not physically eat and enjoy all that is provided on the regular dining plan. It’s a ton of food, and if you know that and want that going in, by all means enjoy the dining plan. We’ve done it before ourselves and sometimes that turns out to be a perfect trip, but don’t fall into the perceived savings mindset that we mentioned as our second reason. 

A shocking amount of guests have told me over the years that they thought the dining plan was going to save them money. Honestly, for a vast majority of guests that isn’t going to be the case and that is likely one of the biggest reasons Disney does not market it in that way. If you really break it down and order all high priced menu items, use every single snack credit you are provided, and really go all out on the dining plan, the numbers typically come out to within a few pennies of what you would have spent out of pocket if bought the exact same thing. That’s the kicker to the whole thing. Most guests are not going to buy as many meals and snacks when they’re paying for it directly out of pocket compared to the meal plan. 

Personally, I don’t want to tell anyone what’s “best” regarding the Disney dining plan or avoiding the Disney dining plan, largely because that is a question that I can’t answer. We’ve had excellent trips doing things both ways. Chances are you’ll save money by avoiding the plan, but at the same time it’s quite difficult to put a price on the convenience factor. Overall, I’d say do your research and figure out what is going to be the better option for your situation. Every single guest is going to travel just a little bit differently and it’s something I’d recommend considering for sure, but also recognize that it’s not a make or break decision in the overall Disney World vacation experience.    

With all the little details out of the way, here’s a few of the locations that we see as top Disney World Dining Plan Restaurants for your dining plan credits! 

Table Service Disney Dining Plan Offerings

Table service is typically the place where you can really make the most of your dining plan offerings. Table service is typically a high priced meal on property and most of the time you can order anything on the menu when you’re utilizing the Disney dining plan credits. For many, this is where the plan shines. Many guests, including myself, will either order something they never would have paid for directly out of pocket if they visited the restaurant previously or they will choose to try something entirely new just because it’s already paid for.  Of course, you are paying for it in a round about way, but it’s not quite the same shock when you receive the bill for the meal. 

If you notice below, there’s on main caveat to our list and that is that you will not find any 2 credit signature restaurants on our list. While those are outstanding meals, the fact that the offerings essentially replace another table service meal has and always will be hard for me to rationalize. In my mind, if I’m going to potentially give up an additional table service meal for a two credit signature offering, that one meal is going to have to be near equivalent in price to make it worth it. For me it’s hard to give up two $40 meals and accompanying meal experiences for a single offering elsewhere. For some guests, that may work out great for you, but it’s not something I would personally recommend. 
          


The Crystal Palace

Crystal Palace is and likely always will be a top pick for my family. For us, it is the perfect array of options. There’s something on the buffet that all of us like and just about every guest will find something they really enjoy from the lineup of options on the buffet. If you don’t like what you pick, go grab something else and keep repeating the process as you go until you find something you really enjoy. 

For me, the ideal meal at Disney’s Crystal Palace is breakfast. If you schedule it late enough in the day, you might catch a few bites of the lunch buffet offerings, and if you schedule it at just the right time you can accomplish a ton of attractions from the time Magic Kingdom opens to the time you arrive at your meal just as the crowds start to build. (As we shared in our How to Ride 6 or More Attractions in 90 Minutes or Less: With Only 1 Fastpass+!) 
If you wait just a touch later in the day, Crystal Palace offers a great buffet lunch that is great for families with kids. It’s not the most luxurious of offerings and isn’t entirely designed to be, but the array of food from salmon to chicken offer each and every guest something to enjoy. Just be aware, if you are paying out of pocket, dinner here is far more expensive than lunch and is a very comparable menu.    


The Garden Grill Breakfast 

With this one I’m even surprising myself. For years I did not like Garden Grill. The menu didn’t appeal to me and to be quite honest it wasn’t something I would ever look forward to on a vacation when we did decide to book it on rare occasions.

A few short years ago that completely changed. I’m still not a huge proponent of their other meal offerings, but I can honestly say Garden Grill is the best Epcot area breakfast I’ve personally experienced. To me, it’s the ideal offering and the ideal location to eat for an Epcot morning. You can schedule a mid-morning breakfast, tour the main attractions near the front of the park early on in the day before your meal, and prepare for the world showcase after your breakfast. As the afternoon turns into night you can set up a table service dinner or enjoy the various festival kitchens and limited time offerings of the showcase depending on when you travel the rest of the day.

Setting that thought aside, the food at Garden Grill is quite simple and while I wont go into it in too great of detail, you can read our full review over on our The Garden Grill – One of the Best Breakfasts on Disney Property post. I know that title alone sounds like an over exaggeration but we really enjoyed this offering and it truly is an outstanding way to jump start your day with a nice breakfast and quality cast members. 


