Must-Do Restaurants for First Timers?

[Dormouse.]

Hi all! My family (brother - 16 year old, me - 23 year old, and mom/her boyfriend - two 40+ year olds) is planning to visit Disneyland for the first time in October! This will also be the 16 year old's first Disney trip ever. I want to make the trip as magical for everyone, especially for the 16 year old.

What restaurants would you suggest as definitive restaurants for first timers? We plan on being there for four days and would like to do at least one character meal.

Thanks everyone!

 

[figment_jii]

I recommend scanning through the Disneyland Dining Review with Photos thread (start with the most recent posts and work backwards) to see photos and reviews of the various restaurants and QS locations in DLR.

I think the most iconic DLR restaurant is the Blue Bayou, which is located inside the PotC building. It's one of the pricier restaurants, but I've always enjoyed my meal. If you do go, be sure to request a waterside table when you check in (the CM will almost always tell you it'll add time to your wait, but it's worth it!). Other places I recommend include Carnation Cafe (on Main Street) and Cafe Orleans (in NOS).

In terms of character meals, there aren't a lot of character meals at DLR and most all are breakfast. Characters are subject to change without notice. I would probably lean towards PCH Grill (Surf's Up) or Plaza Inn, but it depends a lot of which characters you want to see and which meal time you wanted.

• Plaza Inn (breakfast) - Minnie and friends (e.g., Eeyore, Tigger, Max, Rafiki, Fairy Godmother, Chip & Dale, Captain Hook - not all, some combination, varies)
• Ariel's Grotto (breakfast and lunch) - Ariel and Princesses (e.g., Rapunzel, Belle, Snow White, Cinderella, Tiana - not all, some combination, varies)
• Storytellers (breakfast) - Chip, Dale, and other woodland friends (usually Koda, Kenai, and Meeko)
• Goofy's Kitchen (all meals) - Goofy and friends (usually Chip & Dale, Pluto, and Minnie)
• PCH Grill (breakfast) - Mickey and friends (usually Pluto, Daisy, and Stitch).

 

[Indiana Scott]

The Plaza Inn for dinner. Great food (esp the chicken dinner) in a beautiful setting that was designed by Lillian Disney herself. I like to sit in the south end atrium where you can watch all the going's-on on Main Street.
Go a bit early and it will be very quiet - a great spot to recharge!

 

[ParkHopper1]

As a DL regular and having done them ALL many times...the two I recommend the most to newbies or those looking for the full Disney experience are the Blue Bayou and Goofy's Kitchen. Many will argue that other restaurants have better food but those are the best Disney Dining experiences in my opinion.

 

[courtneybeth]

Blue Bayou for dinner. You can't beat the ambiance and food.

For breakfast, I'm not a fan of the character dining at Disneyland and enjoy Carnation Cafe. It's right on Main Street! You can sit outside and people watch. It's fun to munch on a Mickey Waffle and look at all the happy people coming into the park!

 

[tlovesdis]

Cafe Orleans and Carnation Cafe in Disneyland, Wine Country Trattoria in DCA and Ralph Brennen's Jazz Kitchen in DTD!!!

 

[lucky1]

Having just returned from DL.. I would skip Storyteller's for Character breakfast. (Expensive for nothing out of the ordinary breakfast food and only woodland creatures as listed above, nothing else that made it worth the $100/3 people) I would lean towards Goofy's kitchen a lot more character interaction and open Breakfast/lunch/Dinner.

Outside of character meals and Blue Bayou, nothing else screams well themed. Depending on when you go in October could mean light attendance or lots of crowds, but I would look into some of the special packaged meals.

1. WOC dining, with preferred WOC viewing locations

2. Paint the night dining package with reserved viewing locations

3. Fantasmic dinning package or Dessert Buffet (not sure when Fantasmic will be back)

 

[Dormouse.]

I think the most iconic DLR restaurant is the Blue Bayou, which is located inside the PotC building.

As a DL regular and having done them ALL many times...the two I recommend the most to newbies or those looking for the full Disney experience are the Blue Bayou and Goofy's Kitchen.

Blue Bayou for dinner. You can't beat the ambiance and good.

