Celebrating My Birthday at Disneyland + The Food

For my birthday this year we went to Disneyland! Here’s a post about all of the thing we ate!

blues-brothers

“It’s 87 miles to Disneyland. It’s dark and we’re wearing sunglasses. Hit it!” (reference, in case you need it)

breakfast-at-cream-pan

[strawberry croissants / $1.40 + steamed pork buns / $2.00]

We left a little after 6am to avoid as much traffic as possible. We still hit traffic once we got into Orange County but by then we were only 10 miles away from Disneyland, so it was fine. We almost didn’t make our regular stop at Cream Pan because of the traffic but Jake decided we had to do it! We started our day off with our favorite Strawberry Croissants and Steamed Pork Buns!

disney-parking-ticket

We went the wrong way at first. To get to the parking garage you gotta go up Disneyland Drive. Once we made it through we got our parking pass and were ready to conquer the day. I like they they have the parking pass set up so you can circle your pass to remember where the heck you parked. 


main-street-disneyland

It’s Halloween time at Disneyland so the park is decorated in fall colors with LOTS of pumpkins everywhere! 

disney-halloween-time

I’ve never visited for Halloween before so I was pretty excited to see Disneyland all dolled up for the holiday. 

We hit up a few rides before getting any treats. We started off by going on the light-on-lines rides in Fantasyland – Snow White, Pinocchio, and Alice in Wonderland. Then we swung by to get a fast pass for Space Mountain and then went over to Star Tours (which I loved). We still had a little time to kill before we could get on Space Mountain so it was time for our first treat!

The Little Red Wagon

little-red-wagon-disneyland

I took this photo about 10AM before anyone was in line. By the time we arrived for corn dogs, there was a little line. There’s a sign that says corn dogs are $9.50 and include chips or apple slices. For a discount, ask for no sides. The corn dogs were $7 each on their own. 

basket-of-corn-dogs

I had read a few things about these hand battered corn dogs so I was curious to finally try them out. I had never had one before! 

corn-dog-disneyland

[hand battered corn dog / $7]

I liked that my corn dog was all wonky shaped. To me that signals it truly was hand battered! 

corn-dog-inside

Also – this was DAMN delicious! The corn dog batter is a bit sweet and the taste reminded me a bit of cornbread. The hot dog was thick and quite juicy. A really good corn dog – I can finally see what all the fuss is about! 

Candy Palace

cupcakes-candy-palace

After our corn dog treat, we headed over to the Candy Palace on Main Street. I wanted a little sweet treat! Here are their cute holiday cupcakes!

bakery-case-at-candy-palace

I was specifically trying to see if they had any Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars – I had seen some on Instagram but sadly there were none to be found that day.

disneyland-halloween-treats

disneyland-halloween-treats2

caramel-apples-disneyland

Candy apples!

disneyland-candy-palace-treats

A few other treats. 

day-of-the-dead-mickey-cake-pop

[day of the dead mickey mouse cake pop / $5.99]

My chosen treat? This AWESOME Day of the Dead Mickey Mouse Cake Pop! I loved the colors and style of this one and couldn’t resist it. 

cake-pop-inside

The “ears” were marshmallow and the inside was a deep, dark chocolate cake – it was rich and kind of fudgy, almost like a brownie. Delicious! 

gibson-girl-ice-cream

While I was staring at and drooling over baked goods, Jake went to Gibson Girl Ice Cream Parlour and got us an ice cream to share! The top is strawberry ice cream and the bottom is coffee almond fudge. The coffee almond fudge had a ton of almonds in so I loved it. He got that flavor for me. Awww. 

treats-with-the-boys

The boys and our sweet treats! 

tie-fighter-popcorn-bucket-sign

In Tomorrowland, you can buy Tie Fighter Popcorn Buckets. $25 though. Man.

tie-fighter-buckets

tie-fighter-bucket-closeup

T got one. This thing does NOT hold a lot of popcorn. They know it, too, because they give you the popcorn in a separate container and you gotta fill it up yourself. 

popcorn-bucket-model

T totally looks like a Popcorn Bucket model right here. 

After Space Mountain, we checked out the “Path of the Jedi” which is where Captain EO used to be back in the day. It’s a 13 minute movie about Jedi’s. Basically we did this so we could sit for awhile. Then we went to get fast passes for the Indiana Jones Ride and headed over to the Enchanted Tiki Room and then hopped on the Jungle Cruise. 

Bengal Barbecue

bengal-bbq

Time for another snack!

bengal-bbq-skewers

T got his own skewer of spicy beef but we shared all of these skewers and a “tiger tail” aka breadstick. The breadstick was kind of meh. It was a bit too hard. 

safari-skewer-disneyland

[safari skewer / $4.19]

This Safari Skewer had grilled asparagus and bacon! The bacon was a bit thin but it still had a good flavor. A nice treat! 

skewers

[bengal beef skewer / $4.49 + chieftain chicken skewer / $4.19

I also got the beef skewer which is in a “sweet zulu sauce” (whatever that means) and the chicken skewer is in polynesian sauce. Of the two I preferred the chicken. It was a bit juicer and the sauce tasted better to me than the beef skewer’s sauce. The beef was a bit too chewy for my liking and I thought the sauce was kind of meh. The sweet polynesian sauce had more flavor to me.

pomegranate-piranha-lemonade

[pomegranate piranha lemonade / $4.39]

Jake wanted a lemonade and I got him this Pomegranate lemonade with pomegranate balls in it! 

pomegranate-pearls

A surprisingly good treat! It was refreshing and the little balls disintegrated as soon as it hit your tongue! 