Teppan Edo

As touched on above, Teppan Edo is the perfect late lunch or dinner offering at Epcot (or to accompany a table service breakfast earlier in the day if you’re hungry enough to do a table service dinner too!). The offering is fairly pricey out of pocket but on the dining plan you walk in and order whatever you want and it all (in theory) costs the same amount. Teppan Edo is great because it’s not only a great meal and a filling meal but it’s sort of a dinner and a show. Many guests are hesitant to take kids here but they are fairly accommodating to children and most young guests really enjoy the hibachi style experience even if they don’t necessarily love their meal.

A few words of warning on this one. If you are your kids do not like to be around strangers, this may not be your best option. Every once in a while groups will get paired with other families to fill the spots surrounding the hibachi grill. It’s not just a Disney thing but a commonly accepted practice for this type of a meal. Disney seems a touch more hesitant to group parties but it’s something to be aware of. Additionally, if your kids are sacred of fire or do not like loud-ish noises, I cannot recommend this meal. Other than those two things, I highly recommend this offering. The food is excellent the display is entertaining and the cast is top notch as well. 
        

Tusker House  

Tusker House makes my list for two main reasons. One, it is likely the ideal and perhaps only true family centered Disney branded offering in Animal Kingdom for table service. There are other meals in the park, but none that really offer the ideal situation for families that this restaurant provides. The character interaction is great, the food is a good variation of creative African inspired offerings and slightly more typical and recognizable buffet items than other options in the park.

If you’re traveling with a picky eater, this is a must do table service meal for you on the dining plan if you plan on spending a full day in Animal Kingdom. If they’re really picky, try and grab a breakfast reservation and you’ll be pleasantly surprised by the experience. Breakfast is the most popular dining offering here and it is quite difficult to secure a reservation as a result, but if you book it early in your reservation scheduling window, you shouldn’t have too hard of a time nailing down a time.   
      

Quick Service Disney Dining Plan Offerings

To the surprise of many first time guests, Disney quick service (counter service) is really starting to change and has been for the last 5 years or so. When New Fantasyland opened, and quite possibly even before that, a shocking move towards more unique quick service offerings started to arrive in the parks and over at the resorts. A movement started to take place where meals started to move away from burgers and fries and towards more filling and creative offerings. Perhaps the best example of this is Magic Kingdom. Currently at Magic Kingdom I can only think of one restaurant off hand that offers a burger as it’s main offering and that is over at Starlight Cafe (which is facing a variation of changes right now). If you posed that same circumstance 5 or even 10 years ago you’d likely face a much different realization. Personally, I love it and it has worked out excellently for Disney in the realm of social media. 

Today, it seems like every time you turn around a new fad or trending Disney meal item is sweeping the internet. It’s a great time to be a quick service fan and while there’s a ton of great offerings across property here are a few of our top picks.  

Sassagoula Floatworks and Food Factory

Floatworks is without a doubt my favorite quick service location on all of Disney property. Sure, unless you’re staying at Port Orleans, you’ll have to go out of your way to go visit it, but it is absolutely worth it. If you’re on the dining plan you can pick almost anything on the menu as your meal credit. The menu is vast and features a New Orleans inspired flair that is distinct but not necessarily off putting to those of us who have not been raised in New Orleans. 

If you’re going to go try it, stay for dessert and try the beignets. It’s the highlight of any trip to Port Orleans and perhaps the greatest “not-so-hidden” hidden gem of Disney dining.   


The Artist’s Palette

As another somewhat out of the ordinary offering to make our list, I highly recommend the Artist’s Palette at the Saratoga Springs Resort. Again, this will involve venturing out to a resort location you may or may not be staying at but it’s something I highly recommend trying.

I always recommend heading to the resorts to new and returning guests. It’s a great way to explore something entirely free of cost (minus the food costs), it expands your knowledge of where you may want to stay on a future trip, and opens up an entirely new world of hidden Disney elements to uncover and learn about along the way. It sounds so incredibly strange in writing but head to a resort and spend a few hours exploring the grounds and you may be shocked at how much you enjoy just being there. It’s tough to pull the time out a vacation to do just that, but I will guarantee you wont regret it. 

Exploring resorts is one of the most relaxing elements of any Disney trip for me, and has a way of opening up your mind and allowing you to let the worries of the world fade away as your kids play on a playground, play ping pong by the pool, or even ride a boat over to a neighboring resort. It’s beauty is in the simplicity and frees the mind in a way that is quite difficult to explain. When you feel it, you just know that you’re experiencing something special and everything else fades away. 

The Artist’s Palette itself is not too dissimilar to a typical deluxe resort dining location but it’s lack of crowds and slightly more interesting menu sets it apart in my book. With the soft music playing in the background, the pool within sight and a buffalo chicken panini headlining the menu (ok, maybe not headlining the menu for everyone but it’s headlining the menu in my book lol) there’s very little not to like about this offering and it’s a great value for your dining credit.          

