Inspired by the world-famous Jungle Cruise, is the interesting and quirky Jungle Navigation Co. Ltd. Skipper Canteen. During our last trip, we needed a place to place that wasn’t booked up because as we walked around the Magic Kingdom, we got hungry. Anyone’s who has planned a Disney trip knows that there are a few restaurants at the Magic Kingdom that rarely book up entirely. Lucky for us the Skipper Canteen is one of them. We checked the My Disney Experience app for a reservation and managed to grab one. YAY US!
This is the waiting area, it has some pretty interesting artwork and on those hot days, you can find a jug of water inside. You’ll find the Skipper Canteen in Adventureland, across from the Swiss Family Robinson Treehouse.
I told you, interesting artwork. And if you’re a fan of the Jungle Cruise ride, you will love everything about this restaurant. It’s definitely my cup of tea. I adore the corny jokes, useless ‘facts’, and overall colourfulness of the ride. The Skipper Canteen is really no different.
Once our name was called, we were greeted by a waiter that gave us more than his fair share of corniness. It was awesome, Chris just smiled and rolled his eyes. As we walked to our table, I remembered reading somewhere to look for a set of bookcases. So a few minutes after being seated at our table and ordering our waters, I wandered off to explore.
The inside of the restaurant is interesting, at least to me. It’s not typical, I guess that’s what I liked about it. It’s colourful, bright, and there are a ton of “artifacts” everywhere.
I found the much talked about bookcases, towards the back of the restaurant before you hit the area with the restrooms. My advice, give the books a closer look. I laughed out loud, I’m almost positive the poor family sitting next to the bookcase thought I was crazy.
If you looked closely you can spot many hidden gems or jokes among the titles, like ‘Castles of the Magic Kingdom.’ I would recommend you check out the bookcase the next time you are at the Magic Kingdom. But onto the menu!
It wasn’t your typical Disney restaurant menu food. That’s probably why Chris and I enjoyed it so much. The options weren’t something you could get at just about any other restaurant on property. We started with the bread that our waiter brought out.
We don’t know exactly what kind of bread that was, but it was tasty. We especially loved the honey dip that came with it. BUT be warned that the honey dipping is a little messy and sticky.
I ordered the “Tastes like Chicken” – because it is! dish and yes, it does taste like chicken because it is chicken and it was so good! I ate all of it. The chicken was crunchy and flavourful. According to The Dis menu description, my dish was marinated grilled chicken breast served with stir-fried vegetables, shiitake-fried rice, and Hoison sauce. My photos do not do it justice, I would recommend this dish and would eat it again.
Chris wasn’t feeling all that hungry after the bread (he does not regret his decision to eat the bread, don’t skip the bread). He ordered the “A Lot of Steak” Salad. We had a good chuckle at the names of the entrees on the menu. The description for this entree was as follows “we’re betting it all on this one! Grilled steak, romaine lettuce, red peppers, tomatoes, cucumber, parsley, coriander-mint vinaigrette, and garlic chips.” Chris ordered it without the red peppers. He says it was really tasty and I’ll take his word for it, because by the time I finished my dish, he was done his.
After those entrees, we had no room for dessert. Overall, Chris and I would go there again. Especially because the menu is interesting and incorporates a much more diverse selection of food options. Personally, I think it was a long time coming. I love the Magic Kingdom but the restaurants were starting to feel a little bland. Thankfully this is starting to change with restaurants like Skipper Canteen and Be Our Guest. We really enjoyed ourselves and enjoyed the artifacts and the corny classic Jungle Cruise humour, plus we didn’t have to walk niles and niles to get there…..see what I did there… So if you like the sound of all of that or even some of that, I would say give the Skipper Canteen a try. You won’t be disappointed.
Have you tried the Skipper Canteen? What were your thoughts?
Leave a Reply