Mad as a Hatter or Fidel Goes to Disney Trip Report Complete 9/27/10 - Page 26 - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
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It sounds like Blake got in the spirit of Disney quick – with the giving away the cupcake and wanting to ride Dumbo! On my first trip to WDW, at age 14, that was the first ride I went on. Sadly, I haven’t been back on it since. I will rectify that soon!
What great gifts from Sharon – Stitch pin, drink coupons, and the Princess herself! We had the Arancini at Via Napoli on our trip and it was really good!! If I ever make it to Citricos I’ll know to have it there too.
Hope you feel better! I’ve got a terrible cold right now and it sucks! Especially since I can really only take Tylenol for it.
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Okay folks--it took me a week to start feeling better, I'm not 100% yet, but better. Its hard to get over a summer cold with the constant heat vs AC battle!
Sunday morning I woke up and got dressed, letting the boys sleep in. They had a long day and I decided they deserved it. So I got up and met Sharon at the BC bus stop and we headed out for Animal Kingdom! We had just missed rope drop, but just after I came through the bag line we were surprised with an awesome Passporter meet! Jill and her family had arrived at AK at exactly the same time we did and she walked right up and introduced herself. She was kind and funny. I remember her saying something to the effect of, "I thought I recognized Sharon, but as soon as you walked up I knew it had to be!"
Jill's family is gorgeous and her children are wonderfully sweet! I don't have any pictures, but I'm pretty sure Jill has one posted in her trip report! (Which you ARE reading, right?)
We were all headed to the Safari, so we decided to go ride together. I did manage some pictures on this one!
Baby Elephant! How cool!
The rhino was really that close too the truck--NO zoom!
It was a great early morning ride! I really enjoyed it and I think everyone had a good time! Especially the kids--my favorite moment was Jill's daughter announcing that one of the rhinos had been "dipped in chocolate!" I love kid's perspective!
We headed for Everest next, Jill and her family stopped for pics with Flik and I grabbed this one!
It was such a gorgeous day that the colors just popped!
At about this time the boys were arriving at the park and met us at EE. I grabbed myself a FP for later and then Sharon and I got in the regular line with Jill, which showed a 15 minute wait I think, while Blake and Brandon got in the single rider line. I'm really glad I decided to get in the regular line, I almost never get to see this queue and it really is amazing. The attention to detail that Disney put into this ride is wonderful. It might not be super scary or have all the crazy thrills that you find at those other parks, but I think its my favorite roller coaster evah!
B&B had ridden twice by the time we got off! We said goodbye to Jill and her lovely family and headed to Dinosaur. I'm starting to appreciate this ride more and more every time I ride it. There was no wait at all and we walked right into a preshow that had already started! (I love getting up early!) I used to find this ride a little jerky and unsettling--I scream at the big dino every time! It wasn't bad at all this time! I still screamed though--even though I knew it was coming!
It was nearly time for our lunch reservation so we said good bye to Sharon and headed for the buses. It didn't take long for a bus to the AKL and we hopped right on and got off at Kidani Village. Brandon was eager to show Blake our home resort! (Although we have yet to stay at Kidani!) We wandered through the lobby and then down to the restaurant, which actually hadn't opened yet. We were given a pager and then treated to a drum and dance mini show, which the staff apparently does before they open the restaurant each day. We asked if Giovanni was working, as he was a fabulous server on our last visit. Alas, he was off that day!
Our server was Vann, and he turned out to be just as wonderful! The chef came out to speak to me about my allergy and informed me that they have just about eliminated tree nuts from the menu because there are so many allergies! (Yeah!) I actually thought it was a bit odd because Indian food tends to have some nuts!
Once again we shared everything! On Vann's recommendation we ordered a half caraf of wine instead of two glasses, My receipt says we had the Sula Chenin Blanc and I remember it being delightful! I just love South African wine and the AKL has the largest cellar of S. African wines outside of S. Africa!
We started out with the Roasted Califlower, because I remembered from one of Jillybean's TRs that it was fabulous. (And it was!) The califlower came with a slightly spicy tomato sauce for dipping and I just loved it. Everyone agreed that it was a must do for return visits!