La Cantina de San Angel

If I’m on the dining plan and not eating at one or both of the aforementioned dining locations above at Epcot, I’ll likely be stopping for a quick lunch here. With a waterfront location, a casual elegance when the interior seating is open to guests (just around the corner from the main outdoor dining area), this is simple quick service option at it’s finest. The meal offerings are nachos, tacos, empanadas and other typical Mexican food, but everything is largely sharable and a great way to get a taste of the Mexico pavilion before continuing on your way around the showcase. In the past, we’ve found that this location is a great way to start an afternoon of eating “around the world.” Share a nacho here with a friend or two and continue on your way around the showcase trying a a few bites of something in each country.
        

                            

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! 


Ready to Plan?

Need help planning your vacation? Let our friends over at Destinations to Travel (FREE – no obligation quote request form below) help you out at no additional cost to you! Their services are free and a great way for you to help out the site at no extra cost to you! Here’s a closer look at why I recommend an Authorized Disney Travel Planner!
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 Character Dining – A Few Top Picks

by Guide4WDW

by: guide4wdw – Caitlin
Caitlin’s stepping in today to share some of our favorite Character Dining offerings across Walt Disney World, but before you read today’s post be sure to check out all the hard work she puts into running our Instagram page! We’d be happy to have you following along with us!   

Dining at Disney is always top notch, but a character meal brings in great food along with family friendly entertainment. Character dining appeals to all ages and comes in a wide variety of options. That being said, it can be a challenge to determine which meal you should book for your trip. These meals can come with a hefty price tag due to their two-for-one experience. I’m here to offer up some of my favorite character meals along with a few that you may want to pass on.

Chef Mickey’s

Up first is a character meal featuring the OG Disney crew. At this location, you will be graced by Mickey himself, along with Minnie, Goofy, Donald, and Pluto. Chef Mickey’s is housed at Disney’s Contemporary Resort, one of my favorite resorts on property. This dining location is a great excuse to visit and is typically a welcomed break from the busyness or heat of the parks. Another detail to note is that the Contemporary is on the monorail loop, making it extremely accessible from Magic Kingdom.

Now, let’s talk about the food. Chef Mickey’s offers breakfast, brunch, and dinner. The restaurant is buffet style at all three times of the day. The menu is very American in cuisine variety; there is nothing too wild that might scare away a picky eater. Breakfast is my personal favorite, and it happens to be the least expensive meal as well. Honorable mentions include Mickey waffles, donut holes, and tater tots. Don’t worry, there are also several healthier options, if that’s your thing. Brunch is a similar menu with a few savory items added including baked salmon, BBQ ribs, and chicken nuggets for the kiddos (or kids at heart). Dinner is the priciest option, topping out at $60 per adult. That being said, there are several specialty menu items. Seafood, a carving station, and a sundae bar are a few of the highlights.

The food at this location is wonderful, and everyone loves a hug from Mickey Mouse. But, what makes this character meal truly special? Chef Mickey’s has a fantastic atmosphere. You can watch the monorail as it runs through the middle of the resort. The restaurant has an open air feel as it sits directly in the Contemporary’s lobby. One of my favorite parts of the experience is the music. Periodically, the characters dance (in their cute chef outfits) to the “Mickey Mouse March” where the guests are encouraged to wave their napkins above their heads and join the celebration. I can guarantee the song will be stuck in your head all day, in a good kind of way!

Crystal Palace Disney World Character Dining

Crystal Palace

Next, let’s travel to Magic Kingdom for my pick for best character meal inside the parks. This dining location is nestled right off of Main Street U.S.A. and is really quite beautiful to look at. The ornate, white exterior is one of my earliest Disney memories. There’s a beautiful front porch with direct views of the castle. This restaurant houses some of my very favorite characters – everyone’s friends from the Hundred Acre Woods. You will get hugs and love from Winnie the Pooh, Piglet, Eeyore, and Tigger.

Crystal Palace is one of my favorite buffets on all of property. Reservations can be made for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. I am partial to the breakfast and lunch buffet options. My personal favorite is the large grill located in the middle of the buffet. A chef will remain stationed there to create made-to-order breakfast items. My dad is extremely fond of creating the biggest omelet possible, and I’ve heard that if you ask nicely, you might get a chocolate chip pancake (or 3). Other items to note are the Mickey waffles, extremely fresh fruit (seriously, some of the best on property), and breakfast meats. At lunch, I look forward to giant chicken nuggets, baked salmon, and peel-n-eat shrimp. As mentioned above, our family doesn’t typically visit for dinner, but you can find similar options as those offered at lunch. Keep in mind, dinner at Disney always comes with a substantially higher price tag.
You probably noticed that I have some emotional attachments to Crystal Palace, and here’s why.

