First meal
Backing up just a little, we did a lot of research before our arrival on the Disneyland website. They have a menu for just about every Disneyland restaurant. It's a great resource, especially if you have dietary restrictions. You can see which restaurants you are most likely to be able to eat at, and it helps in planning.
We decided to eat in Tomorrowland. The chicken sandwich at Tomorrowland Terrace has been a hit with my sister in the past, so we started there. We asked a cast member for a chef, who came out to speak with us. They didn't have a bun that was safe for her, but the chicken and French fries were OK (this was a running theme for our 5 days). We took her meal over to Redd Rockett's Pizza Port where I got a gluten-free pizza. I was told it would take 5 - 7 minutes, but I'm pretty sure it was a little quicker. Again, that was a big hit with me in the past and it was again. I saw a really nice snowflake Rice Krispy treat there, but I waited to get one elsewhere (these are not dairy-free and some say they aren't gluten-free either, but I've never reacted to them). Oh - we also got 20% off shopping coupons attached to our receipts (we made good use of these!).
We spent the rest of the afternoon on Buzz Lightyear's Astro Blasters (I beat my sister), Autopia (a big favorite of ours), Mickey's Toontown, Pinocchio's Daring Journey, and Pirates of the Caribbean. We wanted to go on "it's a small world holiday", but the line was too long. We left Pirates around 5:30, and was amazed that it was already dark! And a lot colder. So, we went back to Tomorrowland and patiently waited for the next available Monorail front to be open. So, we took Monorail Orange to Downtown Disney, and got our jackets at our hotel. We got to see Olaf's Ice Skating Rink open - we may have done this if they had lessons or something for those of us who have not yet reached beginner's level. Anyway, we took a quick break in our room and went back to Disneyland for dinner and the rest of the evening.
Dinner and First Night
It hadn't been very crowded in the afternoon, so I was surprised at how crowded it was now. In fact, both the Plaza Inn and Jolly Holiday Cafe had a long line out the door (maybe it was because of the parade and fireworks). So, our next attempt at dinner was at the River Belle Terrace, another hit from the past. But, here we hit a bump in the road. It seemed like I'd be able to eat there, but my sister would not (she wanted their barbecue pork but it had some dairy in the sauce). That was a little disappointing, so we decided to just head to Main Street and wait for the fireworks. Tonight they were at 7:40, and it was a really nice show (and my favorite Mickey-shaped firework!). We loved the snowfall after it, and it was nice that it was actually cold that night! But, now we really had to have dinner. The line for the Jolly Holiday Cafe was much shorter now, so we tried to eat there. Here, the chef spoke to us over the counter where you order, but he was very nice and helpful. We both got turkey sandwiches, mine on a gluten-free bun and my sister's on sourdough. We also both got very good homemade (I presume) chips as a side. The order took about 10 minutes at most. This was a really good meal.
We had about an hour and a half before the park would close at 10:00 that night, and we went on the Indiana Jones Adventure (another huge favorite of ours), and our first time on Haunted Mansion Holiday. We are one of the few people who have not seen "The Nightmare Before Christmas", so we really didn't know what was going on. I knew going in that it would be a little weird, but it was really weird. (Leshaface - I'm sure this is a favorite of yours.) We got off after 10:00, and looked at some of the Main Street shops. We saw fresh peppermint bark at the Candy Palace and should have gotten it since we didn't see it again. We also looked in the World of Disney and didn't see a whole lot that interested us. We were back at our room around 11:30.
Up next - California Adventure and Cars Land!
