Sunday Brunch: The Wave
- Breakfast
19 August 2012
As my faithful readers know,
breakfast is my favorite meal of the day
containing my most favorite meals ever, and
getting breakfast around Walt Disney World has
been a little project and fun weekly activity
for my friends and I. With the unique, yet
Disney classic
Tonga Toast at the quick service Captain Cook's
to the
hearty breakfast buffet at Fort Wilderness's
Trail's End restaurant, Walt Disney World
offers quite a variety of breakfast experiences.
The bar was set higher once I discovered the
wonders of the flavors of the American Breakfast
at 'The Wave (of American Flavors)' at the
Contemporary Resort. Opening in 2008, the Wave
is a table service restaurant serving breakfast,
lunch, and dinner. Taking the spot of the former
quick service restaurant and arcade, the Wave
has a lot of space, holding the main dining
room, a very contemporary wave inspired
lobby/entryway, and a lounge.

The steelwork and lights evoke the shape and
intensity of an actual wave. Image from
http://www.contemporaryresort.net/Wave_Photo_Gallery.html
After the failed attempts and
near impossibilities of trying to book a
reservation with Chef Mickey and his culinary
pals for my birthday breakfast last year, I
stayed away from the Contemporary at breakfast
time. I knew the Contempo Caf' next door to Chef
Mickey's also served breakfast, though it was
more akin to the quick service breakfasts
available at all the resorts. My life changed in
May 2012 when Hidden Mickey Monday Alex told me
about getting breakfast at The Wave with her
mother, who was staying at the resort. They had
discovered that Chef Mickey was not the only one
serving a breakfast buffet at the resort.

Though Mickey and Friends won't be joining you
for breakfast, this buffet is filled with so
many good foods it will make you forget about
that mouse
The Wave features a regular a la
carte menu with such American flavored entrees
as Eggs Benedict, Classic Smoke Salmon,
Multigrain Waffles, and their signature Sweet
Potato Pancakes with Pecan-Honey butter. These
items can be served to you as a single, meal
portion entr'e, but the most exciting part is
they are also available in the Breakfast Buffet.
Most of the menu is also found on the buffet,
including each of the aforementioned entrees.

Menu or guide to the buffet? At the Wave it is
both!


The Garde Manger features cold items such as
fresh fruit, vegetables, and even smoked Salmon

The Honeydew Melons are locally grown; using in
season, local produce is best for the
environment and for your health, truly a
Contemporary concept of dining

Pastries!

Delicious spreads

Why order just one from the menu when you could
have both at the buffet!
Multigrain Waffles and Sweet Potato Pancakes

An incredible bread sculpture display decorates
the buffet
On top of the
expected bacon, scrambled eggs, grits, and
sausage, the buffet features some innovative
twists on traditional American breakfast fare. A
sausage gravy adds an additional level of savory
to biscuits and gravy, though I didn't care for
it too much. The Multigrain Waffles added a
level of healthiness and the hearty flavor of
the grains to an already favorite breakfast
treat. Norwegian Smoked Salmon brought a little
classiness to the Disney breakfast buffet.
Though my favorite item is hands down the Sweet
Potato Pancakes with Pecan-Honey butter. I've
had pancakes, I've had sweet potatoes, I've had
potato pancakes, but putting it all together is
a heavenly breakfast treat with a whole new
dimension of flavors for a pancake. The sweet
and nutty Pecan Honey butter adds just the right
amount of flavor to highlight the beauty of the
sweet potato. No other words can describe the
feast completed with Sweet Potato pancakes.
At almost $20 per person for the
Wave's buffet, this is probably another one of
the best deals for great dining at Walt Disney
World. Not just because that is an incredibly
reasonable price for a Disney
all-you-care-to-eat buffet, but also because the
Wave brings the breakfast buffet to a new level.
As an adult, one does enjoy the simplicity of
American junk food in the parks, but the quality
and innovation in the traditional American
breakfast found here definitely caters to the
experienced palettes of adults and adventurous
children. Upstairs at Chef Mickey's the
characters are the star, with breakfast as
merely the background purpose for dining with
the characters. Downstairs at the Wave, the
breakfast is full of character. If you still
need your morning dose of Mickey, you're
definitely find him here. This is Disney after
all.
