The uber-popular Whispering Canyon Cafe, at Disney World’s Wilderness Lodge is known for bottomless milkshakes, all-you-can-eat skillets, and a rowdy atmosphere due to the fun antics of the servers.
Asked for Ketchup? Let’s just say you may be saddled with significantly more than you need. Chatting on your cell phone during the meal? Don’t be surprised if that doesn’t last long. Drop your fork? This might be the one you get in return!
Foxy Roxy with Fork
While the WCC menu has changed slightly over these past few years, guests could always count on the option of the all-you-can-eat skillet at breakfast, lunch, and dinner as their go-to must-do.
But this week, Whispering Canyon Cafe debuted new lunch and dinner menus that aren’t quite so straightforward. In a move that was not anticipated, the restaurant has removed the skillet from the lunch menu AND taken a la carte entrees off of the dinner menu. Yes, dinner is now a skillet affair ONLY! Luckily, the breakfast menu hasn’t changed as drastically…
Whispering Canyon Cafe Skillet
Let’s take a look at the updates to the lunch, dinner, and breakfast menus here…
New Whispering Canyon Cafe Menu Graphics
Whispering Canyon Cafe New Lunch Menu
On the lunch menu, guests have a choice of assorted appetizers (the yummy spring rolls are still available and I’m kind of intrigued by that “flash fried” Navajo bread…) and entrees, but the skillet has been removed from the options list.
Whispering Canyon Cafe Lunch Menu 2012 -- click for larger image
Sandwiches now include pulled pork, chicken, turkey, and a “Bacon and Egg” burger. Entrees include ribs, a tuna melt, and fish and chips.
I’m just pleased that the awesome caramel apple pie made the cut on the overall dessert menu! It’ll cost you extra, apparently, but love that stuff!
Whipering Canyon Dessert Menu 22Sep12 -- click for larger image
apple caramel pie at Whispering Canyon Cafe
No worries — the bottomless milkshakes remain!
bottomless milkshake at Whispering Canyon Cafe
Deb Wills has a great review of the new lunch menu here at AllEars.Net!
Whispering Canyon Cafe Dinner Menu
The dinner menu has had some change-ups as well. No a la carte options here at all, and the meals seems to have turned into more of an ‘Ohana style experience where all tables pretty much get a family style meal (albeit with a few choices thrown in).
Whispering Canyon Cafe Dinner Menu 2012 -- click for larger image
The $32.99/person skillet (which, by the way, is now called “family platter”) includes your choice of three proteins (I’m eager to see what they have available for vegetarians!):
–Kansas City-style Smoked Pork Ribs
–Herb-baked Chicken
–Hand-carved Oak-roasted
–Beef Strip Loin
–Citrus-crusted Market Fish
–Western-style Sausage
The following sides come with each platter:
–Seasonal Farm Fresh Vegetables
–Herb-crushed Yukon Gold Potatoes
–Cowboy-style Baked Beans
–Corn on the Cob
Appetizers are also available for an extra cost.
Just like at ‘Ohana, dessert is included in your dinner platter price. It’s a sampler of chocolate cake, jalapeño-lime cheesecake, and apple-cranberry buckle. Bottomless milkshakes are still on the dinner menu as well, but will cost you extra.
New adult beverages are on both the lunch and dinner menus, and include: Pa’s Maple Shake — Tap 357 Maple Rye Whisky blended with Vanilla Ice Cream 9.50; Moonshine Margarita — Troy & Sons Platinum Moonshine, St-Germain Elderflower Liqueur, fresh Lime Juice, Agave Nectar, and Orange Juice 9.75; Prairie Fire — Tap 357 Maple Rye Whisky, fresh Lime Juice, and Agave Nectar topped with Soda Water 9.75
Whispering Canyon Cafe Breakfast Menu
The breakfast menu here has changed up a bit as well, but you are still able to get the breakfast skillet — whew!!
Whispering Canyon Breakfast Menu 22Sep12 -- click for larger image
I can’t wait to hear what you have to say about the new menus! Personally, I’m eager to try the new offerings, but the loss of a classic (skillet lunch was always a great break during a day at the Magic Kingdom) is hard to take. Maybe a Prairie Fire will help take the sting out… 😉
Share your thoughts on the menu changes at Whispering Canyon Cafe in the comments below!
Thanks to reader Jackie Cowan for the heads’ up on this earlier this week!
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Does the dinner all you can eat skillet still come with the salad and cornbread??
Not a happy camper. I have reservations here next Friday and wanted the pasta before The 5k run Saturday. May have to cancel now which is sad because this is one of our favorites.
