Arrival night meal

[nonzerosum]

I am looking for dining suggestions for our first night. Here's the situation...We are 2 young kids (4 and 7), parents, and grandparents. We've done WDW a couple of times with the kids, but it's grandparents first trip in over 20 years. We will be checking into the GCH at around 4 pm then hoping to get into DLR soon after. Ideally, we could get some food into the kids as soon as possible, but I know they will be keen to get going on rides. I thought maybe Carnation or Cafe Orleans, but maybe counter service or cart food makes more sense for our first night? Thoughts? Am I torturing my kids by having them sit in a restaurant in their first hour in DLR? Am i torturing my parents by not treating them to a sit down meal in a good restaurant and having them eat corn dogs or the like? BTW, we are 3 generations of people who get crabby when hungry.

 

[Luv Bunnies]

I would go with Carnation. It's a sit-down meal but it's fairly quick. The grandparents can get some good food and it won't be torture for the kids. Plus it's right on Main Street. If the kids and one adult finish early, they can take a walk over to the Main Street Cinema or Penny Arcade while everyone else finishes eating. And they'll be in Disneyland so they can't feel too tortured!!!! It will also be a good time to sit and look at the map and read about the attractions. It would be a good start to the trip.

 

[goldies 5]

I agree with luvbunnies. The kids will not have passed by any rides yet either, to get them excited.
Another idea would be to go into Mainstreet. Ride the train to New Orleans, if HM is not to busy ride it. Keep on going to Critter Country and eat at Hungry Bear. It is quick and you can tuck into the back in the shade and look out at the Rivers of America. Also while someone is ordering, another person could head over and grab fast passes for Splash.

 

[caldad]

You could grab a meal at the GCH before heading out to DL. White Water Snacks is located by the pool. We take our kids [4, 8 & 10] there for quick meals. Pizza, hot dogs, burgers, nachos, pretzels and such are available. Its' counter type service but there are tables so you can sit down.

Enjoy your trip!

 

[jimreuter]

Redd Rocket's Pizza Port is nice for family. They have a number of salad options, several pasta choices, and a selection of pizzas. The chicken fusilli is a favorite among the regulars.

 

[Whidbey5]

White Water Snacks is our go-to place when we want a quick meal before going into the parks. It is not just a snack bar; they have a grill and a pretty good menu. There is indoor and outdoor seating and we've never found it to be terribly busy.

 

[bumbershoot]

From my experience with DS and DH, who tend to forget their hunger when they get into the parks (we once realized at NINE pm, after dealing with a massive 4 year old tantrum and his father's matching tantrum in response, that we hadn't eaten since lunchtime), I would eat before you set one little foot into a park.

So I would see if Storytellers is open that early for dinner and go there, or White Water Snacks. Just get the bellies full before you go through turnstiles.

 

[pixiewings71]

WWS is good, Storytellers is better. Or stop in DTD, La Brea Bakery, Naples for pizza, those are both on the way to DL. Or RFC is the opposite way but next to the monorail station. If it was us we would have a snack and then around 9 or so we would head over to Plaza Inn, grab some yummy chicken or pasta dinners and eat while we watch the fireworks.

 

[Sherry E]

I was also going to say Storytellers, so I agree with that idea. Since you are checking into GCH, I think Storytellers would be a great idea for the whole family. It's a nice, cozy atmosphere. It's right there on the GCH property. It's usually pretty easy to get a table - even without a reservation. It has a pretty good selection of items on the menu.

I like Carnation Cafe and that would also be great for everyone, but Carnation has limited seating and sometimes the wait for a table can be very long without a reservation. Even with a reservation you might be waiting a bit.

As Pixiewings71 suggested, you could also do something like hit Rainforest Cafe in DTD (lots of stuff on the menu) or one of the other DTD restaurants.

But I agree with Bumbershoot - eat before you hit the turnstiles. I think that will be faster in getting the tummies full than eating inside the parks.

