Storybook Dining at Artist Point is located in the Wilderness Lodge Resort here in Walt Disney World. This is a unique character meal in the Enchanted Forest. You meet Snow White, Grumpy and even the Evil Queen! There is a pre fixe menu with shared appetizers and desserts that is so delicious. We headed over to the Enchanted Forest last week for date night and had the best time! Marry you a man that suggests a character meal you’ve never done for date night, definitely a keeper!
The Atmosphere in Storybook Dining at Artist Point
You could easily walk right past this restaurant and not even realize it’s there. I am sure that is by design. When you walk into the Wilderness Lodge lobby you walk straight back and go to the left like you are going to head to the quick service restaurant. But beer you go down the hallway, on your left, you will see Territory Lounge. If you pass that and go up the ramp you are headed to Storybook Dining at Artist Point!
As you walk in the from the hostess stand you are welcomed into the Enchanted Forest. There are big trees with twinkle lights, the tables are not crammed together and they all have a tree, three tiers tray on them. We were seated by the towards the back of the restaurant, by the window overlooking the pool. In the center of the restaurant there is a giant storybook open to a pictured of the Evil Queens lair and her magic mirror. This is where you come to meet her and take pictures. You truly feel like you have stepped into a storybook. Everything in here is so cute and almost cozy feeling. Throughout your dining experience the room comes alive, enhancing that whimsical storybook feeling.
The Characters in Storybook Dining at Artist Point
As I mentioned, you get to meet Snow White, Grumpy, Dopey and the Evil Queen here at Storybook Dining at Artists Point. Snow White, Grumpy and Dopey all come to your table to chat, sign autographs and take pictures. I don’t believe there is anywhere else in Disney World to meet Grumpy and Dopey so if you are a big dwarfs fan, this is the place to be! The characters were fantastic here. Snow White stepped right off the screen and into this place. Grumpy and Dopey were adorable and I am always so impressed with how these characters can interact and have a conversation without saying a word. Grumpy even picked on my husband for cutting his beard shirt because it was hot! Haha!
Each time a character comes out the twinkle lights change colors and there is an announcement of their introduction. We were seated right by where the characters come out so we had a front row seat. At one point, Snow White and the dwarfs even come out to dance to the silly song before continuing to meet guests. Very cute! The Evil Queen is by invitation only. It seemed to me that the invitation correlated with your check and suggested exit from the Enchanted Forest. Which is genius really! They do time these cordial invitations so that the line doesn’t get too long which is nice.
The Evil Queen
There is nowhere else in Disney World to meet the Evil Queen or really any villain right now that I can think of. This was probably one of the most fun character interactions I have had in a long time. She took her time with each party that came up, nothing was rushed. One little boy had an autograph book that he had drawn pictures of the characters next to the page he wanted them to sign. She flipped through and had the funniest comments.
She told him she knew Frankenstein and his wife, she was there when they were created. And when she got to Snow White she said “Oh you even drew that thing”. HAHA! She said you even captured that vacant expression. So funny! I watched her cast a spell on a baby, hit on a dad, she was fantastic. I had a slight Snow White bound on and she had a lot to say about that choice when I met her.
The Menu in Storybook Dining at Artist Point
Storybook Dining at Artist Point is a pre fixe menu. Meaning that most of the meal is already selected for you. I feel like this is how they keep people rolling in and out and open reservations up more. There is not that down time of making a bunch of choices or the kitchen having to have a lot of different options. You only have to select your drinks and your entree, everything else is already done and includes appetizers and desserts! There are cocktails, beers and wine available as well as mocktails, sodas and more. I got the Enchanted Apple cocktail! It was SKYY Infusions Citrus Vodka, DeKuyper Pucker Sour Apple Liqueur and white cranberry juice. It was delightfully light and refreshing!
The Appetizers
Your server brings out three appetizers that are served on the three tiered tree tray at your table. These seem tiny when they are brought out but you can have as much as you want of any or all of them. The appetizers include:
- Smoky Mushroom Bisque: with Chive Oil
- Hunter’s Harvest: Turkey and chicken meatballs served with cranberry preserve and crispy sauerkraut
- Wicked Shrimp Cocktail: Bloody Mary vinaigrette, mixed greens and spiced, house made seasoning
I thought all three of these were delicious. As I said, they are a tiny portion to suit the size of your party. We had two of each thing but then they brought us more when we ate it all. The mushroom bisque was good but very rich. The tiny cauldron they bring you is really the perfect portion and I did not need a second one. The meatballs had great flavor but I honestly would have liked them to be warmer. We did get another serving of these and they did not survive.
The shrimp cocktail were all mine, my husband does not do cold shrimp! I was not mad about it they were so tasty and my favorite of the three appetizers. I don’t picture kids eating any of this but, as an adult, I loved them. They do have kids a kids appetizer option of honey butter with fruits, vegetables and cheese.