This restaurant always comes with a special memory. You can read about one of my favorite Disney cast member experiences of all time in Our Top 3 Buffets at Walt Disney World post which wasn’t entirely limited to strictly “buffets” by the typical definition of the word. The servers at this dining location are some of the best. We’ve heard the most wonderful stories from their many years of Disney experience. Recently, I celebrated my birthday at Crystal Palace. All cast members are special, but the ones here seem to strive for that extra bit of magic. Having visited this place an extensive amount of times, I will say that the character interactions at Crystal Palace are top notch. They spend a long time at each table and are very interactive, especially considering they’re not “face” characters.

This Disney dining location is one of the best, and I highly recommend trying it out. Pro tip: if you’re an early riser (or like me, can be one if you’re at Disney), schedule breakfast before the park opens. There’s no better way to get a special Disney experience than bypassing the lines and strolling down Main Street solo (assuming you don’t want to stay late and check out A One of A Kind Disney Experience: Shutting Down the Magic Kingdom!)

Disney World Character Dining

Be Our Guest

I’m sure you were wondering when I was going to throw in some princesses. Don’t worry, I didn’t forget about them. However, you may be surprised by my choice. Most people recommend Cinderella’s Royal Table, but that’s not my first pick. We will talk about that in more detail a little later. Be Our Guest is located in the New Fantasyland area of Magic Kingdom. From the exterior, it looks to be a bridge and merely a façade of the Beast’s castle. But, inside is arguably one of the most beautiful places on all of property. This dining location transports you directly to the world of Beauty and the Beast. I don’t say this often, but you cannot pass up the opportunity to visit this dining location. The thought and detail that went into creating this restaurant is phenomenal.

Upon entering, you’ll be greeted by a hallway of suits of armor. Then, the true magic hits as the restaurant opens up to the Grand Ballroom. It is quite literally a replica of where Belle danced in her yellow gown, complete with soft snow falling outside the windows. I’m still not sure how they do that. To the left of the ballroom, you’ll find the West Wing. And yes, the enchanted rose is housed there as well. From time to time, lightening will strike and a petal will fall. On the other side of the ballroom is a third room with a larger than life replica of Belle and Beast dancing to the subtle tune of music box-esque music flowing in the background. I highly recommend wandering around the castle, regardless of the room you end up dining in.

I should mention that I have only visited the castle for lunch, which is not a character meal. However, lunch offers lighter food at a friendlier price. Try the grey stuff – it really is quite delicious. Lunch is considered quick service, but reservations for are strongly recommended due to the high interest level of this location. All of that being said, if you want to meet Belle and Beast or you’re interested in the French cuisine, dinner is a fantastic option. Currently, dinner is a traditional sit down meal where you can order off of a given menu. Beginning in late July, an enhanced dinner experience will be offered. This will be a 3 course meal at $55 for adults and $35 for children. Your meal will begin with an appetizer, followed by a main course, and finished with dessert. This meal is for a more adventurous eater with menu items such as escargot and charred octopus. Desserts and children’s menu items have not been listed on Disney’s website, but should be available soon. If using the dining plan, the meal will take 2 table service credits with the upcoming menu change.

Cinderellas Castel at Night

What You Should Pass On

We don’t like to be negative around here, but we do feel it is our job to keep you informed. There are a few character meals we suggest skipping, especially if you have the opportunity to visit one of the other locations mentioned above.

Our first meal to pass on is Hollywood & Vine in Disney’s Hollywood Studios. This dining location is known for its Fantasmic! Dinner Package which guarantees you a spot for the show along with your meal. Although this is a nice perk, we recommend arriving early for the show and skipping the restaurant entirely. Recently, there have been some sub-par reviews of the food here, and we all know Disney has too many excellent dining locations to be eating somewhere that you won’t thoroughly enjoy or get your money’s worth. For a few of our other top suggestions, be sure to look at our Disney World Planning Guide and Tips For 2018.

The next meal to skip may be a little controversial. I am recommending passing over Cinderella’s Royal Table. Now, I completely understand if you have a little princess who is DYING to eat at the castle. If that is your case, go for it. But, if you’re a frequent Disney goer, or simply happy to view the castle from the outside, I do suggest you pass on this one. There’s a few specific reasons for this. One is the ultimately challenging task of snatching up a reservation. Cinderella doesn’t have much room up there, and the dining location is quite small. This also puts a damper on the whole occasion, in my opinion. When I think of the castle, I envision a beautiful, expansive space, and this is simply not the case. If you want to be in shock and awe, I whole-heartedly suggest Be Our Guest over this location. It is also worth noting that I have never been thoroughly impressed by the food here, especially for the pretty penny you’ll have to pay to be dining with royalty.

