Help us choose a sit-down restaurant for Animal Kingdom - Please vote!

[SeaSpray]

It'll be DH and I (frequent visitors to WDW), and our 75-year old aunt who hasn't been to WDW in over 20 years. She has never been to AK park but loves animals so we'll want to spend most of 1 day there. We'll be booking the Wildlife Discovery Excursion for that morning at 10am, then we want to do a sit-down restaurant for lunch.

DH and I have had lunch at the Rainforest (back in 2001) and it was fine; we've never been to Tusker House or Yak & Yeti.

Money is not really an issue, neither is park time since we can come back on a second day to AK if we need to.

Just curious as to which sit-down restaurant you'd choose at AK So please vote!

Thank you!

 

[SeaSpray]

Thanks for all the votes so far! Any more?? Also, any comments on these restaurants are greatly appreciated!!

 

[Chedstro]

Our opinion is the Yak & Yeti is the best by far! We were there for lunch a couple of days after they opened.

Absolutely wonderful theming, the service was spotty as expected - probably has gotten better

The menu is mostly upscale Chinese but with some great surprises. Try the Pho. It had more shrimp in it than I could count, and the side garnishes and spices were great.

We had the three sorbet dessert which was perfect after the meal.

Hugs from Bob and Cindy

 

[Swimnoid]

We did Y & Y for lunch in mid Dec. We got three different dishes and all of them were really good. We will go again in May!

 

[memobrien]

It'll be DH and I (frequent visitors to WDW), and our 75-year old aunt who hasn't been to WDW in over 20 years. She has never been to AK park but loves animals so we'll want to spend most of 1 day there. We'll be booking the Wildlife Discovery Excursion for that morning at 10am, then we want to do a sit-down restaurant for lunch.

DH and I have had lunch at the Rainforest (back in 2001) and it was fine; we've never been to Tusker House or Yak & Yeti.

Money is not really an issue, neither is park time since we can come back on a second day to AK if we need to.

Just curious as to which sit-down restaurant you'd choose at AK So please vote!

Thank you!

Well i have ADR for Yak and Yeti and it looks really good. So that's my vote to try, but it's not from experience.

I have a question though.... what is Wildlife Discovery Excursion?

maura

 

[stellablue]

I chose "other." I"m not sure how inconvenient this would be, but I say hop on a bus and head on over to the AKL for lunch. I think I heard that it's only about a 5 minute ride.

There are two sit-down restaurants at the AKL: Boma (buffet) and Jiko (regular sit-down). Both are supposed to be wonderful. The lobby is amazing and there are viewing areas to watch a whole separate savannah of animals (different than Animal Kingdom Park), so it's almost like being at a second park.

I've been reading alot of dining reviews and haven't heard too many overall positive reviews about Yak & Yeti or Tusker House. I personally wouldn't choose Rainforest Cafe because you likely have one near your hometown so it's not as unique....plus it's really loud and dark in there, I find it not conducive to a relaxed social lunch.

JMHO!

 

[heathrow42]

Yak and Yeti was extremely overpriced, run of the mill chinese food. It was $60 for lunch for 2 of us.. 1 appetizer, 2 entries, and soft drinks.. no alcohol or desserts. DH had beef w/ broccoli and I had Crispy Honey Chicken. The food was fine - but nothing special, and certianly not worth $60 for a lunch!

Haven't been to Tusker house since they changed it. But the menu looks good!

 

[BriarRosie]

I chose "other." I"m not sure how inconvenient this would be, but I say hop on a bus and head on over to the AKL for lunch. I think I heard that it's only about a 5 minute ride.

There are two sit-down restaurants at the AKL: Boma (buffet) and Jiko (regular sit-down). Both are supposed to be wonderful. The lobby is amazing and there are viewing areas to watch a whole separate savannah of animals (different than Animal Kingdom Park), so it's almost like being at a second park.

I've been reading alot of dining reviews and haven't heard too many overall positive reviews about Yak & Yeti or Tusker House. I personally wouldn't choose Rainforest Cafe because you likely have one near your hometown so it's not as unique....plus it's really loud and dark in there, I find it not conducive to a relaxed social lunch.

JMHO!

The only problem with doing that is AKL doesn't have full service lunchtime service. The park itself is more convenient. I've heard good things about both the new Tusker House buffet and Yak and Yeti.

 

[Pixiedust34]

An elderly person might find the RFC to be a bit loud. I haven't tried the "new" Tusker House or the Y&Y yet, but I voted for the Y&Y. Table service might be more relaxing than a buffet. She'll be doing a lot of walking in the parks, and being served instead of doing a buffet could be a nice break for her.

 

[SeaSpray]

Thanks for the votes and comments!

Cindy: I've seen your pictures from Y&Y, they look great! Cape dude would probably love the pho with the shrimp.

memobrien: The Wildlife Discovery Excursion is a 1-hour private ride through Kilimanjaro Safari, and it's open to guests staying on the club level of any of the deluxe resorts. In fact, it can only be booked through the IPO office. We're going to do this excursion because our aunt loves animals and it'll give her the opportunity to see some of the animals on the Safari for a longer period of time (plus be able to ask questions of the guide on the tour with us) as compared to just riding the regular ride. The cost is $45 per person.

stellablue: We've stayed at AKL before and loved Jiko and enjoyed Boma very much, but like BriarRose pointed out, neither of them are open for lunch. I'd consider going there at the end of the day for dinner, but we really will want and need a sit-down for lunch at AK.

Thanks for the info about the Rainforest Cafe; I don't remember it being especially noisy, but we were there 7 years ago AND we were with our DSs who were 13 and 10 at the time, so noise wouldn't have bothered us at all. LOL

Pixiedust: Good point regarding the walking and buffet thing; I also have walking issues, so I think the less time on my feet, the better. LOL


Ok, I think it'll be Yak & Yeti for us! Thanks again everyone!!!!

 

[stellablue]

The only problem with doing that is AKL doesn't have full service lunchtime service. The park itself is more convenient. I've heard good things about both the new Tusker House buffet and Yak and Yeti.

Oh, I didn't know that! So Boma and Jiko are both closed for lunch? Good to know, we are staying at AKL in a few weeks!

Geez, you'd think that AKL would have more lunch options since DAK has such limited TS choices.

 

[SeaSpray]

Bumping up in hopes of more votes and comments! Thanks!