Hello guys! I know it’s a bit late, but.. Merry belated Christmas and a Happy New Year!! I hope the holidays treated everyone well! I had a crazy Christmas working during the holidays healing the sick, but I was lucky enough to enjoy the happiest place on Earth at Disneyland on 12/26/16. I used to go to Disneyland every year, but never during the holiday season. Disneyland is so crowded during the holidays!! It took us a good 2 hours from the freeway exit to park our car. Can you believe that?! :O
Thanks to my beloved little sister who works for Disney as a programmer, we were able to get complimentary tickets. YAY! I am so proud of you hehe.
So Disneyland has their made version of holiday treats! All along the walkways of Paradise Pier in the Disney California Adventure Park are food booths featuring holiday-themed treats and drinks. These booths are scattered throughout Paradise Pier with different themes of food.
At Mistletoe Morsels, we enjoyed a classic crab cake to start off. It was topped with a lemon tartar sauce. The crust of the crab cake was crunchy and the crab stuffing inside was soft and warm. The tartar sauce was just slightly sweet and sour from the lemon. I wish they served more than just one piece!
From this booth we also tried the Holiday Swedish Meatballs that were served with a creamy brown gravy and Lingonberry sauce. These were even better than the ones from Ikea (Of course they have to be; it’s Disneyland of course). The sweetness from the Lingonberry sauce was the perfect touch to our hot and savory meatballs. Soft and chewy.
Our Holiday treats can’t be eaten without some Holiday Eggnog Cocktail to pair with! I’ve never had real eggnog before so this is my first time. The server was generous with the Spiced rum in our eggnog cocktail; it was strong and made me feel very warm inside. The whipped cream and nutmeg dusting was sweet and thick.
We only visited 2 holiday booths. The second booth was called Winter Sliderland. From here we had a sip of the ACE Perry Hard Cidar, Sebastopol. This sweet cider did not taste like there was an ounce of alcohol in it!
Our Praline & Bourbon Whoopie Pie was warm, sweet, soft, and chewy. I think this was everyone’s favorite from all the holiday treats we tried!
From our casual day time treats, we gradually transitioned to a very classy dinner atmosphere. For dinner, we dined at one of the higher end restaurants at Disneyland. In Disney California Adventure Park, we dined at Carthay Circle Restaurant. This restaurant was actually something special. The decor of this restaurant was a replica of an iconic theater in Hollywood. The walls of the restaurant were decorated with framed pictures of celebrities (actors and actresses) at their award ceremonies. In fact, our table was right under the picture of Jennifer Aniston!! The entire restaurant produced a very antique, romantic ambience.
Here we have a champagne exclusive to Disney called Fairytale. This special bottle of champagne is brewed in Napa Valley, but you cannot get it from there! They only ship this champagne to this very one restaurant. This is the ONLY place you can drink this champagne. In fact, you can’t even buy a bottle from the restaurant! You must dine and drink here. As its name suggests, this champagne is very sweet and light.
This red wine called Toad Hall is just as special and exclusive as our champagne from above. I did not get to taste this wine, but our kind waitress told us about the special label on this bottle so I wanted to take a picture of it. Until next time!
Pimm’s Punch includes Pimm’s No. 1 Liqueur, Plymouth Gin, Strawberry, and Lemonade. This was a very sweet and fruity cocktail for all the ladies who have a sweet tooth and cannot stand the taste of alcohol. Me 🙂
Carthay Manhattan includes Bulleit Rye Small Batch American Whiskey, Carpano Antica Sweet Vermouth, Angosture Bitters, and Luxardo Gourmet Maraschino Cherries served with an ice sphere made from a locally sourced Purified water. This drink looks really pretty and with the lighting, it looks so romantic and classy. However, on the alcohol side, it was very, very strong.
And for those of you who love to drink hot tea with their meals, or because it is late into the evening, you can pick which loose leaf tea you want from this cute wooden box! In fact, we were welcomed to sniff each bottle of tea leaves!
Bread and butter to start.
Carthay Circle is known for their Fire Cracker Duck Wings as one of the more popular appetizer dishes. These delicious wings are sauced with soy, lime, and sriracha chili sauce. When we were served, I was thinking, “How on earth am I going to maintain a classy atmosphere if I am eating wings?” But guess what? The meat just literally falls right off the bone when you poke it with a fork and knife. Wow, wow, wow. Delicious wings with that light aftertaste of spice to remember them by.
The Buttermilk Fried Quail came with a cranberry bean salad, kale-pecan pesto, and blood orange sauce. This looked like fried chicken, but tasted better than chicken!! This quail meat was moist, soft, juicy, and flavorful. Each bite I took just gushed out quail juices in my mouth.
The Wagyu Beef and Truffle Ravioli was one of my favorite entree dishes. This was stuffed with Chanterelle mushrooms, parsnips, and topped with a tangerine-date vinaigrette. The ravioli was cooked al dente while managing to serve up a soft and tender stuffing.
I think you can already tell from the picture that our Sesame and Ginger Crusted King Salmon came with a thick and heavy crust. Not that I am complaining.. I loved it! How a restaurant manages to produce a crunchy crust on top while still saving a very flaky, tender fish underneath that bled a medium-rare will always boggle my mind! This dish came with a coconut red rice, mint golden bell peppers and miso lime broth.
And it wouldn’t be the holidays without enjoying their Holiday Prime Rib of Angus Beef! The marbly red color from the medium-rare just warmed my eyesight and my insides as I slice into this beef. Was complemented with cheesy potatoes, spigarella and cranberry horseradish.
Please meet our fabulous waitress, Holly!! She saw us fawning over the Fantasy champagne bottle with our cameras that she took the time to remove the label and nicely tape it onto the back of that day’s menu. She even decorated it with her calligraphy skills! And dated it! We asked her to sign it for us!! We told her we were going to frame this. <3
If you guys ever eat at Carthay Circle, please ask for Holly to be your waitress! She is the nicest and sweetest waitress who gave us the most memorable and special experience ever at Carthay Circle Restaurant. At Disneyland. At the happiest place on Earth. Thank you Holly!
And thanks to Holly, we got seating at the World of Colors show right after the dinner. We were able to make the 9pm showing!
I’ve been to a good amount of restaurants, but this was the first time I have received customer service that surpasses all aspects of it! Holly gave us a special and memorable experience that we will always remember, cherish and never will be able to experience anywhere else.
Happy Holidays! <3
