What do I need to know about staying @ DLR for that 1st time?

[CableKC]

Due to Disneyland's Fall promotion, I decided to take the plunge and stay at the DLR for the 1st time with my family.

We usually stay at the Marriott Residence Inn due to it's close location and ( most notably ) it's complementary Free Hot Breakfast. At DLR, although we will likely be having the Charecter Breakfast on one of the days......I'm not sure what to do about Breakfast on the other days that we are staying there. I am guessing that there is some place at DLR where we can get a quick and simple Breakfast. Does anyone have any suggestions?

Other then that....anyone have any suggestions on what we should expect or do when we stay there?

 

[splash5]

I am assuming that you mean the Disneyland Hotel? Well, no matter. Each of the hotels have restaurants in them (character breakfasts can be spendy). At the Disneyland Hotel, there is a coffee shop (has pastries, croissants, coffee, etc) where you can grab "cheap eats". There is also Steakhouse 55 which serves breakfast, and didn't look to be very expensive (breakfasts were around the $7-$10 range - you can check the menus on allears.net).

Your other option is to grab something in Downtown Disney on the walk to the parks, or eat in the parks. It all depends on how much you want to spend and how much time you have to eat.

 

[avalon451]

You can also order groceries from Albertson's or Vons online, and have them delivered to your hotel. You'll have a dorm-sized fridge in your room. We did this at GCH on recommendations we saw here, and it worked great. You can keep milk, juice, yogurt, fruit, and cereal-to-go in cups in your hotel room and eat while you get ready (or take it with you to eat while you stand in line!) It's also a good way to order a rack of bottled water to keep in your room-- because the tap water is HORRIBLE, and bottled water in the parks and the hotels costs $3.

 

[Disneyanajc]

You can also try the Captains Galley at the DLH...it is like Whitewater Snack but on a smaller scale...jc

 

[Sherry E]

Due to Disneyland's Fall promotion, I decided to take the plunge and stay at the DLR for the 1st time with my family.

We usually stay at the Marriott Residence Inn due to it's close location and ( most notably ) it's complementary Free Hot Breakfast. At DLR, although we will likely be having the Charecter Breakfast on one of the days......I'm not sure what to do about Breakfast on the other days that we are staying there. I am guessing that there is some place at DLR where we can get a quick and simple Breakfast. Does anyone have any suggestions?

Other then that....anyone have any suggestions on what we should expect or do when we stay there?

When are you going in fall - October? River Belle Terrace inside Disneyland is good, too. As was already stated, it depends on the time and money you have to spend on breakfast. Carnation Cafe is good, but there is usally quite a wait, so that would not be quick. You could also grab some good pastries and coffee on Main Street, at the Blue Ribbon Bakery and the Market House. But if you want to avoid eating in the parks for breakfast, I think Downtown Disney is a viable option. LaBrea Bakery has some good breakfast options. You could also go into the GCH hotel and grab some quick, cheap things at Whitewater Snacks.

I think you will have a great time! People used to slam Disney food for years, and some still do, but I think it very underrated. It is overpriced, that is true, but it is NOT at all bad food. I think the people who put it down are the ones who remember the old days of Disney, where you would stand in a line to get a cardboard hamburger and cold fries, or eat at the buffeteria restaurants and get lukewarm pasta. It is not like that now. They have really expanded the variety of food available throughout the whole resort and added many more healthy selections, and improved the quality and taste of everything. My friend who went to Goofy's the other day for the first time (at my insistence) said that the fruit in the buffet was some of the best she has ever had, as were the croissants. I mean, Goofy's may be a character buffet, but they bottom line is they have great food. (Too expensive, but great.)

 

[Sherry E]

You can also order groceries from Albertson's or Vons online, and have them delivered to your hotel. You'll have a dorm-sized fridge in your room. We did this at GCH on recommendations we saw here, and it worked great. You can keep milk, juice, yogurt, fruit, and cereal-to-go in cups in your hotel room and eat while you get ready (or take it with you to eat while you stand in line!) It's also a good way to order a rack of bottled water to keep in your room-- because the tap water is HORRIBLE, and bottled water in the parks and the hotels costs $3.

