Tell me about Mara

[HunnyPots]

We are planning to do EMH at Animal Kingdom and then we thought we would go visit AKL and maybe have lunch there. I see that there are no full service restaurants serving lunch so I was wondering about the food at Mara. What can you tell me about it? How does it compare to other resort counter service/food court type places? Would you advise us to give it a try or grab lunch at AK before heading over?

Thanks!

 

[theSurlyMermaid]

I don't think I would recommend going out of your way for the food at Mara. It is not that great (really greasy, from what I recall) and very expensive. If I'm going for counter service, I prefer something like a turkey sandwich and you can get those anywhere.

Mara is not the high point of AKL dining.

 

[CheshireVal]

I actually enjoyed eating at Mara when we stayed at AKL. I'll go so far as to say it's the best counter service restaurant out of all the deluxe resorts and the prices aren't any worse than anywhere else.

They have some interesting offerings-- my family really enjoys the tandoori chicken pizza. The sugar cane chicken is also good. I like that they offer fish n' chips and fried shrimp too!

The best part about Mara, though, is that you can buy zebra domes (the famous chocolate mousse dessert from Boma) there too.

 

[Atotty]

Def eat at Animal Kingdom before going to AKL. We ate at Mara twice when we stayed at AKL last May. After that, if we were at the hotel and it was meal time, dh would drive somewhere and bring us something back.

 

[CamColt]

We took a quick visit to AKL between our morning at DTD and our afternoon at AK. We picked up lunch there and were very happy with it. The pizza was very good for food court food, plus we got the most delicious drinks (Nyami Nyami if I remember correctly) at the pool bar.

 

[fmed845]

We also enjoyed Mara's for a counter service restaurant. My DW had pizza and some butternut soup that was delicious. I had the African stew that was served in a bread bowl and for the price it was one of my favorite meals of 8 day stay. Also my DW had a couple of the zebra domes.

 

[Snowysmom]

We liked Mara when we stayed at AKL. The pizza is good as well as the bacon cheeseburgers and fish and chips. They also have some different menu items that sound interesting.

 

[Harambe]

We enjoyed the Chicken pizza also. DH said the African Stew was great and a nice change from the ordinary. I ordered fish and chips one night and the fish was very fresh and NOT greasy at all. Kids liked their pizza/burgers. We also enjoyed the breakfast items here.

I'll agree with CheshireVal and say it is the best resort food court we've experienced!

 

[Schmeck]

They have the zebra domes at Mara? I thought I could only get them at Boma, Jiko, or through very expensive room service!

 

[CarolMN]

Some other options for you to consider (other than Mara):

RFC at AK serves a full service lunch.

Try for one of the last breakfast seatings at Boma. Might be a bit earlier than you usually have lunch, but it worked for us. We ate a light breakfast, did a few things at AK, went to Boma (think our PS was for 10:45 or so, but can't remember) and then returned to AK to finish up. No one wanted/needed to eat until dinner time.

Have fun!

 

[bru_ellman]

We're among the "weird ducks" who don't like staying at Animal Kingdom Lodge (rooms too dark for our tastes and other bug-a-boos including not liking MARA), but love visiting it .

A "must do" for us during every WDW trip is dinner at one of our favorite restaurants--BOMA. Do yourself a favor and schedule your visit to AKL to include BOMA and skip MARA which is serviceable, but not a treat. If your schedule won't allow including BOMA there are much better food choices at AK including the RFC.