Hindsight is 2020 - A VERY late trip report (NYE and Feb/March cruise) - Updated 8/27-Off the cruise and a VIP Tour!

[Lesley Wake]

Next, you hop on the train and head over to Rafiki’s Planet Watch. We could see some of the Rhinos walking thru their barn from the train.

The next stop takes place just at the station (not at the building), with more food options and some other activities.

First, food (a couple of different food stations here): Tofaa (chocolate caramel-dipped green apples), Charcutamatata (meat and cheese selection with sweety drop peppers and castelvetrano olives), Kachumbari (tomato and citrus salad), trail mix bar (Oats, raisins and chocolate chips). Also a “hot dog cart” which has a Boerie Roll (south African farmer’s style sausage, peppadews, pickled sweet potato-apple slaw), though I got it without toppings.

I went back for several helpings of the chocolate/caramel apples, though I also knew to not overdo it as there were a lot more food options back in Harambe!

To drink, they had the Wanjohi’s Dawa (blend of tequila and pineapple, mango and ancho chili), Chief’s Shandy (tusker lager blended with lemonade), and more beer and wine. If you were a big wine person, you could really try out a lot of them at this event! Also water, lemonade, Kitamu cooler, and iced tea as nonalcoholic options.

For activities, there is a virtual reality experience, where you put on VR goggles and you basically get transported into the center of the lion enclosure on Kilimanjaro Safari. It was pretty fun when you would spin around and suddenly a lion would appear! Very fun!

Afterwards they gave you a swipe of copper paint (either forehead of wrist); like Simba in the beginning of Lion King.

Rafiki and Timon are also hanging out at the station. Absolutely no wait for them and we both got to have some great experiences. Rafiki tried to steal Baby Yoda though!

Also it was fun watching them goof around when no one was meeting with them!

After we ate what we wanted and did all the activities, we headed back on the train, with a goodbye from our buddies!

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[Lesley Wake]

Back in Harambe, it was pretty hopping with a live band (despite the rain coming down)

For food, we had plenty of options, with 5 different stations, each themed for a different Big 5 animal.

For Cape Buffalo, the flavors “are gathered from across the continent of Africa, representing the vast range the cape buffalo roam”. There was Cape Malay Shrimp Curry (with sustainable shrimp, cape malay green coconut curry, basmati rice), Spiced Chickpea fritter (pickled vegetables, cumin-garlic yogurt sauce), African fruit fool.

For Lion, the focus was on meat, as the lion is carnivorous. Hanger Steak (herb-infused mealie, chakalaka, red wine sauce), Tandoori-marinated chicken (fingerling potatoes, kool slaai, mango sambal), Chicken tenders.

For the Leopard, flavors of fish and meat, as leopards swim and hunt. Sustainable fish (coriander-fennel slaw, dhania chutney), Grilled lamb (goat cheese polenta, roasted garlic sauce), corndog.

For the Elephant, a focus on honey to represent the Elephants and Bees Conservation Project. Smoked, Honey-glazed pork belly (white bean puree, caramelized apple-bacon chutney, curry-apple gastrique), grilled sweet corn (citrus aioli, chili-lime spice, farmer’s cheese), barbequed ribs.

For the Rhino, vegetarian selections. Vegetable curry (roasted seasonal vegetables over basmati rice), Potato and pea samosa (pickled vegetables, tamarind dipping sauce), macaroni and cheese, vegan bunny chow.

Some food I ended up getting – the Cape Malay Shrimp Curry, Hanger steak. Then the Honey pork belly, mac and cheese, corn dog, lamb. All was delicious but the Lamb was my favorite (I probably got more than one of the lamb just didn’t take photos)! Also the mac and cheese was great. These were all such superb dishes they belong at restaurants like Sanaa or Jiko! I hope they bring this event back eventually.

I don’t have a photo of any drinks, but checking some other reviews, looks like they had a coffee liqueur drink, a sangria, and a Safari Sunset (blend of rums and the fresh flavors of passion fruit, strawberry, orange and guava topped with a mint sprig). Based on my tastes, I probably had the Safari Sunset.

For dessert, some great options, though I forgot to take a photo of the table. These are the Honey Caramel Candy Bars, S’more lion pop, S’mores macaroon, and chocolate covered strawberry. They also had some other options but I was just too stuffed!

A station was at the side where you made your own necklace. You picked an animal and then some colored beads which represented certain traits.