The Entrees
Your entree is the only part of the actual meal you choose. The nice thing is, at least to me, is that there are not 500 choices on the menu. There are seven options that cover meats, vegetarian dishes, plant based options and fish. There is something for everyone and any dietary need. Your entree options are:
- Cottage Beef Stroganoff: Pappardelle pasta, cipollini onions, mushrooms, sherry reduction, parmesan and arugula
- Royal Prime Rib Roast: with horseradish mashed potato, carrots and jus
- A Stroll through Nature: Asparagus, leeks, tomatoes, gnocchi, herb cream and arugula pesto
- Magic Mirror Slow-braised Pork Shank: with polenta, spinach, red wine Demi and gastrique
- Brothers Grimm Herbed Chicken: with carrot puree, fingerling potatoes, kale and chimichurri
- Market Fish: with white wine risotto, squash, brown butter vinaigrette and roasted sunflower seeds
- Evil Queen’s Spell Bean Stew: Plant based sausage, wild mushrooms, fingerling potatoes, kale, and herb gremolata
Our Choices
I had the Cottage Beef Stroganoff and it was divine! Rich but not too rich, salty, pasta was perfect and not too heavy on the sauce. I really enjoyed this and finished every bite. 10/10 would get it again! The hubs had the Royal Prime Rib Roast and said the meat was cooked perfectly and was absolutely delicious. He was not a big fan of the horseradish mashed potatoes but really enjoyed the rest. His came with a GIANT piece of bread. We looked at it and were like dang that’s a lot of bread! But then when you opened it up it was hollow inside. So like a crispy, crust of bread. It was soft not he inside and very good but we were not expecting it to be hollow.
The kids entrees include grilled chicken, chicken tenders, fish and prime. They are all served with two sides the kids can pick. The side options are roasted potatoes, carrots, broccoli, mashed potatoes or mac and cheese. Really standard options for the kids, nothing too crazy here.
The Desserts
Once again the desserts are just part of the meal and not chosen. Your server brings out all three desserts and serves them on the three tiered tree tray for you. I will say, this presentation of the desserts and appetizers is adorable and I wanted to take the tray home! The desserts include:
- Miner’s Treasure: Cookies and Cream wanna cotta with chocolate gems
- Fairy Tale Seasonal Tart: Seasonal fruit in a pastry crust with meringue
- “Poison” Apple: Dark chocolate-apple mousse with a sour center
These were all so cute and fun! And here again you could have more if you wanted a second serving but these were really perfectly sized for trying each one. The Miners Treasure is basically the grey stuff from Be Our Guest. It is very good, especially if you are a cookies and cream fan. Our favorite was by far the Fairy Tale Seasonal Tart! It was cherries and so so good. The cherries were cooked just right, warm and had the right amount of bite to them and they were the perfect size.
The “Poison” Apple was incredibly cute and the dark chocolate was delicious but it was just meh. I did not really get the sour center on this one. I loved the look of it and it tasted good but it was not anything special. There are not different kids desserts on the menu. Shortly after the desserts come out your server brings the Huntsman’s Gift to your table. They present a wooden box that when they open it there is smoke coming out and dark chocolate hearts for everyone at your table. Very dramatic and a great little cap to the meal!
The Pricing in Storybook Dining at Artist Point
Storybook Dining at Artist Point is expensive, as is any character meal in Disney. At $69 per adult and $43 per child you are defined paying good money for the experience. The food was delicious. There was not one thing we were disappointed with, even if it wasn’t our favorite. I personally enjoyed that the menu and pre fixe parts were a little adventurous and not the same old same old. But if you are not an adventurous eater or you have picky kiddos I am not sure this is the move.
$43 is a lot of money for chicken tenders and mac and cheese. Granted, you get to meet four characters with no line and spend a little more time with them. That definitely comes into play with the cost. So really, you have to look at it as paying for the character meets and the experience and not so much the food if you are going with kids. As adults we really enjoyed all the food and the different choices. Was it a $70 meal, no but we had fun meeting the characters and having the experience along with good food.
Conclusion
This was a spur of the moment, let’s do something we have never done before reservation for us. We were going to go to Toledo but we had been a few times and at the last minute my husband said what if we do this instead. He’s a keeper! Honestly I messed up (again) and thought the 40% off for VIPassholder Days was good on Friday. So we said if we are going to pay full price anyway, let’s find somewhere new!
We had a great time and loved all of the food but this will, most likely, be a one and done for us. Not because anything was wrong, it’s just expensive and we have had the experience so we are good. Now, if we were here on vacation and our kids were still little we might feel differently. It was very cute and fun and if you have a little Snow White fan in your party they will LOVE this!
Should You Book This?
I will say our experience with Storybook Dining at Artist Point felt a little rushed. We were just two adults there on date night with no kids so I would hope the characters would spend more time with the tables that had kids. So that’s not what I mean. It just felt a little like boom here’s your apps, boom what do you want to eat, boom here’s you entree! I wanted a little more time to just leisurely enjoy my food and the experience. I say all of this with the knowledge that they have to get people in and out and the characters through without interrupting your meal too much and timing is everything for all of that. So this is not a complaint, just an observation. The pacing could have slowed down just a touch for us.
Our server was lovely and I think they have the hardest job in the whole place! They have to do the hard work of serving but also play a character in the story of the restaurant to make it come to life for you. Overall we had a wonderful experience here. I do recommend going to this character meal at least once. You will get great food and have a lovely experience, just not sure it’s an every trip dining experience. Have you ever been to Storybook Dining at Artist Point? Let me know! Thank you for reading and have a magical day!