The centerpiece of the Africa section of Adventureland at Disneyland Paris is Restaurant Hakuna Matata, where Guests may dine in authentic African-inspired surroundings with bit of character and song from Disney's hit film The Lion King thrown in for good measure.
Once you get your food from Restaurant Hakuna Matata's service counter, you have a choice to head toward dining rooms to the left or right, labeled Place Pumbaa and Terrasse Timon. Don't worry about them eating any of your grub, though. They're really just interested in rooting for bugs, especially the little cream-filled kind.
On your way to the dining room, be sure to look up to appreciate the interior of the thatched roof, the thick jungle vines strung through the space and the flower boats dripping with orchids.
Once you get to your table, you may notice that The Lion King references fade away in favor of more traditional African art and architecture. In fact, since most of the film- and character-related pieces are painted flats, you might even think the movie overlay was an afterthought. Well... you'd be right!
When Disneyland Paris opened in 1992, this location was known as Aux Epices Enchantées (Enchanted Spices). In spite of its beautiful setting and authentic, African-inspired menu, the restaurant struggled in those early years. With the successful release of The Lion King in 1994, the park saw an opportunity to change the restaurant's name and menu and inject a little more of the "hakuna matata" lifestyle, turning everything around.
We certainly enjoyed Restaurant Hakuna Matata on our recent visit. Their chicken and veal kebab sandwich with lightly-spiced Hakuna Fries was probably the tastiest quick service meal we had in the park!
The weather was so nice during our time in the park, we actually chose to dine outside, and it was a lucky thing, too. Look who wandered by:
Hakuna matata, indeed!
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