Disney Dining Review: Whispering Canyon Cafe (and It’s Not the Skillets I’m After!)

*DIS Contributors review meals, resort stays, and entertainment that they have paid for during their own vacations. They only utilize discounts and offers if they are available to the general public, such as annual passholder discounts or DVC membership discounts. They receive no additional compensation for dining experiences or events, so that they may give their honest opinions about price and value.



I know, I know, everyone who goes to Whispering Canyon Café at Wilderness Lodge raves about the all-you-care-to-eat skillets. I’ve been raving about something else available at dinner, and when I tell people about it, their first reaction is utter confusion. “You didn’t get the skillet? But everyone gets the skillet. What else do they have besides the skillet?”

Whispering Canyon Café

Well friends, they have a steak! And a pretty darn good one, in my opinion. So much so that I ordered it again on a subsequent vacation, and it was just as good as the first time! Seriously, no steak sauce is necessary. Really, though, does a good steak need sauce? It does come with butter. Is butter a sauce? We can debate that later.



The glorious NY Strip

Available for dinner, the Char-crusted New York Strip ($36) is a New York Strip steak that comes with honey-glazed carrots, crispy-fried red potatoes, and a whiskey-onion butter sauce. I ordered mine medium-rare, which is my personal preference.

I know the menu reads ‘carrots’ plural, but obviously, there was just one carrot. Also, I’m not a fan of the way it was presented. Granted, it did become multiple carrots, as I wasn’t about to try and eat that in one bite (for obvious reasons). The potatoes were nice. They were…potatoes. The star of the show, for good reason, was the steak. It was phenomenal! It was glorious! It was one of the best steaks I’ve had in a long time. It was juicy, flavorful, tender, all the things you want in a steak. It was also not a small portion. You could share it, but after the first bite, you may not want to.

While the strip steak does not come with additional sides besides the carrot(s) and potatoes, you could kindly ask for other items on the side. Whispering Canyon does not have side items to order à la carte. I asked if they had a side salad, which they do not, so my server brought me the Garden Salad ($3) from the kid’s appetizer menu. They do have a House Salad appetizer which is different, larger, and $9. I also asked about a side of cornbread. Cornbread does come with the all-you-care-to-eat skillets, but not with the dinner entrées. However, my server was able to bring a small basket of cornbread and honey butter out for me since I asked very nicely.



Cornbread!

I didn’t have room for dessert. Afterward, I raved about my wonderful steak to all my friends. I still rave about this steak and how great it was! As I said earlier, I returned to Whispering Canyon Café several months later specifically to try the steak again, and it was just as good as the previous time. I think I found my new favorite menu item here!

Did you know there’s a hidden Mickey at Whispering Canyon Café? It can be found along the bottom edge of the fireplace. Unfortunately, there is also a table for two in front of it, so if guests are seated, you may not be able to see it.



Hidden Mickey!

So there you go. Maybe an all-you-care-to-enjoy skillet is simply too much food for you, but you still want to have a good dinner. Maybe the skillets don’t appeal to you. Maybe, just maybe, you’re in the mood for a steak like I was. Well, friends, you have an option here at Whispering Canyon, and in my opinion, it’s a heck of a good one.

Hi, I'm Liz. I'm very tall, sorta funny, and I occasionally get lost inside gift shops.
















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