DL masters- a few questions

[zag95]

Went to my parents yesterday and they surprised us with a trip to DL over Memorial weekend! I guess the Easter Bunny was really good to us!

At that time, I will be about 31 weeks pregnant. DD will be 4.25- it will be my parents, DH, DD and myself.

We are flying down and will be staying 3 nights at the DL Hotel. So excited.

A few questions:

This will be our first flight with DD- we play on bringing a stroller- mainly for airport stuff- but we may need to use it later in the day at DL. Does she need to have a booster seat also? Currently she rides in a marathon.... but is close to outgrowing. We are flying on JetBLue. Are you able to install boosters on airplanes??

Talk to me about the Aladdin show- how do I get it reserved?

Food- any good recs??

TIA!

[MMMommy]

How fun!

For food our favs are:

breakfast - the character breakfast at Storyteller's Cafe in the Grand Californian Hotel. This character breakfast buffet serves much higher quality food than the not so good character breakfast buffet at the Plaza Inn inside Disneyland.

lunch - Our favorite restaurant in the park is the fried chicken plate at the Plaza Inn inside of Disneyland. They start serving the fried chicken plates at noon, I think. Before that, it is the bad character breakfast that is served there in the morning.

Also, the fresh fried, hand dipped corn dog at the red wagon cart next to Plaza Inn inside of Disneyland is very good. I love those fresh corn dogs (not the dried up, reheated looking ones you find at the snack carts).

[TwinFoxes]

I would just have her sit in the airplane seat without the booster. There's really no point to using the booster, unless she just loves it and will be more comfortable. From a safety standpoint the airplane seat belt is fine.

Aladdin can't really be reserved, you can however get a fast pass for it like you would the other popular rides. It's a good show, and lasts about 45 minutes.

La Brea bakery at the entrance to the ticket plaza from Downtown Disney has the best coffee. Grab it on your way to rope drop (you'll have to walk right past it). Good pastries too if you eat that sort of thing, they also have sandwiches and salads. I like Bengal BBQ near the Indy ride in Frontierland, it's skewers of chicken or beef, but the hours are iffy. There is an Mexican place in DCA on the wharf that's OK (Margaritas too!). It's been 3 years now since we've moved, so I don't know how much things have changed.

[BayGirl2]

You can't use a booster seat with an airline seatbelt. Boosters are meant to be used to properly position shoulder belts, and airplanes have only lap belts.

4.5 is old enough to fly without a carseat IMO. But you will need a car seat or booster in CA to ride in a car under 8 years old. If you are planning to drive at all while you're there I would bring her current carseat/harnessed booster for use there. The carseat board can give you more details on that. We use a GoGoKidz to get the carseat through the airport, but you could check it for free as well.

We're going to DL in Sept so I'll be watching this thread for good food suggestions.

[lalasmama]

A few questions:

This will be our first flight with DD- we play on bringing a stroller- mainly for airport stuff- but we may need to use it later in the day at DL. Does she need to have a booster seat also? Currently she rides in a marathon.... but is close to outgrowing. We are flying on JetBLue. Are you able to install boosters on airplanes??

Talk to me about the Aladdin show- how do I get it reserved?

Food- any good recs??

TIA!

Apparently your Easter Bunny is MUCH nicer than ours! All ours did was make dinner! I suppose it's okay, since I'm actually going to DL in 23 days (all by myself--woo hoo)...

You can't use the booster seat on the plane (booster seats need to be lap/shoulder belts). That being said, still do bring a seat or booster (it won't count against your carry-ons). JB flies into LGB, and LBG doesn't have any buses (at least that I have found), so you'll be getting into a vehicle of some sort to get to the hotel. Cali's car seat/booster is the same as ours here in Oregon--so she'll need to be in *something* appropriate until she's 8yo or 4'9".

We didn't do reserved seating for Aladdin. We got there maybe 5-10 minutes before they let people into the theater, and we were sent to the back group. We ended up like 8 rows from the back, and DD *still* had a GREAT view and could see it all. Do not miss this show! :) It was FANTASTIC! I seriously wished that we hadn't waited so long to see it, because it was one of my favorite experiences! I'll be spending 45 minutes of prime-ride-time to see it again this trip.

Now food... Mmmmmm, food. I walked 10 miles a day, and STILL managed to gain weight, hee hee hee. Assuming it's warm, (and assuming you like pineapple) try a Dole Whip (pineapple soft serve ice cream). I also loved, loved, loved the 5-Cheese Ravioli at the Boardwalk Pizza & Pasta. That will be my first meal when I get there in a few weeks! In fact, it may be my meal every evening while I am there! LOL... I didn't like the churro (too grainy), but DD begged for them over and over again. While I'm not normally a hot-dog fan, their little hot dog meals were impressive--the whole wheat buns were so soft--like fresh white bread, but whole wheat! And for $6, it was a quick meal on the go. The character meal at Plaza Inn (Breakfast with Minnie) was fun--lots of "odd" characters--the Fairy Godmother, Hook, Rafiki, Chip--along with some more common ones--Tigger, Minnie, Eeyore. It was a bit spendy (mostly only because I paid for a child's meal, and DD was done after 2 Mickey pancakes). Many people like the corndogs; for me, they were overdone (I prefer them kind of gooey still, which isn't an option). Oh, yeah, we did pizza in Toontown (can't remember what the place is called), and DD and I both liked it. It was actually seasoned crust! Oh, and the frozen bananas were yummy too, but I can't eat them anymore, because I get too embarrassed... they look like... well, they look like something else that a chocolate-covered banana could look like if you were at Naughtyland instead of Disneyland... and Naughtyland is EXACTLY were my mind went when I started eating it!

