Tink Tested: Cape May Cafe

Location: Off of the main lobby of the Beach Club Resort
Parking/Transportation Situation: General resort parking or valet parking available. Walkable from Worldshowcase Entrance of Epcot, Disney Hollywood Studios (about a mile), The BoardWalk, The Yacht Club and the Swan and Dolphin Resorts. Boats also available from all of those locations. Bus from Downtown Disney, Magic Kingdom, and Animal Kingdom. If taking boat transportation or walking, allow approximately 30 minutes. If taking bus, allow 1- 1 1/2 hours.

Meals Served: B, D

Characters/Entertainment: Though there are no characters at dinner, breakfast does feature visits from Minnie, Goofy and Donald, in beach attire.

Type of Cuisine: New England Clam Bake and more

Type of Menu: Buffet

Pricing/Dining Plan: $$$/ 1 Table Service Point Per Person

Full Menu: Cape May Café Dinner

Atmosphere: Bright and airy beach café               
Dress Code: Theme park casual

Guests Who Would Enjoy This The Most: Seafood lovers (and non), with big appetites

Level of Difficulty of Getting a Reservation: Moderate

Fun Stuff for Kids: No characters at dinner, so really just the standard coloring pages.
Rating of Appeal to Kid-Diners: Are we done yet???

Stand out dishes: Crab Legs, Clams, Mussels, Hand-Carved Strip Loin, mini-cupcakes, pretty much ALL of the desserts
Best Use of Dining Plan Point: Only one choice here, and that's buffet. But all-you-care-to-eat options are always the best "bang for your buck" on the Dining Plan.

 

Experience: We had decided to do Cape May because it was the 4th of July, (I know, I am super late reviewing this one! I apologize!), and not only was Central Florida showing off her I-don't-give-a-crap-what-you-have-planned-If-I-feel-like-downpouring-I-will-so-lay-off attitude, but if you've ever been to Disney for the 4th of July, you get why we wanted to go no where near the parks. We wanted to make sure the littles saw fireworks, though, so we thought that we would get dinner at Cape May, and then step right out behind the Beach Club and catch not only Illuminations with the 4th of July tag from Epcot, but also the Rockin' 4th fireworks from The Studios, as well. We booked the day before, and were able to get an 8:30pm res. That's on the late side compared to when we usually try to dine, but we wanted to be wrapping up right around 10pm, as the fireworks were starting.
     We were not the only ones that had this idea. After we valeted, we walked into the Beach Club lobby and saw a HUGE number of people waiting outside of Cape May. It was so busy that they had stopped taking any walk-ins at all. We had arrived early, and tried to check in right away, but due to the crowds, we were told to come back and check in 15 minutes before our reservation time. We killed time in the lobby and walking around the resort, then came back in and checked in at 8:15pm. We were sat around 8:40pm. I was a little nervous that the buffet would be a mess and totally picked over, because there were so many people, but that was not the case. The buffet looked fully stocked and very neat.
     I had been to Cape May for breakfast once or twice, and had been to the Clam Bake dinner buffet once a looooong time ago, so I didn't really remember what I would be in store for.
    After our server took our drink orders, the chef came over to talk to us about what K could and could not eat with his egg allergy. He was able to inform us of what to avoid right at the table, without walking me around the buffet. Again, plenty of choices, and he said he would make K a special dessert when we were ready.
     Because Cape May is known for it's seafood, I was expecting to see a lot of it, and there certainly was, (crab legs, mussels, clams, clam strips, salmon, seafood paella, etc.)... but there were also plenty of non-seafood options, like strip loin, chicken, pastas, pizza and more. Now, if you are a seafood eater and especially if you like crab, this place is a no-brainer. If you wanted to, you could sit there and stuff your face with crab legs and drawn butter all night long. You would certainly get your money's worth. But let's keep in mind, I'm a New Englander, so I was raised on lobster. I have a pretty high bar when it comes to seafood. I think that was part of the reason we always avoided Cape May for dinner. The hubs doesn't love seafood, (although, funny enough, he likes the seafood items that I do NOT like, namely, mussels, clams and oysters), and I do love it, so I am super picky. Florida seafood is just NOT the same as New England seafood. Rock lobster and langoustines do NOT taste exactly the same as Maine lobster. And seafood MUST be fresh. So I was sort of expecting the seafood here to suck. I am happy to report that it did not, in fact, suck. Most of it was really good. The cod nuggets had huge chunks of white fish in them, with a light breading. The salmon was delicious. The hubs really liked his shellfish. I even gave crab legs a shot, since I had never eaten them before. (Verdict? Good, but way more work than I want to do at a buffet. Too many other items that do not require nutcrackers and pokey thingies, and end with my hands wet and smelling fishy.) There is also a rotating fried seafood item daily. Depending on the day, you either get battered calamari, shrimp or clam strips. Being a Saturday, it was a fried clam strip night, so the hubs was very happy with that.

