Disneyland on Smoothies and Cream Cheese Mashed Potatoes
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Beautiful Mother · 02-29-2008, 09:40 PM

Or...How I survived Disney on a restricted diet!

First of all, I'm now convinced that most people could survive a trip to Disneyland with a restricted diet. It's a challenge, but with enough research, Disney people are willing to help where they can.

We left Omaha early on Feb. 6th following a snow storm. DH & I decided to start go over to Omaha the night before because of the impending storm and leave from there. This is the second time we've used a "stay ond park" hotel and shuttle to the airport. I am convinced that this is the way to start a journey, especially if the flight is early or the weather unsure. We got into Anaheim about 11 and used the Super Shuttle to get to our room @ Camelot Inn. It took about 30 minutes.

About our room--4th floor facing the terrace pool where you could see the fireworks (in the winter they only have fireworks on Friday and Saturday night). The room was nothing fancy. Even though it was in the "moderate" priced hotels, I would equate the quality equivalent to one of the value-priced rooms at WDW. A continental breakfast was included in the price of the room. Fortunately, there was a McDonald's right next door, though you want to be up exceptionally early to get there and not stand in a line going out the door. After the first morning, we learned to get our juice at the hotel (pretty watered down, but the taste was there), make our tea (we're not coffee drinkers) in the room and bring our breakfast pastries home from the park the night before. Since I'm limited in what I can "chew" that allowed me a little more taste.

Okay, we had used Disney travel to get everything together. It took all of 5 minutes to check into our room, which luckily was ready for us when we got there. Had it not been, the front desk as a secured lock-up room with tags for luggage. We felt quite safe leaving our luggage there later in the trip.

By 12:30 we were off to the parks (an entire hour before I thought we'd get going!)

Next installment... Wednesday Afternoon at DLR and a review of Carnation Cafe.

**chezp** · 03-01-2008, 02:27 AM

Great start.

Your room sounds great and I can't wait to hear all about Disneyland.

**DyanKJ130** · 03-01-2008, 10:28 PM

Great start!! Can't wait to hear more

Beautiful Mother · 03-03-2008, 08:52 PM

I am so hungry. When you get up at 5AM and even the peanuts on the flight are forbidden, you start obsessing about your next meal!!! We leave the restaurant and I virtually RUN down the street, through the light and down the LONG (not really) path to the entrance to Disney. Stop--the bag gets searched and we enter the Esplanade. WOW! Hungry or no, I stopped to take it all in! So different from WDW! Even DH was impressed.

Wednesday afternoon--no lines and before I knew it, we were walking down Main Street and standing in front of the Carnation Cafe. We were early for our 2PM reservation, but they got us in anyway. We sat outside, though it was a little cool. Our server came over-Charlotte. A very lovely girl. I explained my situation and asked about the meatloaf stack. She said it was very soft and the cream cheese potatoes were a good choice as well. The vegetables could pose a problem, but I asked if the chef would steam them until they were dead twice! This was the only restaurant where the chef actually knew what I meant and did it.

DH had the chicken pot pie. In asking him how it was (as I couldn't eat it) , he said it was "very good" not "delicious" but very good. And he says (and I agree) the service was excellent. The atmosphere was wonderful.

Chef Oscar came out and asked how everything was. He was very nice. It would be #1 on our list of good places to eat at DLR.

After lunch we headed to Adventureland and the Tiki Room. The only thing that is the same any more is that this is Walt's Tiki Room. DH was a little skeptical (he doesn't read the passporter) but my, it was everything I remembered from 26 years ago and we so enjoyed it. A wonderful way to start our time at DLR. From there is was on to Indian Jones and Pirates.

