Dining Questions/Help

[KatieKepic]

We are WDW regulars but this will only be our 2nd time at DL. We’re a family of 4 and our kids will be 11 & 13 this trip. We went in 2018 before our cruise but only did the Halloween party. This time we booked last minute (3 weeks out) and obviously can’t get party tickets but have 3 day tickets (2 days at DL and 1 at DCA). I’ve been scrounging for dining reservations and have some questions:

1. We land at LGB at 4:10 PM on a Thursday. We currently have a reservation at Jazz Kitchen for 7:15. We will have checked bags, we’re using a car service (Lansky’s) and staying at the Courtyard-Convention Center. We do have an alert set and are hoping to pick up a later reservation but if we can’t, would we be able to make this provided our flight is on time?
2. Café Orleans (lunch) or River Belle Terrace (dinner)? Or is there somewhere else we should try to get a reservation for? We have Blue Bayou on our 2nd DL day and an Oga’s on both days.
3. Wine Country Trattoria (12:30 lunch) or Carthay Circle (7:40 dinner) or should we keep both?
4. We love character meals but with only 3 parks days, I’m not sure we should limit to one or do two. Should we do the Minnie Breakfast at Plaza Inn (8:00 AM 1st DL day) and Goofy’s Kitchen (11:10 AM 2nd DL day) or pick one? We did Storytellers last time and wanted to try something new.
5. Does Ballast Point take reservations? We’re considering this instead of Jazz Kitchen on our first night.
6. Any other restaurants we should look at? We’re not QS people and prefer to have a reservation for at least one sit down meal a day.

 

[monkeypat83]

1. I think you will be okay but I will let someone who has more experience at LGB weight in on this
2. I would keep Cafe Orleans or try for Carnation Cafe (for lunch or dinner) if you can also. If the reservations were far enough apart to be hungry again and you like sit down I would be tempted to do both.
3. I would do Carthay Circle since it feels more special than Wine Country Trattoria but just keep in mind Carthay Circle often is a long meal since it is fine dining.
4. Goofy's Kitchen in the middle of the day takes too much time away from the park and Minnie at 8 AM takes away from the best time to ride things so neither is great. I would try to stalk reservations for a later time for Minnie if at all possible if you really want to do a character meal.
5. They do (or used to) but you have to do it through Open Table not the Disney site.

 

[KatieKepic]

1. I think you will be okay but I will let someone who has more experience at LGB weight in on this
2. I would keep Cafe Orleans or try for Carnation Cafe (for lunch or dinner) if you can also. If the reservations were far enough apart to be hungry again and you like sit down I would be tempted to do both.
3. I would do Carthay Circle since it feels more special than Wine Country Trattoria but just keep in mind Carthay Circle often is a long meal since it is fine dining.
4. Goofy's Kitchen in the middle of the day takes too much time away from the park and Minnie at 8 AM takes away from the best time to ride things so neither is great. I would try to stalk reservations for a later time for Minnie if at all possible if you really want to do a character meal.
5. They do (or used to) but you have to do it through Open Table not the Disney site.

Thank you!!

I will add Carnation Café to the alerts. The Café Orleans is currently at 2:50 but I kept the alert to see if anything else becomes available.

That's good to know on the timing with Carthay's. If we decide to do that one, I'll make sure my 13 year old has something to keep himself entertained.

We will go ahead and cancel Goofy's and keep trying for a later Minnie's.

 

[lalasmama]

LGB lands 4:10.
Off plane 4:20.
Bags 4:30. (I've had my bags on the carousel 10 minutes after deplaning, and on an especially slow day, 30 minutes. Ugh.)
Lansky let's say 4:45. That will account for a slow bag day, getting things loaded.

The drive can take 30 minutes to an hour. It will be rush hour, so I'd plan an hour. So, you're somewhere 5:45.

Hotel check in 6:00.
Room by 6:15.

Easily, you can be at the parks by your 7:15 ressie!

I know you said that you aren't really CS people, but I'd really reconsider. CS at DLR is much better than WDW imo. There's a lot more variety, and not so much "fast food." Anyway, just something to think about. It's 60+ minutes for each meal, so it really adds up, especially when you're here just 3 days in the parks.

 

[UnpokemonMom]

If you can get a reservation, I actually think that Lamplight Lounge might be more fun for your kids than WCT or CC. More informal, but it's still sit down.

 

[KatieKepic]

LGB lands 4:10.
Off plane 4:20.
Bags 4:30. (I've had my bags on the carousel 10 minutes after deplaning, and on an especially slow day, 30 minutes. Ugh.)
Lansky let's say 4:45. That will account for a slow bag day, getting things loaded.

The drive can take 30 minutes to an hour. It will be rush hour, so I'd plan an hour. So, you're somewhere 5:45.

Hotel check in 6:00.
Room by 6:15.

Easily, you can be at the parks by your 7:15 ressie!

I know you said that you aren't really CS people, but I'd really reconsider. CS at DLR is much better than WDW imo. There's a lot more variety, and not so much "fast food." Anyway, just something to think about. It's 60+ minutes for each meal, so it really adds up, especially when you're here just 3 days in the parks.

Perfect, thank you!! And the sit down meal is as much about the break for us as it is the food!

 

[KatieKepic]

If you can get a reservation, I actually think that Lamplight Lounge might be more fun for your kids than WCT or CC. More informal, but it's still sit down.

Thanks! I will add LL to the alert list.

 

[BriannaRuth]

I agree about WCT and CC not being all that enjoyable for some kids. I've never been to LL but neither of my kids really enjoyed CC when they were your kids' age, and both of them are/were regular restaurant-goers. WCT they liked more, but just looking at LL, I think they'd like it better.

