It's Magical! A 10yr Anniv Dining Report with Extras! Updated 9/4!!!

[Tinker12]

O.k. Got a "kick" out of the sombreros! Look like yall had a great time!!

 

[BebopAngel88]

Mmmm... those shots from Germany looks so good!

 

[sydneysmom]

You ate at two places I have never had before and I am really torn about adding to our September trip. 50s Prime Time and Citricos. I'm just not totally sold on either one, but I really want to try something new.

Too bad about your Boatwrights meal. Our experience there was not all that great either. How frustrating about th food allergy lecture. That would put me off. However, your nachos look delicious!

The bread pudding at Sanaa looks so good! So does the sampler. I may have to put Sanaa back on my radar as well.

I just wanted to jump in and tell you how AWESOME 50's Prime Time is !!! I was SO skeptical, because our daughter is very shy...so I thought she would hate it. Well, I was completely wrong. it turned out to be the BEST time we had at a meal on our whole trip. It was pouring rain the night we had reservations and pretty much everyone was kind of 'down' because of the weather. Well, our "cousin" made it so much fun. We laughed so hard through the entire meal. There was a family of 10 next to us, and all the kids were getting such a kick out of the grown-ups "getting in trouble" and "scolded for not finishing their meal". It is just a really fantastic time.... and the fried chicken and shakes are really sinful!!

Sorry for the hijack, but I had to throw in my 2 cents....

 

[Couchy]

Paula

I really disliked the bacon cupcake. It was not good at all

I do however, love that sangrai.... and your drinks around the world looked like fun

 

[disney meema]

Oh shoot bummer on the piggie cupcake ... It sounds so good thinking bacon with cream cheese frosting but if it's dry eeeeww.not so good. We've never tried the Mexican restaurants at Epcot except the margarita stand. Being from Southern California there are so many incredible Mexican restaurant and especially near the beach so we always skip in DW. I keep waiting for a glowing review on a Mexican restaurant to make the plunge and even than it's hard to beat Javior's in Newport beach or Los Brisas in Laguna ( mouth watering thinking about it ) Your grand mariner looks delicious and it's nice to see entertainment along the way around WS. We have only 1 day at F&W in November so will be eating around the world and looking forward to trying some new foods and drinks. As always following along and looking forward to where you end up for your anniversary dinner : )

 

[jabead]

Great trio of reviews, Paula! I love how the sombrero pics turned out. And although we failed in our goal to try several of the F & G booths that day, it was still fun traveling around the world with you.

 

[KatMark]

Paula, I'm back and caught up.

There is too much for me to comment on (especially since I still have half of my threads to catch up on and get my own TR started), but I did want to mention a few things.

So glad that Hunter and Michael hit it off. Michael calls me the "best friend he's never met."

I have NEVER in my life seen luggage come out like that. It looks like several dogs chewed through it. That is absolutely awful and I hope the airlines really took care of you.

LOVE The Plaza; it is always our last meal of the trip.

Your special menus are such a nice touch.

Love all of your park days and the things you did, including the eating and drinking.

One of these days we will get to California Grill.

Okay...I should be able to stay caught up now.

 

[smile4stamps]

Subbing in! I figure I subbed to Brenda's dining report so I might as well sub to one of her DIS compadres. Back to read!

Welcome! It's interesting to read the three different viewpoints of the same meals!

O.k. Got a "kick" out of the sombreros! Look like yall had a great time!!

It was a fun afternoon!

Mmmm... those shots from Germany looks so good!

I love the Apfel shots! Would probably be a lot cheaper buying a bottle

I just wanted to jump in and tell you how AWESOME 50's Prime Time is !!! I was SO skeptical, because our daughter is very shy...so I thought she would hate it. Well, I was completely wrong. it turned out to be the BEST time we had at a meal on our whole trip. It was pouring rain the night we had reservations and pretty much everyone was kind of 'down' because of the weather. Well, our "cousin" made it so much fun. We laughed so hard through the entire meal. There was a family of 10 next to us, and all the kids were getting such a kick out of the grown-ups "getting in trouble" and "scolded for not finishing their meal". It is just a really fantastic time.... and the fried chicken and shakes are really sinful!!