Bummer! The skillet was our favorite resort lunch. Always recommended it to people for lunch. Take the skillet off at lunch, (at a location that was alway 50% or more empty) seems as logical as taking Tonga Toast of the menu at Kona. Reminds me of the Ohana changes years ago. Super bummed. Thanks for saving us from showing up and and leaving to go eat elsewhere.
At first I felt like my whole world just ended when I found out about the new menus. I mean wcc is one of my absolute favourites and a must do on every trip. So much so we have 2 meals planned on our next trip.
The skillet salad changed my life. Seriously. I won’t lie, I’ve obsessed over the apple dressing about as much as I’ve wished they would bring back figaro fries (WAH!!!) and I’ve even gone to the trouble of making it back at home. I even made some for my Olympics BBQ as we had fellow wcc salad lovers coming. I guess I’ll be getting the new salad and telling them to keep the blue cheese.
The lack of pulled pork bothered me at first, but the last time we had the skillet it was fatty and we can get good pulled pork at pecos bills and flame tree BBQ. So I’m ok with loosing this. I’m not even going to mention swapping brisket for loin. *shakes head*
Cornbread. Hmmm. It fills you up so you don’t eat as much but it’s just soooo good. Sad that it isn’t making an appearance.
Mashed potatoes going is well, a disappointment. I don’t think I understand them removing some of the most basic BBQ items from what is mainly a BBQ restaurant. It’s a shame because there’s only really flame tree that sells stand alone BBQ.
And then the final blow, it’s not the greatest, I’ll give that honor to my beloved salad, or more so the delicious dressing, but the bubblegum milkshake was one of my hidden pleasures at this restaurant. And now I’ll have to do with vanilla or chocolate. :-/
I suppose we will still go and eat there but I don’t know if I’ll be able to refrain from giving them my two penneth on the lack of skillet. :-/
Wow.. that is a bummer. All my fiance and I have been talking about was how good the skillet was at dinner.. and how we couldn’t wait to go back next month. I just wanted to try that cheese soup! Oh well! 🙁
I’m actually not that upset by this.. The skillet is what we order anyway, just have to make sure to go for dinner instead of lunch. They kept my family;s favorite ribs (and chicken for me) so we’ll be back there as always!
Gutted! Have reservations for breakfast in three weeks as a birthday treat and loved the original eggs benedict (with BBQ/spicy pork), the new eggs benedict is just the same eggs benedict you can get anywhere…what’s the point in that? Seems like Disney menus are just getting blander…think we’ll eat elsewhere
what they got ride of the cinnamon bread french toast awww man!!!!
I def want to eat here some time and make it a two fold experience. I so want to see the WL and maybe do a split stay there on some trip. I’d like to visit it soon and eat while I’m there.
Wow, I’m so disappointed with the lunch menu changes. We’re on the DDP and I’ve made all my reservations around best bets for sharing meals with our 20-month old son. He’d definitely eat most items on the skillet, but I don’t see much up his alley on the new menu. I can see I may have to order him a kids meal, knowing he’ll only eat 1/3 of it. I guess we’ll keep the ADR so my 4-year old can experience the fun of WCC…still, I am no longer looking forward to this as one of our dining highlights. 🙁
I have an ADR here in November. Not sure if I’ll keep it or change it. I’ve never eaten here and was looking forward to it. If I was going solo I would keep it. I was planning on trying the skillet anyway. I’m going with friends, and I’m not sure if they would be interested in the family platter. I’ll wait until I hear back from them.
Well, poo! WCC is no longer an option for us. My older son (13) has only ever eaten the fried chicken sandwich here. Now that it’s not on either menu, we’re sunk. It’s a real bummer because the rest of us LOVE the skillet!
disappointed. Was there just last month. Really enjoy my steak. Not happy about the “family platter”. May have to bypass this place next time.
This seems like such a strange choice! We were debating about doing this for breakfast or dinner next trip and chose breakfast – I’m so glad we did because the skillet idea does not appeal to me at all.
On the breakfast menu, I don’t know if this is one of the new items or not but the banana bread french toast sounds amazing!
My sister and I had reservations on 11/23/12 after reviewing the new menu we cancelled our reservations. We always ate dinner here on the day of our arrival we were both upset with the menu change and the charge of $32.99 per person which I feel is alot if your not a big eater.
Wow, not really thrilled with these menu changes. The steak I had there the last time we went for dinner was delicious. I’m not a huge BBQ fan, so the skillet never did it for me. And I’m really not feeling the new dessert scheme. I only know of one person in my party who would even consider eating all three of those.
