food IS a theme park
Tucked away at Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge — Kidani Village is one of our favorite hidden gem restaurants.
Bread Service at Sanaa
Sanaa is a table service spot that’s situated on the edge of the savanna, so the windows offer a stunning view of the animals during the daytime. It’s not usually hard to get a reservation here, but the food is usually pretty great. I recently stopped by for a little bit of quality control testing, so let’s do a full, updated restaurant review — come along with me!
If we’ve learned anything from dining at every restaurant in Disney World, it’s that the food experience varies wildly from place to place!
Landscape of Flavors
Not every restaurant in the parks, resorts, and Disney Springs is going to knock your socks off, but not all of them are bad either (in fact, some are pretty outstanding!). You may expect that if you’re staying at one of Disney World’s Value Resorts that you’ll end up with “bad” food at your hotel. But is that really the case? Recently we stopped by one of the food court-style restaurants to do a full review and find out!
We are back with the final installment in our popular series sharing our picks for the Top Value Restaurants when it comes to using your Disney Dining Plan in Walt Disney World.
Previously, we shared our recommendations for the Recommended Disney Dining Plan Two-Credit Restaurants as well as our choices for Recommended Disney Dining Plan One-Credit Restaurant Values.
Today, we’re sharing our recommendations for Quick Service Restaurants when you’re using the Disney Dining Plan.
Remember — the name of the game here is finding the restaurants that hit the right balance: they have 1) a high average entree price, but they’re also 2) spots that we here at DFB would recommend.
Why is this important? Because we want to help you maximize those Disney Dining Plan Quick Service Credits. Note that we have plenty of our own favorites that don’t make this list because the average price didn’t put them at the top.
Here are our picks for the restaurants that give you the best overall bang for your Disney Dining Plan buck when it comes to quick service credit spots.
has been around forever, it seems. But one thing doesn’t change — even after all of these years, it still represents amazing quality and value, whether you’re dining on the DDP or not.
Wolfgang Puck Express Roast Chicken — One of My All-Time Favorites
That’s because the food here is easily on par with many table service spots. And when you consider that the average price of an entree here is just over $13, it also makes a lot of sense to spend your DDP credits here. [Read more…]
Today, we are taking in lunch at one of Disney’s newer counter service locations, Landscape of Flavors at the Art of Animation Resort.
Landscape of Flavors took Walt Disney World by storm when it opened a couple of years ago. It was similar to other value resort counter service spots and food courts, in that it offered quick service food from various stations. But right from the start, Landscape of Flavors offered fresh flavors and customizable options that set it apart.
And with it, there came a bit of a wait.
Today, we’re heading back to see what is the same, what has changed, and if the wait times for food that we feared have come to pass.
Let’s head in!
One of the most interesting things about Landscape of Flavors is its entrance. You actually access the restaurant through the Ink and Paint Gift Shop.
You Shop Your Way Through the Ink and Paint Shop to Get to Landscape of Flavors
Go past the wares, and here you are!
Landscape of Flavors Sign
Seating is ample, to say the least. More than 500 spots await you once you receive your food, and there are more tables and chairs outside.
Seating
The beautiful lights overhead are painted to represent scenes from each of the four films highlighted at the resort: Finding Nemo, Cars, Lion King, and The Little Mermaid.
Overhead Lights
I know that was a pretty quick tour of the surroundings, but I promise you there’s a lot to look at in the ordering area! So let’s get to it.
Like many other Disney food court-type counter service spots (think Everything Pop or Sunshine Seasons), Landscape of Flavors offers different stations for different types of food. The difference here is that the options have an international flair that’s a little more interesting than some other spots.
But don’t worry; there are flavors to appeal to picky and discriminating eaters alike.
During breakfast, stations change up with morning meal options. Today, we’re taking a look at a few of the stations you’ll find for lunch and dinner. I was visiting for lunch at the time.
The name of the game here is customization! Nearly everything can be made according to what you like. You can order a custom salad from the Salad Station.
Salad Station
I absolutely love their Create Your Own Pasta Station! I had one of my favorite meals here on a recent trip.
Create Your Own Pasta Station
I also snapped a picture of the [Read more…]
Found at Disney World’s Animal Kingdom Lodge, Sanaa is a full-service restaurant offering fantastic meals with Indian and African influences.
From the floor-to-ceiling windows of the restaurant, guests have a fantastic view of the safari animals on the Sunset Savanna, meaning you’ll have a stellar show of zebra, giraffe, African birds, and several other breathtaking animals.
And while the animal viewing is a great draw for Sanaa’s guests, the interesting menu, food quality, and great service will surely bring them back time and time again. And the new test-phase of the Dine with an Animal Specialist program is surely going to bring plenty of folks to Sanaa!
Sanaa is located in Kidani Village, which is the Disney Vacation Club Villas section of Animal Kingdom Lodge. It sits next door to Jambo House, the main and original part of the Lodge.
Outside of Sanaa
A major complaint about Sanaa is its distance from the parks and other resort hotels in Disney World — you will have to use a Disney Transport bus, your own car, or a taxi to get here — but with all of the great [Read more…]
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