Mark Twain Pilot House!

For those who have never enjoyed a ride aboard the Mark Twain in the Pilot House, I cannot express what an enjoyable time you are about to experience! Wow. Such a different perspective of the park at the slightly higher altitude. Our Captain, Ricky, was so polite and quite informative on the operation of the ride, the history, the duties of the crew, he even explained some details regarding Fantasmic and how the Mark Twain is converted to assist in the massive production.
Thanks so much Captain Rick, your enthusiasm and charisma is appreciated and Disney is very fortunate to have a cast member who truly represents the philosophies as set forward by Walt.

Cafe Orleans!

Being a three day weekend, we stopped by the park tonight and for the first time in quite a few years, enjoyed dinner at Cafe Orleans. Last time we visited there, it was relatively simple cuisine, nothing overly fancy, just a comfortable place to take the family.
Now however, reservations are requested, immediate seating is sometimes available, and the dinning is full service via a very well trained crew. Pretty big change, but all that said, it was quite enjoyable!
My wife enjoyed the Ratatouille with French Onion Soup and I had the Creole Style Chicken Caesar Salad with Gumbo.
Approx. cost was $23.00 per person with soup, drink, and entree.
Service was efficient, our waitress took the time to make sure everything was prepared correctly. It was a beautiful night, so dinning on the patio was splendid. Formal dinners at the club are exceptionally enjoyable, but for a nice rather low stress evening out, I would highly recommend Cafe Orleans.
A huge number of guests were ordering the Monte Cristo and I heard a number of them commenting on how tasty it proved to be. OK, maybe next time we'll try that!
Honestly, the brains behind Disneyland Food Services appear to be putting a great deal of effort on improving park food. While yes, the prices are a bit higher than similar restaurants outside the park, one does not mind paying a slightly higher price for the park's unchallenged ambiance. Enjoy!

Storytellers Cafe

For those who know me, they'll all agree I don't get out much! Pretty boring life, just work, work, work and the occasional visit to Disneyland (living next door to the park is very convenient!).

For the first time since the opening of the Grand Californian Hotel, my family and I finally enjoyed dinner at the Storyteller Cafe. Hard to believe we had never set foot in this unique restaurant, but we're old school Disney and do not venture out of the original park very often. A dear friend who is a Disneyland Cast Member told us to give it try, that she and her friends frequented quite often and now I can see why!

We met the manager, James, who was extremely polite and actually gave us a tour of the restaurant, explaining the dinner buffet with great attention to detail and familiarity with his management position. After seeing this first hand, we were sold!

For approx. $28.00 per person, the buffet is an experience which cannot be missed. New York strip, roast turkey, butternut squash, roast beef, wonderful bread pudding, garlic mashed potatoes, wonderful corn chowder and also home made corn muffins! We had a lovely meal and although the restaurant was very busy the staff was truly at their peak.

James visited our table to make sure everything was satisfactory, we just could say enough great things!

If you're visiting Disneyland please don't miss the Storytellers Cafe. James said the breakfast buffet was exceptionally popular and always draws a hungry crowd, I can certainly see why! We'll be there next Sunday morning!

Wishing you a healthy and prosperous New Year!

To all of our friends and visitors, I wish you all a wonderful 2009!

Living approx. 1/4 mile from Disneyland, its wonderful to hear the Mark Twain and steam locomotives as they carry guests throughout the park, not to mention the nightly fireworks viewed from our own backyard. When the cloud cover is just right, we can even hear the Yeti roaring within the Matterhorn. This past Wed morning at approx. 3:00 AM I was awaken by the sounds of Auld Ang Syne. I had to stop and think a moment, 'Had I missed a day? Was it New Years and somehow I'd missed it?' No, it was Disneyland preparing for the New Years celebration and they must have been calibrating their speaker system, preparing the big event. While I prefer not to be awoke from a cozy nights sleep, this was certainly a unique and acceptable cause. Living in Anaheim, one never knows what to expect from the Magic Kingdom!