I have traveled to WDW 79 times, but I need help with a trip to DL

[Sherry E]

I would second this for the BB but also say I have easily gotten reservations during busy summer days a week or two in advance. So even though it may be required that does not mean the ressies fill up quickly.
Agree again, but you can usually do this easily a week ahead of time. In fact last summer I had a res at RFC and wanted to bump it back an hour the day before with a group of 8 and it was no problem. So if you like RFC make a res. In fact make multiple ones and cancel the ones you do not use. I made four of them a week out because I was not sure when we would have time to get over there and then I cancelled the other 3 a day or two before.

Exactly. Thanks for clarifying that. Make reservations for those places I mentioned (as opposed to not making them), but one or two weeks in advance is fine. Of course, if you know exactly where you are going to eat 60 or 30 days in advance, and at what times you'd like to eat, may as well make the reservations, but if you don't know until a couple of weeks before the trip, it shouldn't be a problem.

 

[glavine47]

Now that I have gone to WDW twice and spent lots of time on WDW forums, I better understand the WDW mindset about dining. At WDW it is part of the resort experience for many people and the many creative options at WDW reinforce this.

DLR has grown up as a locals resort and still 70% of visitors are locals - many on day trips. So the mindset is "dining is something we should do quickly so we can go do some more rides". In other words DLR vets do not see dining the same way WDW vets do. DLR has less variety and is less creative than WDW dining.

With that said, I have found on recent trips that I am bringing some of the WDW perspective to DLR and now see dining at DLR in a different way.

Regardless, most DLR vets do not. They do not make reservations at table service restaurants and usually can still get in to eat at all the best dining venues on short notice.

If you make reservations 60 days out you will be way ahead of the game. I do that myself now out of an abundance of caution, but just letting you know it is usually not necessary.

Bottom line is you do not need to do the crazy 180 days out ADRs like WDW because there is a different mindset at DLR.

HydroGuy,
You are right , I am brining the WDW perspective about dining.
I just know at WDW, if you do not ADR's, you miss the great places to dine. Thank you for the great insight.

 

[glavine47]

By the way, OP, in my first post I suggested Rodeo Drive and Beverly Hills, as well as The Grove and Farmers Market up in L.A., for extra Christmas magic (though nowhere near as magical as DLR, but at night, still beautiful). I live about 3 minutes down the street from Farmers Market/The Grove in one direction (this is also the area where LACMA and the Tar Pits are located, is and pretty close to Sunset Blvd. and Hollywood Blvd.) and I'm about 4 minutes up the street from Beverly Hills in another direction. I can tell you that, on a day with no traffic - or at least reasonable traffic - and depending on how fast you drive, you can get from DLR to my area of town in 40-45 minutes. Same thing on the way back to DLR from this area of town. But if you drive more slowly or if you run into traffic, it can double to 90 minutes or more.

The PP is right about the traffic during the holidays - it is crazy, especially right in the weeks leading up to and right after Christmas!

I don't know how long your trip to SoCal will be, but if you have lots of time, I can suggest other places to eat and things to do in general (not necessarily Christmasy) in L.A. or up this way, but if your time is very limited, I almost tend to think you should just stick with DLR and enjoy all there is to enjoy there.

I agree that the Long Beach area of town is nice, and the Queen Mary and Aquarium are great to visit if you have time. Also, Shoreline Village is a lovely little place to stroll around and eat lunch. Plus, Long Beach is home to the Catalina Express, which takes you over to Catalina Island - my 'other' favorite place to be in Southern California!!

As far as making dining reservations at DLR, while it is not as necessary as it is for WDW dining, you need to make reservations if you eat at the Blue Bayou - they require it there 99% of the time. It is not necessary to make reservations for the character meals, but it is highly recommended, as those can get very busy and the waits to be seated very long. I would also highly recommend making a reservation for Carnation Cafe - a lovely place to eat along Main Street with very limited seating, and the wait for a table can be very long. Also, I would suggest making a reservation for ESPN Zone and Rainforest Cafe - I have waited for an hour to be seated at both of those places without a reservation.

Sherry E,
Thank you again for this useful info. You are just a fountain of great knowledge. We will be staying for 10 days. We are going to buy the citypass. My only set plans are DL on my birthday Dec. 22 and end our trip with 2 more days a DL. The dining you have mentioned is great. Carnation Cafe is a place I will check out. We have eaten at both ESPN Zone and Rainforest Cafe at WDW. I have a safari card for Rainforest Cafe, which gets us front of the line access. Atleast, I hope they offer that in Downtown Disney.

 

[glavine47]

Exactly. Thanks for clarifying that. Make reservations for those places I mentioned (as opposed to not making them), but one or two weeks in advance is fine. Of course, if you know exactly where you are going to eat 60 or 30 days in advance, and at what times you'd like to eat, may as well make the reservations, but if you don't know until a couple of weeks before the trip, it shouldn't be a problem.

Sherry E,
Like HydroGuy has suggested, I have the WDW dining mindset. I already have a outline for our dining and it is 279 days till our trip. I am the planner in our family and I try to stay ahead of others.