Sorry for the hijack, but I had to throw in my 2 cents....

No problem! I will have a 50's PT review coming up... well.. it may be awhile but I will get there! and we had an absolute BLAST at the meal.

Paula

I really disliked the bacon cupcake. It was not good at all

I do however, love that sangrai.... and your drinks around the world looked like fun

The drinks were good.. the cupcake.. not so much!

Oh shoot bummer on the piggie cupcake ... It sounds so good thinking bacon with cream cheese frosting but if it's dry eeeeww.not so good. We've never tried the Mexican restaurants at Epcot except the margarita stand. Being from Southern California there are so many incredible Mexican restaurant and especially near the beach so we always skip in DW. I keep waiting for a glowing review on a Mexican restaurant to make the plunge and even than it's hard to beat Javior's in Newport beach or Los Brisas in Laguna ( mouth watering thinking about it ) Your grand mariner looks delicious and it's nice to see entertainment along the way around WS. We have only 1 day at F&W in November so will be eating around the world and looking forward to trying some new foods and drinks. As always following along and looking forward to where you end up for your anniversary dinner : )

Yes, I agree on the CA Mexican food. My husband grew up in Norcal and was exposed to lots of authentic Mexican food. However now living in CO he has a lot more trouble finding any!

Only 1 day for F&W! That will be tough! I recommend making a list and pacing yourselves! Share a lot so you can try more!

Great trio of reviews, Paula! I love how the sombrero pics turned out. And although we failed in our goal to try several of the F & G booths that day, it was still fun traveling around the world with you.

The Sombrero pics are cute! Yes.. the booths were a failure but it was a fun afternoon (if tipsy! ) regardless!

Paula, I'm back and caught up.

There is too much for me to comment on (especially since I still have half of my threads to catch up on and get my own TR started), but I did want to mention a few things.

So glad that Hunter and Michael hit it off. Michael calls me the "best friend he's never met."

I have NEVER in my life seen luggage come out like that. It looks like several dogs chewed through it. That is absolutely awful and I hope the airlines really took care of you.

LOVE The Plaza; it is always our last meal of the trip.

Your special menus are such a nice touch.

Love all of your park days and the things you did, including the eating and drinking.

One of these days we will get to California Grill.

Okay...I should be able to stay caught up now.

Welcome Back Kathy! I know how hard it can be to get caught back up! I hope you had a fabulous trip!

The airlines have compensated us for our losses.

I love the special menu's.. we only got a couple this trip, I think because our group was just celebrating To much!

WE loved our time drinking around the parks.. I think that is one of the deciding factors on going back in October.

 

[smile4stamps]

After changing we headed to Animal Kingdom. I’m pretty sure we took a bus to MK and then the AKL bus from there. After making sure we were getting off at the right stop we went looking for a viewing area for the animals as there was still a little daylight left.

When it became hard to see animals we headed inside to wait for some add’l people to join us. Hunter I think grabbed a drink and I’m pretty sure it was a Bloody Mary but I am missing a picture. Soon our other friends arrived and it was time to be seated.

The friends joining us were Brenda (emmysmommy) and her husband Michael. Brenda said when we sat down that she was betting by the end of the meal that they would be Facebook Friends. They replied… We already are! To say these guys hit it off is putting it mildly! I think they became instant friends and talk more than Brenda and I do!
I thought I had some pictures of them but I don’t from this day. Brenda I believe posted a group photo in her review of this meal though.

First some menu pics

Linda ordered by way of Barb a bottle of Sparkling Wine to toast to being together and for our various celebrations!

I tried to get a shot of us toasting but I was a bit off center

Too start we ordered 2 Taste of Africa’s for the table.

It comes with three type of African “Bread”

And four sauces

Descriptions

These went over really well. I think most people liked the Naan the best though as that was gone first!

I wasn’t real hungry and couldn’t decide what I wanted so I just went with Allan’s Mozambique Tomato Salad. The server had said that there were a couple of salads that could be considered Entrée’s but I’m thinking this wasn’t one of them as this is what was presented to me.

If ANYONE could consider that an entrée they must have a very small stomach! It was tasty but so small for the $15 price on it. Too make matters worse the peaches weren’t even real ripe so didn’t have a lot of flavor.

