Disneyland Paris Planning with Nine: Part 4 What to Eat?

Nine is still busy planning her family's first visit to Disneyland Paris.  Today she tackles a favorite Disney topic--dining.

I am currently researching into one of my favourite topics, eating. And even better, eating at Disney, Disneyland Paris to be precise.

Now if I were planning a trip to WDW then I would not need to do too much research. I may send a few tweets asking what new places are around and if anywhere has had a menu overhaul but in general, I know my way around the restaurants over there and I know spefically which places are veggie friendly.
You see, that's the hard part, yes, I am one of 'those' (see here for my previous article on being veggie in WDW).

If I ever thought I had problems finding non-meat or fish options in the land famous for surf 'n' turf, then France should be a piece of cake right (mmm, cake, maybe I could just eat cake while I'm over there ...). However, I digress. My family and I holiday in France every year and each time I come home full of cheese and maybe if I'm lucky some pizza and pasta. They do not really cater for the veggie palate.
But I have been busily consulting the official website, The Unofficial Guide to DLP and of course asking the experts on Twitter and The Dibb.

So, what have I come up with so far?

In no particular order ...

• The Agrabah Cafe, situated in Adventureland in the Disneyland Park. Moderately priced and offers a middle eastern inspired buffet.
• Annette's Diner, found in The Disney Village, US style diner serving a veggie burger (I really just need Cosmic Rays and I am happy lol)
• Colonel Hathis Pizza Outpost in Adventureland has a wide range of pizza and pasta.
• The Rainforest Cafe in has a veggie burger (and we've never eaten in the one on DTD or AK yet). There is also a Planet Hollywood in the same location, the one in DTD does a lovely pasta dish so it's possible this one will too. We also really like this restaurant and while others find it loud and expensive, we've always had a really good time and lovely food.
• The Earl of Sandwich in The Disney Village and The Market House Deli on Main Street, USA both serve deli snadwiches.
• Pizzeria Belle Notte in Fantasyland has a wide range of pizza and pastas.
• And remember what I said about living on cake? If it comes to it I'll just feast upon the goods from The Cable Car Bake Shop on Main Street, USA. This bakery will have to go a long way to beat the actual Main Street Bakery in WDW and my favouriate of all baked goods, the GIANT cinnamon rolls that you can smell almost as soon as you enter The Magic Kingdom. But if needs be I'll be willing to try several of the French contenders, just to see and report back to you guys of course!

As an aside, I have been trying to get quote this week for our stay next July. It is 99% certain we will be staying for 3 days, 2 nights within the first week of July 2012. However, the Disney site has been down so I have not been able to do this as yet. The in-laws are coming to spend the day with us soon so I will be trying to phone DLP direct whilst we are all together (and DFIL has his credit card ready lol). I will update you all when it is finally booked, hooray!

Contributed by Janine P. of Swindon, England. She is a proud wife, mommy to Felicity and one of our Minnie Moms.  Follow along throughout this monthly series as she plans her first trip to Disneyland Paris.


Other posts in this series:

New Series from Nine

Part 1: Questions

Part 2: When to Go?

Part 3: Where to Stay?

Minnie Moms: Multi-Generation/Multi-Family Travel Part 2

Minnie Moms are back from summer vacation and ready to share our tips and memories with you. This month we are discussing traveling with multiple generations and/or multiple families. The more people you travel with the more you need to be organized and think through the needs of your group. The Minnie Moms have learned a thing or two about this topic...

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Nine: I have learnt many things about travelling with family. I have been to Walt Disney World as a couple only, with just my in-laws and with my in-laws plus my brother-in-law and his girlfriend. I have yet to travel with both my in-laws and Tink to America, but we have had two family holidays to France. We will be all be going to Florida together in 2014. I'll draw on a mixture of both past experiences for this article.

