So here it is, I am just stating the facts and my opinion if this dining experience is worth it. If you have had a different experience, I am honestly excited and a smidge jealous of you truth be told. We do have two small kiddos ( 6 and 3), but we also have tablets. Why is this important to mention you ask?! Tablets have helped us choose dining solely on the food being served or on what is considered ‘fine dining’ in the parks rather than on the ‘atmosphere’ being appealing to small children. Does this mean that I am not above a kitschy theme, of course not, I am a Disney lover and good theme’r at heart, but I also after a long day of park’ing it want to not only have a leisurely meal, but enjoy it as well (aka having an after dinner cocktail). Lets be honest, after a long day at the parks, a tablet can help accomplish this more often than not. If you have this holier than thou mentality about kids and tablets at dinner or in the parks altogether, then I would just ‘x’ out now as we are already getting off to a rocky start. We go enough that I do not need my kiddos to take in every single little moment. If a meltdown because I stupidly made late night dinner reservations is going to stand in the way of some after meal relaxing, schmoozing with the hubs and finishing my glass of wine then yes, yes, you can watch Clone Wars at the table (with the volume off or with headphones on), so I do not have to hear ‘are we leaving soon’ for an undetermined amount of time.
Anywho, as I am sure you can imagine we have had our fair share of dining in the parks and with many of the restaurants, several times over. At the end of the day although I can appreciate the fun ‘character’ dining experiences, I will choose good food over a character any day of the week and thankfully, my kiddos would too (they loooove Via Napoli #pizzaalldayeveryday).
Do you ever go to a restaurant that seems fun and you keep returning to it thinking it is a magical experience and then you leave said restaurant and for what seems like the umpteenth time say “ohhhh that’s right, that is why I stopped going here”. That is how I feel about Storybook Dining. If you get one of their coveted reservations, do I think it is worth a one-time experience? Absolutely!! The ambience is a lot of fun and definitely immersive considering most character dinings are the traditional restaurant with characters and this takes place in a ‘forbidden forest’. It is definitely well themed and you will love the last dessert as it is a fun display for both adults and kids (#nospoilers).
I feel the same can be said about Space 220. However, the difference being I would never say “man, why do I keep putting myself through this?” I would return to Space 220 several times over (one of the best steaks I have ever had EVER) and to me, it is a 100% worth it. I am fully aware that there are plenty of people that do not share this opinion with me. Hence why all opinions should be with a grain of salt, this just happens to be my grain.
So here goes. First of all, I highly suggest getting to the Fort Wilderness Lodge about an hour or more before your reservation and either going to the bar (say hi to Susan for me) that is next to the restaurant or moseying down to Geyser Grill and getting one of the best margaritas you will ever have. Honestly, I would have a hard time not getting one of their bison burgers (still till this day one of the best burgers I have ever had) and canceling my reservations altogether. Looking back and truth be told, I wish I had. Geyser Grill also overlooks the Seven Seas Lagoon, so it is a super nice view to boot. On Friday, we checked in got drinks and it was at least 30 minutes after our reservation time before we got called (I have never had this problem before, so it wasn’t really that taxing, just making a point), which is incredible considering what we will revisit in a second.
First thing to know is that this is a three-course planned out dinner so make sure that you review the menu and assure that there is something for everyone. I found the choices VERY limiting although on brand for the restaurant and the theme. Honestly, I made the reservations strictly for EV’s sixth birthday, I wasn’t overwhelmed by the meal choices, but stayed the course for the ambiance and her getting to meet Snow White (dear Todd English or Flying Fish, I will never cheat on you again for a birthday dinner again) for her birthday.
Remember, we waited thirty minutes past our reservation time to get seated…no apologies and the whirlwind dining experience really showed how they treat customers/guests when they are trying to play catch-up. We got seated and were barely sitting down when drink menus were laid out and we are already being asked by our server what we want to drink. I have two small kids, do you mind if I get them seated and set down my wineglass that I had just got from the bar? Thanks so much! Crazy happenstance, we had the server the previous time we were there and that very moment is when everything clicked the second she began our service, I remembered why we should have not have made our reservations almost as quickly as she wanted our drink order. Look, I am sure she is really nice and maybe in an environment where it is not so much “go, go, go” she is a lovely server, but in this particular setting I have never had so much anxiety eating. In full transparency, the experience I had with the server the time before her was similar…maybe its a Storybook Dining theme (::cue shrugging emoji::). The food gets pushed out really fast and its hard to enjoy the characters that are taking time to take pictures with your kids because you are getting asked if you are ‘done’ every five seconds. The hovering is unbearable and honestly other than the mushhroom soup, I could not tell you what else was being served on the elaborate tree appetizer plate.
Oh and by the way, if you ask for a family photo first and the server tells you there are character handlers that can take them, the answer is no, there are not! First world problems I know, but then I would have just had you take a photo to begin with and not waited. But that is neither here nor there. I felt like everything I asked for was putting someone out and all they wanted to do was to push out the next part of the dinner.
I can say that the character experience is lovely, or at least our experience with them. You meet Grumpy, Dopey and Snow White throughout dinner. I think they made really good rounds (we were also on the end which I think made it easier) and a lot of time was given to family photos and the interaction. At the very end, you get an ‘invitation’ asking for your family to meet with the Queen (honestly the best part of the experience although the lighting is absolutely terrible).
I did appreciate them having a Photopass Photographer there though.
Keep in mind, I am still eating and the server announces “by the way the Queen leaves for the night at (time given that is ten minutes away), so you are going to want to return to your dinner after!” Ummmm….first off, my reservation was called mad late and second, now my dinner will get cold so I can go meet the Queen?” I mean we did, but this is a major inconvenience. I was proceeded to be asked about three more times if I was done and almost a whole two minutes after my dinner plate was being whisked away, three desserts were placed on the tree stand. Now ask me if I can tell you what they were with the exception of the ‘red apple’ dessert, because why wouldn’t I remember that?
You know what I didn’t get to enjoy with my dinner? My wine. It literally went so fast and so much happens around you, I never once felt relaxed where I could take a sip of my wine. An entire glass of wine unsipped from moment I stepped foot in until I walked out. Even if I was drinking water however, I would have thought the same thing. I actually took my wine glass with me out of the restaurant when we left and sat in the lobby area to enjoy the rest of it.
Dinner was honestly mediocre, characters are still rotating at this time and I was half way through eating (literally just put my fork down to take a picture of the kids and Grumpy) and a hand is in front of me asking if I was done. Have I beat a dead horse (man I hate this saying) enough about this yet?!
Once dinner was complete, never once were we asked if we needed anything else or told to just relax and enjoy. It seems like the entire time the whole goal is to get you to eat and drink as little as possible, feel rushed and leave. Now you could say that this was unfair assessment IF this was my first go around here, but it was AT LEAST our third or fourth time and here we are again. Can I blame mom brain that I keep putting myself through this punishment in that I keep coming back and not remembering that I do not enjoy going? However, as you can see the pictures above kind of (and I use that term loosely) made the experience worth it. The picture where EV and Dopey are together and she is doing the peace sign (something she acquired all on her own mind you) is an all time favorite picture! Luckily, EV is older so the odds of me forgetting this are slim to nil or at least until the next time when we go and I have to re-read this, remind myself, and punish myself internally all over again. I can say however, that it is becoming a VERY expensive mistake, so instead take my advice and put the money into Cinderella’s Royal Table or Space 220…orrrrr mosey on down to the lagoon and eat at Geyser Grill for a fraction of the cost and a much better tasting meal…you’re welcome in advance!