Barb… was a much smarter gal! She had ordered the Inguday Tibs in Brik. I asked her how they were and she was kind enough to offer me one. I gladly accepted as I had been eyeing those on the menu for a LONG time. I took a bite and was in love. Being the nice wife that I am I offered a bite to Hunter and he loved it as well. So what did that mean… We needed some ourselves!

This normally comes three to an order but Hunter had already offered one to Michael so the picture only shoes two. Hunter and I also each had another one and they were as good as the ones Barb had shared.

About this time we started asking the server if we could get the bread service. He looked at us like we had lost our minds! Bread service? What do you mean? Ohhh… The bread we give to all the tables at the start of the meal… yeah.. that one!

It was finally delivered to us!

To me the bread seemed a little dry as if it was the last of it for the evening and they didn’t really want to serve it to us and why the long delay to get it.

But… On to the entrée.

Yes, there is only one. Hunter and I had planned on this trip to share a lot so we only ordered one entrée

The Shortribs

Now… If you remember the Citrico’s Shortribs I reviewed earlier I mentioned that I was posting one picture for comparison for later… That later is now and so you don’t need to go searching for it….

The Citrico’s Short Ribs were AT LEAST 3x the size of the ones from Jiko for the same price. (maybe a few $$ different but nothing major)

So.. how did they compare? I honestly couldn’t say… Hunter claims I tried them but I don’t remember them… So.. I just asked him what he thought and he said.. “they had good flavor, the one bite I had” So that might be a slight exaggeration on the small portion size but it was definitely only a couple bites.


We were treated with a complimentary dessert but I didn’t get a picture. Pretty sure I gave mine to Michael.

Overall opinions on Jiko… Everything has really good flavor and tasted good but some of the portions were definitely NOT in proportion to the price. I understand Disney Pricing and Signature Portions and this fell way short even for that. It might be a long while before we would return here again.

For Brenda's Review of Jiko you can click HERE and for Barb's click HERE!


Up next: A Safari and Tusker House!

 

[KatMark]

I'm sorry your meal wasn't all "that" at Jiko. I remember having the short ribs and remembering more than that being on my plate. We enjoyed it, but we are not in a rush to go back (we like Yachstman better...we are simple eaters and we still need to try California Grill).

Michael, who I've not met in person, cracks me up. I saw some of his and Hunter's exchanges on FB.

 

[StayAwake]

I'm loving your reviews- you've got so many places that I'd like to try someday! Looking forward to more!

 

[emmysmommy]

Hey Paula! Getting caught up with your latest reviews.

Ahhh Jiko! I think that is Botswanan for 'tiny portions' I definitely enjoyed the naan bread and the dips.

Here's a photo of you guys at dinner.

This was a fun meal even if the server didn't know what we meant by "can we have some bread?"​

 

[Disney_Alli]

Hey Paula I finally actually went looking for and found your thread and am all caught up. I already knew some of the details from FB but I'm really enjoying your reviews. I think since we've already met up on both coasts you guys should plan a trip for August 2015 so we can meet up again!

 

[H20DogsNDisney]

coming over from Brenda's Dining report can't wait to read more

 

[basketlacey]

Happy Anniversary! I love reading about your trip so far! Is it crazy that the meal I want the most is the two appys you had at Sanaa? LOL Those look amazing!

 

[jabead]

Hey Paula! Getting caught up with your latest reviews.

Ahhh Jiko! I think that is Botswanan for 'tiny portions' I definitely enjoyed the naan bread and the dips.

Here's a photo of you guys at dinner.

This was a fun meal even if the server didn't know what we meant by "can we have some bread?"​

That's a great photo of Paula & Hunter!

And regarding the missing Jiko bread, I'm not really a fan of their bread so I probably would not have even noticed or cared that they didn't bring any. However, if that had happened the night before at YSH, I'm sure that anarchy would have ensued.

 

[disney meema]

Great picture of the two of you : ) the sparking wine looked great, but your salad and entree was a small portion. But your dining company made for a lovely evening

 

[got2travel]

Was perusing various dining reports and found yours. Had to stop and say Hi.

We've recently connected on FB, but I hadn't run across your trip reports here yet. Looking forward to more.

