Jiko recently reopened a few weeks ago, and we were fortunate to nab a reservation for 5. The unfortunate part was that it was real late at night at around 9 PM. Despite this inconvenience, we were very much looking forward to this dinner because we had heard great things about it prior to its closure. African cuisine is unfamiliar to my palette, so it was quite exciting to see how Disney would present it.
This is our first day of our 2022 Disney World trip and what a rush this day was. Our flight from NYC was delayed by 3 hours, and it was inevitable that we were going to miss our original booking for Sanaa. Fortunately when we arrived very late, the restaurant accommodated us into the lounge. We had reservations much later in the evening for Jiko, so we didn’t want to get too full. Sanaa is located in the Kidani village which is further down the road as you enter the Animal Kingdom Lodge area. There is a convenient shuttle that goes back and forth between the Kidani Village villas and the main Animal Kingdom Lodge.
In 2021, it was by pure coincidence that the week we were going to Disney World happened to also have this International Flower and Garden festival. There are a myriad of flower and grass decorations of some of your favorite Disney characters displayed. It was our first time ever going to a destination with a lot of variety of little tastings scattered throughout. In different sections of the park, Disney has set up little booths that have different themed items, each ranging from $5 to $10. We didn’t drink much, but we’re going to share some of the cool foods we ate.
In terms of unique restaurants in Disney Springs, there aren’t too many. I think this is one of them that was a little different than the normal suburbia / city type of restaurant. This is Spanish influenced and is one of Jose Andres’ restaurants. Having been to his other restaurants like The Bazaar (where molecular gastronomy was a focus) in LA, I had some expectations for this. The restaurant itself is actually very noisy and dances around the line of being trendy and hip. The decor has a lot of colors that pop with a festive vibe.
This is located in the central area of the Hollywood Studios theme park. Having dine in similar restaurants in Los Angeles, this definitely does bring back vibes from there. The restaurant decor has a ton of celebrity facial caricatures hanging on walls with an old 1910s to 1950s like decor. They placed us in our own booth, so they took care of social distancing. This restaurant is definitely not as upscale as some of the other restaurants we’ve been to, but it’s supposed to be regarded as the one to go to in this park.
Oga’s Cantina is a Star Wars themed bar in the Galaxy Edge section of the Hollywood Studios park. It was a little confusing in figuring out where it actually was because there’s no visible sign, so we had to double check the online map on how to get there. The availability for this is insane in that you need to make reservations for this months in advance, in fact it’s advised that when you are eligible to make reservations you should do this first. Due to COVID protocols, there was a lot of social distancing and space between guests and party, but the music and theme inside was still very cool. They played cheesy Star Wars cantina themed music, and even the bartenders would roleplay a little too. We ended up seating at the bar close to the kitchen.
Tiffins is one of those restaurants that to me seems rather unique in general. While most people go straight for the typical French or New American style, I think the African Asian themed ingredients presents quite an interesting take. The restaurant’s decor was actually quite nice and open. During the first week of March when we went, there weren’t many people, so it was nice to dine casually in tranquility.
For dinner, we stopped by the American pavilion. This BBQ restaurant only took orders via mobile. After you placed your mobile order, they will text you when it’s time to pick up your food. Outside there are a bunch of tables, but you can also sit indoors too. Like other COVID menus, the choices were not as abundant. People have shared menus that you can order 3 meats, but the mobile menu only had single meat combos.
Located in the German pavilion at Epcot, this has a bunch of beer on draft and some German snacks. After looking at the original menu on Yelp, it looks like in the COVID temperament the menu is much smaller. When we went, there weren’t that many options, but there was no line. Just mainly a bratwurst with paprika chips or a pretzel. Right outside, there was a fountain with social distanced tables and chairs, and I needed something to pair with my Würzburger Hofbräu pilsner from the Weinkeller shop.
This is located in the Mexican pavilion at Epcot. When you enter the pyramid, there’s a little store to the right next to the fountain. In this COVID environment, there are social distancing lines as you enter here. Unfortunately you can’t sit inside the bar, so you have to buy the drink and sit outside. I do not know if (or how much of) the drinks are pre-mixed, but it was served super fast.