After our little skewer snack, we went to Pirates of the Caribbean! 

The French Market

french-market-disneyland

Most of the rides that day took about 30 minutes to get on. It was time for something more akin to “dinner” and we headed over to the French Market.

monster-wreath-french-market

I love this wreath. 

sally-coffin-cake-disneyland

Sally Coffin Cake! I didn’t get one but it was so cute!

corn-chowder-french-market

We got a bowl of corn chowder to share. It comes in a sourdough bread bowl and of course they pull the bread out to make it look like Mickey Mouse. The corn chowder was much spicier than I thought it would be! I also thought there would be a bit more liquid but it was very chock full of corn and potatoes. Wasn’t my favorite corn chowder ever since I felt it was a little too thick and much too spicy. 

new-orleans-salad

We also got this New Orleans salad to share between the three of us. This reminded me of a BLT but with salad! They hand toss the salad when you order so it is freshly made. There are also, surprisingly, potatoes in the salad as well. The dressing on top makes it feel like you’re partially eating a potato salad as well. It’s kind of weird but in a delicious kind of way. I really enjoyed the salad and the dressing was great! 

mint-julep

Jake got a mint julep which he loved. I thought it was way too minty. I like lower doses of mint. 

mickey-mouse-benginets

For dessert we got beignets! I was really excited that the beignets were Mickey Mouse shaped! 

They have two different styles available right now: regular powdered sugar or butterscotch powdered sugar! Jake figured we should try both. He’s smart.

They put the beignets into a paper bag and then you need to SHAKE SHAKE SHAKE em to get the powdered sugar all over them.

mickey-mouse-benginet-butterscotch-sugar

Then they look like this! This is the butterscotch one. It’s slightly tanner than the regular one.

sugary-benginet

Both beignets were pretty damn tasty. It’s hard to go wrong with fried dough covered in sugar. The butterscotch one had a light butterscotch flavor which I enjoyed. 

benginet-eaters

Beignet eaters! 

mint-julep-bar

You can get the Mickey Mouse Beignets from the Mint Julep Bar which is right outside the French Market.

mary-haunted-holiday-mansion

The Haunted Mansion is all done up for the holiday with a complete makeover Nightmare Before Christmas style. 

haunted-holiday-mansion-disneyland

When it gets dark, the whole house is lit up and halloween music starts playing! 

zero-popcorn-bucket

In New Orleans Square they sell these awesome glow in the dark Zero popcorn buckets!! They are $17 bucks and totally worth it! Plus the popcorn is INSANELY GOOD. It’s buttery and salty and just about perfect! 

jolly-holiday-bakery-treats

To end the day, we stopped by the Jolly Holiday Bakery near Main Street. I wanted a couple of “to go” treats that I could enjoy the next day. I got the “Matterhorn Macaroon” and this cute Mickey Bat sugar cookie. I loved the macaroon – the white chocolate topping is delicious with the coconutty macaroon! 

And there’s my recap of my awesome birthday spent at Disneyland! Stay tuned for my Free Birthday Roundup which will be coming very soon! 


12 thoughts on “Celebrating My Birthday at Disneyland + The Food

  1. Happy birthday Mary! I wanna be your eating buddy on your bday 🙁 I don’t think I have anyone in my circle that would do an eating fest like Jake and T. So jellllly of your awesome day at Disneyland. I haven’t been in YEARS but remember 1) food/drink prices were insane and 2) lines to all the rides were worse insane. All the food you had looked awesome (esp the ‘wonky!’ corn dog) !

    1. Hi Faye – Thank you!!! Jake and T seem to always be up for my eating fests haha. And it’s good because with those two I know the food will always get finished and I still get enough to eat without going overboard. Before this visit I hadn’t been to Disneyland in 10+ years so it was so much fun to finally go back!

  2. I did not know you can get JUST a corn dog for a couple bucks cheaper!! Now that I know this, I am totally more excited about getting a corn dog (we usually split a fried chicken dinner from Plaza Cafe). It looks like you had an amazingly fun birthday adventure!

    1. Hi Leanne! I read that tip on some Disney food blog and was pretty thankful for it because I didn’t want any extra food that I didn’t want to eat. I also liked that you can ask for water at any station for free since the bottles of water are not cheap!

  3. How fun, especially with all of the Halloweed decor! I love that Man Eating Wreath so much that I made my own (smaller) version (without arms) for our home last year, haha.

    The Mickey Mouse shaped beignets were so cute and wow, butterscotch flavored powdered sugar? Cool!

    As for the tie fighter pop corn bucket…omg, people have to actually wear it strapped on their neck. I was looking at it first thinking, that seems awkward to carry, then I saw the straps. Still, a bit awkward walking around with that . I hope it wasn’t too heavy for T.

    So nice to see that you enjoyed your birthday with loved ones! 🙂

    1. Hi CC! I remember your wreath! I meant to text you that photo that day but I forgot/got tired/etc. T wore the tie fighter bucket for awhile but then got annoyed with it and put it in a bag to carry it instead. It’s quite large! The Zero bucket on the other hand is a more manageable size (though I admit, I made Jake carry it for me after awhile haha).

  4. What a fun day! Happy birthday!! 😀 I haven’t been to Disneyland since… 1997! A lot has changed 😛 I’ll have to ask you for tips when I go since I’m definitely overdue for a Disney trip hehe!

    1. Hi Jinxi! Oh man, it was longer for you then me – time for a revisit, I say!! I’m pretty sure we’ll go again next year when Star Wars land opens up. 😀

Leave a Reply to JinxiCancel reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.