A Taste of Disney: Sanaa at Animal Kingdom Lodge (Allergy-Friendly Too!)

Banana Cheesecake with a Pistachio Crust and Sanaa somehow written in chocolate!

Even my husband, who by no stretch of the imagination is a Disney-phile, recently admitted that he has never had a bad meal at Disney. Sanaa at Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge now ranks as his favorite Disney dining experience ever.

Just take a look at the view from our table.

This was our splurge. It was our big splurge. But if you have the Disney Dining Plan, you could easily save money with meals of this quality. We all agreed, this meal was worth every penny.

Dale said his tandoori chicken is the best meal he's ever eaten at Disney. My salad Abbey's vegetarian sampler and Rebekah's pea and potato samosas were amply satisfying for all three of us. Noah enjoyed his tandoori chicken as well and it adequately filled the teenage boy. I even had most of his delicious rice that came with it. Like all Disney restaurants, Leah could choose from more traditional American kids meals. She opted for the cheese pizza on naan crust.

Speaking of naan. It's a family favorite, so we quickly ordered the traditional Indian breadservice appetizer and had naan, garlic-ginger naan and papadum (a gluten free option). It also came with three choices for spreads. We went with the red pepper hummus, mango chutney and cucumber raita (similar to a greek tzatziki sauce). All were delicious!

But if Disney could actually top itself when it comes to restaurants, they did. When making the online reservation, Abbey designated all of her sensitivities: gluten, egg, and dairy. Not only did they provide her with three separate menus for each of those, but when we told them she was actually just a vegan that eats no gluten, they quickly brought out a vegan menu and that was followed by a personal visit from one of the chefs to explain precisely which items were gluten free. Our server, who was great, even consistently pointed out what items were not gluten free for Rebekah and I since we were sort of compiling all three of our meals together to get a sampling of various dishes.

Throughout our meal, we witnessed the chefs repeatedly visiting table after table. I mentioned to the family that if anyone needs proof of our broken food system, they need only visit this restaurant...as we heard not only similar sensitivities to ours, but also nut and corn allergy-friendly items being discussed. In Abbey's research of which restaurant we could visit, she discovered that Sanaa and Restaurant Marrakesh at Epcot are known as the two most allergy-friendly dining options at Disney.

Right before we left for our vacation, I wrote a little post about me. In it, I mentioned my affinity for all things African. Everytime we discussed which resorts we wanted to tour, repeatedly...I said the Animal Kingdom Lodge. And while our food was a blend of Asian cuisine with an African influence, the Animal Kingdom Lodge did not disappoint. 

Not only is the small savannah replete with animals beautiful, the entire ambiance of the resort made me long to see Africa even more. I know this is the Disney version, but the music, the people and the native plants were precisely what I had hoped to see.