Eating at Disneyland: A Food Blog

A visit to Disneyland inevitably means that you will be eating and there are so many choices that sometimes it can be hard to pin point what exactly you want to eat. I’m here to try to make those choices a little easier by telling you where I ate and what I thought. There’s so much to try and everything smells so good it is hard to choose- we got to quite a few places but this blog will only scratch the surface- I’ll add a link to Disneyland’s website at the end of this post so you can look through all your choices.

Our first stop- Trader Sam’s at the Disneyland hotel.

Part of the drink menu at Trader Sam’s

The bar at Trader Sam’s

Sweet and Spicy wings with slaw

Pulled Pork sandwich with sweet potato fries

Flatbread

Next stop- Clarabelle’s in Disney California Adventure (in the Starbucks)

The Oswald Triple Scoop Kitchen Sink Sundae

Clarabelle’s in California Adventure

The Chocolate Mint Chip Triple Scoop Sundae

Some delicious snack options-

The smell wafts from Wetzel’s pretzels around the midsection of Downtown Disney, also a good snack option!

Need a snack that reminds you that you are at Disney? Look no further than a scrumptious churro from the California Churro cart!

I had to try the churro bites with the chocolate dipping sauce from the Cozy Cone, absolutely fantastic snack!

Cake pops (60th anniversary)

Mickey Ice Cream bar- found at various locations around the park.

Marshmallows dipped in chocolate- look like mickey pants!

Marshmallow Olafs!

Some great Chinese food can be found in California Adventure from Lucky Fortune Cookery-

Beef and teriyaki sauce with rice and fortune cookie. This quick serve has a “build your own” option where you choose your meat and your sauce!

Beef and the orange sauce also from Lucky Fortune.

Award Wieners in California Adventure is also a great option for great food, fast-

Award wiener’s menu

The veggie dog

Sicilian dog!

For somewhere nice to sit down and eat- The Blue Bayou is an excellent choice

The lunch menu at the Blue Bayou

Dark and quiet atmosphere leads you to believe you are dining somewhere remote in the deep south. A great place to stop and grab a delicious bite to eat.

Starter salad, comes with craisins, candied pecans, and blue cheese on it.

The Monte Cristo sandwich- split order.

These are some of my favorite things, here is a link to Disneyland’s dining list.

Disneyland: The World of Color

The World of Color is a nighttime show in Disneyland Resort’s California Adventure Park. Projections on water screens, fire, fountains and lights make this show fantastic. If you’ve been to Las Vegas and seen the Bellagio fountains you kind of have an idea of what is in store, but in true Disney fashion they’ve taken the fountain and light show up a notch.

Dancing fountains towards the end of the “old” world of color show.

If you’d like to see the World of Color I would recommend either booking a dining reservation that includes a viewing area or getting a fast pass upon park opening for a viewing area. Then when you go to redeem your fast pass, be sure to get there early to get the best spot in line for your viewing section. (The fast pass kiosk is by the grizzly river rapids fast pass kiosk).

The ending of the “old” world of color with “World of Color” lasers. We saw the last old World of Color show before the 60th celebration show kicked off!

Keep in mind, this is a water show so the closer to the water you are the wetter you will get! We were front and center for the last old show and we got pretty wet!

The fountains after the show ends.

We were in Disneyland just as they were beginning to kick off the 24 hour event and the kickoff celebration for the 60th, so we got lucky and were able to see the brand new show after they showed the press the night before (and a day before it was officially set to start).

The new show features a projection screen on the Mickey Fun wheel as well as uses California Screamin’ to project things on as well! One of the beginning scenes with Walt Disney.

The new diamond anniversary show is a tribute to the rides and to Walt’s dream and some of the movies that have made Disney the huge success that it is.

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is one of the first movies to be featured in the show.

The show rotates around the notion of staying “forever young” and having a child like outlook on life. Huge water screens, fireballs and beautiful projections and lights (including the mickey ears that light up along with the show) make the entire experience unforgettable.

Of course Frozen had to make an appearance in the tribute to all of the movies during the show.

Next the show commemorates Disneyland and all of the wonderful rides that make the park special. From the haunted mansion to the Tiki Room and everything in between.

