Mom & Son Take on The Land (with Dad)! Food Pic Laden Report - Completed 8/16

[disneydreamer74]

Loving the report!! Marceline's..... Oh, I cannot wait to get back there! Those Mini cupcakes are a must on my list!! Yummo!!!They chocolate covered honeycomb sounds unique,,,but very interesting!!
I love the gift basket you ordered for your son. Looks like they did a great job personalizing it for your son. I order a basket for DD3 every trip..it is always a great surprise!!!

 

[GoofySon'sMom]

It will probably make the fact that at this point my breakfast is going to be just me a little better. It'll be hard to get photos with the characters since I hate the idea of interrupting someone else's meal to get photos -- you know? Now idea how that will work out. But man, I'm wishing I could do Minnie's again now. I forgot how many characters come out for that one!

ETA: Before I forget, did ya'll get the buttons from Goofy's Kitchen when you went? Kind of like the 1st visit and birthday buttons onlly with GK on them? Just curious. They didn't have any during my trip last year which made me sad, lol.

There were 12 characters that we saw at Minnies. Amazing. We didn't get buttons at Goofys but did get them at Minnies and the PCH Grill breakfast.

As for the pictures, I completely understand how you would feel asking others. But I have to say that it wouldn't have bothered me a bit if someone that was eating alone asked me to take some pics for them!

Yay! I'm really happy to see that your TR has begun. I enjoyed reading your previous reports and will be really interested to hear your take on DL.

Thank you so much!

Loving the report!! Marceline's..... Oh, I cannot wait to get back there! Those Mini cupcakes are a must on my list!! Yummo!!!They chocolate covered honeycomb sounds unique,,,but very interesting!!
I love the gift basket you ordered for your son. Looks like they did a great job personalizing it for your son. I order a basket for DD3 every trip..it is always a great surprise!!!

Yes, I was very, very happy with the basket. It's the first time we had ever done anything like that. Will probably do something on our next trip to WDW as well.

 

[kaoden39]

I ordered a basket for my mom on our trip in 2007 and I thought it was just a wonderful gift and it was a nice surprise for her to have it delivered to the room.

 

[DizNee Luver]

Hi Vicki!!! It was great getting to meet up with your family....even for just a few minutes!! Wish we could have figured a meal out together....but as you saw when we ran into you at DCA.....we seemed like we were always on the run to the next thing!!

I love the pics from the Paradise Pier!! Love the decor!! I also think the view of the pool was quite nice.....too bad you didn't schedule in a couple hours for a swim.

I agree with you on Goofy's this time....but will go into detail on my trip report.

I don't think you're ever too old for little "magical" surprises while at Disneyland....we got a birthday basket for Derek & Betty to share.....they both got a kick out of it. The cake you got looked very tasty!! Too bad they didn't at least say "Welcome & I hope you enjoy your first visit with us" Just saying........

Looking forward to your next installment.....now off to get mine going today.....

 

[GoofySon'sMom]

Ugh, I had hoped to get our offiical day one installment up today on my lunch hour but it has been so busy today that I didn't get a lunch hour!

No 'puter time tonight either ... hopefully tomorrow will be a slower day and I can work on our first day in Disneyland! If not, Saturday for sure!

DS is taking DH into NYC with him next week so I will have plenty of alone time to get rolling on the rest of the report!

 

[GoofySon'sMom]

Hi Vicki!!! It was great getting to meet up with your family....even for just a few minutes!! Wish we could have figured a meal out together....but as you saw when we ran into you at DCA.....we seemed like we were always on the run to the next thing!!

.....

Ditto for us! Would have loved to have had a meal. We needed to coordinate better as we were making plans, not when they were all finalized!

Hopefully there will be a next time for us!

 

[DizNee Luver]

Ditto for us! Would have loved to have had a meal. We needed to coordinate better as we were making plans, not when they were all finalized!

Hopefully there will be a next time for us!

I hope so!!

Here's the 2 pics we got of us:

Lets see if I have this right: Andrew, Vicki, Anthony, Laurie holding Michayla & Adaleah.....love how Mike didn't have me move so the fountain didn't look like it was sprouting from my head.....

 

[GoofySon'sMom]

Lets see if I have this right: Andrew, Vicki, Anthony, Laurie holding Michayla & Adaleah.....love how Mike didn't have me move so the fountain didn't look like it was sprouting from my head.....

