Animal Kingdom Lodge and Park - our FAVORITE eats!

We both LOVE the Animal Kingdom Lodge and Park. We have been lucky enough to stay at the lodge two times, and the park has turned into one of our favorites. We haven't scratched the surface on eating our way through either, but we thought we'd share some of our favorites from both! Join us on the wild side as we walk through some scrumptious food!

Hands down - our favorite restaurant at the Animal Kingdom Lodge is Sanaa. Is it only because of the bread service!?! Maybeeeee -- but man, you can't beat it! The restaurant is beautiful and you have a front row seat to seeing animals at the lodge! Even if you didn't go to a park or stay at the property, you could come here, have some great food and see wild animals!

It's located in the villas section of the lodge, in Kidani Village. If you are staying at the main lodge, you can walk or a shuttle will take you back and forth. Always, ALWAYS - we start with the bread service. You can get the bread service with three of the accompanying sauces, or choose the option where you receive all of them.  DUH. You receive 5 types of Naan ranging from traditional to a variety of flavors, and then the 9 sauces. Some of our favorites are the coriander chutney and the red-pepper hummus! Mouth. Is. Watering.

The rest of the menu is Indian inspired, and everything we've tried has been amazing. The curries, butter chicken, braised beef - you can't go wrong. Definitely put this one on your list!

Another restaurant at the Lodge that we've tried a few times is Boma. We have only eaten there for breakfast, but man is it a feast for your eyes! You definitely will not need much for lunch if you eat here. We refer to it as the "BOMA COMA". Everything is served buffet-style, and the buffet is filled with American classics and African inspired cuisine. If you go - the MUST EAT - is the bread pudding. Y'ALL. It is a Praline French toast bread pudding served with warm caramel praline sauce. Did that get your attention? It's not the most photogenic, but it's down there by the Mickey waffle. YUM!

 

Moving on to Animal Kingdom Park. The last time we visited was our first visit into the land of Pandora! It is such a neat world - and yes, the Flight of Passage ride is one of the most amazing rides ever! We decided to have lunch at the Satu'li Canteen, and it was AMAZING. It is very casual, but all inside, so the perfect way to cool off and sit for a bit. Below is where you order. The lined moved very fast.

We each got something different, so we could taste a little bit of everything. We picked the slow-roasted sliced-beef bowl, the chopped wood-grilled chicken bowl, and the cheeseburger steamed pods - bao buns! Doesn't it all look delicious?! This was our breakfast/lunch that day and filled us up! This may end up being one of our top picks at AK.  So flavorful and soooo yummy!

 

Before we leave Pandora, you may have heard of the Night Blossom Drink located at the Pongu Pongu lounge. They serve a variety of mixed drinks, but most famous for the Night Blossom. It's a colorful, Instagram worthy drink that you can get it with or without alcohol. We chose without. It is SUPER sweet. We split it between three of us, and had enough sugar to last all day! 

Leaving Pandora, we head toward Africa! It's home of one of our favorite snack stands - Harambe Fruit Market!  Here you can get a variety of fruits, an infamous Mickey pretzel, AND a grilled corn-on-the-cob with curry spices. YES, please! The perfect little break between rides and fun!

 

 

Off to Asia -- we find our favorite sit-down restaurant, Yak & Yeti. If you can make reservations, I'd highly recommend. It is the perfect place to cool off...and we've also eaten there after the River of Lights show to not be in the mass exit as the same time as everyone else! It has Asian/Indian flavors as well.

We've started a couple of times with the Ahi Tuna Nachos. This is under the "shareables" section which says meant for two. It definitely could feed four if you are truly eating this as an appetizer. It could make a meal for two of you! We've also tried the chicken tikka masala, the lo-mein shrimp, and the Korean beef. Everything has always been so fresh and delicious! 

We can't end without our favorite sweet-treat. It's located in Dino-World at Dino-Bite Snacks. They service ice cream, pretzels, chips and adult beverages, but our go-to is the ice cream sandwich! Two scoops of your choice of ice cream (you can mix and match) between two warm and delicious chocolate chip cookies! They are HUGE. Definitely shareable, but the perfect way to cool-off on a hot day! There are a few tables located around the corner where you can rest and enjoy!

Hungry, yet? We still have so much to try but hope you have enjoyed a few of our favorites. What should be next on our list at Animal Kingdom?

XO,

A vacation in Montgomery, AL? YES!

