1st trip to Disneyland Resort...can anyone help with dining plan?

[MeLaNie9]

Hi! We have been to WDW many times and just booked our first Disneyland trip. We will be checking in to CG on the evening of Nov 1st and checking out the morning of Nov 5th. When booking, the CM was touting the Dining Plan - which I gather is nothing like the WDW Dining Plan that we have used almost every trip. I tried to figure out what it is all about, but am confused! Can anyone explain it? Is it worth the money? Are all restaurants included? What are the don't miss places to eat at Disneyland resort and DTD?
It will just be DH and I - an anniversary trip, we are actually flying into San Fran for me to present at a conference then renting a car to drive down the coast to sightsee and then will end up at Disneyland.
Thanks for any help!

 

[DizNee Luver]

We've done the dining plan before & I would suggest just skipping it. You receive vouchers to use for meals, character meals & snacks. You don't get change on them so you could be losing money. It's also a pain trying to figure out what to get so you get as close to the voucher amount as possible each time you use it.
This last trip, since we wanted to prepay as much as possible we got Disney gift cards to use. The only place this isn't good is the snack carts not equipped to run credit cards.

Hope that helps!!

 

[silence]

We have used the plan before and it has worked ok for us. We always buy less days than we are going to be there. So the 3 day plan for a 5 day trip. This was mostly to help with our budget, but since there is no "deal" I would not use it again.

 

[dlander]

I would recommend Steakhouse 55 at the Disneyland Hotel. We love that place! Great food and atmosphere and service is always terrific. In DTD, Catal has a great breakfast, really reasonable too. Naples is yummy, we always eat there the night before the marathon. Inside Disneyland, Cafe Orleans and Rancho Del Zocalo are very good. I also like to eat at the Hungry Bear (bugers, sandwiches) and sit by the river, very relaxing.