Disneyland Dining 101 – the Basics

We find lots of food to love at Disneyland from quick service meals to treats, snacks, and fine dining. There are restaurants we love in every category. To make the most of your dining dollars, it helps to know the basic terminology and we cover that here.

We have other articles that rank every quick service restaurant and every table service restaurant. Read on to learn about all the basics to consider before you make your dining plans.

For our top picks, check out our quick lists of the best food in each location (according to us).

Disneyland Dining Locations Fall Into These Categories:

Table Service restaurants Lunch/Dinner
Quick Service restaurants Lunch/Dinne r
Breakfast restaurants
Special dining packages for reserved areas at nighttime shows
Character Dining
Snack Carts and Stands
Confectioneries

Each of these are uniquely different, so keep reading for more about these different types of food locations.

What is a Table Service Restaurant at Disneyland?

Table Service restaurants accept reservations in advance. You can reserve using the Disneyland App or Website. See our article on making dining reservations. Restaurants sometimes accept reservations the day of your visit if there is availability. You can sometimes join a same-day waitlist on the Disneyland App if they are fully booked.

Often times there is no availability at the most popular dining locations, but it’s not always the case. For instance, Trader Sam’s is very popular and they accept a lot of walk ups.

For most restaurants, you can cancel your reservation up to 2 hours before the reservation time. If you don’t show or cancel, the charge is $10 per person on the reservation. When you make your reservation, the cancellation policy is shown. Your reservation confirmation will also show the cancellation policy. Some dining reservations must be canceled the night before. The policy says 24 hours, but we’ve been successful as long as it’s canceled before midnight the day before.

Most of the Lounges at Disneyland are Table Service restaurants and they accept reservations. This includes Oga’s Cantina that only serves snacks. Other Lounges offer full food menus.

What is a Quick Service Restaurant at Disneyland?

Quick Service restaurants are fast food locations that do not accept reservations. For most however, you may put in a mobile order in advance using the Disneyland App. See our article on mobile ordering. We highly recommend mobile orders to be put in about 1 hour before your desired meal time. This will save a lot of time. If you can’t plan that far ahead, then even 15 minutes before can work for many restaurants or even less. The most popular restaurants do see their mobile order time slots book up in advance. If you want the best food with the lowest wait time, then it does help to plan ahead a little.

What are the Breakfast Restaurants at Disneyland?

Most restaurants at Disneyland don’t serve breakfast, so this is it’s own topic. Even the locations that do serve breakfast do not always have the same opening times. The easiest way to order breakfast is to mobile order on the Disneyland App. It only shows locations that are open. Not all quick breakfast locations are on mobiles because some are carts. See our post on breakfast at Disneyland, California Adventure and Downtown Disney. There are a small number of Table Service Restaurants that serve breakfast, mostly Character Breakfasts.

What are Special Dining Packages at Disneyland?

Special Dining packages are offered at select restaurants. They typically include a preferred viewing area for a nighttime show like World of Color or Fantasmic. There are sometimes packages for Parade or Fireworks viewing. Sometimes the food is served where you view the event. Most times you eat in advance and then use the ticket to enter the preferred viewing area later. You’ll always pay more for the food because of the preferred viewing. The markup varies depending on the event. Sometimes the viewing area has seating and sometimes it’s standing. You don’t always get the best food in these packages, but preferred viewing areas are wonderful.

What is Character Dining at Disneyland?

A sub-category of Table-Service restaurants include those which have Disney Characters who visit with you while you’re in the restaurant. These are all buffet meals that are expensive because you meet Disney characters without the lines.

Most of the restaurants have some variation of Mickey or Minnie (or both) and friends. They are mostly classic cartoon characters who don’t talk. They visit your table and you can take pictures with them. In some locations you take a picture out front with the main character. Napa Rose offers a high-priced Princess breakfast at Grand Californian hotel that includes 7 or more Princesses.

All character dining experiences usually fill up so advance reservations are highly recommended.

What are Snack Carts/Stands at Disneyland?

There are carts and stands all around the Parks with different types of snacks like Popcorn, Fruit, Corndogs, and more. Other carts have treats like Churros, Ice Cream Bars, or Cotton Candy (and more). We cover this more in our articles on food at Disneyland. This works well if you need something to eat right now. There are some excellent must-try foods at these locations. We cover the best snacks and best treats in other posts.

What are Confectioneries at Disneyland?

Disneyland has several Confectioneries where you can get mostly the same treats in every location. Trolley Treats, Bing Bongs, Pooh’s Corner, and Candy Palace have almost the same items. Some items are only at one location like Tigger Tails at Pooh’s Corner or Nuttles at Candy Palace. The Disney Wonderful World of Sweets in Downtown Disney has Werther’s Original Caramel Popcorn.

See our article on Best Disneyland Sweets and Treats for more on the Confectioneries.

Menu Diversity at Disneyland

The number of menu selections inside the Parks is quite small compared to restaurants in Downtown Disney. You might see only 5 entree options at a Table Service restaurant in the Parks. Quick Service restaurants can have even smaller menus. It’s helpful to think about where you can find something for all members of your group.

The latest menus are on the Disneyland website. Google the restaurant name and you’ll see a Disneyland website link to a menu. This has the most recent pricing for some table-service locations. Each Disneyland menu has information on plant-based, allergy-friendly, and kids’ menus. The “Disney Check Meal” menu includes kids’ menu items that are healthier food options.

You can also view menu prices for Quick Service using mobile order on the Disneyland App. To do this – click the the + at the bottom menu in the App – then ‘Order Food’. You’ll see pictures of the food and prices which is helpful. There are no menus for Table Service restaurants on the Disneyland App – only on the Disneyland website.

How we Dine at Disney

How we handle Dinner: We make dinner reservations for each night of our stay at Table Service restaurants. Dinner time is very busy in the Parks. We want a guaranteed place to sit and escape the crowds with a more relaxed atmosphere. Table Service dining is more expensive than Quick Service.

How we handle Lunch: We eat at Quick Service restaurants for lunch so we can stay flexible. We don’t know where we’ll be at lunch because we are usually in the Parks going on rides. If we want a break then we go to Downtown Disney for lunch. We use mobile order if eat lunch in the Parks, and we put in our order 1 hour in advance. This is where knowing the best options in each location really helps because there are good options everywhere.

See our articles on our favorite restaurants and food in each location.

How we handle Breakfast: We only make breakfast reservations if we plan to have a character breakfast. This is rare because it cuts into our morning in the Park. We keep mornings flexible and mobile order breakfast or grab something fast at a cart. One exception is that we reserve one morning to visit to Lamplight Lounge Table Service for their exceptional Brunch. They only offer brunch Friday-Sunday and we eat at about 10 AM.

Summary

So now you know the terminology and the types of restaurants and food offerings to expect at Disneyland. You’re one step closer to being an expert on food at Disneyland!

Thanks for reading this and please check out our full website for lots more content. We at the Bippity Club wish you the very best and hope you enjoy awesome food at Disneyland!