Our October 2012 Trip - Part II

This morning we hit the food court at Art of Animation. It is called Landscape of Flavors. The online menu makes it sound a lot better than it is. We both had the Bounty Platter. This consists of scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, potato casserole (similar to Bobotie, but not the same) pancakes (which we both opted out of) and biscuits. It was OK but nothing special. After breakfast we were off to Magic Kingdom. We chose to drive but after I got to thinking about it we might have been better off taking the bus or not parking in the handicap area, but parking in the regular area and taking the tram. After stopping to hit the rest rooms and getting our Happy Anniversary buttons we headed back towards the Castle, stopping to have our picture taken, and then on to Haunted Mansion. From there we walked through Fantasyland. You still can’t see a lot over the construction fences but you could see the Beast’s Castle rising up and the construction on the Seven Dwarfs Mine Ride. Parts of Toontown are re-opened and we walked through there. Then it was over to the TTA People Mover, and Carousel of Progress. We stopped by Casey’s and both got a Chicago Dog, with Apple Slices. The Chicago Dog was overflowing with pickles, relish, onions, and banana peppers. I should have picked up knives and forks to eat it with. From there it was over to the Tiki Room and Pirates of the Caribbean, which was closed when we first walked up but they opened it as we were passing by. We then walked through the shops and headed back to the resort to get ready for our dinner at JIKO.


After resting a bit in the room and taking showers we changed clothes and drove over to Animal Kingdom Lodge. Our first stop was Victoria Falls Lounge where Donna enjoyed a Pimm’s and I had I had a Margarita. Soon it was time to go downstairs to JIKO, our favorite restaurant in WDW. We asked if we could be seated at The Cooking Place but were told it was full. We were seated just two tables away from where we were seated last November when we were here, but had a different server, Jalil. Unfortunately I forget where he said he was from. Donna ordered her traditional appetizer Taste of Africa (Trio of dips with assorted breads and house made Naan - $9.00) while I ordered the Grilled Wild Boar Tenderloin (With Mealie Pap, Chakalaka, White Truffle oil and micro Cilantro - $16.00.) With her appetizer Donna had a nice Pinot Noir, which I then was served with my main course, which I will get to in a minute. The wine I had with my appetizer was called The Chocolate Block, a very hearty and rich red wine which went absolutely perfectly with the Wild Boar. For Donna’s main course she ordered Braised Beef Short Rib (With truffled potato puree, pearl onions, baby carrots, and Cabernet tamarind sauce - $41.00). Her wine was a Cabernet Sauvignon. My main course was Seared Barberie Duck Breast (potato and spinach masala, Royal trumpet mushrooms, and port emulsion - $39.00) and the aforementioned Pinot. There was enough Duck on this platter to serve two. We finished off our meal with a pot of Kenyan Pressed Coffee and the restaurant presented us with a lovely dessert consisting of blackberries, raspberries and a slice of cheesecake with a chocolate base. We then retired to our resort.