You Get a Suite! You Get a Suite! Everybody Gets a Suite! December 2023 Trip Report! (RL Update 10/6!!)

[VAtink]

Birthday ideas: Spa day at Grand Floridian or Dolphin or Four Seasons? Special dinner at Bull & Bear (Waldorf Astoria) or Capa (Four Seasons)? Evening safari plus dinner at Jiko - forget what it's called. Tequila tasting at La Cava. Wild Africa Trek? Amphicar ride at Boathouse? If on a weekend, the Goofy & Friends breakfast at Four Seasons? I'm on a Four Seasons kick, it seems. Buy a house in Golden Oak?

Ohhhh, I had not thought of a spa day but I love that idea! I've never been to Bull & Bear nor Capa, so also good options. At some point we do want to stay at the Four Seasons, so it may be cool to eat there to check the place out to see if we really do want to stay there eventually!

And HAAAAA, if I suddenly announce that I bought a house in Golden Oak you will know that I had started playing and miraculously won the lottery!

 

[VAtink]

I have done a Fireworks cruise at Epcot twice, once for my bachelorette party and once for my 5 year anniversary. It is hands down my Favorite splurge at Disney. Cannot beat the view from under the bridge.

I do like the idea, we've done the fireworks cruise from the GF a few times and loved it, and tried to do it out of the YC but it got cancelled due to weather. I'm not sure if I'd have much luck booking though since it's such a short trip, even on our 9-10 day trips we've had issues finding availability, but maybe it would be my lucky birthday week and we'd be able to get one!

 

[2xcited2sleep]

More ideas. The new restaurants over at the Conrad are supposed to be amazing. The "pool bar" - Papaya Club - has some really unique tiki mugs and their rooftop restaurant - Ceiba - is Mexican fine dining. Or I know you like Wine Bar George ... maybe splurge on some of the more rare/exotic pours or their champagne flight?

 

[Wood Nymph]

Ohhhh, I totally forgot about Hoop dee doo! I haven't seen that in like 30 years, that's a great option! I also love the fireworks cruise, but with how short the trip would be I suspect it would be hard to get, but who knows, maybe I'll get lucky!

We did Hoop Dee Doo in February and it was a lot of fun. They make a little fuss over birthday people.

 

[MrsSLF]

I was at WDW last Halloween for my 41st birthday and my daughter and I did a "4 parks-1 day" challenge to celebrate. It was a little crazy but a ton of fun. We also had the stipulation that we needed to have snacks at every park and I was pixie dusted several free treats because it was my birthday (I was definitely wearing my birthday pin). My 40th was a bit of bummer so my 41st definitely made up for that.

ETA: We also recently became APs and I am itching to get back down there for the V.I.Passholder days. My daughter's birthday falls on Memorial Day this year and I am very tempted to go down for a short weekend.

 

[VAtink]

More ideas. The new restaurants over at the Conrad are supposed to be amazing. The "pool bar" - Papaya Club - has some really unique tiki mugs and their rooftop restaurant - Ceiba - is Mexican fine dining. Or I know you like Wine Bar George ... maybe splurge on some of the more rare/exotic pours or their champagne flight?

Ohhhh, other than Wine Bar George I have not heard of any of these places. Need to go look all them up now! Thanks for the suggestions!

 

[VAtink]

We did Hoop Dee Doo in February and it was a lot of fun. They make a little fuss over birthday people.

Oh fun! This is a solid option, I would love to go again, and it sounds fun being there for a birthday!

 

[VAtink]

I was at WDW last Halloween for my 41st birthday and my daughter and I did a "4 parks-1 day" challenge to celebrate. It was a little crazy but a ton of fun. We also had the stipulation that we needed to have snacks at every park and I was pixie dusted several free treats because it was my birthday (I was definitely wearing my birthday pin). My 40th was a bit of bummer so my 41st definitely made up for that.

ETA: We also recently became APs and I am itching to get back down there for the V.I.Passholder days. My daughter's birthday falls on Memorial Day this year and I am very tempted to go down for a short weekend.

Oh fun! Love the 4 parks challenge, it's been a few years since we've done that. That's so awesome you got free treats for your birthday! I need to make sure I wear the birthday pin. A short weekend trip for the passholder days sounds great, especially if it coincides with your daughters birthday, what a fun birthday trip!

 

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Day 4, Part 7: Jiko!​

We had booked a late (for us) dinner at Jiko this evening. Since we knew we had the two-bedroom suite here we decided during the planning stages that after our monorail resort tour we wanted to have a few hours of downtime in the room to watch the animals and just enjoy the space, so our dinner reservation wasn’t until 7:15.

This ended up working out really well. Not only did we have a fantastic relaxing afternoon, but it helped build up our appetite again since we had such a big lunch at Geyser Point.

Around 7:00 we headed downstairs and ended up being seated immediately! We love Jiko, but don’t eat here often since it’s kind of a pain to get to, so being able to just stroll downstairs from our room was a big plus!





Once seated we took a pretty long time to figure out what we wanted. I typically, actually think have always, gotten the steak here, but I wanted to try something different so I ended up going with the berbere seasoned chicken this time around. Mom got the seafood tagine, and dad got the sustainable fish. We also got the wild boar to start. For drinks mom got a glass of chenin blanc and I got a glass of the Pinotage. I started getting the Pinotage in the club level lounge and found I really liked it, so just had to order one with dinner as well!



The wild boar appetizer was phenomenal, I would get this again in a heartbeat.


My chicken.


