Bday Dinner - Where to eat in DL?

[*JoGo*]

We are going to San Diego and I'm hoping to make it to Disneyland on my birthday (9/9). Where should we eat?? Lunch or dinner, doesn't matter. I have never been to DL before, I don't even own a guide book!

Do they have a Fantasmic dinner pkg?

 

[cheshiregirl]

There is no Fantasmic dinner package. Only a preferred seating that you pay $59 for a box of assorted desserts and reserved seating. However, F! will not even be playing on your birthday.

In the parks the best choice for an adult's birthday is probably the Blue Bayou which is located "inside" POTC. It is the most elaborately themed of all the restaurants in the Disneyland Resort area. The only other sit down restaurant in DL is the Carnation Cafe. While it offers good food and great people watching, it is not particularly special.

We will be celebrating DS's birthday the day before and we opted for two meals at the DLR hotels--breakfast at the PHC Grill with Lilo and Stitch at tjhe Paradise Pier Hoetl and dinner at Storyteller's Cafe in the Grand Californian.

Napa Rose (in the GC) and Steakhouse 55 at the Disneyland Hotel are also good choices for a more grown up meal.

You can check out menus for all of the DLR restaurants and the Downtown Disney restaurants too at allearsnet.com. Hopefully you will find something that suits you perfectly!

Happy early birthday and enjoy your first visit to Walt's park!

 

[avalon451]

In the parks the best choice for an adult's birthday is probably the Blue Bayou which is located "inside" POTC. It is the most elaborately themed of all the restaurants in the Disneyland Resort area. The only other sit down restaurant in DL is the Carnation Cafe. While it offers good food and great people watching, it is not particularly special.

Cafe Orleans is also table service, now. It gets a lot of good reviews. Blue Bayou is great for ambiance, although the food is not always worth the price. I would make Priority Seatings for BB for lunch, the first 11:30 seating. Then get there at 11:15, and ask for a waterside table.

Will you just be in DL, or can you go to DCA, as well? The Vineyard Room is very nice. Also, many people like Wine Country Trattoria.

There's other great options in the hotels. The best restaurant in the resort is arguably Napa Rose in GCH. That's quite swanky and expensive. I've heard great things about Steakhouse 55 in DLH, too.

I agree with PP, if you look up the menus on allears, you will get some great ideas for what you might like. Good luck, and let us know how it was, after you go! Happy Birthday! (mine's 9/13, wish I could spend it in the park! )

 

[cheshiregirl]

Cafe Orleans is also table service, now. It gets a lot of good reviews. Blue Bayou is great for ambiance, although the food is not always worth the price. I would make Priority Seatings for BB for lunch, the first 11:30 seating. Then get there at 11:15, and ask for a waterside table.

I completely forgot about Cafe Orleans as a TS restaurant. That should tell you just how impressed I was with it the last time we ate there

 

[*JoGo*]

Thanks. There will be 3 adults, 2 kids.
Maybe we'll just do some counter-service. I'd love to make it to the Lilo breakfast, but I don't know how early we'll be able to make it there. We'll be driving - I have no clue how long it'll take to get there from where we're staying (Pogus, Camp Pendleton). And I'd rather be able to see more of the park than have a big dinner.

Should I get a park guide?
I made a list of attractions to see/do from the sticky post. I'm planning to just do DL and not CA. There just isn't enough time and I don't want to push us too hard.

I am very excited about being in a park for my bday. With it at the beginning of the school year, having 2 kids and working in a preschool, I never thought it'd happen!

 

[Brady's Mom]

We went to Blue Bayou last year for my b-day dinner. I loved the ambiance. We had waterside seating. I didn't really care for the food, the water smells chlorine-y and they were pretty pricey. I wouldn't go back for another meal, I was just not that impressed, but I would go back for dessert and get one of the pirate boat dessert things that I had. That was really yummy. It is pricey and was too big to eat by myself, so I was nice and shared with DH who was the person taking me for my b-day.

 

[joeysmommy]

I vote for:

In DL- Blue Bayou
DTD- Rainforest Cafe
DLR- Goofy's Kitchen

 

[disneyobsessed808]

I am a huge advocate of Napa Rose. Every dining thread that comes up, I have to mention it. That is my favorite place to eat in DLR.

 

[dizneekrazee]

Since you are considering a counter service, I will put my vote in for Plaza Inn on Main St. Very yummy, very filling for the price. We eat our last dinner there each trip.