Who doesn’t love it when a last-minute dinner reservation, one of only a handful you are able to find with such short notice, turns out to be such a pleasant surprise? This was our experience with the Maya Grill at the Coronado Springs Resort at Walt Disney World. We had shuffled reservations around during the week to accommodate changes in plan due to the very hot weather. We were tired and worn out, so we ended up back at our resort mid-afternoon when we realized…..we’re going to be hungry soon!

I quickly checked on MyDisneyExperience.com to see what was available for the evening and not too far away, and there were only a few options that popped up with dinner reservation at a reasonable time  for our family. The Maya Grill at our resort had looked nice when we peeked in earlier in the day, so we decided to give it a try. Our kids do not eat Mexican food often, but I thought they would be able to find something to please them.

We were seated quickly in a quiet area of the restaurant. Our server, Tanya, was all smiles and happy to strike up conversation with us as we looked at all the options on the menu. I love when not only have they tried everything on the menu, but they are excited to tell us about their favorites. Tanya was perfect – she explained what items she liked, how they are prepared, and what ingredients are used in the recipes.

While we were waiting for our entrée, she brought out flatbread and cornbread with dipping sauces. Had I known they would be that scrumptious, I would have held off on the guacamole, but….really, who doesn’t love guacamole?

Oddly enough, my husband and the kids all chose a New York Strip Steak, but it was served with Mexican sides, as you would expect, and my family devoured them! I chose the fajita skillet. Fabulous, plenty to eat, and the meat was cooked perfectly.

Throughout the meal, Tanya was coming by to check on us and to chat about our visit, where we are from, our kids, her kids, bucket lists of where we want to visit…. She really should have just sat down because we were all having a nice time sharing a small bit of our lives with each other!

Then dessert. We ordered the coconut flan to share, but Tanya also brought HER favorite sweet, Dulce de Leche ice cream. While the flan was delicious, the ice cream was a hit with all of us.

Some people like to get in and get out for a quick dinner so they can hurry and get to the next thing on their list. While we certainly could have eaten and headed back to the parks faster, we enjoyed a leisurely meal with great food and great service, and it was such a nice surprise when the Maya Grill wasn’t even on our radar for this visit. It was one of the best meals of our trip!