Tips and Tricks

Disney is getting increasingly more popular, and this can make it challenging to get the dining reservations you really want. You can read our best tips on how to snatch the most popular locations in our How to Secure Popular Reservations At Walt Disney World Nearly Every Time! post. However, my best tip is to be flexible; don’t lock yourself into a specific location or time. All of the restaurants I’ve shared are excellent choices, and I can guarantee you’ll love them as much as I do! We have some great friends who can help you plan your dining or your entire trip! Destinations to Travel are our travel agents that we know and love. You can submit a quote request by using the form below and take a look at why we recommend them in our Disney Travel Agents – Who Do I Recommend? overview.

Let us know your favorite character meals by leaving a comment below or tweeting us! We love to hear from you! Don’t forget to follow us on social media and SHARE this article if you enjoyed it! We love and appreciate all of our readers. -Caitlin

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! 


Ready to Plan?

Need help planning your vacation? Let our friends over at Destinations to Travel (FREE – no obligation quote request form below) help you out at no additional cost to you! Their services are free and a great way for you to help out the site at no extra cost to you! Here’s a closer look at why I recommend an Authorized Disney Travel Planner!
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 3 Buffets at Walt Disney World

by Guide4WDW

by: guide4wdw – Collin

In my opinion, no Disney vacation is complete without at least one excellent meal. No matter if you’re spending one day in Magic Kingdom or 7-10 days hitting all the parks and Disney Springs I firmly believe a great meal can transform your vacation. It doesn’t have to be a table service buffet. A counter service location or even simply a special snack can create memories of a lifetime. However, the benefit of the meal isn’t necessarily about the food, but rather the experience that meal creates.


So many people in today’s society are so busy that they don’t always have time to sit down as a family or with friends and just enjoy each others company. You can share a piece of your day, or a concern in your life, but more than anything sitting down together gives you that opportunity to put away the technology and connect with the people you care about the most. To me, that’s one of the prime strengths of any Disney vacation. When you step into that “Disney Property Bubble” you can leave the requirements of the world behind for just a few minutes and simply enjoy the moment. 

medianet_width = “728”; medianet_height = “90”; medianet_crid = “840150033”; medianet_versionId = “3111299”; //contextual.media.net/nmedianet.js?cid=8CUD9LO5TTo me, it doesn’t matter which of the hundreds of dining locations on property you choose to dine at, and it really doesn’t matter what type of meal it is. When you get that opportunity to sit with family around the table and just enjoy the moment and the excitement of your day, there’s truly nothing quite like it. It’s a simple joy that so often gets overlooked in the thrills of planning your vacation and one of the most exciting surprises that unfolds as you sit down for a meal at your desired location. I know that sounds trivial, but in the grand scheme of things the simple interactions we share with those we care the most about while on vacation are what we’ll remember for the rest of our lives. It’s the little things that you’ll remember after your vacation is completed. I’ve said it before, but no matter how great the attractions or dining locations are or even become in the future the true spirit of Disney is rooted in the memories you share with family. 

So, today we’ve come up with a few great buffet style options for your Disney vacation and a few that have created those lasting experiences for us over the years. While not everything on this list will be a strict “buffet” by the true sense of the word, some of our top picks utilize an all you can eat family style meal that rivals the experience of a full fledge buffet with the added benefit of it being brought right to you. 

1. Crystal Palace

I start with Crystal Palace for many reasons but one particular reason stands out well beyond the rest. On one of our most recent 7 day trips (see our 7 day itinerary if you’re looking to plan a similar vacation) to the parks, we actually ate here twice. The first time was through a typical reservation, but the second time we happened to score a last minute reservation as we scrolled through the My Disney Experience App (here’s how we go about last minute reservations). The second day was completely luck of the draw in a way, but we wouldn’t have even looked for it if it weren’t for the exemplary experience we had the previous day. 


Now, I should preface this with the fact that we’ve been going to Crystal Palace for years and absolutely love it each and every time. The menu works for our tastes and while it rarely changes, I can’t complain because they’re not attempting to fix something that isn’t broken in the first place. With that being said, I have to share the story of chef Ron. On our first trip to the dining location during our stay, we happened to notice that the mini corndogs that used to be a part of the kids buffet (I’m not ashamed to eat something off of the kids buffet lol) were no longer a part of the typical offerings. So, in a joking manner a few of us in the group were talking about it and it caught the attention of a chef who promptly came over to us and asked, with a big grin on his face, if we wanted corndogs. Naturally, we said yes, and Ron disappeared casually for about 10 minutes. As we made our way back to the table and started eating our first plate of the meal, Ron pops up out of nowhere with a gigantic bowl of corndogs for the whole family and sets it down at our table. I was expecting maybe a small plate or something of the sort, but he arrived with a huge smile on his face with the bowl full of probably 40+ mini corndogs gently draped with a white cloth. We were blown away and completely shocked by the presentation. 

For us, it wasn’t about the meal item (although the corndogs were hot and wonderful), but rather the fact that the chef went above and beyond to make a difference for our family that we never expected and he never had to go out of his way to create. Fast forward to the next day, for our second meal (at breakfast this time) and Ron happened to be around once again. He came over to us, struck up a brief conversation and managed to make our second experience just as welcoming as the first. That little story and many others just like it are the largest reason we will go back to Crystal Palace time and time again.      


