One Day DL Trip - Which Restaurant?

[gemduncan]

I am going to DL with my 7 year old daughter and my brother in mid-June for 1 day trip. Which restaurant is the best for dinner? Goofy's Kitchen or Ariel's Grotto? Or should I do the Paint the Night Dinner to Go?? I'm not sure how the Paint the Night Works. It looks like I pre-order my meal the day of our visit to DL and then I get a ticket for a spot to watch the Paint the Night Show. Does that sound right? What time does Paint the Night show start? I'm worried the show will be very late and my daughter will get cranky so we won't even stay for the show.

Thoughts on the 3 dining options I mentioned above?

 

[mom2rtk]

On a one day visit, I would definitely not take time from the park to do Goofy's Kitchen. I'm not even sure I'd take time for any table service meal. Saving time waiting for PTN would be great, but I'd probably opt for the Aladdin's Oasis box meal (less time eating while still saving time waiting for the parade).

 

[gemduncan]

On a one day visit, I would definitely not take time from the park to do Goofy's Kitchen. I'm not even sure I'd take time for any table service meal. Saving time waiting for PTN would be great, but I'd probably opt for the Aladdin's Oasis box meal (less time eating while still saving time waiting for the parade).

I was thinking a sit down dinner or lunch might be helpful. My daughter doesn't do very well with "go-go-go" and non-stop activity. She will crash and burn...making for a very cranky evening.

 

[mom2rtk]

I was thinking a sit down dinner or lunch might be helpful. My daughter doesn't do very well with "go-go-go" and non-stop activity. She will crash and burn...making for a very cranky evening.

Very valid point. We have often used table service meals as sort of an in-park break.

Something to keep in mind is that Ariel's Grotto does not have characters at dinner. GK is the only character meal at dinner. I still don't know that I'd give up part of only 1 park day to do it. If you do, take the monorail from Tomorrowland to DTD, which lets off near DLH where GK is located. But it would still take a decent chunk of time.

BB for PTN access is still an option, but I don't think it would be nearly as interesting to a 3 year old. Late in the day, the dark atmosphere just might put her to sleep.

 

[dcassetta]

Will you have a ticket with park-hopping? I ask because Ariel's is at DCA while Paint the Night is in DL.

 

[avalon451]

You could do Blue Bayou, and get the PTN option. Make your reservations for 4 p.m. and ask for waterside. You might have to wait awhile to get a table by the water, but then your DD7 gets to wave at all the boats going by on the Pirates of the Caribbean ride. And get a pretty light-up drink. It's expensive, but I think it's one of the coolest and most iconic places in the park to dine.

That said, when we went there on our first trip, DD5 thought it was "too dark and creepy" LOL. It has beautiful ambiance, fireflies and glowing lanterns. Here's a link to the menu database: http://www.wdwinfo.com/disneyland/dining/menus-detail.cfm?restaurant.id=517#menu

 

[smartlabelprint]

I second blue bayou. But i also love, plaza inn and French market. They're not table service but you can take as long as you need there.

 

[gottalovepluto]

BB is my favorite if you have the budget for it. We loved Goofy's Kitchen years ago but it is too much of a time constraint if you only have one day in the parks. Haven't done Ariel's Grotto. Our 2nd favorite TS is Cafe Orleans followed by Carnation Cafe.

 

[cmph]

We did Aladdin's Oasis package on Friday. We "reserved" it for 12:30, so you show up at your reservation time and they will ask if you want to eat it there or take it to go when you order your entrees. We ate there, and it was a nice, quiet respite from the very crowded park. I would definitely do that again. It wasn't table service, per se, but if you stayed there to eat - a CM brought it to your table and checked back in to see if you needed anything else. "table service light" I guess. Bonus: you are near the door Jasmine/Aladdin/Genie come and go through, so you're likely to see them walk by. Much faster than regular table service, and at a busy meal time - faster than waiting in a counter service line, too! I recommend it. You could still do table service dinner somewhere if you wanted, too.

Caveat: do NOT listen to them when they give you your Paint the Night tickets and tell you "They will NOT let you in more than 30min prior." For an 8:45pm parade, that was 8:15 for us. My daughter and I got there at 8:05 to get in line to enter our dining package spot - and you guessed it, everyone was already in, half full already. I expressed dismay, and the CM told me I misheard the Aladdin's Oasis CM. Um, nope. We still had fine seats, and the folks nearby said I was absolutely right, that they'd been told the same strict 30min bit. Guess they knew better than I did and showed up early anyway. Plenty of very surprised people came in right at 8:15, after me. Like I said, still had fine seats to watch, and everyone sits near the front so it's not an issue for kids to see either... but the CMs need to coordinate this package procedure better than they do.

Anyway, I would still do the package again, b/c frankly the lunch was about as stress-free as you can possibly get in Disneyland, and you'll get a decent spot to watch the parade even if half the attendees are there before you.