My Disneyland ADR day is coming up in a couple weeks, and I’ve been busy today mapping out my days w/ TP. I could use some advice on my dining ideas, PLEASE. See below. (And I have been following the other dining thread - helpful thx!)
First a word about us (reminder for some). Family of four with two teens. March trip. First time to DLR. Unfortunately, we only have 1.5 days in the parks. Staying 2 nights at Disneyland Hotel.
We arrive late afternoon on a Tues. Plan to head straight to DCA after checking in. Dinner in DCA – Lamplight Lounge or Wine Country Trattoria. Later that night hop over to DL.
Rope drop DL on Wed. Lunch in DL - Carnation Cafe. Park hop to DCA for rest of afternoon. Back over to DL for a 7/8pm ish dinner at Blue Bayou. Stay at DL after dinner.
Meal questions:
– Dinner Tues: I like the idea of the setting of Lamplight Lounge for dinner. First-timers. See the park as we eat. And we are a family comfortable eating in lounges. But I get that Wine Country Trattoria would be a better meal w/ a real dinner menu. Is Lamplight Lounge a mistake?
– Lunch Wed.: Was thinking maybe Cafe Orleans, but I don’t want to do both meals that day New Orleans/Cajun style. So, Carnation Cafe.
– Dinner Wed.: Seems like Blue Bayou is a destination restaurant, so I don’t want to miss out. And maybe better for dinner? Too dark and “nice” for lunch?
What say you all? Plan make sense? Am I missing something great? Maybe I should be partnering a night-time meal with a show? All advice and thoughts welcome. THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH IN ADVANCE!
I can’t speak to your other questions, but I visited in May, and I’d say there’s no wrong time to do Blue Bayou. My wife and I went there for lunch on our first park day and loved it. Honestly, I think there’s advantages to doing a more leisurely sit down meal for lunch when you you’re avoiding the heat of the day rather than during the dinner hour when you’re missing some of the nicest times to be out and about in the park. That said, I think you and your family will have a great time there either way! It’s the coolest restaurant we visited on our trip.
One other tip: we found that park-hopping between DL and DCA in the evening took considerably longer than we were expecting. Even though the two gates are super close, the lines to get in were long and didn’t move especially quickly. So I would try to budget some extra time for the park-hopping process if you have an evening dinner reservation.
It totally depends on your priorities and tastes. WCT is nice and the ambiance is beautiful, but I haven’t ever been wowed by it. Lamplight ambiance and detail of Pixar history is something I can only get at DCA/DLR and is our #1 favorite sit-down in DCA. We also love the menu there. But it isn’t a wide menu so I would definitely review the options ahead of time to make sure your party will all be happy with it. And note that there’s a difference between both the physical space & menus between the Lamplight Lounge (the downstairs section that is setup to take reservations & can do walk-ups) and the Lamplight Lounge- Boardwalk Dining (upstairs & exclusively walk-ups & closes earlier).
As for Blue Bayou, I agree with AB on that the timing for it works for either and I very much prefer to sitting down in the middle of the day to avoid the peak of crowds (and potentially heat).
I also agree with you on not doing both Cajun style meals in one day and if you have to pick one, Blue Bayou is definitely the destination restaurant (my personal opinion is that it’s overrated, but it’s definitely novel & one of a kind, and worth checking it out to see how you feel about it yourself).
If there are any spots for it, my favorite way to knock out Fantasmic! is with a dining package. And Blue Bayou does have one so it could be an option. BUT I see that your dates are a Tues & Wed in March so I’m not certain if you’ll have Fantasmic! scheduled those particular nights.
Another way to accomplish “dinner and a show” (but not officially) is to book Lamplight Lounge for as close to 7:30-8pm as you can get it, ask if it’s possible to sit outside and they absolutely are used to the crowd that gets sat in that 7pm timeframe sitting and staying around for World of Color at 9pm. They do a last call at 8:25pm so the bill is ready to settle and they’re not serving you during the show. The lights go really dim and you can absolutely watch from your seat. It’s a side view so it’s not the best angle, but it is a seat, is half the cost of the dessert package, and much better food & drinks and you are very close to the one side so you get a very unique and fun view of it.