One thing about a Wednesday afternoon in February is the park is VERY quiet. We walked onto everything, leisurely, with few waits. This made the afternoon fly and by 7PM we had seen Adventureland, Frontierland, the Horseshoe Review, where we got to sit in Walt's box, and even headed to Tomorrowland, where I had promised DH I would finally ride Space Mountain. I LOVED IT! For years, I have hemmed and hahhed about the rollercoasters at WDW. I vowed this time to ride them all (at least at DLR). And I had a ball. I made him take me back on it 3 more times while we were there! What a hoot!!!

We ended the day with the parade, got our breakfast for the next morning and headed leisurely back to the room. What a first day! To top it off, I check my pedometer and found we'd walked over 5 miles and didn't even feel like we had.

Tomorrow--Walk in Wlt's Footsteps Tour and Cafe Orleans....

**DyanKJ130** · 03-03-2008, 09:46 PM

Great update! Sounds like you had a nice day at DL. Can't wait to hear your take on A Walk in Walt's Footsteps!

Beautiful Mother · 03-04-2008, 07:45 PM

Thursday morning we were off again and spent the morning in Tomorrowland. First ride--Nemo! The que fills fast, even in the off-season. It was probably the only ride where if you want to ride and not wait--ride early! It was cute. I remember the subs from 20,000 Leagues so it was a little disappointing. But for the young ones, it would be perfect. (I think the clam-shell ride at WDW is better, but that's just me.)

While in Tomorrowland we watched the Jedi Training. EVEN IF you don't have little knight wanna-be's this is something you should NOT miss. It was so CUTE!!! I think Darth lost about 25 battles. Each and every one of those little Padawan's fought either Vader or Maul. Then lunch at Cafe Orleans.

Thursday was warmer, so sitting outside was a true pleasure. DH had the crab salad. YUM! I wanted the Monte Kristo, but I didn't think they would puree it, so I chanced it and got the seafood crepes. After explaining to our server John, my situation, he made sure that the crepes were "soft". And bingo--I got to eat them. I stuffed myself silly. DH wanted the fries (they are named something French) and covered with Cajun spices and Parmesan cheese with a side sauce (not ketchup). He convinced me I needed to at least "try" to eat them, which I did. I picked fries out of my wires all afternoon, but they were amazing. Ous only problem was we had no room left for beignets. After lunch we wondered around New Orleans square listening to the different small bands-groups that were performing. Then it was off to our 2pm Walk...

A Walk in Walt's Footsteps takes you around Walt's park. The tour guides seem to have some leeway in the detail they show you in different areas of the park. Hence, our guide spent much of her time in Adventureland, New Orleans Square and Fantasyland and only touched on Tomorrowland. She didn't talk much about Main Street (a major talking point in Keys to the Kingdom at WDW). But there is so much that could be said about Walt and his dream that it would take a day to cover everything. We saw the Tiki Room again, but got a close up look at one of the "original" flowers including how they worked. We rode Pirates with an explanation as to why the ride was as it is. We also rode on the train, which many people don't take time to ride all the way around. It would take me a long time just to think of all the information that was given to us, but it was well worth the money. However, even though this comes with a meal, (sandwich chips, cookie & pop) don't think that you will get many dietary helps with this one. When we were finished DH had had two sandwiches and chips and I had to go find additional dinner.

The afternoon tour gets over at 5:30 and we were done eating about 6, so since we'd seen the parade, we headed back to Tomorrowland to play some more. Thursday evening DLR starting filling up, since it was close to the weekend and DCA closed at 6 pm. So our gathered fastpasses started coming in handy. We were now waiting 10-20 minutes to ride.

Oh yes, a word about fastpasses for those of us who are used to the Fastpass system at WDW. DH said that the fastpasses at DLR were more like a quick bump that a fast pass. The line (unlike WDW) only goes about halfway down on most of the older rides. You end up "cutting" in about 2/3 down the line. So when Passporter or Unofficial Guide tells you not to use the fasspass if the sign says less than 30 minutes, take their word for it. Our average wait with the fastpass was still 10-20 minutes.

Again we closed the park, picked up our pastries and headed for our rooms.