LOL! Your picture definitely came out better than ours! There is a reason that I am the picture taker and not Jay!

 

[GoofySon'sMom]

So Sunday, July 25th was our first full day in Disneyland! I didn't really take many notes so I am going to have to do the report from memory and the order of my pictures!

We did make it to the Park a little after 7. Really good for us! Guess the time change was now working in our favor! Crowds were very light and we managed to get a TON done this morning! Yay!

I am going to have to say that I never really got used to the smaller castle. It just didn't "feel" the same to me. But one thing I loved is that you can still walk thru it!

We rode Peter Pan first (always first!). It is one of my favorite rides.

Then Mr. Toad -

The on to Dumbo for Andrew and I -

I think we did Pinnochio next - I really liked it!

On the way we stopped for this obligatory picture -

We then all went on the right hand side of the Matterhorn. Once was enough for me but they wanted to try to left side -

They both liked the right side much better. Felt the left was rougher. I never ended up doing that one.

We then went to the Nemo Subs. Being a bigger person, I was worried about this one but it went fine. Again, I really enjoyed it. I like it better than the Nemo ride in the Land Pavillion at EPCOT.

DS & DH rode Star Tours while I checked in with my sister. Those motion simulated rides make me super nauseous. I usually do it once a trip in WDW but just wasn't up to it this morning. I will definitely check out the new version when it is done (assuming we get back to WDW!)

Even though we had an early lunch reservation at Cafe Orleans, we had to have a snack. Went to the bakery on Main Street and shared these -

Loved the cupcakes on display -

Moving to the next post ...

 

[GoofySon'sMom]

After our snack, we went to the Penny Arcade -

We all loved this! I wish WDW had something similar. Very cool!

Ultimately I know we ended up on the Mark Twain -

After that Andrew wanted to stop at the Shooting Gallery ... something that for some reason we have never really done in WDW ... he had a blast!

I am sketchy on the details from this point ... I know we saw the Tiana show at some point ... I just loved the music!

I believe we went on Pirates. Oh my! This was the thing that I found most different from WDW's version and we all LOVED it! So much better than the one in WDW. This was the ride we did the most all week ... probably 4 or 5 times.

Really loved the New Orleans Square area ... something totally different for us!

And I loved the popcorn carts!

Then we were on to lunch at Cafe Orleans --

 

[GoofySon'sMom]

This ended up being one of our favorite meals. I wish we had gone back a second time -

Really like this picture taken from our table -

We all shared the Pomme Frites -

Absolutely delicious! Could have made a meal on these alone!

Andrew and I decided to split a bowl of the gumbo and the chicken sandwich.

Jay had the salmon salad but had pretty well hacked it up before I got a picture. Figured no one wanted to see that!

We shared the Mickey Beignets for dessert ... oh my, heaven on a plate! Again could have eaten several more orders of these!

After lunch we headed towards Critter Country. Jay & Andrew decided to try the canoes -

I know we went up to ride the Pooh ride after this. I really didn't enjoy it as much as the one in WDW because you didn't 'bounce' with Tigger. I did remember to look up and see the Moose & friends! (Thanks Disers!)

I am going to have to actually get to work now ... will finish the day either later or tomorrow.

Next up - the Parade, Flag Retreat and dinner at Ralph Brennans!

 

[Minnie Sue Oz]

Hi..............WOW............it seems like you all had the best time. There are so many things you guys have done that I will be hoping to do for our big Christmas trip! Everything from the basket in the room to the families shirts. We are visiting for Christmas and are getting an annual pass each so we can go as often as we like for the 3 weeks we are in Anaheim. I also get to celebrate my Birthday too! Disney overload that day.............Breakfast with Miss Minnie Mouse, afternoon session of Disney On Ice and to top it off, the Fantasmic preferred seating package. I would love to ask you some questions, so if I could message you direct, that would be great! I think coming from Australia, we could do with some tips from our friends in the USA! Cheers and I can't wait to read more!

114 sleeps until our magical journey begins!!!

 

[GoofySon'sMom]

Hi..............WOW............it seems like you all had the best time. There are so many things you guys have done that I will be hoping to do for our big Christmas trip! Everything from the basket in the room to the families shirts. We are visiting for Christmas and are getting an annual pass each so we can go as often as we like for the 3 weeks we are in Anaheim. I also get to celebrate my Birthday too! Disney overload that day.............Breakfast with Miss Minnie Mouse, afternoon session of Disney On Ice and to top it off, the Fantasmic preferred seating package. I would love to ask you some questions, so if I could message you direct, that would be great! I think coming from Australia, we could do with some tips from our friends in the USA! Cheers and I can't wait to read more!