 

[franandaj]

DLR is nowhere near as cut throat as WDW for ADRs, but you should definitely make them because it will streamline your trip. Some weekends I have been there and the wait for any restaurant on a walk up is 2 hours. By the same token, we will wake up some mornings craving a Monte Cristo. We call Disney Dining and make a PS for mid afternoon at Cafe Orleans and we are seated within 10-15 minutes while the walk up customers wait 20-30 minutes.

Really popular restaurants like the Blue Bayou you need to make your reservations in advance, but some are easily made as late as the day before or day of.

 

[Sherry E]

Sherry E,
Thank you again for this useful info. You are just a fountain of great knowledge. We will be staying for 10 days. We are going to buy the citypass. My only set plans are DL on my birthday Dec. 22 and end our trip with 2 more days a DL. The dining you have mentioned is great. Carnation Cafe is a place I will check out. We have eaten at both ESPN Zone and Rainforest Cafe at WDW. I have a safari card for Rainforest Cafe, which gets us front of the line access. Atleast, I hope they offer that in Downtown Disney.

Sherry E,
Like HydroGuy has suggested, I have the WDW dining mindset. I already have a outline for our dining and it is 279 days till our trip. I am the planner in our family and I try to stay ahead of others.

Again, you are very welcome! I am more than happy to help and share the fountain of knowledge!

I don't blame you for having the planning mindset - I am a planner too (much to the frustration of my friends!), and I am also probably one of the few "locals" (meaning lifelong SoCal residents and DLR vets/visitors) that counts the dining as an important part of my trips. I didn't care that much about it prior to 1992 or so, but now I like to plan where we are going to eat, if at all possible. I enjoy the meals at DLR as part of the overall experience. So there will always be a character meal involved (usually Goofy's Kitchen), and we generally like to eat at Carnation Cafe, Storytellers Cafe (for lunch or dinner) and Wine Country Trattoria in DCA. Those are the favorites that are exclusive to Disney. In Downtown Disney, we like Naples Ristorante, ESPN Zone and Rainforest Cafe. As far as counter service places, we like Blue Ribbon Bakery on Main Street (delicious, ooey gooey cinnamon rolls), Bengal BBQ (yummy skewers), Plaza Inn, River Belle Terrace and Taste Pilots Grill in DCA.

So, yes, by all means, if you have all your planned restaurants lined up 60 days out, why NOT make the reservations and get it out of the way? One less thing to worry about, right? But if you don't have them squared away just yet, you will be okay making them a little later. I found that we shaved a lot of wait time off of our day when I started making reservations (which used to be called Priority Seating) for our meals. Before making those, we would stand in a 45 minute line to eat at Carnation, or wait an hour for Rainforest Cafe or ESPN Zone. Such a waste of time. Oh, and one tip about Carnation - they may not let you make this request on the phone at Disneyland Dining, but when you arrive at the check-in desk, ask them for a table right alongside Main Street if you can get one. It is great people watching!! Over at Wine Country Trattoria in DCA, if you land at one of the right tables at the right time, you may be lucky and see part of a parade.

Another thing about the 3 DLR hotels - even though I think the GCH is the one that lends itself the best to a holiday feeling and vibe (because it has that sort of elegantly rustic 'mountain chalet' kind of feel to it with dark wood and dim lighting, and the fireplace & lounge/lobby are cozy and inviting), and is a fantastic place to get comfy and listen to the carolers, the pianist or the guitar player, or watch folks get their photos taken with Santa by the tree - the PPH and the DLH have the coveted "Mickey ears" bath products in the bathrooms!! GCH has H20 Spa products for a more upscale feel. But I love to walk into my PPH bathroom and see these happy, cheery mouse ears greeting me:

 

[glavine47]

Wow you guys have done a great job with all of this useful information.

I am known here in Tennessee as that Disney guy. Fortunatelly, I have been allowed to help plan 42 wdw trips for friends and family. I have planned from small families to a large group of 22. Just this week I helped a couple plan their Honeymoon(airline, resort stay, ADR's and even a spread sheet with park information for each day of thier trip). I did all of that in 45 minutes. I love helping people get the most out of a Disneyworld trip. So I am thankful for your guys effort to help.

So, I can now understand how the non-disney people can feel overwhelmed. I really appreciate the help and I am sure I will have more questions in the future. If you have any other thoughts please share them.

 

[glavine47]

We now have 93 days until our trip. So much to do. We are all excited. Any other advice for things to do during Chistmas time in southern California?

 

[jlmarr]

We now have 93 days until our trip. So much to do. We are all excited. Any other advice for things to do during Chistmas time in southern California?

If you'll be around on New Year's Day there is the Rose Parade in Pasadena. If not then you could seek out a float builder and take a tour of their operation. That generally kicks into high gear on the 26th. You can even volunteer to help with the float prep, but that might take up a whole day of your vacation.

 

[travellovingirl]

Please post a trip report when you return!! We are headed to California for the first time easter week, and will be including a few days at DL, also thinking about a City Pass. We only have 7 days, and I'm concerned that will be too much "park", while we miss seeing other parts of CA. I also can't wait to hear how you do navigating the holiday crowds!!