Disneyland Restaurants: Tips on Best Places to Eat inside the park

If you think the food at Disneyland restaurants will be overpriced, you’re right.  But if you think it will all be terrible, you’re wrong.

TIP: Don’t want to wait for a table?

Got a large group? Here’s how and where to get a reservation: Go to Disneyland.com and under the ‘Things to Do” tab, choose Reservations. Select your date, time, and party size. You’ll get a list of available restaurants. It even includes price range, type of food, and location plus Tripadvisor ratings and reviews. Click on the restaurant that appeals to you. Your table is reserved.

Here are my favorite things to eat in Disneyland.

The following restaurants do not take reservations (except Blue Bayou).

Disneyland Restaurants In New Orleans Square

• Clam Chowder in a Bread Bowl or Gumbo from the Royal Street Veranda or French Market Restaurant. You can also get the gumbo at Cafe Orleans, and the chowder at the Pacific Wharf Cafe at Disney California Adventure.  Filling, hot, and tasty.  I’m told that it takes 9 hours and 12 people to make the gumbo!

Clam Chowder

• Jambalaya at the Blue Bayou.  Or get it at the French Market Restaurant, a Disneyland restaurant classic.  You’ll miss the Pirates of the Carribbean ambience but you’ll spend about $20 less on it. 

• The Famous Monte Cristo Sandwich At the Blue Bayou or Cafe Orleans.  It’s the kind of thing you should eat without asking “what’s in it?” because frankly it sounds awful: a turkey, ham, and cheese sandwich battered, deep-fried, dusted with powdered sugar, and dipped in raspberry jam. Somehow, these ingredients are very tasty when combined. Who knew? If you plan to order this at the Blue Bayou, you should know it’s only available at lunchtime.

On Main Street

• Chicken Fried Chicken at the Carnation Cafe, another Disneyland restaurant standby.  It’s really deliciously done fried chicken with mashed potatoes.  I am such a sucker for fried chicken with gravy and this is a good one.

• Loaded Baked Potato Soup and Turkey Sandwich on Pretzel Bread with Mustard-Seed Mayo, also at the Carnation Cafe.  I don’t know who thought of putting a sandwich on a giant soft pretzel but I like them. 

• Giant cinnamon roll covered with thick sweet frosting at the Jolly Holiday Bakery.  This is a relatively new Disneyland restaurant.  Pair that with a large coffee and you will feel positively electric.

• Corn Dogs at the Little Red Wagon (which is not technically a Disneyland restaurant but an actual red truck).  These are my absolute favorite.  Hand-dipped and delicious, served with chips or apples for about $6.

In Frontierland

• Churros from the Churro Cart.  Warm, crispy, covered in sugar, and taller than your head.  What’s not to like?

• Jumbo Turkey Leg a la King Henry VIII from the Turkey Leg Cart.  I’m not into them personally but everyone else loves them.  I hear their chimichangas are good too. 

In Adventureland

• Bengal BBQ Kabobs.  Any type.  They’re all really flavorful and filling.  Cheap too!

• Dole Whip from the Tiki Juice Bar.  These famous desserts really are fantastic.  Andrea K. on Yelp says, “You may see that the line for the Juice Bar is super long alongside the bridge, HOWEVER, if you go on the other side of the bar, there’s a second, shorter line!” 

Any Candy Shop

• Chocolate Covered Peanut Butter Filled Graham Crackers.  Ohhh baby.  Thank you to DisneyFoodBlog.com for this gorgeous mouth-watering photo.

Disneyland’s Chocolate Peanut Butter
Graham Cracker Sandwich Recipe

Prep time:  1 hour
Total time:  1 hour
Serves: 12  

Ingredients

• 6 graham cracker sheets, broken in half
• 3 cups milk chocolate chips, divided
• 2 teaspoons shortening, divided
• 1 cup creamy peanut butter
• ½ cup powdered sugar
• ½ teaspoon vanilla
• 1½ teaspoons milk

Instructions

1. Line a cookie sheet with wax paper or parchment paper.
2. Melt 1½ cups of the chocolate chips and 1 teaspoon of shortening in a microwave safe bowl or big glass measuring cup. Stirring at every 20 second intervals until fully melted and smooth.
3. Then dip each graham cracker half into the chocolate, tapping or gently scraping off the excess chocolate. But you want the graham cracker to be totally covered.
4. Set each chocolate covered graham cracker on the cookie sheet and place in the fridge or freezer to set up quickly.
5. While the chocolate covered graham crackers are setting up, make the peanut butter filling by mixing the peanut butter, powdered sugar, vanilla and milk. Mix until smooth and creamy.(sometimes it just easier at the end to mix with your hands) Roll into 12 equal dough balls and chill in the freezer for about 15 minutes.
6. Pull out the chilled chocolate covered graham crackers and peanut butter balls. Gently flatten the peanut butter balls to the size of the graham cracker and place it on the chocolate graham. Gently spread it to the edges so it’s evenly distributed.
7. Melt the other 1½ cups of chocolate chips with 1 teaspoon of shortening. Stirring until smooth. Gently spoon chocolate over the peanut butter layer and spread around with a spoon covering the top and sides. Put back in the fridge or freezer to set up (about 15 – 20 minutes). Then pull out and drizzle left over chocolate over the top of each graham cracker.
8. Store in the fridge in an airtight container for up to a week.
9. We like them to set at room temp for about 20 minutes before eating.