 

[azdisneylover]

Whitewaters is a good quiet place to get something into your bellies, with a nice view. The individual pizzas come with a salad, the nachos are very good and filling, oh, and the kids enjoyed the chicken nuggets too. This will give you a few minutes to make a game plan too!
Plus, if you have leftovers, you can run them up to your room!
(Nothing like cold pizza! Yum)

 

[longtimedisneylurker]

We've gone both ways on this. If we're feeling like having a leisurely start to our visit, we will eat first at a sit-down place. My votes would be for Jazz Kitchen in DtD or Carnation Cafe in Disneyland. When we're really itching to get going on rides and fun and get into the park though, we will choose counter service so the dining experience takes less time. A favorite for us is Pizza Port in Tomorrowland. A compromise choice is the Jazz Kitchen Express in DtD.

 

[VictoriaAndMatt]

Another option would be to have dinner at Goofys Kitchen. It's inside DLH so it would be a little walk, but they have a ton of options for food and the kids would still be getting a fun Disney experience with the characters and interaction.

 

[bumbershoot]

When we're really itching to get going on rides and fun and get into the park though, we will choose counter service so the dining experience takes less time. A favorite for us is Pizza Port in Tomorrowland.

But arriving at 4 to check in means getting to Tomorrowland around 5, later if there's a parade blocking their entrance and slowing them down (though they could walk back along DTD to the monorail (then again, if doing that, Rainforest Cafe is RIGHT there) to plop them into Tomorrowland, or go into DL and catch the train). And that means the line for Pizza Port is going to take AGES as everyone starts their dinnertime.

For what sounds like a first DLR visit, walking in the gates and going straight to the FUN is so much more fun (in my opinion) than taking train or monorail, or getting onto Main Street and then eating for an hour.

If they choose a meal right there at the Grand (or even PCH Grill at PPH...we've really enjoyed their dinner, and it's just across the street from the Grand), they are getting in early, which gets them into DL while everyone is going off to start their earlyish dinnertimes, and they can head on in to the fun.

(then again, my family tends to choose DCA for the first park, if we're going in mid-day! but we LOVE DCA!)

 

[longtimedisneylurker]

But arriving at 4 to check in means getting to Tomorrowland around 5, later if there's a parade blocking their entrance and slowing them down (though they could walk back along DTD to the monorail (then again, if doing that, Rainforest Cafe is RIGHT there) to plop them into Tomorrowland, or go into DL and catch the train). And that means the line for Pizza Port is going to take AGES as everyone starts their dinnertime.

For what sounds like a first DLR visit, walking in the gates and going straight to the FUN is so much more fun (in my opinion) than taking train or monorail, or getting onto Main Street and then eating for an hour.

If they choose a meal right there at the Grand (or even PCH Grill at PPH...we've really enjoyed their dinner, and it's just across the street from the Grand), they are getting in early, which gets them into DL while everyone is going off to start their earlyish dinnertimes, and they can head on in to the fun.

(then again, my family tends to choose DCA for the first park, if we're going in mid-day! but we LOVE DCA!)

We like to start at DCA too! We usually head straight back to TSMM these days. But we usually get in sooner than 4 PM.

I was kinda running the options in my head before I posted. It really depends on timing and preferences. The parade will be wrapping up in the hub around 4:15, so they would probably miss that with a 4 PM check-in even if they went straight in without eating. So you kind of have a 4:15-6:15 window to navigate the park between parades. The evening parade will start at Main Street at 6:20 with the volunteer cavalcade, so you want to have passed through the area before that to minimize the effect of traffic control on your routing. I think we tend to pick Pizza Port because we like that side of the park at that time of day. Also, it affords us a chance to grab a fastpass before eating. Buzz is almost always available and every once in a while a really late fastpass for Space is still available. Pizza Port is not always that bad right around 5 PM because people seem to get started eating closer to 5:30 or 6, and there's so much seating we can usually get a spot even when it's crowded. When we're done eating and the parade and traffic control are blocking everything until 7:15 or so, we like to ride Buzz and/or Star Tours if the lines have reduced enough due to people eating or watching the parade. We've even sometimes had luck getting on Nemo at that hour or walking around to the Matterhorn on the Tomorrowland side. Anyway, that's probably some of what I was thinking. Eating and already being close to some of the action. Sometimes sit-down stuff isn't as quick as you would like. Then again, if you eat at some slow sit-down place before heading into the park, you might be just in time to actually watch the 6:30 parade and start your visit that way. Like I said, depends on your goals I guess. And you're right, I'm thinking about it more from the perspective of a multiple-times-per-year visitor these days rather than as a first-timer.