And I may be in the minority here, but neither my husband nor I were fans of CC. Yes, the food was very good and yes, the ambience was very nice. I'm a big art deco fan and it's got a lot of art deco styling. But it's still a Disney restaurant inside the park with all the baggage that comes with that (tired kids not on their best behavior, etc.) and at this price point, I didn't think it was worth it. If we want fine dining, we skip CC and do Napa Rose at the GCH. Food is better and the ambiance is more relaxing, with fewer misbehaving kids. We did enjoy having a cocktail in their lobby/bar area (sent the kids on a ride, no kids allowed), although I'm not sure that's open right now.

 

[Tracy Kilbride]

I would consider Goofy's Kitchen for dinner on you arrival day

 

[l4dyj8]

Since you are not staying on property, I'd leave out Goofy's Kitchen... as it is out of the way. At least with the Downtown Disney locations, you are still within security. Or as others mentioned, start your trip with it. But I wouldn't do mid day / mid-trip.

I'd look at the menus between Cathay, Lamplight and Wine Country Trattoria and see if they even interests your kids. And do you need variety. It's more or less the same but each one may offer a different level of service. (I haven't been to Napa Rose yet but Carthay was always a pleasant experience.) We usually always do table service and we have young kids (5 and 11) that are used to restaurants. Lamplight is a great setting that can entertain kids even if they don't care for the food. (It's good... just more burgers and Mac & Cheese. But fun Mocktails.) Wine Country is my least favorite but it's fine. It's in the middle of the action.

(2) Café Orleans (lunch) or River Belle Terrace (dinner)? We usually do Café Orleans. But now that River Belle Terrace added more umbrellas, it's nice too. But Café Orleans is in the shady part of New Orleans Sq and has Beignets
(3) Wine Country Trattoria (12:30 lunch) or Carthay Circle (7:40 dinner) or should we keep both? I'd keep Carthay. But you can easily do a light/shared meal at WCT. Or as suggested try to get Lamplight.
(4) Character Meals: My vote is Minnie's for breakfast
(5) Ballast or Jazz? I'd keep the Jazz Kitchen res as it's fun location and great service. Ballast is just your usual beer/family friendly place. I find it friendly but busy and rushed. In my opinion, don't really plan on returning as it didn't offer anything special.

 

[KatieKepic]

I agree about WCT and CC not being all that enjoyable for some kids. I've never been to LL but neither of my kids really enjoyed CC when they were your kids' age, and both of them are/were regular restaurant-goers. WCT they liked more, but just looking at LL, I think they'd like it better.

And I may be in the minority here, but neither my husband nor I were not fans of CC. Yes, the food was very good and yes, the ambience was very nice. I'm a big art deco fan and it's got a lot of art deco styling. But it's still a Disney restaurant inside the park with all the baggage that comes with that (tired kids not on their best behavior, etc.) and at this price point, I didn't think it was worth it. If we want fine dining, we skip CC and do Napa Rose at the GCH. Food is better and the ambiance is more relaxing, with fewer misbehaving kids. We did enjoy having a cocktail in their lobby/bar area (sent the kids on a ride, no kids allowed), although I'm not sure that's open right now.

Thank you! I appreciate the advice. I'm hoping we can get LL and if not, I'll probably keep WCT. We love the signatures at WDW (Cali Grill, Toppolino's, Narcoossee's) but it sounds like they may not be the way to go at DL.

 

[KatieKepic]

I would consider Goofy's Kitchen for dinner on you arrival day

That's a good idea! I'll see if they have a reservation that will work with our flight time, thank you!

 

[KatieKepic]

Since you are not staying on property, I'd leave out Goofy's Kitchen... as it is out of the way. At least with the Downtown Disney locations, you are still within security. Or as others mentioned, start your trip with it. But I wouldn't do mid day / mid-trip.

I'd look at the menus between Cathay, Lamplight and Wine Country Trattoria and see if they even interests your kids. And do you need variety. It's more or less the same but each one may offer a different level of service. (I haven't been to Napa Rose yet but Carthay was always a pleasant experience.) We usually always do table service and we have young kids (5 and 11) that are used to restaurants. Lamplight is a great setting that can entertain kids even if they don't care for the food. (It's good... just more burgers and Mac & Cheese. But fun Mocktails.) Wine Country is my least favorite but it's fine. It's in the middle of the action.

(2) Café Orleans (lunch) or River Belle Terrace (dinner)? We usually do Café Orleans. But now that River Belle Terrace added more umbrellas, it's nice too. But Café Orleans is in the shady part of New Orleans Sq and has Beignets
(3) Wine Country Trattoria (12:30 lunch) or Carthay Circle (7:40 dinner) or should we keep both? I'd keep Carthay. But you can easily do a light/shared meal at WCT. Or as suggested try to get Lamplight.
(4) Character Meals: My vote is Minnie's for breakfast
(5) Ballast or Jazz? I'd keep the Jazz Kitchen res as it's fun location and great service. Ballast is just your usual beer/family friendly place. I find it friendly but busy and rushed. In my opinion, don't really plan on returning as it didn't offer anything special.

Thank you! I appreciate the help & advice. I've ruled out Goofy's for breakfast after everyone's feedback. My daughter will eat anything and has never been a kids meal type of child so I'm not worried about her. My son is autistic and a very finicky eater but we can usually find something for him and if not get his a snack/meal before we go. I'm hoping we can get LL We're going to do Minnie's but I'm hoping we might be able to get a later time. I received an alert for a 9:40 AM yesterday but didn't get to it quick enough.

Both kids love beignets so that's definitely a pro in the Café Orleans column We did Jazz Kitchen last trip and loved it. I was disappointed to see the bananas foster isn't on their menu anymore though.