Having already hit Knott's Berry Farm, I continued on with my short notice vacation by spending the final day and half at the Disneyland Resort parks before the car ride back up to the Bay Area. The plan was for a full day at Disneyland and the half day at California Adventure and after a successful find of mac n' cheese at Knott's, my eyes were peeled for what I could only hope to be mickey mouse shaped mac.
Disneyland opened to the public on July 18th, 1955 but like any good story, there was plenty of drama and intrigue related to it's opening.
Walt Disney had already made a name for himself and his studio had cranked out a huge number of animated shorts, films and other works by the time Disneyland was being thought up. It's inception came about while Walt took his own family to different amusement parks in the 30's and 40's and hoped to (like Knott's Berry Farm), have it act as a sort of tourist attraction for those who came to visit the Burbank studios where his artists worked to put together classic cartoon shorts and feature films (both live action and animated) that were being made there.
What initially started out as an idea for a small park on a few acres with a boat ride and other themed areas and attractions ran into a rather large problem. Those on Walt's design team had created too much stuff for the small 8 acre parcel of land purchased. With some help from the Stanford Research Institute a new larger space was searched out, with the purchase of 160 acres of orange and walnut groves hoping to fit the designs created and support the projected growth of Orange County, where the land was bought.
Funding was difficult to come by and some shrewd business relationships were made, principally with the new television network ABC to net the money needed to turn the dream into reality. Disneyland (the series) was born and Walt introduced cartoons both new and old and live action properties like Davy Crockett to America. This partnership created a new corporation, made up of Disney himself, ABC, Western Publishing (best known for their little golden books) and Walt Disney Productions who then managed the development and operations of the park. The park eventually bought out the shares from Disney, Western and ABC by 1960 to take control back "in house" as it were.
The construction started on Disneyland (originally planned to be named Disneylandia, bleck!) on July 16th, 1954 and opened to the media and special guests just one year (and a day) later on July 17th, 1955. Anything that could go wrong at the 'International Press Preview' opening seemingly did.
First off, there were somewhere in the range of 28,000 people at the opening, with almost half of those people there having purchased counterfeit tickets. Traffic around the park was horrible, and celebrities who were supposed to arrive through out the day, all arrived at the same time. It was a balmy 101 °F that Sunday and because of a local plumbers strike during construction, Disney had to chose between having operational toilets or drinking fountains for the opening day guests. While he smartly chose to have the toilets work, backlash was experienced because many felt that it was just a cheap tactic to sell more Pepsi (then a park sponsor) to thirsty guests who had no other options.
Vendors ran our of food (at the time, many of the restaurants and shops were not controlled by Disney, but were sponsored by companies like Carnation and Dole). Construction continued almost up to the opening of the park, with asphalt laid just before the opening of the park, still not set before visitors were walking over it, leaving impressions with their shoes on it. A gas leak sprung up in Fantasyland that afternoon that was serious enough that it forced the closure of Adventureland, Frontierland and Fantasyland for the remainder of the day.
Disneyland's opening was aired as a special on ABC and while things didn't go as planned on the opening and with much negative press to show for the many problems, 50,000 guests still arrived the next day for it's public opening.
The park has had numerous ups and downs over the years and while many parts of the park have been changed (for both good and bad reasons depending on who you may talk to) it's more popular than ever, with admission totals of almost 16 million guests in 2012.
Disney knows it's clientele and with as many children at the park, if I didn't find a mac being served at one of the many restaurants I'd have been sorely disappointed. I can gladly say that Disney didn't disappoint my desire for mac n' cheese.
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| One of the most photographed locations in the world and the first thing that every guest sees when entering the park. |
The Review
Brand:
Tomorrowland Terrace's Toddler Meal Yummy Cheesy Macaroni
*Mac and cheese isn't available at all restaurants in Disneyland, but the following do serve it/have it on their kids menu.
Cafe Orleans - New Orleans Square
Carnation Cafe - Main Street
French Market (Toddler meal) - New Orleans Square
*In addition some California Adventure restaurants also serve mac on their kids menus.