The beginning of the “Disneyland” section.

Splash mountain was one of the rides featured in this part of the show!

Pirates featured fire shooting out of the lagoon, so hot you can feel the warmth!

This new show is just as fantastic as the old one was, it was an amazing experience to see it for the first public show. Everyone was singing along with the songs and the new Christina Perri song- “Forever Young” put a lump in your throat and made me wish I was still a kid again. If you happen to be in Disneyland in the near future be sure to check out The World of Color.

(All images are my property, if you would like to use one for any purpose please leave a comment)

Disneyland: Toontown

Just like the Hollywood hills Toontown is written in the “hills”.

Toontown is another one of those special places within Disneyland where you step into an imaginary world previously only seen on a screen. It is also where you can meet the “Big Cheese” in his own house!

You walk through Mickey’s house as part of the line for photos with Mickey, it winds through his living room, his garden, his laundry room and even his garage. Great place to bring kids and adults will love the quirky charm.

Mickey’s mailbox outside his house in Toontown.

Minnie also has her own house, situated right next to Mickey’s house. There is also an opportunity to meet Minnie and have a photo with her.

The whole part of the park is filled with wonderful little quirky signs and things to look at.

A sign that even my niece who can’t read yet found hilarious.

Goofy’s house! Topped with of what else but Goffy’s hat!

One of the more popular attractions in Toontown- Rodger Rabbit’s car toon spin.

“City hall” in Toontown with a cute Mickey face clock.

Panorama of Toontown

Fish in a “gas” tank at a “Goofy Gas”

This isn’t any normal water fountain, it’s GOOFY water.

A second Clarabelle’s location, you can get Mickey’s Pants Kitchen Sink Sundae here as well!

Toontown is another one of those places where even if you don’t ride any rides, just looking around this area of the park is something that can be highly entertaining. After riding Rodger Rabbit Car Toon Spin, I just spent some time wandering around and enjoying the beautiful California day. Just sitting on the ledge of the fountain and people watching is a great way to rest tired feet and soak in some sunshine.

Disneyland: Celebrating 60 Years

When we initially planned our Disneyland vacation we didn’t even think about the fact it would be the 60th anniversary celebration going on. So we were pleasantly surprised to discover on the internet that we would be able to see some of the special things they had planned for the diamond celebration, even though we left on the official kick off day.

Sorcerer Mickey hat outside of the Disneyland hotel decked out for the diamond anniversary was one of the first special things we noticed when we arrived at the park.

Soon everywhere we went we started noticing all the special details that they had been adding for the diamond celebration. We came in on the Monday before they kicked off the celebration and noticed added touches here and there with more being added throughout the week.

Signs found in the Disneyland Hotel

Upon our arrival (after a stop at Trader Sam’s to refuel and have a quick drink) we went to DVC to ask what special diamond celebration things we could expect to see before Friday (and we picked up our DVC lanyards of course). We were informed that we would not be able to see the special night shows but to keep an eye to the skies for the fireworks (because obviously there’s not a good way to hide those).

Just walking into the park on our first day we already spotted a TON of Diamond bling already out around the park, so of course I had to photograph all that I could find! I especially loved the banners they had on the light posts, I found those to be quite elegant.

All the decor I felt was very well done, didn’t seem too over the top since everything was blue and pretty classy looking and just made the park look like it was dressed up and we felt like we were experiencing something special the whole time we were in the park, so it was pretty fun!

The signs as you came in also were done tastefully and on the last day (Thursday) banners were added to the “D” over the “As you leave today…” sign, pictured below.

Next, let me show you some of my favorite photos I snapped of the castle all dressed up for the special occasion. I loved how they individually glittered some of the roof so it really shines and is really nice looking when the sun shines.

I love all the big blue banners with the silver lining, they really make the castle look elegant!

This angle photo of the back of the castle is one of my favorite shots I got, especially love the beautiful blue sky behind it 🙂

I love when Disney does special things, they always do it so well. Their 60th decorations are just stunning and I am so glad we got to see the parks all decorated for the occasion since we were thinking we would just miss the celebration stuff since we were leaving the day they started.

