Dining help!

[Jacq7414]

We are staying at the Grand Californian and going for 3 nights/4 days before our trip to Hawaii. This trip is mostly for our daughter, who will be 8 at the time.

We have a flight into LAX that’s coming in before 9 am. We don’t have park tickets for that day though. We have 2 day park hoppers because our flight out is at 930 am.

So far I have an idea of:
Day 1: Goofys kitchen dinner. For our daughter. I’m aware the food probably isn’t great but she really wants to go there after seeing something on YouTube. Plus she loved chef Mickeys in Disney world

Day 2: California Adventure. No idea what to do for meals

Day 3: disneyland park. plaza inn breakfast.

Day 4: departure.

Is the world of color dessert parties worth it? We’ve done the disney world ones in magic kingdom and enjoyed it but I’ve read mixed reviews on the world of color.

Is Plaza Inn or Storytellers better for breakfast?

 

[alleighboo]

Quick service in DL is amazing so I would look through the menus to see what looks good to you and make a list! Lamplight Lounge in DCA is delish if you're looking for sit-down and they do brunch Friday-Sunday that is amazing. My friend and I did Plaza Inn for breakfast with Minnie last visit and we both loved it. The food was yummy and we met a ton of characters. Minnie, Chip, Dale, Tigger, Pooh, Max, Perla, and Pluto were all there and all came to our table. Booking it for my next trip! I've not done Storytellers but I liked that Plaza Inn is in the park and has so much history.

We also did the dessert party last trip and I loved it as well. I'm planning on booking it for our next trip in June. However...with the short amount of time you're going to be there, I might skip it just because it does take a lot of time. We went to the late show and I lined up around 7 to get our table. We went and got a drink and rode a ride between getting the table and coming back to be seated, but it was kind of a time suck. It's easy to find a place to watch WOC and you can just walk up, especially to the 2nd show. But if you like the desserts/snack and having a place to sit (no seating otherwise), then it may be worth it!

 

[OneThree]

Having done both Goofy and Plaza for breakfast our family prefers Plaza but I’m sure your daughter will have a blast at either. Characters seemed more accessible and attentive at The Plaza compared to Goofy’s but Goofy also had the more well know characters like Donald, Pluto, Mickey, etc…

For DCA, we always hit up Pym’s Test Kitchen. Our kids are picky but they like the breakfast platter with the French toast and bacon. Flo’s and Smokejumpers is good for lunch/dinner.

 

[Jacq7414]

Having done both Goofy and Plaza for breakfast our family prefers Plaza but I’m sure your daughter will have a blast at either. Characters seemed more accessible and attentive at The Plaza. I pared to Goofy’s but Goofy also had the more well know characters like Donald, Pluto, Mickey, etc…

The only reason I was going to do Goofys was because it’s the only dinner character meal. She definitely loves those well known characters so I think I’ll do both. Do you have a good time for breakfast at Plaza? I read 10/1030 am so I was going to shoot for that

 

[smartlabelprint]

We love the storytellers brunch. Great character interactions and delicious food. We’ll definitely return. Maybe on your last day? Multiple times we had the same character's come around and have some long, really great interactions. My baby would have been 2.5 at the time. It’s relaxed dining in a quiet space. Great atmosphere.

My kids have disabilities and the only way to wait less and have less crowds is the WOC dessert party. They even make food allergy adjustments. They apparently forgot it got some part of it mixed up, despite calling me! And had someone run to the grand and get some sorbet from the kitchen. (We had it the night before at a restaurant in there). It’s still a great show if you don’t mind waiting.

We haven’t done the plaza inn breakfast in 7 years. When my 2nd baby was 4 mos and adorable we had great interactions with Pooh there. But we felt rushed. We’d miss the characters if we got more food, etc. there are a lot of characters and they don’t always come back. It’s tight quarters hard to walk around chairs and has a frenetic feel.

Anyway we tried one more year and we didn’t even get a great interaction once my kids were toddlers. So we haven’t been back.

Allears has good menu up to date info if you want an overview. Then you can check dl site before you leave. We love boardwalk pizza & pasta. I am anticipating aunt cass, the menu looks great.

