Disney Springs Dining – The Boathouse Brunch Review
The Boathouse at Disney Springs is a lively, open-air, table service restaurant decorated in an Art Deco meets nautical style. The food is widely heralded as some of the best at Walt Disney World with great options for everyone. Keep reading for my Disney Springs Boathouse review for everything you need to know.
I recently had the opportunity to sample their new “Captain's Sing Along Brunch”. The offering features dueling piano players for entertainment and a brand new brunch menu.
Let's dive into my full review of The Boathouse brunch at Disney Springs. I'll also share some general thoughts about The Boathouse restaurant and the fun Amphicar experience that they offer in the lake surrounding Disney Springs.
Disney Springs Boathouse Review- Brunch Food
During the preview event I attended we had the opportunity to sample every item on their new brunch menu.
Here's the full menu for reference:
First up we tried the classic eggs, bacon, and house potatoes. The scrambled eggs are a fluffy, fresh, addition to nearly every plate. The house potatoes are prepared by first deep frying the entire potato before cutting them into wedges and pan frying them. Its the special kind of preparation I won't even try to attempt to recreate at home.
The Fried Chicken Biscuit and Gravy was decadent. This really was a southern comfort. We had a lot of dishes coming to the table to sample so I should have shown some restraint, but the chicken with the gravy was just so good that I ate a large piece.
The next dish was the Shrimp and Grits with two eggs on top. I have never been a grits fan, but the shrimp was clearly fresh and nicely cooked. This was probably my least favorite dish of the breakfast offering due to my own preferences.
The Steak and Eggs were fantastic. I was impressed with the kitchen delivering a perfect medium rare NY strip steak. As you know from my recent review of the Disney's Riviera Topolino character dining breakfast review, I can't resist a breakfast steak.
The Smoked Salmon Bagel came with a fresh side of avocado and greens. The bagel was freshly prepared making this a nice version of the classic bagel and lox.
The Avocado Toast comes on wheat bread with two fresh eggs served on top. I really liked the mix of the feta cheese with the avocado. My sister, a true avocado toast connoisseur, approves.
The waffle and sausage is a classic dish that The Boathouse got right. The Belgium Waffle is fluffy and fresh.
There were also a variety of colorful brunch cocktails on the menu. The drink on the left is the flavorful Orange Crush and the purple drink on the right is a non-alcoholic blueberry lemonade. Both refreshing!
Disney Springs Boathouse Review- Gluten Free
We had someone in our group eating at The Boathouse that was Gluten Free (GF) so I got to see first hand how the restaurant handled someone with a gluten allergy. Our server was very attentive making sure that the kitchen knew about the allergy and shared all the details for options for changes to any dish. Each dish was marked with a toothpick on it labeled “Allergy” to make sure we didn't mix them up.
One of chefs also came out to check in with the table to make sure that the dishes were coming out alright. This is common practice. The Boathouse has a reputation of doing a good job supporting people with allergies.
They were very accommodating and creative with their various gluten free changes. Here's an example of one of the dish changes. The Boathouse gluten free version of the Jumbo Lump Crabcakes Benedict was actually made with a white fish as its base and a different style of “breading”. They also brought out a version of the Fried Chicken and Gravy with a different seasoning and “bread” base instead of the fry batter and biscuit. They have changes that can be made for each entree.
I appreciate how attentive The Boathouse kitchen and our server was to the various allergies at the table.
The Boathouse Atmosphere
The Boathouse has an authentic charm while also feeling fresh and new. The restaurant opened in 2015 as part of the transformation of Downtown Disney into Disney Springs making The Boathouse a relatively recent addition to Walt Disney World.
The restaurant anchors (nautical pun intended) its corner of Disney Springs with an open and airy vibe. The restaurant has an indoor outdoor feeling with large bay doors that connect the main dining room and bar to the back patio “pier” with tables all along the edge of the water.
During the brunch there is special entertainment setup to get the party going. Two of the dueling piano players from the popular Boardwalk Resort nightspot, Jellyrolls, perform. The music was tons of fun! Though if you have anyone hard of hearing at your table, you may want to request a to sit further away from the performers.
The entire experience at The Boathouse was fantastic. We had great service throughout the day. During this trip to Walt Disney World we were celebrating my sister's birthday so the team was very nice to bring out a special apple cheesecake to end our meal.
The Boathouse Amphicar Ride Review and Details
The Boathouse owns a full fleet of vintage Amphicars from the 1960s and offers guided tours of the lake surrounding Disney Springs. Less than 400 Amphicars still exist today and Disney Springs is one of the few places you can see them in action. Whether you are enjoying a ride or just watching them go by while eating on the outdoor patio, the cars provide nice kinetic movement that adds to the entire area.
My sister and I hopped in one of the Amphicars after brunch to try out this fun aquatic experience. We had a lot of fun splashing down into the water and taking a cruise waving to all the guests dining around the edges of the water. During the ride we chatted with our captain who had worked in a number of roles across Walt Disney World. Interacting with Cast Members and hearing their histories is one of my favorites things to do during my Disney trips.
When your car is first gliding into the water make sure to keep a photo ready face because there's a photographer grabbing a couple shots for you to purchase when you return to dry land. You can check out the photos in the gift shop. You can see one of the photos that was taken of me and my sister above.
Overall The Boathouse brunch was a great breakfast offering that I would recommend to someone looking for the best breakfast in Disney Springs. I love the theme and special breakfast food offerings they provide. This is an especially great option for a group not visiting one of the theme parks on that particular day (on theme park days we advocate arriving right at park opening in our touring strategies) or looking for a late breakfast option (we visited Animal Kingdom in the morning before heading to the restaurant).
The Boathouse hosted me to review the restaurant, but I always share my unbiased opinion.
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Would have been nice if you mentioned the days and times of the brunch!