Disney California Adventure Park was all dressed up for the occasion as well! Using the same blue banners really was a great touch.

The other thing we were afraid we were going to miss out on was the 60th merchandise, and again we were pleasantly surprised when we got to see and buy some of it because it was released early on Wednesday!

The popcorn buckets already had the 60th design on them!

60th anniversary pins- of course we had to collect them all!

Another “must have” diamond anniversary Minnie ears.

My favorite out of all the pins!

I got to collect my first Alex and Ani and it is a special “Disneyland Forever” one!

Pretty Minnie ears that were for sale for the diamond anniversary!

The special bedazzled Mickeys you could buy!

They of course had to continue that branding into the stores as well! Loved spotting the diamonds!

There were even candied apples that were decorated for the 60th!

And cake pops!

And marshmallow sticks!

Unfortunately I didn’t try any of the food, but it was sure fun to see! Not pictured were the clothing items we bought with the 60th designs on them- I was able to get a kids sized t-shirt because the kids XL is the same as an adult small! So if you fit in that size be sure to check out the kids stuff too because it is a bit cheaper (just by a little bit- but hey, every bit counts!)

I loved the geotags that snapchat had for the park as well!

This was my favorite filter snapchat had!

Me wearing my Minnie ears on main street!

And then we started noticing a difference in the crowds and we saw the media come in- and there was a TON of media.

Media tents set up for radio stations from around the local area- they set up on Thursday.

We caught a glimpse of Mickey doing an “interview” for something!

The diamond got added to Mickey’s bow tie on Thursday as well!

And these signs popped up as well- can’t believe how long some people stayed up!

Signs telling you to use the hashtag #disneyland60 started appearing on Thursday as well

And finally, one last photo of the beautiful blue flowers they had planted. Fun that they matched the rest of the theme of the blue decor!

I hope you enjoyed my coverage of what we saw unfolding at the parks while we were visiting, we were very excited to be able to experience the 60th celebrations and were even more excited to be able to see the BRAND NEW World of Color on Thursday night!

Disneyland Resort: Cars Land

Have you ever wished that one of your favorite animated movies would be re-created in real life? Ever wanted to walk through Radiator Springs? You can in Disneyland’s California Adventure Park! Cars Land is maybe one of the cutest areas I’ve been in out of any of the Disney parks except I still have a soft side for Toontown.

A postcard like sign greets you and marks the entrance to Cars Land- a photographer is almost always there ready to take your photo!

In addition to the adorable buildings there are two rides with a third one being re-imagined at the moment. Radiator Springs Racers is probably one of the most popular rides at the park at the moment so if you’d like to ride it either grab a fastpass, stand in the single riders line, or come early! The ride is definitely worth the wait, it is one of my new favorites.

You board your own car for a journey through Radiator Springs and end the ride with a race of course!

The entrance to Radiator Springs Racers in Cars Land.

I took advantage of having some extra park time after getting a lot of rides in one of the magic mornings and spent a bit of the afternoon just enjoying Cars Land, taking photos and people watching.

The view of Cars Land from about halfway in.

In addition to the rides there are a lot of food options in this area that all sounded intriguing, but I only got the chance to try food at the Cozy Cone.

The sign for the Cozy Cone motel, just like in the movie!

Each cone had a different type of food in it, so you stood in line at the cone with the food you wanted! Clever!

Also there was a character meet and greet within the Cozy Cone, if you look at the above photo you can see Mater is there greeting guests! Lightning McQueen also came around for photos as well!

The churro cone!

I had to try the churro bites with the chocolate dipping sauce from the Cozy Cone, absolutely fantastic snack!

There were a few other places to grab a bite to eat as well as a gift shop with Cars themed gifts to bring home.

Flo’s V8 Cafe had a small but yummy sounding menu along with lots of seating.

Filmore’s Taste-in also had quick bites, some healthy fruit options and bottled beverages to go.

Overall, I would say they did a great job with Cars Land. I can’t wait to see what they re-imagine with Luigi’s Flying Tires area (was closed when we went). Whether your riding the rides or just there to eat everyone is sure to enjoy this creative area that brings a fan favorite movie to life! I can’t wait to see if they do something similar with Avatar land in Animal Kingdom in Walt Disney World!

