cheap places to eat?? around disneyland

[Dizneydaz]

I too am going to echo PP about Pizza Port. We go to DL quite often and Pizza Port is one of our favorites. The pasta is definitely enough to share. As are the large salads. I really like the Chinese Chicken (Asian Chicken Salad - Marinated chicken, greens, crispy rice noodles and carrots, in a hoisin-soy vinaigrette. $8.49). Recently while there with DD9 who always wants the Chicken Fusilli (Count Down Chicken Fusilli - Fusilli pasta tossed with seasoned grilled chicken, sun-dried tomatoes, garlic and Parmesan cream sauce with a touch of fresh basil $8.99) I felt like having some salad. Instead of the larger Chinese Chicken one I got the smaller side salad (Starfield of Greens (side salad) - a great complement to any pasta or pizza dish. $3.29) and got the Oriental Dressing from the CM. It was so good I've done it a few times since. Sometimes the smaller salad is enough for me if I can get someone else to share with DD9.

Another place we have eaten at lately is the Plaza Inn. Again, DD wants the chicken pasta (Penne Pasta - Topped with Parmesan cheese, served with Italian bread and one of these flavorful sauces: Marinara, Bolognese (all beef sausage), Chicken Pesto Alfredo Sauce - $12.49) which is a huge serving, and enough for her and I-with leftovers. My neighbor and her 2 kids had enough to eat when they shared a portion. What's nice about PI is you can refill your beverages. Another good meal there is the fried chicken! I got DD to agree that next time we go to DLR (should be next week) we are having the chicken. (Plaza Inn Specialty Chicken - Three pieces of chicken, fried to a golden brown, seasoned with distinctive herbs and spices. Served with mashed potatoes, buttermilk biscuit and mixture of vegetables. $13.49) You get 3 pretty big pieces of chicken, definitely enough to share especially with the mashed potatoes and green beans.

One additional favorite (and good value) for us is Stage Door Cafe. We get the chicken strips. I see the newer menu calls out Chicken Nuggets (Chicken Breast Nuggets - with sliced apples or fries, plus one of our dipping sauces. $7.99) There's enough chicken to share. They also have fish 'n chips, which I'm sure is a generous serving as well.

Places I stay away from are Tomorrowland Terrace-the hamburger there is horrible-I would rather have McD's anytime. This meat was awful (not even sure it was all meat) and the bun fell apart.

At DCA we like Farmer's Market. Again, we share the Chicken Nuggets (Chicken Breast Nuggets - Served with sliced apples or fries and one of our dipping sauces. $7.99).

For sit-down I like Wine Country Trattoria. I love the Pizzeta Salad* - Romaine hearts, Roma tomatoes, smoked bacon, crumbled blue cheese, Kalamata olives with a creamy Italian dressing served on a warm pizzeta crust $9.99 which is basically a salad served on a warm pizza crust. My DM and I share this, and it's plenty.

Also great, is Burrrbank Ice Cream. Ice Cream-enough said!

One take-out not mention previously is a So Cal favorite, Del Taco. Located south of DLR on Harbor Blvd. (across the street from Embassy Suites). They have your typical americanized Mexican food and a very reasonable price. However, it's not really within walking distance. If you have a rental car it's a short drive south.

Also, within walking distance, is the New Anaheim Garden Walk with a lot of restaurants to choose from. Check out their website at www.anaheimgardenwalk.com. Bubba Gumps is really good there.

Luckily, for me, we get a discount at most places with our AP and/or Disney Visa card. Also at WCT I believe they give a AAA discount. At least they did the last time we ate there.

 

[Sherry E]

Sherry re the photo price she is talking about once you convert it to NZ dollars. I just got my Visa bill for our trip in early Dec and it was 62 dollars for the picture package !!!!!!
I don't know what possessed me to say yes to it ! It isn't even a good picture my daughter and I both look horrible lol.

Yikes! After the exchange rate, that IS lofty! I even thought just the plain old $32 was lofty but that seems like a bargain now!

