Off-Island: Disneyland Park and Disney California Adventure Park Eats

In addition to dining at the Plaza Inn for the Minnie & Friends Breakfast in the Park, we ate at a few other places at Disneyland Park and Disney California Adventure Park. 

Here are just a few of them:

Flo's V8 Cafe (Disney California Adventure Park):

Kids Turkey Sandwich with Fruits and Veggies

Toddler Mac 'n Cheese with Fruits and Veggies

Village Haus Restaurant (Disneyland Park):

Kids Pizza Meal

Pepperoni Pizza

BLT Flatbread Pizza

The Lucky Fortune Cookery (Disney California Adventure Park):

Mandarin Orange Chicken Kids Meal

Spicy Korean Beef

Cocina Cucamonga Mexican Grill (Disney California Adventure Park):

Chicken Burrito

Pacific Wharf Cafe (Disney California Adventure Park):

Sugar Cookie

My favorite of all the meals was the BLT Flatbread Pizza from Village Haus.  It was a generous portion (I only ate 1/3 of it) and it was really good.

Village Haus was also my favorite spot to eat at Disneyland during this trip - primarily because it was empty and air conditioned (it was 100 degrees so it really was nice to dine in air conditioning!).

At Flo's V8 Cafe, I really like how they serve lots of fruits with the kids meals.

DH and I also liked how we finally found places that serve items other than pizza, burgers, and chicken fingers.  The Lucky Fortune Cookery was his favorite place to dine at, and the Chicken Burrito from the Cocina Cucamonga Mexican Grill was pretty huge.

Of course, prices are on the high side, but overall the food was good almost every where we went, and thank goodness we have Annual Passports, which meant discounts at just about anywhere we dined!

For more Disneyland Park and Disney California Adventure Park Eats, check out my post from our first family vacation to Disneyland.

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Off-Island: Plaza Inn - Minnie & Friends Breakfast in the Park at Disneyland Park

On our last two visits to Disneyland Resort, we dined at Goofy's Kitchen to dine amongst the various characters.  We wanted to try a different character dining venue on our most recent visit, so we made reservations for the Plaza Inn - Minnie & Friends Breakfast in the Park at Disneyland Park.

The Breakfast Buffet consisted of such items as pastries, fruit, cereals, bacon, eggs, biscuits & gravy, and Mickey Mouse Waffles.

There's also an Omelet Station and a variety of drinks to choose from.

Breakfast was good, but of course the highlight was getting to see all the different characters!

There seemed to be a lot more characters at the Plaza Inn than at Goofy's Kitchen.  Not only did Minnie come by, but we also saw Captain Hook, Geppetto, Chip and Dale, Tigger, and so many more!

It was a great way to start our day at Disneyland Park!

Plaza Inn:  Disneyland Park; (714) 781-3463

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Off-Island: Polly's Pies - Santa Ana

After visiting the Discovery Science Center, we went to have lunch at Polly's Pies.

When we first arrived, a man asked how many was in our party and then left for several minutes to talk to the manager about something before returning and seating us.

We were waiting for quite a while before the man returned, and he proceeded to direct us toward our table.  He didn't seem very friendly, so I thought we were in for an unpleasant dining experience, but fortunately our server, Karina, was very sweet and helpful.

 I ordered the King Edward's Club Sandwich with Fries.  Everything was delicious!   

DS3 ordered the Kids Chicken Fingers with Fries.  We normally don't order a meal for DS3 when we dine out - we all usually share what we order with him, but each kids meal was only $2.99, and at that price we decided to order a meal for him.

DS2 had the Silly Face Pancake.

DH had the BBQ Bacon Cheeseburger.

DS1 had the Kids Mac & Cheese with a side of Fruit.

Of course we had to order pies for dessert (how could we visit a place called Polly's Pies and not try a slice of pie?).  We actually had a coupon for a free pie for signing up for Polly's Pies' e-club, and we got the Banberry Pie.
It was sooooo good! The pie consisted of banana cream pie filling and was topped with strawberries.  It was a delicious combination!  We also ordered a slice of Chocolate Cream Pie. It was creamy and delicious, but Banberry is my favorite of the two.

