Wine at Walt Disney World

I'm not a big wine person, preferring beer and Scotch, but Lisa knows her wine! This week on Saturday's With Lisa, she she shares some of her insight. Please note, Flying Fish is closing / is closed for a refurb. -Nick

By Lisa Green

Enjoying Wine at Walt Disney World

 
I love a glass (or two, sometimes) of good red wine.  I may occasionally enjoy a nice chilled glass of Chardonnay, but predominately I like Cabernet and prefer to enjoy a glass with dinner.  This is never more true than when I’m on vacation.  Raymond has similar taste in products from the vine, so when we eat at a Disney table service restaurant, we usually order a bottle to share.  I’ll add that it doesn’t go as far as it used to now that one of our offspring has reached the ripe old age of 24 (this week!) and has inherited her parents’ taste in wine.  (Happy Birthday, Megan!)  I suppose perhaps this is why we’ve only dined at Cinderella’s Royal Table one time.  I would have enjoyed the experience much more with a glass of wine!  No, I am not advocating a rule/menu change, just making an observation.  But (as usual) I digress.

Back to Wine!  Let me preface the rest of this post with a disclaimer – I am not a sommelier.  I’m not an expert or even a wine snob, really (except I do tend to steer clear of most pink wines) – I just have developed a love for a good, tasty wine – I’m thinking maybe all those lessons learned at wine tastings on Disney Cruise Line are taking hold.  I thought I’d discuss a few of the places we’ve found at Walt Disney World with especially good wine selections and ask you to comment with your suggestions on where else we should go for good vino!

Flying Fish Café – Just having eaten at this popular Boardwalk eatery in May for the first time, the memory of the delicious food and wine is fresh in my mind.  We loved absolutely everything about the Flying Fish – especially our waiter, Bob!  Should we have needed assistance with selecting a wine to enjoy with dinner, I’m confident Bob would have been more than up to the task of making an excellent recommendation.

Jiko at the Animal Kingdom Lodge – In general, we don’t drink a lot of African wines, so here we do rely on our server’s assistance.  Last time we ate at Jiko, we had a wine pairing for each course and this worked out very well for us.  Kudos to Jiko!  Always exceptional food and service – and excellent wine.

The Wave at Disney’s Contemporary Resort– Raymond and I have only eaten here once – we stopped in for a late lunch, sat at the bar, and let the bartender select a wine for us to enjoy with our Bison Burger – I don’t know which we loved more – the wine or the burger!  Both were top shelf.  If I’m not mistaken, the wine was a Bommarito Cab from Whitehall Lane Winery and Vineyards.  It was an exceptionally great late lunch at The Wave!  Afterwards, I remember Raymond headed off for a massage at the Contemporary’s spa and I, for the fist time ever, went to the Magic Kingdom by myself.  I can even remember wearing my classic Donald sweatshirt that day.

Tutto Gusto – Small plates, huge wine selection – that’s what you can expect in this cozy little corner of Epcot’s Italy Pavilion.  This may not be the place if you’re looking for a big meal, but it sure won’t disappoint you if you want a snack and a great glass of wine.

The Hollywood Brown Derby – The Derby has my vote for one of the coolest restaurants on Disney property for atmosphere – sweeps you away, far from its location smack dab in the middle of Disney’s Hollywood Studios.  The food is great and as far as the wine list, guests can select from “Old and New World wines from Italy, France, California, Australia and beyond” (as described on Disney’s website).  If you want a good meal and glass of wine in the Studios, this is the place.

Are you also a Walt Disney World wine lover?  What have I missed that I need to try?  We’re less than two months away from our next visit, so any and all suggestions will be most welcome!

This article was originally posted on Lisa's Living a Disney Life Blog.
She can be found on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/LivingaDisLife and on Twitter at @life_of_green

Please be sure to check out Lisa along with me and David Hodges on The Disney Exchange Podcast!

My First Solo Walt Disney World Trip : Day 3

By Nick

Sunday, January 3rd, 2016  

After the Monorail Loop Lounge Crawl from the night before, as talked about in Part 2, I woke up feeling none to clear headed. As it was also pouring rain on and off, I decided this would be the best time to visit the AMC Fork & Screen at Disney Springs to see Star Wars: The Force Awakens.

After a quick breakfast at Capt. Cook's I made my way to Disney Springs, arriving at 945am, I walked around until shops began opening at 10am, and then went to the theater for the 11am show.
It was my first time at a "Fork and Screen" and found the experience, well, average. I'll have a full review at a later date.

I headed for the bus stop at 150pm, with hopes of getting back to my room with plenty of time to spare before the planned recording of The Disney Exchange Podcast, which I co-host with Lisa Green and Dave Hodges at 3pm.
I walked up to the bust for the Polynesian and Grand Floridian just leaving, but there was one waiting to go to the Contemporary. Perfect, I figured I would just get that and hop the Monorail around to the Ticket and Transportation Center, which is actually closer to the building I was in, Moorea, than The Great Ceremonial House!

Well, wouldn't you know, the Monorail was down. I was told I could get a bus that was running especially to the Monorail loop resorts. After 15 minutes waiting outside, I contacted Lisa and Dave to tell them I'd be late, I had, after all, only given myself an hour and 10 minutes to get from Disney Springs to the resort. This is my biggest issue with visiting that lovely shopping and dining area, the amount of time it takes to get just about anywhere else on property via Disney Transportation.
Sorry, stepping off my soapbox.
As I sent the text, I looked up just as a monorail was leaving the Magic Kingdom, approaching the Contemporary. I managed to get up to the 5th floor and on, and got back to my room at 305pm.

After recording the show,  I rested before deciding to go to dinner, but didn't want to eat at a park, as it was still very rainy, so I decided to hop the Monorail and eat at The Wave, back over at The Contemporary. Barbie and I had eaten here once before with friends several years earlier, and were not at all impressed, but I decided to give it another chance. I'm really glad I did, because dinner was fantastic and my server, Kristin, was excellent! The Braised Lamb Shank went wonderfully with the Bourbon Flight.

After dinner, I headed back to my room and made it an early evening.

Favourite Food Friday-The Wave

By Gaylin 

I have been a fan of The Wave restaurant in the Contemporary Resort since the first time I went. I love the way the restaurant is decorated, the great service and how quiet it is. If you are booked there and want a really quiet meal, ask the host when you check in for a table away from everyone else!

My favourite meal there is the filet, I do love steak and this dish is melt-in-your-mouth steak. The parsnip puree that came with is was smooth and creamy and a big helping of freshly picked green beans  was a lovely addition!

My friend Tyler had the lamb chops and I can honestly say that this was her favourite meal of the trip as well. It is a good thing I took this photo before she started eating because that entree disappeared quickly!

Sadly, neither of us enjoyed our dessert. They no longer have the trio desserts to choose from, those trios were a great way for someone like me with food allergies, to get dessert choices. The only thing that was safe for me on the new menu was the Creme Brulee and while I love creme brulee, this version is 'no sugar added', which turned out to mean 'no flavour added'. Yep, totally tasteless. Tyler had the German Chocolate Cake and only ate part of it, she wasn't impressed with its flavour either.

This was also the first time our server was not-so-great. She was wonderful at the start of the meal but by dessert time, it was like she had totally lost interest in coming to our table.

Good thing that our entrees were so amazing!