Any fellow Disneyland fans out there? My parents don’t understand why I as an adult love it so much, but Disneyland really is for all ages! A girl’s gotta embrace her inner princess sometimes and enjoy a worry-free day in the park. There are so many fun trivias and hidden gems around the park like this, this, and this. I’m constantly amazed by how creative the Disney Imagineers are, everything is put there for a reason. If you are worried about having to eat junky park food, there are plenty of options for sit-down gourmet restaurants in both parks and downtown Disney. Okay, if you are still not convinced, did I mention that California Adventure as well as downtown Disney serves alcoholic beverages? (no alcohol inside Disneyland.) Sit down, enjoy a cold one, and rest your tired feet!

the theme of our trip. This was near inside Cars Land at California Adventure.

I love it when people I travel with share the same love for food as I do. We ate very well during our four night stay in Anaheim. We spent 3 full days in the park, I didn’t think I could make it, but I am proud to say I still got it!

the Must-Eats in Disneyland! (Here too!)

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Joe-Latti from Joe’s Italian Ice

This is actually outside of Disneyland, but I wanted to get some of their signature “Joe-lattis” which is Italian ice layered with soft serve ice cream. Below is the strawberry ice with vanilla ice cream. It was perfect for a hot day! Off to Disneyland we go!

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Beignets and Chicory coffee at Ralph Brennan’s Jazz Kitchen

The Jazz Kitchen is located inside Downtown Disney. There is also an express restaurant next door that sells coffee and beignets to go, as well as lunch and dinner with open seating. We sampled some New Orleans classics like gumbo and jambalaya but all agreed that we’ve had better elsewhere, but the dishes below were wonderful.

the fried chicken was delicious! Crispy, tender, and juicy. Will definitely order this again.

Boudin balls – dirty rice with pork, with mustard aioli and pepper jelly for dipping.

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Dole Whip Float at the Tiki Juice Bar

Our must-have snack everytime in Disneyland. Yes, the float is way superior than just the plain Dole Whip. Also, did you know that this softserve is vegan?

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Monte Cristo Sandwiches from Cafe Orleans

These giant deep-fried goodness has swiss, turkey, and ham inside, then dusted with powdered sugar and served with berry puree. Please give it a try even if you aren’t sure about the sweet meets savory. It’s delicious! Just remember to share! My friend and I split the sandwiches and couldn’t finish!

Enjoy the sandwich with some garlic pomme frites.

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Wine Country Trattoria

Whisk yourself away to the wine country by dining on the terrace. Reservation is recommended and can be made online. The complimentary cheesy bread was delicious, as well as their pasta entrees. We were too full to order desserts but the panna cotta and tiramisu looked scrumptious.

“Smoke Turkey” Cocktail (Wild Turkey 101 Bourbon, Red Stag Black Cherry Bourbon, gernadine, lemonade, hint of hickory smoke, luxardo maraschino cherries.)

Fettucine alla vongole. Clams, garlic, parsley, white wine, chili flakes…all the good stuff.

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Mickey Mouse Waffle at Carnations Cafe

Located on Main Street. We dined here early for breakfast and to witness the opening of the park. And the waffle really was delicious. So crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside, with the perfect sweetness.

Why doesn’t Disneyland sell the Mickey Mouse Shaped waffle makers? Wouldn’t that be fun to make on the weekends? I also bought a Mickey shaped waffle magnet from one of the retail shop because it’s just too darn cute!

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Skewers at the Paradise Garden Grill

This place is a little bit out of the way but serves up some quick and delicious fare. You choose the meat and the sauce, that’s it. All the skewers come with grilled pita, rice pilaf, and a cucumber salad. I ordered the steak skewer with tzatziki sauce while my friends loved the chicken skewer with the chimichurri sauce. We dined outdoor under covered seating while enjoying some good live music.

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Sweet Potato Bread, Gumbo with Dirty Rice at the Blue Bayou

If you’ve been on the Pirates of the Carribean ride, you;ve seen diners at a nice and dim restaurant in the beginning part of the ride, that’s Blue Bayou! And because the ride passes by the dining area, I thought it’d be noisy, but it wasn’t at all. The restaurant was very dark but with the decorated lanterns, we felt like we were dining outdoors under the starry sky.

The sweet potato bread that came with the complimentary bread basket was great! We couldn’t get enough of ’em.

I did feel the restaurant was way over-priced, but this little cup of gumbo with dirty rice thoroughly impressed me.

The LED iced cube was totally gimmicky but I loved it! You can buy drinks that come with a LED iced cube at restaurants throughout the park. And yes, because Blue Bayou is located inside Disneyland, they do not serve alcohol.

