Just like 2021 at Epcot, they had this lovely Flower and Garden Festival. Unfortunately this time around, I was simply too full to eat around. I had enough room to maybe try a snack or two but that’s about it. I noticed that the indoor area between the British and Canadian pavilion was not open, so it felt like there were just a few less options.

Unlike 2021, it felt like there were significant more crowds as a whole everywhere. It wasn’t uncomfortable, but it did make it annoying to have to wait for some things.

We entered Epcot around 10 AM on this Friday from the north end of the park, and we had to walk all the way down to the France pavilion to try and ride Remy. The unfortunate part when we got there was that the wait time had already exceeded 90 minutes. I checked my Disney World app, and low and behold, we could do lighting passes for $11 per person. That felt worthwhile to do and not bake under the sun. Right next door was this crepe restaurant that had no one inside, so we thought we’d grab some brunch.

In our last year’s trip, we ate at Topolino which was pretty good. I had similar expectations for this restaurant because the menu looked even more exciting. The whole game plan here was to go for the prix fixe menu. We typically enjoy these types of menus because it helped us think less and just enjoy the experience. The entire menu, ingredient wise, seemed very accessible and still fit along the lines of Spanish style flavors.

Mobile orders are probably some of the best “features” that Disney World has to offer. Being able to order something while you’re walking towards the area is super convenient. Hopefully one day, every Disney World fast food area will support it. This one was near the Avatar river boat ride and was a quick stop for us. The food on the menu looked pretty decent, so let’s see how it went.

Boma is the last African centric restaurant that we’ve made reservations for on this trip. It sits across from Jiko on the first floor of the Animal Kingdom Lodge. Around dinner time, this area was quite busy and seemed to have a lot of people. I didn’t have much expectations at all since it was just a buffet, but it was interesting to see how they laid the food outside and let people get what they want instead of being served.

When I first tried to make my reservations more than 60 days ago, this restaurant had no availability. Fortunately through my shameless Touring Blog subscription, it notified me there was a spot open just 2 days before my trip! I was excited about this reservation for 2 reasons: the price seemed very affordable, and I always enjoy a decent prime rib. This has to be good, especially for a new Disney resort restaurant, right?

This place in Galaxy Edge is close to the area where the Rise of the Resistance ride is located. We actually waited the full 2+ hours for the ride at around 10 AM, so coming out of it we were hungry. We walked all the way over to the 50s Diner, but our walk in time had passed. Fortunately, this place accepted mobile orders for lunch, and the availability window was pretty fast. By the time we walked from the diner to here, the food was already ready for all 5 of us.

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.

One of our traditions that will be coming back soon is eating out on Fridays after work. We’ve been exploring the heart of midtown area and trying to walk into restaurants without reservations. We tried to go to one of the Cuban restaurants, but unfortunately they required a 40 minute wait. This restaurant wasn’t too far away, but they did have prime rib on the menu. When we arrived, it seems there was some show going on, but we were able to sit at a small table in the bar area.