Help Me Out On Some Food Questions

[lugnut33]

Give you a little background about our upcoming stay.

Who: Me and my two girls ages 12 & 9 (mom has to work)
When: Mon. thru Sat at the end of April
Where: Staying at The Carousel Inn

We got the five for three special. Currently have no dining selected, but am trying to figure out the best way to eat at DL.

I know I want to have atleast one character meal. Preferably a lunch or dinner. Remember, the park hours will be short during the week, so we can't waste a ton of time eating. Which buffet has the best food for the best price, of course opinions will vary but I'd like to hear them.

I want to run down the street to the 7-11 the first night and get us snacks and drinks. I believe the 7-11 is right around the corner about 3-4 blocks away??

Mornings will be something very light before we head into the parks to get us through until around 11:30.

Counter service for lunch is what I'm thinking because I don't want to waste time. Of course, to save money we can run out to our hotel and eat at the restaurants close by, McDonads, Mimi's (I think that was the name), Quiznos, and I think there might a couple of others. I really feel like this should be the big meal for the day.

Dinner I'm kinda up in the air about. I'm not sure how to attack it with the short park hours. I'm 99% sure the park hours will be short because that's traditionally what it has been for the week we are going. Probably best to just play it by ear.

One big question i have is whether the dining plan DL offers is worth it? For the 5 days we are there I could add on a 2 or 3 day dining package, but the website just doesn't do a good job of explaining it. I don't reallly know what is included with it. I can't even figure out if character dining is included. For those that have done the dining plan at DL is it a good option? Will work out to arout $50 per day per adult, and less for the 9 year old. I know Goofy's is really expensive, but I doubt that is included on the dining plan.

Can I get some help out there on what your DL experts have done in the past?

This post turned out way longer than I wanted it to.

 

[3Minnies1Mickey]

1) Character meals
If you are looking for lunch or dinner, you are limited to Ariels of lunch or dinner, or Goofy's for dinner (after 5).

2) Dining plan
Not worth it at disneyland.

 

[Disney Dreams]

Hi,

I am a DL local, so I eat differently at the Resort than a tourist would, but I wanted to offer a thought that might help in your planning.

The continuing theme I got from your post is that you don't want "meal time" to pull from doing / seeing / enjoying. I think this is an erroneous way to view meals and eating at DLR.

If the girls (and you) want to go to a character meal (which you stated you do), then it is not wasting "a ton of time eating," but rather enjoying a character meal as part of your vacation to Disneyland.

Try not to see special dining experiences as taking time out off your Disneyland time, but rather PART of your Disneyland time. If you all have a great time, it's part of the memories from your vacation after the fact.

I hope this makes sense and helps in how you plan your vacation.

- Dreams

 

[tink2dw]

If you want pre-paid food then the Disneyland food plan is okay. But it differently not the WDW food plan. There coupons that help with food. Your hotel is very near Mcdonalds, about a block. Also there is a Market on Harbor near Katella. Does your hotel have a contenenal breakfast? Some have milk and orange juice and fruit.

Coupons you can print as many as you need!!
http://www.anaheimoc.org/Articles/Archive/Webpage10153.asp

 

[VictoriaAndMatt]

For character meals Goofy's is by far our favorite. We prefer the breakfast but lunch/dinner is good too. If you go for breakfast you can get an early reservation before the park opens so you don't have to use any park time.

The dining plan at Disneyland is IMO not worth it. It's different than at WDW. You are just trading your money for vouchers and you do not get any change back. So if your meal was 45 and you gave them $50 worth of vouchers you wouldn't get anything back.

There are quite a few meal threads around that you might be interested in... one with quite a few pictures. You can find menus for pretty much every food service place in DL, DCA, and DTD. Planning our meals is one of my favorite parts of the planning process. LOL You can get a good idea of a food budget that way.

Have fun and happy planning!

 

[SeattleTink]

For what it is worth, I stayed at The Carousel and they have continental breakfast....it isn't fancy, but it does the job.

They have cereal (raisin bran, cheerios, rice krispies and oatmeal), milk, sweet rolls and donuts (cheaper kind you get from a grocery store), apples, and oranges. They also had white and wheat breat to toast with butter and jelly.

They also had breakfast burritos to buy for $2 that were from Quiznos

Also to drink there was OJ, AJ, milk, coffee and tea.

Like I said, it isn't fancy...but all I need is bowl of cereal and a piece of toast and I am good to go til lunch.

Have a fun trip!

 

[disney4metoo]

Do not get the Dining Plan at DL. It is not like WDW and you can do much better paying cash on your own.

Are you renting a car? There is plenty of fast food restaurants on Harbor Ave that you can drive or walk to. Plenty of CS choices in the park, huge turkey legs (DL), great corn dogs & fries (DCA Farmer's Market), Chicken Strips at the Golden Horseshoe (DL), etc.

 

[lugnut33]

Thanks for the heads up on the Conti breakfast Seattletink.

Also, glad to hear that I should stay away from the dining plan.

We have been to DL several times and one time we had a car to drive around in and go get food. This time no car, just our feet.

Last time we were at DL we actually got a last minute ressie to eat at Goofy's, but once we got there and heard the price we balked. It was way too expensive. The cast member was gracious about it and offered us an on the spot discount (I think it was like 10%), but it was still over $150 for the 4 of us.

Is Goofy's really worth it? If I pay that much I'm expecting really really good food and exceptional service.

 

[VictoriaAndMatt]

Honestly, all the character meals are overpriced in my opinion. You are really paying for the interaction not the food. We've done Goofy's dinner and breakfast, Ariel's twice, and Minnie's at the Plaza Inn. Goofy's an all you can eat buffet style and the food is good but not phenomenal or anything. Plaza is a walk up style like the Pizza Port... it's similar to Goofy's except someone behind the counter hands you whatever food you want. Ariel's is sit down table service and the most expensive. This last time we went the food was really good. I loved my husband's tri-tip. However, the character interaction for us was better at Goofy's and we just enjoy it more there.

 

[azdisneylover]

The White Water Snacks in GC have great nachos and other good eats for a decent price. You can pop in, eat, and get right back into DCA!
Have you thought about bringing some food to have for breakfast/dinner in your room? I think you will have a microwave to heat meals up, and there's a fridge. It's a thought.

 

[LavenderPeach]

If you feel like your time is limited and don't want to "waste" too much time eating then I would suggest not leaving the park to grab food at mimi's or wherever. Even though the outside restaurants aren't terribly far away, it would still take awhile to walk out the gates and down the street, order and eat your food and then have to go through security and wait in line at the gates to get back in. Once I'm there I don't want to leave but maybe that's just me.

IMO, there are several CS restaurants at DLR that you can get a meal at for not too much money, especially if you can share the food. I would rather spend a little more and eat inside DLR instead of using up park time to go elsewhere. Also, getting CS meals at DLR is often cheaper than going to a sit-down restaurant outside the park since you have to pay tip. And to me, it seems like it would sort of take away from the experience of being there to have to leave DLR to go to a restaurant in the "real" world.