Want PS for Dinner in DL?

[inky1967]

I would like to treat my kids to a meal inside DL, but are not sure which one. At home we only take the kids to fast food because the youngest gets easily bored and wants to run around before we are done with our meal . Ages 15, 5,and 3, all girls. I have heard that some of the restaurants have unusual things in them that might keep her occupied or at least in awe of. Any suggestions? and what is the average cost for this restaurant? Thank-you

 

[iceskatejen]

Inside DL itself there are only 2 sit-down restaurants, the Blue Bayou inside POTC or the Carnation Cafe on Main Street. And depending on when you are going, the Carnation Cafe may not be open for dinner. The Blue Bayou would be cheaper for lunch (I think entrees range from probably around $10-$15 or so for lunch and probably $15+ for dinner, plus you can only get the Monte Cristo at lunch). But watching the POTC ride would certainly keep them occupied if you could get a waterside table.

 

[inky1967]

Thank-you, how do you get a waterside table? and is it interesting enough for a 3yo?

 

[CalGal]

You might also consider a character meal either at DL, DCA, or one of the Disney Hotels. The only character meal inside DL is the Princess breakfast at the Plaza Inn (end of Main Street). Character breakfasts are offered at all 3 hotels. There's also a character lunch and dinner in DCA (Ariel's Grotto featuring Chef Mickey) and a character lunch or dinner at Goofy's Kitchen at the DLH. I personally recommend Goofy's kitchen for food quality, variety, and entertainment, although it's a little out of your way unless you are staying at the DLH (you can take the monorail most of the way there). Most of the character meals are buffets (Ariel's is not a buffet), so getting up and wandering around is not a problem. In fact, sometimes the characters will rally the children together for a march or dance. While I like Blue Bayou a lot and kids usually do fine there, I think an antsy 3 year old might do better at a character meal. Teenagers might not like character meals as much, but my 14 year old DS still loves Goofy's Kitchen. Lunch is cheaper than dinner for most of these choices.

Another option is the Rainforest Cafe at DTD. Kids tend to keep pretty entertained there. It's located very close to the monorail stop at DTD.

 

[AFMom]

It really depends on the 3 year old, I guess - but my two sons were about 2 yrs old when we started taking them to the Blue Bayou. Mind you - they are VERY active boys! We'd get a waterside table (make your PS, then show up a bit early as ask for a table at the water), and they'd play with the pirate hat menus quite happily. Also - your daughter will be tired! Walking all over the parks will make her a lot less antsy than she usually gets at other restaurants. One last note (and I may get in trouble for this one) Disneyland is for kids - if they are a little noisy or a little rambunctious - that's the one place on earth you can still take them for a nice meal! It's also pretty loud in there anyway - I think you'd be surprised how well they do..... it is Disney after all!

 

[CindyH]

Our sons (ages 2 and 4 last summer) did really well in both places - and they are your typical active boys, so I was actually kinda surprised.

I think either place would work well for you. BB might be scary if your 3 year old doesn't like dark places - we got a table right by the water and the kids were fascinated by the boats/riders going by (it helped that we went on the POTC before we ate at BB). GK might be scary if your 3 year old doesn't like the Disney characters up close (some don't) - our boys didn't recognize some of them (like Goofy, actually) and didn't get too excited when Cinderella came by (they're boys) but all in all, they had a good time.

Hope this helps, we plan to do the same (lunch at BB and dinner at GK) this August.

 

[inky1967]

Sounds good! My 3yo girl is NOT afraid of anything! my 5 yo girl is afraid of anything alive! LOL but she wants to go on roller coasters! go figure! I think we will try the BB, and maybe GK. Our nice sit down dinners are very few and far between. Thank goodness they have an older sister to babysit otherwise me and dad would go NUTS! LOL I know it is DL and that kids should be able to be kids but when you pay for a nice meal you should be able to enjoy it. I have never been to any restaurants that are still there. In '94 we went to an Aladin dinner show and my now 15yo was 4yo and was very afraid of Jafar. While she was eating and watching the show, scary music came on and she stopped dead in her tracks and started looking around for Jafar, little did she know he had walked out of some curtains directly behind her. All I have to say is thank God I had the camcorder running. PRICELESS!! No crying, but I was worried about her pants! LOL I wish the still had a dinner show like that one.

 

[JC Butterfly]

Well, I don't know about the "food quality" but I think that a chance for your 3 princesses to have breakfast with the Disney princesses would be priceless! This is offered inside Disneyland at the Plaza Inn ($15-$25 per person). Since you can see the faces of princesses, it is not likely that any of the girls would be scared and would probably get a big kick out of this. Breakfast is served from about 8-11 every day and you'd have to make advance arrangements to do it but that would be my suggestion.

The Rainforest cafe is somewhat overpriced in the food department ($12-$18 per entree) in my opinion but it might be a fun place to go and just have appetizers or their specialty dessert called "Volcano" (ice cream/brownie heaven!) This place is incredibly stimulating and *could* be scary if either girl doesn't like thunderstorms as they dim the lights and make the room rumble about every 30 minutes or so.

The Blue Bayou is wonderful for food and atmosphere. I would suggest avoiding the times when *most* people eat lunch. Like if you ate at the earliest setting of 11 a.m. or ate after 2:00 but before 5:00 then you increase the chances of both getting a waterside table (something you can request but isn't guaranteed) and reducing the wait time of getting it.

There are quite a few character meal options: Lilo, Stitch, Koda/Kenai, and Mickey and friends if that interests you.