It looks like we have at least one clear winner. I think I want to eat, followed by actually riding PotC. Following up on @lucky1's suggestion, I might look into pairing that with Paint the Night Dining Package. Anyone have any experience with this package?

 

[courtneybeth]

@Dormouse. I had a typo in my post -- can't beat the ambiance or food

I haven't done the PTN package at BB but i have done it for Fantasmic and it was great!

 

[VandVsmama]

Unless you & your kids really love the characters at Storyteller's breakfast, then skip it for a character meal. I think that the best value on character meals is Minnie's breakfast at the Plaza Inn. And if you make your reservation around 9:30-10am-ish, then you can go on a bunch of rides first thing in the a.m., and then when you are ready for a break, eat breakfast and have all the characters come to you.

I thought that the character meal at Ariel's Grotto was overpriced for the quality of food we got and the quality of character interaction. We've also done Goofy's Kitchen before and enjoyed that a lot. My 2 favorite things to do at DL food-wise are:

1. eat at the Blue Bayou
2. have a mint julep & some Mickey beingets and eat them outside in the French Market restaurant's outdoor seating area while the jazz band is playing.
3. ok, I've got 3, but you won't really be able to fully savor this experience since the view is closed - eat lunch or dinner at the Hungry Bear and sit at a table right next to the water & listen to the sounds of the river boat go by.

Given the ages of your kids, I'd also consider splurging on a meal at Napa Rose or go to Carthay Circle.

 

[figment_jii]

3. Fantasmic dinning package or Dessert Buffet (not sure when Fantasmic will be back)

The latest rumor is that F! will return at some point in mid-2017. They had previously discontinued the dessert buffet/dessert packages, so only the dining packages were available, but it's not yet know if the packages will return when F! returns.

 

[Dormouse.]

@Dormouse. I had a typo in my post -- can't beat the ambiance or food

I haven't done the PTN package at BB but i have done it for Fantasmic and it was great!

We did the Fantasmic! package in WDW, and our seats were amazing. I've never used any sort of reserved seating for parades, though. I'll have to look it up to see what the view is like.

Unless you & your kids really love the characters at Storyteller's breakfast, then skip it for a character meal. I think that the best value on character meals is Minnie's breakfast at the Plaza Inn. And if you make your reservation around 9:30-10am-ish, then you can go on a bunch of rides first thing in the a.m., and then when you are ready for a break, eat breakfast and have all the characters come to you.

I thought that the character meal at Ariel's Grotto was overpriced for the quality of food we got and the quality of character interaction. We've also done Goofy's Kitchen before and enjoyed that a lot. My 2 favorite things to do at DL food-wise are:

1. eat at the Blue Bayou
2. have a mint julep & some Mickey beingets and eat them outside in the French Market restaurant's outdoor seating area while the jazz band is playing.
3. ok, I've got 3, but you won't really be able to fully savor this experience since the view is closed - eat lunch or dinner at the Hungry Bear and sit at a table right next to the water & listen to the sounds of the river boat go by.

Given the ages of your kids, I'd also consider splurging on a meal at Napa Rose or go to Carthay Circle.

We'll likely do Storyteller's for the chance to meet Kenai and Koda. My brother was 3 years old when the movie came out, and I was around 10, so we watched that film together quite a bit as kids. The idea of getting to meet them with my little brother has me all sentimental already, and I know he'll love it. I really want to Minnie's at the Plaza Inn, too, though, so I might cave and see if I can swing both.

I plan on doing #2 by myself, for sure. I'd be lying if I said all of the snacks at Disneyland had nothing to do with why I agreed to the trip in the first place. I heard the seasonal beignets they have during October are pretty tasty, as well. Hungry Bear was at the top of my list when I started looking into dining options, then I remembered the view wouldn't be the same.

I'm thinking about surprising the two 40+'s with a trip to Carthay for just the two of them while I take my brother to do something else during the evening.

 

[figment_jii]

I'm thinking about surprising the two 40+'s with a trip to Carthay for just the two of them while I take my brother to do something else during the evening.

