Located at the Animal Kingdom Lodge’s Kidani Village, Sanaa is a full-service restaurant specializing in a blend of African and Indian cooking. Because we were staying at the Animal Kingdom Lodge for our anniversary trip, I wanted to try all three restaurants, Jiko and Boma at Jambo House and Sanaa at Kidani Village.
Our day
After a night at the Doubletree Pittsburgh Airport and an early morning flight, we checked into the Animal Kingdom Hotel before heading to the Magic Kingdom. Once there we had lunch at Tony’s Town Square Restaurant, rode Dennis’s favorite ride (Big Thunder Mountain Railroad) and Pirates of the Caribbean, headed to the Harmony Barber Shop for a haircut, and watched the parade from a prime reserved spot in front of the flagpole (read more about that here). We had fast passes for Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, but it was super hot and crowded, so we headed back to the lodge after the parade.
Once back at the Animal Kingdom Lodge, we rested in the air-conditioning and then wandered around the hotel to view the animals. There are over 100 different animals grazing on the grounds, including species such as ankole cattle, zebras, giraffes, okapis, wildebeests, waterbucks, roan antelopes, elands, lesser kudus, impalas, Thomson’s gazelles, and more. Plus there are 130 or more birds from vultures to cranes, to flamingos. Some of the hotel viewing areas have rocking chairs and overhead fans which allow you to watch the animals in comfort.
Dinner at Sanaa
Our dinner at Kidani was relatively early by Disney Standards, but we’d been up since 2:30 a.m. and were tired. We caught the bus to Kidani instead of making the 10-15 minute walk. Our table wasn’t ready, but the staff presented us with a pager, and we were able to go out to the savanna viewing area to wait. Be sure to look for hidden Mickeys at the check-in station.
We really didn’t wait long before the pager started to light up and vibrate. The restaurant was beautiful. The wide variety of lighting fixtures was quite impressive. If you do go and have children, ask for a table next to the windows so they can watch the animals.
Drinks and Appetizers
After being led to our table, the waitress, Goldie, took our drink orders. Because we had the deluxe dining plan and I was determined to get the full value, Dennis ordered the Kande Coconut Cooler and I had a Painted Lemur to drink. For appetizers, Dennis chose the Scallop Chana, and I decided on the famed Indian-style bread service with nine accompaniments. Neither disappointed. However, the bread service was more than enough to feed a family of six. Some of the accompaniments were a little spicy, but overall, it was very good. I would definitely order it again.
The Main Course
For our main courses, Dennis ordered the Traditional Sosatie, meat skewers with Braai lamb and apricots, pap, spinach, cashews, and goat cheese. I ordered the Potjie Inspired (slow cooked stew) with the Durban shrimp. Boy, was it spicy! Dennis, the wonderful husband that he is, switched meals with me. I didn’t think I would like the lamb, but it was delicious.
Dessert
We were so full when we finished that we would never had ordered dessert…except…you guessed it! It came with the deluxe dining plan. I ordered the Caramel Ndizi which was a fantastic banana financier concoction with raspberry sauce. The flavors just popped–bananas, white chocolate, hazelnut, raspberry–it was divine! Dennis took home a Spice Trade Candy bar, but sadly neither of us ate it (too full all weekend).
The Bottom Line
Had we paid out-of-pocket, this meal would have cost $23 for the drinks ($11.25 and $11.75 respectively), $29 for the appetizers ($12 for the scallops and $17 for the bread service), $54 for the meals ($28 for the Potjie and $26 for the Sosatie), plus $15 for the desserts ($8 candy bar and $7 caramel ndizi). The bread service and the caramel ndizi were well worth their prices. The total cost for this meal before tax was $121.00.
Adding that to our lunch, we each used $114.00 of our $116.25 price. We still each had one meal credit and a snack credit left over. We also had two drinks at the Magic Kingdom before the parade at $3.50 each. Drink prices in the theme parks have increased since then. Also, our dining plan was actually “free” (not really since we paid the actual room rate) before upgrading to the deluxe plan. We definitely got our money’s worth. However, we probably would not have eaten like this without the deluxe dining plan.
Final Thoughts:
Sanaa is a beautiful restaurant, and Kidani Village is a wonderfully themed resort. However, I would not go out of my way to eat here again unless I was actually staying at Kidani.
A lot of people love Sanaa, but for me, it was a “one and done.” The caramel ndizi dessert tasted phenomenal, but I thought our meal at Jiko was much better. (Watch for a future post on Jiko–the best meal I’ve ever had at Walt Disney World.) This could be because we’re not exactly exotic diners–there isn’t a wide variety of foods here in Northeast Ohio. We’re used to mom and pop restaurants and chains.
As far as the deluxe dining plan goes, I definitely couldn’t eat like this for more than a long weekend. With the summer heat, it was especially difficult.
Planning a trip to Walt Disney World? Check out my other Disney posts here.
