I was inspired listening to Lou Mongello’s WDW Radio Podcast tonight. The Podcast discussed Top Ten Wow Moments at Walt Disney World. As I was thinking about my top wow moments, I realized that many of my Wow moments revolved around food. I thought this would be a great place to share those special moments, so that you can plan to enjoy some of those really special things as well.
Wishes from California Grill
It was just about 10pm on a random Thursday in August of 2008. We had finished the first four courses of our dinner at California Grill and ordered a bottle of Iron Horse Fairytale Cuveé, which, thanks to our wonderful waiter, arrived at the table very quickly along with two tall fragile looking glasses. The lights in the restaurant began to dim and we grabbed our glasses and ran out to the balcony that over looks the Magic Kingdom. It was completely empty because it was drizzling slightly and the restaurant wasn’t particularly busy that night. The music started and we were magically whisked away to that very special place that Wishes in the Magic Kingdom takes us. I will admit that tears were running down my face from the very first shell, but I think I actually started sobbing during the finale. We were celebrating our purchase into Disney’s Vacation Club. It was the restaurant related moment when I realized that I’d be able to visit Walt Disney World whenever I wanted for the next 50 years. I know it sounds like it was an incredibly romantic moment, and it certainly could be if you wanted it to be. I was with my roommate and best friend and it was, rather than a romantic moment, another moment that truly cemented our friendship as being truly a family. You can make this moment your own by planning a trip to the California Grill about an hour and half before the start of Wishes. Share your appetizers and your entreés and order a special bottle of bubbly or wine right before the show is about to start. If you happen to score a table at the window you don’t even have to leave your seat. The lights in the restaurant dim and the music is piped in to both the restaurant and the outdoor viewing area. If you have your kids with you, you might want to skip the wine and just watch the faces of your children as the sky lights up in front of you.
Royal Table Windows
My second Disney wow moment happened at Cinderella’s Royal Table. Now you might be thinking what on Earth are a couple of single young adults without any kids doing dining at Cinderella’s Royal Table? I have to say that I think it is something every one should do once, whether or not you have budding princesses. We waited in line for our photo with Cinderella and once that was done, we headed up the stairs to the restaurant. The Cast Member who seated us realized that we didn’t have any children with us and we were presented with the Fairy Godmother wand and Pirate Sword that are usually given to the children. We also got a pair of Wishing Stars, so that we could participate in the special ceremony that is done every so often during breakfast. This would have made it on to the Wow list, just for how well we were taken care of by the staff, however, the moment came when half way through breakfast Snow White appeared at our table. She started chit chatting with us and asked what Kingdom we were visiting from. When I told her we were from New Orleans she leaned over and whispered conspiratorially that while she was now living in Germany, she was really from the far away Kingdom of Baton Rouge. Snow gave me a huge hug and posed for a number of wonderful photos. You can make this Wow moment yours by reading my blog post on how to make a Cinderella’s Royal Table reservation and coming up with great questions to ask the Princesses who will be visiting with you during your meal.
The View
My next Wow moment happened at Animal Kingdom Lodge on a very recent trip. On a previous trip I had picked up a flyer for a wine tasting taking place at Jiko on Wednesdays at 2:00pm. I called Jiko a few weeks before our next trip and booked the wine tasting for both my roommate and myself. I left a message on the restaurant voicemail and soon got a return call that we had been booked at the appropriate date and time. We arrived a little bit early and were seated at a table set for 10 people in the middle of the restaurant. There were already a couple of bottles of wine sitting on the table and a description of each of the wines we’d be tasting that day. The other eight drinkers arrived shortly and we were met by Raul, the wine guy at Jiko. He talked a little bit about the collection and began pouring from the first bottle. At the same time waitstaff were providing each of us with our own personal cheese tray. There were three different kinds of cheeses and various things to go with them. When we got to the third and last wine the staff replaced our cheese boards with a fruit and dessert tray. Raul was happy to answer questions and refill our glasses with which ever wine we had preferred. The entire group was chatting as though we’d all known each other forever. Just this great experience would put it on the Wow! list, but the fact that we probably drank six glasses of wine each and had such wonderful food provided for only $25.00 per person was amazing! You can take part in this experience by calling Jiko directly and asking to take part in the Wednesday Wine Tasting.
Cottontail Tamarind Cupcake
Next on my Wow! Dining list might surprise you a little bit. I have a tiny tradition of skipping my usual breakfast of a bagel and cream cheese in my room and grabbing a crazy Walt Disney World cupcake at either Starring Rolls and the Disney Hollywood Studios or at Kusifari Bakery at Animal Kingdom. On a fairly recent trip I stopped at Kusifari and got a Cotton Tail Tamarind cupcake. The thing was enormous. It was a chocolate cupcake with white buttercream icing and chocolate filling and chocolate chips. It had an huge chocolate Cotton Tail on the top, really a lollipop that was stuck down into the cupcake. I walked away from the bakery and was stopped by at least ten other guests who wanted to know where I had found such a massive treat. This cupcake could have easily been shared by three or four people.