I suppose if you wanted to surprise them, you couldn't necessarily ask them to look over the menus of the more "upscale" dining location to see which one sounds the most appealing, but I would scan through the menus to see which you think they might like better. I only mention this because while I used to really like Carthay Circle, our last few meals there haven't been as appealing. The food is still good, but we didn't necessarily like the flavors of some of the items (e.g., our last meal there featured the fall or winter menu, I don't remember which, and the aside from the House Biscuits, none of the other appetizers or three entrees were things we would necessarily order again). It's not to say that the Carthay is "bad", it's just that it's no longer that high on my family's list of places to try. So I would look into Napa Rose and Steakhouse 55 as other "upscale" options.

 

[Vincent405]

It looks like we have at least one clear winner. I think I want to eat, followed by actually riding PotC. Following up on @lucky1's suggestion, I might look into pairing that with Paint the Night Dining Package. Anyone have any experience with this package?

Asking about restaurants is tough because people's opinions differ so.

Case in point, having just gone, I would 100% avoid the Blue Bayou. The food and service were ok, but overall, the experience was not good and the ambiance was very unenjoyable to us. Having people stare at us as they went by on the ride was odd, especially after ridden it earlier. It was not worth it to us in the least. We did the PTN package, and the package portion was fine, fireworks got cancelled because of upper level winds, but nobody's fault there.

Carthay Circle had some of the best food for us with a positive overall experience, with Napa Rose second.

 

[smiles33]

Opinions vary widely, as you can already see. My two cents as someone who wants delicious food first and magical experience second is to consider Carthay Circle and Goofy's Kitchen. Carthay Circle is such a beautiful venue and the food was delicious (we went this past Saturday). Goofy's Kitchen has decent food (and it's a buffet) plus good character action. I thought it offered the best value of the character meal options.

We thought the character meals at Ariel's Grotto (we had lunch there twice), Mickey's Surf's Up breakfast, and Minnie's breakfast at Plaza Inn had sub-par food (clearly, the characters are the stars there). We skipped Storyteller's as my girls don't know the woodland characters.

Note: there are also lots of "signature" snacks at DLR that always make me smile and aren't as pricey as character meals. We like the cones in Carsland (though they were sold out of Churro bites this past weekend so I had a regular churro from that Cone), the hot link corndogs from Corn Dog Castle, Mickey ear ice cream bars, Dole Whip (I like the floats!), frozen lemonade (which I know you can get elsewhere but we don't splurge on random snacks at other places), and the turkey leg (DH's favorite--it's huge and delicious).

Have fun!

 

[ADLFAN]

We just tried the Plaza Inn's famous fried chicken and pot roast and it was so delicious after a long day of wandering the parks! We also tried the 60th Anniversary cake with its tasty but odd tropical fruit and chocolate flavors and the super sweet red velvet cake. I also enjoyed the 'atrium' area, and since we ate while the PTN parade was passing, we had an ok view of the floats and could hear bits of the soundtrack when people would go on and out. Then we snuck outside to the entrance of Tomorrowland to watch the fireworks with a somewhat obstructed view of the castle!

I can't wait to have that meal again!

Have fun planning!

 

[pennym]

Blue Bayou is a must for us, and Carnation Cafe, but I really love Rancho del Zocalo, Frontierland is such a nice spot to be in and at night it's so lovely. Cheap too.

 

[BayouQueen]

I think it's important to experience at least one of the New Orleans Square restaurants, because that area is so special in the park. So either Blue Bayou or Cafe Orleans, if you want to make an ADR, or French Market, which doesn't take reservations. I think they are all great and all very charming.

 

[grelca]

as someone from south louisiana, if you want beignets, i would actually suggest you stop at ralph brennan's in dtd (you can get them at the express window part, too), not the ones in the park. they're not mickey shaped, but they taste soooo much better (and are also more authentic )

 

[Minniekins]

As a DL regular and having done them ALL many times...the two I recommend the most to newbies or those looking for the full Disney experience are the Blue Bayou and Goofy's Kitchen. Many will argue that other restaurants have better food but those are the best Disney Dining experiences in my opinion.

If you wouldn't mine, could you share why you feel these are the best Disney Dining experiences?