After our Tree of Life photoshoot, we decided we could use something warm – so we headed over to Flame Tree BBQ. We made a new friend while we were sitting there – even though we refused to share our fries with him. Birds freak me out a bit, so this was terrifying to me haha –
After warming up with our coffee and hot chocolate, we made our way over to Africa for our third Fastpass of the day – Kilimanjaro Safaris! Enjoy my obligatory multitude of safari pictures – it’s basically a must-do in any trip report, right?
After our bumpy ride through Africa, we decided to check out the Gorilla Falls walking trail.
Luke is a big fan of the naked mole rats haha – mainly because of the clip from Brooklyn Nine-Nine posted below –
I really enjoy the walking trails at Animal Kingdom. It’s a great, leisurely way to see more animals up close. The park was also crazy busy – it was one of the busiest times of the year at Disney so it wasn’t a huge surprise to us – but the walking trail was a great way to get away from shoulder to shoulder people for a bit while checking out some more animals.
Earlier in the day, we had saw a Timon meet-and-greet but the line was really long. We had checked the times and knew he was currently on a break, but would be coming out soon so we headed over and got into the very short line. We didn’t have much of a wait at all before it was our turn. I love the joy on Luke’s face when he realized we were next (and also the point he realized the Photopass photographer was facing us – but he didn’t bother telling me to pose….)
We had nowhere in particular to be; we had already used our three Fastpasses for the day, and we had grabbed a fourth one for Rivers of Light for that night. So we began just wandering around the busy park, and stopping at any Photopass photographer we saw that didn’t have too long of a line.
I think Luke was trying to tickle me – and I was believe I was punching him. True love, am I right?
I’m including this one because it makes me laugh – I think the photopass photographer might need a bit more training since we were clearly standing still here hahaha
We eventually found ourselves in Dinoland, and found a Photopass photographer with more props!
We didn’t want to waste precious Christmas party time with a sit-down meal, so we took advantage of the fact that you can enter the park at 4pm with a Party ticket (even though the party itself doesn’t start until 7pm), and made a reservation for Skipper Canteen at 5pm. It gave us time to get a quick ride on the Jungle Cruise, fill our bellies and have the full five hours to enjoy MVMCP.
This was our first time at Skipper Canteen, and I was actually a little worried. I’m not always the most adventurous eater, but I was sure I’d be able to find something I’d like. We actually booked this fairly last minute – about a week before we left for our trip.
Our names were called, and we were led to our table. The host showing us to our table was fantastic, and so in character. They pointed out a few of their favourite parts of the restuarant – like that one over there, and that one right there haha. He then circled around our table three times before telling us it was our table – Luke and I love the terrible sense of humour from the Jungle Cruise, so we followed him, walking circles around the same table before sitting down. Why go to Disney if you’re not going to participate in the fun, am I right?!
We were in the middle of the main room, which is a fun, lively room. We could see the hosts and hostesses leading in the other guests, and the clueless looks on some people’s faces were great hahaha – they clearly had no idea the theme of the place.
We didn’t wait long before our server, Tyler, arrived. He was also full of terrible puns while he went over the menu with us. It’s not a huge menu, and it’s very straight forward – beverages, appetizers and entrees.
First up of course – the drinks! Even though this is one of the few locations in Magic Kingdom that offer alcohol, I just wasn’t feeling it and decided on one of the specialty non-alcoholic options. Behold, the Schweitzer Slush – frozen apple juice and passion fruit topped with bursting green apple boba balls, first concocted by the noted explorer and humanitarian, Dr. Albert Slush, $6.50. As seen in the picture, I was also crazy and ordered a glass of water – I was getting pretty wild tonight!
This was really good! It was very sweet, so you have to like sugar – luckily I’m all about my sweet drinks! My biggest complaint – those damn paper straws that turn soggy way too quickly. I might have used a spoon to scoop out a bunch of the boba balls, then drank the actual drink right from the glass….
Luke was feeling like a beer, and decided on a Blue Moon – $7.75
This was a beer he’s had before, it tastes like beer and he likes it. Not really a lot to say about it haha.
We decided to try one of the appetizers, and went for Orinoco Ida’s Cachapas – and you thought our jokes were corny! House made corn pancakes, mojo-braised pork, black bean salad and avocado cream – $11.
I wasn’t sure I’d like these at all – but there weren’t very many black beans on it so I was easily able to scrape those off along with the onions and tomatoes. The house-made corn pancakes were excellent, and the avocado cream was a nice, light accompaniment with each bite. The pork looks kind of dry and boring in the picture, but it was very good as well! I’ve been trying to push myself to at least try lots of different food lately, and I’m really glad I tried this – I liked it so much I insisted on ordering it again the next time we went to Skipper Canteen.
For my main entree, I did decide to keep it safe, and ordered the Hardy Har Char Siu Pork – char siu-marinated pork served with seasonal vegetables and jasmine rice – $24
Now that I’m looking at my pictures, I definitely did not get any seasonal vegetables, which is odd. I always feel like I could use more vegetables on every Disney trip, so that’s not something I would have asked them to leave off my plate. At the moment, I was hungry and very excited about Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party, so I didn’t even notice to bring it up with our server.
As for the taste – this was fine. The pork was good, but honestly a bit too much sauce for my taste. The rice was also good – but it was just standard jasmine rice. The price is honestly quite outrageous for a dish like this (and I’m not usually one to complain about Disney pricing). But $24 for a scoop of rice and a few tiny little pork chops? Thank goodness we had a Tables in Wonderland card to ease the cost of that a little bit…
Luke made the better meal choice here, and went for the A Lot at Steak Salad – We’re betting it all on this one! Grilled steak, romaine lettuce, spring mix, pickled jalapenos, red onions, queso fresco and pumpkin seeds tossed in a chimichurri vinaigrette – $19
He ordered his steak medium or medium-well, and whichever one he chose he was happy with. I did steal some of the more well-done pieces and agreed that it was a delicious salad (minus the yucky jalapenos and onions haha).
Luke took a picture of me with my food – and my plate looks so sad an empty despite not having eaten a bite of it at this point….
We passed on dessert – nothing was really calling our name, and we knew we’d have a few cookies at MVMCP.
Our total bill came to $70.44 after applying our TIW card. We had already come out ahead on our Tables card on our wedding trip, so every little bit we saved on this trip was just a bonus!
Overall, we really enjoyed Skipper Canteen, and we did end up returning on our next Disney trip (May 2019). It is a place that we will absolutely return again on another future trip!
