If you find yourself in the Anaheim area and need a Disney fix, but don’t have quite enough time to justify purchasing a Park ticket you MUST stop in at Downtown Disney! Even though you aren’t in the Magic Kingdom you are still on resort property which, I think, still makes it part of the “happiest place on earth”. Today I’m sharing my tips for Making the Most of Downtown Disney – in which I include the 
Disneyland Hotel and the Grand Californian Hotel into since their entrances attach to DTD, oh and you’ll see I recommend using the Disneyland App quite a bit, it covers everything you can find throughout the whole resort property.
Disney bills the Downtown Disney District it as a “lively promenade featuring distinctive eateries, unique shops and exciting entertainment.” And they aren’t wrong! There is music throughout the area (sometimes live and often Disney), fun and unique treats everywhere, lots of delicious and special meals to be had, of course there is lots of great shopping including all the Disney merchandise your heart desires, there are a few other Disney related things worth seeing and experiencing that I’ll mention below for instance might even be lucky enough to get to say “Hiya!” to Mickey or one of his pals. Here is how you can make the most of your time at Downtown Disney:
Plan a fun meal!
All of the restaurants in Downtown Disney are delicious, but we have found that those at places like the ESPN Zone, Rainforest Cafe, and the upper terrace at Ralph Brennan’s Jazz Kitchen have a little something extra special with their added theming. If you really want a Disney experience though, go for one of the restaurants in the resort hotels connected to Downtown Disney – the Disneyland Hotel or Grand Californian Hotel. The Tangaroa Terrace is a quick service restaurant in the center of the Disneyland Hotel grounds, surrounded by the pools and tropical vegetation, it also affords some ymmy food (similar to what you could find in the parks) along with the great views. Over at the Grand Californian, White Water Snacks is a fantastic place for a quick and tasty bite – the nachos are delicious! For a bit of a splurge, the Storyteller’s Cafe is a table service restaurant with an extra special California folklore theme. The details in the this place are everywhere and they are phenomenal. A nice touch is the cute little Disney activity booklet that the kids get. You really feel like you are in Disney when you are here.
Shop, of course!
There are so many great places to shop, but for the Disney fan the World of Disney is the absolute best! We also have to stop in Disney Home, The Disney Dress Shop, and WonderGround Gallery to check out their extra special Disney merchandise. Don’t overlook the cute little shops to be found in the Disneyland Resort hotels as well. You can find a lot of the same merchandise found in the theme parks out here in these stores, plus a whole lot of stuff that is exclusive to just these stores!
Work on that Pressed Penny collection!
Pressed Penny machine found at White Water Snacks at the Grand Californian.
If you or your kids love to collect pressed pennies then don’t out Downtown Disney! There are several pressed penny machines to be found throughout! You can find a few machines in locations at the Disneyland Hotel, near White Water Snacks in the Grand Californian, near Marceline’s Confectionary, and at the World of Disney Store – a more specific location of each machine can be found on the Disneyland app (just search “pressed penny”).
Visit the hotels!
The Grand California is truly a grand hotel – the lobby alone is enough for you to want to visit it. The arts and crafts style, the comfy couches, and giant fireplace with rockers – it all works together to really wow you. Over at the Disneyland Hotel you will find three separate towers – Adventure, Frontier, and Fantasy that you can stop into, each with something to see on the main floor (the scale model of Big Thunder Mountain Railroad in the Frontier tower is one of my favs). The Fantasy Tower is where the main lobby is, not only is there an interesting giant map of Disneyland on the wall, with a surprise on it, but there is also a great gift shop, and you just might get lucky enough to find a character there to meet-and-greet! Don’t forget to stop in to Trader Sam’s Enchanted Tiki Bar (adults only), and you can even find a Dole Whip Float in The Coffee House – a treat only found elsewhere at the Enchanted Tiki Room in Disneyland Park!
Find a Disney snack or treat!
A must-stop is Marceline’s Confectionery if you are looking for a tasty treat. They carry many of the very same cookies, cupcakes, candied apples, marshmallow pops, etc. that you can find in the parks. You can even find a Mickey’s Premium Ice Cream Bar! There are other places to find sweet treats such as the Sprinkles Cupcakes, and several kiosks throughout that sell items like macarons, churros, cotton candy, and more. And since Dole Whip information bears repeating, you can get that outside of Disneyland – but check the hours for The Coffee House, it closes early.
Mickey Premium Bar for the road home (from the Disneyland Hotel)
Say hi to Mickey & Co.!
Is there anything more Disney than that?! Besides potentially spotting Mickey and company in the main lobby of the Disneyland Hotel you can definitely find them at the breakfast buffet at The Storyteller’s Cafe and at the breakfast and dinner buffets at Goofy’s Kitchen – but make sure to check the prices and make reservations for these popular meal times!
Get some extra Holiday Spirit!
If you happen to be here between November and January you have to pop over for all the holiday feels! The Downtown District and Hotels are all decorated up for Christmas – the Grand Californian’s enormous Christmas Tree and real Gingerbread House are really jaw-dropping, but we had to take a picture at the Gingerbread castle photo op over at the Disneyland Hotel, you can even do some ice skating in front of the AMC Movie Theater and listen to carolers.
And finally don’t forget to have your parking validated f0r the first 3 hours when you make a minimum purchase of $20 in Downtown Disney, or get 5 hours of parking a validation from the AMC Movie Theatre or a sit-down restaurant. After that it is $6 for every half hour.