     The non-seafood items were very tasty, too. The roasted chicken was flavorful and very nicely seasoned. The mac and cheese was creamy and not overly salted. There were plenty of salad offerings and, much to K's delight, the sides included corn on the cob, mashed potatoes and green beans. D was into the cornbread and the mac and cheese. Both kids had multiple slices of pizza.

     After several rounds of the buffet offerings, it was time to tucker into dessert. I'm gonna throw this out there: Cape May has the BEST desserts of any other Disney buffet. I realize that is a premature statement to make, since we have not gotten to ALL Disney buffets yet, but I'm pretty confident in it's accuracy. Every single dessert was delicious, and there were LOTS of them. (Don't worry, we managed to try almost all of them for you!) From the lemon meringue squares, to the pistachio cheesecakes, and the Boston crème cakes to the four, (count 'em, FOUR), different types of mini cupcakes. There were desserts on the actual buffet itself, including cookies, brownies and peanut butter blondies, (which were fantastic!), but then there was a whole separate dessert bar, up by the entrance, which apparently a lot of guests miss. The table next to us had missed it entirely and couldn't figure out where we had gotten our fabulously colorful desserts from. K got his own, egg-free dessert, as promised. It came in the form of a cinnamon and sugar covered biscuit-like donut. He seemed to enjoy it, though I thought it was very dry. What is our overall lesson here at Cape May? MAKE SURE YOU SAVE ROOM FOR DESSERT! Ugh, I might go back just for the desserts!

     We finally threw the towel, paid the check, and ran outside, just in time for the fireworks! It was still drizzling, so the crowd out on the walkway was pretty thin. First, our heads turned left, to Epcot, for the 4th of July tag of Illuminations. Though you can't see the majority of Illuminations from the Beach Club, the massive amount of fireworks used for 4th of July makes them higher, brighter and amazing from anywhere that you watch them. Just as they were ending, our heads turned to the right, and just above Jellyrolls, where we watched the incredible fireworks from The Studios. They were SO impressive! All kinds of shapes and colors. I only wish we could have heard the music that they went along to. After the spectacularly loud and bright finale, we took our two full and sleepy kiddos, and went home. Thankful for our independence, thankful for the life that we live, and thankful for the two munchkins sleeping in the back of the van, within minutes of leaving The Beach Club.

 

Tink's Tots Try It Out: According to D (6 yo girl) Did you like Cape May, D?   "Yeah. It was awesome!"   What did you think was awesome about it?   "Ummmmm..... the food?"   Made a big impression, huh? What specifically about the food did you like?   "The desserts. The little cupcakes were so yummy and they had Mickey sprinkles. Mmmm, they were good."   OK, so the cupcakes were good. Anything else you liked?   "The fireworks!"   Yes, but those don't typically come standard with a Cape May dinner. Any other food items or things about the restaurant?   "Oh, I liked the sandcastles. And the pizza."   Alright, that works.
Tink's Tots Try It Out: According to K (2 yo boy)  K, did you like eating at Cape May?   "I do."   You do?   "Yah, I doooo."   Ok, then. Do you remember what you had to eat?   "I have peezza and cheese."   You did eat mostly pizza and cheese cubes, you are correct. What about dessert? Do you remember this? (I show him a picture of the donut on my phone.) What is that?   "Ooo, bacon."   Um, no, it's not bacon. It is a donut.   "Bacon donut."   Weird, I didn't pick up on the bacon flavor of the donut. You must have a more sensitive palate than mine, huh?   "I have da donut in da belly an ice keem and apple jooz."   Well that clears it up.

Will we be back: I have absolutely become a fan of Cape May. Was it an authentic seashore dining experience? No, but you can't duplicate that without being AT the New England or Jersey seashore. It's still really good at providing delicious seafood, in an enjoyable, beachy environment. I totally get why Guests love it. At some point, I will be happy to return. But we do still have a LOT of restaurants to get to... The journey continues!