Dining at Disney World can be as much of the experience as its Theme Parks for the frequent guests and the foodies.  Disney's Contemporary Resort on Disney World's famed monorail route is home to 3 great restaurants  Today Only WDWorld will review the least well known of the three: The Wave.

The Wave

Housed in the lowest level of Disney's Contemporary Resort is the often overlooked gem of a restaurant called The Wave.  Not far from the resort check-in desks you will see the tunnel-like entrance that descends into The Wave.




The restaurant embraces the resort's modern styling with metal and glass embellishments.  Despite its somewhat hidden nature, the restaurant is still popular with the Contemporary Resort Guests.  Although the contemporary and modern styling may not look like a family restaurant, it was certainly filled with families and became quite loud.

The biggest (and maybe only) drawback was the noise level here.  It was quite loud and that became a detractor for our meal here.  We were caught off-guard at how noisy it was here.  You expect it at Chef Mickey's, but not here.

The Menu

The Wave fashions its menu based upon local sustainable foods providing the freshest options for its guests to enjoy.  The above menus show what was available when we dined for this review, but the menu changes frequently.  There was an excellent variety of choices including, beef, seafood, chicken, lamb, and vegetarian options.

The Review

Here is our impression of the dishes that we sampled during our recent visit.



The meal starts with freshly made bread and salted butter.  The salted butter and bread was certainly above average across Disney Restaurants.


The gnocchi with shortribs was amazing.  It may not believable,but this was one of the best Disney World entrees ever.  After dining across a wide spectrum of Disney Restaurants I was caught of-guard by this dish.  It really ranks among the best that I have enjoyed at Disney World.


The lamb was highly recommended by our server and it did not disappoint.  It was pricey, but was thoroughly enjoyed.


The tenderloin was very good, but probably did not stand out amongst the other Tenderloins that you could get elsewhere at Disney World.


The daily catch was another very good dish that was thoroughly enjoyed.

The quality of the food really exceeded our expectations at The Wave  Although we should have high expectations for a restaurant at a Walt Disney World Deluxe Resort we still were impressed by our meals here.

On the other end of the spectrum we were underwhelmed by the atmosphere and the overall restaurant noise.  This was certainly not the best dining experience.

Summary - The Wave Review

The Wave delivers incredible food across their entire menu that makes it a restaurant worthy of putting on your list of places to dine.  The so-so atmosphere and excessive noise may remove it from your "Date Night" option, but certainly keep it on the upscale family plae to dine.  This is certainly a great place to use a Disney Dining Plan Table Service Credit!


As a bonus, make sure you find the famous 5-Legged Goat that is hidden in Disney's Contemporary Resort murals that surround its main concourse.

Each Spring the Epcot International Flower & Garden Festival brings an amazing array of blooms and color to the already spectacular Epcot theme park.  One of the best ways to check out this uniquely Disney World take on a Flower & Garden Festival is to view the displays from the monorail.

Monorail - The Only Way To Travel!

In order to get the special view of Epcot you actually need to travel to either the Magic Kingdom or the Disney World Ticket & Transportation Center.  This is where you need to board the monorail to get the great Epcot views!



At the Ticket & Transportation Center you can board the monorail that will take you to Epcot.

Disney World Insider Secret:

Did you know that one of the only ways to legally get inside a Disney World Theme Park without a ticket is to board the monorail at the T&T Center and it will take you inside Epcot, and then unfortunately back out again, before it drops you off outside the entrance to Epcot?

Monorail View Of The Flower & Garden Festival

The one of a kind view that you can get of the flowers and gardens are a must do when you are checking out the Epcot International Flower & Garden Festival.  The elevated monorail track affords you an expansive view that you just can't get from ground level.






There are literally millions of blooms each year that the Disney horticultural staff maintains at Epcot.  The monorail ride give you a great way to see the bloom painted murals that have been created.



You will also get an opportunity to get a unique view of the topiaries that are part of the park entrance garden.

Epcot International Flower & Garden Festival

Don't miss your chance to get this special look at the flowers and gardens that make Epcot the place to be each Spring!  The monorail view will get your visit off to a great start.

Life isn't always about the destination, sometimes it is about the journey.  Today for our Disney World Top 6 we take a look at the top methods of FREE transportation to get yourself around the Walt Disney World Resort.  None of the forms of transportation that we will look at require theme park admission, so they really are free to all who visit Disney World.

Top 6 FREE Transportation Methods

6. Disney World Resort Buses

The backbone of the Disney World Transportation System is its fleet of buses.  Over 230 buses make their way from the Disney Resorts to each of the theme parks and Downtown Disney from morning until late at night.  Rarely does a Disney World guest need to wait over 20 minutes for the next air conditioned bus.  Although they may not be glamorous, they make it easy to get around without the stress.

Bonus Tip:  Disney World Buses provide the quickest way to get to the Magic Kingdom, since they drop you off right by the entrance.  No need to take another form of transportation to get in to see Mickey Mouse (unless you want to!)