Ooooh, you are not kidding about the price of water at DLR! I went last December and forgot to bring my bottles of water from home to stash in the mini-fridge in the GCH room. I was having a really bad flare-up of the disc problem in my back and was in a lot of pain, so I needed to pop Motrin every several hours. I found myself having to buy water and juice on the Disney property - whether from vendor carts or in vending machines - and I could not believe how costly it was. I think my small bottle of juice was $4! So was the water! I also bought a delicious and juicy piece of pineapple on Main Street that nearly broke the bank as well! And I bought the largest size of a frozen blended mocha at Blue Ribbon Bakery for like $5 or so, and the size I got was anything but LARGE! It looked like a Starbucks SMALL size! Next time I am bringing my own water and I should be blending my own mochas and bringing those with me too!

So, things are not cheap at DLR but there ways to do it cheaper!

 

[Queenbillabong]

I second the keeping lots of water in the fridge in your room! Lots of walking, warm weather (hopefully not hot!) and the yucky tap water..... I have asked for ice water at some of the CS places in the park and was just given a glass of ice, so I still had to find a "tap" to get water from - so that didn't work out.

Remember too - a great perk of staying on site is that any shopping you do in DL or DCA you can get sent back to your hotel (Bell services) so you don't have to lug it around with you!

The other REALLY nice thing is that you will get Magic Mornings (Tues, Thurs, Sat, Sun) on each of those days you are there!

Have a great time!!!

 

[PinkBudgie]

When we ate lunch at counter services places, we asked for water. They gave us cups of water or a cup to fill with water at the soda counter if it was a do it yourself place. If you are buying food, they will give you water. If you are not buying food, I don't know that they would.

Of course we brought our own bottles but they run out. Filling them with drinking fountain water is yucky.

 

[TahoeMom]

La Brea Bakery is good for quick breakfast items. They also have things like pancakes and eggs I believe.

 

[Queenbillabong]

This was from a place we were buying food from, not just mooching a cup of water in DCA. Just saying that even if you try doing this to save money, you'll be using the yucky tap water from wherever you can find it

 

[bzkds]

Compass Books right at the very end of DTD (right as you walk out from DLH/PPH) has a little cafe too. They have juice, pastries, bananas, yogurt, sandwiches, coffee. Great place to grab a quick bite, depending on how much of a "meal" you want.

The other thing I do at the hotels is order one breakfast plate from room service and my dd and I split it (the bigger plate with eggs/sausage/potatoes/etc). A little more expensive maybe, but we can eat while we get ready to go. There is usually plenty of food for 2 people, plus you get coffee AND juice or milk, etc. So it always works out fine. In fact, last time I did that and I ordered coffee, I got a whole carafe of coffee so I called my friend (her room was down the hall) and had her come share with me!

Beth

 

[disneydreamer74]

Due to Disneyland's Fall promotion, I decided to take the plunge and stay at the DLR for the 1st time with my family.

We usually stay at the Marriott Residence Inn due to it's close location and ( most notably ) it's complementary Free Hot Breakfast. At DLR, although we will likely be having the Charecter Breakfast on one of the days......I'm not sure what to do about Breakfast on the other days that we are staying there. I am guessing that there is some place at DLR where we can get a quick and simple Breakfast. Does anyone have any suggestions?

Other then that....anyone have any suggestions on what we should expect or do when we stay there?

Not a veteran of the DLH by any means , but I am booked to stay there Aug. 15. for 2 nights. This is what I have learned. Take advantage of the perks. If you have any children or big kids call the front desk or guest services before you leave home to request autographed character pictures and balloons. Sometimes they don't have the balloons but the pics they have. Also, I have heard that if you order room service and order a big breakfast, it can be shared with at least one other person. I plan to do that for breakfast before hitting the parks. Good luck and have a great time!

