Question about dining

[KCMiller]

Hi,

I was looking at the menu's on All Ears (and many thanks to that site for expanding out to DL!), and the food is REALLY expensive! I mean, $7 for french toast sticks? $10 for fried chicken? Youch!

We can have a big breakfast before we get there, no problem, but how difficult is it to leave the park to eat lunch at a walkable restaurant? There are 5 of us in my family, and all of us are now eating off the adult menus !

KC

 

[TheZue]

Some of the portions are massive. My husband and I often share meals at disneyland, and if we were on our own we would probably eat off the kids meal. In fact, some friends we've gone with in the past have mainly eaten off the kids menu just because the portions were so large.

 

[got2travel]

As the previous poster said, the portions are really big. But to answer your question about walkable restaurants, yes there are many. Right outside the park on Harbor Bl you've got Denny's, IHOP, McDonald's, Tony Roma's, and Mimi's Cafe. (Don't bother with Capt'n Kidds). But the prices are inflated at these places due to their location. You might be better off just getting something in the park.

 

[Buttercup26]

Here's a map that shows most of the nearby restaurants.

http://www.geocities.com/ashpsyche/DisneylandLinkMap.html

 

[zukeeper]

Disney has always been very generous about allowing visitors to bring snacks and drinks in with them. Bringing snacks can help get you through the day without busting the bank. I always have some snack bars and juiceboxes for the kids on hand. Of course I have a stroller with me for lugging all my baggage which helps considerable. Another thing we always take advantage of is the reasonable price of fresh fruit. We usually hit the fruit stand and split a bagel/muffin or two and breakfast is taken care of.

 

[AFMom]

As another poster mentioned - the prices at the restaurants outside the parks are higher than the same restaurants elsewhere, and usually the places to eat in DTD are just as expensive as eating in the parks. We usually eat a large breakfast before we go in, take snacks in a backpack (never been stopped), and try to eat only one other large meal.
The portions are HUGE! So even though you are paying more, you really could split, say 2 adult meals among 3 people. The kids' portions are large also, but the options are pretty limited (mini-corn dogs, chicken nuggets, spaghetti, etc).
The real money-eater for us isn't usually the meals, but the $3 popcorn and $4 ice cream bars! One snack per day for 5 people could be over $20! If you can bring snacks in that everyone will still enjoy, and avoid those tempting snack carts, you'll be surprised how much $$ you can save!
Have fun!