Originally Posted By dlkozy IMHO, DTD will have to improve upon what it offers, service, and price to compete. Seems to me, DLR should offer more of what the Garden Walk will not-interactive restaurants like WDW has-such as 50's cafe, Sci Fi etc.
Originally Posted By pitapan16 Marin county is beatiful. I love it there. Dad and I rode bikes from Downtown marin to San Francisco and back a few weeks ago and had a great time. Had to hop the Golden Gate Bridge fence at 12am because the walkway/bikeway on the Gate was closed. We hauled across with a cold wind blowing in from the pacific, it was alot of fun, but I did not want to get in trouble which looking back sounds potentially troubleful.
Originally Posted By pitapan16 Marin county is beatiful. I love it there. Dad and I rode bikes from Downtown marin to San Francisco and back a few weeks ago and had a great time. Had to hop the Golden Gate Bridge fence at 12am because the walkway/bikeway on the Gate was closed. We hauled across with a cold wind blowing in from the pacific, it was alot of fun, but I did not want to get in trouble which looking back sounds potentially troubleful.
Originally Posted By pitapan16 Marin county is beatiful. I love it there. Dad and I rode bikes from Downtown marin to San Francisco and back a few weeks ago and had a great time. Had to hop the Golden Gate Bridge fence at 12am because the walkway/bikeway on the Gate was closed. We hauled across with a cold wind blowing in from the pacific, it was alot of fun, but I did not want to get in trouble which looking back sounds potentially troubleful.
Originally Posted By Mickeymouseclub <post 81>I agree they need SCiFi at DL but instead of 50s maybe a return of the Monorail Cafe.That would make me very happy.
Originally Posted By jonvn "Had to hop the Golden Gate Bridge fence at 12am because the walkway/bikeway on the Gate was closed" So very arrested you can get now for that.
Originally Posted By Nobody ^^ Thank goodness the "Yoda Translator Plug-in" for my browser is working.
Originally Posted By bean The idea of having a sci diner or the 50's cafe in DTD is actually quite good. It would offer a unique experience that would not just be for park guests. I even think that the original idea for Soap Opera Bistro might have worked better in DTD. A variety of Disney unique eating experiences outside the park in a clean DTD environment would balance perfectly with what garden walk would offer. DTD is in desperate need of more food establishment. The ones that are available always have quite a wait time. The Garden Walk will desperately need to eventually find a way of buying out the Anaheim Plaza Hotel. That piece of property is especially important for the establishment. With no direct connection from the theme park district and hidden behind a series of low cost motels and eating establishment the area might not get the necessary foot traffic that it wants. Its initial plans were to get the extra foot traffic that would be created by pedestrains walking towards the third gate and those parking in the proposed parking structure. Although the third gate is in consideration it will not be built for quite some time after the Garden Walk opens. right now the Garden walk makes it clear that a third gate is in Disney's plans when advertising the sell of the prime spots within the mall and hotel lots
Originally Posted By roberts1398 "I mean that Disneyland attracts WAY more local tourists than out-of-towners, so I think that GardenWalk is aimed at the local "tourist" crowd rather than the out-of-towners (except the convention people)." That may be true with DisneyLAND, but probably not with the Disneyland RESORT. While locals probably comprise the largest percentage of people walking through the gates of the park, I seriously doubt it could be true of the hotels and restaurants around the resort. And let's face it ... what else do people travel to Anaheim for if not for Disneyland? Do you think organizations choose it as a convention site because of the general area, or because of Disneyland? Without a doubt (imho), it's because of Disneyland. So the Garden Walk planners/investors would be INSANE if they weren't marketing towards Disneyland visitors. If this is the list: Johnny Rockets Coffee Bean And Tea Leaf Auntie Anne's (Pretzels) Peking China Express Mongolian BBQ Hawaiian BBQ Great Steak and Potato Ultra Heat Lounge Bar Louie P.F. Chang's California Pizza Kitchen Cheesecake Factory Roy's Bubba Gump's Garden Sushi ... then I'd be willing to guess a huge number of people visiting do not have most of these restaurants in easy access at home. I live in the suburbs of Sacramento, and of these, we have a PF Changs about 20 minutes away, a Johnny Rockets about 30 minutes away, along with a CPK and Cheesecake Factory in the same complex. Other than that, we don't have any of those. NOW, ask me how many times I've been to any of these places? Johnny Rockets once about 7 years ago when we first moved here, and I've never been to CPK, Cheesecake Factory or PF Changs from home (I've been to CF and CPK in Marin County when visiting my parents). With kids and work and Scouts and sports ... we RARELY get out to dinner, and when we do, it's some place close and cheap. Now when we're on vacation (at some place like Disneyland), that's when we're likely to try a place like these. Remember... I'm betting most of you that think these are boring, same-old-same-old restaurants are urban singles or at least don't have kids. Because most of the people in my circles rarely get to places like this during normal life! So, while these choices may not appeal to you, I'm betting they would to the majority of hotel-staying families. Just my opinion...
Originally Posted By jonvn I guess I thought these were not special because they really are all within a few minutes of my house. I thought they were just plentiful everywhere. They are not?
Originally Posted By berol All that's around here is California Pizza Kitchen. I wouldn't go to any of them, cuz it'd take me out of the park for too long. It's all I can do to make the walk back to the ART stop.
Originally Posted By EighthDwarf I'd like to see a brewery restaurant go in Downtown Disney. Since Karl Strauss is the beer of choice at DCA, I'd love to see them build a brewery (similar to their place in South Coast Plaza) in DtD. And I love the Gardenwalk line-up -- simply because it will get the folks that like tacky restaurants away from the resort.
Originally Posted By LPFan22 ~~~It also seems that the further south you go, the more plastic it becomes around here. Palo Alto starts getting a bit plasticy, and by the time you hit San Jose, Sunnyvale, you might as well be living in the San Fernando Valley, it's so awful.~~~ What's so awful about San Jose and Sunnyvale? Just curious. I've lived there most of my life and I turned out ok. Like anywhere else, there are good and bad neighborhoods, good and bad restaurants, malls, etc. I know a lot of nice people in those areas so it can't be all bad.
Originally Posted By gardenrooms Any why is this city, whatever it is, that has all these cookie-cutter mall restaurants within 5 minutes so much better?
Originally Posted By Sweeper PF Changs is almost everywhere now. <a href="http://www.pfchangs.com/location/map.htm" target="_blank">http://www.pfchangs.com/locati on/map.htm</a> The rest are not special either. Better than McDonalds, but nothing to get excited over.
Originally Posted By jonvn "What's so awful about San Jose and Sunnyvale?" I lived in Sunnyvale for a while, actually. I'm sure you turned out OK. What I don't like about them is that they are very corporate and modern and plastic. The housing looks very much like 60s suburban sprawl, and from Mountain View to San Jose, it all looks exactly alike. It's perfectly fine there. It's not to my taste. Some people love it. I don't.
Originally Posted By ChurroMonster Of that entire lineup of of GardenWalk restaurants, only two are not within a five minute walk from my home. Those two (PF Chang's and Bubba Gump) are within a five minute drive from my home. I'll check out GardenWalk if I'm in the area and bored but I probably won't make a special trip to experience it.
Originally Posted By ChurroMonster I second the notion of putting a Karl Strauss in DtD. It would be perfect.
Originally Posted By gurgitoy2 I have to say that Bubba Gump's is the strangest restaurant experience. I've been to many a themed eatery, but none so heavily themed to ONE movie! It's just...odd. I liked the food, but the atmosphere was just a bit too much for me, and too much "Gump" if you ask me...