2. Whispering Canyon

Much like Crystal Palace, Whispering Canyon has been apart of our vacations for years on end. The number of excellent interactions with cast members we’ve shared with family there could never be fully expressed in words. The cast honestly makes every necessary attempt to assure you not only enjoy your meal but also leave with a laugh and a smile on your face. The food is excellent, and the Canyon Skillet is a show stopping entree (served family style), but that’s not what sets this apart. Jethro and Sunshine, to simply name two particular cast members have personally made a difference in our vacations over the years along with many others. 

I can particularly recall one meal where we weren’t having the best day for a variety of reasons. We were extremely exhausted and it was late in the week, and the mood of the day was quickly headed in the wrong direction until we arrived at Wilderness Lodge.

Join the Event


From the moment the meal started, Sunshine showed up at our table with a big smile and a friendly persona that brought a little bit of extra joy to our day and a needed energy to start the meal off right. As the dining process went on, she took a personal interest in our family’s story and not only where we were from but continued on to ask about what brought us to the parks and so much more. We even found out that we had a mutual friend that had worked with her at some point durning a college program before her time at Wilderness Lodge. Long story made short, it was an experience that created a unique memory and turned a simple situation into the highlight of a vacation. If you want to hear the rest of the story, you’ll want to take a look at our Legendary Cast of the Disney Parks – “Sunshine” From Whispering Canyon post.

Jethro on the other hand has a different personality. He’s equally as invested in the guest experience but is one of the most humble individuals you’ll come across with one of the coveted blue name tags signifying the Disney Legacy Award. I see the particular award as one of the highest honors any cast member could ever receive. It not only is awarded by fellow cast and supervisors but also for keeping the Disney dream alive and honoring it. When talking with Jethro he’ll outright tell you “he’s just a cast member” or some similar rendition of the same phrase, but to many he’s an icon of a restaurant experience and one that I hope is still there today and will continue to be there for many years to come. 
     

3. Chef Mickey’s 

Moving back to a more traditional buffet, there’s very little that remains more iconic than this dining establishment. Located on the 4th floor, in the heart of the Gran Concourse, at the Contemporary resort, you can sit with family, watch the monorail pass over head or take in picturesque views of the surrounding Bay Lake and Seven Seas Lagoon. The meal is quite pricey, but offers something for nearly any guest preferences. We’ve eaten here with friends with allergies (actually at each of the locations on this list) and never had any issue. Plus, it gives you a prime opportunity to take in the massive Mary Blair mural highlighting the Grand Concourse (don’t forget to look for the 5 legged goat!) The atmosphere is a unique piece of any Disney vacation and a magical destination for guests of all ages, but particularly children who get to interact and enjoy time with Mickey and friends in their chef attire. 

I can’t really recall any particular cast member or memory to share from this place in particular, but the number of little memories are hard to gather into one small paragraph. Everything from birthdays to special character interactions have happened here and they are something we’ll never take for granted. 

If you noticed a trend in this top buffet selection, it was actually quite intentional. You see, Disney dining for me isn’t about what you spend or how fancy the location may or may not be, but rather about the time shared with the people you care the most about and the interactions these places help create. You could go and dine in NYC at high end dining locations by the dozens, but the heart the cast members put into creating an experience that goes above and beyond is something that only Disney can fully bring to the table. It’s one of the many reasons we love the parks, but also one of the greatest factors in why we return time and time again.  

Ready to Plan?

Need help planning your vacation? Let our friends over at Destinations to Travel (FREE – no obligation quote request form below) help you out at no additional cost to you! Their services are free and a great way for you to help out the site at no extra cost to you!  

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! 

Thanks for reading and if you liked this post, please SHARE it with friends! 

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Disney Dining Plan 2018 Tips and Tricks

by Guide4WDW

by: guide4wdw – Collin

With the spring approaching and the typical unveiling of “free dining” in regard to the Disney Dining Plan likely to follow soon after the change in seasons (if it is offered this year), today we’re taking a look at a few Disney Dining Plan tips and tricks that we’ve learned over the years. 

(The Plaza Restaurant – Angus Chuck Cheeseburger: AKA – One of the Best Burgers on Disney Property!)

Before we get started, there’s a few things I would like to clarify. First, free dining (when and if it rolls out) is not the same as offers available to those staying at select resorts for a select number of days in order to receive one free counter service meal per person per day. Those type of offers do exist and many took advantage of that offer before the last booking window ran out on February 11th. While that is certainly free dining to an extent, Disney’s typical “free dining” Disney Dining Plan promotion can prove more useful for a majority of guests.
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Each year, with variation from time to time, Disney puts out a promotion offering their dining plan option for no additionally charge when booking a room at non-discounted rates. In previous years it’s been utilized mostly to fill rooms and aggressively book any empty slots. However, when booking that promotion, it typically includes the regular tier Disney Dining Plan rather than simply one free meal per person per day. 