Tomorrow--Fantasyland, review of Ralph Brennan's Jazz Kitchen and the Fireworks!

**chezp** · 03-05-2008, 01:15 AM

Another great day. I'm going to have to do the Walk in Walt's Footsteps when we go in October.

Beautiful Mother · 03-05-2008, 10:56 PM

After a day and a half in DLR, we still haven't stopped in Fantasyland. WWWF walked us through, but we hadn't really looked and tasted, so this morning--off we went--first to Matterhorn, but it was closed. So we stepped across the path and got in a very short line for Alice, then Teacups, then ...you all know the drill. I could give a ride by ride rundown, but I'll keep comments to observations about particular rides. In general--there is NO ride current open at DLR that is the SAME as any ride in MK at WDW. Some differences are more subtle than others, but each one has it's own distinct flavor, as it were. Walt's touches are obvious even after all these years, and I think that Fantasyland is kept closely to Walt's dream. A couple of the rides, I would keep young children out of--Alice-which is quite frightening. Second, is Toad's Wild Ride. There is no way I would take a little one on that ride. We were intrigued as to the ending scene. But way to disturbing for little ones. I didn't mind Snow White, though it was a little darker than the one in WDW.

By the morning's end we had ENJOYED all of Fantasyland, and as Friday morning continued the park quickly became crowded. So we landed at Red Rockett's and had lunch. Now I had a "not fantastic" meal. The chef did cook rice noodles, but would only put marinara sauce on it. It also took forever, but I ate and hoped that the evening's meal we'd made reservations for was good. After lunch we headed to DCA.

Now I've read much on DCA both good and bad, and all in all both DH & I thoroughly enjoyed all we saw. Our favorites of course are Soarin' & Crush. Aladdin was wonderful. We enjoyed ourselves until 6 and then headed to Ralph Brennan's Jazz Kitchen for dinner.

I'd made the reservation under duress, as this was the one restaurant that would not give me any confirmation that they would work with my diet. How wrong I was! Celeste was our waitress. We ordered a bottle of wine and discussed what the chef could do for me. DH ordered a crab stuffed salmon and Celeste recommended the pecan-crusted trout. She also recommended the double chocolate bread pudding. What creme brulee is to WDW, bread pudding is to DLR. But that's later. The salmon was stuffed with blue crab and DH let me have a bite. Heaven!!! But the trout-was like butter! If only I could cook like that, I'd not have any issue with the wires in my mouth. Cream cheese potatoes--of course. And the chef didn't even TRY with the vegetables. I didn't think mustard greens would swallow whole.
Now for the bread pudding!!! First it takes 35 minutes to prepare, so each is prepared to order! Next, Celeste brought it out in a small souffle dish. As a pudding, not something that you would think should be shared by two. It look beautiful and I thought I could break through the crust, let DH eat that and feast on the inside. However, Celeste had a different idea. She took a very large spoon and started smashing it. I gasped-it looked so good. But then Celeste picked up to vials or shot glasses-one full of dark chocolate and white chocolate and poured them into the center of the bread pudding. Delight upon delight! And the icing on the cake as it were was the MUSIC. Good, better than good, New Orleans Jazz. Such a delightful night. We ended it with the fireworks from DLR.

Now the fireworks are wonderful, true Disney. But what amazed us was Tink. At WDW she flies across the sky once to start the show. But at DLR she flies back and forth throughout the show. Truly wonderful! And thus another night was over. A few more pastries and a couple of coffee mugs for breakfast tea and we were headed back to the hotel.

Tomorrow--DCA and an early night!

**chezp** · 03-06-2008, 01:06 AM

It sounds like another great day - and what an awesome dinner!

