Welcome to the Disney Parks Moms Panel, Bobbi!
Whispering Canyon Café is such a fun place to share a meal with your favorite people – so many of my favorite magical memories have taken place there, from my son racing around the restaurant on his toy pony to sharing enormous milkshakes with my best Disney girlfriends. You’re going to love it!
Bobbi, I’m also the mom of a tween “Disney adult,” who sometimes still prefers to eat from the children’s menu when we’re dining at the Walt Disney World Resort. I just returned from a holiday visit to our happy place, and our experience at Table Service restaurants was that, if she wanted to order from the children’s menu, that was usually okay, but she was charged an adult price for the item, and received a larger portion. This actually worked really well for us!
Because Whispering Canyon Café offers a mix of family-style, all-you-care-to-enjoy platters and single-serving entrees, your best bet is to speak to your server about your options. Generally, the way it works is that, if multiple people order the same platter, those individuals will receive a larger platter to share, with refills flowing generously (my friends and I once did this and they brought us a platter loaded with Mickey waffles when we told our server how much we loved them). If your 11-year-old wants to share in and adult platter, they will be charged the adult price, regardless of how much they eat. However, if your Mouseketeer wants to order a single-serving entrée from the kids’ menu, I believe they will receive a larger portion of that entrée, and you’ll be charged an adult price (your server can tell you the exact details). I don’t think an 11-year-old is able to order a kids’ skillet, because this is the same as paying the child price at a buffet, which is also not permitted for Guests 10 and older.
Since you made it through that explanation, I’m going to share my favorite Whispering Canyon Café “hack,” which I learned from my dear friend and fellow Panelist Veronica O. Order the
All-You-Care-To-Enjoy milkshake in the caramel flavor, and then pour coffee into it. It’s incredible!
Have so much fun at your rootin,’ tootin’ meal, Bobbi! Be sure to spend some time exploring
Disney’s Wilderness Lodge, which is such a gorgeous resort!
Wishing you a magical vacation,
Robyn