I had been planning a trip to Walt Disney World with a group of girlfriends for several months when the new Storybook Dining experience was announced. We were all extremely excited to try it, as our trip was centered around Marathon Weekend. We decided this would be our big celebration meal, since meeting Dopey would be a perfect ending for those participating in the Dopey Challenge (4 races in 4 days, equaling 48.6 miles – see my recap from last year here).
Artist Point is in Wilderness Lodge, which is an absolutely beautiful resort. If you’re staying on property and don’t have a car, you can catch a bus to the resort from any of the parks, or take a Lyft or Minnie Van. The lobby of the resort is massive, with plenty of seating and even a cozy fireplace where you can sit and chat while waiting.
The current cost of dinner is $55 for adults and $33 for children. This includes shared appetizers, an entrée, and shared desserts. If you’re on the dining plan, it is one dining credit and includes a beverage (on the current dining plan, this can be an alcoholic beverage).
The first thing that caught my eye was the beautiful décor in the restaurant. It really does look like a something out of a storybook, with lighted “trees” throughout that change color depending on which character was making an appearance. Snow White, Grumpy, and Dopey roved the restaurant and visited guests at their tables. The Evil Queen made an appearance, but was stationary and guests were directed to form a line to visit her at the end of their meal.
First up were the appetizers: Winter Squash Bisque, Hunter’s Pie, and Wicked Shrimp Cocktail. Due to two shellfish allergies at our table, we had told our server as soon as we were seated that we would need a substitution for the shrimp. However, there seemed to be some confusion and the shrimp was still brought to our table. One of the allergies was severe, so this was a huge concern. It was removed, and they brought us some mushroom bao buns. Several people in our party loved the Winter Squash Bisque, but I was not a fan. I gladly passed mine on to a friend who enjoyed it. Several of us agreed that the Hunter’s Pie filling reminded us of a potsticker (and it was better with the stone fruit preserves that came with it). I’m not a fan of mushrooms, but the buns were an interesting blend of sweet, salty, and crunchy. I liked the way that the appetizers were displayed on multi-level trays that looked like trees at the table, but I wasn’t overwhelmingly impressed with any of them. Other members of our party enjoyed them, but I could’ve skipped that part of the meal and been perfectly happy.
Another thing that was a big hit with our group was the cocktails. There are several uniquely themed cocktails offered, as well as some fun non-alcoholic beverages. Evil to the Core and A Brew of Peaches both looked delicious and got rave reviews from our group. Since I’m pregnant, there were no cocktails for me, but I did try the Transformation Potion – lemonade that came with a blue “potion” that I could pour into the drink and then stir with a blue candy stick. While this was fun, it was fairly bland and not something I’d be quick to order again.
For the main course, you chose an entrée from the menu. This part of the meal was a smash hit with everyone! Since my friend and I were both having trouble choosing between the same two entrees, we decided to split them, and this was a great choice! We had “Brother’s Grimm Roasted Chicken”, which came with potatoes, brussels sprouts, and apples, and “A Stroll Through Nature”, which was gnocchi and butternut squash – both were delicious. Everyone agreed that they’d come back again just to try a different entrée, because everything was so good. Several other members of our party had the “Royal Prime Rib Roast” and raved about it (the horseradish mashed potatoes were amazing!), and another friend who happened to be dining there at the same time stopped by and told us that he had the Snapper and it was the best he’d ever tasted.
I was really looking forward to trying the desserts, since I’d seen pictures of them online. Our server brought over The Hunter’s Gift to the Queen, which was ganache hearts on a bed of caramel corn. The presentation was really cool – they were in a box with smoke pouring out of it, which he emptied onto a plate for the table to share. This was delicious, and I would’ve happily bought a box if they’d offered it for sale.
The rest of the desserts were placed on our sharing tree and included individual Gooseberry Pies, Poison Apples, and Miner’s Treasures. The Poison Apples were easily the favorite – this was white chocolate-apple mousse with a sour center. So, so good! I’d never had Gooseberry Pie and was pleasantly surprised that I enjoyed it. The Miner’s Treasures were sponge cake, buttercream icing, and chocolate gems. These were very, very sweet even for me, and I have quite the sweet tooth!
Meeting the Evil Queen was the best part of this experience! She was very interactive and ready to insult everyone. I attempted a staring contest with her, but then burst into giggles and told her she won. She immediately – and coldly – responded “You are easily broken”, which of course made me laugh even more. My favorite moment came when one member of our party went up and casually greeted her with “hey, girlfriend!”. The Queen was NOT having this, and immediately whipped up the side of her cape to completely cover my friend in the picture. She was the perfect Queen – even going up to a window to admire herself when there was no one in line to meet her.
As for the other characters, they seemed a bit rushed. Perhaps it was because we were a party comprised entirely of adults, but we were adults who were very excited to meet characters! At one point, we had to ask Grumpy to come back because he was moving so fast some of our pictures were blurry. The lighting in the restaurant also did not lend itself to great photographs.
Overall, this was a really fun meal. The service was a bit slow, and we all agreed that our server seemed like he may have been having an off night. The entrees were delicious, and the ambiance was great – I really enjoyed watching each character make their entrance. The lighting changed, there was music, and a short interaction. I’ve seen characters introduced at other restaurants, but all of this made it seemed like more of a production and enhanced the experience. Everyone in our party agreed that while this experience won’t be a must-do on every trip, we would all come back.
