is a favorite destination for Disney World guests who are looking for an interactive dining experience.
The restaurant, located in Disney’s Wilderness Lodge, has long been known for its vivacious waitstaff.
Veterans of this fun spot know what happens when you ask for ketchup. (I hope you wanted a lot???) And be forewarned that your straws will probably be thrown at you.
And it’s not just the small fries who get in on the games. Kids of all ages can join in. In fact, you’re pretty much expected to!
Straw “Delivery”
But it seems like Whispering Canyon understands that some of us like to participate in Stick Horse Races…and others would rather just watch.
Hobby Horse Race at Whispering Canyon Cafe
And so, they’ve come up with an ingenious, lo-tech way to signal your server which tribe you belong to!
On a recent visit to the ‘World (this week, in fact!), one of our intrepid team members spotted these cute cards at Whispering Canyon. This was the first time we had seen them. They were instructed by their server to use the cards to communicate with the staff.
Want the full battery of antics? Then flip the card to Green.
Wanna Play Along? Flip the Card to Green!
Or would you rather watch the fun unfold from the sidelines? Well, that’s ok, too. Just keep the card on Red.
Not So Much Into the Games? Keep the Red Side Up and Sit on the Fence. 🙂
This is something that I love! Because let’s face it, we’re all different. Some of us love the silliness, and some of us prefer to dig into that delicious platter in peace.
Please. Just Let Me Eat All of This Yummo Food 🙂
And even on a given day, I personally might feel differently. So I think it’s great to have a simple way to communicate my preference to the awesome staff here.
So guys — what do you think of this fun new way to communicate with your server at Whispering Canyon Cafe? Let us know in comments if your crew prefers the Red or Green side of things!
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I kind of like this idea. When my youngest is tired, she wants to be left alone so even with a table of kids, we’d need to give the server a head’s up that we need to keep it tame. On the other hand, there was one time I went there with only my older two and we would have liked a little more hijinks with our meal.
They had them there when I was visiting in November.
It’s a wonderful option, particularly since that morning I had the beginnings of a cold and headache. While I loved watching the antics, I was definitely not up to participating in them.
Oh… on a side note… the banana bread french toast is wonderful (I credit it with curing the headache, if not the cold!)
I LOVE THIS and wish they would use it at all character/interactive meals, 50’s Prime Time included. Sometimes you just want some good fried chicken without being scolded. 😉 I’d especially love it at character meals. As adults, we often want to go somewhere to eat that has characters, but don’t necessarily want to stop to chat and photograph while we enjoy our meal. I could see this being very useful across the board.
I agree….I like watching the antics but I hate being “on display”. Love this idea for all restaurants with any entertaining servers. The last thing I would want is to take the fun away from everyone else, but if the servers understand how some feel, that’s great.
Dear AJ,
Are there any breakfast places in disney world that don’t serve eggs. The 11 year old that is going with us cannot be around eggs. Thanks.
I agree that this would be so useful at other places, especially 50’s Prime Time. The last two times I’ve been there I’ve received very little in the way of antics. I’d love to have a signal that says “Do your worst!”
@Ashley
I totally agree! Whenever we go to 50’s Prime Time Cafe, we bring our 11 year old niece, who can’t be around eggs, to disney all the time and my niece doesn’t get poked in the back with a stick like I was because of her allergy! 🙂
@asuka
Haha! I totally agree!
When we went last summer, they had something similar. I don’t know that they were the exact same cards, however. That being said, since we didn’t have “reservations”, we were seated in the back room, so, despite having our card set to participate, we missed out on much of the revelry.
Food (vegetarian option) was very good, tho!
FYI, the amount of “tameness” you get also depends on your server. Our first visit there we really wanted to just take minute to see if we really wanted to participate and flipped it to red. Our server swooped in and said, “Oh you did this wrong,” and flipped it to green. Thankfully, we really enjoyed them playing around with us because it was our anniversary and we ended up front and center.
Evelynn — Your best bets if she can’t be in a room with eggs would be the bakeries (of course, many of those baked goods would have eggs IN them). I’m pretty sure that most if not all breakfast table-service restaurants do serve eggs of some sort. 🙁
@AJ
Thank you! She can have stuff with eggs in them just not by theirself. Are there any cupcakes you would suggest that would appeal to kids?
I think it’s a great idea and whatever the guest desires should be respected. We like to have fun when we’re in WDW, but every once in a while you may not be feeling well. You need to eat, but you want to do so quietly without being bothered. Let the guests advise the Cm’s and then the fun can proceed as requested for those who want it.
Evelynn…In the last day or two there was an article on this site telling about the new cupcake shop in Downtown Disney that has lots of doughnut and cupcake choices that are egg, dairy and gluten free. She can have her choice. On this article…I do think it’s funny that it’s called Whispering Canyon. It is one of the loudest places on property.
@Hannah
Thanks I will definitely check that out. You are also very right about the name of whispering canyon, it should be called shouting canyon. 🙂 Are there any character breakfasts that are a bunch of random characters? For ex: not just princesses, not just Winnie the Pooh characters, etc.
Evelynn,
1900 Park Fare breakfast is what I call the “british character breakfast” and has Mary Poppins, Alice (in Wonderland), the Mad Hatter, Winnie the Pooh, and Tigger. ‘Ohana breakfast features Mickey, Pluto, Lilo, and Stich.
1900 Park fare dinner is Cinderella themed, so instead of princesses, it’s Cinderella, Prince Charming, and the Tremaines.
I believe all other character meals are like groups (Mickey and friends, princesses, winne the pooh characters, etc)
Great idea! Wish this was available years ago at 50s Prime Time. One lady gave the cast member a hard time because she did not want/enjoy the shtick. Of course when that cast member then waited on us she played it straight 🙁
This is a great idea! I wish they would have these at the Monsters Inc attraction; I love the show but dread being part of it!
@Jordan
Thank you! We will be doing the 1900 park fare breakfast!
We have avoided character meals and this restaurant in particular as two of the three of us are on the autism spectrum and we really just need to be left alone with our food. That said, we accidently scheduled a meal at Tusker House that had characters, and it worked out fine. Donald, Daisy and Goofy all visited our table and signed my son’s communication book. I did say that he had autism and didn’t talk much but that he was happy to see them, and they seemed to get it. He was really delighted with his autographs but Whispering Canyon is likely to stay off our list, despite an appealing menu, because of the risk of upset with all the commotion.
Oh please please I repeat PUT THIS AT 50s PRIME TIME I can’t say this enough I have booked this restaurant as a lunch and even though I’m fun and playful my daughter has serious ways def with her food and my boyfriend and her are two of a kind but the food is exactly what they love hopfully the days before in MK will soften him & her a lot. Cause I’ve heard stories to scare us off.
We have not returned to Whispering Canyon since our waiter was extremely rude to our daughter. When my husband called him on it he then became rude to the whole table. Maybe we can now go back- the food was great!
Please do this at the 50’s Primetime Diner as well!
They were using these when I went in October. We had a lunch reservation. Our server literally threw ours across the room. She said “I’ll show you what this means to me” and threw it on the floor several tables away. We indicated we wanted to play anyway so we didn’t care. And it was hilarious. She was a great server and had great recommendations. We had a lot of laughs. If you don’t mind sarcasm and loud servers and good natured teasing you’ll enjoy the atmosphere a lot. If not, even with the cards, you may want to skip it for something less interactive. 🙂