First, thanks to everyone for your kind words!
Second, sorry I've been away. I'm a student teacher, almost graduating from college, and my students (9th and 10th graders) have taken up all of my time!
Now, onto the food!
We headed to Animal Kingdom bright and early and were starving by the time we got there. Because we had a pretty early lunch scheduled for Rainforest Cafe, we just wanted to get something small to eat. We also wanted to see The Festival of the Lion King so we headed in that direction. Lo and behold, we found somewhere to eat right next to the Festival. The place was empty, the food was good, the decor was fun, and the price was right!
We both decided to get biscuits and gravy and shared a soda:
We loved these. They were yummy and we pretty much every last drop of gravy. Just enough to eat to be pleasantly full.
We watched the Festival and were amazed. The singing is amazing, the dancing and acrobatics are really entertaining. The show flew by. I'd rather see this than Nemo, although I enjoyed Nemo last year.
Then we met Jiminy Cricket:
After riding a bunch of rides and thoroughly enjoying ourselves, we grabbed onion rings to share from Flame Tree BBQ b/c I'd read so many good things about them on the boards. Unfortunately, we were really disappointed. They were greasy and not very good at all. I hope it was just an off day. John also wanted to get tea from the little cart in Asia. We had high hopes, but I learned that I don't enjoy tea without sugar.
After a bit of shopping, we headed to the front of the park to go to Rainforest Cafe. I am a member so I either get a free Chef's appetizer or 10% off of the bill. We knew we'd be full from the meal so we chose to go with a few bucks off.
We checked in and waited only a few minutes to be called. In the meantime, we played around in the store and bought a couple souveniers.
We could have sat automaticalled at the bar. They have the cutest chairs (kids can sit there!):
But I love the atmosphere and the fun of sitting inside the restaurant so we decided we would try to go to the bar on our next trip.
We had been to a Rainforest Cafe in Atlanic City, NJ the year before our trip and I had gotten the coconut shrimp along with steak and ribs. The steak and ribs were good, but ultimately forgettable. But that shrimp stayed with me. I typically do not like coconut, but these shrimp were super crunchy with just a hint of sweetness. I love them!
Caribbean Coconut Shrimp:
The shrimp were amazing and I love the presentation. The mashed potatoes were really good. If I remember correct, I think my meal was supposed to come with rice but I asked them to substitute the potatoes and there was no problem. The veggies were very delicious too.
John's came with coconut shrimp, fish, and scallops, all of which he loved. (The scallops strangely look like marshmellows in this picture but not in real life!):
I'm not a huge seafood person (except for shrimp) but I enjoyed the scallops as well.
Overall, we paid:
For Breakfast:
The receipt I took a pic of is blurry so these are estimates
Soda - 2.50
Biscuits and Gravy, for both - 8
Tax - 1
Total - 11.50
This was a great quick meal and I would go again. We both rated it a 6 b/c it was simple.
Snacks:
Unfortunately I didn't take a picture of the receipts (what was I doing that day?) but the onion rings ran about $3-4 and the tea was about the same. John rated the tea a 1, but I had to give it a 0 (I threw most of it away, ssssh!). I rate the onion rings a 3, but John only gave them a 2. I would give them another chance!
Rainforest Cafe:
Coconut shrimp - 20
Seafood Platter - 29
Tax - 3
Total, before tip - 52
Total, with the discount - 47
We both rated this meal a 9. We loved the food, the presentation was pretty, and the atmosphere is fun and not too dark. Service was really good too. Normally, I wouldn't go to a restaurant on vacation that I could go to at home but I made an exception in this case b/c 1. I had the discount 2. There wasn't anywhere else in Animal Kingdom we were dying to try and 3. I felt the theme was perfect for the park.
Photopasses from AK:
Up next: Snacks at Epcot
