Saturday was planned to be a fairly lazy day and at this point of the trip am happy to skip the parks at the weekends when we know it's going to be busier, especially as during the weekday's it's been fairly quiet anyhow.
It's also the night we re-scheduled Sanaa for. It was meant originally to be GF Cafe but that bit the dust in preference to Sanaa.
We had a lazy breakfast of fruit and yoghurt in the room and then started the day with a walk. I'd heard that there was a path from SSR to OKW so I popped over to front desk to check if it was where I thought it was over by the Westside path (it was).
Conversation went something like this:-
Me: Hi! Could you tell me where I'd pick the path up from to walk to OKW?
1st CM: Oh no, there's no path.
Me: Oh. Right. Someone told me there was?
1st CM: Well I guess there might be one by the Treehouse Villas. That would be a very long walk though. Hey X! (hails another passing CM) Do you know if there's a path to OKW?
2nd CM: Well there's a bus or the boat.
1st CM: No, these people say they want to walk.
2nd CM: Oh *insert 'are you crazy?' look* Well that sure would be a long walk (I resist the urge to comment that I'm from the UK and we're actually quite used to walking beyond the house to the car but that would be evil and stuff). The path to Treehouse Villas might take them there?
*pondering looks between the 2 CM's*
2nd CM: Hey X! (hails an older man in a suit who was close by) Do you know if there is a path to OKW? These people would like to walk there.
3rd CM: Sure. Just go to the golf course bridge and turn right.
*some 'ooh so you can walk it' type looks between the first 2 CM's*
FYI it takes all of 25 leisurely minutes to walk between the 2 main Checkin/Hospitality areas
Ok, that might be a long walk for some, but it's certainly not for me.
It's also quite a pleasant walk
and was actually tagged as a Nature Trail though we were walking mid-morning and it was starting to get hot so didn't see anything bar a couple of birds but could easily imagine spotting a few critters popping out at cooler times of the day.
Note: this path is unlit so can't use it after dusk.
OKW came into view and brings back fond memories of previous times we've stayed here and we stroll over to Hospitality House...
...for a drink (well that long old walk was thirsty work you know!) and to take the boat back to DTD.
The Parrots are outside the Rainforest Cafe and are happily chattering to earn treats from their handler as we pass
We wander around a little bit and decide as we're not that hungry and as we've a big meal tonight that we'll can the planned lunch at Raglan Road (boo!) and just grab an Ice Cream Sundae from Ghiridelli's instead (yay!). Do you ever have one of those places you pass and say 'we really must try there someday, perhaps next time' - but somehow never seem to manage 'next time'? Ghiridelli's was that place for us. It was just one of those places that never happened for us - until now...finally
We split a Gold Rush
which is vanilla ice cream, peanut butter sauce, chocolate fudge sauce with some whipped cream on top. Basically it's their version of a No Way Jose from Beaches and Cream which is our sundae of choice. It's also a smaller version which is good if you're not looking to pig out and bad if you are
We enjoyed this and the other half also reported that the coffee was good here too but we still prefer our No Way Jose. Of course that just means that next time we find time to go back we'll have to try something else!
We walked off the sundae by....going all the way next door to their chocolate shop.
We just browsed but didn't buy but fyi in case people don't realise, they do give out free samples here and the freebie chocolate caramel of the day was Pumpkin Spice - basically cinnamon. Didn't really do it for me but I'm a bit of a traditionalist when it come to my chocolate, the basics of dark, milk and white usually keep me more than happy.
We'd not really visited WestSide this trip so we made our way across, it's next to impossible to get the other half past the
Lego Shop though so we stopped there for a browse.
Howdy Partner!
I loved Lego as a kid and judging by the all the excited children filling up their buckets full of bricks, it's as timeless as ever.
We also saw Ridemakers for the first time. I must say, I wasn't particularly impressed, half the floor was physically empty, it was a bit sterile and it seems like I may not be the only one to feel that way as the place was very quiet though to fair, it's low season and we were there in the middle of the day. Maybe it feels more fun and buzzy in the evenings or something. As it was, the most exciting thing there for me were the real cars on show!