 

[kaoden39]

Jazz Kitchen has a little take out section that sells breakfast. It's not too expensive. They have breakfast sandwiches and beignets that are pretty good. There is Croc Bits N Bites too at the Disneyland Hotel and in March 2007 they didn't sell breakfast but they might now. I like the Nachos and things they sell for other meals there. It is a nice place to grab a meal to take to your room.

 

[CableKC]

This is what I have learned. Take advantage of the perks. If you have any children or big kids call the front desk or guest services before you leave home to request autographed character pictures and balloons. Sometimes they don't have the balloons but the pics they have.

Do you have to pay for the balloons if you request them? DS loves balloons and I think that it would be a great surprise for him when we check into DLH.

 

[CableKC]

Thanks all for the responses....sorry, I did mean DLH ( as in the Disneyland hotel ).

Since we usually stay at one of the offsite hotels.....I was thinking that we will spend alot more time on the DLH premises to check out what we can do and see. DW and I love to try different foods at a sit down restuarants...so maybe we will try out either Steakhouse 55 or Hook's Pointe for dinner.

For those that have stayed at the DLH, where does the Monorail take you when you go to DL? Does it take you right near Autopia?

I have read here that there are times when the Monorail does break down. Has anyone encountered it? I'm just trying to figure out how late it runs and if it breaks down more often then not.

 

[TahoeMom]

For those that have stayed at the DLH, where does the Monorail take you when you go to DL? Does it take you right near Autopia?

I have read here that there are times when the Monorail does break down. Has anyone encountered it? I'm just trying to figure out how late it runs and if it breaks down more often then not.

Yes, the monorail lets off very near Autopia. FYI... the other station is not actually at the DLH, although it is close. It is right next to the Rainforest Cafe.

As far as reliability, I haven't experienced too many breakdowns. However, we have found that it is sometimes faster to just walk to the entrance gates. It kind of depends on time of day and who is walking with you (i.e. young kids may not be able to walk it as quickly as older kids/adults).

 

[CableKC]

Yes, the monorail lets off very near Autopia. FYI... the other station is not actually at the DLH, although it is close. It is right next to the Rainforest Cafe.

As far as reliability, I haven't experienced too many breakdowns. However, we have found that it is sometimes faster to just walk to the entrance gates. It kind of depends on time of day and who is walking with you (i.e. young kids may not be able to walk it as quickly as older kids/adults).

How late does the Monorail run? Since we always end up at DL at the end of the day....we will probably take the Monorail back to the DLH since it's too long of a walk to drag the entire family all the way through DD.

 

[disneydreamer74]

How late does the Monorail run? Since we always end up at DL at the end of the day....we will probably take the Monorail back to the DLH since it's too long of a walk to drag the entire family all the way through DD.

According to my sister's last visit a month ago, the monorail closes as soon as the park closes. she found out the hard way. So it is best to head for the monorail a bit before the park closes if trying to catch the last one.

 

[kaoden39]

And believe me they start lining up at least a half hour before closing time to ride the monorail.

 

[disneydreamer74]

Do you have to pay for the balloons if you request them? DS loves balloons and I think that it would be a great surprise for him when we check into DLH.

My DD loves the 'boons' also! They are free, but are not always availabe. I requested them anyways, so we will see. she will love them! Also, not sure how much money you are wanting to spend. But if you are a guest at DLR hotels you can use Vacation planning to order surprises for your room. you can order gift baskets, chocolate chip cookies and milk, Mickey rice crispie treats and milk, special occasion cakes etc. I ordered a birthday cake for my DBF as a surprise, the rice crispy treats to be delivered one night while we are out at the parks, and a Minnie mouse chocoholic gift basket for our family to be placed in our room. the gift basket was like $68.00 I think. They had all kids ranging from $35.00- $190.00. There email addy is vacationplanning@disneyonline.com. If you ask about their services they will send you a list with prices.
Enjoy!