So, what are my high-points of travelling with family? Two big ones spring to mind. For us, if we are travelling with my dear husband's (DH) parents, then they have paid for the trip, either in whole, or the vast majority. In fact our last trip over to Florida was courtesy of my father-in-law's 60th birthday treat and he financed the entire holiday. So this is obviously a massive plus point. Also, you have a built in babysitter. I don't even mean for luxuries such as going out for dinner on your own or anything, but just being able to have a shower in peace, which is something a parent of a toddler can only dream of, unless granny and grandad are there to help out. But since we're on the subject, why can't you also ask if you can have a date night whilst on your vacation? They look after the kiddos while you get to go somewhere like The California Grill or if you're really posh (or lucky), Victoria and Albert's, or while you head off to Downtown Disney for a movie. You can return the favour another night while they go out and you stay home with the little ones.

This also works well in the parks. You don't have to use the parent switch/child swap option and ride alone, you can leave kiddo and bags with the grandparents while you go off and ride Tower of Terror and Rock 'n' Roller Coaster, and then vice versa if required. This is also a big help for the thrill rides in, ahem, that other well known park in Orlando, as you need to rent lockers for rucksacks, etc.

But the biggest bonus that I've personally experienced regarding travelling with my in-laws (who are just like another set of parents to me as we are really close), is just being together to share memories. We don't have to try to explain funny stories or magic moments to them when we get back, because we all experienced them together. They actually understand my Disney obsession and even fuel it by buying me little presents when they're over there to give me at a later date.

That being all said and done, there are some lows to travelling with family too. You may have already seen my piece about our last time in France, and the friction that was caused with decisions over nap times and routines etc. for my toddler.

Even without a kid it can be difficult when there are a lot of you to decide what you're doing and get ready. When we were last at WDW with my brother-in-law (BIL) and his girlfriend too, that meant there were 6 adults to get ready each morning. (Usually I would be the first and would be shooing everyone into the car but I was pregnant with Tink on that trip and struggled in the mornings.) My BIL and girlfriend are notoriously late for everything and there were several threats that holiday to leave them behind! One thing I have heard other families do is to actually hire 2 cars if you're in need of them. If we all go together in the future, and stay in and off-site villa again, this will definitely happen. If you're on-site and using Disney travel, then you may like to arrange to meet slower members of the party at a later time in the parks. We did split up a few times when we were in the parks too to all have some time in our own. DH and I had not done this before with his parents but his brother and girlfriend are both smokers and we seemed to stop every 5 minutes to find a smoking spot. This became a real bone of contention for me in particular, but I'm sure they were just as fed up with my constant restroom breaks (at least I had the pregnant excuse this time). Splitting up, even if just for an hour or so gives you some time to do exactly what you want.

We found that eating could be a problem when there were 6 of us. DH and I were used to eating quite early and had favourite spots from previous trips at WDW and around Orlando in general. However, again rallying up 6 of us to go out and then to all get served often meant we didn't get to eat until sometimes 2 hours after DH and I especially would have preferred. Also bear in mind if one of the party has any food issues/intolerances that this can cause a problem. Luckily for me, I'm the fussy one in our party being a strict vegetarian so I am the one kicking up a storm.

Another high or low point depending on which party you belong to, can be if you're used to being a follower or a leader. I'm lucky insofar as the family (rightfully) consider me to be the Disney expert and therefore the itinerary was completely up to me. Had this not have been the case, I would not have been happy following someone else around the parks. Don't get me wrong, I was open to suggestions and my 'touring plan' was not set in stone, but it would have been hard for me to not be in charge whilst at WDW.

For someone else, they may be just as happy that another member of the family as planned it all out, so they don't have to think of what to do, where to go, which show is on next, where to eat etc. It's all about personal preference.

But if I could some up multi generational travelling, to WDW or anywhere, then there is one very important word to remember - compromise!

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Thanks to our regular contributor Janine for this post. Be sure to check out all of the stories and ideas from our Minnie Moms on this topic!

Guest Post: Veggie in the Heart of Surf & Turf Land

I was 21 the first time I went to America. This was also the first time I went to Walt Disney World as a graduation present from my now in-laws. By this time I had been a strict vegetarian for 5 years. In England this did not cause much of an issue. Most restaurants would cater for non-meat and fish eaters, even if it was just a basic pasta and tomato sauce on offer. I knew to stay away from chains such as KFC but even McDonalds and Burger King had a veggie burger – when it hadn’t sold out.