Oh, and I would definitely take the stroller with you to DL. (Bonus "cute" points--the local Wal-marts are selling Disney-themed umbrella strollers for under $20. I seriously giggled every time I saw one at the park, because it was just so cute to see a Disney-themed stroller [and they have ones like Buzz and Princesses and Dalmatians, it's not just all Winnie the Pooh]).

Have fun!

[zag95]

Lalas mama......

Your post had me in stiches! Thanks for all the details!

I can't wait. DD is so excited- and this will probably be the last family vacation before the new baby comes- so it will be memorable!

[Twoboos]

We liked the Breakfast w/Minnie & Friends. SO many characters! And food was good enough. But we were there at the crack of dawn, basically first seating since we were on East Coast time.

Aladdin was AWESOME!! Sit in the First row of the second section, back from the stage, kind of behind a little wall. (Sounds confusing but when you see it you'll understand.) It is a little further from the stage, but there is a BIG bonus to sitting there. Everyone will rush to the front, but you don't want that. Get there early.

Take a pass on eating at Blue Bayou, if you're considering it. We decided to go there as a bday treat for me and it was mediocre at best. If you're doing California Adventure, the place with the bread bowls was great - blanking on the name though!

Get groceries delivered to your room at the DL hotel to have breakfast and snacks there. Vons will deliver free over $50. (At least that's how much it was when we went last year at this time.) It was fantastic to have something in the room.

Remember the rule of DisneyLand: Do FantasyLand FIRST and FAST. None of these rides have Fast Passes so the lines form quickly there and don't let up all day. Peter Pan, Dumbo, Alice, Teacups. We were also literally like the 4th people in the door (again, East Coast time) and ran (ahem, quickly walked) down Main St USA to be the first people to get on Peter Pan!! :boogie:

I loved that trip. Wish we were going again. Have a BLAST!!!

ETA: Stroller was a lifesaver. Also, search here for other threads on DL. Lots of good info from people!

ETAAgain: If your daughter is into princesses, lunch at Ariel's Grotto is a must. The princesses come to each table and have a chat. It's cute. Food was decent.

[zag95]

Twoboos-
Thanks for all the tips!

I already have my vons grocery list loaded in. I thought that might be a good way to go also, esp so we can be at the gate early! The one concern I have is how to time the grocery order (I've never ordered online before for groceries!), as we arrive in LB airport at 4:30p. Is there a way to place the order to deliver at a certain time? My phone is low tech, and I don't want to have to bring my mom's laptop to do the order. When they bring it to the DL hotel- do they call you down from your room or??


I think we get in 1 hr early since we are staying at DL hotel- so we plan on hitting Fantasyland first as much as we can.....I looked at the Blue Bayou briefly- but food is so expensive and sounds pretty heavy to this pregnant mama! The ambiance would be neat though.

[Tondi G]

Disneyland food http://allears.net/dlr/tp/dl/dl_rest.htm

Dole Whip for sure and then head in and watch the show at the Tiki Room

snacks ... Bengal BBQ is yummy ... chicken skewers, bacon wrapped asparagus and breadsticks. across the way is a stand that sells vegi's n dip or fruit.... worked out to be a good snack for the family. Only downside is the line moves SLOW!

My DS2 LOVES the gumbo in a bread bowl ... little window/counter service adjacent to Pirates of the Caribbean.

Pizza Port in tomorrowland is ok ... kids like the pizza. I've had some pasta there that wasn't terrible. I always ask for my salad to be made up fresh (either leave out the nuts on the chinese chicken salad .... make some kind of a special request).

Corn Dog wagon at the end of Main Street ... super yummy but greasy. Our family usually shares 2 of them and all have enough... eating one to myself always leaves me feeling a little ill!

Only good thing about the Blue Bayou is the Monte Cristo sandwich ... it really is delicious but heavy. The restaurant across the way (Cafe Orleans) also serves them though and a lot easier to get in to.

California Adventure http://allears.net/dlr/tp/dca/dca_rest.htm

The Pacific Wharf Cafe has delicious sandwiches and soups and salads in sourdough bread bowls.... take the tour of the bread factory and you get a slice of the bread to try!

My neighbor tried the mexican restaurant on the wharf area and really liked it

For a quick snack our family likes the Chimichangas here (they are not as good over at Disneyland for some reason) make sure to ask for the salsa/hot sauce packets!

Corn Dog Castle (same as Disneyland corn dogs)

if you want a nicer sit down meal the Wine Country Trattoria is good

we tried the flatbread pizza in the pier area and were not thrilled ... didn't try the pasta. We also haven't tried the new mediterranean grill place next door ... looked tasty but small portions I think.