Tags: California, disneyland, Disneyland Resort, Dole Whip, review, Tiki Juice Bar, travel

Disneyland’s Tiki Juice Bar….or just “The Dole Whip Place” as we call it, is one of those special treats in the park that you will wait in a mile long line with a smile on your face because you know it will be worth it!  Crazy I know.

The Tiki Juice Bar is located right inside of Adventureland next to the Tiki Room, which is where you can watch a fun musical show that the little ones LOVE.  My 6 and 9 year old are a bit over it, but the little ones get a kick out of the singing and dancing birds

What you’ll find is this outside little hut that serves 2 lines.  The most obvious line is usually the really long one that trickles down towards the Jungle Cruise.  If you walk into the Tiki Room area, you will find  a sneaky 2nd line that is generally much shorter…..so go to that line.

You’ll find just a few items available, but all fresh and pineapple-y delicious

Here’s my cute husband FINALLY up to the front of the (2nd) line around the back by the Tiki Room.  This trip was mid September about 3:15pm.  We were in line for about 35 minutes, just to give you an idea.

Up first is the ever so popular Dole Whip Float.  Not only do you get the pineapple soft serve on top, but you get pineapple juice on the bottom.  A very popular choice.  This one does not disappoint.

Here is the Pineapple Dole Whip Soft Serve.  You can see they give you a big serving.  This soft serve is hard to explain, it’s so light and almost airy with a soft pineapple flavor.  People wait in line all day to have this baby!

Call me boring, but this is what I order…..the straight up Dole Pineapple Juice.  It is so refreshing and ice cold.  I am a fan, but my family thought I was crazy, lol.

We made it out of line just in time to watch Mickey’s Souondsational Parade.  I don’t care how old I am, I still LOVE these darn parades!  So fun and festive.

 

The entire parade, I kept telling my husband, ooooo I want that girl’s outfit for Halloween!

 

Then I saw her dress and quickly changed my mind to this one

 

Then of course to this beautiful princess one.  Lol!

The little girls sitting around us were so cute to watch when the princesses passed by.

I seriously love Belle’s dress.  Gorgeous.

These guys definitely got into character

Love it!

The Merry Poppins Chimney Sweepers!

Hope you’ve enjoyed our review to the Dole Juice Bar and a peek at Mickey’s Soundsational Parade.

So, what is your favorite Dole treat and how long have you’ve waited in line for it? Lol!

Tags: California, disneyland, fried green tomato sandwich, Hungry Bear Restaurant, review, travel

Hungry Bear Restaurant in Disneyland is easily one of my favorite places to eat in the park.  It is nestled in Critter Country as you walk past Splash Mountain, right before the Winnie The Pooh Ride.  I love the beautiful green trees surrounding the restaurant and the view of Rivers of America as you eat.  Feels as if you are right in the middle of the wilderness You can eat for roughly under $15.00 per adult.

As you walk through the entry over the bridge you will see a number of cashiers waiting to take your order.  Once you place your order, you wait right at the kitchen for your order.

Here is half of the menu posted on the front of the kitchen.

….and here are some more choices

My first pick is the Fried Green Tomato Sandwich.  I have ordered this a number of times and each time I like it more and more.  There is a juicy slaw over top the fried green tomatoes inside a soft whole wheat bun.  You’ll never miss the meat from this vegetarian sammy:)

You can choose between onion rings, sweet potato fries and slaw as your sides.  For the Fried Green Tomato Sandwich we chose the onion rings.  They are great.  Real onions inside, crispy and delicious.

We also sampled the Crispy Chicken Sandwich with slaw as it’s side.  The crispy chicken sandwich is just ok, however my husband discovered if you put the slaw on top of the chicken, it makes the sandwich much better.

Here’s a nice look at the slaw.  Mango, onion, peppers, cabbage.  It’s nice and refreshing.

