Have you ever wondered where the Skippers of the Jungle Cruise go during their off time?

We recently stopped by the Skipper Canteen at Magic Kingdom, a place that we consider an underrated gem at the popular park.  Is it worth a stop on your next trip to the Most Magical Place on Earth? We’re here to give you our full review.

Atmosphere

The restaurant is located in Adventureland, right across from the Swiss Robinson Family Tree House. The dining spot is based on the world-famous Jungle Cruise attraction. It provides an adventurous dining environment with a punny twist. The lore behind the restaurant is that it started as a tropical headquarters that allowed skippers to rest before their next adventure.

The restaurant features three different rooms: the crew’s colonial-era Mess Hall, Dr. Albert Fall’s Jungle Room, and the once-secret Society of Explorers and Adventurers meeting room.

Full of Jungle Cruise Easter eggs and homages, Jungle Navigation Co. LTD Skipper Canteen is a MUST-TRY if you’re a fan of the ride. But enough about the restaurant — what’s on the menu here?!

Menu

The Skipper Canteen has a bit more exotic offerings than your typical American and theme park fare, but the menu will still work for any picky eaters. The dining spot offers African, Asian, and Latin dishes, as well as speciality cocktails, beer, and wine.

And now, onto the main event!

Drinks

To drink, we picked up the Enchanted Orange Dream for $9.75. This is made with Dole Whip Orange blended with Vanilla Soft-serve with an Orange Candied Rim. The enchanted orange dream tastes like a Creamsicle smoothie, basically. It has small orange candies covering the rim of the glass, as well as some whipped cream on the top.

It’s surprisingly easy to put down — from the looks of it, we thought it was gonna be thicker, like a thick smoothie or a milkshake. Honestly, it’s super light and fluffy for what a smoothie-type drink could be. This was actually pretty tasty!

Could definitely see this drink being a BIG hit for kids. The other thing that surprises us is that it’s not overly sweet. It’s definitely sweet, but it wasn’t crazy. In a way, this drink was pretty refreshing!

Eats

Every meal needs to START with a starter, so we grabbed the Pao de Quijo for $16. This is Brazilian cheese bread that comes with two dips — chimichurri and poblano pepper cream cheese. This is a secret menu item, so you won’t find it listed!

The Brazilian cheese bread is chewy but not overly chewy. It takes a couple of bites to get it down, but it’s like a satisfying chewy bread if you know what we mean.

The cheese flavor is definitely noticeable in this, which is really good cause sometimes with cheese bread you can’t really taste the cheese too much, or even sometimes the cheese flavor is too strong. This has a really good balance of cheese and bread. The dip it comes with is really good. The chimichurri has a little bit more of a salty, earthier taste to it, whereas the poblano tastes like your normal cream cheese.

The bread on its own is good, but with the dips, it’s so much better. Honestly, picky eaters may still like this even though it’s unique — it’s THAT good! You get a good amount of pieces for it, so it’s a good light appetizer before you start your meal.

The first entree we tried was the “Tastes like Chicken” Because it is! for $30. This dish is Crispy-fried Chicken, Jasmine Rice, Chili-Soy Glaze, and Pickled Vegetable Slaw. This dish was really good, as usual. We felt like the rice was a standout — it was super flavorful. It had a bit of a saltier taste to it and a more savoury taste to it, more than what you’d get with plain rice.

The chicken was moist, and you get a good portion of it. It was cooked well, and the chili soy sauce on it made the chicken sweeter. It wasn’t necessarily our favourite just because we would’ve preferred a more savoury sauce to go with the chicken — but it was not bad at all. The chilli soy sauce was also just a little bit too salty.

It also comes with pressed veggies like cabbage, lettuce, that kind of stuff — a good side for the dish. We would get this dish again — it’s a good dish for someone to get here.

We also grabbed the Nile Nellie’s Noodle Bowl for $35. This is described as Niles and Niles of Rice Noodles…Stir-fried Shrimp, Tamarind Sauce, Toasted Peanuts, and Fresh Herbs. On the first bite, we could tell the bowl itself was very fresh. The noodles are light and not too chewy, so you can tell they were cooked well. The peanuts had a good crunch as well and added good balance to the flavor.

There’s not a lot of peanuts. They’re kind of sprinkled all over the dish, but there’s enough to tell that they’re there and to taste them. The shrimp is firm, thick, and overall just very delicious. You also get a decent amount of shrimp pieces with the noodle bowl.