We finished our walk through DTD and WestSide and took the alternative path back to our room for a quick dip in the pool and a rest before dinner, then it was off to the Villa's at Animal Kingdom Lodge
and Sanaa for dinner.
Sorry for the poor quality of some of the pictures as the restaurant has very low lighting in it (it's lovely atmosphere, very mellow and relaxed) and I definitely didn't want to upset people enjoying their meal with the flash so I had to muddle through with a low shutter speed as best I could.
I started with a Kande Coconut Cooler cocktail
This is Rum, Coconut, vanilla Ice cream and orange juice - I thought it might just be like a boozy milkshake, hehe, but it just like a regular creamy cocktail. The other half had a Safari Amber beer.
We started with the bread & dip selection.
You get to choose 3 breads and 3 dips from a choice of several. We got the Naan, Onion Kulcha and the Popadum with Cucumber Raita, Mango Chutney & Garlic Pickle.
Then we each went for the sampler, with this option you choose 2 out of a choice of 4 dishes with a further choice of either Basmati or 5 grain pilaf.
I chose (bottom row), Beef Shortribs, 5 grain pilaf and the Lamb Coconut Curry.
The other half chose (top row), Chicken in Red Curry Sauce, Basmati Rice and the Shortribs. (The last remaining choice that neither of us got was Shrimp in Green Curry Sauce).
These were all delicious - the meats were all melt in the mouth tender, but I had a sneaky taste of the Chicken Curry and I think that I preferred that slightly over the Lamb Curry. But really, everything was all around good and even better, the food is more interesting than standard American - and particularly Disney's fare. I think this is definitely somewhere we'll be heading back to on a future trip at some time.
Our server then brought us out some chocolate cake for our Anniversary (awww)
with a hmm - fuzzy memory and I can't find an uptodate menu on the Dis or Allears - I think it was a Strawberry and mint sorbet. It was very light and fresh in contrast to the rich chocolate and the flavours worked together perfectly.
Yay for free desserts...but blast, I was planning on having the dessert sampler for me pudding...what to do, what to do...well, obviously we order the sampler anyhow!
As the Sampler comes with the chocolate cake on, our server offered to swap in the Orange Sesame Seed Cake instead.
This is a really nice way to taste the different desserts as the portions are small and it's also ideal for sharing. On the left was Mango Kulchi (think that's what it was called, I really wish I'd made notes but I didn't realise that this was a new menu and wasn't online yet), which was a sort of Mango Sorbet, middle was the Chai Cream - this was the only one I wasn't keen on as it had Ginger in it which I don't like. It was a sort of spiced cream/custard - the other half gobbled it up though...well not sure gobble is the right word, the cup was the size of a little espresso cup. On the right is the Orange Sesame Seed Cake. This was sort of a madeira type sponge with an orange sauce and sesame seeds drizzled over the top.
The other half also treated himself to an Irish Coffee to wash it down with - if you're pushing the boat out on a meal, may as well go the whole way eh?
I just wanted to add that another thing that was nice about this restaurant is that you don't feel remotely rushed. The courses come out at a reasonable enough pace that you don't feel like it's slow service, but not so fast that you've not had a proper chance to digest your food and let it settle a little before moving on. At the end, at no point did we feel under any pressure to get out the door and we enjoyed picking at the desserts at our own pace.
All in all, an all round positive experience for us and I consider it a notch above the norm - I can see why people compare it favourably with a Signature experience rather than a standard Disney restaurant. A big
One last picture, before we made the trek home on the bus I found possibly one of the most pretty restrooms on property. Newp, nothing is sacred if I have my camera so I whipped it out and took a picture of the loo's
The picture doesn't do it justice really as it was a 360 marble effect but really, these toilets are amazing.
That's all for tonight, more tomorrow - nightnight all
She helps me to feel all excited too and I am with her all day
) - it was totally awesome with the horse clattering along the street, shoes throwing up sparks as he went...a shame that stopped however totally made sense that it did, Health and Safety must have had a field day when they found out!
