Dining which to avoid

[sweethannah]

We don't eat a lot of big meals in Disneyland, mostly counter service.

We actually enjoyed the burgers from Tomorrowland Terrace. We enjoy Bengal BBQ but it is pricey. We get some skewers, a cheese filled pretzel and a pickle from the nearby Tropical Imports and a Dole whip or two for dessert. We share everything... again, we aren't huge eaters and our lunch is generally very snacky.

I think our favourite place last time was the Paradise Garden Grill. Nice location, lots of seating, music and the food was very good. We again shared a couple of plates between the 3 of us and thought it was good food for a decent ( disney ) price. And they sell beer! Not a priority for some but on a hot day it was blissful to sit back and enjoy a nice day, nice food and a good beer! We walked around with our plastic cups over to Carsland and we were approached several times by adults asking 'where did you get the beer!' with a wistful tone to their voice.... usually with an overlay of Australian accent

And of course a turkey leg.

I was not impressed with the Chinese place on the Pier side and I spent too much time waiting in line at the Mexican place and ended up leaving. The service was very slow for what should been a busy time ( an hour before WoC ) and they definitely needed more staff.

 

[23bw]

Naples was a big let down. First night of our trip too. If we didn't have one of those $30 off coupons, I'd have been very disappointed. The place smelled good and pizza looked great but was pretty blah. Bland and boring crust and sauce. The sausage was on the spicy side which the kids did not like at all. The salads and service was fine but how hard is it to make a decent pizza? It's not.

Agree with Naples. I enjoy good food but never too picky about what I eat. The only time I ever felt ripped off eating at DLR was the couter service side of Naples. Our family of 4 just wanted a light meal. Two slice of pizza, a salad or two, drinks cost around $40. The pizza was tasteless, the salad I could finish in 2 bites. Disgusted after that meal, we walked over to Storyteller's Cafe for a top off.

 

[tdhickey]

Disney has trouble with burgers, nuggets, coffee and pizza (they turfed the only good pizza place - oom Mow mow). However, they do americanized ethinic food well, their sandwiches, soups, salads, hotdogs (not the carts) and other food items are great too. Here is my overall food reviews for Disneyland and area:

DCA - never really had bad food from anywhere here, eaten at all restaurants except the Carthay Circle one and they are all quite good in their own way, even the World of Color lunches are nice.

Disneyland - our "avoid" places have always been Village Haus, Tomorrowland Terrace, Pizza Port, Stage Door Cafe and Toontown (in general). I am going to try the new menu at Village Haus next trip to see if it has improved, I did this with Hungry Bear and found it to be great.

Outside the park - Mimi's is oddly good, Jazz kitchen in DT disney has a nice breakfast counter. McDonalds makes a cheap snack and you know what you are getting. Otherwise I would say avoid everything else including DT disney which are very is crowded and overpriced. La Brea bakery is like the plight of the planet, wait 30 min for a pastry or two and pay $20 for it. I seriously ordered two breakfast sandwhiches, two smoothies, a coffee, a muffin and a banana loaf and I think it cost over $60 and took 45 min to wait in line.

Food carts - most are terrible, especially the hot dog carts, but the turkey legs are fun to try at least once and the frozen apple-juice is refreshing in bugs land.

Sit down table service - bring your wallet and your appetite. A meal for a family of 4 at Blue Bayou will cost you $120 (cheaper if you have an annual pass) but it is such a good meal and experience you should do it once. The Ranch all you can eat is awesome and filling.

Character Dining - The character breakfasts are basically rated opposite to the character experience. The better the characters, the worse the food. Goofy's kitchen, the in the park character breakfast have terrible food but great character interaction. PCH grill and the Grand Californian character breakfast have medium to poor character experiences but decent food. The Princess one at Ariel's bucks the trend, the food is great and the character interactions is quite good if you have a little princess with you.

Dessert - Ghiradelli's...best dessert place on the planet! I stopped going to Coldstone after discovering this place. Pooh's corner has nice treats too.

 

[darcie2000]

A quick question for those of you who have eaten at Blue Bayou.

Do you get free drink refills or do you pay per drink? Also does anyone know how much a soda costs?

Thanks in advance

 

[Goofy_Mom]

I'm a fan of Cafe Orleans, but the kids don't care for it. There isn't much on the kids menu that they like. And what they would normally eat (mac & cheese) tasted off. We've learned that if we all want to eat there, we go at an off time and eat appitizers and dessert (pomme frites and bengets).

Not a fan of TLT either, always large lines with slow service and the food is just blah.

We avoid Rainforest like the plague. Horrible serive and the food was barely on par with applebees for double the price. The only cool thing was the ambiance.

 

[pixiewings71]

A quick question for those of you who have eaten at Blue Bayou.

Do you get free drink refills or do you pay per drink? Also does anyone know how much a soda costs?

Thanks in advance

You get refills, I believe they are around $2.50-3.00 each but that might be wrong.

I'm a fan of Cafe Orleans, but the kids don't care for it. There isn't much on the kids menu that they like. And what they would normally eat (mac & cheese) tasted off. We've learned that if we all want to eat there, we go at an off time and eat appitizers and dessert (pomme frites and bengets).

Not a fan of TLT either, always large lines with slow service and the food is just blah.

We avoid Rainforest like the plague. Horrible serive and the food was barely on par with applebees for double the price. The only cool thing was the ambiance.

My kids get the pasta off the kids menu, they get double the portion and split it, it's the one that comes with the chicken breast. Plenty of food.