Dining Adventures 2018 (part 1)

Dining is such a big part of our Disney experience. October’s trip was no different. It took us to many new dining stops and back a few favorites. Our reservations on this trip included:

• Whispering Canyon
• Sci-Fi Dine-In Theater
• Chip ‘n’ Dale’s Harvest Lunch at Garden Grill
• Minnie’s Beach Bash Breakfast at Cape May Cafe
• Bon Voyage Breakfast Adventure at Trattoria al Forno*
• Minnie’s Seasonal Dine at Hollywood & Vine*
• Mickey’s Backyard BBQ
• ‘Ohana

*repeat meals

We did not try as many new quick services locations as I had intended. Instead we migrated to trusty locations with food that fit our picky tastes sticking with ABC Commissary and Restaurantosaurus. We did finally grab a meal a Cosmic Ray’s, checked out Hurricane Hanna’s at our resort, and used the Ale & Compass Market and Beach Club Marketplace for the remainder of our quick service meals.

Whispering Canyon

I wanted to go here in 2017 but it wasn’t convenient with a short trip and other dining plans took priority. It was a must for this trip. I was dreaming about the All-You-Care-To_Enjoy Skillet for the weeks leading up to the trip. Our reservation had been locked in at the 180-day mark. As the trip drew closer we found out the neighbors were going with their daughter’s family. Our dinner was scheduled on the only night overlapping their trip. With some patience and coordination, I found a reservation for 11 people just a little earlier than we originally planned on eating.

We all met in Magic Kingdom and took the boat to Wilderness Lodge. It was a gorgeous day filled with blue skies, light puffy clouds, and the ride on the boat had such stunning views of Magic Kingdom, the Contemporary Resort, the Monorail, and the peaceful lake.

Wilderness Lodge is on my list of places to stay so I loved walking the grounds and admiring the cabin-like lobby. I was too busy talking and looking around to remember to take any pictures.

About 7 minutes after checking in for our reservation we were seated at the table. We had a great view of the lobby and I was imagining what it would be like to eat there at Christmastime and admire the enormous Christmas tree and other decor.

I didn’t even need the menu! I was getting the skillet. I was impressed grumpy agreed to the skillet too. Most of our party was planning to eat all we could enjoy! The kids went with mac and cheese and a hamburger, but each did sample a tiny bite from the skillet.

I was also ready for the All-You-Care-To-Enjoy milkshake and requested it right away. The milkshake was a huge disappointment. I don’t know what to even say it tasted like, but definitely not chocolate. I did end up drinking the one I ordered, but did not enjoy or want anymore. Everyone complained that the water did not taste good either, so I had little to drink with my meal and was waiting to get to our room for a drink.

Antics run high at the Whispering Canyon, but reports prior to the trip had rumored that they were “scaled” back. We weren’t sure what to expect but the rest of our group had been in the past. They knew some more of the tricks so when Grumpy took a call from home they were looking for the waitress to tell him he was being rude. She didn’t bite. However, when Diva asked for ketchup she had the kids screaming for ketchup and a pile of bottles ended up at our table and when a member of our group asked for a third refill of his soda he received more than you’d think anyone can drink, but he did!

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While my milkshake might not have been enjoyable the skillet was amazing!

In the picture you almost can’t see the pulled pork hiding under the ribs. The other three meats were roasted chicken, smoked beef, and ‘western-style’ sausage. I sampled a bit of each, but was most crazy about the pulled pork. Mashed potatoes, green beans, baked beans, and corn filled the skillet as our side dishes. We needed two skillets and several replenishes to fill all of our bellies. They only refill the requested foods. We went through a lot of ribs, pork, chicken, and potatoes!

After stuffing ourselves we had to pick dessert. Our family choose three desserts to go and shared one chocolate “gooey” cake. After eating so much it was tough to eat more, but the cake was still warm and the chocolate melting as we each managed to take a few bites.

I loved this meal and it’s definitely near the top of my list of favorites. I would never think twice about repeating, but I would bring a bottle of water (or 2) with me.

Sci-Fi Dine-In Theater

Sci-Fi often comes highly recommended and the reservations quickly fill up. I actually didn’t look into much beyond the menu to ensure that there would be food for each of us. I knew that movies played and that you ate in a car. I didn’t realize how cute the cars were, but also not very logistically set up for a family or for anyone looking to have a conversation over your meal. I was also surprised when the third row of seating in our at our car-table was filled with two other guests. While conversations weren’t easy at the table they weren’t private either.

The kids were excited to sit in the front of the car and amazed by the massive movie screen. The old sci-fi movies were a little over their head but the cartoons made them laugh.

I ordered a steak, Grumpy went with a turkey sandwich, Peanut had one of is usual’s chicken fingers, and Diva went with pasta with marinara sauce. We didn’t find anything overly remarkable about the food. I did feel the vinaigrette on the steak was a bit zingy. Really not my style. While the food wasn’t impressive I ordered a milkshake here, even after the prior night’s disastrous shake at Whispering Canyon. I loved this milkshake! Huge thanks to server Chelsea for pointing out that instead of ordering a dessert from the menu I could get a “refill” for my shake as the dessert portion of the meal plan. I’m not sure she finished her sentence when I immediately agreed to have more!

Chelsea was also unbelievably attentive and caught Diva almost spilling her drink. We couldn’t see it because of the seating arrangement. She also was patient with the kids’ silliness and laughed right along with them. In addition to Diva’s doughnut dessert, she brought a birthday cupcake and we all sang “Happy Birthday.” Peanut was in charge of the camera and got the birthday wish on video.

Chip ‘n’ Dale’s Harvest Lunch at Garden Grill

We were a little late to our first character meal of the trip. The FastPass line at Soarin’ was jammed and we showed up almost 15 minutes late to check in for our meal. I like to schedule our lunches around 11:30 because it starts to get busy right after that. Garden Grill was definitely busy. We waited an extra 15 minutes to get our seat.

Diva and Peanut immediately noticed the Mickey set up at our table.

Almost immediately after sitting down our awesome and hysterical waiter spotted Pluto coming around the corner and stepped away so he could visit.

When Bob returned he brought our drinks and a helper with our family style meal consisting of turkey, pork, and roast. Stuffing, veggies, potatoes, and apple chutney were added to the main plate as sides. Then an endless supply of french fries and mac ‘n cheese was available to the kids. I liked the roast more than the pork. Grumpy loved the turkey and asked for two extra servings. We all avoided the corn because it mixed with peppers and a bit spicy.

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Dale, Mickey, and Chip stopped by while we were eating. The kids insisted Chip take a picture by himself.

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The aisle was pretty narrow for the characters and taking pictures. Not to mention servers trying to make their way to other tables. For those that don’t know the restaurant rotates which is why you see a different background in each picture. We did not have the best view of The Land from our seat but could stretch to catch glimpses of it. We were in the restaurant almost an hour and it was close to a full rotation as we were leaving.

Bob had the kids cracking up the entire meal! He told Diva the only way to drink her lemonade slushie was until she got brain freeze. He told the kids he wouldn’t tell us if they needed extra fries. He made so many birthday jokes. We didn’t love the meal, but we loved the service from Bob!

Stay tuned for more!!

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