 

[smile4stamps]

I'm sorry your meal wasn't all "that" at Jiko. I remember having the short ribs and remembering more than that being on my plate. We enjoyed it, but we are not in a rush to go back (we like Yachstman better...we are simple eaters and we still need to try California Grill).

Michael, who I've not met in person, cracks me up. I saw some of his and Hunter's exchanges on FB.

The flavors of our food were better this time than our previous visit but the small portions have put us off returning. YSH review will be up soon but I am sorry to say it is definitely not a positive one!

I'm loving your reviews- you've got so many places that I'd like to try someday! Looking forward to more!

Thank you! It's always so hard to decide where to eat!

Hey Paula! Getting caught up with your latest reviews.

Ahhh Jiko! I think that is Botswanan for 'tiny portions' I definitely enjoyed the naan bread and the dips.

Here's a photo of you guys at dinner.

This was a fun meal even if the server didn't know what we meant by "can we have some bread?"​

Thank's for posting the picture of us! on the Botswanan for tiny portions! It was definitely a fun meal. The service started out good but then took a nose-dive! I guess he was ready for us to go home!

Hey Paula I finally actually went looking for and found your thread and am all caught up. I already knew some of the details from FB but I'm really enjoying your reviews. I think since we've already met up on both coasts you guys should plan a trip for August 2015 so we can meet up again!

Oh how I would LOVE to meet up again however once our AP's expire in October we are taking a hiatus from Disney. I need to be moving to CO soon!

coming over from Brenda's Dining report can't wait to read more

Welcome! Thanks for joining in!

Happy Anniversary! I love reading about your trip so far! Is it crazy that the meal I want the most is the two appys you had at Sanaa? LOL Those look amazing!

Thank you! The Bread Service was outstanding! The sampler was good but not as good as the bread service!

That's a great photo of Paula & Hunter!

And regarding the missing Jiko bread, I'm not really a fan of their bread so I probably would not have even noticed or cared that they didn't bring any. However, if that had happened the night before at YSH, I'm sure that anarchy would have ensued.

You mean the following night at YSH lol I just wanted some of the soft bread to go with the dips we had left. Since we had run out of naan!

Great picture of the two of you : ) the sparking wine looked great, but your salad and entree was a small portion. But your dining company made for a lovely evening

The company definitely made it a fun evening! The small portions not so much!

Was perusing various dining reports and found yours. Had to stop and say Hi.

We've recently connected on FB, but I hadn't run across your trip reports here yet. Looking forward to more.

Oh welcome! Do you mind sharing your real name? I have trouble connecting sometimes!

 

[smile4stamps]

April 29th we were heading to Animal Kingdom. This time we were actually going to make it INTO the park! Unfortunately we were running slightly later than I would have liked but we did make it in time to use our FP+ for the Safari.

Here are just a few of the pictures from our morning tour.

Unfortunately our tour took a bit longer than we had planned for so we were a little late for our breakfast. Brenda and I speed walked to get us checked in so that we didn’t lose our ADR and get charged for a No-Show.

Originally Brenda had this breakfast planned for 5/1 but that was a day we were not planning to do any parks so I begged and pleaded to change it to this day. I knew if I scheduled it for just Hunter and I it would not have happened but by doing it with friends I was able to get Hunter to go. It also helped that our ADR would hit the Breakfast to Lunch cross-over so he was able to get Lunch food.

I on the other hand was all for some breakfast so once we were settled in our seats I went to get me some!

I can’t even tell you everything that I have piled on this plate but I truly enjoyed most of it! I also picked Hunter up a biscuit with gravy to hold him till the lunch food was out.

We of course had some visitors during our meal

The guys giving Daisy some love!

Hunter said her eye tasted good!

Hunter’s first plate of food as they had just started putting lunch out

And some Hummus with pita bread

My second plate was some of the salads that they have out for lunch

Overall I still love this meal. We did have an issue of almost being seated by a screaming kid but we asked and were able to be seated on the other side of the room. This time of day it was not super crowded so it was easy to get food from the buffet as well as time with the characters. Some had circled several times while we there. So, will I return to Tusker House? If I can get Hunter to do so I will!

Up Next: Happy Trails and Lunch