Wow the food looks so inviting and yummy. The interior of the Lobby at Jambo house looks beautiful and I bet kids would have love the Savanna viewing area. Adding this to my travel bucket list. Thanks for sharing.
The food looks good and interesting. The restaurant looks amazing. Love the aesthetics they have going in the place.
That Naan bread looks amazing! and the lamb–looks like a successful trip!
Those desserts 🤤 I love trying different types of foods! I’ll check this place out!
I love the amount of details Disney puts into their restaurants and shops! This looks like a great one to visit.
What a beautiful atmosphere and delicious looking meal!
another great review, and i´m jealous again about your Disney adventures
Those are very good looking foods! I hope they tasted as good as they look?
Thanks for sharing
What awesome scenery if you have to moment for your table to be ready!
That was a beautiful review and very tempting photographs of delicious food! I will make it a point to visit here on my next Disney trip.
Sounds delicious! I’ve never been to Walt Disney World, but maybe I will go when my son is old enough to enjoy it!
Very interesting article and restaurant review, thank you so much for sharing your take with us. That resort though, holy moly! It looks amazing!
That food looks amazing! I love spicy, so would totally eat that stew! Will definitely have to try it out if we’re ever lucky enough to visit Disney.
I love restaurant review as I am a foodie.I too write a lot of restaurant reviews on TripAdvisor.
Your pictures and descriptions are amazing! The dessert looks fantastic. I’m such a sucker for a great dessert with bananas. I’d go just for that. Lol.
That dinner looks amazing! Disney has a lot of great places to eat. However, I find it a little frustrating that you have to plan every sit down meal you are going to eat well before your trip or else you can’t get the reservations you want.
I totally agree! Although I have found that people do cancel last minute or the day before. You may not be able to get Cinderella’s Royal Table that way, but you can get a lot of great same-day reservations.
The food looks delicious, especially that dessert. I think I would have made room for that too. I’m glad you enjoyed it, even though it was a one and done.
Dang, that looks good! I wanna try that Potjie Inspired with the Durban Shrimp cuz I actually really like spicy food! Looks like a lovely restaurant, and yeah those prices are basically like “Let’s treat ourselves”. Definitely couldn’t do that every day. I wanna try out Jiko if you prefer that one.
I appreciate your candid review. The pictures looked really good so I was a bit surprised you did not give it a 10 out of 10.
I’ve been to this restaurant before in the Animal Kingdom and liked it.I prefer the other one as well (jiko). The resort though it so well done you almost have to try the restaurant once.
Ahhhh! I’m jealous! I want to go there so bad on our next trip! Looks delicious!
We enjoyed Sanaa and they did a fabulous job with our son who has food allergies. It was definitely a unique tasting experience and we will likely do it again in the future, but I am very eager to try Jiko.
Wow, the food looks amazing! I can’t wait to go!
Happy Anniversary. I loved seeing the animals.
We ate at Sanaa a while ago and really liked it. My brother lived in India for a little while, so he insisted that we order the Naan bread. I think that was my favorite part.
This is one of my favorite hotels but never got a chance to eat here, adding it to the list’
I love everything Disney…I will add this to my Disney bucket list.
It’s been 19 years since I was last in Disney World and after reading this article, I can see that it’s time to go back!
That resort looks amazing! The food isn’t too bad either! 😉
Saana is my current favorite Disney restaurant – and I think it’s mostly because of the bread service! We do split a meal when we go there and that seems to be plenty of food.
It looks delicious. And i love the decor (and the animals!)
The lamb looks and sounds delicious. Animal Kingdom is our DVC home resort, but we have only eaten at Boma.
Everything looked delicious. It’s nice to have a dining plan option.
I love spicy food so this sounds delicious! Although after eating all that I don’t think I’d be ready to go on any rides very soon!
I hope you have you had fun and I hope that i can go some time and try the food to.
If I ever went back here I would try some of these if I was near them.
It sounds like and amazing experience. The food looks great too. I hope to go some time.
This seems like a great place to go. I hope I get to go sometime.
I really like that you shared all of this information with us on what it was like ,and thank’s for the tip now I know how much money to bring when I go
I agree the food was pretty expensive but, it looked amazing! It looks like you got a lot out of the delux dinging plan.
The decor is amazing, the food looks great but I’m gonna have to agree with you for that price I would not go out of my way to eat there.
Looks like you had am amazing experience. Thanks for sharing.
So fun! As always, a great review. My kids would love sitting and eating while seeing the animals. Love it!
How delicious those that food looks !!! WOW! also I love when you can visit places with wildlifes
I’ve never heard of this place, but I will be looking into visit. I am a being foodie so thanks for the information!
These are some appetizing looking food, but what really caught me is the look of the place. It’s definitely beautiful I just love it!
We’ve been to Disney a couple of times and when leaving we always wished we could stay longer. I’ll definitely love to eat in this restaurant. The food looks so good. Great review!
Thanks for sharing!
The food looks delicious ! When we go to
Disney I’ll be sure we go to this restaurant