They had a huge variety of food (including all of the things you could find at Plaza Inn) and it was all VERY tasty. The pastries were phenomenal and the pizzas, eggs benedict, and soft serve ice cream were so yummy. It's definitely a walk from the park (and since we were staying ALL the way over on the OTHER side it was especially a long walk) but it was completely worth it. We met Goofy, Minnie, Chip and Dale, and Pluto. Definitely not any new characters we hadn't already seen, but we had a great time (and Oliver got a cupcake and a birthday song!).
We walked back to our hotel (after a quick stop at the World of Disney to pick up souvenirs including Oliver's Jack Jack mug and more charms for Z's charm necklace), were picked up by Bon Voyage Transportation and zipped to the airport where we had so much time before our flight.
We had a phenomenal trip and are especially glad we had the first few days when the parks were so empty to enjoy as many rides and characters without the lines as possible.
Here are a few of my best tips for anybody reading and for my future self if ever planning this trip again (not likely, but you never know!). It's a combination of things I learned from this trip and our last one two years ago.
1. Go in January or February DURING THE WEEK. No weekend days in the parks.
2. Be sure to check the crowd calendar and events calendar for the parks. We were there during a dance/cheer convention...I'm pretty sure that contributed to the crowds (plus the holiday weekend).
3. If you can swing it, stay at the resort. We really liked Paradise Pier. It was the cheapest of the three and perfectly magical. It's definitely the furthest away so be prepared to walk (but again, worth it).
4. Bring snacks from home. You can bring any food and drink into the parks you want (save alcohol). Fruit snacks are great for line bribery and trail mix and fig bars saved us from starvation (when I say US I mean Oliver...).
5. Share food at restaurants. We ate so much all day that we didn't need huge meals anyway, but when we actually sat down to eat we always ordered two entrees and shared. I would say the only time this didn't work great was at The Tropical Hideaway. It wasn't enough food for us. But like I said...we didn't starve.
6. Be sure to take time to sit down and eat lunch at the Lamplight Lounge in DCA. It was the best meal we sat down for and a great location (Pixar Pier). We shared the lobster nachos and burger and both were delicious.
7. Do a character dining experience for sure. We've done Plaza Inn, Goofy's Kitchen, and the PCH Grill. Our favorites were the PCH Grill and Goofy's Kitchen. The only benefit to doing Plaza Inn is that it's in the park. BUT, the other two had far better food and the characters seemed to interact more with the kids. We found that doing a character breakfast on a day we weren't going to the park still gave us a spark of Disney Magic for the day! If you do make a reservation for Plaza Inn, don't make the reservations for too early in the morning. It's great to get to the parks, do a few hours of rides when the lines are shortest, and then head for breakfast.
8. Spend your money on treats and snacks. There are so many good ones. And share so you can try different things (those churros are HUGE). Our favorite snacks were the churros, (any and all carts) Carne Asada Fries (Award Wieners, DCA), corn on the cob (Pixar Pier) and Cookie Num Num (Pixar Pier).
9. Bring pennies to squish! The kids LOVED looking for the penny squishers and it was a cheap souvenir. I just loaded up a mini-m&m round container before we left home with quarters and pennies. The squishers are in most shops in each land, you just have to keep your eyes peeled for them (and there are a ton in Downtown Disney, too).
10. We had autograph books the first trip and skipped it the second trip. The kids seemed to like it the first time but we felt MUCH freer without them this time. Cool, but unncessary.
11. Build in time for the shows. It sure helps to recharge and they're ALL so spectacular.
12. We are an early rising family but I can't imagine getting to the park any later in the day. We were there at rope drop each morning and it's the only way to go to be able to do as much as possible before it gets crowded later in the day.
13. The maxpass is great...but pricey. We found that we didn't really need it the first two days (pulled paper fast passes when we wanted them AND the kids were too scared to do many of the fast pass rides anyway) and then the second two days they went SO fast for the entire day that they wouldn't have been much help. We for sure bought at least one per day so that we could link the photo pass to it. That was definitely worth $20.
Disneyland Day 1
Disneyland Day 2
Disneyland Day 3
Disneyland Day 4
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