Baby Yoda models mine, which has Gold (royalty, wealth, spiritual purity), Purple (earth, healing, feminity), Blue (peace, harmony, love), and Red (blood, strong political and spiritual feelings). Complete with a Leopard charm. I don’t think I chose based on actual color representations, more just what I liked, lol!

Throughout the event the band played and people danced (including some who may have partook in the all-you-can-drink a bit much). Too bad it was rainy, but it looked like fun!

Overall, this was a great event! I’ve mentioned before but I hope they bring it back. Amazing food, great atmosphere, fun activities. It was pricy, at $125, but if you drink a lot it would be very worthwhile. (Zach and I don’t drink that much, but I still didn’t feel like I overpaid.)

Leaving, some gorgeous empty park shots! Also we noticed some sound effects in Africa, which you normally can’t hear due to all the people (things like people working or living in the apartments above Tusker House).

Zach dropped me at Kidani and then I crashed for the night.

Coming up: some more food experiences​

 

[StarWarsMomofGirls!]

I am suprised that doesn't happen more often...

How cute is this kid in front of us!

Love it!

I skipped Summit Plummet as I’m too much of a chicken!

Summit Plummet is no joke!!!

 

[Hubie]

Down to Jingle Cruise (105 min standby). This was the fastpass I had switched around after we had a great cruise a couple of days earlier. This time it was just fine…

It was a hot day, so gotta get that Mickey Bar!

And final Fastpass at Splash Mountain. Standby wait time 180 min, but they had actually shut off the standby line since the FP one got sooo long! Like it wrapped around every taped marker on the ground, went back and forth a couple times over the bridge towards Pecos Bill! I think it ended up being over a 45 minute fastpass line!

The crowds were just insane, with extended lines just to go back and forth to Tom Sawyer Island!

So I was outta there! There was no FP availability and every line was just ridiculous, no thanks!​

[/QUOE]

Following along. We were there from 1/12- 1/25. We stayed at the RR in 1 BR. Villa and loved it and our dinner at Topolino's. But the crowds were still too heavy for me, especially in MK.

 

[disneyAndi14]

Hi Lesley,
I am loving your report and all the wonderful pictures with baby, so fun!
The progressive dinner at AK looks lovely, I do hope it comes back. I would love this.
When are you heading back to WDW? It would be fun to see you again!

 

[missangelalexis]

Sounds like such a fun event!!

 

[GDubDIS]

That event looks like SO much fun, and a great example of something I would never know about if it wasn't for the Dis. I really hope this is something they bring back - I agree that $125 really is not a bad deal for the nice experience, good food, and open bar with fun drinks. Glad you squeezed it in right before Covid!

 

[Lesley Wake]

Hi Lesley,
I am loving your report and all the wonderful pictures with baby, so fun!
The progressive dinner at AK looks lovely, I do hope it comes back. I would love this.
When are you heading back to WDW? It would be fun to see you again!

Thanks! The dinner was fun - I'm sure you guys would love it so hopefully it will be brought back!

I'm actually doing a short trip in 2 weeks in order to see HEA! And then a week trip in December for Christmas stuff.

Sounds like such a fun event!!

It was! Sophisticated but still Disney!

That event looks like SO much fun, and a great example of something I would never know about if it wasn't for the Dis. I really hope this is something they bring back - I agree that $125 really is not a bad deal for the nice experience, good food, and open bar with fun drinks. Glad you squeezed it in right before Covid!

I think I heard about it on distwitter but it was reading someone else's trip report here that convinced me to go ahead and do it!

 

[Lesley Wake]

Day 5, Thursday, February 27, 2020

Part 1 – 1900 Park Fare breakfast and Animal Kingdom carvings

It was getting chillier, even during the day, so I pulled out my retro-Mickey Mouse Club jacket.

This is another example of awkward timing. On Wednesday my FPs were at MK but I went to the dinner event at AK. Today my FPs were at AK, but my day started at the Grand Floridian!

Breakfast at 1900 Park Fare. I had wanted to try this for a while and it never worked out timewise, but I believe I grabbed this ADR not too long before my trip.

Some food items. Gotta love that bread pudding and the strawberry soup!

All of the characters loved Baby Yoda, and it was great!

Mary Poppins actually just decided to chill out at my table for a bit! And I love that she’s holding Baby’s hand during the photo!

Winnie the Pooh gave him a hug, and then posed while he was sitting at the table.

The Mad Hatter loved this idea I had!

Hide and Seek, Round ? (I lost track…) Though these aren’t too hard!