A couple of weeks ago, we tagged along with our aunt as she went to a convention in Montgomery, Alabama. Originally, the conference was going to be in Puerto Rico, but they decided to postpone PR hosting for two years. There's really not toooo much competition between Puerto Rico vs Montgomery in vacation destination terms, but as we are always up for an adventure, so we decided to make the most of it. :-)  When you are welcomed with this sunset, it's a good sign for what's to come!

We arrived and parked our car, and did not move it for FOUR DAYS. We were as surprised as you with everything being there at our fingertips. The first night we had a delightful dinner at Wintzel's Oyster House. It is a seafood restaurant that has been a Gulf Coast tradition since the '30's. They recently have expanded throughout the state, so we don't have to wait for beach trips to enjoy! They are famous for their walls being covered in quotes and signs -- and of course, for delicious seafood! In Montgomery, it's located right downtown.

We stayed at the Renaissance Montgomery Hotel & Spa. This is where the conference was, and the hotel had everything you would need. On-site dining, a bar, a SPA (we'll get to that later), and quality Marriott bedding and comfort. It was the perfect home base!

The hotel is located in historic downtown. The downtown area has really grown and started to revitalize with loads of shops, restaurants, and things to do. Montgomery's minor league baseball team's home stadium is a block away, GO BISCUITS!, (unfortunately they were playing out of town when we were there) and you are right on the Alabama River. We walked and explored the area to get our bearings. 

 

 

That afternoon, we decided to take advantage of the spa at the hotel. It was the perfect place to relax and unwind. They are a full-service spa, so all of the relaxing and pampering treats - massages, facials, nails, salon, and more. There is also a roof-top pool which is great for those hot Southern days! When your treatments are complete, they have showers and full supplies/toilietries to get you beautified for your night on the town! It was such a relaxing afternoon for us. One of us, ahem @aushellbell, might have even fallen asleep. MUCH needed.

 

 

That night, we had made reservations at Sa ZA - Serious Italian Food. We had eaten there before so knew it would be a yummy meal! We shared salads and pizza. We were so hungry, I didn't even get a chance to snap a pic of the pizza before it was all eaten up!

So, I guess as a consolation prize of moving from Puerto Rico to Montgomery, luck was on our side and there turned out to be a FIREFIGHTER'S conference also happening at our hotel. Part of the conference was a combat challenge. Think American Ninja Warrior. They had set up an obstacle course right outside the hotel, where we could watch the Southeast's best challenge each other. It was amazing. And not toooo shabby on the eyes.  ;-) After dinner we were able to watch the action live!

The conference our aunt was attending was for Alpha Delta Kappa. It is a international honorary organization of women's educators focused on educational excellence, altruism, and world understanding. It is amazing what they do for their communities and beyond with service and volunteer work. We were able to attend a few events -- the lunch and banquet, and it was a celebration of all of their hard work!

 Some of our favorite ADK ladies!

The next day was an "open morning" before the banquet that night. Our best friend came down to spend the day with us, and we went to lunch at Jalapeno's in the Alley - a Mexican restaurant right across from the hotel. We were trying to decide what to do that afternoon, and we had walked past an Escapaology. I'm not sure if it's all the rave where you are from, but it seems like break out rooms have exploded all around us. They have various themes but in a nutshell, you have one hour to "break-out" of a room using various and very cryptic clues. It's so much fun, and even more fun when you break out. We must have had the right brain mixtures in place as we broke out with 13 minutes to spare! We highly recommend doing one of these if you like games/clues/and fun!

 

After our success, we rested before getting all dolled up for the banquet. Here are all the ladies of ADK from the state of Alabama. Aren't they beautiful?!

 

The banquet was a delight. We had a delicious meal, and the ladies of ADK raised over 27,000 for the YWCA of Puerto Rico! Isn't that incredible!?!  What a great feeling!

 

There was so much more we could've done in Montgomery. We said we want to come back just to do a museum tour. From the newly opened National Memorial for Peace and Justice, to the Rosa Parks Library and Museum, and the Hank Williams Museum. You could spend a weekend just going to museums. And of course, visiting our State's capitol.

Moral of the story is -- get out and explore. There's so much of this beautiful world to see and do, and you'd be surprised to know how much of it is in your own backyard! 

In closing, we'll leave you with the winner's of the Firefighter's Combat Challenge. #wemaymakethisanannualtrip  :-)

XO,