1st trip to DL

[junebug18]

Hi this is our first trip to DL we will be there from Jan 30-Feb 7 with 5 days in the parks. As any first trips it is a bit overhwelming so I decided to come here and ask a few questions. Should we book sit down meals in adavance, and what meals do you recommend, I have a 9 and 7 year old who love characters as well. Also how about hotels? We chose to stay at a Good Neighbor hotel Best Western Raffles in I belive is the name, are there pictures on these boards that I can go look thru to hopefully see. We wanted a suite with 2 bathrooms if you have any other recommendations Im all ears. Also in the area reasonably close are there other places to eat that are not crazy expensive? If you have any more information you think I might need to know I am all ears all help is greatly appreciated.

 

[figment_jii]

Should we book sit down meals in adavance, and what meals do you recommend, I have a 9 and 7 year old who love characters as well.

ADRs can be made 60-days in advance, but very few places in DLR actually need ADRs to be made that far in advance. A few days to a week is usually enough, but I always recommend making ADRs if you know you want to eat somewhere specific and/or at a specific time.

In terms of character meals, there are five choices (one in each park and hotel). Mostly it's breakfast choices, with two lunch locations and one dinner location. I think it mainly comes down to who do you want to meet.

• Plaza Inn (DL, Breakfast) - Minnie and a random assortment of characters.
• Ariel's Grotto (DCA, Breakfast and Lunch) - Princesses
• Storytellers (GCH, Breakfast) - Random assortment of woodland characters (e.g., Chip & Dale, Meeko, etc.)
• Surf's Up (PPI, Breakfast) - Mickey and friends (e.g., Daisy, Pluto)
• Goofy's Kitchen (DLH, Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner) - Goofy and friends

For other TS locations, it depends on what kinds of food you like and what you want to eat. Given when you're going, I would look into venues that have indoor seating because outdoor venues can (and do) close when it rains.

 

[GatorChris]

I'd make a few ADRs. We liked Mickey's Surf's Up breakfast as it's the only character meal with Mickey. The food was good, too. We also like Big Thunder Ranch BBQ. So yummy. You can eat at the counter service places - there's a lot of them and the food is pretty good.

I can't help you with the suites, but there's a few hotels with those available nearby. I'd head to orbitz or something like that to compare pricing. You can also check out Yelp to cross compare.

 

[HydroGuy]

Hi this is our first trip to DL we will be there from Jan 30-Feb 7 with 5 days in the parks. As any first trips it is a bit overhwelming so I decided to come here and ask a few questions. Should we book sit down meals in adavance, and what meals do you recommend, I have a 9 and 7 year old who love characters as well. Also how about hotels? We chose to stay at a Good Neighbor hotel Best Western Raffles in I belive is the name, are there pictures on these boards that I can go look thru to hopefully see. We wanted a suite with 2 bathrooms if you have any other recommendations Im all ears. Also in the area reasonably close are there other places to eat that are not crazy expensive? If you have any more information you think I might need to know I am all ears all help is greatly appreciated.

This may help:

"What WDW Vets Need to Know About Dining at DLR" http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2914467

If you want to eat offsite there are a number of choice. Just Google dining on Harbor Blvd near DLR. Mimi's. Denny's. Coco's. Tony Roma's.

For hotels I have always been a big believe in walking distance hotels. Raffles is that but a bit further than some others. This link may help:

"HydroGuy's Hotel Rule" www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1199862

 

[luulu1999]

We have ate dinner at Goofy's Kitchen both times and our kids love it this summer they got to see Genie, Minnie, Chip and dale, and I can't remember who else and its buffet and its pretty good with something for everyone. We stayed at Park Vue Inn and it was pretty good their breakfast was awesome and it was right across the street from the entrance it was great!!! We will def stay there again if we get to go back!!

 

[mfleeting]

Booking sit down meals in advance is the best idea. All three nights we were there they were all completely booked.

We did Goofy's - the food was okay IMO but I don't like buffets and the rest of the family enjoyed it. We were stuck in a corner which we didn't like but we still saw all the characters (Goofy, Chip, Dale, Pluto, and Minnie).

We also did Ariel's. The food was pretty good and we saw most of my daughters favorites - Ariel, Snow White, Aurora, Belle, and Rapunzel. The princess' would spend a decent amount of time with each table as long as you engaged them and that was nice.

We never really left the area but in Downtown Disney they have Earl of Sandwich. The prices were not horrible (the cheapest meal we had our whole stay) and shortly before you go if you join their club you can get a free sandwich coupon (1 per email). You can only use one per order but if their are multiple adults they can each pay separately and use their coupon.

I also saw a McDonalds across the street from Disney and a Mimi's Cafe.

 

[TheDoleWhipper]

You have don't to make advance reservations for most of the restaurants at disneyland. Most of the time, you can just walk up and get seated in a short few minutes, especially since you are going in the off-season. But I recommend making reservations just 'cause you can, and they are quick simple, and will get you seated faster.

If your kids like characters, definitely do a character meal or two. They are a little pricey, but you get a bunch of characters coming to your table without having to wait in any lines! I recommend Goofy's Kitchen, since they have sooooo many different kids of food and there are lots of characters. The plaza inn does not have especially good food, but they have the most characters, though, if that is what you are after. Ariel's grotto is all about the princesses, Storyteller's is a quiet, relaxed setting with relatively rare characters, and PCH surf's up is bright and fun, and is the only one that hosts Mickey!

I think eating on-property is best. The prices are higher, but if there are many good counter-service restaurants that serve more than just fries and burgers. Plus they are disney

 

[gottalovepluto]

I'd make the ADRs just because it will help you in establishing some sort of plan for your days. The character meals are great for seeing multiple characters. We used to Goofy's back in the day and loved it but were unimpressed when we went for our last trip a year and a half ago. I've seen here on the boards Goofy's now has the same set of characters each time (used to have a great variety) The princesses are at Ariel's. That's all I know about the character breakfast's now about budget meals... Best recommendation: split CS meals. Some of them are quite large (look around before you order). Next recommendation: bring water bottles with you into the park to start your morning. As for bang for the buck we thought Earl of Sandwich was big portions for a decent price as far as Disney related goes. You can also do a grocery store run to stock up on quick items for a DIY breakfast before hitting the parks and afternoon snacks if you do afternoon breaks from the parks. Don't know anything specific about your hotel. Have a great time!