We are going to Disney this August, staying at GF; 3 nights 4 days. We have dinner reservations at Sanaa one of the nights and I had planned on just spending that day in AK & AKL because it’s the longest to get to-do it all in one swoop. I was just there in March and don’t need to do AK during the day. Now that AK has majorly extended their hours and all that jazz, I am trying to figure out the best option for us. I am not well versed on the new AK night shows, when they are, what they are, if AK at night is worth it, etc. so if someone can provide that it would be helpful! This is what I have come up with:
Option 1. Late dinner, 8:45pm…get to AK late afternoon, do KRR, dusk KS (sun sets a little before 8pm, so I would like to ride at 7:20) and EE, change out of smelly/sweaty/wet clothes and head to Kidani Village for 8:45 dinner. The problem with this is a. smelly/sweaty b. having to rush for dinner and c. missing some of the night/light shows
Option 2. Early dinner at Sanaa; around 5pm then go to AK after and do all the above rides, Harambe Parti, etc. the problem with this is a. full dinner before rides (would probably do EE last so the food settles) and b. will miss Flights of Wonder as I believe the last show is at 4:30
Option 3. Not pair AK touring and Sanaa the same day. The problem with this is a. Neither of us will want to go back and forth to AK area twice b. We have limited time
Option 4. Cancel Dinner and just eat at AK, but I find Sanaa to be delicious and the Bread Service is awesome
I would eat at Tiffin’s in the park, which has just opened and was amazing for us. I used to really enjoy Sanaa, but Tiffin’s is way better plus in the park so no need to plan out transportation.
I’d probably go with Option 4 & try out Tiffin’s since it’s a brand new Signature restaurant in AK proper. New experience and slightly more convenient as you don’t have to shuttle to/from AKL to do it. Reviews have been very good so it’s likely worth checking out, although as a signature, it’s not cheap…
Tiffins would be my first choice, but if it’s not in your budget or you really want to eat at Sanaa, I would go as early as possible so you can see the animals, and then go to AK for the evening.
Tiffins is within our budget, I just want to make sure the food is good and not just “Disney good” if you get what I am saying.
If we do Tiffins, what is a good dinner time? Our AK must sees are: animal treks, KRR, Safari at dusk, EE at night, possibly Flights of Wonder. So I am guessing we would do rides–>dinner–>rides
The trails all close at sunset, so you’ll probably want to do those early, along with FoW. It will be close to 9:00 before it’s “full dark”, so EE will have to be near the end of the day; I’ve heard people say that the line is shorter during the JB shows.
I just got back from my trip and I’ve been to both Sanaa and Tiffins in the past week. I’m from the Chicago area with access to some very good restaurants so I totally get what you’re saying about “Disney good”.
In both cases, we had an earlier dinner reservation (ie, between 5-6 pm). Our FPP were a little different though for Sanaa, since we had to allocate time to/from the park. We did not come back to AK after our Sanaa dinner, so all our FPP on the Sanaa dinner night were before dinner.
For the Tiffins dinner night, we did EE and the kids did KRR before dinner, and we had a 7:20 pm FPP for the safari. This worked out perfectly for us; once the safari was done we headed to the show for seating.
For Tiffins, we booked a dinner package that gave us a hard ticket to the JB show. it was $67/pp. For this price, you get your ticket to dining package seating (not FPP seating), a soft drink, tea or coffee; an appetizer; entree; and dessert. The entrance to dining package seating is by Nemo. We had a 5 pm dinner reservation.
The food at Tiffins was very good. It’s different from Sanaa, in that it’s more about grilled and roasted meats whereas Sanaa has more baked/stewed Indian food like dal, butter chicken, braised beef, in addition to meat-heavier selections like tandoori chicken or the sample plate. At Tiffins, one person in our party had the wagyu beef, another had the chicken and I had the lamb chops. Tiffins has a bread service, but it’s different from Sanaa’s. There are more crispy breads in the Tiffins version, less naan, and only 4 dips.
How long were you at Tiffin’s? When we were there during opening weekend it took 2.5 hours for the package and not only did we miss our KS FPP, but we were so late to the show that there was only 1 row left. I am hoping they have gotten faster since that weekend? We LOVED the food though, and the ambience. I could have sworn we were not in a theme park. It is a great addition to AK, that is for sure! Loved the lounge too.
We were probably at Tiffins for about 2 hours. I moved the reservation up to 4:55 pm from 6 pm because I remember @JustKeepSmiling saying that you all barely made it.
They seated us right away, and we did take our time ordering our courses because we knew we had the time. We were out of there in enough time to be prompt to our 7:20 FPP for the safari.
Unfortunately there was lightning in the area so they postponed, and then canceled, the early JB show. The CMs said our tickets would be good for the late show that night, or any other JB show for the next five days.And they told us to return to the dining pass line, not the FPP line. We came back the next day, and went to the dining package area at 8 pm. The CMs let us in right away, so we sat around for an hour.
Before the cancellation, the CMs had originally recommended arriving between 8:30 and 8:45. I would recommend getting there a bit earlier than that, like 8:15. I’m not sure if the next day’s early show was fuller than usual, given the cancellation the night before. But around 8:15 it started filling up. By 8:45 I think anyone that had planned to arrive for the show was there and the section was almost full, though there was still room for a few more people.
Thank you all again! We have changed the reservation to Tiffins. I also changed the post subject.
Now we are deciding what time is best…the reservation is currently at 5:40pm, so far everyone who has responded that they dined at Tiffins is saying 2+ hours, do you think it will decrease as they get more in the swing of things? In an ideal world I would like to be at KS at 7:20-7:30. The other early option was 4:55pm.
Going with the plan: FoW, KRR, a trek then dinner, KS, EE