Solution

I appreciated our shadows!

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[Lesley Wake]

And over to Animal Kingdom.

These didn’t come in Baby’s size.

Sounds weird, but I ended up going in It’s Tough to be a Bug. This was my first time seeing the show in AK (I’ve seen it in DCA plenty of times before it closed).

But I didn’t go for the show – I really just wanted to see the Tree of Life carvings, especially the dinosaurs at the base.

Time for the show. None of the bugs flew off with Baby at least!

Love the murals that show up on the gates.

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[Lesley Wake]

Into Pandora

I appreciated the spitting crustaceans

Typical first fastpass, Flight of Passage.

Hide and Seek, again!

Solution

Up to Africa. I didn’t do the Lion King scavenger hunt but I recognized a couple of statues.

Second fastpass, Kilimanjaro Safaris.

Animal Spam

And then, baby Zebra! So cute! We even got to see him/her nursing from momma!

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[Lesley Wake]

More animals and scenery

I think they put up the more solid netting when there are baby animals so they know where certain barriers are.

The cheetah was sitting up, but pretty well camouflaged.

Lion enclosure was empty

But there were warthogs, ostriches, rhinos, and oryx.

Coming up: Animal trails and dinner​

 

[StarWarsMomofGirls!]

All the characters at 1900 Park Fare looked like they had a good time with you and baby yoda. I feel like that helps with the interaction with them.

Is Bug's Life open yet? I kind of like it.. It's not a must do but I don't hate it... you know?

 

[Lesley Wake]

All the characters at 1900 Park Fare looked like they had a good time with you and baby yoda. I feel like that helps with the interaction with them.

Is Bug's Life open yet? I kind of like it.. It's not a must do but I don't hate it... you know?

Yeah I think it is! It always seems like a nice cool-down spot for me. I think this time I did some finagling with FPs so I could use that line as the standby was actually super long!

 

[Lesley Wake]

Part 2 – Baby Douglas and Takumi Tei

Over to Gorilla Falls trail.

In the Columbus Monkey area I got an awesome experience watching Baby Douglas!

I think he was only a few weeks old and his momma brought him right over to the side of the enclosure I was standing and chatting with the CM.

His older sister also came over and decided to cuddle him, which he wasn’t too happy about. But mom took the opportunity to get some food without him hanging on.

Eventually she came back over and took him back. (The CM did radio the keepers backstage to let them know they may need to intervene by calling back in mom or sister backstage.)

It was just so cool and he was so cute!

The solitary male hippo was also out of the water and having some lunch.

And I got to spy on the older baby zebras (maybe they count as teens now?)

Some gorilla shots from the glass observation area.

But the best part was in the open air area, one of the boy gorillas was climbing a tree! He was just ok with it and eventually fell out but I don’t think I’ve really seen them climbing before.

Grace also was visible up on the crest of the hill, though her momma moved along and she hung on for the ride!

Always a great time along the animal trails!​

 

[Lesley Wake]

Some photopass stops

And last fastpass at Everest.

Animal Kingdom is always my favorite park!

After chilling and getting cleaned up in my room for a bit, I was off to my dinner destination, but I decided to dress up slightly for it! (And yes, I also brought the jean jacket as it was getting a bit chilly; I also decided to just Uber to Beach Club so I wouldn't have to a) wait for a bus, and b) not have to walk all the way through the park)

Photopass in Epcot.

I had time so decided to check out the Beauty and the Beast sing along. I did like the costumes and displays in the lobby.

But that was about all. This actual show was sooo bad! I mean, it was just not worthwhile at all. I almost walked out of the theatre! It could be a fun sing-along if done properly, but definitely was not done well and also they removed a great show of Impressions de France. I don’t remember if they were still showing Impressions later in the evening, but it really was annoying. I don’t plan on ever going back to see the BatB sing along.

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[Lesley Wake]

But onto better things, dinner. Zach was actually meeting me for this one and I made him dress nicely (though there were people dressed in typical park gear). We were getting to try Takumi-Tei.

It really is a lovely atmosphere. So peaceful and they spent a lot of money on the decorations inside.

I ended up getting the Omakase Tasting Menu. Zach got an individual appetizer and entrée, I believe.

Otoshi, Imagined daily by the chefs of Takumi-Tei. Looks like some sort of beef on seaweed?

Temari Sushi. Chef-selected assortment of oceanic delicacies. The little sushi balls were pretty cute (though I requested no sea urchin and they had no problem adding an extra salmon instead).