But best of luck for ADR day and definitely ask all the questions you have between then and now!
THANK YOU both so much for your thoughts and advice. Follow up question re Lamplight Lounge:
It appears on the DLR website that I can make an ADR for either the “Lamplight Lounge” OR “Lamplight Lounge - Boardwalk Dining.” I assume this difference in locations is the difference as you described LolaBear, but maybe not. If I can make a dinner reservation for either, which is preferred? What are the differences in the ambiance/setting? (I also see their menus are different, but I can figure that out. ) Thank you!
Wow I missed a memo about the Boardwalk dining now accepting reservations! I knew they had changed it so that the one menu item we specifically go for (lobster nachos) is now at the Boardwalk/upstairs part but didn’t realize they now also take reservations.
The theming upstairs is very, very, very light, if at all on Pixar decor. But you do get the sweeping views of the Pier. And I believe there are a lot more high-tops than tables because it was originally used as bar/walk-up space.
The theming downstairs is completely immersive and full of Pixar quotes, characters, and movie memorabilia and they have some setups on the indoor portion around the bar that are dining at lounge couches vs. traditional tables. The outdoor portion downstairs is similar to upstairs but you walk through the downstairs indoor area first. And there’s a spiral staircase that you take down with an amazing Pixar character silhouette lighting fixture over it for dining downstairs (either indoors or out).
Fantastic! Thank you! I think I’m leaning downstairs.
And this comment you made earlier – “something I can only get at DCA/DLR” – THIS is exactly what I am looking for on this trip with our limited time, and thus, in this case, limited # of meals. Perfect!
Thanks again for all the help! Follow up. 6:00am ET for earliest time to log on to make my ADR’s at the 60-day mark, right? And how necessary do we think it will be for these restaurants? It is Spring Break. Honestly, I’ll get up and do it anyway.
It’s at the 60 day mark for each individual day, just to call that out (that’s different from WDW where if you’re onsite you can get them from 60 days from the first day of the trip).
Also, the last time I did reservations (which it’s been at least 2 years) it was 7am Pacific (so 10am ET). But it’s not always consistent and they may have changed it to align more with the times that WDW does at 6am ET. That would certainly earliest it would be. And honestly the ONLY things that you would want to jump right on at that time is 1. Lamplight either brunch or if you’re trying to time dinner with watching WOC or 2. A Blue Bayou Fantasmic dining package 3. Any character breakfasts with a limited time set of characters (or outfits) - like Plaza Inn has done Holiday sweaters on the Fab 5 and this last holiday season Storytellers Cafe did characters in Mickey’s Christmas Carol outfits.
Also, it’s not uncommon for some reservations not to drop right at 60 days. Sometimes it’s 58 days or 42 days or 54. It just depends on if the restaurant submitted their staffing schedule to the system for ADRs to be able to open up (most of the time, most restaurants will have that in, but sometimes if the park is between seasons/overlays there can be a restaurant that just doesn’t show up on the schedule at 60 days out because there’s a delay on getting that staffing schedule sorted). So don’t panic if you login even at 7am Pacific and see that there’s nothing to be found for Blue Bayou regular dining (not the Fantasmic package, that one can be really hard to get even when it opens).
So all this to say, you really don’t need to login right at 6:00am ET unless you’re already up. I would check early in the day to get your pick of times for what you know you want. But also wouldn’t stress if you don’t see it and keep checking back until you do.
Circling back to say I got what I wanted. No issues. And as predicted, plenty of availability at the 60-day mark. THANK YOU again for all the help and advice.
Can confirm that ADR’s became available precisely at 9am ET/ 6am PT for each of my days at the 60-day mark. (As well as a couple days before. I mean I was testing. )
So happy it worked out. The nice thing about DLR is that’s most time the case, and so glad that the West/Best Coast is extending you the same great experience.
) Thank you!
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