One of my boys ordered the Kids Chicken Breast Nuggets and Apples.  The chicken is great, however I would recommend this for kids 5 years and under since this is the portion size

My other kiddo wanted a cheeseburger.  This is the Classic Cheeseburger.  Comes with lettuce and tomato.  He took off the veggies and enjoyed the burger.  I tried a bite and it was a decent burger.

 

We chose the sweet potato fries with the burger.  They are crispy, nicely salted and a perfect addition to any burger or sandwich.

 

This gives you a sense of the nice atmosphere are around the tables.  It’s open, light and relaxing with the beautiful scenery.

 

 Here was the view from our tables in the back.  How beautiful are the Rivers of America?

For the sake of the review (haha) we tried the desserts   First up is the little lattice cherry pie.  You could also choose a peach pie as well.

I must say, it was a good little pie.  Flaky crust and cherry pie filling inside.  They even warm it up for you

The highlight of our meal was this sparkly bumblebee topped Lemon Cupcake.  Soft cake with a sweet lemon filling.  Trust me on this, you’ve got to try this one

Here’s a glimpse of the lemon filling inside.  The four of us agreed that we are not much of lemon dessert fans, but this one changed our thoughts for sure.  Looking forward to ordering it again

We caught The Mark Twain Riverboat floating by.  Gorgeous views here at Hungry Bear.  Hope you enjoy!

Be sure to tell us all what you’ve ordered at Hungry Bear Restaurant that you’ve loved and maybe not so loved.

Tags: California, Carnation Cafe, disneyland, travel, Vacation

If you are like my family, half of the fun of Disneyland is trying out all of the restaurants at the park.  There are so many to choose from and it’s my goal to share each and every one with you!  If you are wondering “Where should I eat at Disneyland, CA?” …..then I can help:)

Today I am sharing our breakfast and lunch dining experience at Carnation Cafe located smack dab in the middle of Main Street.  This is a great place for breakfast or lunch if you are a people watcher because you know how Main Street is…..always hopping with activity   You can’t miss the festive red and white striped umbrellas covering each table.

The view from inside the restaurant.  It’s an outside dining experience where you sit under cute red and white striped umbrellas and sit on red cushioned cafe style chairs.  I appreciated the crayons the servers brought the kids to keep them busy before their food arrived.  Click HERE to see the entire Breakfast Menu.

For breakfast, the boys ordered the oh so fun Mickey Waffles with a side of fruit.  They were crispy on the outside and soft inside.  Great choice for the kids for sure.

I ordered the Croissant Eggs Benedict that comes with breakfast potatoes and fruit.  I would definitely order this again.  In fact, the boys ate half of mine, they loved it too

My husband ordered the very famous Cinnamon Roll French Toast.  It comes with cream cheese frosting (oh my gosh!), fruit and bacon.  This is a very “sweet” meal.  I LOVED it, but would be more inclined to order it for a late breakfast or even dessert.  It was really good.

This is more like it…..lathered with cream cheese frosting

It was a chilly cloudy day when we went for breakfast, so we shared a mug of hot chocolate.  It was slurped in about 30 seconds.  Great hot chocolate.

Here’s the lunch menu posted outside. You’ll find lunch favorites such as sandwiches, soups, pot pies, meatloaf and salads at Carnation Cafe along with a handful of tempting desserts.

Here’s a peek of the lunch menu you get handed when you sit down.  Choices, choices   Click HERE to see the entire lunch menu.

Here you have the Smoked Turkey Sandwich on Pretzel Bread with a side of Loaded Baked Potato Soup.  The soup was the star of the show here.  It was thick and full of my favorite baked potato toppings.  I would definitely order this soup again.  The sandwich was good,  but I kept going back for the soup.

A closer look of that fabulous Loaded Baked Potato Soup.  This is a must order.

Here’s the Cafe’ Steak Melt that came recommended by our server.  It was really good.  I loved the cheddar roll and dipping the sandwich into a side of A-1 Sauce.  We chose a side of potato salad which was creamy and nicely seasoned.

