Whispering Canyon Cafe Dinner Review

Wilderness Lodge’s Whispering Canyon Cafe is the kind of place that earns strong opinions from guests. Sometimes positive; sometimes negative.

Me? I love it. Bottomless milkshakes, bottomless skillets of grub, bottomless horses… . Maybe I’m getting ahead of myself.

Atmosphere

Tucked into the left-hand side of the lobby at Disney’s Wilderness Lodge, Whispering Canyon Cafe is a massive, wood-ensconced restaurant where cowboys still fight Indians (look at the back of your chair and see which side you’re on), napkins are re-purposed bandanas, your server is your fellow pioneer, and nobody stands on ceremony.

Table Setting

If this place has anything, it’s atmosphere (read more here). If it’s the kind of atmosphere that appeals to you, hilarity ensues. There’s even a warning on the menu:

But what they don’t mention is that Whispering Canyon Cafe has bad service. No…wait. Not “bad” service. More like “irreverent” service.

WCC servers are “on the range” with you, and they don’t really have the patience for pomp and circumstance. For instance, [Read more…]

2010 Epcot Food and Wine Festival Pins Sneak Peek

By AJ 3 Comments

Global Disney Pinvestigation

has posed a sneak peek at pins that will be available starting October 1st commemorating the 2010 Epcot Food and Wine Festival!

Just Two of the Many 2010 Epcot Food and Wine Festival Pins

Here are a couple of the limited edition pins, and one will be a passholder exclusive.

To see the official 2010 Epcot Food and Wine Festival pin, along with other limited release and limited edition pins created for the Festival, head on over to Global Disney Pinvestigation! He also has other sneak peek pin news, including the new Holiday Vinylmation series (I like the candy cane one, but that’s no surprise…).

Click this link for more information about the 2010 Epcot Food and Wine Festival!

Disney Food Post Round-Up: July 25, 2010

By AJ Leave a Comment

Happy Sunday, everyone! Here’s the latest food news from this week:

Via Napoli reservations information is now available!
The 2010 Epcot Food and Wine Festival Guide and Map are ready for perusal!
Disney parks welcome a Meatball and Beer bar and a Crepes and Funnel Cake Sticks stand!
Disneyland and Disney World 2011 Food and Wine Festival dates are available!

And thanks to Global Disney Pinvestigation for writing about our WDW Foodie Fest this week!

We’re starting this week’s Round-Up a little differently! I’m excited to showcase some pics of the upcoming restaurants in Epcot — La Hacienda de San Angel and Via Napoli!

First off, thanks to Eric Walker for this awesome pic of the newly painted Hacienda de San Angel!

Hacienda de San Angel

And thanks to Epcot Explorer for these fantastic photos of the newly revealed Via Napoli!

Via Napoli 1

Via Napoli 2

Via Napoli 3

Hoperatives has a great resource page on beers in Disney World, including varieties and prices and sorted by theme park and resort!

Craft Beer Restaurant Blog has a commentary about the beers on the menu for the 2010 Epcot Food & Wine Festival. Great read!

Mousesavers highlights some incredible deals from restaurant.com — we’re talking discounts on discounts for House of Blues and Swan & Dolphin restaurants! (Thanks to Studios Central for the FYI on restaurant.com!)

Main Street Gazette sampled and reviewed nearly every flavor of Wonderland Tea. Fantastic article!

The Disney Chick makes an old Food and Wine Festival favorite — Beef Bites with Chocolate and Red Wine Sauce!

The Disney Blog shares his review of the new meatball sliders and beer bar at Portobello in Disney World’s Downtown Disney.

Zannaland wonders which Disney candy fits your mood?

The Makin’ Memories Blog shows us Part I of her Tables in Wonderland Great Movie Ride dinner experience!

Studios Central moseys on over to Hoop Dee Doo Revue!

A Taste of Disney makes ‘Ohana Bread Pudding with Bananas Foster Sauce.

Eating (And Drinking) Around the World has a bone to pick with those bartender robots in the Space Mountain exit area!

Disney Parks Blog talks about one of my favorite desserts — Key Lime Pie!

A Kitchen Sink Sundae With No Calories! Really!

By AJ 5 Comments

I was searching for pics of the 2010 Epcot Food and Wine Festival pins and look what I happened to come across!

Beaches and Cream Kitchen Sink Pin

This adorable pin depicting Beaches and Cream‘s most famous dessert — the Kitchen Sink — came available for purchase a month ago on June 24th! Of course, everyone knows that this dessert deserves the recognition; served with two scoops of every single ice cream flavor, every single topping in the place, whole candy bars, oreos, and an entire can of whipped cream, it’s [Read more…]

Review: Portobello Restaurant

By AJ 25 Comments

Located in Downtown Disney, Portobello (formerly the Portobello Yacht Club) is currently in an upswing. Consulting Chef Tony Mantuano — you’ve seen him on Top Chef Masters — has renovated the menu into a short, but delicious list of rustic, hearty Italian trattoria food.

