one meal in park a day About This Page:

[ibmaryann]

We are staying at Candy Cane Inn which offers free breakfast so I am trying to figure which would be better, lunch or supper in the park? I had planned on taking a break in the middle of the day back in the room to eat one of our meals but I'm thinking that lunch may be too soon to be taking a break? Traveling with my 3 kids 15 y/o son and 12 y/o daughter and 9 y/o neice. Any suggestions as to which meal and what are the meals I should not miss in the park.
Thanks,
Mary Ann

[Willowwind]

I would do dinner in the park. Do you want Table service or Counter Service? Blue Bayou is a special place for table service and for Counter service Rancho del Zocalo is my favorite.

[ibmaryann]

I'm not sure yet? I would like at least one NICE sitdown meal we will be there for 3 full days and 1 evening. I am on a budget so I am printing out menus to look at prices. I guess we should experence 1 character meal.
Thanks,
Mary Ann

[janicelovesmickey]

for one really NICE sit down, blue bayou is amazing! we loved it there.

[Jacky]

You could do lunch at Carnation Cafe, they have a great menu, or Plaza Inn.

[Willowwind]

Blue Bayou is *very* nice. No characters though. I haven't ever done a Character Dinner at Disneyland so I can't help you with that.

[Goofy jj]

I think the characters vary at all of the character breakfasts, so our experience might be different than others.

Goofy's Kitchen has a variety of characters. We have seen Goofy (of course), Pluto, Mary Poppins, Alice and the Mad Hatter. It is a big buffet and is located in the Disneyland Hotel. Once we saw one a Prince (he was sooo offended that we didn't know who he was and that he was Prince Aurora's husband, hehehehe). We had the greatest interaction with him. He spent a bunch of time with my boys (they were kinda past the characters at the time). He spent the whole time trying to convince them how cool it was to be a prince, how he has an action scene in the movie and that they just HAVE to see the movie cuz he is the star in it. That was summer 2008.

Storytellers Cafe is in the Grand Cali Hotel and has Chip, Dale, Pluto, the gorilla (sorry, I don't remember his name), and a few others. My family seems to prefer this character meal, but I think it is because my kids are older now. They love the omletes. We usually order off the menu and do not do the buffet. Last time we went was January 2009.

My favorite one is the Plaza Inn Breakfast because I love eating in the park. But, my experience was that the food was not the best. It has been a while since we ate there. The characters are more like Tigger and Pooh, Minnie Mouse, Cpt. Hook (I think), and the fairy Godmother. I love the atmosphere. I think we went there in December 2007.

There is another character meal at Paradise Pier Hotel. I can't remember that one very well. I think we saw Stitch. It has hawaiian offerings like rice along with regular breakfast stuff. They also had a bunch of vegetarian options too.

We went to Ariel's Grotto a long time ago (2006 or 2007). I just remember tons of princesses. I don't really even remember the food.

I hope that helps. Others can probably add more details.

[chezp]

Our favourites have included:

the Blue Bayou, the atmosphere in there is great
Ariel's Grotto - dining with the princesses was wonderful
Yamabuki - amazing Japanese food
Goofy's Kitchen - good food and fun character interaction
Storytellers Cafe breakfast - again, good food and characters

[jimmymac]

I would do dinner. Blue Bayou and Storyteller's Cafe are both very good

[Dlandmom2]

Storyteller's for a late breakfast would be a lot of fun. It could serve as an early lunch for you.

Blue Bayou is really great, but it is definitely one of the pricier meals.

Rancho del Zocalo is my pick for the best value. I really like their food, and the portions are a pretty good size. Also, I had the pleasure of speaking with the head chef there twice (I don't know if it's the same guy still there), and he really prided himself on bringing real authentic Mexican food to the eatery.

[w-steele]

I must totally agree with dlandmom. Do a late buffet breakfast, say around 9 and eat hardy and that could serve as an early lunch as well. I would then think about eating about 4 or 5 and again the BB would be a great choice. If in between time you suffer a little hunger pain, you can always get an apple, orange or banana to snack on to tide you over so you wouldn't spoil your dinner.
In my opinoin there is only two great places to have a character brackfast. The first is located in the DLR hotel and that would be Goofy's Kitchen. The second place is located in the GCR hotel and that would be Story Tellers. We love both of these places and the food selection is great and the 'floor show" that the character put on with the kids is heart warming.

[ibmaryann]

I reserved Blue Boyou for dinner and Goofy's for lunch. Still contemplating the others. Thanks for the advice.
Mary Ann

[Two4Disney]

I would alternate. For example, do Blue Bayou for lunch - make a PS right at opening time and you should get a table by the water. Do Rancho del Zocalo for dinner so you can enjoy alfresco dining in the evening listening to everybody having a great time at Big Thunder Mountain - wonderful atmosphere!

Kathy

[szubieta]

Don't know if your kids (and Husband) eat like mine...if you driving in or can get to a store. PB&J, granola bars, dried fruit, fruit cups, poptarts, PB & graham crackers and drinks are all a must for my 3 big eaters. Then you can focus on adding in a character meal and a nice sit down too. DTD has the Rain Forest Cafe, Tortilla Jo's & my 2 teen sons fav The EPSN Zone. I add all our character meals in the package so they are paid for before you go. A lot of meals in the park and DTD are large so I sometime split a meal with our youngest son or our teen daughter. Check out the current menu with prices on all ears dot net. Blue Bayou is really nice, but check out the sticker price first...it could help blow your budget but good...