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Finally confirmed that I'll be taking DD to Disneyland in February. Where do I even start? I've done WDW several times, but never Land. Hotel recommendations?
We typically do the dining plan at WDW. Are there meals that are worth it? We have 3+ days.
Coming in midday on a Wednesday and leaving first thing on a Sunday.
We are in CA so we've been to the Disneyland Resort (DLR) 3 times with our kids. I did hours of reading and research on the DIS Boards' Disneyland forum. If you're the kind of person who likes to research, that's a great website. If you prefer just direct answers re: where to stay and whether to get the dining plan, here's my take.
DLR is very different from WDW--it's much denser, so you can park hop easily. Plus, you don't have to stay on-site as there are a TON of smaller motels within walking distance if you're on a budget. We've stayed on-site twice at the Disneyland Hotel (the original one that's been remodeled since its opening). The first time was for a friend's wedding pre-kids, and I remember being unimpressed. We went the second time because I thought our DD2 would love to celebrate her 6th birthday there. I had done a ton of research on DISBoards' Disneyland forum and read all about the special treatment for kids' birthdays. Sadly, we didn't get nearly the service other guests have had (e.g., no one wished my daughter happy birthday when we checked-in despite my telling them to note her birthday on the reservation, there was not an autographed photo from Mickey waiting for us in the room, and I even had to ask the check-in desk staff if she could get a Birthday button).
We also stayed twice at the Howard Johnson in their Kids' Suites (2 rooms, one with King size bed, one with bunk beds, mini-fridge, microwave, and Keurig) about a 10 minute walk from the Esplanade. Depending on the season, we've paid between $99/night and $200/night for the Kid's Suite, which is still about $200 less per night compared to the one room with 2 double beds at the Disneyland Hotel (over $400/night). HoJo is a motel, but I liked having more space and better amenities. I'm not a 5 star hotel diva so HoJo was perfectly reasonable to me as I never order room service anyway. I do wish the walls were thicker (we could hear people walking in the hallway) but that's my only complaint. Some folks who aren't from urban areas have complained about seeing homeless people on Harbor Blvd. (the street you walk up from HoJo to get to the Esplanade between the 2 parks). If you stay at a DLR hotel, you don't see homeless people as security keep them away from the guests on property as you walk through Downtown Disney.
One last note: we haven't been to DLR in 3 years now so there may be better options. I remember hearing some other motel/hotels have subsequently opened so there may be more choices now.
As for the dining plan, I just bought snacks and meals as needed and never used a dining plan. We love churros, turkey legs, corndogs, etc. from the carts and the Dole Whip near the Tiki Room. We also tried some other food I can't recall off hand (skewers in Frontierland). There are entire threads on DISBoards about Disney food.
DISBoarders have implied that the dining plan is something you do at WDW but not as common at DLR. We've tried multiple character meals: Ariel's Grotto for the princess lunch at California Adventure (twice), Surf's Up at Paradise Pier Hotel (it's outside of the parks), Minnie & Friends' Breakfast at the Plaza (a ton of characters but cafeteria food), and Goofy's Kitchen at Disneyland Hotel (twice). The only character dining we didn't try was Storyteller's breakfast at the Grand Californian. My kids don't know the woodland creatures so I didn't think it was worth the cost.
Hope this helps!
DL is very easy. There are dining plan calculators out there. I’d try one. They’d be an absolute waste for us. My youngest and I often share meals bc we just don’t have big appetites. You can’t easily carry around leftovers so extra just gets tossed. I’d rather buy (or bring) a small snack than order too much food.
Do try and eat at Blue Bayou. I never got a chance to but love the ambience of it!
There are a bunch of new hotels in the area. Unless you really have your heart set on staying in a Disney hotel, I’d save the hundreds of dollars and pick one of them.
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Lots of the non Disney hotels are as close or closer than the Disney ones. I don't know anyone that goes to DL that does the dining plan there. We did use the dining plan at DW when DH and I went there. We spent a good deal of time consuming food and were never hungry but we don't usually eat like that and wouldn't if we hadn't bought the plan. Usually when I go to DL (for reference and granted I'm coming from my home in the morning!) I eat a giant breakfast in the car, bring sandwiches and snacks, buy one snack for each of us and one meal at the end of the day.
We stayed at the HoJo in the family suite this summer for our one and only trip to DL. :) It was nice enough for us. The girls enjoyed the water park (DS decided he was too big for it), and we all enjoyed being able to walk to McDonalds to grab breakfast in the morning on our way to the park.
As for meals, we did a late lunch at Ariel's Grotto instead of supper so we could meet the princesses, and we did a pre-park opening breakfast at the Plaza. Of the two, the one I'd definitely do again is the Plaza. In 45 minutes, we met Minnie, Chip, Dale, Pooh, Tigger, Fairy Godmother, Hook, Max (Goofy's son), Rafiki, and Eeyore. If you're interested in meeting characters, that's the way to do it. Plus, it gave us an extra day into the parks early. (Three day park hopper passes give you one early morning entry to Disneyland. We did that our first day there & then did this one our last day there. Check for the dates for both.)
For more fast food type meals, Flo's in CA is yummy. I loved the veggie tater bake.
Some of the travel boards recommend buying vouchers for the character meals. I bought gift cards from BJs to cover the cost instead. 5% off, plus an additional 5% from my credit card at the time worked out to a better deal than the vouchers. But if you don't want to go the gift card route, you may want to price out the dining vouchers. Just know that the vouchers for most counter service meals aren't worth it. Only the sit down meals actually save you any money.
Oh, and I really liked the Disboards Disneyland board mentioned above. I also used the Disneyland Daily blog a good bit.
Thank you all so much. I researched the heck out of our first WDW trip in pre-kids in 2002. With slight review since I've been able to plan four subsequent trips, but yes all of those were 7 months out. This feels last minute and I was in panic mode. Now I'm ready to be serious. Should be fun.
Sounds like you have gotten some great advice. I have never been to WDW so can't compare, but since you are staying a few days, I would highly recommend downloading the Disneyland app. It's free and gives you tons of up-to-the-minute info including ride wait times, maps, nearest bathrooms, food, etc. They also offer something new now for fast pass if you are willing to pay. I think it's $10 per person and you can sign up for the Fast Pass rides from your mobile phone.
As for food, definitely bring snacks which are helpful, especially if you are stuck in long lines. Downtown Disney is right outside of the park entrance so you could leave to eat there and go back. Or eat there for dinner. There are a lot of choices within walking distance, even just outside of downtown Disney area, so you don't necessarily have to eat at your hotel or just the park. We usually go for just the day so we stay inside the park and eat to make the most of our time. Have fun!
The fried chicken plate at Plaza Inn in Disneyland is a good, reliable meal. The hand dipped corn dogs at the Red Wagon Cart (Disneyland) and Corn Dog Castle (CA Adventures) are yummy. Beignets at the Mint Julep Bar (Disneyland) are delicious, hot and fresh.
And don't forget to check out the various caramel apples--we especially like to get them at Pooh's Corner (Disneyland).