AJ, when you say that the shakes will cost you extra, does that mean they are no longer included in the DDP? Thanks in advance!
I want to start by saying my family of 7 and I went a couple days ago and enjoyed the new changes to WCC. We’ve been going for years and I always look forward to the steak but surprisingly the changes made things easier on my family, a lot less decision making for my mother in law. We were on the DP and everything including milkshakes were covered just like before excluding gratuity which we always take care of. Dirk was our server and what a character this guy is. Don’t get me wrong some changes not everyone agrees with but most of us that dine here go for the experience more than the meatloaf or the pot roast and Dirk is a perfect example of this. Also my wife is a vegetarian and enjoyed the vegetable pasta dish over the quinoa cakes. Finally the platter was amazing : plenty of cornbread, the loin was better than the brisket, the potatoes are still a version of mashed potatoes, great vegetable medley and of course the delicious chicken and ribs. Dessert was good as well, I loved the buckle and jalapeño cheesecake but the chocolate raspberry cake to me doesn’t belong at all.
Thanks WCC for another great meal, see you in 6 months
Sad… Once again the Disney wisdom strikes again…. Choices continue to be limited and prices go up…. While we have ordered the skillet for dinner… I already miss the pulled pork and brisket… Now we are left with faux BBQ … No Carmel shake???? Wife and daughters will not be happy.. No corn bread or salad… Ughhhhhh… Went in May and it was great.. Have ADR for our Christmas visit…. Not a fan of the way things are going… Makes me really think about the dvc membership….
Nooooooo!!! What a shame, was really looking forward to my first meal here, we have an ADR in around 5 weeks time. Thinking about cancelling now though as the pulled pork and cornbread were top of my list on the skillet. Also wanted the caramel apple pie, don’t really fancy paying extra for it when on the dining plan. Would have been great fun for my four year old, and what restaurant will we be able to replace it with at short notice. Damn, damn, damn!
The CORNBREAD is still there stop being so dramatic, it’s a great place especially to take your kids to.
OK, maybe Jon has talked me round, maybe we should give WCC a chance (even though he is a bit cheeky LOL!) 😉
Thanks Jon for confirming they are still doing the cornbread… its not on the menu, so maybe that needs to be added.
A few questions: Are you still able to get the milkshake as a drink (not dessert) with the dining plan? Does the family have to choose 3 meats or each person chooses what 3 meats they want? Is it still all you care to eat? We aren’t going for 9months, but we are a party of 9 (maybe 12 depending on my CM cousin’s schedule), so we are trying to all decide where we want to go. 180 mark Jan 1, and I am excited to try some new places!
Nevermind, I see the “all you care to eat”.
Thanks for the review. We may actually make the trip to WCC for breakfast on our next visit after seeing what they have to offer. I never bothered to look at the menu since most reviews I read just talk about how loud it is in there. Pulled pork on a breakfast sandwich and bananas foster sauce on french toast is enough to deal with the noise!
Is anyone disturbed at the $32.99 per person price for the dinner skillet for something you have to share with your family? Does each family member pick three things or you only get 3 meats and you pay that much to share? I don’t know, it seems very pricey to me. Maybe they’re getting ready to add characters to the dinner and that’s the reason for the price. It’s the only thing I can think of.
To answer your questions, yes everyone is able to pick 3 meats. The price 32.99 because it also includes all you care you care to enjoy dessert. No characters are in the works.
Well, I don’t think we’ll be making ADRs again for there anytime in the near future. It used to be one of our favorite places for a nice, filling, lunch, and a quiet (?) break in our MK touring days.
It seems like Disney is beginning to ‘dumb down’ lunch to the point where they can justify eliminating it all together. First the demise of the lunch buffet at Trails End, now the demise of the lunch skillet.
Couple that with forcing people to get *only* the (rather expensive) skillet at dinner…..
How long before a la carte menus become a thing of the past ?
Bless the Dining Plan
Shake flavors…
Someone above mentioned that the only shake flavors are choc, van, straw. Did the old menu state the same, but they threw in the unusual flavor from time to time?
I’ve had the shake a few times and I don’t think I’ve ever had the non-standard flavor available – like creamsicle, bubble gum ,etc.
Does anyone know if kids will still be able to eat off the family platter as one of their choices? My kids are going to want to eat what we’re having, not one of the listed kids meals!
I love the WCC but am always up for trying something new… who knows, could be an improvement!