Bengal bbq is not to be missed at least for a snack. I love the soup and sandwich at jolly holiday but it really is just ordinary.

 

[Jacq7414]

We love the storytellers brunch. Great character interactions and delicious food. We’ll definitely return. Maybe on your last day?

We have a 930 am flight out of LAX. I didn’t think that any sit down breakfast would work

 

[alleighboo]

The only reason I was going to do Goofys was because it’s the only dinner character meal. She definitely loves those well known characters so I think I’ll do both. Do you have a good time for breakfast at Plaza? I read 10/1030 am so I was going to shoot for that

Our reservations were at 9:50 and it was perfect. We rope dropped (without EE) and rode Indy, Haunted Mansion, Big Thunder, Pirates, and AstroBlasters without any LL and got to Plaza Inn around 9:40.

 

[Jacq7414]

Our reservations were at 9:50 and it was perfect. We rope dropped (without EE) and rode Indy, Haunted Mansion, Big Thunder, Pirates, and AstroBlasters without any LL and got to Plaza Inn around 9:40.

Oh perfect! Thank you. So I’ll try around then.

 

[Federalist45]

DCA: Lamplight, Award Weiners, Pym’s, or a sit down in Downtown Disney

Plaza vs. Storytellers: Storytellers is a much better buffet (food/drink wise) and better characters. It’s also nice that you can push into an early lunch.

But, Plaza is right at the foot of Sleeping Beauty’s Castle. In the morning, you get to point to it and tell your kids that’s where Minnie is having us over for breakfast. I’d definitely do Plaza at 10:30 a.m. over leaving Disneyland for a Storyteller’s brunch.

 

[ktlm]

The only reason I was going to do Goofys was because it’s the only dinner character meal. She definitely loves those well known characters so I think I’ll do both. Do you have a good time for breakfast at Plaza? I read 10/1030 am so I was going to shoot for that

I would do both. Goofy's is very similar to the WDW character meals with set characters, and the food is better than Chef Mickey's. Plaza Inn is our favorite, because you usually run into one or two characters that you don't see at WDW character meals or even at WDW. We always try for the Plaza between 10 and 10:30-- if you rope drop you can get a lot of stuff done in the early hours at DLR as since the crowds are more local it takes a while before a lot of the lines really build up- so you can get things done before your breakfast.

DLR has a lot better counter service options than WDW-- I think that is probably due to the local crowd going more for CS, while at WDW it is more of a destination crowd going for TS. We could never do a trip on CS at WDW, but could easily do it at DLR.

The WOC dessert party you get a set plate brought to you at your table- it is not like some of the WDW ones where there are tables and tables of desserts and you go up and get what you like. To us the WOC party is more about having a chair and good vantage point than the desserts which are mostly just ok. WOC is standing only and if you are short like me it can be difficult to see anything at all other than the person in front of you if you are down in the crowd. To me, the dessert party is worth it to be able to actually see the show well. That said--- I'm not a fan of the new version of WOC--- I liked the old one much better. It used to be a don't miss for us and we have done the dessert party multiple times, and our trip in September we didn't even bother with WOC. I didn't think the new version of WOC was worth the price of the dessert party. WOC is under refurbishment right now---I would love to see a different show when it comes back, but as far as I know the same one is returning. If you have never seen WOC before you don't have anything to compare the new one too, so you might enjoy it more. WOC is different than anything at WDW. With the new version of WOC, only 2 days, and it looks like you aren't doing hoppers--- I might skip WOC this trip and just spend the time in the park.

 

[Jacq7414]

WOC is under refurbishment right now---I would love to see a different show when it comes back, but as far as I know the same one is returning. If you have never seen WOC before you don't have anything to compare the new one too, so you might enjoy it more. WOC is different than anything at WDW. With the new version of WOC, only 2 days, and it looks like you aren't doing hoppers--- I might skip WOC this trip and just spend the time in the park.