One last thing to note is that the discount may or may not be released this year so I would personally recommend booking under the current discount and attempt to change your reservation later on if you can find availability when and if free dining rolls out. That way, even in a worst case scenario, you will have a reservation booked at a discounted rate which may even work out to be cheaper for your situation. In the end, if booked in this fashion, you’ll be able to weigh the differences and see which option is better for your budget. We’ve found that an Authorized Disney Travel Planner can be quite helpful in these situations. If anyone is wondering what the Disney Dining Plan entails this year, here’s a closer look at the breakdown of what you receive: 

-1 table service meal 
-1 quick (counter) service meal 
-2 snacks per day 
-1 resort refillable mug

With all of those little details out of the way, we’ll jump right into some recommendations. 


Avoid 2 Credit Disney Dining Plan Table Service Locations

I know it’s incredibly tempting to book that iconic Cinderellas Royal Table reservation or that Yachtsman steak dinner, but before you do consider what you may be giving up to do so. I love Le Cellier (an excellent dining location at the Canada Pavilion in Epcot), but when it went to two table service credits on the dining plan I stopped eating there. The food is still outstanding and we do go from time to time when we’re not on the dining plan, but in the big picture of dining options, it’s just not worth the tradeoff. Essentially what you give up for any two credit dining location is an excellent buffet at any number of locations on property, an equally excellent steak at Teppan Edo at the Japan Pavilion or even potentially the cost of an additional meal to be bought out of pocket. 

In the long run, you have to convince yourself that the one special dining experience is worth giving up two excellent meals elsewhere. When you dive a little deeper, the costs don’t entirely align either. While a great meal at Le Cellier may cost upwards of $70 per person (depending on what you order), two meals elsewhere on property could easily add up to well over $80 per person when you take into account the costs of desserts, drinks, and of course your entree. For many, the trade off may be worth it, but for us it’s never really been worth what we would be required to give up. 

If you’re looking for some dining recommendations, here are a variety of options and additional tips:
(The Boathouse – Filet Mignon Sliders were a highlight of our trip – A Top Disney Springs Dining Option: The Boathouse Restaurant) 
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Fully Utilize the Buffets
I can’t say that I’ve been to a buffet at Walt Disney World that I didn’t enjoy. You’re almost always guaranteed hot food, the staff is typically excellent, and you you get to explore a vast variety of food rather than simply one entree. Additionally, buffets are an excellent option if you are traveling with young children. No matter if you have kids or not, we’ve all been in that circumstance where the child’s food arrives and then they don’t really care for what was brought. It happens all the time and Disney is no exception, but if you book buffets you simply set that item they didn’t like off to the side and go grab something else. In all honesty, that same concept applies to adults as well. If you don’t like something, just go grab another item from the vast array of choices. Plus, they’re an outstanding value that is a part of 2 of the 3 Disney Dining Plans currently offered when booking a vacation (excluded only on the quick service dining plan).  
Our top buffet choice tends to be Crystal Palace (sorry to spoil the article below), but it truly is one of the best options, especially in the Magic Kingdom.   

Make the Most of Your Snacks
If you’ve read even a little bit of what we share on the site, you’ve probably heard us share this tip before. Make the most of your snack credits. As you tour the parks, there are so many incredible snack options beyond the packaged desserts sold in stores and at the ice cream carts. When I see guests buying those prepackaged cookies, it makes me cringe from time to time, because typically there’s a fresh baked bakery style cookie (that can be bought with the exact same snack credit) less than 100 yards away. Now, that’s not to say that all packaged treats are terrible. The Mickey-shaped ice cream bars are legendary and delicious, and the Goofy’s candy company offerings are great for last minute snacks to carry home with you, but there are so many delightful treats that many guests completely overlook. 

Take for example a favorite of mine, the ice cream cookie sandwich from the Plaza Ice Cream Parlor on Main Street at the Magic Kingdom. The cookie is enormous and typically features 3 scoops of hand dipped ice cream (flavor of your choice) sandwiched between two giant homemade cookies. When the creation is complete it’s around 2-3 inches thick and is easily sharable among two people (if you’re nice and want to share lol). By comparison, throughout the park you’ll find ice cream carts selling another ice cream sandwich packaged and sold in mass quantities. Those treats taste great as well but when offered either one, I’d take the plaza creation time and time again. Here’s the kicker to the whole thing, both are sold to guests using the exact same snack credit. Pro tip: If you’re in a park and want a snack, typically there’s a bakery location not too far away. Pop in a few stores near by and look for a glass display case and you may be surprised what all is considered a snack credit.       

