Festival of the Lion King Signature Dining Package
We have made it known how much we love the little extras at the Disney parks. We’ve taken our fair share of tours and events, but something we haven’t experienced as much is the signature dining packages. Dining packages are a great way to get more bang for your buck at Disney because they usually will combine some form of entertainment – a show, parade or fireworks, – with a delicious meal.
We wanted to experience something a bit outside the norm for our second wedding anniversary, so we decided to purchase the Festival of the Lion King Signature Dining Package. Not only were we experiencing our first Disney Signature Dining Package, but we were also pleasantly surprised at just how much we got for the price.
What Comes with the Lion King Signature Dining Package?
There are three components to the Lion King Signature Dining Package — VIP seating at The Festival of the Lion King show, a private safari and a meal at Tiffins. We opted for a late dinner reservation, so the times and order of events may change if you have an earlier reservation.
If you have a late reservation like us, the first event you attend is actually in the afternoon; meaning you don’t have to actually arrive at the park until later in the day. The only thing to come to the park early for is to check-in at the restaurant, and that doesn’t even need to happen until 11 a.m. We wanted to make a full day of it, so we were at the park well before check-in time. However, if you don’t feel like spending the entire day at Animal Kingdom, you don’t have to.
Checking in to the restaurant was easy; we just told the hostess that we were there for the Festival of the Lion King Signature Dining Package and that was it. The rest of the late morning was up to us.
The Show
Our first event was the VIP seating at The Festival of the Lion King at 2:00. One of the downsides to this experience was a lack of communication on how the day would work (more on that later), so we were a bit confused as to how to check-in. We eventually found a Cast Member and told them why we were there. He checked our names off a list and we waited until showtime. Much to our surprise, we were called out by a different Cast Member before the crowds were let in and we entered the arena to our VIP seating, and what seating it was!
Since we were only a party of two, we were escorted to the very first row of seating. It was definitely the closest we’ve ever sat for a Disney show and it made the experience like none other. We were so close to the performers we could reach out and touch them. Taking pictures was actually quite difficult because we were almost TOO close for good shots. Being so close really allowed us to watch the show and pay attention to the small things like just how beautiful the costumes for that show are.
(As an aside: Attending the show was especially fun for us to do on our anniversary because our first dance was to “Can You Feel the Love Tonight!)
The Safari
Immediately after the show we and the rest of the people who purchased the package were escorted by a Cast Member to the Kilimanjaro Safaris for a private tour. The tour was fun, but “private tour” makes the experience sound more deluxe than it was. We went across the same route the regular tour does, but instead of getting the usual spiel about the animals, we learned a bit more trivia about the animals themselves (such as their names) and how Animal Kingdom works.
The Meal
Our meal was at Animal Kingdom’s signature dining restaurant Tiffins. Neither of us had been to Tiffins before so we were eager to try it. The package included an appetizer, entree, dessert, sparkling wine toast, and drink. However, there’s nothing online that says what that means. We were very curious after being seated as to what we were allowed to eat and drink. Turns out the entire menu was at our disposal. It didn’t matter what our choice was, as long as it was on the menu, we could have it. This made our meal decisions much easier because we could order what we wanted with no fear.
The first bit of our meal was the sparkling wine toast. Neither of us are huge fans of sparkling wine, so we can’t comment on whether or not it was an exceptionally good or bad wine, but to our amateur palette, it tasted fine.
When it came to drinks, Tyler’s choice was extremely easy. If there’s one thing Tyler is a sucker for, it’s anything exclusive to the parks. When he saw there was an exclusive African-style beer, he knew he had to try it. The beer compared to a red ale and was very good. Jessica had a glass of wine.
We decided to use our separate appetizer selections to create one giant super appetizer. Jessica ordered the charcuterie while Tyler ordered the selection of artisanal cheeses. It was a lot of fun to combine the meats and cheese to create a classic charcuterie experience.
For our entree, we both opted for the Surf and Turf. Tyler is all for anything that involves steak, and having the seafood element was just an added treat. The steak was cooked perfectly, but the real star of the meal was the scallops. Each scallop was tender and tasted amazing.
Dessert was a harder decision because everything sounded so good. Luckily, one of the dessert offerings is the Tiffins Trio. By getting the Trio we were able to have a little bit of everything. The other dessert we chose was The Lion King. We were in Animal Kingdom and doing the Festival of the Lion King Signature Dinner, why wouldn’t we end our night with a celebration of our day?
Our dinner reservation was pretty late, so after enjoying our delicious meal, we were done for the night.
The Festival of the Lion King Signature Dining Package Cost
The cost for the Festival of the Lion King Signature Dining Package is $99 per person and includes the show, the safari, and the meal. Gratuities for your server and any additions at Tiffins (like a second app or drink) are an additional expense.
The Verdict?
We had a lot of fun with our Festival of the Lion King Dining Package and would recommend it for anyone who is looking for a good meal with some cute extras. We didn’t purposely pick the most expensive things on the menu, but after doing a bit of amateur math, the $99 price tag for the whole experience is almost exactly what our meal would have cost had we just decided to eat at Tiffins.
Therefore, if you’re looking for a good meal, and were thinking of eating at Tiffins anyway, we definitely recommend the Festival of the Lion King Signature Dining Package because you’re going to end up paying the same amount…why not have some fun at the same time?
If there’s one negative about the whole experience, it’s that the website wasn’t very helpful in telling us what to do and where to go. We had our reservation time and were told to check-in at the restaurant beforehand, and we were told to be at the 2 p.m. show early, but that’s all the direction we were given.
It was really just a lucky guess that we checked in with the right people at the show entrance, and we weren’t told the other activities would be escorted. Nothing was so complicated that we couldn’t figure it out, but there definitely could have been clearer direction.
The Festival of the Lion King Signature Dining Package is a great option if you’re celebrating something (like we were) or looking to add a bit of fun to your fancy meal. At only $99, the price isn’t too high and is about what you’re going to pay for the meal anyway, so why not have some entertainment with your dining? This experience gets a big recommendation from us.