Did they at least have you take the picture with Pluto, or was it some other character or character enhancement added to the photo? See, when we went in October, they shuffled us immediately over to Pluto - in the past, they would ask if we wanted a picture with him, but not force us into it - and I felt that was kind of a turn-off. I LOVE Goofy's, and am a loyal devotee of their food and character stuff, but I don't feel they should herd the guests over to the Pluto photo op and then try to guilt you into buying the picture. They should let the guests decide if they want to have the picture taken in the first place. So we got in the forced Pluto picture, then the server came around with it a while later and surprisingly, it WAS cute (I didn't expect it to be good), BUT I was low on money that trip, so I couldn't pay the $32 for the package and turned it down. Seems like an awful waste of money and paper for them to keep making people get in photos which they don't buy, right?

Now, this past December 21st when we ate at Goofy's, I had more money with me. And it was also my friend's birthday the following week, so I had already kind of decided to go ahead and get the $32 Pluto photo package this time and give her one of the pictures. Also, I found out I could use my Annual Pass for a discount on the photo package, which was good.

So we arrive at Goofy's bright and early on Sunday the 21st, and there is no Pluto yet. Instead, they shuffle us over to a photo spot which was the 'Oh, look, it's Tinkerbell in our hands' pose that we had already done 50,000 times with PhotoPass! They wanted us to pay $32 minus the AP discount for a pose that we had already been doing repeatedly in the parks, and which would be on my PhotoPass CD when I order it!?! Pluto hadn't even arrived at Goofy's yet! So I had to turn them down again. They almost had me - if only Pluto had been there at 7:00 a.m. when we arrived!

 

[Sherry E]

For sit-down I like Wine Country Trattoria. I love the Pizzeta Salad* - Romaine hearts, Roma tomatoes, smoked bacon, crumbled blue cheese, Kalamata olives with a creamy Italian dressing served on a warm pizzeta crust $9.99 which is basically a salad served on a warm pizza crust. My DM and I share this, and it's plenty.

Disneydaz - I am going to have to revisit Pizza Port and Plaza Inn. I have not been to either in years and years. Never had a problem with them, just found other places to eat. And one of these days, I have to try the Stage Door. I almost tried it when I had a few golden moments by myself in DLR last week on Monday, but I opted for Taste Pilots Grill, instead. TPG has a very tasty BBQ chicken sandwich which comes with lots of sauce and some very unusual but delicious fries on the side. And it is not too expensive.

I also like Wine Country Trattoria. Their meatball sandwiches are good and that pizzetta salad is ENORMOUS. Let us not downplay that! It was piled on my friend's plate - it was a tower of salad! That would have been a lot for even two people to share, let alone one person. She barely made a dent in it at all, it was so huge!

 

[Wingles]

We were lucky enough that we were there first thing but Pluto had arrived. He also held "flat Becky" which was a picture of my seven year old who was not with us on the trip.
The photopass girl was all excited and started saying I took your pictures yesterday at Pixie Hollow !! She had a good memory lol.

 

[Sherry E]

We were lucky enough that we were there first thing but Pluto had arrived. He also held "flat Becky" which was a picture of my seven year old who was not with us on the trip.
The photopass girl was all excited and started saying I took your pictures yesterday at Pixie Hollow !! She had a good memory lol.

That actually sounds like a really cute idea, though - "flat Becky"! I love that! That is clever! So even if the picture came out less than great overall, I think that is a very smart idea for a picture! At least you didn't get stuck with the Tinkerbell in the hand pose, which you could get 500 different versions of in DL , on a PhotoPass CD!

 

[Wingles]

Flat Becky got pictures with all the characters we could find lol.
Baloo tried to EAT her ROTFL

 

[Sherry E]

Flat Becky got pictures with all the characters we could find lol.
Baloo tried to EAT her ROTFL

Oh no! Poor Flat Becky! She was about to be eaten by a giant gray bear with wide hips!

Those characters crack me up - when they start gesturing and pointing, sometimes I have no clue what they are trying to 'say.' And they are probably thinking to themselves, "Oh, come on, how dumb can this person be?" Baloo came by our table and was pointing enthusiastically at something and giving a thumbs up. My plate of food? No. My coffee? No. My orange juice. Negative. My purse? Nope. I thought maybe it was the camera, but no. Finally my friend realized I had a banana sitting way off to the side of the table (I took it with me to eat later), and Baloo had seen that and was giving his nod of approval. My friend said, "Oh, he is pointing to the banana!" Then Baloo emphatically nodded his head and jumped up and down in place a couple of times and gave a big thumbs up.

I said, "Oh...okay...yay, banana! Yay for lots of potassium!"

