Traveling Day & Settling In!
I'm pretty sure I was the happiest, most annoying person at work this day. I had a lot of things I had to accomplish but I was in such a good mood it didn't matter. I knocked out everything I had to get done before I left and was out the door at 3:00PM, just liked I had hoped! As I was walking to my car, I got the text message that the room was ready. I was super happy to see we had actually lucked out with one of the dedicated value studios in a great location for the two of us as we are close to the elevator that goes down to the gym/pool/etc and only have a neighbor on one side! My husband was awesome and got the dogs to the kennel, the car all packed up, and we were ready to leave by 3:20PM! He was driving so I was able to just relax and be super excited on our drive up!
We actually had a great drive up to Disney from Naples. There were no major traffic issues, barely any rain, and we were in a great mood overall.
One Day I Will Visit Dinosaur World
Super Short Rain Storm
Disney Springs Official!
We Made It!!!
At 6:15PM, we made it to Animal Kingdom - Jambo House & pulled up into the front. We got a luggage cart to fill up as we had a lot of stuff. My suitcase, his suitcase, the shoe bag, the computer bag, drinks and snacks for the room, that would just have been a pain to try to lug it all up ourselves. Shaun got the car parked and I went upstairs to take a look at the room.
He arrived at the room and shortly our stuff arrived from the Bellman and we began the tradition of settling into the room. We noticed that the value studios really don't have a ton of storage space for clothes but we were able to get more hangers from housekeeping so we made it worked. I find the ritual of the unpack so relaxing and an official start to vacation!
We still had 2 hours until our ADR time at Jiko and I was full of energy. We decided to go to the gym as I had skipped my run yesterday and we had time to kill. I rocked my run! 2.31 miles at a 12:59 pace which is great for me. We headed back to the room to get cleaned up and ready for dinner.
We arrived shortly before our ADR of 9PM and were quickly seated in the back of the restaurant. Not the best view of the place but we were both starving and didn't really care much. Shaun wasn't really excited for this meal as he questioned why I picked it
It was travel day & you never know how traffic will be and I wanted easy
Our server quickly took our drink ordered and we were greeted by the bread when he came back with our waters. The bread had changed from what we had received during our last visit. I was actually ok with this as it was a nice multigrain bread that worked well with the butter.
Multigrain Bread w/ Vermont Butter & Desert Salt
Our drinks were served. My husband just went with a Diet Coke but I had a glass of sparkling wine called The Ring. It was fruity but crisp.
The Ring
We decided to split an appetizer that I mostly ended up eating. I love duck. I love meat filled rolls like this. This was a home run for me! The flavors were on point for the African taste profile I was wanting.
Crispy Duck "Bobotie" Roll w/ Cucumber Raita & Green Mango Atjar
For the main course, my husband had ordered exactly what I wanted so I did something different. I selected the Harrisa Chicken since I know I'll have a lot of red meat at other places this week. The chicken had a nice kick to it for the spices but that was quickly cooled when you had a bite of the cinnamon couscous. My only complaint was the the skin was soft (which I know was a result of the cooking method) so I just skipped eating that part of the chicken.
Harrisa Chicken - Joyce Farms Roast Chicken, Vegetable Medley, Cinnamon Couscous, & Saffron Broth
My husband really enjoyed his selection. The halibut was super flakey and when mixed with the tomato-butter was delightful! My husband actually pretty much ate all the sauce on the plate which is unusual for him.
Maize-Crusted Halibut - Vegetables of the Moment & Tomato-Butter Sauce
We skipped dessert as we knew our next day was going to be filled with a ton of food between the special events & booths @ EPCOT. When they brought us our bill, the presented us with some coconut macaroons which were a nice touch to end the meal.
Coconut Macaroons
We headed back up to the room where my husband watched the football game & kept making comments about how much he hates Michael Vick. I relaxed and went to bed shortly, ready for whatever the next day was going to bring us!