At the end of our meal, we were surprised when we were given a complimentary Cinnamon Roll upon paying our receipt at the bakery counter.

It was GIGANTIC!  We ended up eating it for breakfast the next morning.  It was sweet and delicious.  My boys devoured it!

Even though our lunch didn't start off that well, it sure ended on a very sweet note!

Polly's Pies: 2660 North Main Street  Santa Ana, CA 92705; (714) 547-9681

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Teddy's Bigger Burgers - Aiea

The first time I dined at Teddy's Bigger Burgers (in Hawaii Kai) I thought their chicken sandwich was really  good, and I was hoping it would still be just as good when DH recently picked up food from the Aiea location.

I ordered the Crispy Chicken Sandwich with Avocado, Bacon, Cheese, and Mushrooms.  I don't normally order additional toppings, but I was a bit hungry that day.

Although the avocado was quite brown and so was the lettuce, the chicken sandwich was once again very good.  Looking back, I shouldn't have ordered all the extra toppings since I think the sandwich would've been fine with the toppings that already come with the sandwiches (tomato, lettuce, onion, pickle), and it would've been a lot cheaper too (extras ranged from $.69 to $1.39).

However, it was still delicious (and huge - I could only finish half!).

DH ordered the 9 oz Original Biggest Burger Combo and added Bacon and Mushrooms to his burger.

He said it was pretty good.

He also upgraded to the Beer Battered Onion Rings, and these were really good.

I also ordered some Tots for the boys. These were typical tots - yummy and crispy. 

I had ordered Extra Crispy Garlic Fries to eat with my sandwich. They weren't that great. It seemed as if they just sprinkled the fries with garlic powder.

Next time I'll know better and not order extra toppings (well, maybe I'll add bacon since everything tastes better with bacon!), and I'll stick to the onion rings.

Teddy's Bigger Burgers: Westridge Center; 98-150 Kaonohi St. C-115; Aiea, HI 96701; 808-486-2167

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Hawaiian Airlines - Service and In-Flight Meals HNL-LAX RT

Our family has been to Los Angeles three times within the past 10 months, and each time we've flown on Hawaiian Airlines (HA).

We love Hawaiian Airlines for so many reasons, one of which is that they continue to serve free meals.  With the introduction of a new menu in August, I was eager to try it out.

Our flight to LAX was a morning flight, and we were served a Plumeria Breakfast Box, or as the flight attendants called it, a "continental breakfast."

It consisted of Hawaiian Host Maui Caramacs, Pau Hana Snack Mix (mini crackers, nuts, etc.), a Dried Papaya, Mango, and Pineapple mix from Tanioka's, and a large Orange Cranberry Muffin.

I ate some of the muffin, which was flavorful and moist, and the Pau Hana Mix.  The remainder I didn't eat.

Personally I thought the breakfast box had too many sweets in it, but I would have to say I preferred this over the breakfast burrito, which we had on our flight in December and I didn't think was that great.

About an hour-and-a-half before landing, the crew offered complimentary Mai Tais, as well as other complimentary drinks (water, soft drinks, etc.) and a bag of Sweet Maui Onion potato chips.

On our return flight from LAX, we were served a meal consisting of (taken from Hawaiian's website):

• Grilled Chicken with Peas, Carrots, Rice
• Chef Chai's Ginger Chili Sauce
• Salad with Cabbage & Carrots
• Creamy Italian Dressing
• Kona Coffee Cake
• Water Cuplet

I actually enjoyed the chicken dish more than I thought I would!  It had a lot more flavor than I expected it to have.  The salad was good - full of fresh greens and veggies, and the cake was pretty good too, but it tasted like a simple chocolate cake versus a Kona Coffee cake.

DH said he thought the chicken was okay, but he added some of the Creamy Italian Dressing to it and it tasted a bit better.

As for the service, we once again experienced great service from all HA employees we interacted with - whether it was over the phone, at the airport, or during the flight.  The reservation agent who helped me add my infant son to our record, the agents who tagged our baggage at both airports, and the in-flight crew all were very helpful and friendly.