 

[TiggerNZ]

Opps - sorry for the confusion, I was talking $50 New Zealand Dollars, not US dollars. They did take a picture with my camera which was as good as the other one, so I'll just print one of those out for .25c (NZ) and have that instead.

I didn't realise there was a 90min limit at Goofys - that may make it hard to dawdle. It was pretty quiet when we were there, and no-one seemed to rush us, even though we were there for a good 80 mins Guess when there are people queued up its diffferent!

We did have the waffles and pancakes, and I had the bacon on your suggestion....honestly my entire trip there I was thinking SherryE said to try this, or do this....and I did and it was fab! Thanks again so much for all your help. (Others too gave fab advice, sherrys just stuck in my head!!!)

Right - better run - last night with the folks tonight, I'll be back in NZ in another week or so and will catch up properly then, just dropping in now and then.

 

[Dokietoes]

The Cheesesteak Factory at the Gardenwalk has a great happy hour bar menu, as well as McCormick and Schmicks. I think CS happy hour runs like 4 to 6, and you can get a decent salad for $2.95 and an order of burger sliders (3) for $3.95. There are a number of other selections and the bar has plenty of tables...saw plenty of families partaking on our last trip.

 

[pixiewings71]

The Cheesesteak Factory at the Gardenwalk has a great happy hour bar menu, as well as McCormick and Schmicks. I think CS happy hour runs like 4 to 6, and you can get a decent salad for $2.95 and an order of burger sliders (3) for $3.95. There are a number of other selections and the bar has plenty of tables...saw plenty of families partaking on our last trip.

Sorry, it's the Cheesecake Factory not he Cheesesteak Factory. A cheesesteak does sound good tho!

 

[Dokietoes]

Sorry, it's the Cheesecake Factory not he Cheesesteak Factory. A cheesesteak does sound good tho!

What the halo was I thinking????? Anyway, fairly cheap eats.

 

[pixiewings71]

No worries, I just didn't want anyone running around looking for the Cheesesteak Factory by mistake.

 

[Lasty K]

I've eaten at the Cheesecake Factory in the Garden Walk once. The prices weren't bad at all. Just had some spaghetti and a drink lol.

 

[Sherry E]

Opps - sorry for the confusion, I was talking $50 New Zealand Dollars, not US dollars. They did take a picture with my camera which was as good as the other one, so I'll just print one of those out for .25c (NZ) and have that instead.

I didn't realise there was a 90min limit at Goofys - that may make it hard to dawdle. It was pretty quiet when we were there, and no-one seemed to rush us, even though we were there for a good 80 mins Guess when there are people queued up its diffferent!

We did have the waffles and pancakes, and I had the bacon on your suggestion....honestly my entire trip there I was thinking SherryE said to try this, or do this....and I did and it was fab! Thanks again so much for all your help. (Others too gave fab advice, sherrys just stuck in my head!!!)

Right - better run - last night with the folks tonight, I'll be back in NZ in another week or so and will catch up properly then, just dropping in now and then.

Actually, I don't think I was ever aware of what the exact Goofy's time limit was either, until this last trip when I had to make my PS, and the Disney Dining person told me that there was a 90-minute limit for some reason. That was the first time they had ever told me. She said there is a 90-minute limit for all the character meals, and that they usually don't enforce it strongly unless the restaurant is getting really crowded and they notice some folks have been dining a looooong time and they need the tables! I didn't realize how quickly the time passes, but I guess with all the character visits to the tables and multiple trips to the buffet stations, people could end up taking a long time without realizing it.

I am so glad you had a wonderful (but too short) DLR trip! I am glad my advice stuck in your head! You couldn't get rid of me and my two cents! Actually, I was at Goofy's the day after you were there (or maybe two days after - can't recall) and I thought of you as I passed various Mickey-shaped food at the buffet tables! When I passed the Mickey cobbler, I was thinking, "I wonder if TiggerNZ saw this." And when we walked by Dept. 56 in DTD (which is, sadly, closing soon), I was wondering if you had taken your son in there on the 20th, since your plan was to roam around DTD and look in shops. And also, after I grabbed my two gingerbread men with ears, I was hoping you had gotten one or two for you and your son!!

I look forward to your real Trip Report and photos when you get home and settled in. I posted all the pictures from my trip as well as the new TR starting on Page 7 of the exisitng Trip Report, so check it out!!