Guest Column - Jun 24, 2004

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by Guest Column: Doing Disney Without "Doing" Disney (archives)
June 24, 2004
Jeff's report from a recent alternative Walt Disney World trip.

Doing Disney Without "Doing" Disney
by Jeff Zaret

If someone told me as an avid Disney fan that I was going to spend four days on Disney property and only spend a grand total of five hours in the parks I would have told them that they were crazy. But, on a recent trip to WDW that is exactly what happened.


Coronado Springs Resort

We arrived on a Friday morning and checked into the Coronado Springs resort. Which for the price (average room $110. Better deals for season pass holders and in the off-season.) is an awesome place to stay. After checking into the hotel we dashed over to Disney-MGM studios around 4pm and hopped on the Tower of Terror (twice) and the Rocin 'n' Roller Coaster before having to make our 5:45 dinner reservations. Now I know that you are going to ask…Jeff, how did you ride both rides (not to mention one of them twice) so quickly? Well, let me tell you a little secret (which after I tell you won’t be a secret any more). What, you didn’t think I would give away all my secrets? You will just have to figure this one out on your own. Or maybe I will reveal this little tidbit in a later article.

After riding the rides we hopped on a Disney bus and made our way over to the Animal Kingdom Lodge for dinner at Jiko. Having never eaten there this was an awesome dining experience, which I would recommend to anyone. The atmosphere of this restaurant is geared more towards adults. Not to say that kids aren’t welcome but there are other places on property that kids would probably enjoy the cuisine and atmosphere more. There are lots of things on the menu that I could recommend but that would be up to your own dinning tastes. Two items that I can highly recommend are the lamb shank and the Amarula which is an awesome beverage if you are 21 or over. (And no, none of the evening’s specials came from the African safari, which is located right out the back door of the resort.)


The Savannah at Animal Kingdom Lodge

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