Sanaa -- how long from Grand Floridan? And best time for animals?

[bigwino]

Hi everyone!

We've got one more TS to book and we're leaning toward Sanaa. A few questions:

1) how long would it take to get from the GF to Sanaa? And how would we get there (monorail to a park and then a bus to the resort?) I'm a little confused as to the location of the restaurant. (we are not renting a car so need disney transporation)

2) We're looking to do an early dinner. I'm not sure there's an answer to this and I know there are no guarantees, but is there a time that would give us the best odds of seing animals (bring our 5 y.o. DD and she'd love that).

3) I looked at the kids menu and it seems they offer pizza (?). That should work, but thought I"d find out for sure if the menu I saw was accurate in that regard..

Many thanks!

 

[kaytieeldr]

1: Monorail or launch to MK, then bus to AKL Kidani (first stop)
2: WDW advises allowing 90 minutes; monorail comes about every ten minutes, five minutes to MK, seven minutes to bus, twenty minutes for bus to come, twenty-five minutes to AKL (all assume longest average wait for transit) = 67 minutes. If Sanaa opens at 5, you want to be there by 5, leave your room by 3:30-3:45. But I can't help with best animal viewing time.
3: The MOST accurate menu, if there is one, is on the disney.com site where you can make dining reservations. The menus here on the DIS are as accurate as they can be, given that they're provided or obtained by people who visit the restaurants and post or submit the menus; ditto for other unofficial sites.

 

[catne]

when we were there in May last year, the animals were out between 5 & 6:00 PM. By 6, they were wandering away, only a few giraffes still in view.

Server told us the keepers deliberately place the animals' feed out in a pattern which causes animals to move towards the overnight secure area; the placement of the food mimics the way the animals would graze naturally...there's some feed placed outside the restaurant area which is why the animals show up at that time - they've learned that's where they can "find" food at that time of day. Once that food is gone, the animals naturally move on to the next grazing area (which is also staged)

 

[MyTwoPrincesses]

I'd plan to go on your AK day. That would be the easiest/smartest choice. Plan for an early dinner to see the animals, particularly when it is hot.

So, from AK, take the AKL/AKV bus. After dinner, take a bus to MK to get back to GF.

 

[bigwino]

Very excited to try this place.... it wasn't on our list originally but after reading mostly positive reviews, we thought we'd try. And it fits the bill of having something fun/cool to see for DD (5) but not a character meal (we're doing plenty of those too!).

THanks for the advice about going from AK. We're doing it on a non park day b/c it would be far too long a day for DD to do AK and then go right to dinner.

THanks though!

 

[Silver Queen]

I hope that you enjoy your dinner at Sanaa. We love it and are looking forward to taking our DS, DDiL and DGS there. Another transportation option that may be a little easier for you would be to take the AK bus from the GF and then at AK switch to a AKL bus. AK is only 5 minutes by bus to AKL and as a PP noted Kidani (where Sanaa is located) is the first stop. With this option you won't have such a long walk from the monorail to the AK bus at MK. For the trip back to the GF you will have to go through the MK or DHS for a bus since AK will probably be closed unless they have EMH in the evening.

Have fun!