I have to say back in 2001 the USA was a slightly different matter. My now husband and his family had been to WDW twice before but as big meat and seafood lovers they had never had the need to look for meatless dishes.

Our first day of the vacation was Magic Kingdom. This was a very nice surprise as my first Disney meal just happened to be at Cosmic Ray's Starlight Cafe and the ‘garden burger’ with the toppings bar was a delight! Rays is actually one of only two places we’ve ever eaten at MK (and we visit several time each trip) as we go there every single time.  They now serve a range of sandwiches and wraps too which are equally yummy. To this day this is one of my favourite counter service places in the whole of The World. The other place I've eaten at MK was The Pinocchio Village Haus and I did not enjoy the salad there at all, mainly due to the icky dressing.

The first trip to Animal Kingdom resulted in just some fries, but in its defense, it was a very quick visit. The next few trips have always resulted in pizza at Pizzafari; it’s quick, easy and they taste great. Oh and we saw Chip and Dale one year up real close on their way to a meet and greet! Restaurantosaurus do a nice veggie burger and Rainforest Cafe do a tasty sounding Portobello mushroom burger.

EPCOT has, as would be expected, a huge range of veggie plates. I’ve eaten at The Electric Umbrella Restaurant (veggie wrap) and The Liberty Inn (used to do a lovely salad but now do a nice veggie burger) as to be honest we only do counter service at the parks. We’ve also had the most wonderful deli sandwiches from the Boardwalk Bakery and of course, numerous cakes and snacks from the World Showcase. There are mainly table service restaurants here too which serve some yummy looking meals – I especially want to try Paninodell ‘Ortolano (forcaccia with zucchini, eggplant and roasted peppers) at Tutto Italia Ristorante and falafel wraps at Tangerine Cafe.

Disney's Hollywood Studios, then MGM, has a fair few good treats for the vegetarian palette too. The first year we were so excited we didn’t want to stop to eat so we grabbed some fries from ABC Cafe. The next years I have had scrummy grilled veggie sandwiches at The Backlot Express and Studios Catering Co., and we’ve also enjoyed pizza and salad at Toy Story Pizza Planet and ... the one place I’ve always wanted to go at DHS is The Writers Stop for coffee and cakes – an obvious place for a caffeine lovin’ sweet toothed veggie but alas we’ve yet to go there!

Downtown Disney has lots of great dishes. My personal favourites so far have been spaghetti at Planet Hollywood, Ravioli at Portobello and yummy grilled sandwiches in the now gone Virgin Megastore cafe. I really want to try the Butternut Squash soup and Pumpkin Ravioli at Wolfgang Puck Cafe and the Triassic Tortellini at T-REX.

My now favourite Orlando restaurant, The Olive Garden, had an interesting reception to my enquiries about veggie dishes back in 2001. It is still a standing joke 9 years on in the family when the young waiter announced,

"Gee ma’am, some of our veggie dishes have hardly any meat in them at all!!!"

I was then given a ‘meatless’ pasta dish ... full of shrimp ...

But they’ve much improved over the years, lots of pastas and pizzas and the chef is only too happy to help.

There were a few food stations in the parks, and off-site restaurants back in 2001, and even still in subsequent visits that do not offer a veggie option. But I have long since come to realise that I am in the heart of burger and surf ‘n’ turf land so sometimes having to have a salad is ok! The US is most definitely not the least veggie friendly place I’ve been to – in France for the last few years I’ve often had to have just a green salad or a lot of eggs.

WDW, Orlando and the USA as a whole for vegetarians gets better with each trip – it will be exciting to see what new treats there are to offer when we return in a couple of years.

Thanks for stopping by!

Contributed by Janine Pipe from Swindon, England. She is a proud wife and mommy to Felicity. You can follow her on Twitter, @Disneynine. She is also one of our Minnie Moms.