Episode 28: Dinner at Rainforest Cafe in Animal Kingdom – Walt Disney World – September 2016

We are spending the day at Animal Kingdom and the evening having dinner at Rainforest Cafe!  T-Rex over at Disney Springs has always been one of our favorite locations, so we wanted to give this one a try!

The joys of Animal Kingdom

There are some amazing musicians all over Walt Disney World!  But one of the coolest we have ever seen was at Animal Kingdom… not sure his name or exactly what he was playing, but it appeared to be a giant harp.  We were mesmerized and stayed and watched him for a long time.  Until the kids pulled us away…  They had spotted a box where you would bark into it and your translated thought would come out just like the collar worn by Dug in one of our favorite movies ‘Up’.  It was fun and all of the boys gave it a go.

Gift shops!!!

A day at any park is not complete without a stop in one or two… or ten gift shops…  Well we saved up all of our precious shopping time (wink, wink) and made this our last stop before dinner.  One of the best is the huge store as you enter/exit the park and this is where we found ourselves.  And to Colby’s very excited surprise he found the Yoda plush he had been searching for.  We never thought Animal Kingdom of all places would have such a selection of Star Wars merchandise!  Colby was a happy camper and at the check out, Cameron was excited with the pin trading ‘hive’ by the register.  And the cast member was nice enough to tell us the conservation story that went along with it…  elephants were damaging fences bordering farmland so instead of using man-made means of deterring the elephants, bee hives were set up along the fence lines.  Elephants are afraid of bees so they used nature to protect the fences and farmland and the farmers were also able to collect the honey.  Win Win!

On to dinner…  

This is our first time ever eating at Rainforest Café.  T-Rex at Disney Springs is an annual stop for our family so it has always been chosen over this similar restaurant.  We love that there is not only a Rainforest Café at Disney Springs, but also one right outside of Animal Kingdom.  This was our chosen spot for the night!  You enter from the park through the gift shop which has a lot of fun merchandise and glorious, glorious air conditioning!!!!  It was magnificent!  

We had a 6:00 reservation and were quickly seated and since we were starving ordered almost immediately.  I (Alisa) was craving a good burger after seeing the ones at T-Rex the night before, so it was the Rainforest Burger for me and also for Colby, which was great!  Cameron, always loving seafood, had the Shrimp Platter.  Jason the Primal Steak and Ethan ventured out with the Pastalaya.  All in all a very good meal.  And for dessert…  a Sparkling Volcano, which they brought with candles for the twin’s birthday.

Love the theming!

The animatronics throughout the restaurant are great and they come alive, well they get really lively, about every 20 minutes when a storm hits the rainforest.  Thunder and lightning and the screeching of monkeys… oh yeah, you feel like you are in the jungle!  We walked around and saw that there were more than just monkeys & gorillas around.  There were animals you will find on an African plain as well as in a jungle.  You could see zebras, rhinos and elephants peeking out among the jungle growth.  So with full tummies we decide to call it a night!

On to Magic Kingdom with the last time we will ever see the welcome show…