If you are used to WDW, you may find the
Disneyland offerings a little less varied but don't despair. In my family's opinion the food is just as good or even a little bit better at Disneyland and we never feel hungry or jipped in the eats department! Also, the fact that both parks and Downtown Disney are right together makes skipping around to eat so easy that you do end up getting a lot of variety. When you call the dining number to make your ps' they can either forward you or give you the number to any places in DTD where you want to eat.
Ariel's Grotto in California Adventure is now called Cap'n Mickey's. Ariel isn't there anymore but the menu and atmosphere was the same when we ate there in December. I agree with the other poster, we love to go there in the evenings and sit outside enjoying the lights and sounds of Paradise Pier. We always work our reservation time so that we then just head over to get a spot for the Electrical Parade to cap off the evening. We also love Taste Pilots Grill at DCA and never miss eating there, in fact, we haven't tried any other counter service places over there in quite awhile. They also have ribs and chicken sandwiches in addition to the burgers.
In Disneyland the counter service options are plentiful. My family loves Rancho del Zocalo. They serve Mexican food and it is located right there in Frontierland by Big Thunder Mountain. Huge portions by the way. We also love Riverbelle Terrace for those Mickey pancakes. Frequently on a Saturday morning we will get to the parks early, ride for a couple of hours then take a break for pancakes and enjoy looking out at the river. For pizza/pasta we like Redd Rockets Pizza Port in Tomorrowland. The chicken alfredo is also huge. We can generally get that and one of their enormous slices of pizza and maybe an order of breakdsticks and our family of four (kids are 8 and 10) will leave stuffed. I have always found the pizza at WDW to be completely inedible, Disneyland's version is sooo much better.
Our hands down favorite restuarant at Disneyland is Goofy's Kitchen in the Disneyland Hotel. We like this better than Chef Mickey's in WDW because the food is better (in our opinion) and there are more characters. In addition to Goofy, Minnie, Chip and Dale you will probably see a princess or two plus an additional character such as Genie or Captain Hook. We have enjoyed both breakfast and dinner there many times. I think because Disneyland does not have as many character buffets/meals the ones they do have really offer a lot of different characters. Their are some really great offerings in the Grand Calfornian including a Chip and Dale breakfast and Napa Rose which is a 5 star restaurant.
Too bad about POTC, if they do happen to have that open, defintiely try the Blue Bayou, if not, you'll just have to return to Disneyland to try it out another time!