114 sleeps until our magical journey begins!!!

How exciting! Will this be your first trip? We definitely had a great time and I did feel that we accomplished so much the first day ... and yet, we didn't feel rushed. It was truly a great trip!

I will answer any questions I can ... feel free to message or email me!

 

[kaoden39]

It sounds to me like you like our humble little park. I am so glad that you guys had fun. I can hardly wait to read more.

 

[DizNee Luver]

Main Street Bakery.....yummo!!

Totally worth getting to the parks early & taking advantage of the smaller crowds. You can get a ton of rides done in the first couple hours. We rode POTC a ton as well!! Did you get to see the Tiana show?? We caught bits & pieces thru-out our trip....but never saw the whole thing.

Cafe Orleans.........Isn't that the best?!!! I LVE that restaurant!!! We saved it for our last dinner at Disneyland.

Loving the pics!!

 

[GoofySon'sMom]

It sounds to me like you like our humble little park. I am so glad that you guys had fun. I can hardly wait to read more.

I definitely do! Absolutely loved it. Couldn't help but compare constantly and I do think deep down I am always going to be a "World" girl primarily because of EPCOT (ok, and the bigger Castle! ) but I definitely loved every minutes of our trip. DH wants to move the weather to Florida and DS wants to compact everything so we could walk rather than deal with the busses!

Main Street Bakery.....yummo!!

Totally worth getting to the parks early & taking advantage of the smaller crowds. You can get a ton of rides done in the first couple hours. We rode POTC a ton as well!! Did you get to see the Tiana show?? We caught bits & pieces thru-out our trip....but never saw the whole thing.

Cafe Orleans.........Isn't that the best?!!! I LVE that restaurant!!! We saved it for our last dinner at Disneyland.

Loving the pics!!

I agree with getting there early! We missed Tuesday morning, just too tired and found Thursday morning pretty crowded. Saturday was better though. Amazing for us as we are really not morning people!

Like you we saw bits & pieces of the Tiana show all week. Never stopped to watch from start to finish. I did get beads one time. Didn't do the meet & greet. I am awaiting an Amazon gift card in the mail and plan to treat myself to the Bayou Boogie CD. I just love the music from the movie so I figure the music inspired by the movie must be just as good!

Definitely loved Cafe Orleans! Overall I wasn't super impressed by DLR food when comparing to WDW but CO was definitely a favorite. Andrew became obsessed with gumbo as you will see throughout the rest of the report!

 

[DizNee Luver]

We were disappointed in the food this trip as well.......we loved Cafe Orlean's & Ariel's Grotto. I've read from many other WDW vets that the food at DL just doesn't begin to measure up. I've always defended our little park....but don't think I could after this last trip. Was pretty let down on some of our favorites.

 

[GoofySon'sMom]

We were disappointed in the food this trip as well.......we loved Cafe Orlean's & Ariel's Grotto. I've read from many other WDW vets that the food at DL just doesn't begin to measure up. I've always defended our little park....but don't think I could after this last trip. Was pretty let down on some of our favorites.

Yep, that was definitely our biggest 'issue' ... I can't actually say complaint. Other than Goofy's, our meals were good ... but nothing spectacular. Food at WDW is such a big part of our trip ... too many restaurants and not enough meals usually! If (when?) we do get back to DLR, it will just not be a priority for us. It's funny, it WDW we avoid counter service everywhere but in the EPCOT countries. At DLR, we found some of our better dining experiences were actually at the CS places we popped in at for 'snacks'. Go figure!

 

[disneydreamer74]

The dining is definitely a different experience at DLR than at WDW. My first trip to DLR I was really surprised at the quality of food, but I have been able to find some favorite places to eat here such as Riverbelle Terrace and Taste Pilots. WDW has many really good food options, not to mention the fab dining plan, But I have had some horrible food at CS places there as well.
Like you said, if you dont have high expectations for food, you will have a great trip!

 

[kaoden39]

I love New Orleans Square. When I was alone at the park last trip I went and sat there and watched the world go by. It was wonderful!! This is idea place for me. I love the music and atmosphere.