We were there last week and we didn’t have to choose 3 meats we got ALL of them. I thought everything was really good but the chicken and ribs were still my favorite. There is still a childrens menu that my 7 year old had to choose from and funny… she didn’t get a dessert there at all. The cheesecake was different tasting but I’m not a spicy kinda gal, I liked the chocolate cake but it was nothing to write home about and the apple cranberry buckle no one even tried. We’ll go there again for the atmosphere but I’m thinking we’ll skip it next year.
We were surpised by the lunch menu changes last week. Overall the food was not what we remembered. The tuna melt is not a sandwich like you might think (notice it is listed under entrees.) It is two tuna salad patties-kind of like crab cakes- on top of a piece of bread with tomatos, cheese, and balsamic vingarette with a salad. Actually tasted ok, but surprised my friend who ordered it. The fish and chips was really good. The pulled pork sandwich and cheeseburger were deemed “just OK.”
How did I miss this article?!? The thing that hits me hardest is the loss of all the different flavors of milkshakes. It’s not right.
We cancelled our reservations for lunch when we heard about the skillet coming off the lunch menu. Was really looking forward to it too.
Can you still get the caramel apple pie with dinner?
Christy — I’m not sure if it’s included 🙁 They do have the pie for lunch, so I know it’s there, but it might cost extra.
Just ate at the canyon a couple days ago. Some of you Need to calm down. Don’t base your vacation off of what others are saying about a menu they haven’t even tried yet! The dinner platter is great! Yes, the milkshakes are included and they do have caramel! Yes, the price cost more, but you get dessert included! For those that want BBQ at lunch, they offer the ribs and give way more than enough! Sad they don’t have steak? Make a reservation at the 200 other Disney places that do! Oh and by the way, they put a sliced steak on the all you can eat dinner! It was way better than the old greasy brisket they use to have. They have moonshine too! In a margarita! It was amazing!
Nicola- give them your two penneth? Why would you start issues with the server? They are there to make you happy and feed you! They didn’t change the menu.
Bummer: This has been one of my favorites for dinner.. I love their pot roast..Will not be going there again.. We are not really fans of their skillet,. we have been going there twice a year. now will find different place for dinner.. boo to them
We recently visited WCC. WCC was one of our family’s favorites. I was disappointed with the menu changes. Greatly missed the salad from previous visits. I thought it was a great starter. It was light and fresh. Big disappointment. The food was ok. I didn’t think it was good as previous visits. I think this was a bad move overall. Service was still great. Food not so much. Not sure that we would go back.
Just saw the menu change and now cancelling a reservation for 9 due to the lunch skillet removal. I talked it up and people were looking forward to trying it. Guess it will be pizza instead. what a shame.
Does anyone know if a 10 year old can order off the kids menu here? My daughter will turn 10 right before we go and I’m trying to find restaurants that she can still order off the kids menu, i.e. not buffet or family style. Thought we might try WCC since we’ve never been before, but if she has to order a skillet then I’ll have to find something else. Also, is the food at WCC in comparison to Hoop Dee Doo’s food? I know I have to pay adult pricing for her there, but since there’s also a show included that the kids have never seen before, I’m willing to pay the extra for her there. But, if the food is similar at the two, then I don’t think we’ll want 2 of the same meal.
Jennifer — Food is quite different at the two, and Disney’s kids’ menus end at age 9.
Jennifer — wanted to add that they may be able to make an adult sized plate of kids’ menu food for your daughter, but you’ll pay an adult a la carte price.
*** Not a good place for vegetarians! ***
We had an OK meal at the Whispering Canyon Cafe yesterday. Two of our party (of three) had the “all-you-care-to-eat” option and I had some really awful quinoa cakes covered in some sort of cucumber sauce.
In true Disney-guest-focused-style, they took that item off the menu (it probably helped that I didn’t eat it). I hit up some of the sides from the platters.
The food was served similar to what we got when we went to the Garden Grill in the Land Pavilion in Epcot in March (2013). The food was a bit spicier though. Unlike the Garden Grill, there were no vegetarian options with the platter. Very disappointing. And unlike the Garden Grill there was no salad that came out with the meal.
The “milkshakes” that people raved about online were — as far as I could tell — right out of a soft serve machine. Very disappointing and definitely not worth the price — would you pay $7 for a frosty from Wendy’s?
The Whispering Canyon did not make it to our “favorites at Walt Disney World” list, namely because there was just one vegetarian option and it as a la carte and not part of the “all-you-care-to-eat” plate. (The Garden Grill is on our favorites, along with the Biergarten in Germany, Tusker House, Boma and Via Napoli — if you are a vegatarian — add these to your list!).