We can't wait for our next trip on Hawaiian Airlines!

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Off-Island: Discovery Science Center

We've passed by the Discovery Science Center's giant Cube numerous times before while visiting Southern California, and we finally had a chance to see it up close (and go inside) earlier this month.

From the moment we stepped into the facility, my kids were intrigued and engaged.  There are over a hundred hands-on exhibits where they could do all kinds of cool stuff, such as fly a little airplane, play music on a laser harp, and even make clouds (click on photos to enlarge)!

A really fun thing kids can do while at Discovery Science Center is go on a Dino Quest Adventure.

After going into the Dino Quest Field Office, DS2 got his challenge sheet (challenges vary by age), and his research transmitter, and he began his search for all the items on his sheet - it was like a really cool treasure hunt to him! 

He had so much fun looking for the various items.  When he found a correct item, he'd wave his transmitter and something neat would happen (e.g. items would open up to reveal special objects)!  Throughout his search he also saw fossils and learned about how a dinosaur's organs worked.

After Dino Quest, we headed to the second floor for even more fun!

The current exhibit, Bob the Builder - Project Build-It, enabled kids to pose with life-size characters from the show, pretend to drive machinery, and even build things.

We all had our favorite exhibits in the Discovery Science Center.

DS2 loved the Race to Recycle game (that was one of my favorite exhibits too!).  Not only was it educational learning about all the different items we could recycle, but it was so much fun sorting through all the "garbage" for items that could be recycled and those that couldn't.

DS3 loved the Bob the Builder's Vehicle Shelter, where he could put rocks in a wheelbarrow and later stick them on a wall, and he could also slide down a little slide!

Besides the Race to Recycle game, I also loved the Discovery Market. It's the coolest grocery store I've ever seen.  The kids push special shopping carts throughout the store while picking up specific types of food displayed on the screen.

DH loved the Science of Hockey exhibits, especially You Be the Goalie, where he could pretend to be a goalie and stop flying pucks.

As for DS1, who has an Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), he just LOVED the Eurydice exhibit - a rolling ball machine by George Rhoads. Balls would move throughout the machine and different sounds could be generated, and DS1 was just fascinated.

This was the first exhibit he saw when he entered the facility, so we had a tough time getting him to move on to other exhibits.  I'm sure he would've watched the exhibit all day long if he could.

Overall DS1 did great at the Discovery Science Center.  He did have a few minor meltdowns, but fortunately there were lots of places to sit, and even several places where there was minimal noise, which enabled us to take a break so he could calm down when he seemed to be getting overwhelmed by all of the kids or all of the new sights and sounds.

Although at times it was challenging to get him to try out some of the exhibits, with prompting and encouragement he was able to experience and enjoy a lot that the Discovery Science Center had to offer.

We all had a wonderful time at the Discovery Science Center.

Everywhere you turn there's something cool to discover, and it's truly a lot of fun for the entire family!

The Bob the Builder - Project Build-It exhibit runs through Jan. 6, 2013.

Below are more photos from our visit.

Enjoy!

Discovery Science Center: 2500 North Main Street  Santa Ana, CA 92705; (714) 542-2823

Admission: Ages 3-14 and seniors ages 62+ $12.95; adults 15+ $14.95

Parking $4 (cash only) 

Thank you to Discovery Science Center for providing complimentary tickets.  All opinions are my own.

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Off-Island: ESPN Zone - LA Live (Los Angeles)

After the Musical Playdate concert at Club Nokia, we walked over to ESPN Zone for lunch.

I ordered the Fried Chicken Wrap with Onion Rings.  The Wrap was really good and filling (I could only finish half) and the Onion Rings are some of the best I've ever tried.

DH had the SportsCenter Burger, which he devoured.

DS1 had the Kids Macaroni & Cheese with Apple Wedges with Caramel Sauce. It was a nice-sized portion of mac 'n cheese!

DS2 ordered the Chicken Breast Nuggets with Fries.

Service was a bit slow, but the food was good, and overall we had a nice lunch.

ESPN Zone: 1011 S. Figueroa St. Suite B-101; Los Angeles, CA 90015; (213) 765-7070

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