Disney Date Night: Sebastian's Bistro and The Little Mermaid! 🐚

Come under the sea with us as we celebrate the theatrical release of Disney’s live-action adaptation of The Little Mermaid!

An exciting date night was way overdue, so we decided to plan something a little extra special! We “scuttled” over to Disney’s Caribbean Beach Resort to have dinner at one of our all-time favorite restaurants on Disney property - Sebastian’s Bistro. We arrived a bit early to our dining reservation, so we decided to take the additional time to explore the resort. Disney’s Caribbean Beach Resort is considered one of Disney World’s moderate resorts, but we think it competes pretty well with some of the deluxe resorts on property. The theming is breathtaking and fully transports you to a tropical paradise where you can’t help but feel relaxed and want to soak up every ounce of sunshine. Every once in a while, you’ll also get to enjoy live steel drum music! The resort is huge and boasts over 1,500 rooms (including some with newly themed Little Mermaid rooms that we cannot wait to stay in!), one themed main pool, five leisure pools, one sit-down restaurant, two quick service restaurants, and a pool bar with a lounge area. Of course, we can’t forget to mention that this resort hosts the hub of the Disney Skyliner with a Joffrey's coffee stand at the entrance. For a moderately priced resort, does it get better than this? Our last staycation here was in May 2022, and we had such a wonderful time that we ended up not leaving the resort to go to the parks!

After a nice walk, it was time to check in for our reservation. We have continued to come back to Sebastian’s Bistro time and time again. It’s immensely underrated and we’re always able to find last-minute reservations. We’re not trying to gatekeep here: in our opinion, it’s one of the best restaurants at Disney World! The restaurant possesses a modern, tropical theme with views of the lake and Skyliner at some tables. And it’s not just delicious food and peaceful ambiance that makes this place amazing! It’s also very affordable in comparison to other sit-down restaurants on property. We paid $38 each (not including our 10% discount!) for a 3-course, family-style meal. 

Our meal began with the most buttery and fluffy rolls we have ever had. They also provided guava butter and caramelized onion jam, which was my personal favorite. I ended up enjoying it so much that I saved the remainder of it to eat with my entrée! Along with the bread, a spice necklace salad was brought out, which included mixed greens, spiced candied pumpkin seeds, tropical fruits, and radishes with a bright, key lime dressing. Truthfully, I would be happy if this was the entire meal. But there was a lot more delicious food to come!

The entrée portion was next! My fiancé Jason got the traditional option, the Taste of the Caribbean. It included oven-roasted citrus chicken, slow-cooked mojo pork with mango sambal, grilled chili-rubbed beef with mojito relish, and sustainable baked fish with Veracruz sauce. As a vegetarian, I ordered the Harvest of the Caribbean with Impossible kabab, fried jerk tofu, plant-based sausage, and a Caribbean fish cake. Both of these meals are served with cilantro rice and red beans, vegetable stew, and grilled seasonal vegetables. I’m getting hungry just thinking about this delicious meal! We can never get through the first serving, but remember, this is a family-style meal which means it’s all-you-can-eat! You can order more of anything you’d like once it’s gone!

Last, but certainly not least, is the dessert which is a coconut, pineapple bread pudding. Now, we have never had the bread pudding over at ‘Ohana at Disney’s Polynesian Resort so we can’t speak from personal experience, but we have heard that the one at Sebastian’s Bistro is better. Jason is not a fan of coconut, so at first, he was unsure of this dessert. However, he loved it (as did I!). Don’t forget to leave extra room for this at the end of the meal - you’re going to want it!

Before leaving the resort, we wanted to peek into the gift shop to see if they had any new merchandise for the movie. We were delighted to see all of the beautiful Little Mermaid merch! Some of our favorites were the Loungefly, ears, and jean jacket, as well as the reversible bucket hat with the matching button-down shirt!

Our final stop of the night was Disney Springs! This was our first time going to the AMC at Disney Springs, and it did not disappoint. It was fully decked out for the premiere with a blue carpet and posters of the cast lining the pathway to enter the theater. We grabbed our 3-D glasses and a bag of popcorn, and we were ready to become part of that world!

The movie was spectacular. We agreed that it was probably our favorite live-action adaptation! The new music by the one and only Lin-Manuel Miranda blew us away, and fit in beautifully with the classic songs. Halle Bailey as Ariel was highly anticipated, and we believe they could not have chosen someone better to reprise the role. Oh, and Melissa McCarthy as Ursula? Iconic! We could go on and on about this movie, but instead, we are just going to recommend you go see it for yourself! You will not regret it!

This date night was truly one for the books! Living so close to the Walt Disney World Resort makes for the most magical date nights, and we are so lucky that we get to share them with you! If you enjoyed this blog post, be sure to follow along on our socials for even more Disney content! But for now, thanks for reading, and see ya real soon!