Food options at DCA?

Hey!

I’m making my TPs for DCA and not impressed by the food options there. Am I missing something?

I’ve put Pym’s into my plans - for the novelty. Outside of that I don’t see much. I don’t mind a Shawarma or stopping at Poultry Palace for “grab & go” options, but are there places with anything that stands out? (QS or TS)

I was going to Lamplighter for Lobster Nachos, but they’ve removed them from the menu as of this month.
Thanks!

No more lobster nachos?! Sad. I thought several things in the SanFransokyo area sounded good-- though I haven’t seen menus recently.

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I found a YT that showcases every eatery!

He doesn’t try everything though, so let me know anything you like!

The Beef Birria Ramen from Lucky Fortune was good and a HUGE portion as of a year ago anyway. I enjoyed breakfast at Pym’s - I think I got the French toast but don’t remember popping pearls. Popcorn from the Cozy Cone was fun (they have weird flavors).

I really wanted shwarma from the cart near Guardians but ran out of time / stomach space.

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:face_with_symbols_over_mouth: :face_with_symbols_over_mouth: :face_with_symbols_over_mouth:

I’m so mad and sad. Those were our favorite. We do also love the al pastor dish and bao buns at Lamplight, and the burger and salmon sandwich are also great, but the lobster nachos were definitely the prize-winning feature that we were there specifically to get.

That said, DCA is my favorite place to eat and here is what we love:

Hot Link Corn Dogs at Corn Dog Castle
Bread bowls (I believe Aunt Cass’s still has them but they are also available several locations in DL)
Burria ramen at Lucky Fortune
Elote at Cocina Cucamonga
Any kind of tacos at either the Cocina Cucamonga in the San Fransokyo or, sometimes, depending on the season a the Paradis Garden Grill over by Goofy’s Sky School
Chile Cone Queso (or Bacon Mac n’ Cheese Cones) from Cozy Cone #3
Carne Asade Steak Fries from Award Weiners (and literally any hot dog or specialty that that they have has been so good, we eat at Award Weiners a lot).
Breakfast Shawarma (or lunch Shwarma is decent too, but we like breakfast one better)
Quantum Pretzel from Pym’s (we also do like their chicken sandwich but get it less sine we love so much of the other things).

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Oh and I meant to add, I would still go to Lamplight for drink/ambiance and maybe even the donuts, because they usually have fun seasonal ones that rotate. But I believe you can do all of that from the lounge on the upstairs area that is walk-ups only.

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He did highlight that one in the video! It does look good!

I feel this way about the Gyro Fries they used to have a Paradise Pier when I first planned this trip years ago!

Great recommendations! Thanks!!

I was surprised by this until I saw the video. The buns look good which is really important to me!

Are the bread bowls made at the bakery or frozen? I’ve had too many “bad” bread bowls in my life that were stale & etc… from other places… (Also, curious about the Cozy “Cones” bread. It doesn’t look appealing, but let me know if I’m wrong!!)

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The bread bowls are Boudin bread bowls and Boudin makes the sourdough onsite in the Boudin Bakery Tour where you can watch the loaves being made in the walkthrough attraction. They are very much the real deal.

The Cozy Cone bread is great, nothing mind-blowingly amazing, but I’ve yet to meet a person that didn’t love one of the other out of bacon mac 'n cheese or chili cone queso. Also, we are usually too full to finish both the cone and filling if we don’t share cones which depends on what else we are hoping to eat that day too.

We do also love the novelty of eating the food out of the cone. And the bite at the bottom where the chili (or mac 'n cheese) has settled is delicious as it’s hollow all the way down so it’s a last little pocket of chili (or mac 'n cheese). If I’m too full to eat the whole cone I at least pull off the very top layer and then eat that bottom nibble.

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Awesome! I’d hoped they were from the bakery!

How’s the actual tour? I’ve decided to stay in DCA on day one. I should be able to do and see pretty much every “must-do” DCA attraction that day. This gives me a second visit to do repeats and “minor” attractions.

Are there any exhibits and attractions in DCA that most people skip past?

It’s a walkthrough that you can do in 30 seconds if you just pass through collecting your sample of bread at the beginning. But if you want to take the time to read the signs and watch the work it’s a maybe 10-15 min endeavor, so nothing too involved. But fun to watch the process.

Not too many people stop and notice all the artwork and exhibits at the entrance, lobby and exit of the Great Moments of Mr. Lincoln. When I have time, that’s one I like to peruse.

There’s so much to see there. And not really an exhibit of I love walking from the front all the way to the back of the Disneyana store adjacent to the Opera House. It’s got SO much fantastic artwork and some of it is really unique and special pieces that you could almost buy a house with the funds listed on their price tag, but always fun to see (and dream).

