First trip to Disneyland questions

[WDWINJUNE!]

We (dd and I) are going to DL for 3 days. I want to make some PS reservations but can't decide where we want to eat. Looking for any suggestions or favorite meals, etc. Also, I will be celebrating my birthday and looking for somewhere to have lunch or dinner.

Has anyone included the disney dining plan with their package? How does this work? Thanks for any help

Laura

 

[disneychrista]

If you are looking to do a Character meal, I suggest Goofy's Kitchen.

 

[disneefamily]

Disnee Dad Says......................................We don't do the food plans, so I can't help you there. There are many great places to eat, but I would strongly suggest the Blue Bayou! It is inside the Pirates of the Carribean ride. Oh, BTW the Disneyland version of POtC is vastly superior to WDW, at least 50% longer.
If you get a river table you can see the people going off to start the ride. It is a little dark, but very romantic. Went in 1987 with new girlfriend and my childhood friend and his girlfriend. I was treating for dinner and I picked this place. He said I couldn't afford it and stormed off!!! New girlfriend stuck around, had a great meal and a year later became DW!!! She's not on the boards too much, but if you see "tinkymom" posting it is her.

 

[LuvTigger]

Ditto on Blue Bayou!

I was in DL for 4 days in October 2001, and boy did we eat!!! There are so many wonderful choices. Some of my favorites:

Storyteller's Cafe in the Grand Californian -- we ate the breakfast buffet and dinner off the menu. They also have a dinner buffet which looked wonderful, but we weren't hungry enough. EVERYTHING was great. The quality of the food was very good, and the atmosphere nice, but casual enough to wear jeans or whatever you wore to the park.

Naples in Downtown Disney -- we ate lunch here. Again, the food was terrific. This is an Italian place, and the food was just plain yummy. The portions were quite large too. BF and I shared a salad, he had a pizza and I had lasagna. BF only ate half his pizza and he was full. I ate most of my lasagna, but only because it was so good! I think if we each had a full salad and shared an entree it would've been perfect.

La Brea Bakery in DD -- we ate a quick breakfast here, but it was memorable. You order at the counter and take your food outside. BF ordered a couple of pastries, and I had the lox and bagels which were awesome! Again, we probably could've just bought an extra bagel and shared, the salmon portion was huge.

If you're looking for more of a fine-dining experience, Napa Rose at GC looked great. We didn't get a chance to go there, but the menu looked wonderful, and we took a tour of GC which included Napa Rose, and it was beautiful.

Hook's Pointe in Disneyland Hotel -- Another great dinner, and a little more on the fine-dining end.

 

[WDWINJUNE!]

Thanks for all the wonderful suggestions. I'm getting soo hungry just reading it

We also are staying at the Paradise Pier Hotel. Does anyone have any comments they want to share. I'm wondering if we will be able to upgrade to a themepark view. That would be a great B-day present! Only 12 more days

Thanks again!
Laura

 

[IandGsmom]

We tried the Disney Dining Plan for the first time last month and I loved it. We were there for 5 day and purchased the 4 Day meal plan since we planned to eat all our meals in DL, DCA or the hotels. You get vouchers for preset limits example a snack voucher is $5.25. You will not get any change so you it well. They also let us use the vouchers for whatever, even if it said on the voucher child meal or snack, we could use it towards any food adult, child or snack. Its just like cash. I hope this makes sense. If you have any other questions fire away. The biggest reason why we got this was because I wanted to budget in food before we went and not carry around so much cash.
We also did not have a rental car this time to travel to cheaper but not nessesarily better food beyond DL. In the Disneyland Trip Report I have listed what we spent on some places to eat if you want an idea of how much to bring.

 

[WDWINJUNE!]

IandGsmom~ Thanks for the reply. I was also wanting to cut down on the amount of cash I bring and that is why I wanted to do the dining plan. But I've already purchased my package, I wonder if I can still add it on?

I went back and read your trip report. I'm glad to hear you enjoyed your meal at Avalon Cove. Just curious, but what did you have? I was thinking about having one of our meals here, DD would love this

Thanks again for the info!

Laura

 

[IandGsmom]

My husband and I both had the salmon and I thought it was good. They boys had chicken strips I believe and fries that came in a beach bucket that they got to take home. It was a bit chilly but we ate outside since the wait for inside was long. The characters all came along to the tables and then the kids joined them for a conga line. I think they have the same menu for lunch but with cheaper prices so check that out. We went to dinner because I wanted to see all of Paradise Pier with the lights on; I think it’s beautiful at night.
I am sure you can add things on to your package. I have gone through Disney Travel Co many times and have found them very accommodating, even when I had to postpone our trip last year by a couple months.