Atmosphere

While simple, the decor offers a neutral and natural setting for a delicious meal. Unlike the more themed restaurants on Disney property, this one seems to prefer that we [Read more…]

News: Disney World Meatball and Beer Bar; New Disneyland Crepe Menu

By AJ 13 Comments

Here’s a bit of mid-week news for ya:

Disneyland Cafe Renee Crepe Menu

DisZine

has had a series of posts on Cafe Renee, a new crepe and funnel cake stick location in Disneyland’s Downtown Disney. The crepe menu is the newest addition of information:

Cafe Renee Crepe Menu

Looks delicious, doesn’t it?

Portobello Meatball and Beer Bar

The Disney Parks Blog is reporting on the new Meatball and Beer bar dreamed up by [Read more…]

Lunch at Bengal Barbecue

By AJ 12 Comments

When I was planning my recent Disneyland trip, there were two counter service restaurants I knew we couldn’t miss — French Market and Bengal Barbecue. Bengal is a tiny counter-service spot — no bigger than a booth or a kiosk really — tucked into all the action of Adventureland. Located across the way from Jungle Cruise and Indiana Jones, you get the idea that you’re supposed to sense a little danger around here…

Atmosphere
Pretty menacing tiger, eh? Once you get past the fear, just head under the little thatched roof and get in line. Speaking of lines, I can almost assure you there will be one. Bengal Barbecue is one of the most popular counter service spots in Disneyland, both for its [Read more…]

DIY Disney Food: Canadian Cheddar Cheese Soup from Le Cellier

By AJ 41 Comments

Every month, our resident Chef BigFatPanda puts together his amazing step-by-step, photo-filled posts where he and Chef Mickey show you their adventures in the kitchen cooking up Disney goodies! Today, Chef BigFatPanda’s DIY Disney Recipes brings us a classic…!

Hello! Chef BigFatPanda here! Are you ready for a new recipe?

So, I hope you heard by now that I have my own column here on the Disney Food Blog. In fact, you’re reading it right now. I am very excited and honored to have this home to share my passion of Disney and cooking with you. I hope you enjoy these recipes and my attempt at entertainment as much as I enjoy bringing it to you.

I realize it’s summer and soup might not initially sound like a good idea, but it’s one of my favorite things to eat. With all the hoopla over the Epcot International Food and Wine Festival preview, I remembered how much I loved that Canadian Cheddar Cheese Soup over at Canada’s Le Cellier restaurant. As I re-imagined the velvety, creamy, cheesy goodness and bacon overtones, the whole summer soup argument was over. Soup won! 🙂

Le Cellier's Famous Cheddar Cheese Soup

CANADIAN CHEDDAR CHEESE SOUP (Le Cellier)

As usual, the recipe’s instructions will be bolded for easy reference should you wish to print this out and skip my banter.

Interesting fact: Disney has published at least 2 varying versions of this recipe. I made it years ago from a Disney cookbook (whose name escapes me), but this version is much easier and did, in fact, yield the same results. It’s exactly what you get when you walk up to that little festival booth with “Peachy Vigor” awaiting your small dose of cheddar ecstasy.

One other thing worth mentioning before we get serious: sometimes Hidden Mickeys show up when [Read more…]

Battle of the Bangers

By AJ 11 Comments

Today, we’re pitting isle against isle to see who will arise triumphant in the Battle of the Bangers!

VS.

That’s right: the popular Irish Raglan Road is going up against the classic English Rose and Crown to see who’s quintessential dish wins the hearts (stomachs?) of Disney Food Blog readers!

Raglan Road

Rose and Crown

Now, of course I’m going to be completely neutral in this whole thing, but I will explore the differences between the two dishes 😉 Here we go: [Read more…]

2011 Disneyland and Disney World Food and Wine Festival Dates

By AJ 1 Comment

I know we’re pretty enmeshed in the 2010 Epcot Food and Wine Festival info right now, but I was excited to see a press release in my inbox today from Disneyland announcing their 2011 Food and Wine Festival dates! I was also excited to see on the back of the Epcot Food and Wine Festival Guide that the 2011 Epcot Food and Wine Festival dates are already set as well! So, for future reference:

2011 Disney’s California Food and Wine Festival

The sixth annual California Food and Wine Festival will run from April 29th to June 12th — later than last year’s festival — and will include locations in both Disney California Adventure and Disneyland! (I’m excited to hear that the original park will be included, too!) You can see my coverage from the 2010 Disney’s California Food and Wine Festival here!

2011 Epcot Food and Wine Festival

The 16th annual Epcot International Food and Wine Festival is now scheduled to take place September 30th through November 13th! There are no other details at this time, but you can always check out the coverage of the 2009 and 2010 Epcot Food and Wine Festivals to get an idea of what to expect!

Happy Planning!

Looking for something?

STAY CONNECTED