Also my niece that loves historical things really, really loved the lower level of the SS Columbia that’s setup as the quarters from a ship in that day & age would be.

And now that I say all that I realize you asked about DCA exhibits HA! and hmmm… let me think on it a minute and I’ll come back if I think of anything.

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LOL!! I almost used “The Disney Gallery” as an example of what I was referring to, but stopped because I thought that would be confusing!

I know the Blue Sky Imagineering area and the Sorcerer’s Workshop both closed after the pandemic… A lot of shows that I had planned for in 2019 have never come back either… :sob:

That came back!!! They closed it down for a minute to take away the Beast’s Library that was at the very back, but I’m pretty sure it’s been back since then. And the reason they took away Beast’s library was supposedly to put the Blue Sky Imagineering stuff back there, but I haven’t heard if that’s actually still going to happen. But maybe it still could!

Off the Page is an artwork focused store that is similar to Disneyana in feeling like a gallery but also more merch-y too and not as extensive, but still fun to go in and glimpse artwork. And it’s right at the exit of the Animation Building.

The queue in Soarin’ has a lot of factual bits about and pays tribute to many aviation pioneers and historical figures but you don’t really get close enough nor always have enough time with how they structure the queues.

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That’s so sad about lobster nachos! But it’s still a pretty place to eat if you are on the lower level.

I liked Pym’s for the novelty. And the food wasn’t bad. I actually enjoyed the pasta. We are there twice.

The Mac and cheese at Cars was good, though I didn’t care for the cone itself.

Flo’s is a fun place atmosphere wise. I don’t remember loving or hating the food tho.

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We will walk our cones over to Flo’s since there is usually better availability of seating there and really great atmosphere. And the food at Flo’s is fine the couple of times we’ve tried it, but we love so many other food options in DCA it’s hard to justify eating something that is fine.

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The giant taco at Pym’s is really good. Love the quesabarria tacos at Cocina Cucamonga as well as Ramone’s low and slow club at Flo’s. Lamplight’s burger is good and I love the atmosphere downstairs. The lobster nachos are available upstairs at Lamplight but I’ve seen a lot of bad reviews lately for them. A lot of people say they changed them and not for the better.

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I saw this in the video and it might be what I’m getting. Is the “shell” fresh? My concern is the novelty means it may have been made in a factory and frozen.

OMG!! Thank you! I didn’t know that the upstairs has it own name - “Lamplight Lounge Boardwalk Dining” I did see the nachos on that menu! I may still try them though!

Has anyone had the Kimchi Wings? Those sound really good as well!

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The shell was like any taco salad shell I’ve had. It was crisp and crunchy. I liked it.

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I walked through this last June (while the family was re-reding ToT) and enjoyed it. There’s the animation experience right next door (and Frozen M&G), and the big lobby that brings them all together is a nice cool place with big screens. Very relaxing place to pop into for a bit of browsing and cool-off/downtime, if it’s not too busy.

Besides the bakery walk-through tour, we also enjoyed a leisurely walk through the MMRR queue, which is really an exhibit in its own right - as are the character houses in Toontown.

Plus there’s the castle walk through, which is short but unique to DLR so also a fun little discovery.

Another thing that we sadly missed on our visit (because it was closed for refurbishment) was the Redwoods Creek Challenge trail. I’m not sure whether you can do many of the experiences as an adult, but it sounded like a fun adventure playground that may be worth a wander.

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Adults can do the big slides closer to the front and the ropes courses all around (any one of any height can do either but the slides they have to do one at a time metered by a CM at the top, like most water slides are). There is a zipline and rock wall that both have a minimum height of 42 inches but the zipline also has a max height, I think it’s 54-58 in range. I don’t remember if the rock wall has a height maximum, but it’s not very big so I’m thinking it might?

Redwood Creek is beautiful and very relaxing. If you don’t want to the adventure or strenuous effort of the ropes course, you can take stairs up to see similar views (there are stairs right at the very back or to the right of the big slides and just before you get to the kiddie slide & picnic table area. My knees don’t love it when I do things like ropes courses, so I much prefer the stairs.

And there are some paths to walk around on the left side, one with wooden sculptures of animals from Native American lore/folktales. There used to be a little Wilderness Explorer scavenger hunt where part of it was you would have to read the placards on these and answer a riddle/question, but now they just exist (at least I hope they still do, the Challenge Trail was under refurb the last few times we went so I don’t know if they are still in tact).

But yes, I find Redwood Creek Challenge trail very enjoyable, similar to an AK trail but on a smaller scale and obviously no wildlife purposely there. You may see the Disneyland cats lounging around, but only if they want to be.

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I definitely plan to walk around that side of the park to see the trails and such. However, my disabled leg won’t allow me to do the ropes course and stuff anymore.

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