My family has dined at the Whispering Canyon Cafe a few times before, we even celebrated my oldest daughter's birthday there once and we've always enjoyed it. This last trip was no exception.
If you've never dined there before, let me give you a quick rundown. Whispering Canyon Cafe is located in the lobby of Disney's beautiful Wilderness Lodge Resort and specializes in family style all-you-care-to-enjoy BBQ platters...and ketchup, copious amounts of ketchup, but we'll get to that in a minute. They also have a pretty good selection of other entree options if BBQ ain't your thang.
Choose a Cowboy or Indian themed chair and get ready for a "Rowdy Rootin' Tootin' Good Time!" Here's the thing. WCC is one of those "playful" restaurants where the servers like to mess around with you and even sass you a little...all in good fun of course. Think 50's Prime Time Cafe with a western flair!
Our family of four (My husband and I and two daughters 11 and 8) had a lunch reservation for 2:20pm. It was the last day of our trip. We checked out of our room and had been swimming all morning. We were all starving around 2 o'clock and decided to get changed and head over to the restaurant to see if they could seat us a little early.
The dining room was practically empty so we figured it wouldn't be a problem...and it wasn't. However, in true WCC style, when I said we had a reservation but were a little early the host immediately told me to go away until it was time...but I played along and proceeded to protest and tell him that I was STARVING!!!! We bantered back and forth for a few minutes and of course they seated us with no problem. Let the games begin!
We were seated at a table next to the railing overlooking the Wilderness Lodge lobby. I could seriously sit there all day taking in the sights and sounds. We've been lucky enough to score one of these tables every time we've eaten there! The view is simply amazing. You can take some pretty awesome photos of the lobby right from your table without even having to stand up. Next time you visit, request one of these tables.
Once we were seated they explained that they were testing a new system and handed us a card with a red side and a green side.
In years past this is how it worked:
Green = Bring More Meat Please
Red = We're stuffed, no more thanks
Now:
Green = "Yes, we're feeling silly and want to play"
Red = "We're just here for the food and would prefer to be left out of the shenanigans today."
I actually think this is probably a good idea. Let's face it, not everybody enjoys being inundated with ketchup. If you have no idea what I'm talking about...keep reading.
We flipped the card over to Green (of course) and perused the menu for a minute, but we new what we wanted and 3 out of 4 of us decided on the All-you-care-to-enjoy BBQ Skillet. My oldest daughter decided to have a cheeseburger...no surprise there. She's the Cheeseburger Queen.
Our waiter arrived and introduced himself as "Jeffro". He answered some questions we had about the Navajo Fry Bread appetizer and ultimately we decided to pass. Not because it didn't sound good, but because we didn't want to fill our gullets with fried bread before an all you can eat feast...maybe next time.
Right away we liked Jeffro. He was witty, funny, attentive and started interacting with our kids right away...especially our tween. She's in that OMG this is so embarrassing but I kinda like it phase and he played it off with her perfectly. Our 8 year old is crazy and thinks everything is hilarious so he could do no wrong in her eyes. We ordered our drinks and I started snapping photos of course.
Totem Pole and Chandeliers
Looking out towards the entrance of the lobby.
Awesome Indians on the back of the chairs.
Moments later our drinks arrived.
This was my husband's drink. He "spends some time in the gym" as Jeffro put it. A big drink for a big guy.
This was my youngest daughter's drink...served in a salt shaker!
We have had the ginormous soda before, but we've never had the little salt shaker size and my daughter and I couldn't help but laugh every time we looked at it!
Jeffro was kind enough to cut a straw in half for her so it would fit in the tiny "cup".
He was also kind enough to bring out our plates and extra napkins before the BBQ arrived. This was my husband's "plate". It may not look big, but it is! It's actually a platter instead of a normal size plate like my daughter and I received.
And then...
BOOM!
DELICIOUSNESS!
I'll be honest, I actually prefer dry rub ribs so I didn't actually eat these but hubby and little daughter did and they said the were pretty good. All of us loved the pulled pork, sausage and roasted chicken. Baked beans were so so, mashed potatoes and corn were very yummy!
Jeffro noticed that I was taking an awful lot pictures of our food and he struck up this little convo.
Jeffro: Mom, are you a foodie?
Me: Kinda
Jeffro: Do you like Salmon?
Me: Why yes, yes I do!
Jeffro: Save room, I'm going to bring you something beautiful.
I wasn't quite sure how to take this considering he just brought my husband a gallon of soda and built a pretty impressive ketchup tower on the end of our table. I figured I'd keep an open mind a be ready for just about anything.
Back to the ketchup. What's up with the ketchup at this restaurant you ask? Well, it's one of those insider jokes where those in the know can have some fun at the expense of those who are not in the know. Kinda like Beverly in Station Cool at Epcot. If you ask for ketchup at WCC your server will make an announcement to the entire restaurant and the ENTIRE restaurant will bring you ketchup. Your table will be covered, you may even have to balance some in your lap...I may be exaggerating a little...but only a little. You'll pray for someone else to ask for ketchup so you can offload your stash onto their table! It's actually quite fun.