Dad's Fish


Mom's seafood tagine

The chicken was good, but I definitely prefer the steak here. I thought the chicken would have a stronger berbere flavor, but I didn’t taste it at all. The server also mentioned that it was a super spicy dish, and I didn’t find it spicy at all, so now I’m wondering if maybe they forgot to add the seasoning?

It wasn’t bad, just not as flavorful as I had hoped.

Mom loved her seafood tagine, I had some and the broth it was in was delicious! My dads fish was also really good!

Dinner took a while, we didn’t finish up until after 9, so about two hours, but it was nice being able to take our time and enjoy everything.

After dinner we swung by the club level lounge before heading to the room to pick up some Mickey bars and some wine. We then headed back to the room to enjoy our dessert and wine!

We had an enjoyable evening with our desserts while watching Christmas Vacation before calling it a night!

Next up: Complete Change of Plans!​

 

[Araminta18]

After dinner we swung by the club level lounge before heading to the room to pick up some Mickey bars and some wine. We then headed back to the room to enjoy our dessert and wine!

This sounds awesome. I want a mickey bar now.

 

[jrmint427]

We love Jiko, but don’t eat here often since it’s kind of a pain to get to, so being able to just stroll downstairs from our room was a big plus!

I love Jiko! It is kind of far and not super kid friendly but every meal there has been phenomenal.

 

[suse66]

Around 7:00 we headed downstairs and ended up being seated immediately! We love Jiko, but don’t eat here often since it’s kind of a pain to get to, so being able to just stroll downstairs from our room was a big plus!

Definitely a plus!! We are planning a 3 night resort stay at AK after 4 nights at BRV next March and will dine at Jiko for sure.

The chicken was good, but I definitely prefer the steak here. I thought the chicken would have a stronger berbere flavor, but I didn’t taste it at all. The server also mentioned that it was a super spicy dish, and I didn’t find it spicy at all, so now I’m wondering if maybe they forgot to add the seasoning?

It wasn’t bad, just not as flavorful as I had hoped.

Mom loved her seafood tagine, I had some and the broth it was in was delicious! My dads fish was also really good!

The food all looks fantastic!

After dinner we swung by the club level lounge before heading to the room to pick up some Mickey bars and some wine. We then headed back to the room to enjoy our dessert and wine!

I am hoping our budget allows us to book a CL room. That would be an amazing treat!

 

[SimplyGoofy]

Your dinner at Jiko looks amazing. I haven’t eaten at Jiko since I stayed at AKL in 2012 - I agree it’s somewhat out of the way (plus, Boma has won out for us on the past few trips).

I’m sorry you didn’t love your entree as much as you hoped, but that wild boar looks delicious. Your mom’s meal also looks very tasty.

I’m glad you were able to make such good use of the Club Level lounge!

 

[2xcited2sleep]

Oh, how I love that wild boar. I think it may be my favorite bite on property but agree Jiko takes some effort to get to if not staying there and particularly if relying on Disney transportation. I also enjoy the sustainable fish. And the giraffe bread!! I like that they change the menu up seasonally (while keeping the basics like the boar and filet). Sorry the chicken didn't wow you.

 

[Wood Nymph]

It’s really nice to have dinner in the resort’s restaurant. I have heard nothing but good things about the wild boar appetizer.

 

[VAtink]

This sounds awesome. I want a mickey bar now.

Right? We loved that the AKL lounge had the freezer with the Mickey bars. We grabbed quite a few of them during our stay!

 

[VAtink]

I love Jiko! It is kind of far and not super kid friendly but every meal there has been phenomenal.

Jiko is so good, I feel like it's such a hidden gem, we really love that place!

 

[VAtink]

Definitely a plus!! We are planning a 3 night resort stay at AK after 4 nights at BRV next March and will dine at Jiko for sure.

Yeah, that was super nice to just head downstairs instead of having to deal with Disney transportation or get an uber!

The food all looks fantastic!

It was so good, they do such an amazing job at Jiko!

I am hoping our budget allows us to book a CL room. That would be an amazing treat!

That would be awesome! I'm hoping they release some CL discounts for our upcoming trips so we can switch our non-club stays to club. It'll be hard to go back to non-CL after this trip!

 

[VAtink]

Your dinner at Jiko looks amazing. I haven’t eaten at Jiko since I stayed at AKL in 2012 - I agree it’s somewhat out of the way (plus, Boma has won out for us on the past few trips).

It was so good, we'll definitely keep it in our rotation, but it's hard to make it every trip when there are other places we love that are easier to get to.

I’m sorry you didn’t love your entree as much as you hoped, but that wild boar looks delicious. Your mom’s meal also looks very tasty.

It's ok, the food was still really good, it just was missing the flavor I was expecting. It was still delicious, just one of those things where you expect one thing and get something totally different.

I’m glad you were able to make such good use of the Club Level lounge!

Haha, we were doing our best to make sure we got our moneys worth!

 

[VAtink]

Oh, how I love that wild boar. I think it may be my favorite bite on property but agree Jiko takes some effort to get to if not staying there and particularly if relying on Disney transportation. I also enjoy the sustainable fish. And the giraffe bread!! I like that they change the menu up seasonally (while keeping the basics like the boar and filet). Sorry the chicken didn't wow you.

That wild boar was phenomenal! I will definitely get that again. I'd probably go back to the steak next time we eat there, or maybe the fish my dad got, that was also really good! I didn't realize they changed the menu seasonally, that's so cool, I love when restaurants do that!