Festival of Holidays a meal or more replacement?

[gottalovepluto]

We've done WDW's F&W and didn't plan enough time for all the food, but I know Disneyland's Holiday Festival is smaller. We were going to do one lunch and one light dinner (staying club level so we have appetizers already in evening) exploring the booths but now I'm wondering is that enough? Do people wish they had budgeted more "meals" toward the Holiday Festival booths?

Also, I see lots of alcoholic drinks of all sorts. Are they small versions? Do they stop serving an hour before park closing? (I know the restaurants run last call an hour before park closing and with 8pm closings when we're there I want to plan accordingly!)

 

[Skyegirl1999]

We usually have at least 2-3 of the booth items per person if we're trying to make a "meal" out if it. So it really depends how many of the items you want to try.

I was surprised when we were there for WOC recently and they WERE still selling alcohol at the booths 20 minutes before the park closed! I am not sure as to the reasoning, because I have gotten hit with that one-hour-prior "last call" many times. But at that 8:00 closing, we watched people purchase wine and beer at 7:40.

 

[rentayenta]

We went last weekend and made it a light dinner. The beef tamale and short ribs were awesome! The vegetarian Masala and mac and cheese were disgusting. The wine servings seem teeny tiny.

 

[cruisehopeful]

The food booths are fun. Eating small things from the booths can easily cost way more than a full meal at the restaurants. Unless you end up loving the food there, plan to sample a few things. If you sample too many things, you may end up spending a lot of money on food that wasn't that great. When I went, I walked by all the booths to see what they had before I decided what I wanted to go back and try. That way, I didn't get full and then see something that I'd have wanted to try.

The alcohol servings are small. The line for the beer booth is the longest.

 

[gottalovepluto]

We went last weekend and made it a light dinner. The beef tamale and short ribs were awesome! The vegetarian Masala and mac and cheese were disgusting. The wine servings seem teeny tiny.

Masala was my list, thanks for the heads up! (Thankfully so are the tamale and short ribs )

 

[gottalovepluto]

...If you sample too many things, you may end up spending a lot of money on food that wasn't that great.

The alcohol servings are small. The line for the beer booth is the longest.

Good call on scoping it all out first! And I was surprised by the prices when I was looking at the menus so i thought maybe the food portions/ drink pours were larger out here but it sounds like it's just the CA sunshine tax- food is still small samples and beverages are still samples as well. At least I don't like beer so I can look forward to skipping that line

 

[SOCALMouseMommy]

Depending on what you order it could easily be a meal. If you just want to taste one it could be a snack.

Agree that the chana masala is gross (I was soooooo disappointed) but I liked the mac n cheese. The lamb cheeks were my favorite. Short rib was very good. Brussels sprouts yummy. Scalloped potatoes way too greasy/oily. Turkey slider was good, ham slider sounded good but I didn't try it.

 

[longtimedisneylurker]

We liked the mac n cheese. I felt the portion size was decent for that, not decent for the price mind you, but decent as in a reasonable amount for one person to eat at once. Paired with something else from the booths I would be fine calling it a meal. I also really enjoyed the tamale even though its price is ridiculous for its size. The big surprise for me was how much I enjoyed the chorizo queso fundido. I just wish they would have included a few more chips with it. I also liked the merry cherry pineapple punch. We usually just drink water in the parks, so that was a fun special treat for me. Yes, it is very sweet, but I somehow still found it refreshing. My husband and son thought the scalloped potatoes were good. We also tried the beef brisket which was too sweet for my tastes and not as tender as we would have liked. I think others in my family enjoyed it more. Our approach was to check out the booths in the middle of the day on a couple of days and then instead of sitting down to lunch somewhere buying several different things that we all tasted and talked about together.

 

[dina444444]

So far I've only had the salmon filet. It's a half of a restaurant size filet and it was served with a potato medley. I had it for dinner a few weeks ago. It was the perfect size for a small dinner.

 

[Melanie415]

I had the (small) tamale and 2 margaritas. Very good!

 

[JadeDarkstar]

I did not give enough time at WDW festival of the holidays. I hope that they continue these things and in dca even on off months. I hope in feb in a few years I can try some things at a festival in dcs. Just not sure they will have one up.

 

[rentayenta]

Masala was my list, thanks for the heads up! (Thankfully so are the tamale and short ribs )

I was disappointed. It was very bland and watery.