While staying at Bay Lake Tower in January, I found myself working remotely from our studio and unable to step away too long for lunch. Although I could have mobile ordered from Contempo Cafe, I felt like it was the perfect opportunity to try The Wave…of American Flavors to go. I knew that I liked the food at The Wave after dining there for the first time in August, and I had been curious about the to go options since the feature was announced.
The Menu
You won’t find the DVC Fan favorite bacon and eggs appetizer or the seven-layer cake from Top of the World Lounge on the to go menu, but there is a good variety of options for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. For breakfast, you’ll find a few different egg entrees, avocado toast, and the classic sweet potato pancakes. The lunch menu had several appetizers, sandwiches, tikka masala, and the sustainable fish of the day. Dinner offered the same appetizers as lunch plus entrees like the grilled beef tenderloin, pork tenderloin, herb-roasted chicken, tikka masala, sustainable fish, and the seared gnocchi. You’ll also find kids’ options for each meal.
How It Works
Like Sanaa and Kona Cafe, The Wave now allows you to place a to go order through My Disney Experience. Just as with a quick service mobile order, you navigate to the “Order Food” button and search for “The Wave…of American Flavors To Go.” From there, you can select an arrival window and build your order, selecting from appetizers, entrees, kids’ meals, and desserts. Once you have finished, you review your order and pay by credit card, Apple Pay, or gift card. Since my DVC membership is linked in MDE, I automatically received 10% off my order.
After my order went through, I had to hit “Prepare My Order,” so the cast members would start putting it together. I placed my order around 11:30am for an 11:40am-12:10pm arrival window. By 12pm, I received a push notification that my order was ready for pick up. It only took a few minutes for me to walk across the Skybridge on the 5th floor of Bay Lake Tower and arrive on the 4th floor of The Contemporary. Once I made my way to The Wave on the 1st floor, a cast member greeted me at the podium and took my temperature before having me step inside the restaurant. Another cast member at the hostess stand brought me my order in a brown paper bag.
The Food
The food was still warm by the time I brought it back to our studio. It was packed neatly in paper containers and even came with some eco-friendly wooden utensils. My husband and I wanted a light lunch and ordered appetizers. I chose the lump crab cakes appetizer ($15.00), which came with old bay remoulade, corn slaw, and salsa verde. I had the same appetizer in the restaurant back in August, and the to go version was just as good. I enjoyed the salsa verde with it and found the corn slaw a nice contrast to the sweet lump crab meat.
Timothy chose the chicken curry soup with bacon and chives ($9.50). It was creamy and hearty with chicken, rice, and some peas and carrots. Timothy liked it so much that he wished there was an entree portion of it.
All in all, I was pleased with both the food and the ordering process. The Wave to go is a great option whether you like the convenience of dining in your villa or you prefer to take your food outside to dine.
*Please note that this dining review was conducted during Walt Disney World’s initial reopening period. We ask that you take into consideration that any negative impacts may be a result of situations surrounding the ongoing pandemic, and may not accurately represent the restaurant once the resort has fully reopened.
This headline put me into a panic. I interpreted it to mean that The Wave was closing!
Ah, definitely not the intent of the title! However, The Wave is undergoing a refurbishment this summer, so more to come.