Animal Print makes me feel sexy!

We left off where Adam and I were finally all settled in and napping. We had made reservations that night for dinner just the two of us at JIKO. The reason we did that was because not all of our guests were staying at the Animal Kingdom Resort with us and with this being the "travel" day we figured everyone would want to just relax.

JIKO is considered a "Signature Dining" restaurant where they have a dress code and its more expensive than most other Disney restaurants. With this knowledge I knew I had an excuse to wear this awesome dress that I got on clearance at TJ Maxx! (YAY frugal shopping!)We got up from our nap and started getting ready for the dinner at JIKO. I took a nice hot shower to wake myself up and did my hair and make up in no time. Adam needed alittle help from his brother to get his tie just right but soon he was ready too. We left the room and Auntie Catherine caught us walking down the hall. She snapped a few pictures of us before we headed down to the lobby...



Tell me that animal print dress doesn't look killer on! I looked like part of the Animal Kingdom Lodge staff!! Ok moving on...

We then headed down to the lobby where we ran into Adams parent's. They were staying off property but wanted to come check out the Animal Kingdom Lodge before they took Adams brothers out for dinner. We showed them around the resort and they LOVED it!


(from left to right: Jared, Adam, Richard, Jake)


We took them out to the main look out point and showed then all the animals that you could see






After the animal watching and tour of the resort they left to go grab some dinner and Adam and I headed down to JIKO. We checked in and were seated rather quickly! yay for ADR's! The atmosphere of the restaurant is amazing!



You could smell all of the amazing food and the decor was nothing short of fabulous. We were greeted by our server, whose name was Nessar. He said that he looked at our reservation and noticed we were getting married in a few days! Oh, the things I love about Disney! He told us that sometimes the Disney wedding planners come into JIKO for dinner and that they always ask for him. He asked who our wedding planner was and we told him it was Amy. He knew her and said she was a wonderful wedding planner. After the wedding chit-chat he showed us the wine list and recommended a few wines to us. We ended up both getting a Riesling from South Africa.

Fun Fact - JIKO has the most South African wines of any restaurant in the entire United States

Nessar came back with our wine and also brought us over a complimentary sample of this amazing appetizer. What it was is escaping me at the moment but I do remember that it was phenomenal and that we both loved it. When it was time to place our order Adam asked me what he should get. He knew that I'd already done countless hours of research into every single restaurant we had reservations at. (Told you I'm neurotic) I told him that the one things everyone says to try is the Fillet Mignon over the Macaroni and Cheese. He looked at me like I had five heads and said "Macaroni and cheese?" I nodded my head and told him that I would be getting that dish and that if he didn't believe me to ask Nessar what he would suggest. When Nessar returned Adam asked him what he suggested and guess what he said... The Fillet Mignon over Macaroni and Cheese. HA! Neurotic bride to be - 1 Ignorant husband to be - 0

We took a couple of pictured while we waited for our food... Sorry I felt the need to take pictures of everything.




The food came and it looked AMAZING!!!! Adam like his meat medium rare and I'm more of a medium well. I am so used to ordering my meat a certain way and it always comes out wrong. But when Nessar came with the food he cut both pieces of steak to show us how they were cooked and asked if they were alright. To me that was HUGE! The level of care and service was wonderful. Adam's was cooked the way he liked it and mine was cooked just how I liked it.


(I forgot to take a picture of it before we inhaled it all this is picture is courtesy of the www.disneyfoodblog.com )


The steak was amazing and the Macaroni and cheese was like no macaroni and cheese I've ever had. It was amazing!

As we were finished out dinner Nessar came over with the restaurant phone and said that there was someone on the phone for me and that it was really important that I take the call. I looked at Adam and started to get that panicked feeling all over again. Nessar handed me the phone and walked away. I was waiting for someone to say something like our luggage was missing, or that my dad got hurt at the All star Movies pool. I put the phone to my ear and i said "Hello?" a very recognizable voice said "Oh boy! Just heard the news! Congratulations on your wedding!" It was mickey mouse. I started laughing and crying all at the same time. Adam looked so confused so I handed him the phone for him to listen and he started laughing too. Nessar must've been watching from somewhere in the kitchen because he came back to retrieve the phone from us and brought us a special dessert and a signed card from all the staff at JIKO.



This dessert was so good that I'll never forget it... it was pistachio creme brulee. Think of a normal creme brulee only the custard was pistachio and the bottom was a layer of chocolate. O_M_G!!!!! That was gone in seconds!

We were part of the Disney dining plan so we were getting desserts that were included so between Adam and I we had three desserts... hey we were on vacation!



Adam got the Tanzanian Chocolate Cheesecake - Served with chocolate ganache, amarula sauce, and lavender ice cream



And I got the bread pudding that is no longer on their menu so I can't find the ingrediants. I do know that the bread pudding came with a scoop of apricot ice cream which is what you see on the side.

After dinner we said goodbye to Nessar and I stopped at the hostess desk and thanked the hostess and the manager for the extra pixie dust. I also told them that Nessar is an amazing server. I'm one of those people who wants to recognize amazing service. Too many times people complain about bad service and yet they dont open their mouths about the good service that they receive.

Adam and I went back to the room and changed into comfy clothes and decided to go find some rocking chairs and watch some animals. I remember that his brothers saw us and stopped by for a bit before they headed to bed and I know that my sisters popped over and sat with us for a while but other than that it was a pretty uneventful night and after enjoying a few beers and the nice warm breeze we headed back to the room to go to sleep.


Coming up : Day 2! Adventures at Animal Kingdom!