Will Parkhop For Food

[kristenm514]

I am hard at work designing a touring plan for our trip in late August (though I know I'll have to completely re-do it once the actual hours/entertainment schedules are posted...hush, this is fun for me!). My DH is rather reluctant about this whole Disney thing, and seems decided that he will not have much fun or enjoy much of anything. His one and only request is that he gets to eat a Monte Cristo, as he may dislike Disney, but he just can't hate a deep-fried sandwich. I feel obligated to fulfill his one Disney dream. Herein lies a small problem.

As I'm trying to make sure we get to see and do what we want, and eat at Goofy's once and CCT once for WOC tickets, it seems that we may have to park hop over to DL just to eat at Cafe Orleans, then hop back to DCA to see WoC or otherwise finish out our day. I can probably finagle it so that we don't have to do this, but it will put a snag in our plans.

So here's my question: is it a total pain in the butt/unreasonable to parkhop from DCA at, say, 6:30, eat dinner at CO and make it back to DCA by 8 comfortably? About how much walking would that entail? Having never been to the parks and only seeing maps, it's hard to envision exactly how far everything is from each other.

TIA everyone!

 

[Amy&Dan]

Its not a big deal to park hop to eat, we have done this many times. We park hop all day since the fast pass machines at DL and DCA aren't connected and the walk from park to the other is not really far at all.

However, if you are trying to get back to DCA by 8:00, I would make your dinner reservation at Cafe Orleans more like around 5:30. You may have to wait for your table (a reservation at DL just means you have a spot reserved to wait in line once you put your name in lol), you don't want to rush, and then you need to get back over to DCA (I put the walk from CO to the WOC area around 15 minutes).

The thing that will really bite you with a Disney vacation is if you don't allow enough time to get from one thing to another. Being relaxed and not worried or rushed will keep your dh happy along with that Monte Cristo!

 

[kristenm514]

Having thought about the logistics, I'm thinking maybe doing this on our non-WOC night would be best, so that we don't have any particular timestamp on our return to DCA. Thanks!!

 

[cmwade77]

First off, for the entertainment schedule, pick a day of the week in July (not counting the first week, as that's Fourth of July) that is the same day of the week that you will be going on, let's say it's a Monday, so pick say the third Monday in July. Chances are the entertainment schedule will be almost identical in August. The one thing that may change are performers at things like Tomorrowland Terrace and such.

As for park hopping, it is probably about 1.5 miles between the two furthest points in the parks. The places you are talking about is probably about 0.5 miles or so. You should plan on about a 20 minute walk time though, just in case the turnstiles are busy.

So, now the question becomes how many days are you going for?

If it is just the one, what I would recommend is this:
Breakfast at Goofy's, Lunch at Cafe Orleans and Dinner at CCT with tickets to the 10:15 WOC. The dinner prices for CCT are actually very similar to lunch and there are a couple additional choices at Dinner. I think this would be the less stressful plan.

 

[kristenm514]

We have 3 days in the parks, though really more like 2 1/2 since one of them is our arrival day. I thought it would be plenty when I booked but it's looking like it'll fill up quickly!
I had originally thought we'd do at least one meal per day offsite (on the way to/from the hotel for break) to save some money, but that is looking to be a waste of valuable park time, so I'm thinking my ultimate solution will have to be to hike up the food budget and stay inside the parks. Oh, darn.

 

[cmwade77]

I would say that now DCA is 1.5 days worth and Disneyland 2.5 for visitors and that's just to do all of the rides once. But the trick is to make the most
out of what you have.

I think your idea of doing it on your non WOC day is a great idea.

Given 2.5 days, I am not sure if I would start at DCA or Disneyland and get the monte cristo, so you know you have done it.

 

[Amy&Dan]

We have 3 days in the parks, though really more like 2 1/2 since one of them is our arrival day. I thought it would be plenty when I booked but it's looking like it'll fill up quickly!
I had originally thought we'd do at least one meal per day offsite (on the way to/from the hotel for break) to save some money, but that is looking to be a waste of valuable park time, so I'm thinking my ultimate solution will have to be to hike up the food budget and stay inside the parks. Oh, darn.

Yeah, sometimes when we have stayed offsite we have eaten a meal or two near to the hotel on the way to our break, but we found it didn't save that much money and frankly, eating at a Denny's or IHOP to save a few bucks isn't very fun to me. Which is why I'll die broke!

What I do to save money is eat breakast in our room (unless we have a free breakfast at the hotel). I have been known to pack cereal bars, raisins, nuts and stuff like that to eat for breakfast or snacks to save money.

I will also tell you that Disneyland has big portions. So feel free to share! At the sit downs (Blue Bayou for sure, maybe others as well) they may charge you a split plate fee (but you each get your own side if they do) but the counter serve places have no way of knowing how many people are eating. Buffets can't be shared but they do fill you up enough that you probably won't want much else to eat the rest of the day.

We also like a lot of the snacks at DL, and find that a snack and a full meal are enough for the day. And we are not dainty eaters!

One way I like to budget is to buy Disney gift cards. I pick them up from time to time and it really helps me budget for our trips. I also get fuel rewards right now at my Safeway so I save money on filling my tank while saving money for DL!

 

[Elk Grove Chris]

I would second the splitting, especially of the Monte Cristo. It is a fantastic sandwich, especially when paired with the pomme frites, but it is huge and rich.

 

[HydroGuy]

Yeah, sometimes when we have stayed offsite we have eaten a meal or two near to the hotel on the way to our break, but we found it didn't save that much money and frankly, eating at a Denny's or IHOP to save a few bucks isn't very fun to me. Which is why I'll die broke!