Disneyland Dining: Blue Bayou

Dark and quiet atmosphere leads you to believe you are dining somewhere remote in the deep south. A great place to stop and grab a delicious bite to eat.

One of the best places to eat in Disneyland is nestled in the French Quarter area connected to the Pirates of the Caribbean ride. You can watch the boats go by as fellow visitors begin the ride. We love to come here for their lunch menu with the Monte Cristo sandwich that is to die for.

The lunch menu at the Blue Bayou

Most plates are big enough to share, but for the Monte Cristo you must pay a splitting fee (which is still cheaper than getting two plates) but it allows each guest to have their own salad or soup with the meal. However; when others in our group asked to share a different dish our waitress gladly brought out an extra plate for no charge.

Starter salad, comes with craisins, candied pecans, and blue cheese on it.

The service when we were last there was quite good, we were at an in between time and our waitresses were changing shifts so we had two different servers and each was very attentive which was nice because we had a rather large group and sometimes the big groups end up getting slower service, but we had no problems and were in and out of lunch in about an hour and back to riding the rides!

The Monte Cristo sandwich- split order.

In a split order of the Monte Cristo you get your own half sized meal complete with your own fruit skewer and three different dipping sauces. The fruit skewer had a unique collection of fruit on it, I wasn’t very brave and only sampled the ones I knew what they were. The three dipping sauces were also great, the top and bottom were berry flavored and the middle was more of a glaze that was my favorite.

Overall, this is a rather expensive restaurant so if you are trying to stick to a budget this is probably not your best bet- but for a splurge the Blue Bayou is a great choice to step out of the mayhem of the park and relax in the quiet and cool almost serenity of the Blue Bayou.

Downtown Disneyland

Downtown Disney in Disneyland is a tad different from Downtown Disney in Disney World. Serving more as a walkway and a smaller scale entertainment district. Live music can be found nightly, we saw a few musicians during our stay. If you stay at the Grand Californian Hotel you have easy access to downtown Disney and the shopping and dining it provides.

Need a snack that reminds you that you are at Disney? Look no further than a scrumptious churro from the California Churro cart!

The smell wafts from Wetzel’s pretzels around the midsection of Downtown Disney, also a good snack option!

There are quite a few options when it comes to snacking in the downtown Disney district, but there are also a few great options when it comes to sitting down and getting a real meal that prepares you for a long day in the park the next day or helps you recover from a day of walking you already got in!

Catal- a great restaurant with lots of options for everyone, a bit pricey though.

In the past we’ve eaten at the Napa Rose, Catal and ESPN zone as well as eaten snacks from Trader Sam’s. If you are looking to spend some money go ahead and splurge on a fantastic meal from Napa Rose (located just outside the California Adventure gate inside the Grand Californian Hotel). If you aren’t wanting to spend quite that much money, go for Catal, food is still very good but at a more reasonable price point (still an expensive meal though). If you are looking for a bit more reasonable still, try ESPN zone. You can catch a game and have some decent food, mostly Applebee’s quality food (hotdog, hamburger, chips and dip, cheese fries ect.) and this price point is a lot better than the establishments mentioned previously. There are still more options I haven’t mentioned, Jazz Kitchen, Earl of Sandwich, La Brea Bakery, House of Blues, Naples Ristorante E Pizzeria, Napolini, Rainforest Cafe, Taqueria and Tortilla Joe’s are also options.

Sorcerer’s hat as you enter Disneyland Hotel! Decorated for the diamond anniversary.

The second part of downtown Disney besides the food is the shopping! For a Disney lover this is heaven! From the World of Disney to find anything and everything Disney related to Anna and Elsa’s boutique that has everything Frozen inspired. A little miss matched store to get some crazy awesome socks, a build-a-bear workshop with Disney inspired creatures and outfits and a ride-makerz for kids to build their own toy cars. Boutique style smaller shops have Disney everything from Alex and Ani to Douney and Burke.

Every Lego imaginable can be found in the cute Lego store located in the heart of Downtown Disney.

Custom is the name of the game at Disney, choose your own Legos and even make your own Lego person!

