WDW Dining Review: Skipper Canteen Revisited

Back in January of 2016, I first visited the new dining establishment at The Magic Kingdom in Adventureland: Jungle Navigation Co. Ltd. Skipper Canteen with my friend Emily. The review, which was mixed, can be found here. Since my review, Skipper Canteen tweaked their menu, as well as allowing for advanced reservations, and, since I was going back to Walt Disney World with a larger group, including Emily, I figured it would be great to revisit this dining establishment and see if the meal would be better, especially for Emily.

NOTE: If you want to see a tour of the restaurant, head back to my first review. Though my friends and I did walk around again this time, the decor has not changed. Still a fun place to poke around, given that the theme from the Jungle Cruise ride has been carried over to this establishment.

I will first like to thank all of the table service restaurants that we ate at this trip. When I made the reservations, there was only going to be 3-4 of us at the meal, so reservations were made for four. There ended up being 5-6 of us at each meal. Instead of saying that they could not accommodate us, they were always able to fit us in, with usually only a small extra wait time.

In the case of Skipper Canteen, when we checked in for the reservation (we arrived a little early to compensate for the change in group size), they took my cell number and told me they would text me, meaning we would not have to wait nearby, that we could go enjoy the park. In fact, we were able to go see The Enchanted Tiki Room while we were waiting, which was a lot of fun (we like the cheesy rides/ attractions).

After about a 25 minute wait, we got the text that our table was ready. We made our way over to the Main Street end of Adventureland where the restaurant is located and were seated in the main dining area, the Mess Hall.

There were five of us dining at this meal. A couple of us have issues with spice, another friend was hoping to get a lot of protein in the meal, as she was taking part in the Dopey Challenge for runDisney that weekend. Our Skipper for the meal, Jared, made spot on recommendations for what we should have, and, unlike our previous visit, everyone had a fun and delicious meal.

I once again had one of the specialty drinks, the Schweitzer Slush, which again was very tasty. For appetizers, our table shared the Falls Family Falafel and a couple orders of the S.E.A. Shu Mai, which is made with pork, shrimp, and edamame. We scarfed them down too quick to get photos. Whoops!

For the entrees, we each got something different. I had the Sustainable Fish dish (that day is was Red Snapper), Adam had the Skip’s Beefy Baked Pasta (a revamp of the Mac n’ Cheese dish I had last year), Kaila had the Char Siu Pork (Jared’s suggestion, which was great for her not being able to have spicy food), and Margaret had the “Tastes Like Chicken” (again, Jared’s recommendation on this one based on what Margaret needed was spot on). As for Emily, who did not like her dish last time we came here… she got the Whole Fried Fish… which ended up being a pair of Lionfish!

Yup, Lionfish. Emily took the plunge, and had fun doing it. We all got a taste of them, a lot of which were edible, including the fins (which had the texture of those potato chip sticks I remember eating as a child). I mean, they were also fun to play with, as we proved.

Throughout the meal, Jared was very attentive to the table’s needs, which was great. As busy as the restaurant was at times, we did not feel ignored in the least. In addition, Jared produced the same dry humor and dead-pan charm as you would expect from an employee of the Jungle Navigation Co. Ltd… as it should be, an extension of the ride.

Overall, though it is a little pricier for a non-Signature Dining table service meal in my opinion, the food and the ambiance makes the cost worth it. A few years back, you would have been hard pressed to see me sitting down to a table-service meal at The Magic Kingdom that did not involve Winnie-the-Pooh and friends. Now, between Skipper Canteen and Be Our Guest, for me, Disney has made The Magic Kingdom a competitive place to dine at in Walt Disney World.

Have you ever dined at Skipper Canteen? What are your thoughts? I would love to hear about your experiences below.