The fresh mint herbs on top are so good, giving the dish a fresh minty taste. This is our favourite thing that we had here, and we would definitely get this again. It also feels like a great portion of food, not falling on the heavier side. You can definitely finish it without needing to take any of it home.

For dessert, we had the Malva Pudding Cake for $9.50. This was Amarula Cream Liqueur, Vanilla Bean Whipped Ganache, and Apricot-Caramel Coulis with Vanilla Gelato. This dessert was AMAZING. It comes with a scoop of vanilla gelato with some caramel drizzle on it. It doesn’t say on the menu, but the gelato also comes with pieces of popcorn on top of it, which just really added to it.

The popcorn almost gave the gelato a bland (in a great way), crunchy counterpart. The gelato tastes like vanilla ice cream. It’s very sweet with the caramel, but then that popcorn really balances out the flavor. There are also these crunchy crouton-like pieces under the gelato — again, it just adds a good texture counterpart to it.

We would’ve gotten a bowl of the gelato with the popcorn on top of it alone, cause that was just too good. The popcorn was a fun surprise! The cake offered a more subtle sweetness, and it definitely worked. Desserts that are like this, where they’re not overly sweet, or the flavor isn’t so much in your face, they just hit different!

The best part is when you mix the cake together with the cream that it comes with, as well as these apricot caramel bits. They’re really just like jelly apricots, and WOW, these were so delicious. It gave the cake a really nice, sweet and fruity taste. Overall, this dessert was amazing. It’s kind of like two desserts in one, and is definitely worth getting — we would 100% get this almost every time!

Nosh or Not

This Disney World restaurant is a must-visit if…

• You are a sucker for “Disney lore.” Do you know the lore of the S.E.A.? Do you eat up all the little easter eggs and nods to Disney Imagineering around Disney World? This restaurant is jam-packed with STORY! Here, the story goes that the same skippers who guided your boat down the Nile, Amazon, and Congo Rivers have invited you to their tropical headquarters to eat! Your server may be able to point out even more secrets, so don’t be afraid to lean into your curious, adventurous spirit!
• You aren’t afraid to try something new. The menu has a mix of African, Asian, and Latin entrees. You won’t find any burgers or chicken tenders on the menu, and for a lot of people, that’s a GOOD thing. Don’t get us wrong, we love a chicken tender, but it’s refreshing to see unique dishes on the menu here. Plus, there’s even a SECRET menu item that only well-traveled explorers may know about. It’s fun to be in on the secret!
• You love a lively meal with fun service. While the servers aren’t quite performing at ‘50s Prime Time Cafe or Whispering Canyon Cafe level (if you know, you know), you may encounter a skipper or two with a sense of humor. The servers at Skipper Canteen have that classic Jungle Cruise sense of humor (dad jokes, dad jokes, and more dad jokes). It makes for an entertaining, memorable meal! “

You should skip this Disney World spot if…

• You value experience over food. Many people only eat at one table service restaurant per day in Disney World. If you’re saving your one table service meal for more of a “WOW” restaurant, you may be more inclined to dine at a place like Cinderella’s Royal Table or Be Our Guest Restaurant. Yes, Skipper Canteen is packed with decorations, but there aren’t any characters to meet, and the dining room really leans into that Adventureland theme, which might not be for everyone.
• You prefer a big breakfast. Skipper Canteen is NOT open for breakfast. We’ll be honest: the breakfast options in Magic Kingdom are pretty limited. If you were hoping to enjoy a nice, big breakfast before you start your day in the Magic Kingdom, we recommend checking out the nearby hotels, like Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort or Disney’s Contemporary Resort, which both serve excellent meals in the morning.
• You are dining with kids under 10. OK, yes, there’s a kids’ menu here. But some of the entrees may not appeal to little ones, and the sight gags and novelty jokes might not resonate with toddlers or young children. There are definitely other restaurants that are better suited for kids, such as The Crystal Palace. Overall

Overall, we really enjoyed our experience here. It was great food, great ambience, great music, great theming, and great service from the Cast Member skippers.

In the meantime, we’ll be on the lookout for more restaurant updates from Disney World and beyond. Make sure you stay tuned to the Disney Food Blog for the latest Disney news and more!

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Have you eaten at this Disney World restaurant before? Tell us in the comments!