A Very Dopey Dining Report

[gosalyn_mallard]

Next up was dinner. We had planned to eat at Sanaa this night, but we were feeling lazy and didn't want to make the "long" trek to Kidani. Instead we went to Victoria Falls Lounge in Jambo House and more CL food.

We started with cocktails...
For me: Negroni
Bombay Sapphire Gin, Campari, and Carpano Antica Sweet Vermouth

For DH: Whiskey Breeze
Jim Beam Black Extra-aged Bourbon, Cointreau, and fresh Lime Juice with Flavors of Guava and Mango

The Negroni was super strong and too much for me. I switched with DH. I hate Bourbon, but liked this drink, so I don't think it had much Bourbon in it!

We ordered just 1 food item to share...
Cape Town Slap Chips
Fried Potatoes, Roasted Pearl Onions, Heirloom Tomatoes, Arugula, Apricots, Sherry Vinaigrette, Blue Cheese

We liked this. A lot of good fresh flavors and crispy thick cut potatoes.

It was a nice change of pace eating here and we had fun talking to other folks at the bar.

CL food for dinner...

Watermelon, Tomato, and Feta salad is one of my favorite things on earth! I got a second plate of just that. So fresh and delicious.
The curry pasta salad was also really good.


I think this was a corn pudding with a spicy barbeque chicken. And some sort of stew. Both were good!

Onto the next day...
We ran the half marathon in the morning and missed CL breakfast. At our pre-pandemic AKL CL stays, they had a nice lunch spread with good soups. Sadly, they don't do lunch anymore. So we did quick service at The Mara for lunch.

Braai Chicken Flatbread
Freshly prepared Flatbread with a Sun-dried Tomato Pesto topped with Oak-fired Chicken pieces, Bacon, Red Onion, Mozzarella and Saag Dahl Ranch Drizzle

This was fine, but nothing special.

Tamarind Barbecue Pork Sandwich
Tamarind-seasoned Barbecue Pulled Pork on a Brioche Bun with Kool Slaai (Coleslaw) topping on the side and served with French Fries

DH liked the generous serving of the pork, but thought this was forgettable.

Next up is Boma for dinner.

 

[gosalyn_mallard]

Boma for dinner...
We had an early reservation so the restaurant was only about 25% full, which was nice.

We spotted several salads on the Boma buffet that we had at CL dinner... the cauliflower salad, tabouleh, chickpea salad, curry pasta salad, and couscous. We skipped them since we already had them and focused on eating new stuff!


Lots of good meat! The salmon was my favorite.


Loved the peanut rice. The green beans were nice and spicy. The avocado, papaya, and grapefruit was a little weird.


Loved all of the soups!


More soup! Mmmm.


Dessert... all of these were great!

We were in and out of Boma in 45 minutes. I would totally eat at Boma again if staying at AKL.

Onto the next day...
After the marathon, we hobbled to the Mara for lunch again. We broke one of our rules, and both ordered the same thing!

Signature-blend Bacon Cheeseburger
Signature-blend Ground Beef, Bacon, Cheddar, Berber Spice, Lettuce, Onion, and Tomato on a Brioche Bun served with French Fries

I couldn't really taste any special Berber Spice on this. It was a standard Disney quick service burger. The fries were normal Disney fries too, but gosh, did they taste good after all that running! We ate the burgers in the CL lounge so that we could enjoy beers with our food.

 

[erinch]

Great report!

 

[2xcited2sleep]

Congratulations! A marathon in and of itself is an incredible accomplishment but the Dopey is another level. I'd have to work my way up to the 5K! Oh my, does that potato dish at Victoria Falls look good. Potatoes are my love language. That's one of my favorite resort lounges as well. The flatbread looks good to me too. Your report has convinced me I need to book a weekend at AKL soon!!!

 

[purpliequeen]

Really incredible feat! Great report so far.

 

[gosalyn_mallard]

Congratulations! A marathon in and of itself is an incredible accomplishment but the Dopey is another level. I'd have to work my way up to the 5K! Oh my, does that potato dish at Victoria Falls look good. Potatoes are my love language. That's one of my favorite resort lounges as well. The flatbread looks good to me too. Your report has convinced me I need to book a weekend at AKL soon!!!

Thank you! We definitely felt Dopey. we actually started running 5 years ago just to be able to do RunDisney events and justify more Disney trips!

AKL is so beautiful. Even the gift shop is so incredibly well themed. We visited a few of the different savanna overlooks and were impressed that there was always an animal expert there to answer questions and share fun info.

 

[BroadwayHermione5]

Loving this!

 

[gosalyn_mallard]

We are headed to the airport as I type so I'll try to wrap this up before returning to reality later today.

CL dinner again... after so many days, it was honestly getting pretty repetitive. On the 4th day I think they started to repeat the rotating options, but we didn't want to walk anywhere else.




Butter chicken and tomato soup.


One of those cones was Lemon filled and quite delicious! The berry tart was also pretty good.

And then breakfast CL the next morning...

I cut open the croissant and made an egg, cheese, and salami sandwich - yum!
This may sound silly, but they had the best blueberries! Each one was the perfect firmess. I wondered if they had someone in the back picking out any slightly not firm ones.

Space 220 up next...

 

[gosalyn_mallard]

After breakfast we headed into Epcot and had a Space 220 Lounge ressie. We arrived 1 minute late and I started to panic when I couldn't check-in on the app. Maybe because it's not a Disney-owned restaurant, they don't do check-in through the app?