Boardwalk Pizza & Pasta - Paradise Pier
Taste Pilot's Grill - Condor Flats
Pacific Wharf Cafe - Pacific Wharf
Price:
$4.49 at the Tomorrowland Terrace restaurant
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| While much of the park food is the standard cheeseburger and hot dogs, they are of a much better quality than in the past, with Angus beef, all beef hot dogs and toppings one wouldn't think to see at an amusement park. Avocado salsa? Chipotle crèma? Disney has moved up. |
For guests under 3
Minute Maid juice or small Dasani water substituted upon request
Served with applesauce and small lowfat milk
Preparation:
*In preparation for the most expensive mac reviewed to date ($92 for a 1 day, 1 park ticket, $137 for both parks for one day), you've gotten to Disneyland, either by plane, car, public transportation or hiding in the laundry truck as it delivers towels to the park and purchased your ticket into the park. Being the park traveler that I am, make sure that you get the park hopper pass and have 2-3 days to visit the parks. DCA (Disney's California Adventure) is a half day park, if you aren't factoring in the lines of one or two rides (Radiator Springs Racers and Toy Story Mania) while Disneyland is best given a full day to ride rides, explore shops and see the shows/events. Give it a full two to reduce stress or anxiety of missing a ride or a shop and three makes for a much relaxed visit and the ability to have rests/naps during the day and the leisure of hitting both parks without that 'rush' factor.
*I made my stop for mac in Tomorrowland, located just off Main Street. When Main St. opens up, stay to the right, going towards the Astro Orbiter rocket ships and into Tomorrowland. Tomorrowland Terrace is most of the way into Tomorrowland, on your left hand side, just north of the shop 'Star Trader' and across from Innoventions.
*The order windows of the restaurant are on the north side, facing the submarine ride and monorail entrance.
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| I don't know why I didn't get better shots of the restaurant, it's not like people aren't taking pictures of everything in Disneyland. Never the less, straight ahead is where you go to order and wait for your food to get handed to you. |
*You won't need to wait long for your food, but you may have to fight to get a table as this is one of the most popular restaurants in the park. There are two main areas to sit, the first putting you in front of the Jedi Academy, where at specific times of the day (and weather permitting) little kids are asked up on stage to train to take on baddies from the Star Wars universe.
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| Hone those skills young padawans, become a Jedi, buy the build it yourself lightsaber at Star Trader and save the galaxy! |
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| The stage rises up out of the ground. Alas kids, there will be no more training sessions today, so you're just dancing for our entertainment now. |
*If that's too crowded, over towards the Star Trader and Little Green Men shops are additional tables that give you a view of some shops and Tomorrowland attractions.
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| The view from the table out onto the covered portion of the restaurant. |
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| The meal of three year old champions |
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| *cue monster sound effects* Unleash the mac-en! |
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| Look ghost mac! It floats on it's own! |
Taste:
After getting my tray to a table, sitting down and popping off the lid I couldn't smell any cheesiness emanating from the little red cup unless I stuck my nose into the cup as if it were a fine wine and even then, it wasn't very strong. The sauce was creamy and had a good cheesy taste (of indeterminable cheesy origin) to it. The noodles were very overcooked and dissolved pretty much on contact with my mouth.
Final Score:
Concession food can always be a difficult thing to review. What it comes down to in the end is that you're never 100% sure how long it's been waiting for you. While they don't have any kind of central preparation kitchens at Disneyland, there are things that are made well before one orders it. They can't help it because of the volume of food the park needs to be able to turn out quickly. Things that can survive in a fridge like salads or things that can survive in a warming oven like the mac are prime candidates. I'm sure that this comes from some kind of container and is just reheated at each location. The mac itself wasn't offensive, but it wasn't all that great. The noodles were WAY overdone, but the sauce was one of the more respectable ones I've had so far for a restaurant/concession reheat (but not nearly as good as Panera's). By no means should you go to the park JUST for this mac, but if you have a little one (or a big one) needing a serving, you could do worse. Disneyland did find a way to spruce this mac up, that review is coming soon.
Nutritional Information:
No nutritional information was posted either online or at the restaurant itself. In some online Disney forums when others have asked about nutritional information at the park, it's said that they should either contact guest services or ask one of the managers/cashiers at the place of eating for the information. I didn't think to do so while there. I contacted Disney via their Disneyland website and asked for the info. Their reply was the following.
at the DISNEYLAND® Resort theme parks, including product availability,
preparation methods, and ingredient lists please contact our Chefs at
(714) 781-3569. They may not be available to answer all calls
immediately; however, they will answer all messages left on voice mail.
For the Hotels of the DISNEYLAND® Resort, please contact the Chef's
Office at (714) 956-6719.
Again, thank you for taking the time to write. We hope you will have the
opportunity to visit the DISNEYLAND® Resort soon and trust your visit
will be pleasant in all regards.
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