Because I was disappointed with the Jambalaya at the Jazz Kitchen, I thought I’d try my luck at Blue Bayou again. It was much better but I was still not completely satisfied. I think there were too much protein on the plate and not enough rice, the ratio was off, thus very salty. (Since when do I start complaining about having too much protein on the plate? haha)

A special treat to celebrate my friend’s birthday at the park! This was a chocolate cake that was super dense and chocolatey, reminded me of a dense flourless cake, maybe it was. Very decadent and yummy but because it was so heavy, we couldn’t finish it. (Again, can’t believe I’m complaining about something being too chocolatey?)

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Corn Dogs from the Little Red Wagon

Located at the end of Main Street, next to the Plaza Inn, right hand side if you are facing the castle. Look for an actual red wagon cart (and a line of people, but it moves quickly.) Delicious hand-dipped corn dogs, serve with a bag of chips or apple slices.

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Mexican cuisine at Rancho del Zocalo

If you are craving mexican food, head on over to Rancho del Zocalo, near the Big Thunder Mountain ride. The restaurant serves up some huge portions of delicious feast, just walk up to the station you want, order, and choose your own seating. Below is a giant tostada salad with chicken.

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Cove bar

We had read raving reviews about the Zombie cocktail and the lobster nachos from the Cove Bar, so we decided to come here to get a quick snack and to rest our feet.

The Zombie cocktail is not on the menu, and depends on the bartender, your zombie cocktail may contain 3-5 different types of rum. Beware, it’s one of those fruity and very lethal cocktails.

And this lobster nachos!!!!!! OH MY GOSH IT WAS GLORIOUS! I was not picturing a huge plate of gourmet nachos with delicious toppings like chipotle cream and fresh pico de gallo. This is a MUST if you are visiting California Adventure Park. This has made my list of must-eats for my next visit.

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Carthay Circle

This restaurant was built to be a replica of the iconic Carthay Circle Theatre, where Walt Disney held the premier of his first feature film, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. The inside decor of the restaurant is very old Hollywood-esq, classi mix with glitz and glam. The service was very friendly and formal.

The MUST order item at CC, the fried biscuits. They are stuffed with cheddar, bacon and jalapeno, served with a side of apricot honey butter. I couldn’t get enough of this ooey gooey goodness.

The Carthay Salad (Celebrating Spring)

I don’t know why they still use the word “spring” when we were clearly in the middle of a hot summer, but this was one perfectly-executed salad, extremely fresh and definitely reminded me of Spring. It’s also big enough to be an entree if one isn’t too hungry. The salad has garden peas, tender green beans, french radish, shaved fennel, frisée, and radicchio tossed lightly in a lemon-champagne vinaigrette.

The chicken and spinach ravioli, with corn broth, crimini mushroom, and applewood bacon.

Pretty good wine list, too.

sesame soy glazed salmon with forbidden black rice stir fry and red Thai curry. An unexpected yet absolutely delectable combination of flavors. Very well-cooked salmon too.

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Flavored churros at the Churro Cart (in downtown disney, near the lego store)

There are flavors like strawberry cream, pina colada, mango, apple cinnamon, and salted caramel. I had originally thought these were stuffed or cream-filled but turned out they were just dusted in different flavor sugar. Of course I had my heart set on the salted caramel churro. It was crunchy and piping hot and has that perfect churros texture! However, the flavors were so subtle that half of the time I couldn’t tell what flavor churro I was gorging on. If you are a die-hard churros fan, stick with the original that are available thorough out the park ground. Otherwise, come check out these unique flavored churros!

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Mickey-Shaped Boudin Sourdough Bread, sold on a cart outside of the Boudin Bakery at the Pacific Wharf. Since I’m a Norcal girl, I can get good sourdough anytime I want, but the Mickey shaped sourdough was just too darn adorable! These will make a great souvenir if you have some space in your luggage. If you don’t want to enjoy them immediately, double bag the bread and stick it in the freezer and enjoy it whenever you want.

Check out my previous review of another great restaurant at the Disneyland Resort, Napa Rose.

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Here are some useful tips for spending a day in the parks. My advice is to grab fastpasses for the rides that usually require a long wait, like Speed Racers, Space Mountain, or Indiana Jones. Grab a fastpass for World of Color too if you want to watch the spectacular water show at night! Once you get those, plan your day around those ride times.

I got face palmed by Sulley!

I had no idea that Disney was affiliated with Marvel Comics, but apparently Disney owns the marketing and distribution rights to the Avengers and Iron Man, so now they have an exhibit for Iron Man, Thor, and Captain America. The Iron Man exhibit was super cool, just like Tony Stark’s garage/workshop from the movie. I was geeking out!

Ending the night at the Word of Color Spectacular with our mouse ears on!

I’ll be going back in October for the Halloween Party! Can’t wait to show you all the extravagant decorations and all the Halloween treats from the park.