Here is the Croissant Chicken Club Sandwich with a side salad.  The sandwich was probably my favorite sandwich that we ordered.  The croissant was buttery soft, the chicken breast was nice and moist and you can’t go wrong with cheddar and bacon.  I would recommend ordering this one.

Kids menu with lots of kids favorites…mac and cheese, peanut butter and jelly which you can design into your own perfect sandwich and of course a hot dog.

Our youngest ordered the mac and cheese and a side of fruit.  He had it eaten in minutes.  Thumbs up from him

Our oldest ordered the hot diggity dog with a side of fruit and carrots.  I’ve seen better hot dogs in my days, but my son didn’t seem to mind it at all slathered with ketchup

You know we are all about the desserts.  Lots to choose from.  Wishing we would have ordered one of everything to try them all.

We went with this very small dessert…..The Matterhorn Sundae, Lol!   Four scoops of ice cream, caramel, strawberry sauce, hot fudge, whipped cream, Micky sprinkles and a cherry.  Yikes!

Word to the wise…eat quickly, this baby melts fast.

Ready, set, go!

See what I mean about the melting, Lol!

This is hard work

Happy boys.

Well, between the 4 of us, we did some damage on this sucker.  I give the Matterhorn Sundae a perfect 10 for presentation and fun.

Have a magical….and Delicious day!

Be sure to share your experience of Carnation Cafe and tell us your thoughts on things you’ve ordered, loved and not so loved

Tags: California, disneyland, Pooh Corner Bakery, travel, Vacation

If you’ve followed Picky Palate you might know we are a bit of Disney fanatics.  I am so excited to start featuring each and every place to eat or snack at Disneyland.  If you have ever wondered “What should I eat at Disneyland,” then I am your gal

First up, is my most favorite spot in all of Disneyland….Pooh Corner Bakery.

Pooh Corner is located in the far corner of Critter Country right behind Splash Mountain and the Winnie The Pooh Ride.

My boys run straight to the first candy section, lots of treats to choose from.

Another favorite spot for my boys are the Goofy Sour Straws

More snacks.

Cute festive Disney cupcakes.

Delicious cookies that Wonderland Bakery supplies.

Irresistible chocolate goodies to choose from.

One of my favorite things in the shop is the giant window where you can watch the Disney workers prepare the goodies for the glass case.

I have yet to try these adorable apples, but I have always wanted to.  So cute.

My little stinkers

Maybe a little too much sugar?  Lol!

Without fail, the two things I purchase at the bakery are the Chocolate Peanut Butter Sandwich and the White Chocolate and Chocolate Chip Cookie   Love!

Big and beautiful

 

Ok, I am ready to go back so I can get another one of these bad boys

This Chocolate Peanut Butter Sandwich may look simple, but wait until you try it.  Delicious with a capital D!  I even re-created my own recipe for this Disney favorite you can see right HERE

I recently tried this Milk Chocolate Smore’s Sandwich and it was incredible.  I still prefer the Peanut butter one above, but this would be a close second

Hope you’ve enjoyed my feature of Pooh Corner.  If you’ve been to Pooh Corner, please let us all know what you’ve tried, loved or not so loved!!

Tags: chocolate, disneyland, graham cracker, peanut butter, summer, travel

I am without a doubt a chocolate and peanut butter fanatic.  When I first devoured this treat from Disneyland a few months ago, I knew I had to go home and make my own version.  It is too good to only enjoy at Disney

To celebrate the first official day off of school, the boys and I celebrated at Disneyland earlier this week…one of our favorite places ever!

Here are some photos of our day (then the recipe at the end)…most of these photos are from Instagram on my Iphone.  Do you guys use this app on the Iphone?  I am in LOVE with it and use it seriously all the time!  Find me, I am under “pickypalate”…shocker, lol!

Love you Disneyland!

 

Love Main Street and boy it’s busy during the summer.

 

My little stinkers  If they wanted a treat later, they knew they had to let Mommy take some pics.  Haha.

 

Love the Penny Arcade.