Menu at Victoria & Albert's
My final Disney Dining Wow! should come as no surprise. It comes from Disney’s top rated restaurant, in fact the only five diamond restaurant in Orlando: Victoria and Albert’s. My roommate and I booked the Queen Victoria Room last October. For those of you who don’t know there are three dining options at V&A: the regular dining room, the chef’s table and the Queen Victoria room. The chef’s table and the Queen Victoria room serve the same menu. The difference is that the chef’s table is more casual and the Queen Victoria room is super formal. We got all dressed up and went to dinner. We were running really late and I called the restaurant and let them know. The first Wow! was that it was not a problem, we could arrived whenever we wanted; the table was ours for the night. The second Wow! for the night happened when our salads arrived at the table. One of our servers showed up with a toasting tray and bread and a selection of olive oils. Our salads were served and then our croutons were toasted in whichever oil we preferred. Then the lamb showed up and a bit of liquid nitrogen was poured into our plates to cold smoke our lamb. It was amazing! Then the host for the restaurant, Isreal, showed back up to cook our salmon dish to order on heated salt blocks. Wow! I know that Victoria and Albert’s is expensive, and I know that the Queen Victoria Room and the chef’s table are even more expensive, but if you can do it, it’s amazing. How to make this dining experience your own: call Disney dining at 180 days if you want the chef’s table or the Queen Victoria Room. If you want to dine in the regular dining room you have a little more time, but they do regularly sell out. I will tell you that our meal for two cost almost $1000. If you want to eat at Victoria and Albert’s put money away for it! I’ve written a couple of articles on how to save for a Disney Vacation, but they equally apply to how to save for a Disney Meal! Good luck!
I have so many “wow!” moments while dining … the time Alexander danced with a little girl at Biergarten, the first time I got a rose at Victoria & Albert’s (early ’90s!), the time baby Alexander shook hands with Pooh at Crystal Palace, the time the musicians played just for me at San Angel Inn! Such good times. 🙂
Great post, Heather! We’ve had some wonderful moments at Disney restaurants as well. One of my favorites were celebrating our honeymoon at CRT (this was before dinner was princess-ified). They decorated our table with confetti and streamers and presented us with two CRT champagne flutes, boxed up and ready to travel home with us (since we couldn’t indulge in champagne in the park). We love those glasses and still use them today.
Another was more recent — our attempt at the Kitchen Sink at Beaches & Cream in December. We knew there was no way we’d finish it, but it was fun to try and all the hoopla that goes along with them bringing the sundae to your table made it a fun, memorable experience. Even better, about two hours later, we were flopped down in the BC lobby waiting for our DME to the airport and a lady walked up to us and said, “You guys did a great job with the ice cream!” 😀
I’m going to check into the Wednesday Wine Tasting for our next trip. I had not heard of this before. Thanks for the info!
Heather, How far in advance did you have to make the reservation to do the wine tasting? Would absolutely love to do this.
I also wanted to say that I am loving this blog. Thanks for writing!
My husband and I also did breakfast at CRT with no kids in tow. I’m fairly certain we were the only folks there without kids, but we did not really feel out of place at all… of course, it helps that we’re massive kids-at-heart anyway. 🙂 When we stopped to have our photo with Cinderella, my husband bowed to her and I curtsied and thanked her for inviting us to share a meal with her in her lovely home. I think she was flustered. LOL!
About ten years ago, I was waiting in the rain at the Rose and Crown to cancel our reservation for that evening and to see if there were any openings for the next night. As I stood there, I realized that the woman in line in front of me was being very rude, as if the rain was the fault of the Cast Member, and was making a very long list of things that her group would require for the next evening’s meal. I watched the Cast Member do her best to remain polite to this incredibly rude guest. When it was finally my turn, I smiled at the CM, and thanked her for standing in the rain to care for all of us. I asked if there was any availability for the next evening. When there was, I said “Well, by all means, don’t put us anywhere on the patio, we don’t want to be a problem.” She smiled and laughed a little, and made our reservation for right before Illuminations. When we returned the next night, the hostess (not the same CM) saw our name and said to the person seating us: “They get the special table.” We followed her to our table on the patio where we enjoyed Illuminations with an unobstructed view, and shared our meal and wine. Meal-excellent; Experience-incredible.