(Homecomin’ Kitchen – Our New “Must-Do” Disney Dining Location!)
Don’t Hoard Your Snacks (I Know It’s Tempting)
When we’re on the dining plan we tend to pass a snack location and think that it looks good, but then second guess ourselves and think about how we’d rather save that snack for another time or another item somewhere else. Don’t do what we do! (lol) I know it’s tempting but use the snack when something looks good to you. If you don’t, you’ll get to the last day of your trip and realize you have a ton of extra snack credits or even an extra counter service meal credit (which can be turned into snack credits) that you have to use on your last day. Learn something from our mistake (time and time again I might add) and eat what sounds good in the moment. You’ll have plenty of food on the Disney Dining Plan, I guarantee it!  


Get a Little Bit Adventurous 

The dining plan is perhaps the best way to get adventurous with your dining reservations and selections. Occasionally one of your favorite dining locations will not have availability or the exact time that you need to work around fastpasses or other scheduled events, but that’s not always a bad thing. Try something new, and you may be surprised what may become your next favorite dining location on property. In a personal example, we ended up dining at Teppan Edo instead of our typical Le Cellier reservation when the pricing structure changed. It’s not something we would have booked in the past, but now it’s one of our favorite dining locations on property and that experience has convinced us to return quite a few times even when we are not traveling on the dining plan.    

Try a Breakfast and a Dinner 
I know this particular tip sounds strange, but trust me, it works. Choose one day of your trip and book two table service meals for the same day. I recommend doing this on a Magic Kingdom day. Pick a breakfast around 10:30 in the morning at one of your favorite locations. If you need suggestions, I highly recommend Crystal Palace breakfast, Whispering Canyon, 1900 Park Fare, or Ohana (all for breakfast). Additionally, make a reservation for dinner at another location for that night around 6:00 or 7:00. By the time you eat both table service meals, you wont need your counter service offering for the day, so as a result you can use that counter service meal on another day of your trip (creating two meals for another day). When we do this, we typically schedule our two counter service meal day as a park day in Epcot or Animal Kingdom. Both offer a vast variety of counter service options that rival table service food for a single counter service credit. 

The whole two table service in one day situation sounds a bit strange but when you’re on the dining plan you don’t have to use that days counter service, table service, and snack credits that day of the week. The Disney Dining Plan is set up as a total allotment of credits for the length of your stay. If you wanted to you could use every credit of a 5 night stay on the first day. It would be near impossible but it would be an option.           

Book Table Service Breakfasts Closer to Lunch
As touched on above, I tend to recommend eating a late breakfast or an early lunch for your table service dining credit. Typically breakfast and lunch reservations are easier to secure, and in my opinion the timing works substantially in your favor. If you book a late breakfast at around 10:30, it will give you plenty of time to get to the park and ride as much as you can before the crowds build. As soon as the crowds start to file in and wait times start to climb you have the perfect escape set up in the form of a hot meal and an air conditioned timeframe during those summer months. Need more dining suggestions? Check out our Disney World Dining Tips For 2018

Don’t Give Up Any Leftover Credits
At the end of the week, you’ll likely have leftover snack credits. Don’t worry about it, because it truly happens to just about everyone, but don’t just let those credits go unused. To me, hearing a guest in a bakery or gift shop early one morning talking about how many snacks they aren’t going to use and how they’ll just let them go to waste is one of the worst things I overhear at Disney. If you have those let over credits, attack a gift shop or near by food location that sells shelf stable food and cash out those snack credits. At the very least, grab a few PEZ dispensers or Goofy’s candy company packaged treats to take to family or friends rather than letting them go unused. This particular situation bothered me so much on our last trip that I wrote up 5 Quick and Easy Ways to Use Left Over Dining Plan Snack Credits – Plus a BONUS!
While those are a quick run down of tips when using the dining plan, you may want to take  closer look at our Is The Dining Plan Truly a “Good Deal” From a Cost Perspective? – A Closer Look  article if you’re looking to buy the plan out of pocket rather than on a promotional offer. Additionally, if you do decide to book on the dining plan, you’ll want to take a closer look at our 5 Disney Dining Plan Mistakes You Want To Avoid And Why. Last but certainly not least, we’ve compiled many articles for planning a vacation that you may want to take a look at as well to help you plan a dream vacation:
Across the board, were really is no perfect way to do dining at Walt Disney World. Some prefer the dining plan, some don’t feel like it’s the best use of their money, but that’s the joy of Walt Disney World. Every guest is different and every guest has their own variety of concerns when booking but Disney provides an incredible amount of options to meet any needs presented.    

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! 


Ready to Plan?

Need help planning your vacation? Let our friends over at Destinations to Travel (FREE – no obligation quote request form below) help you out at no additional cost to you! Their services are free and a great way for you to help out the site at no extra cost to you! Here’s a closer look at why I recommend an Authorized Disney Travel Planner!

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!