We also had the bread service, which has changed slightly since our last visit! We had Naan, Onion Kulcha, and Paneer Paratha with Red Chile Sambal, Cucumber Raita, and, Garlic Pickle. The Sambal was pretty spicy, but still very tasty. I think it was Brandon's favorite, but I only had a bite or two. The cucumber raita was a nice cooling balance to the spice. I have to say that my favorite was the garlic pickle, which is actually pickled garlic. Super yummy, but I'm glad I wasn't planning on kissing anyone after the meal was over! I was kind of sorry to see that the onion raita had been taken off the menu, as I don't typically love raw onion, but this was amazing. For those of you who haven't been a raita is a yohgurt based dip! The cucumber version is very light and mild, but the onion version has a bit more bite!
We also ordered the salad sampler (seeing a pattern yet?)! I know that we had the Chickpeas with cucumber and tomato and the Watermelon, lime, and radish (yea--more raddish!) and I'm not super sure on the last one, but I think we had carrot, orange, and mint. I know I voted for the roasted beets for the third, but Brandon shot me down as we had just had roasted califlower. The watermelon salad was fabulous. I could eat it every single day and the chickpeas were good--I don't remember the 3rd item--so I must not have been super impressed. This is an excellent value at $6.99! Don't skip it!
Our last course was one of the slow cooked samplers. This is another area where the restaurant has changed the menu. It used to be that the veggie slow cooked items and the meat slow cooked items were lumped together and you could choose any two plus rice for $17.99. They have separated the veggie and meat items. Now you can choose two veggie items for $14.99 or two meat options for $18.99. We went with the meat items--because everything else we ordered was veggie! We had shrimp with green curry sauce and braised short ribs with Basmati rice (you have the option of 5 grain pilaf). The short ribs were wonderful and tender, as they had been on our previous visit. Oh my GOD the curry shrimp are fantastic. The shrimp manage to not be overcooked even though they are in something like a stew. The curry was fabulous and not at all spicy. There was a little kick, but also the cooling factor of what I think was coconut milk. Absolutely amazing!
After we finished eating our server was kind enough to bring our birthday dessert for me! It was an awesome chocolate cake with a mango sorbet and fresh raspberries. To die for! (and I didn't share!)
I have to say that despite how much I enjoy signature dining and super fine dining foods--this is my favorite restaurant at WDW. The servers are amazing and super professional! We've always been visited by both the chef and the manager when dining here, which is great! I highly recommend it if you haven't tried it yet. So how did the finances come out? It sounds like this meal should have run at least $150, right?
Nope, not even close. In addition to being my favorite WDW restaurant, its also one of the best values on property. Lunch for three, including wine, tip and our discount was: $64. That's right folks . . . $64.
(We spent about $50 at Sunshine Seasons--remember?)
Our TiW savings on this meal was 12.43! We are now over the $75 it takes to recoup the cost of the card and we still have a couple of meals left! (Including dinner at Narcoosees!)
Glad you're feeling better Heather!! What a great time at AK (how cool to run into Jill and her family)! And my gosh, what a fantastic lunch! More please!
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Glad you are feeling better and updated your TR!! Chris and I ate at Sanaa for the first time in July and just adored it!! Your meal sounded wonderful!! Hurry back!
Glad you're feeling better, Heather! What a fantastic meal and amazing value. I agree that Sanaa does a great job, and I love that they're open for lunch.
What an amazing lunch at Sanaa, I still cannot get over how much food you all got and what a great price. Everything sounded so delcious I would never be able to chose. Again here is where the sharing of the appitizers and meals just work out so wonderfully, you get to try so many great things.
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Glad you are feeling better Heather!! What a great time at AK and lunch sounds wonderful! And yes, I'm reading Jill's report, how cool that you ran into her and her family!
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Disney Magic - Oct 2015
Hope you're over it really soon!
More please!
What a terrific meal!
Wow, that was great value at Sanaa - it's such a superb restaurant and one of our favourites as well. 
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