Anyway, the elevator ride "up" to the restaurant was really cool and I love the themeing inside. The lounge seating is elevated and far away from the windows so we had a nice broad view of outerspace.



We started with cocktails...

CELESTIAL COSMOPOLITAN
Tito's Handmade Vodka, Cointreau, Cranberry-Hibiscus Juice, Moon Dust
and
JUPITER FIZZ
Hendrick's Gin, Aperol, Grapefruit, Mango

I enjoyed the cosmo and felt it was pretty strong. DH said the Fizz was decent.

In the Lounge we had the option of just ordering from the Lounge menu, doing the restaurant $55 set price menu, or mixing and matching. We opted just for the lounge.

Apps...
ASTRO DEVILED EGGS
Free-Range Eggs, Maple Glazed Bacon, Scallion, Pickled Shallots, Micro Cilantro

These were really good! Nice thick pieces of bacon. We liked them as much as the Homecomin ones.

STARRY CALAMARI
Fried Calamari, Italian Cherry Peppers, Spicy Marinara, Roasted Pepper Citrus

This was a disappointment. The fried crust on the calamari was kind of mushy. There were like 3 tiny pieces of cherry peppers. I definitely wouldn't get this again.

Entrées:
CHICKEN ON WAFFLE
Fried Chicken, Smoked Bacon and Roasted Corn Waffle, Spiced Coleslaw, Bourbon Maple Glaze

This was good. Nicely fried chicken. Generous amount of slaw made for good texture. There was a little too much of the glaze for my taste since it made it really sweet.

SHORT RIB SLIDERS
White Cheddar Cheese, Sriracha Aioli, Lettuce, Tomato, Butter Pickles

These may not look like anything special, but we really liked them! Super soft bun and tender meat. Yum.

Overall, we really liked Space 220. I look forward to returning on a future trip with our kids. I think they'd really like the theme. I'd try to get a lounge ADR cause the restaurant prices are so high!

After lunch, we had fun strolling and drinking around the world.

We made it back to AKL for one last CL dinner...

So excited to have that watermelon salad one more time!


The barbeque chicken seemed extra spicy - yummy!


Last CL dessert! They had a new liquor this night - a cognac.

They also had Mickey Bars and Icecream sandwiches, which we couldn't resist!


Last day coming soon!

 

[gosalyn_mallard]

Sunrise view from our balcony this morning...


One last CL breakfast...

Goodbye mimosas x2!




This was the first morning that they had these sticky buns out and OMG. Best thing ever! So flaky, moist, sweet, and crunchy. Where were these the last 6 days!?!?! I had 2 and wanted a third. So, so good. In my mind, AKL was singing "Remember Me" from Coco as I ate these. Or Mufasa was receding into the nighttime sky echoing "remember who you are". Ah! So good. I will always remember these!!!

Goodbye AKL!!!

 

[2xcited2sleep]

I think the lounge is the way to go at Space 220 and love that you can now make reservations there as well. We ate in the restaurant and weren't too thrilled with the food or drinks, although it was in the first few days of operation so maybe they were still figuring things out. The fried chicken and sliders both look great to me! I love watermelon & feta salad too! Thanks for sharing your trip and all of your delicious meals and snacks!

 

[gosalyn_mallard]

One last update since airport food is super exciting...

We always fly Southwest and always eat at Cask & Larder while waiting for our plane.

Beers cause we were technically still on vacation.


Chicken Tenders and hot sauce


Fried Dill Pickles. These were really good.


Shrimp and Grits. Shrimp had a nice charred flavor. Lots of juicy tomatoes and a spicy relish. The grits were thicker than I was expecting but still good. It wasn't the best, nor the worst Shrimp and Grits I've ever had.


That's it! Trip is over and dining report completed. Thanks for following along! It was a lot of fun. It may feel weird tomorrow not taking pictures of everything I eat.

 

[DaisyNY]

Great report...some really good CL offerings!

 

[purpliequeen]

Agreed! Great report. I really miss AKL concerige... OP is tempting me to book a return trip!

 

[LisaRay]

I rarely post but really enjoyed your dining report!! Makes me want to book CL.

 

[foodiddiedoo]

What is offered mid-day at CL right now, nothing? We're traveling for spring break in April and my best friend thinks her daughter might need mid day returns to the hotel and I'm sure she'd want to grab snacks/food while there or put stuff in the room for later.

 

[gosalyn_mallard]

What is offered mid-day at CL right now, nothing? We're traveling for spring break in April and my best friend thinks her daughter might need mid day returns to the hotel and I'm sure she'd want to grab snacks/food while there or put stuff in the room for later.

Sadly, the mid-day offerings were a disappointment compared to pre-covid!
They had a couple different types of chips (lays, sun chips, etc.), trail mix, cookies, maybe fruit and some candy (like Starburst and Jolly ranchers) Plus, the standard drinks that are always out. I think it went from 11-4 ish.

 

[foodiddiedoo]

Sadly, the mid-day offerings were a disappointment compared to pre-covid!
They had a couple different types of chips (lays, sun chips, etc.), trail mix, cookies, maybe fruit and some candy (like Starburst and Jolly ranchers) Plus, the standard drinks that are always out. I think it went from 11-4 ish.

Thanks, that's better than nothing at least.

 

[kastoney]

Congratulations on completing the Dopey! That is a huge accomplishment. Pretty sure I wouldn't survive walking the half let along running it and a marathon.

Staying at AKL looks like a very non-dopey marathon weekend decision. Between all the food options and CL you all certainly got the most out of the resort.

Thanks for sharing!