lorilclevelandrn
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Sep 20, 2009
Which character meal is better food wise?
Goofy’s, Storytellers, and PCH are all pretty comparable in my opinion. Pretty good too for a buffet.Which character meal is better food wise?
PSA:I didn't really want to eat there, but my wife said Captain Kidd's wasn't that bad. I'm kind of skeptical. My kid just wanted McDonald's so we ate while m wife went with the buffet.
Welcome back -- hope you are feeling much better! Work your way through all the information, then come on back with any questions. We're here to help!Thank u to all for such helpful information. I’ve been down and out with the flu and finally getting around to checking my post. I truly appreciate all your help!
My wife has a thing for AYCE even though she's not a big person and doesn't have a big appetite. The idea of variety just appeals to her. The night before we ate at Show Sushi in La Palma. That was actually quite good. Even uni was on their AYCE menu and I tried it for the first time. $30, but I'm pretty whatever we had would have cost at least $60 per at another sushi place.PSA:
Re: Captain Kidd's -- Winner, Winner, Don't Eat Dinner: The Worst Restaurant in the ...https://www.ocweekly.com › winner-winner-dont-eat-dinner-the-worst-rest...
When a restaurant wins Worst Restaurant in OC (and that reviewer knows his stuff -- he's an ace cook and food reviewer), and when that same restaurant is notorious on this board for making people sick (eat there and get to know your new best friend, Pepto Bismol!), it is just not worth any risk for the low price! Eat there at your own risk! But even better, just stay away, stay far away!
Again, I would like to thank each and everyone of you individually for sharing such valuable and helpful information. I do not think I could have gotten any better anywhere else, not even a book store. You all are great!!!
To give you a bit more information, we have finally decided on Grand Californian. We fly in after lunch on Sunday, 3/22 and depart late 3/28.
Kids ages; daughter 6 and 2 teenage boys.
I guess my first question is about tickets. Would you recommend 3 or 4 park days and Maxpass’s for everyone?
We love the CCI! Always stay in the Premium Rooms and have never had a bad stay.Following .1st trip in August looking for ideas on hotels. Was looking at Candy cane inn. I can’t getGC on my DVC try everyday at 8 am and miss out.
We got our 5 day hoppers from LMTC for $325 and change. It was just $2 more than the 4 day hoppers! So my vote is for 5 day hoppers from LMTC. LMTC doesn't sell hoppers with maxpass, but you can add it daily. We figured that might save us some money - for $2 it's no biggie if we end up not using one of our 5 days, or if we only go in for a couple of hours. But I definitely don't want to spend $15 for each of us if we're only going to be there a couple of hours on a particular day!Again, I would like to thank each and everyone of you individually for sharing such valuable and helpful information. I do not think I could have gotten any better anywhere else, not even a book store. You all are great!!!
To give you a bit more information, we have finally decided on Grand Californian. We fly in after lunch on Sunday, 3/22 and depart late 3/28.
Kids ages; daughter 6 and 2 teenage boys.
I guess my first question is about tickets. Would you recommend 3 or 4 park days and Maxpass’s for everyone?
Totally agree with 7. You def don't need to plan the way you would at Disney World but its still beneficial to have a basic outline of what you'd like to do. there is still a lot of room to play by ear but fastpasses go quick!Hi there! I'm so excited for you all to experience "The Land." I grew up a WDW girl - my family would go about every other summer and from Texas, Orlando was much closer than Anaheim. I have a few thoughts as someone who was in a similar situation to you all:
1) Don't compare! A lot of people like to talk about which coast is "better" and while it's fun to discuss which versions of rides you prefer, I think you're going to have way more fun if you just experience Disneyland Park and Disney California Adventure for what they are - not comparing them to the 4 Orlando parks. I love BOTH coast's parks equally - just for different reasons.
2) Park hopping and MaxPass are MUSTS. The distance from one park's turnstiles to the other is about the length of a football field. It's so easy to hop back and forth. MaxPass costs extra per day but it's SO WORTH IT. As soon as you scan your ticket into one park that morning, you can begin reserving FP times from the Disneyland app for EITHER park. And you have a shorter window of required wait time between FPs (90 mins versus 120.) It's also SUPER easy to cancel an FP from your phone and grab a new one instead.
3) On site hotels are NOT necessary. Proximity to the turnstiles is what you should be thinking about. Disneyland Hotel and the Grand Californian are both pretty close to the turnstiles, but there are some hotels just across Harbor Blvd that are a shorter walk (think 7 minutes from hotel room to turnstiles). Paradise Pier Hotel is DEFINITELY not worth it - something like a 15 or 20 minute walk. If you want to splurge on a Disney hotel, cool beans. I just personally think there are much better uses of your money.
4) When you visit REALLY matters because Disneyland is a local's park. I highly recommend going by this guideline: https://www.disneytouristblog.com/crowd-calendar-disneyland/ as these bloggers are locals with years of experience heading to the Land at all times of year.
5) I think for your first visit, you should have 4 full days in the parks. And I would split up your trip like this: arrival day, park day 1, park day 2, REST DAY!!, park day 3, park day 4, departure day. This will give you time to SAVOR the parks and enjoy the seasonal offerings.
6) There are tons of things to splurge on as far as tours and dining packages and such. The one I would recommend over and over again is the Blue Bayou Fantasmic Dining Package. Blue Bayou is a GORGEOUSLY themed restaurant, and the food is always tasty. The plus of this dining package is that you get a 3 course meal (cheaper if you get the lunch package) and reserved front and center seating for Fantasmic that night. They even add in a souvenir seat cushion for you (which is nice, because you're gonna be sitting on the ground to watch Fantasmic.) The DHS version of Fantasmic is my least-favorite nighttime show at WDW, but I LOVE Disneyland's version!! It's very popular out here, and it's nice to skip the hassle of trying to get a Fastpass and then waiting in line to get into the Fastpass section.
7) You don't have to plan out your day nearly as much as you do at WDW. It's still important to be there at rope drop and to prioritize your time for your first 3ish hours in the park. But I've never had a day where, by lunch time, I wasn't on to re-riding major attractions. That always leaves me free time to go back to my hotel for a couple hours around 2 pm to nap, rest my feet, etc. (Hey.. I need my sleep) and then come back to stay until fireworks. This is another reason why hotel proximity is so important! I personally love Casey Starnes' blog DisneylandDaily. She has a very helpful article called "How to Start Your Day at Disneyland Resort" https://disneylanddaily.com/how-to-start-your-day-at-the-disneyland-resort/. If you follow her suggestions, you're going to see everything you want to see without waiting more than about 20 mins for rides (with the exception of the SWGE ones.)
Grandparents are now considering joining. Should I wait and buy their Maxpass on park days or now for convenience?
Additional question... My mother is planning on treating my daughter and I to Princess Breakfast. I was thinking I want to make reservations for our planned resort day so it doesn’t interfere with park time; however, now I’m wondering if I should make reservations for BBB before breakfast, if available. Ur thoughts?