 

We started on the Buzz Lightyear ride, the line usually goes pretty quick

 

Then we popped over to California Adventure.

 

We went on Soarin’ Over California which is my favorite ride. I could ride it all day!

 

Passed by this cute boy band, lol

 

Went on the new Little Mermaid ride. No joke, this line went on forever and after the ride was over, both my boys said…..that was lame! It definitely is better for girls…I loved it

 

Headed back to Disneyland to get some lunch, love the castle!!

 

Enjoyed some grub at the Golden Horseshoe.

 

Got a kick out of the silly hillbilly show

 

A nice girl took this photo of the boys and I getting ready to enjoy our bakery stop!!

 

Ahhh, Pooh Bakery in the corner of the park by Splash Mountain. It’s a must try if you are going to Disney!

 

The beloved Chocolate Peanut Butter Sandwich from Disneyland….let’s see how my homemade version compares….scroll down.

 

I was very happy with my homemade version!  You can’t tell very well in the “Disneyland” version, but there is a thin layer of chocolate between the peanut butter and graham cracker.  Mmmm

 

 

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Have a great rest of your week, come back soon!

Tags: Chocolate Buttercream, Chocolate Mousse, cupcakes, Disney's Cupcake Store, filled cupcake, Snickers

A couple of weeks ago my good buddy Amanda was visiting CA and you all know what that means?  Lots and lots of bakery hopping for us.  We have made it a tradition to pop in as many fun bakeries as possible any time we are together…..kind of like how we did in NYC

Here we are in NYC…. bakery hopping fools!

So, first up is the brand new cupcake shop in Downtown Disney….”The Cupcake Store.” As you can see, it is nothing fancy, just an outside little building.  Inside are some very tasty cupcakes….wait till you see them!

You get a cute little box for every cupcake ordered so you can take them to go without them getting smashed.  We ordered 4 Cupcakes to sample….the Cookies and Cream, Chocolate with Vanilla Frosting, Vanilla with Strawberry Filling and The Celebration/Confetti Cupcake.

Here was our setup.  We used a table right outside of the shop, covered it in purple tissue paper and positioned them so we had the beautiful Disney Tree in the background

Here was our background that you’ll see in the photos below

Here’s the lovely Strawberry filled cupcake.  Doesn’t the tree look pretty in the background?

Aren’t these the cutest?  Love the candy straw in the Celebration Cupcake.

As Amanda and I were snapping our cupcake photos, we ran into Amy from “Do You Know The Muffin Pan.” She stopped us because she recognized us from our blogs, it was so much fun chatting with her.  Go check out her site, she has some great ideas for your muffin pans!

This cookies and cream one was by far my favorite.  Great frosting and soft chocolate cupcake inside!

This pretty confetti cupcake came in 2nd place.  It is adorable and very tasty.

….and yes, this is our cupcake graveyard scene.  Talk about sugar overload.  It was worth every bite!

I heard a rumor that the cupcake store is only at Downtown Disney until Janurary 9th.  I hope its not true and they’ll consider staying longer.  Such a fun little stop!  Hope you can try them!

At any rate, these were worth the $4.95 per cupcake.  Had a blast with Amanda and our cupcake photo shoot, stay tuned for our next bakery adventure

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Chocolate Mousse Filled Snickers Cupcake

Amanda and I went back to my kitchen and created a cupcake inspired by one of our favorite cakes at Jones on Third in LA.  They have the most beautiful Snickers Cake that tastes like a dream.  Our cupcake was a huge success!  The chocolate mousse filling and chocolate butter cream frosting with Snickers on top take this one over the edge   Hope you enjoy!

Imagine the box of gelatin to the right is not there (we didn’t end up using it for the mousse) then picture a small carton of sour cream is pictured over by the cake mix:)

Heavenly chocolate buttercream frosting

Delicious chocolate mousse filling!

Fill em’ up!

Our gorgeous Snickers Cupcake   Of course this was a horrible cloudy day and was nearly dark when we took these photos, but boy were they good!

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Happy Baking, come back soon!!