**DyanKJ130** · 03-07-2008, 04:14 PM

Great updates!! Didn't you just

a Walk in Walt's Footsteps?!? We didn't get to ride on Pirates, but we did take the train. Such a neat tour! Can't wait to hear more

Beautiful Mother · 03-09-2008, 10:51 PM

We spent Sat. at DCA. Crush, Soarin', wine tasting, TofT and Grizzly Bear. A couple of observations about these rides. The names may be the same as WDW, but in our humble opinion, that's about all that's the same. Crush I talked about earlier, though I did get to ask him a question and we had quite a cute conversation. TofT we were disappointed with. The queing wasn't as good and the ride seemed to be a lot shorter than at WDW. Soarin's que was awesome. The history of California aviation was more fun for us. We hated rushing past all of it with our fastpasses, but we did it anyway.
Now as far as the more challenging of rides, I will say up front that I am one BIG CHICKEN at heart. But this trip I promised my DH I'd step out of my comfort zone. And I'm glad I did. We did bring our ponchos out for Grizzly, and I don't apologize for it. Wearing them made the ride totally enjoyable. I am a convert.

The Animation Studio had a special display of Snow White as it's her 70th anniversary. We were impressed as well as the street shows. These were wonderful at DCA. DH actually said he preferred DCA to Disneyland. We ate lunch at the pier. Soup boule was great. And feeding the ducks made it even more fun. We followed lunch with wine tasting, very enjoyable and ended the day by heading to the Grand Californian for dinner.

Reservations were at STorytellers. We both chose to eat at the buffet and actually I did alright. The buffet had wonderful salads--DH enjoyed I couldn't, but the waiter was nice enough to bring steamed vegetables and vegetable soup (corn chowder was on the buffet). Cream cheese potatoes--of course and lots of fresh fruit, including softer fruits that I could eat as well. The desserts were AWESOME-such a selection. So though it wasn't our favorite meal, (still Ralph Brennan's) it was a good meal. It took forever, though, to get our bill. So if you are eating here, don't be in a hurry. This was my "birthday night" and they brought a mickey cupcake and sang. Little ones love it. By the time we were done eating we had one more opportunity to walk around dowtnown Disney and then by 8:30 I was ready to call it a night. I can't believe it, but I was TIRED!!! So we walked by to the hotel.

Good thing we did. We got to enjoy the fireworks from the terrace of our hotel and it was wonderful.

A word about birthday buttons. Either the buttons are becoming more prevalent or DLR handles celebrations differently that WDW. EVERYONE notices buttons at DLR and the wishes lasted the entire week. One day, I celebrated DH's birthday as he would be traveling over his day, and I took mine off since I thought it would look funny if we both had our buttons on. One of the cast members found out it was my birthday too and got another button out and made me put it on. She found nothing wrong with us both celebrating and actually thought it was "cute!"

One more thing--if you are a "tea"drinker, don't expect to find a great tea selection ANYWHERE in the parks. One of the shops was offering a free cup of coffee if you bought a mug, and since we always buy a mug on our first day, so we don't have to use suspect hotel coffee mugs, we thought we'd get a cup of tea instead of coffee--NOT GOING TO HAPPEN. Coffee only! But good coffee. DH just added lots of milk and sugar.

Well, the trip was almost over. Sunday was our last morning and the plane was taking out at 3:30, so the last episode will be entitled ....REALITY AND WEATHER SET IN!

**chezp** · 03-10-2008, 02:39 AM

It sounds like you had another great day - and very interesting about the birthday celebrations too. I had similar feedback from a friend of mine who just got back from Disneyland as well, so I think you're right - they do make more of a fuss.

The next installment doesn't sound too good...

**DyanKJ130** · 03-10-2008, 10:37 AM

Sounds like you had a wonderful meal at Storyteller's! I'm a little worried about the weather you're going to encounter tomorrow! Can't wait to hear more

bsblady01 · 03-11-2008, 08:45 PM

more please

PrincessSharon · 03-12-2008, 02:01 PM

Great so far. I've been wanting to try Brennan's and your review has made me even more eager! Looking forward to more. I'm a bit worried about what's next, though.