Because we had the latest lunch reservation available, we were literally one of the last families left in the restaurant. When my tween daughter asked for ketchup I wasn't sure how Jeffro was gonna handle it. But handle it he did. He disappeared for a moment and came back with a CASE of ketchup and began unpacking it and creating a tower in front of my daughter's plate. It was a sight to behold.
Level 1
Level 2
Level 3
Voila!
5 Levels of kethup-y goodness!
Jeffro presenting his finest bottle (of ketchup) to our daughter.
PHOTOBOMB!
And THAT my friends, is what the "kethup thing" is all about! If you order nothing else at WCC,
order ketchup!
Right after the tower was built the bell rang and the music began to play...you know what that means!! Hobby Horse races!
All of the kids (and adults if you're so inclined) are invited to get up and take a few laps around the dining room while riding an old fashioned hobby horse! Kids of all ages love this, however mine were knee-deep in BBQ sauce and KETCHUP and opted out this time. But don't think they weren't razzed for this. Many waiters came by to heckle them and one even offered to take photos and post them on Instagram for my oldest daughter. It was very funny and our kids were good sports about it.
Jeffro was following behind the "horses" cleaning up their "mess".
OK, let's get back to the Salmon Surprise.
After the Horse races Jeffro stopped by our table and told me it would be a few more minutes before my surprise would arrive because the chef broke the first salmon filet and he wanted it to be perfect.
WOW!
I was beginning to get excited about this surprise!
And then, before I know it, this arrives.
Mustang Sally's Grilled Salmon BLT
Grilled salmon topped with bacon jam on focaccia bread, with herbed boursin cheese, watercress dressed in a delectable vinagrette, sliced tomatoes, all surrounded by a balsamic reduction.
Um...speechless!
It was fabulous!!!!
The salmon was grilled to perfection and all of the flavors complimented one another perfectly. Even after a plate of BBQ, we managed to finish the whole thing! Yes...I shared.
Jeffro was unbelievably generous and kind for bring this amazing dish out to us gratis! But that's just the tip of the iceberg. Since we were the last family in the restaurant at this point, Jeffro hung around and struck up some conversation with us.
He pointed out that he had a blue name tag on and asked our girls if they had every seen one before. None of us actually have so he began to explain what it meant. It turns out that Cast Members with these blue name tags are quite special. In fact only about 2% of Disney Cast Members have them. The blue name tags denote those who are winners of the Disney Legacy Award.
Ooohh sounds fancy! What's that?
The Walt Disney Legacy Award
Disney Parks and Resorts
Disney Parks and Resorts
- February 2013
The award states, 'For keeping the magic alive through exemplary performance and commitment to the traditions and ideals established by Walt Disney. To always Dream. Create. And Inspire."
These are individuals who consistently Dream, Create and Inspire each day by supporting the business objectives and goals of Walt Disney Parks and Resorts.
The program creates a sense of unity and cohesiveness by enabling Cast, Crew and Imagineers to nominate the top performers they work with every day ... across geographic boundaries and lines of business, where applicable.
DREAM – An innovative visionary, who understands the elements of building a world-class experience.
CREATE – Actively develops an entrepreneurial, efficient and continuously improving experience for Cast and Guests.
INSPIRE – Models inclusive, collaborative, supportive and positive behaviors and actions.
The Walt Disney Legacy Award is a global, Company wide award program that recognizes the outstanding achievements of Walt Disney Parks and Resorts Cast, Crew and Imagineers who are selected by their leaders, direct reports and/or co-workers as top performers. These Cast Members represent roughly the top 2% of the segment organization.
Those with this honor wear a specialty 'blue name tag' that denotes their award to Guests and Cast of the Disney Parks division.
Yup, that's Jeffro!
He was amazing and I'm not surprised at all that he would be honored with one of the highest awards available to Disney Cast Members. We've dined at Whispering Canyon Cafe 3 times prior to this visit and I have to say, we've had fabulous food, service and servers each time, but Jeffro has a little something special and I have to say that he is by far our new favorite.
So in conclusion, I whole-heartedly recommend eating at Whispering Canyon Cafe at least once. The food is good, but the experience is what keeps us coming back. It's a casual, fun atmosphere where kids and adults alike can cut loose and just have fun. The view of the Wilderness Lodge lobby is amazing and the Cast Members are top notch!
Put this one on your must-do list next time you visit Walt Disney World. Reservations can be made up to 180 days in advance and are strongly recommended. Contact your travel agent or click here.
Walt Life Recommends:
Request a table that overlooks the lobby.
Ask for Jeffro to be your server. Fun times guaranteed.
Don't be afraid to try something other than BBQ - their other menu items are quite good.
Ask for KETCHUP and have your camera ready.
Flip your card over to green and have a great time!
Have you eaten at Whispering Canyon Cafe? What did you think? We'd love to hear about your experiences.
Until next time folks!
We'll SEE YA REAL SOON!
-Walt Life
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