Overall, there is more than enough to do in Downtown Disney. I love just sitting down and people watching while sipping on a Starbucks drink (also located in Downtown Disney in addition to a Jamba Juice as well if you would prefer). Everyone should be able to find a Disney inspired item to take home to remind them of their trip. I hope this was informative and I can’t wait to make a follow up blog when I visit downtown Disney again later in the summer, but this time in Disney World!

Kitchen Sink Mickey Pants Sundae: Disneyland

Looking for where those scrumptious looking mickey pants kitchen sink sundaes come from in Disneyland? Look no further than Clarabelle’s! Two locations in Disneyland- one in California Adventure park right off the main street as you walk in on the right next to Starbucks. The second location is in Disneyland Park in Toontown there is a second Clarabelle’s over in the little food area of Toontown where they also serve the sundaes.

Clarabelle’s in California Adventure

There are a couple choices when it comes to ordering this special treat, and a few hints I’d love to share! At only 11.95 you get three generous scoops of ice cream with toppings as well as a keepsake sink that is yours to keep. We found it easy to share one sink amongst 4 people, we just asked for water cups to split it if you don’t all want to eat out of the sink.

Above are the choices for the different kinds of sundaes that are offered, you also can ask for a different combination of ice cream flavors if you’d prefer something different. We chose to get both the Mint Chocolate Chip and the Oswald the times we got a sink. The Oswald comes with two chocolate covered frozen bananas!

The Chocolate Mint Chip Triple Scoop Sundae

The Oswald Triple Scoop Kitchen Sink Sundae

Whatever combination you choose you are sure to enjoy this special treat that tastes great after a long day in the parks and is a great time killer waiting to get in line for your fastpass for world of color at the end of the day! Enjoy!

Trader Sam’s Enchanted Tiki Bar: Disneyland Hotel

Prop outside of Trader Sam’s Enchanted Tiki Bar

Many people ask what there is for adults to do in Disney parks, the answer is quite simple, there are TONS of things for adults to do- especially if you like to eat and drink.

One of my favorite things to do on the Disney cruises (or any cruise really) is to eat and drink fruity drinks. After doing some exploring online before our recent Disneyland vacation, I discovered that Trader Sam’s is one of the coolest places for Disney-loving adults 21+ (kids are let in anytime before 8pm).

The bar is a mix of Tiki Room and Jungle Cruise inspired. If you were wondering, Trader Sam is the headhunter that you meet at the end of the Jungle cruise, this is his trading post. The tiki bar is actually a pretty small room with a handful of bar stools around the bar in addition to a few high tops and regular tables. I’d say about 35-40 people would fit in the room at a time. We must have lucked out because we just walked into the bar around 4 in the afternoon for an early meal with no wait after having just gotten in for our vacation.

There is a relatively extensive drink menu as well as a smaller food menu with a bunch of tasty options for bar snacks, we ate a plate a piece for our dinner.

Part of the drink menu at Trader Sam’s

There are a few drinks that you can order that come with a souvenir tiki mug or a glow cube, they are denoted in the menu. These items cost a bit more than a regular drink because you get to keep your mug that the drink comes in as well as the glow cube if you happen to get a drink with one in it.

Nonalcoholic drinks are also offered, one even comes in a souvenir sipper! We chose to order the Krakatoa Punch- basically a Mai Thai and they were quite generous with the booze.

The coolest part of this bar is when you order a drink and it is delivered to you. The lights dim and sound effects happen and the bartenders make a sort of announcement of the drink you ordered, I’ll leave it at that, you must go and experience it yourself if you haven’t yet! Kind of like rainforest cafe for adults.

Now let’s show some food:

Sweet and Spicy wings with slaw

Flat bread with Ham and Pineapple

Pulled Pork sandwich with sweet potato fries

Overall, it was a great adult Disney themed experience and I would recommend a visit if you end up going to Disneyland and have some extra time outside of the parks. The Enchanted Tiki Bar is located in the Disneyland Hotel at the end of Downtown Disney, signs will point you in the right direction!

Look for more Disney inspired blogs coming soon from Disneyland and later in the summer after I visit Walt Disney World! Enjoy!