Whispering Canyon Cafe

Started On: 03/22/2009 2:18 am

What are some fun things they do at Whispering Canyon for the kids?
There are lots of things! Hobby Horse races, singing, dancing---it's great! One thing I always think is funny is when they make the kids take an oath that they'll eat as much candy as they can, go to bed as late as they can, and never, EVER go to Universal Studios! Brenna

03/22/2009 10:04 pm

Having just returned from a stay at the Wilderness Lodge, I can honestly say that the worst restaurant we ate at was the Whispering Canyon. May be we completely missed the point on the theme but the service was awful, napkins were thrown at us along with straws for the drinks. The staff were rude and unhelpful and being presented with 10 bottles of ketchup when one would suffice was completely over the top. The in your face attitude even frightened our young children. We were even asked after our main course if we would like to take our desserts back to our room. The appeal of this place completely baffles me as there as any number of far better restaurants in WDW with far more appealing themes and considerably better service. It is a real shame that the Whispering Canyon is so bad as it lets down what is otherwise a good hotel.

06/14/2009 9:50 am

I'm so sorry you had such a horrible time at Whispering Canyon! That trademark "cheeky" service at WCC, which, as you said, is part of the theme of the restaurant, is a draw for a lot of people, but waitstaff should be able to gauge reactions at the table and tone up or down as necessary. That's really crummy that you experienced bad service overall and that your kids were scared. There have been times that I've been at WCC and haven't really been in the "mood" for all of the games, so asked my server to just let me enjoy the antics of the other tables while eating in relative quiet at mine--maybe that's good advice for folks who are starting to feel that the theme is getting too carried away for their liking. Just want to add, usually I have wonderful service at WCC--servers have been experienced and have been able to stay funny instead of becoming annoying or insulting. Every restaurant has bad service now and again, and I assume that at WCC those occasional circumstances are even more pronounced because of the theme. 🙁

06/14/2009 11:42 pm

Get to Whispering Canyon when they start serving dinner around 4pm and you will get to hear them ring the triangle and yell "come and get it". They also have Lincoln logs for the kids (and adults) to play with while waiting. We had a small child and never had to participate in the ketchup moving game. I noticed they would usually choose a table with school aged kids to yell "I want some ketchup". Service was good, even when my daughter threw her milk all over the guy at the table next to ours. I was wiping off his shirt and the waitress came over to help. My 2 1/2 year old drank the BBQ sauce right from the little pitcher and throws most of her food on the floor. The dinner serving sizes were large enough, even after skipping lunch, we could not eat dessert. Ketchup game explained... somebody asks for ketchup out of need or because the wait staff prompts them to (just to keep the game going). The first time each meal, the waitstaff bring out 17 bottles usually a handful at a time to the requester's table. Another table asks for ketchup, the requester is prompted by waitstaff to stand up and yell "I want some ketchup" and the table that previously asked for ketchup has to pass all 17 bottles to requester's table. This usually means multiple people running back and forth since you can't carry 17 bottles at once. The younger kids seem to love this game. This continues for a while during the busier dining times. Whispering Canyon Cafe is definitely not the place for a quiet dinner (those with introverted personality may find this event uncomfortable).

http://www.dusten.cc

12/13/2009 3:40 am

Sorry you were not prepared for what the "Whispering Canyon" experience. Maybe next time a little research would help. It is very well known what happens there and it could have been easily avoided. I have never had anything but a positive experience there. The "antics" are only going on now for breakfast and dinner. For lunch it is just a regular meal. So anyone who doesn't want all the fun that goes along with it should eat at lunch. I have a 12 year old son and we will be going again in October and our tradition is we go there the first night of our vacation. I asked him if he wanted to continue and did he feels that it is a part of our vacation tradition.

04/15/2010 12:49 pm

boo mommy -- That's so cool! It's always fun to have traditions, and this sounds like a great one! Thanks for the info that the "antics" are not happening at lunch anymore.

04/15/2010 9:01 pm

Anybody heard anything about rude service from the Vallet upon arrival? I've heard you can't unload by the front door if you don't use Vallet

06/01/2010 10:11 pm