My appetizer - Nikomi Wagyu. Roasted bone marrow, braised wagyu shortrib, yuzu kosho, wasabi shiso bavaroise, warishita. Oh so good! This was so rich and so much food! I could see it being an actual entrée (especially if it was actually in Japan, not America where we have such big portions).

Looks like Zach got Hama no Kani. Ponzu crab, toasted crab, heirloom tomato, watermelon radish tsukemono, leek gel, sesame pollen, plum wine. I think he really liked this too.

Hashiyasume. Palate cleansing course. Ginger shaved ice. Definitely refreshing, though also very strong.

My entrée - Wagyu Tabekurabe. Japanese A-5 Wagyu strip steak paired with American wagyu strip steak, roast cippolini onion, curried potato, seasonal mushroom, fresh grated wasabi, yuzu kosho, arima sansho pepper reduction. This was an experience. Both steaks were very tender and delicate. I know you are supposed to say you prefer the Japanese steak, but I think for my tastes, I preferred the American steak. The Japanese steak had a bit too much fat, which I know helps to make it tender, but I just prefer less of it, though I do have to admit it was well-marbelized

I don’t have photos of Zach’s steak, but I know he got one of the expensive ones (though the cheapest steak dish is $85 so they are all expensive in my eyes), and while he said it was delicious, wasn’t sure if he would say the price was worth it.

Shizuku. Water cake, yuzu crumble, black grape, blackberry sake. Nice, I did like the crumble and the sauce. Water cake is pretty much a vehicle for whatever toppings you have with it. I think I shared this with Zach though.

Tea ceremony. Traditional ceremony featuring Matcha Green Tea. I actually don’t really like green tea, but I did participate in the ceremony, including sipping the tea, for show. It was a cool ceremony to see though and I think our servers were pleased to share it with us.

Some decorations inside. I love how each “room” is themed to a different element: water, wood, stone, paper, (and I forgot the last one); We ate in the Wood room.

At the end of the meal they gave me a little gift. I think these are colored pressed sugars? I just know they remain in the sealed bottle because it’s so cute!

A very expensive meal, but also very lovely! It’s definitely a splurge type of dinner, but I wouldn’t be opposed to going again one day!

Zach graciously drove me back to Kidani and it certainly was getting chillier and chillier!

Coming up – Orlando Informer Meetup!​

 

[Lesley Wake]

Day 6 – Friday, February 28, 2020

Part 1 – Over to the “dark” side of town for Mardi Gras!

Most of today was pretty low-key. I think I had some FPs set up but I never ended up using them. Instead I let myself sleep in, then got up to start packing up everything as I was leaving on the cruise in the morning!

Of course I did enjoy my animal views

For lunch I stopped down at Sanaa and got the bread service, but with all 5 breads being regular Naan. I’m nothing if not predictable. (I also ate at the bar rather than sit at a table.) I think I ended up taking 2 of the breads back to the room, where I did eat them the next morning.

Around 4pm I headed out for my evening plans – heading to the dark side!

Today was the Orlando Informer meetup! I’ve done these once before (and have since bought tickets for the upcoming one in December), so was psyched when they announced the spring dates and I would already be in town for the cruise! If you haven’t heard about this – it’s basically Disney After Hours but on steroids. Both parks, pretty much every ride with minimal to no wait, and includes unlimited food! Also it’s 5 hrs long, which is pretty cool!

Gotta show Baby Yoda the other side of town (though he got a bit shy so spent most of the event in my backpack).

You can get into the park 2 hrs before the start, so I started at the Studios.

The event also started coming with a food card, so you get one quick-service meal during normal park operations (the food usually waits until 1 hr, so they can clear the day guests, but means you can get pretty hungry by that time). I used my food at the Italian place in the Studios park and got spaghetti and meatballs. I would have considered using it at the Leaky Cauldron (since their fish and chips are great), but that always has a long line.

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[Lesley Wake]

Oh and this was during their mardi gras celebration, so I stuck around to see the parade! I discovered the best place to watch these parades is right in front of a planter. So when they throw beads over your head, sometimes they get caught up in the plants and you make out like a bandit!

So, parade spam! I filmed the whole thing, but please excuse how bumpy it is – I was grabbing necklaces too! (I created some gifs below with the float photos)

Opening dancers. They also had a series of “cop” motorcycles doing figure-8’s.

Opening float – it was interesting how they were all towed by trucks.

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[Lesley Wake]

Stilt dancers were pretty talented!

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