Admiral Joe Fowler crossing the Seven Seas Lagoon

5. Ferry To Get From Ticket & Transportation Center To Magic Kingdom Entrance

For Disney guest that drive to the Magic Kingdom and Park in the nearby lots, one of your choices to get to the Magic Kingdom is by Ferry across the Seven Seas Lagoon.  This relaxing ride on the General Joe Potter, Admiral Joe Fowler, or the Richard F. Irvine, is a great way to start or end your day.

4. Boats To Get To Downtown Disney From Port Orleans Resorts

One of the Disney World Hidden Secrets is to ride the boats from Disney's Port Orleans Riverside or Port Orleans French Quarter Resorts to Downtown Disney along the Sassagoula River.  This relaxing boat trip is a unique way to unwind and isn't well known to the public.  There is also a separate boat that travels from Downtown Disney to Disney's Old Key West Resort for Disney Vacation Club Members to enjoy.

3. Boats To Get From Magic Kingdom To Resorts

A treat for guests to try is traveling by boat from all the Disney World Resorts that can connect to the Magic Kingdom by water.  The list includes 5 different resorts that each have dedicated boats.  The resorts are Disney's Contemporary Resort, Disney's Polynesian Resort, Disney's Grand Floridian Resort & Spa, Disney's Wilderness Lodge, and the Fort Wilderness Campground and Resort.  Even if you are not staying at one of these resorts you can still catch the boats to enjoy the trip and get a chance to visit the resorts to check them out for a potential future stay!

2. Boats To Get From Epcot To Boardwalk To Disney's Hollywood Studios

There is one series of boats, the Friendship boats, that make their way back and forth from Epcot to Disney's Hollywood Studios.  Along the way they make stops at Disney's Boardwalk Resort, Disney Yacht Club & Beach Club Resorts, and the Walt Disney World Swan & Dolphin Resorts.

Fun Fact: Epcot & Hollywood Studios are the only Disney World Theme Parks that are connected by water.

1. Monorail

There are few places in the world where you get to ride a monorail and Disney World is one of them.  With the Magic Kingdom Resort loop around the Seven Seas Lagoon and the connecting ling to Epcot, there is a coolness factor to riding the Disney World Monorail System.  It is a rite of passage and it is hard to say you visited Disney World without riding the monorails and their nearly 14.7 miles of elevated track.  Some of the best views of Epcot can actually be had by riding the monorail.

Fun Fact: Where is the only place at Disney World where you can easily get inside a theme park for FREE without a ticket and not get into trouble?  

Answer: While riding the monorail from the Ticket & Transportation Center to the Epcot Station you enter Epcot and circle around before again exiting to reach the station.

Disney's Magical Express Bus

Bonus: Disney's Magical Express

Here is a bonus form of FREE Disney Transportation, but the catch for this one is that you must fly into the Orlando International Airport (MCO) and stay at a Disney World Resort Hotel.  If you can answer Yes & Yes then you can take Disney's Magical Express bus to your Resort Hotel from the airport and it will return you to the airport at the conclusion of your trip.  Another great FREE service that is great to be familiar with.

The Avengers have arrived at the Walt Disney World Resort and you can find them adorning one of their famous monorails.  This eye catching transformation of the monorail not only looks great, but it also promotes the May 4th arrival of the Marvel Studios movie: "Marvel's The Avengers."


The Avengers
The Avengers monorail brings to life this team of superheroes that are making their big screen debut as a group after several recent movies starring the superheroes individually.

Tron Legacy Monorail
Tron Legacy, the upcoming sequel to the 1982 Disney sci-fi hit Tron is making its presence felt at the Walt Disney World Resort. 

In a move to promote the movie, the folks at Disney World have chosen to use the monorail as a giant billboard.  The graphics look great and can be seen on one of the monorails that travels between the Ticket and Transportation Center and Epcot.


Tron Legacy is scheduled to be in theaters December 17th, 2010.

The sequel will feature Jeff Bridges in a reprisal from his role in the original albeit, 25+ years later.  He is still within the Tron Game and now his grown son intends to find out what happened to his father so many years ago.

Here is a synopsis of the movie from Disney Pictures:

Tron:Legacy is a 3D High-Tech Adventure set in a digital world that’s unlike anything ever captured on the big screen. Sam Flynn (Garrett Hedlund), the tech-savvy 27-year-old son of Kevin Flynn (Jeff Bridges), looks into his father’s disappearance and finds himself pulled into the digital world of Tron where his father has been living for 25 years. Along with Kevin’s loyal confidant Qora (Olivia Wilde), father and son embark on a life-and-death journey of escape across a visually-stunning cyber universe that has become far more advanced and exceedingly dangerous.

One Really Cool Looking Monorail
However you stand on the idea of using the monorails to help cross promote and advertise other Disney businesses the stunning graphics on the monorial look great!  It certainly gets your attention.