We are doing hoppers. I don’t know if that changes anything

 

[ktlm]

We are doing hoppers. I don’t know if that changes anything

It definitely gives you more flexibility. Carsland is a great place to see at night-- and if you are in the San Fransokyo area, walking into Carsland under the arch where you see RSR is also beautiful. One year photopass was there at night (haven't seen them there since), and everyone who saw our night photos thought we were somewhere "real" and wanted to know where we were. As hopping is typically a 5 minute process at DLR- you could easily hop over to take a look at Carsland at night on your DL focused day, if you wanted to spend your time trying to do WOC the other night. I don't know if your 8 year old is comfortable with single rider--or if you are okay with that. My DD was comfortable with it at that age. RSR is almost a different ride between day and night as it looks so different outside, and DD loved it. When she was young, she wanted to ride RSR multiple times so we would put one of us in front of her and one in back so almost every time at least one of us would make the same ride cycle or already be waiting for her when she got off. We would also keep an eye on the parties in the regular line where someone was going to be pulled for single rider and get her with kids if we could shuffle ourselves around to do that. She knew we would meet at where the photos pop up and to stay there when she got off if she didn't see us. If you want to catch another ride on RSR-- single rider is a great way to get on it fast a lot of times. We have seen the standby line at 2 hours, and been on it in 15 minutes.

Hoppers are really great at DLR because you can actually get from the back of one park to the back of the other in 10 minutes-- we have done it.

I see that you are arriving from LAX at 9:00 a.m.? Have you thought about adding another day to your tickets? You could probably be in the parks by noon or 1:00 p.m. That would give you a lot of extra park time. Don't let the size of DLR fool you-- it packs a ton into its smaller space. You can definitely fill a full 3 days and not be ready to leave. My DD would always want to hit the parks immediately when we arrived--we usually take an early flight (we fly to SNA and have a connection to get there) and wind up checked in and in the parks by about 1:00. By WDW standards-- it isn't that far to DLH from the parks if you still wanted to do Goofy's that evening. For WDW comparison, the walk from the parks to DLH is right about the length of the walk from either Boardwalk or Yacht Club to the International Gateway at EPCOT if you are familiar with that walk.

 

[Jacq7414]

I see that you are arriving from LAX at 9:00 a.m.? Have you thought about adding another day to your tickets? You could probably be in the parks by noon or 1:00 p.m. That would give you a lot of extra park time. Don't let the size of DLR fool you-- it packs a ton into its smaller space. You can definitely fill a full 3 days and not be ready to leave. My DD would always want to hit the parks immediately when we arrived--we usually take an early flight (we fly to SNA and have a connection to get there) and wind up checked in and in the parks by about 1:00.

Edit: it’s about a $350 difference to add a day with the park hopper and genie+ added. I was worried about if we get a flight delay and we are already spending so much on this vacation with what we are doing in Hawaii too. I had considered though but that’s why we will just do the Goofys kitchen Dinner that night.

We are also flying in from NYC. So it’s a long flight and travel day.

 

[NorCalFanatic]

We have kids your daughters age, they much prefer Goofys than storytellers. I prefer Storytellers, but they prefer goofys. Where else can you have ice cream for dessert after breakfast? We always find good food at Goofys though, and the eggs Benedict we recently had was really good. I was surprised.

Our last trip was similar to yours. We got to the Villas at about 10am. Checked in and had a bag hold. Had late Breakfast at Goofys, checkout the Fantasia Store, walked over to Grand Californian and checked out the store there, and then our room was ready. Went back, unpacked, Did some shopping in Downtown Disney and they Storytellers for Dinner.

WOC desert party is worth it for the seating. You will have A LOT of leftover desert though. We generally take it back tot he room and eat some the next day. WOC is a unique experience though, I wouldn't skip it. Even the holiday version (which I didn't care as much for) I'm glad I got to see (although I wouldn't do it twice).

Storytellers or Plaza is a toss up for Breakfast. There are more food options at Storytellers, but Plaza puts you in the park. Food is comparable breakfast wise.

There are lots of food options for DCA. Even if you don't do sit-down there are plenty of other options. I advise taking advantage of mobile ordering. Our kids love the food at Flos, and corndog palace.